Deore brakes, cheap and excellent, the latest M615s on my bike even have a nice progressive build up to their maximum power, no grabbiness.

Good call.

Mine are fantastic and feel better than the XT’s on my other bike. For £80 they are fantatsic things – they also seem to deal with crashes better (no raised lettering to get ripped off).

Zee Rear Mech, just faultless on both my MTBs (with a 40t T-rex on the FS).

On-one Merino arm warmers. I think they cost a fiver, they are superb and do the job.

2″ Maxxis Beavers. Whilst I love the Hans Dampfs on my FS, I put Beavers on the HT for winter riding. They are lightweight but grippy and I just keep them on all year round.

661 Sub Gear – it’s saved me from a few light knocks, but isn’t stupidly bulky. I bought it just for uplifts, but wear it more often for bumpier pedally riding.

On One Scandal – frame was £125 I think and everything about it is just right.

Deore DX SPDs. I have a set from 1992 and they still work, despite minimal maintenance.

Mammut air pillow, it’s very tiny, but gives such a good nights sleep when camping.

A kinesis tripster Ti.. Haven’t ridden my mtb for 3 months

Imac
Audi tdi
Knock off all stars
sonos
beetroot in bags
Gin and tonic in little tins
High rollers
Paramo Gilet
GP4 seasons
Mackeral Pate

Rocket Rons
Whyte 29c
Torq gels
North Wave celcius GT boots
Fenwicks foaming chain cleaner
Caselli Nanoflex arm and knee warmers

Marzocchi 150mm Z1 FR Forks. I’ve had them for 9 years, had them serviced twice, I think, and they are still going strong. I’ve lost count of the number of bikes they have been on during those years.

Dialled Alpine Mk 1 frame. Bought it on a whim when they first came out and have loved it from the word go. It now has the aforementioned Z1s on it, and what a great combination they make.

Gore Bike Wear cos it keeps me warm and dry especially in challenging weather conditions thus enabling me to ride all year round.

Shimano Shoes.
Montane waterproofs and softshells – especially a Dyno and Krypton.
Patagonia base layers and waterproof trousers.
Orange ST4 (until I snapped it..)

Why a Premier subs to this ‘ere mag. 8)

Marzocchi 150mm Z1 FR Forks. I’ve had them for 9 years, had them serviced twice, I think, and they are still going strong. I’ve lost count of the number of bikes they have been on during those years.

Great forks – I’m running a pair of 10th Anniversary Z1’s on my Stanton and they keep on going. They don’t have fancy damping but they’re tough, plush and orange!

High Rollers fit and forget tyres for the damp.
Maxxis Ignitors – High Rollers for dry conditions that still work when it accidentally tips it down.
Stans tubeless conversion kits.
My fatty.
The Marea I bought, unseen, off ebay one night while I was at the pub. It took 120000 miles of redline-all-the-time driving to finally kill it. Even then I could have saved it if I’d been in the car. How I miss that motor.

Deda white(!) carbon effect bar tape
Gonna get me some of that to replace the mucky stuff on my roadie.

Talking of which..
£130 off Merlin for one of these

Superb for the commuting roadie.

And, of course my Yeti 575. Who’d a thunk I’d still love it 8 years later…

a BETD bearing replacement – turned an outrageously shitty raceface bottom bracket into a rock-solid bit of kit that is still going strong 3yrs later. The fact that I was able to send it in the post and they sent it back about 4days later was the icing on the cake. No way would I buy hope etc I just don’t need to

Hawes & Curtis shirts.

Incredible quality for the money, as long as you’re happy to buy 4/5 at a time, depending on the current offer (usually about £100).

I’ve probably had about 30 odd over the last 5 years and only one has ever shown any signs of wear.

Strange – I bought one and was very disappointed by the speed at which collars and cuffs started to show wear. Usual purchases range from Gieves & Hawkes, Pink, to Debenhams own brands so I don’t think my expectations are unrealistic from a shirt.

I’m also not keen on their BS pricing with, as you say, always some sort of multi-buy deal – the flip side of which being that if you just want to buy a shirt, you feel like you’re being robbed, or forced to buy a few.

My stumpjumper is still going strong eight years in.

Branstons pickle (in Asia it’s £4 a jar – worth every penny).

XT disc brakes. W(hy)TF was I a HOPE fanyboy?

Mountain biking socks. I’d always worn normal sports socks. What a difference!

One of these *looks around for some pig to cook* much better than the little kettle jobbies

Ibis Ripley – awesome bike.

Lightbicycle carbon hookless 29er rims.

2015 Fox 36’s.

Stunning

And the Spesh Enduro 29er. Absolute Weapon

Saracen Ariel.

Thought it’d be good, but it’s chuffin’ great.

A polartec fleece buff for my bonce in the winter. Cheapest, bestest bit of out eva!!!

Superstar sintered Pads, surprisingly good!

2 modern mtbs.

Di2.

Planet X super roubaix tights

Bluetooth speaker from a Spanish market for 20 euros. Excellent sound and takes a micro sd card so you dont even need a phone. Well cbuffed. [/url]
IMG_20140915_192311 by creagbhan, on Flickr[/img]

Specialized tyres. The 2bliss butcher, purgatory and ground control are excellent and at £25 -£30 a bargain

Shimano SPD pedals
SLX brakes
Park Tools Allen Key Set. Still going strong after 17 years.

Funn Hyperion Ti Seatpost @ 35% off from CRC, the clamp is rock solid.

Narrow/wide as well- it’s just all a bit uncanny.

My Carrera Kraken- It generally gets rebuilt about once a year with whatever’s lying around the garage, I always forget what a good frame it is- wee bit overstiff but lovely geometry.

My Magicshine MJ-872s… I think I knew they were a cut above the entry level tat but I think this is their third winter, one of them’s had a new battery but otherwise they’re still kicking ass. I really didn’t expect that from a £70 light.

Lidl tinned curry.. You would think that they are going to taste of shit but are suprisingly good

Stans flow wheels – nice and wide, pretty light, brilliant tubeless

Stans tubeless – with schwalbe tyres a complete game changer. Nice low pressures, more compliant bike,better grip and never have to worry about pinch flats that have plagued me for years

Reverb – changed biking for me

Magic Mary front tyre – wow, unlimited grip

Narrow wide chain ring and t rex. Single ring, all the gears I need, low maintainance and no noise

Solar Storm x2 light. Brightest light on the last shop ride. £15 and still had 50-80% battery (2 green leds) after 2 hours. Absolute bargain. Yes the battery may explode but for now it works a treat

Xt 785 brakes – awesome, cannot do better for the money

Saint 820 brakes – like xt but more power and nicer levers

Not tried the lemon one but the chocolate one is nomnomnom!

Russian bride. Looks just like the pictures which was not my experience with other mail order brides (Thia).

Expected

What I got.

52 plate Mondeo TDCi.
Bought 5yrs ago with 130k on the clock.
176k now, it’s fast, comfy & does 45mpg+.
Can park it anywhere & chuck dirty bikes in.
Still a lovely car to drive.

LSD.

Stooge frame.

Cotic Soul – just a great-handling bike
Condor Tempo – beautiful bike to ride
All Gore Bike Wear kit I’ve ever bought

Stooge frame.

+1

My bright pink 456 awesome cheapness
My mondeo estate 100,000+ miles and six years in my ownership and still doesn’t disappoint as a mile munching family and bike lugger
Deore brakes

Powercal HR/Power meter

I use it for commuting and off-road. Better than it has any right to be!