Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 41 total)
  • Yet another new bike day…
  • Kryton57
    Full Member

    How exciting!

    No you didn’t miss a long indecisive thread, some angst about a decision or a guilt laden “want”. But, can you guess what it is yet…

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/YryGLT]2017-09-05_04-02-28[/url]

    spawnofyorkshire
    Full Member

    Go on, I’ll bite. Is it one of these?

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Well, it’s not going to be a jump bike. Pretty sure about that.

    Strictly wheels on the ground. 😉

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    cb
    Full Member

    Somebody else’s back ordered £38 MULE?

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Ha ha wheels on the ground CFH yes but a whole load of fun…

    Pics coming.

    CB – delivered 2 days early – wiggle order still says “processing”!

    Bregante
    Full Member

    My son’s Vitus Twentyfour came in a box that size….

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    yes but a whole load of fun…

    😆

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    Could be anything then. Probably the severed head of the bloke who runs their stock control system.

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Ta Da!

    I’ve seen them mentioned several times since I ordered it – half price at Wiggle. Obvs I’ve just been out and perhaps appropriately it pissed down. What a hoot as my first CX experience although some climbs gave me some trouble – I need to count the teeth but I suspect its 42/18.

    The TRP Hylex were much better than I expected for budget brakes, great modulation and even reach adjustment. Can’t wait until a longer ride saturday morning!

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/XbaAFE]SSCX[/url]

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/Yaj7U9]SSCX[/url]

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/Yaj7Qw]SSCX[/url]

    My phone case makes the bike look more “pink than it is” its actually a decent satin effect purple and the downtube is bigger than the photos make out – actually looks quote stunning in the flesh. The Spoon is of a “hessian” material which although at first I thought weird, is grippy. Those WTB Nanos – at 40 psi – were in incredibly grippy on the slippy top surface of the single track and even in the slop.

    Friday night will be spent going tubeless.

    As I said they’ve been mentioned a few times – if your thinking about it – get one!

    Wally
    Full Member
    Merak
    Full Member

    Nice! What size is it and what size are you?

    mikey74
    Free Member

    Is it the same frame as the standard Plug?

    Teetosugars
    Free Member

    Now that, I like…

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    I’m 5ft 11.5 and 32 inside leg. I went for the medium and I’m glad I did, the large would have been OK but I’d have been stretched out, not so good for control. It has a 90mm stem on it.

    FWIW I’d normally aim for a 56 TT on road bikes, but an oddity meant my latest road bike is 545 TT with a 115mm stem and I’ve found this much better for me. The medium Grinduro is a 545 TT.

    Is it the same frame as the standard Plug?

    I believe so, with different paint. I believe the other difference is in the brakes and tubeless (alex) wheels.

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    I thought the details on the Hylex callipers were above the indicative expectation:

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/YbYbBy]IMG_20170905_191031032[/url]

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/Yez68K]IMG_20170905_191056671[/url]

    Take s tandard shimano SLX pads too

    mikey74
    Free Member

    I believe so

    Interesting. I have the Charge Plug 3: It’s a great bike, but a little heavy, which I have assumed to be due to the 42mm Maxxis Roamer tyres, which weigh around 750g each.

    simondbarnes
    Full Member

    When did £250 / pair brakes become budget?

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Fair point Simon – I thought they were £112 a pair, my mistake.

    Mikey 74 – its not the lightest bike. The Tyres are supposed to be about 545g (they are the tubeless version) and at 42/18 it does seem to take some effort to get going, then rolls well if you keep on to of it. I quickly found the trick is not to hesitate or panic brae at all, it then carries loads of speed.

    I’m going to count the rear cogs tomorrow as it was tough on some climbs and the Wiggle description makes mention of 16t and 18t

    alwillis
    Full Member

    Am I right in thinking it will take a full mudguard? If so that might be my next commuter/wet weather training bike!

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Yep – it has full rack and guard mounts. It even has a plastic translucent full length chain guard & mounts in the box.

    fifeandy
    Free Member

    Think it’s an 18t on the Grinduro. 16t on the Plug 1.
    Plug seems a really nice frame, enjoy mine, good confidence over the rough stuff.
    Not sure i could manage a gear that size off road.
    Glad you like it.

    sirromj
    Full Member

    Is there enough clearance in the front forks with the stock tyres for full mudguards?

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Think it’s an 18t on the Grinduro. 16t on the Plug 1

    Just had a count. Its a 16t – and my legs are feeling it this morning. I may enter the odd race so might order a 19t or smaller front ring today.

    Is there enough clearance in the front forks with the stock tyres for full mudguards?

    Theres about 4-5mm clearance between the tyre and the fork crown.

    ryder
    Free Member

    Half price? I can only see 40% off…am I missing something?

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    ok roughly half price…

    ryder
    Free Member

    Damn…thought I was missing an extra 10% off code 🙂

    sirromj
    Full Member

    I floated the idea for me getting one of these last night. Didn’t go down well given my other recent purchases 🙂 “but it’s less that 1/2 the price of the computer I just finished paying off” didn’t help either. “but it’s my transport”. Nope. Not gonna happen.

    n0b0dy0ftheg0at
    Free Member

    Nice, I hadn’t spotted the hydraulic brakes were Hylex, despite PSAing this deal over the last week or so (same as on the Pinnacle Arkose Singlespeeds of recent years)… Stonking good value! 8)

    What’s the stack and reach of the medium frame? At 5’10” and 32.5″ cycling inseam, I’d provisionally go with a large frame.

    Fractionally easier gearing than my old Tricross Singlecross 42/17, which was fine on the roads with 25mm tyres, but I’d probably want a 20-22T sprocket at least to offroad with some hill climbing with 40mm Nanos.

    Riofer
    Free Member

    Nice.. I’ve had one in the basket for over a week now but can’t quite decide whether to go for it. Thanks for the useful info on sizing and gearing will help making the decision on size easier

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    Beware the stack and reach! My large frame only has a 160mm headtube, ended up needing 30mm of spacers, a flipped stem AND those goofy Specialized riser drops to get the handlebars to my preferred height.

    Also bizarrely short, some combo of head and seat angles plus top tube length and short hoods (on the rim brake model anyway). Will be fitting a longer stem shortly.

    My rim braked model took some wide PDW guards easily, although not with 40c tyres, needed to down size to 32, with a noticeable boost in speed happily 🙂

    I chose to change chainring size, SJS Cycles do some nice 130BCD Thorne chainrings.

    Riofer
    Free Member

    Can anyone confirm the rear hub spacing, I assume it is 120mm?
    Was hoping for 135 as I have a nice SD disc hub that would build up into a nice wheel for something like this

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Also bizarrely short,

    I haven’t found the medium overly short, and I’d consider myself of average proportions. Its 15mm shorter in the TT than my M/L Defy and 10mm shorter Stem.

    I’d always understood that CX should be a tad shorter than road specific bikes.

    benp1
    Full Member

    I have TRP Hylex brakes on my Arkose 2, I love them. The levers feel nice and the brakes are reliably good

    The only problem I had with them is when the pad ran so low that it went through to the backing plate and the piston came out too far so I lost fluid. Thats completely user error and lack of maintenance. Was pretty easy to sort that and they’re ace again. Completely maintenance free in thousands of miles

    fifeandy
    Free Member

    Also bizarrely short,
    I haven’t found the medium overly short, and I’d consider myself of average proportions. Its 15mm shorter in the TT than my M/L Defy and 10mm shorter Stem.

    Same, at 5’9 with ever so slightly long legs for height, i’m pretty much as medium as medium gets, and I don’t find it short at all.

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    Fair enough, I guess I was just confused as the top tube length is kind of standard for me, but I’ve had to run a longer stem than I’ve ever used in the past, maybe a quirk of the seat position or perhaps the brake hoods are shorter than standard since there’s no geary gubbins inside.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Can anyone confirm the rear hub spacing, I assume it is 120mm?
    Was hoping for 135 as I have a nice SD disc hub that would build up into a nice wheel for something like this

    I asked Charge, it’s 135mm. The frame is the same as the alloy Plug frame just with a hobbled derailleur hanger and an EBB. So it will run gears if you swap the mech hanger (and find some gevenalle shifters).

    CraigW
    Free Member

    Can you make it fixed gear?

    scud
    Free Member

    Bit of a resurrection..

    Just about to order one of these myself Kryton, roads near me get covered in mud and grit from beet farmers and want to save road bike dying a death over winter.

    Not got much luck out of Wiggle in trying to get answers to:
    – Are tyres tubeless ready, website says not?
    – Is it 18t rear, if so, living in the flatlands will need a 16?
    – What width are the bars, do i need to buy my regular 44cm width?

    Cheers!

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    Kryton…thanks for your comments on the other thread. Keep finding myself looking at this…I want to stick an Alfine on it. Is there a spare set of cable guides on the downtube alongside the rear brake hose?

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Blimey:

    – Are tyres tubeless ready, website says not?

    Yes – they are the Nano race DNA Kevlar

    Is it 18t rear, if so, living in the flatlands will need a 16?

    Mine came with 16T, but with 42 up front I changed to 18T which helps massively on climbs and single track. FWIW I could spin out at 33kmph on the 16t, with the 18t its 30kmph.

    – What width are the bars, do i need to buy my regular 44cm width?

    No, mine (on the medium bike) are 44cm c/c on the middle of the drops which are ever so slightly flared

    Is there a spare set of cable guides on the downtube alongside the rear brake hose?

    Nope.

    Just about to order one of these myself Kryton, roads near me get covered in mud and grit from beet farmers and want to save road bike dying a death over winter.

    And to finish – I’m loving mine, its superb. It sitting in the mancave with lights and really is just a get up an go machine, especially with a variety of surfaces to contend with. Its great when you can say “oooh, I’ll just head down here” with worry like you might on road tyres. I’ve been out doing dawn rides – 1km road, some gravel towpath and some grassy trails for giggles, its not overly uncomfortable on the fork and the brake are superb. It does feel a tad heavy to me, but then my road bike is 7.3kg. The only time it felt hard work was going up a 15% climb on the 16t. The pics also belie the finish which is “satin” and appears very hard wearing.

    Once its rolling it lovely. Theres no way I’d get rid of it.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 41 total)

The topic ‘Yet another new bike day…’ is closed to new replies.