Whilst waiting for news of the new Pipedream range (which, incidentally, is like waiting for bloody christmas – only I've had more response from my letters to Santa. As it stands there's a good chance they're going to get passed over in favour of an 853 Sanderson) I've been mentally building up the rest of the spec.

Today I wondered about keeping it as British as poss, the frame is probably going to end up being British (ish) and wondered what else…

Hope wheels, brakes, bb, headset and qrs
Middleburn cranks
USE seatpost, stem and hopefully a non-carbon bar…

But what about the other stuff – forks seem to be a no go, as do gears but saddles, pedals, tires etc? I'd prefer made in the UK but designed here by a UK company would do… (Oh and nothing on-one either, I have a totally irrational and completely unfounded dislike of the company. Which is an arse cos I do like most of their kit.)

So if anyone can suggest an entirely Brit build I'd like to see it!

Here we go again!

Can't be done, really.

There's the USE SUB fork, which I believe is UK made, but then it gets tricky.

Retro stuff may be the only way to go.

Why?

USE SUB fork?
charge spoon saddle

Yea think this has been tried before. Not possible, think you'll fail on wheels as Hope don't make there own Rims and groupset…..

You *could* build a bike built mostly of british components, but why bother? Most UK components (not frames- we seem to have that dialled) are vastly inferior to Japanese or American offerings- less reliable, less refined.

Hope make kit with variable reliability, usually poor- you never hear anyone saying customer service for Shimano is great when recommending it, because most people never have to use it.

Middleburn are living in the past with ISIS and no HT2 offering.

USE seem to be getting their act together after fails like the Atom stem.

Pace used to do forks, but now don't. Why? Because foreign stuff was more reliable and better.

Not worth it.

Ive never had a problem with anything Ive had from Hope & their customer service has always been spot on! I know the 2 together sound like a contradiction but the couple of times Ive spoken to them (for tech help) they have always been v helpful.

TBH I just wondered how possible it would be and what I've forgotten manufacturer wise. It looks like there's just so many gaps which would need compromise on quality (or there are just no British equivalents) that it's not feasible…

Hmmmmm, I'll stick with my original spec then, damm this waiting – making me change my mind…!

(Never had any problem with Hope stuff to be fair)

rolf – don't talk such bollocks. Hope stuff is good and built to a totally different philosophy from shitmano. Infinatly rebuildable not disposable

My hope kit – two sets of hubs – wear and tear only. 3 sets of brakes – nothing wrong at all

Spare parts availability – great

Oi, Pace forks are great, they dont make them anymore cos someone bought their fork business.

Custom build for Nick Griffin is it?

Haha!

Jezza- interesting, I had my first problem with a Shimano brake a few weeks ago and found spares in seconds on the internet. Very rebuildable. Fortunatley this is the only time I've had to do it- unlike with all 4 sets of Hope brakes I owned which were mechanical disaster areas.

As were the ones I borrowed off Ollie, which burst at the reservoir.

And my mate Izaak's whos seem to work when they feel like it.

And it was interesting that on my trip to the alps, we had Shimano, Avid, Magura and Hope brakes. 3 out of the 3 sets of Hopes had to be bled by the end of the week while the others weren't touched.

Ill thought out british tat. By Far Eastern.

Ill thought out british tat. Bu :wink:y Far Eastern.

Like Superstar BB,s

😉

all my hope stuff is fine and works no problem, the m4's on me evil are the best brakes i've tried across everything.

my hopes only have problems when you come into contact with them!!

fwiw my 2 sets of hopes have been 100% reliable through 3 megavalanches and years of abuse dh, xc, alps, wales, peaks, scotland

servicing shimano hubs is **** nightmare, hope ones a breeze

if u break shimano gear you bin it, if its hope u ring em up to fix it

the big s make some great stuff and so do hope

"Why?" FFS – to support British industry.

BTW – the Sanderson Life is a cracking bike (not literally).

also

i wanted 9mm adaptors for my front hope pro2s, after whipping up the issue on the forum here we got hope to make some, and they rock- could shimano manage that

I think it's a great project and you should do it.

Pace have some "new" old stock of their own forks before DT bought them out.

Forks sorted, Charge Spoon saddle….or Brooks, There's a British company that does cassettes I beleive…as for mechs and shifters though…

If you can't get british go EU? Gives you a chance with drivetrain stuff

"Why?" FFS – to support British industry.

Read: Taiwan.

There is no more manufacturing company in UK …

I mean industry.

Go rigid singlespeed, simple.

Hope make kit with variable reliability, usually poor- you never hear anyone saying customer service for Shimano is great when recommending it, because most people never have to use it.
Middleburn are living in the past with ISIS and no HT2 offering.

coq. I've got Hope hubs and disks on two bikes, both have worked perfectly for six years with only one bike needing bleeding twice in that time. Also, HT2 has proved just as problematic as ISIS and External bearing systems, or don't you pay attention to any report of problems with Shimano kit? I again have an ISIS bb on a bike, it's six years old, works perfectly, and had a bearing change at eighteen months. Mine's a RF Signature one, and if I was offered a pair of Middleburn cranks cheap I'd snap them up and happily fit another ISIS bb in my SS, to replace the (perfectly good) Bontrager GXP crank/bb setup on there at the mo'. You say Hope is crap, but I know for a fact that another brake and component manufacturer has terrible reliability problems with one of their latest brakes, to the extent that an LBS I know will change the brakes on new bikes, because so many have come back with issues. No, I won't name names, but I was given the info by someone I trust.

Tiwan? I thought the brakes and hubs were made in UK

I'm sorry, what makes me a cock count zero?

hope hubs dont die, bearings do. and you get to hit them with a hammer to service them.

There is no more manufacturing industry in UK …

Yeah, a sector worth c.£150bn and employing 3m is pretty insignificant.

Fortunatley this is the only time I've had to do it- unlike with all 4 sets of Hope brakes I owned which were mechanical disaster areas.

Nothing to do with you then?
I wouldn't want to ride with any thing else but hope brakes.

I love my Hope hub, clicky clicky clicky wonderful!

Hope make kit with variable reliability, usually poor- you never hear anyone saying customer service for Shimano is great when recommending it, because most people never have to use it.
Middleburn are living in the past with ISIS and no HT2 offering.

I'd agree with that, to some extent
My Mono Minis required constant fettling to keep them running right and I sold them after they boiled for a second time. The first time dumped me in a ditch in Wales, cutting my leg. (Magura brakes make Hopes look underpowered and expensive)
I've had freehub pawl springs snap on Pro 2s
Pro 2 bearings are rubbish, mainly because the hub is too much of a compromise: To fit different axles, they've had to use thinner bearings to get the space. When they do go, they cost a fortune to replace and it's no quicker or easier than a 50p bag of bearings in a Deore hub
I've snapped an XC rear axle. No idea how.
I've seen 2 Hope hubs with broken flanges where spokes have ripped out, and seen more of that on STW.

But, yes, Hope's customer service is great. I got new pawls and springs for free, and they replaced the axle without question too, so I contine to use their hubs.
But for the money, it's no better than Deore.

As for USE stuff, I've never seen such crap in my life. Without fail it all snaps, packs up, cracks or bends. I simply won't go anywhere near any of it any more.

I use lots of USE stuff and it's AOK.

Got several Race stems, a couple or three seatposts (Sumo and ALien), one saddle, two pairs of handlebars, a couple of lights, some bottle cages, etc, etc :O)

(it's the other side of the story but maybe I ride light or don't thrash my kit as much as others do???)

I tried it with my old Tinbred, (yeah I know where it was made, but british design at least), I had a tried for English speaking built stuff, like Maverick forks, lots of Thompson, King, Hope, Answer, I lost my way at cranks and used a Campag (one of the best moves I made as it happens) but I really got stuck with the gears as I had been so happy with Shimano stuff I found it hard to move away there, and the brakes ended up Shimano too as a cost thing XTR as a £60 quid upgrade from 525's was hard to resist.
Oh and I had a Superstar carbon seatpost cos it was ace.

edit.. surely you could/should build a Russian bike given your name?

Hmm funny about the USE stuff – Ive used one of their suspension seatposts from marathon races in the Alps to the Downieville Classic & never had a problem..It takes the edge off the hard hits & lets me ride my HardTail faster.

ps Ive just read the BikeRadar review for fun & I cldnt disagree with it more – all the problems they mention Ive never had. I dont experience ANY pedal bounce (I also have a full-sus so maybe my riding style accounts for any movement).

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/seat-post-seat-pin/product/sumo-xcr-carbon-shokpost-21319

I was under the impression that Middleburn were developing an outboard BB crankset.

Not that I would consider that a leap into the future. Ive gone back to Middleburn Square Taper from OB BBs because they are technologically superior for my needs. 🙂

Stoner do you run a triple or double ring setup?

Anyhow FWIW if anyone fancies a good SS or 1×9 crankset you could do a lot worse than going for a roadie Campag crank, the external BB are fully serviceable in about 10 mins for a bearing re grease, and the bearings should you be too lazy to grease em are availiable for £20 off most on line shops. The 34t ring on the compact set is unrampped and very durable and then should you kill that off, Middleburn stock new ones if you fancied.

Single – SS/Rohloff.

ah, I edited my post above…. no good to you as you already have cranks, but worth considering if you ever change.

Thats all the versatility of a King BB with a free crankset thrown in..