I have just finished selling and buying various bits, and I am pretty pleased.

I went from a full suss, a hardtail and a roadbike, down to 1 hardtail with 2 wheelsets, and some spare cash left over.

The roady wheelset has some schwalbe big apples on, and these really make road riding comfortable. My local roads are shocking but these tyres are pretty quick, and make everything feel like i am riding around in a shopping centre.

Its pretty good for the off road stuff i do too, I am not a downhiller but i think i could cope with this at most trail centres.

So 3 bikes to 1, with a bit of money left over, *inspects fingernails, blows, then rubbs on chest…..

Go on then…. let the mockery commence

nice, very nice.

what are the bar ends?

I’d be happy to add one of those to my collection 🙂

3 bikes to 1

It will never last.

Please don’t let Mrs Bruce see that she is firmly convinced that lots of bikes are completely essential. 1 bike argggghhhhh

i’m struggling to get it down to 1 for every occasion never mind JUST 1.

It may be OK for a commute to work on the road, but I can’t imagine you going for a long ride with some roadies and keeping up on a HT even with slick’s on…

I’m currently looking at building a bike JUST to put a pair of Big Apples on. They’re like nothing else.

That is lovely btw.

Jack of all trades…..

Tasty.

Hope you can resist the temptation.

Very nice. My only concern with that would be leaving it locked up.

i think 2 is the minimum

you’ve still got to have a pub/ station bike – and that’s not a pub bike

youngj1 – fair point, but then i wouldnt keep up with most roadies, on a roadbike. Its fast enough for a hour ride out into the countryside, I managed to average about 14 mph on a 12 mile ride today, but i need to lose some weight, and gain some fitness!

thomthumb – they are some ergon grip/barends, I roughed over the annodising on the barends, then dipped them in some very strong gloss paint. 3 weeks and 2 coats later, the finish is very good, and doesnt rub off.

how are you managing the different wear rates of the cassettes or are you swapping the cassette when swapping wheels too?

And why would you want to go for a ride with a bunch of roadies when you’ve got a mountain bike?

bike lust and practicality are two different things – hence there will never be just one bike 🙂

What size big apples are you running? I’ve got a set of 1 inch slicks on a set of mavic crossrides for road use and the tyres aren’t really wide enough for the rims and I keep getting pinch flats despite running high pressures.

I assume the 2 inch ones would be a good step up, without the extra drag of the 2.35’s. But it would be handy to know how the tyres compare as some companies 2.00 is more like a 1.7 – 1.8 in others

smurf

HoratioHufnagel, yep 2 wheelsets each with their own cassette and chain.

Yes, its a very nice bike. But I just wouldn’t be happy.
Jack of all trades and master of none.

If you’re a big apple fan, there is a Schwalbe Marathon Supreme which is 2″ wide, and 200g lighter than the 2″ big apple. It makes a real difference – you still have the boingyness, but not quite so much weight.

Although they are still a bit heavy compared to a normal road tyre.

Joe

smurf, they are the 2.35s but they actually come up as 2.1 on the rims I am running which are the same rim width to my crossrides….. hope that helps!

dont find them too draggy but it feels a bit wierd tight cornering at speed, but this is a price i am happy to pay for the comfyness

Hey tim, that’s a nice frame, I had one just like it, kinda wish I hadn’t sold it….

ONE BIKE!!!! Do you qualify for charity handouts.

I’ve bought 2 since Christmas good job there’s a credit crunch on…………….