PSAs that may or may not be amazing enough to warrant their own thread

Race tyres (which were asked for) are very different to trail tyres.  Barzo is a great race tyre in the Graphene compound and set at the right pressure, but nothing like the ultimate grip levels a soft compound trail tyre can manage.

Thanks for the link to the speed/cadence sensor – I’ve ordered that and a chain checker and a couple of other things to get free delivery.

Oh God, I’m so sorry, I hadn’t twigged we were talking road tyres – I saw barzo and stupidly went straight to mtb tyres.

Forget me! 

+1 thanks for the speed/cadence sensor psa, I’ve ordered to go with the turbo trainer!

Has anyone used the Prime 650b alloy gravel wheelset?

I was looking for some winter wheels for my gravel bike.  Any tyre recommendations for Yorkshire winter roads and byways?

BikeInn has Vitoria Barzo and Mezcal in 650b for £25ish.

G2 TNT 2.25″ 27.5″ Barzo & Mezcal pair is about £66 delivered from BikeInn, I don’t think I’ll get a better pair of xc race tyres for less money.
Unless someone else has seen some other bargains?

Edit: Sorry if I wasn’t clear, the tyres are going to be used on an 11 years olds bike and will be used for xc racing. I’m going to pair them up with the Kinesis Sector Gravel wheels as they’re pretty light, cheap and fit his bike.

I’m thinking of building him up a specific bike for this but there aren’t many small lightweight xc frames and sus forks about for a cheap price so so will probably just stick to his Trek Marlin and try to take as much weight off it as I can without breaking the bank.

Were there ever any 27.5 xc weight frames? Not going to be long before my eldest will need a bigger bike again. I’ve already got a set of DT xr331 27.5 rims to keep wheel weight down but frame+fork look more difficult to find.

The £299 Nukeproof scout frames are 2.3kg

the Orbea MX range as pretty close as can be to small XC, possibly a little heavier

my nipper was on them from 24″ to 27.5″, just sold my 12 year olds one which was running a light manitou fork and dt xc wheels, no real frame only option however afaik

I don’t know if we’ve done the LifeLine Performance 39 Piece Tool Kit but £40 seems a mad deal for anyone starting to do maintenance at home.

Were there ever any 27.5 xc weight frames?

Remember when Giant went all in on 27.5?

They had XTCs, Anthems etc. and I’m sure they must be pretty cheap secondhand now that everyone’s racing on 29.

Remember when Giant went all in on 27.5?
They had XTCs, Anthems etc

There has been a couple on Ebay but still going for decent money.
His Marlin frame is apparently about £2kg so not lightweight but not super heavy either.
It’s proving a bit tricky to build a lightweight small mtb on a budget but that’s part of the fun.

Were there ever any 27.5 xc weight frames? Not going to be long before my eldest will need a bigger bike again. I’ve already got a set of DT xr331 27.5 rims to keep wheel weight down but frame+fork look more difficult to find.

@nixie
I’ve got a medium Anthem Advanced 27.5 in my n+1 collection. With black box SIDs. It’s currently waiting for my eldest to grow into but he’s not moving fast enough and I don’t think he’s bothered. If you’re interested LMK and I’ll dig it out.

The £299 Nukeproof scout frames are 2.3kg

And need a 140mm fork. Not light or particularly xc orientated.

the Orbea MX range

She had the 24″ version but we switched to a Vitus for 26″. The orbea is nice though (other than lack of dropper routing on the 24″).

yer no dropper routing on the kids 27.5 either, but if you go in through the brake grommet and out under the BB with the rest of the cables, you can then use the guide for the 2x derailleur that’s not fitted and put a small hole in the back of the seat tube. works a treat ;)

osprey 1.5l hydration lumbar reservoir (bumbag shape) £7.60-£8

Where are the insultingly cheap 27.5 rear wheels at?! Come on CRC, find another sofa and dig deep.

Pearson currently have some nice looking waterproofs on sale for £70, just what I needed for winter gravel, nothing too pricey so I’ll be less squeamish about dragging it through mud and undergrowth, a bit bright with some reflectives but not fluoro yellow (shows the mud daaarling!).

Very friendly enthusiastic chat when phoning to check sizing, seem like good guys to deal with 👍

Bryter Layter – Waterproof Jacket Navy

CRC sale – Sram MTH 716 boost  HG hubs on Race Face AR30 29″ rims coming out at £87 pair if an good for anyone. 

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/sram-mth-716-on-raceface-ar-30-front-wheel

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/sram-mth-746-on-race-face-ar-30-rear-wheel

That’s f****** ridiculous, I paid £300 for the same rims on DT 370 hubs in the summer and thought I’d got good VFM. Should just have bought 4 pairs of those!

I’ve been dithering over building/rebuilding a cheap commuter as the office is moving and I don’t think I can face the extra distance on the OFO every day. At this rate I should just all the bling PSA’s and have something nicer than my MTB!

Will you lot please stop with the PSA ? I’ve bought a turbo trainer and sensors even though being ideologically opposed  to cycling indoors when there’s the great outdoors!! I’m currently fashioning a tin foil hat to protect myself…

Will you lot please stop with the PSA ? I’ve bought a turbo trainer and sensors even though being ideologically opposed to cycling indoors when there’s the great outdoors!! I’m currently fashioning a tin foil hat to protect myself…

Same here.

Any deals around on DT rims eBike suitable?

If I hadn’t blown all my money I’d get a pair of those wheels just so I could swap tyres easily.

GRX 400 1×10 Shifters/Brakes can be had for £80 a side.

I was thinking about pairing them with a GRX 812 mech and one of the bargain m4100 11-46 cassettes.

https://www.wiggle.com/p/shimano-grx400-1×10-speed-hydraulic-disc-brake

Wish I’d bought the Digger frame for £130 and those carbon £135 wheels now! Could have had an amazing gravel bike under £600!

Wish I’d bought the Digger frame for £130 and those carbon £135 wheels now! Could have had an amazing gravel bike under £600!

That would have been awesome.

Still worth grabbing those cheap GRX bits if you’re after a gravel bike, other deals will pop up.

Those wheels are slightly rubbish SRAM hubs and the pinned RF rims aren’t they? Like even worse ARCs? I weigh just over 70kg and tend to be lightish on wheels, but I killed a set of ARCs pretty swiftly.

@submarined – interesting, the wheels you’re referring to are the carbon gravel ones? Or the cheap Prime road ones mentioned earlier?

 interesting, the wheels you’re referring to are the carbon gravel ones? Or the cheap Prime road ones mentioned earlier?

No the 29er Raceface/sram set linked by sodajim.

I’ve bought a turbo trainer and sensors even though being ideologically opposed to cycling indoors when there’s the great outdoors!!

OTOH, I considered buying one of the stupidly cheap turbos, even as a lifelong indoor training refusenik. Now that I haven’t, I’m in the happy position of never being able to buy one when I could have had one for a tenner. Someone would literally have to force it into my hands. Psychology… Weird init.

For the non turbo crew, how about a set of rollers?

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/lifeline-turbo-trainer-roller-trainer-rt-01?color=black&sizeStandard=One+Size&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=CRC_UK_GGL_PMX_SMA_MAN_MIX_ALL_NA_NA_NA_TIER4_NA_NA_Newstructure&utm_medium=base&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmsurBhBvEiwA6e-WPITnkFzR-YGWG96CnWoZIpY7JH82Kro_kbDNL0eabLp4Rh0pO0vvHRoCSgsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Granted, reviews are mixed. But I’ve always wanted to tray out rollers and for 29.99? why not.

Does the GRX 812 work properly with the grx 10 speed shifters? I was looking at switching from a double 10 speed to that but would mean switching derallieur and I might get another chainset for single ring?

Pretty sure grx 400 and tiagra 4700 both have the same pull ratio as 11 speed. I use the 10 speed tiagra 4700 mech with 11 speed shifter no issue.

@thenorthwind my turbo arrived today, I’ve set it up but can’t use it. Something weird happened to my knee this morning and I’m in pain, as you say, psychology, weird innit!

GRX 812 work properly with the grx 10 speed shifte

Yep

Anyone know if I can change the delivery address on an order from CRC?

Cheers for the information. Yes, i know tiagra and grx are officially the only ones what work with each other via shimanos information but as they run on the same pull ratio then it should be fine? I see the 812 mech is rated as 42t max but I read that it works with a 46t. Is that with b screw adjustment or just as is. Sounds like a good potential build there as mentioned. What are you thinking for chainset, a 40-42 single ring chainset up top. The mech is £69 which sounds a lot still to me for a mech. Is that slightly reduced price too. I could always sell the grx400 mech I guess and put towards the 812.

So I bought the slick oil pedals, floor pump, QR clamps, toolbox, green pedals, carbon road saddles… 😆

any other epic bargains? Can’t seem to find any now, 

Carbon seat for 12.99

nope, gone :(

£5 DHB helmets are still available

Anyone know if I can change the delivery address on an order from CRC?

CRC Customer Service probably do.