The Five will be my winter bike now, so won’t be abandoned!

Just to update, just taken delivery of a Bird Aether 9 in Ron Burgundy. Spent the evening Ivisiframing it, got a couple of things to do on it this evening and will hopefully give it it’s maiden ride tomorrow evening!

I think I’m going to go for the 9a in Ron’s Burgundy. I’ll spec Pike Ultimates, Superduluxe Ultimate, SLX/XT, Deore M6120 brakes, and the Bird Hope factory wheels.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help!

Think I’m leaning more towards the Aether 9. Looks like the 9C won’t be available for the foreseeable future, but I can spec better components on the 9A with the cost saving. Should be able to get a Pike Ultimate, Super Deluxe Ultimate and Hope/DT XM481 wheels for my budget.

Swinley Forest is a couple of hours drive for me (Kent), so I could possibly get a test on the Bird, but not sure about the others.

Benos, don’t suppose you’ve had your 9c on the scales?

Heart still says 27.5, head says 29, but this is having ridden neither!

Plenty to think about!
27.5, I think that it might be between an Aether 7, Airdrop Filter
29 between an Aether 9/9c, or a Jeht.

For some reason, the one that made me think ‘That looks nice’ is the Airdrop, although I normally like a brighter colour, my 5 is Apple green.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I’m not expecting a UK handmade frame unless I go Orange or Starling, I thought Cotic might, but as mentioned above they will be be Taiwan built.
I’m slightly worried about weight, but I realise I’ll be lucky to get a bike as light as my current 5 as everything is bigger now.

As I’ve changed the seals I’ll stick it all back together and see how it goes, I can see if there is any play in the bushes as well then. Hopefully it will be okay as straight steerer, 26″ forks seem to be getting rare now!

*remedy *stripped (bad spelling!)

We had one fly over in Gillingham, Kent last night around 6.30pm, following the Medway inland. Sounded awesome!

How about searching out a dual control setup, assuming the bike is 3×9? No thumbs needed for them.

Still running my Mk 1 Liberator as well, could do with a new battery now, but the light is still going strong!

I’ve used the Biketart tape on a couple of bikes and like it, not too thick so it goes around curves and edges well.

You’ll need one of these: Valve

Got my 5 in 2006, still have it, although the only original bits are the cranks and brake calipers.

Just had this, M&S would have gone up from £400 to £600 due to the change in bike cover. Just had a quote with John Lewis, their Premier cover covers bikes up to £1000 automatically, so covers 2 of mine, and added the 3rd(valued at £3500), and the premium is around £360 a year. Bit more expensive than some, but seems to have better cover.

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll have a think!

Since I got back into cycling 7 years ago, I’ve ridden nothing but, inc Dual Control, not looking forward to the time that I have to go ‘normal’!

As cheating seems to be tolerated, a nice town in Switzerland:

I got a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens which has dom=ne me proud over the last few years on my old 20D. One of these:
Tamron 17-50

This was mine for almost 10 years, sold it yesterday:(

I’ve got a Synology DS212j, which has been great. Works with my XBox fine ,and my DLNA TV and WD Live box. Be aware that DLNA only supports limited video files though, doesn’t like my .mkv files, plays .avi fine. If you want to play most file types, then you will need something like my Western Digital WD Live box.

How practical does it need to be, and what’s your budget?

Clio 182/192 Cup, or far less practical, a Vauxhall VX220 N/A?

I got my 5 done earlier this year, took it to a localish Orange dealer who sorted out all the postage, cost just under £200. Included a frame check for damage/cracks, new bearings, new stickers and headbadge, and all relevant surfaces faced ready for reassembly. Really pleased with it, looks like new! I went from Powder Blue:

to Apple Green

I have down in Kent, from 50 to 100.

I’ve got a Garmin Zumo 660, I don’t use it on a motorbike, but need a waterproof unit as my car hasn’t got a roof.

I’m really pleased with it, and on the PC(not sure if there is a Mac version), there is a Garmin program called Mapsource, so you can plan routes using that, so you can tell the satnav exactly where you want to go, then upload straight to it.

I’ve been using Garmins and Mapsource for about 8 years now for European driving holidays and think they’re fab!

Just a thought, but how are you measuring your oil? When I had to service mine, I was a div and used scales that can measure liquid volume, not thinking that 100ml of fork oil would weigh more than 100ml of water. Took me a while to work out why I couldn’t fit what I thought was the correct amount of oil in the fork!

I’ve got a Middleburn on mine, can’t tell the difference over the XT and seems to be wearing well.

If Boris doesn’t want them, and you are still selling, then I might be interested in them as well.

My Grandad was a rear gunner in Halifaxs(10 Squadron), flying out of RAF Melbourne in Yorkshire. Again, he never really talked about it, but I have got his Flying Log Book, dog tags and medals.

Recently went to the national archives, and had a look through the official RAF logs of his sorties, comparing to what he wrote in his log book, only once in his log book does he mentions engaging enemy aircraft, shooting 2 down, but reading the official log it appears says one of them was a jet fighter, what I presume must have been a
Messerschmitt Me 262.

My Pop, F/Sgt Ernest Perry in his flying gear:

What brakes have you got?
I’ve got XT, and I changed my rotor from the standard Shimano to a Clarks, one of these:

I had really bad judder with this, and the same on my other bike with the same brakes and rotor. Both rotors were straight and true, so got a couple of different rotor, ones without ‘teeth’, and everything was fine! I can only assume that the teeth were somehow catching slightly, maybe due to the pad shape.

Another one for Rapid Rise and Dual Control levers, got them on both my bikes and will be quite upset when I have to change them.

I had one a few years ago and it was great. I’ve got a car with 4 point harnesses, so it’s a real faff at the peage.

When I got mine, you had to pay a deposit, which you got back when you return the unit, so maybe the 40 euros is the refundable deposit? They were happy to have a UK credit card registered to the system.

I believe they have an office around the Reims area were you can purchase them from.

we heard it and when we looked up it was at an angle of about 70% and just kept going up at that angle until it disappeared from view.
Stunning

When I was at school, I was lucky enough, with about 5 other classmates, to be taken on a trip to RAF Mildenhall by a couple of our teachers to see the SR-71. Just as we arrived, we saw a Blackbird take off just as you described, amazing sight.
Although we were happy to have seen one in flight, we were all slightly disappointed thinking we wouldn’t get to see one close up, but we were taken into a hanger where another one sat, I can remember when walking underneath it really wanting to touch it but being too scared!

If its paid for through tax I am paying

As far as I’m aware it’s paid for by donations, so you’re not paying.

Fantastic plane, first saw it when I was younger at the Biggin Hill airshow, can also remember it doing the near vertical climb, one of the most fantastic noises there is!

I’ve found Biketape from Biketart to work the best for me.

Has anyone actually manage to do a successful claim from Royal mail? I know I haven’t, I never pay for extra insurance simply because they rarely pay out. Just make sure you cover yourself with a Basic tracking number because Royal mail PayPal & eBay are not on your side.

I did last year, sold a stem on here, sent recorded but never arrived. Went through their claims procedure, and it took a few months, but I did get the full value back from them, although I must admit I wasn’t expecting to be successful!

Whenever I sell anything, I always make sure it is signed for, and that it is insured for the full value.

My 5 is off at the moment being painted by Orange, should be getting it back next week, can’t wait!

Loco Tuning sell the spacers, I got a couple from him the other day.