I’m pretty much about to order a Fortitude Adventure as I want an MTB that can turn it’s hand to some touring and also take guards.

I just need to decide if I want to buy a complete bike or just the frame.

Don’t forget that if you want to carry anything on the frame, then you need the Adventure model as I don’t think the single speed and race Fortitudes have any mounts fitted.

The Adventure model can also only be run as a single speed or with an internal geared hub.

The matt protective tape from Paragon tapes[/url] is pretty much invisible on titanium frames if you were really worried about cable rub.

Love the frame, but that fork looks a bit out of place.

Alejandro – Member
Looks alright, not a fan of the random block of paint on one side of the headtube

Agree on that headtube logo as well.

Mister P – Member
Dom Thomas the Genesis designer is around that height. Have a peek at the fella in orange riding his Fortitude –

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/mountain/fortitude/fortitude-adventure

That’s great, thanks for that 8)

I was hoping that someone with a 5ft 7 friend might have picked one up by now, so I could work out sizing 😀

Not living on mainland UK means that I’d need to get on either a boat or plane to try one.

I had a very brief ownership experience of a facelift 2011 Transporter T30.

It was a lovely looking van, but they’re not as well built as VW would have you believe.

In the first few months of ownership (800 miles) it needed a new steering rack, new driveshaft on driver side and new side windows as the factory ones would not stop leaking.

After a long battle with VW, I eventually got my money back where upon I ended up saving myself around £12k and buying a brand new Citroen Dispatch which has a lot more bells and whistles.

TandemJeremy – Member
amplebrew – you don’t need to do it every ride with the putoline. Dry – many hundreds of miles till needs redoing – stays clean as well. Wet – a hundred or two miles

I was cleaning the chain so often more out of choice.

I am completely unable to put my bike away after a ride without giving it a full clean.

I clean and re-lube my chain after every ride, so not sure if applying wax is worth the effort for me.

igm – Member
If a dealer buys a van for £1000 and sells it for £1200, I thought VAT was payable on the £200 difference. No?

The dealer will pay vat on their profit, but the customer won’t have to pay any; as long as any previous owner paid the vat when they bought it.

There are a lot of vans for sale these days with no vat, as more folks are buying them as private vehicle’s.

I’m a fan of Purple Extreme[/url] which I usually get from CRC.

Just gone on their website though and it appears they don’t sell it anymore.

Stif seem to sell it though.

I bought a Potts frame, fork and components a few months ago from the USA and the costing worked out as follows:

Value of goods – $4465 (dollars) including postage

Import VAT – £599.03 (pounds)
Duties – £134.45 (pounds)
Brokerage charge – £18.34 (pounds)

Total – £751.82 (pounds)

Cool, just put it on Sky+ now; thanks for the heads up.

Is this on the Adventure Show?

If it’s just the two of you, get a standard van. You’re going to pay a lot more and limit your choice going for a combi van just so you can give people lifts on weekends away.

I always eat after the morning commute.

I don’t like cycling whem I’ve just eaten and it also means that I can have a bit longer in bed, which is always good.

How often would you use the combi seats and also do you want to sleep two people and carry a few bikes/kayaks whilst the extra seats are in place?

If you need to leave the extra seats in place, I reckon you would need something much bigger, like a MWB Transit or LWB Trafic/Vivaro.

Combi vans from any manufacturer are also usually much more expensive than the van version as well.

Based on your last post, I think you’ll need something bigger than an NV200.

Could you borrow one from a dealer for a few hours or at least go and fill one full of stuff to check on size?

I certainly wouldn’t want to go any smaller than our Dispatch.

I’ve found the Dispatch to be just like driving and parking a Picasso. It is certainly wider than a Connect, berlingo and NV200 etc.

Citroen reckons on 39.2mpg combined.

I think the fuel tank holds 80 litres (although I’d have to check the handbook) and I’ve got just over 400 miles on half a tank.

I do drive like I’ve got Miss Daisy sat beside me though.

I’ve already made the mistake of buying a van that was too small. I have had a kangoo which was really reliable and cheap to run, but there wasn’t enough room in it; especially if you want to get changed or sleep in it.

The NV200 is a completely different van to the Nissan Delivery / Vanette.

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I’ve just bought a Citroen Dispatch after spending a good few weeks looking at numerous vans.

I looked at an NV200, albeit not a combi and I thought they were a bit expensive and not that big to be honest.

Mine would be something like…..

1) BMW M30 M3 in black
2) Escort Cosworth in imperial blue
3) Escort mk2 RS2000 in black
4) Merc 190 Cosworth in black
5) Golf mk2 GTi 16v in oak green

I bought my Kona Unit from them a while ago as they were selling them off cheap. I phoned them up and the lad said he would need to go and check the stock in a warehouse. He said he’d call me back the next day which he did and I bought the bike. They then got the bike delivered to an offshore address in 2 days.

With the Hope Hoops I bought a couple of weeks ago, I made an initial enquiry via e-mail and had a response from them within 48hrs. They then got the wheels to me in another 48hrs; again to an offshore address.

Can’t complain myself, but maybe I was just lucky.

No code, but Winstanleys are fine. Just make sure that you check the item you want is in stock.

I’ve bought a few things from them, most recently some Hope Hoops just a couple of weeks ago for my wife’s Crux; without issue.

They’re always quick to respond to an e-mail when checking on availabilty.

Go onto Paypal, click on the send money icon, put the amount in and select euro’s. It will then work out the conversion for you.

142 euros = £123.20

bigbloke – Member
Do you find it generally a pain in the bottom or just got used to it so not an issue?

Whilst it’s no pian cycling into work in the mornings, there has been the odd time that the weather was so bad; I was nearly tempted to take the van or get the bus.

I’ve not given in though and I certainly feel better for it.

Even if I’m working extra hours or my days off, it means that I’m still getting some miles in.

I always cycle in on an empty stomach, then have breakfast in work.

bigbloke – Member
Do you all do it on your mtb’s or commute type bike?

I use a Kona Big Unit singlespeed with mtb tyres which has proven to be reliable and very cheap to maintain.

Cycling to work will save you a fortune as well 8)

I’m working shifts and cycle to work, although I don’t leave until 6am.

I’ve found the mornings to be no problem especially now the weather is beginning to improve.

It’s really lovely being out and about so early 8)

I think the main problem is getting yourself out when the rain is beating off the bedroom window and it’s blowing a hoolie. Once you’ve got out in it though, it’s fine and never as bad as you thought.

I find cycling back after a late shift though around 2-3am to be the hardest as I’m usually really tired anyway.

I’d definately recommend cycling in though, I think it’s great.

I had an annoying click on my singlespeed that only mannifested itself when pedalling. I stripped an greased everything and then eventually narrowed it down to the rear brake calliper.

It appeared that the when putting force through the drivetrain, something must have been catching on the rear brake which caused a metallic like click.

I took off the caliper , cleaned it, replaced the pads, centered it, and the click stopped.

It took me ages to find as I was convinced it was coming from the crank or seatpost area due to it only happening when I was pedalling.

The Trek 3 series seem to be getting good reviews.

The 3.1 with 105 mix groupset is £1500, but they do a 3.5 with Ultegra albeit over budget at £1800.

Trek 3.5 review

uphilla – Member
Your old Litespeed is still going strong!

It look fantastic, love the XX chainset; matches the frame really well.

I loved the understated stickers on that frame, looks cool 8)

LOL 😀

Sorry about the wait.

Will be done by the end of the month.

Had a bit of hassle with the parts ordered from a certain large internet bike shop coming through as OEM and also some were damaged.

I ended up sending it all back for a refund and then going elsewhere for proper boxed non OEM bits.

I also had to prioritise the Crux as once my wife saw the frame, she wanted it built up ASAP; so my focus got diverted 😳

Here are some pics of our Citroen Dispatch with my Kona Unit 29er in the back.

The Dispatch is the same van as the Peugeot Expert and Fiat Scudo, so you could look at them as well.

A bit of a bonus is that they have a sliding door on both sides.

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IMG_0034[/url] by Amplebrew[/url], on Flickr

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IMG_0037[/url] by Amplebrew[/url], on Flickr

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IMG_0068[/url] by Amplebrew[/url], on Flickr

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I use a torque wrench on all the bolts on my bikes.

Bike components aren’t cheap and I’d rather not risk damaging something.

How about a Citroen Dispatch?

We’ve just picked up a new shape and it drives well. We carry a dog cage with 2 dogs and found that Berlingo’s etc were too small with bikes in as well.. Especially if you want to get changed or sleep in the back as well.

We got a 1.6hdi and it has no problem cruising at legal speeds. It drives pretty much like Picasso, so is no hardship to drive on a daily basis. It’s just a perfect size to park as well, much easier than my work Transit or previous Transporter.

There are loads around on the used market and they can be pretty cheap even though they come with all the bells and whistles. Ours came with electric windows, heated folding mirrors, aircon, factory parking sensors and factory Bluetooth.

I’ll take a pic later on to show the size with a bike in.

Thanks for all the great feedback.

Just needs a bottle and cage sorting and proper pedals and it’ll be sorted 8)

Yeah, it’s a Stybar Crux in a 52

Fitted it with Athena black with carbon shifters and chainset with Hope Hoops.

I went for the Campag cyclo cross brakes to keep it all matching.

Mra amplebrew loves it 8)

The canti’s are with it being a cyclo cross frame, although i’ve put 23mm road tyres on it.

Always milk last for me, otherwise it makes the brew too weak and milky.

Always first in coffee though.

Not too sure on fell running shoes, but sportsshoes.com[/url] can be pretty good for running shoes.

I would look at buying a frame and building up a bike yourself. There are so many deals on groupsets and forks now, I wonder if an off the peg bike is any better value.

You also get the benefit of having a bike spec’d just for yourself and I think it’s fun working out the spec and colours 8)

wonny j – Member
Hi clubber appreciate some sensible advice but I’m 4 weeks into a 12 week training programme with specific race goals. Did a fair bit of base before Xmas as well. If I want to do ok I’ll need both man and machine working in perfect harmony.

Hijacking my own thread I just want a hardtaul rocket that is comfy enough for doing 12 hr solos. Cost about 2k…..

How about a discounted 2011 Cannondale Flash or Giant carbon hardtail.

Flash – http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p3701

XTC – http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s2p2294

There must be a few cheap deals on 2011 models now.