I know it’s no excuse, but I was chatting to Jim a few days ago and they did seem to be really busy.

I asked what the turnaround was on their frames and he reckoned around 8 weeks.

They’re only a small outfit and I’m not too sure how many builders they have. I was under the impression they just had Mark building frames, but I might have that completely wrong.

Taking about Enigma, didn’t they used to build the Saracen steel Kili’s a couple of years back?

IvanDobski – Member
£500 on a £1600 all-mountain ti frame.

If a designer had put some time and effort in on my new frame, I would expect to lose some of my deposit; but I wouldn’t like to comment on how much I’d expect to pay.

I wonder if they get folks making an intial order just to get their correct sizing worked out and then cancelling?

I reckon a bikefit for example must be between £100 to £150.

IvanDobski – Member
Custom, basic drawings done but no cad, fea etc.

Do they ask for much deposit upfront?

IvanDobski – Member
There’s helpful and there’s “we’ve got your non-refundable deposit” helpful. I’ve discovered the 2 aren’t the same.

If I could get my money back I would.

Was the deposit on an off the peg frame or a custom built frame?

I use these

They do them in either 4mm for gear cables or 5mm for brakes in black or white.

vertical climber – Member
Strange enigma have been good for me so far

+ 1

Jim at Enigma is a really helpful bloke.

I wonder if it is a Lynskey built frame?

They do seem to build a frames for a lot of different companies.

The aqua coloured 853 Kili frame looks nice.

The Nylon puppy teething toys are pretty good, I think there are a few different makes and versions.

It’s also a good idea to put the teething toys in the freezer as it helps sooth their gums.

How about a street triple?

I owned a Thruxton for 12 months back in 2009 and it was a bike that looked much better than it rode.

It was silver with a straight through Arrow single sided exhaust which looked and sounded fantastic.

It was quite a heavy bike though which didn’t hide it’s weight well at all. You certainly couldn’t rush it into corners and it felt like it had a hinge in the middle. You had to get your speed and line set up perfectly well before a corner. That’s all very well on a road you know, but if you’re riding in a new area; it’s frustrating.

I had Hagon uprated shocks and fork springs fitted, which helped; but it was still hard work in the bends. I could imagine that a new rider could possibly get caught out purely on the bike not turning particulary well and running wide.

If you are going to use a Thruxton as a daily rider, it also might take a bit of cleaning as there is a lot of chrome and exposed engine to keep on top of.

My Thruxton never went wrong, but it gave the impression of being built down to a price; for example a lot of the chrome ‘metal’ parts are actually plastic.

To conclude, I only rode it around 600 miles in 12 months because it wasn’t a particulary enjoyable bike.

rwc03 – Member
Anybody own a Moots? Always been interested as to how they ride

I owned a Rigormootis many moons ago but found the geometry to be a bit old fashioned.

They have short effective top tube’s as standard, for example the 16″ which has a 17.27″ seat tube only has a 22″ effective top tube.

You can get custom geometry, but that is even more £££’s over the standard price.

I think a standard geometry Rigormootis is around £2700.

As long as you and your kit doesn’t exceed 110kgs, you’ll be cool.

Just don’t give a seater to anyone 8)

This is from a 2010 general manual….

Scott mountain bikes are intended for a maximum
rider weight of 110 kgs, the overall weight of bike incl.
rider should not exceed 119-128kgs (depending on bike
weight)

I thought the landscape shots were amazing and definately some folks on there have no sense of self preservation 😯

Fat Baby McGee…..

However did they know 😀

That Giant looks really nice and it appears that by buying it over the Madone you’ve cut out the middle man anyway.

Quotes from BikeRadar

User
User review of Trek Madone 3.5 (12)
The entry level Madone was to a degree neglected by Trek while it was making all the OCLV frames in the US, but with the switch to having Giant make the 3 series along with another 90% of their models has created a series of better riding bikes branded with the Trek name. Its both a great thing for riders, but disappointing that Trek themselves couldn’t quite get it done properly.

User
User review of Trek Madone 3.5 (12)

@wolverine: Hi, if I might clarify one thing for you: the production location of the 3 Series Madone is completely independent of the design of the bike. It is very much designed by Trek, and the layup schedule of the carbon is also ours. The factory has no involvement in how the bike is designed. The reason why the 3 Series has improved this year, is because we redesigned it, not because we changed where it is being manufactured.

What has also changed is that now all Madones are made using the OCLV process, not just those produced in the US. So, it is also very much still our process that is being used to make carbon bikes, in any location.

It is the combination of the redesign, and the sharing of OCLV that has resulted in the quality of the new 3 Series.

@WV Cycling: We provide various training options for our retailers to bring them up to speed on the technological advancements, and changes within bike lines. They receive this new information starting with our retailer show in the summer. They then have different avenues for further training that involve in-store visits by their reps and our two retail trainers, house seminars that we run from our training room in Milton Keynes, and Trek University, which is an online program that can be accessed at any time. We also provide them with printed reference materials that will help them to demonstrate the differences between one version of a Madone, and another.

The range isn’t as complicated as you might think, either. All 3 Series Madones, for example, have the same frame. As do the 4 Series. What will vary between them will be the components. This is what differentiates one price point from the next. That’s pretty easy for a salesperson in a store to explain.

I bought my Kona singlespeed from them a while ago and they were faultless.

Their communication was good and the postage was really fast.

I think it’s best to call to check availabilty before ordering though.

slimjim78 – Member
110XTR sounds good. I love the ‘modutop’ option, loads of extra cubby holes in the roof and panoramic glass.
I’m going to view one of these.

This looks good:
http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201202441755319/sort/locasc/usedcars/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/maximum-mileage/up_to_80000_miles/fuel-type/diesel/make/citroen/radius/1501/keywords/xtr_110/page/1/postcode/gu27xh?logcode=p

Imprezza Wagon? Seriously nice, I would love one. Need my own personal oil reserves to fund the petrol costs though.

If you go for the modutop, you lose a lot of the load height. I looked at a modutop and a standard version and reckon the standard would be better for carrying bikes etc.

The chap at Citroen I spoke to said that the 110 had a lot more poke than the 90. The 110 is also the most economical model with a combined mpg of 53.3

slimjim78 – Member

especially the XTR model as in your link

but im more of a SRAM man..

seriously though, it looks extremely practical. Just a shame they have such weedy BHP. A nice 120/130bhp diesel would be fun.

Off to look at Accord..

They do make a 110 XTR, but they seem to be rare.

slimjim78 – Member
http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201151436705605/sort/locasc/usedcars/price-to/8000/maximum-mileage/up_to_20000_miles/model/berlingo_multispace/make/citroen/page/1/postcode/gu27xh/radius/1501?logcode=p

This Berlingo is almost… funky? I quite like.

I think they’re pretty cool, especially the XTR model as in your link.

slimjim78 – Member

I’m also keen to at least try out a Berlingo for size, only real sticking point is that for the money I half expected a bit of a quality feel, and although cars like Berlingo’s are extremely versatile, I cant help but feel like im sitting in a chunky plastic tonka toy. I can get over it, but not sure the wife will feel the same!

One of the Berlingo’s main selling points to me is that it’s very utilitarian and I wouldn’t worry too much about damaging or getting dirt on a posh interior.

Here are a few Berlingo’s to give you an idea on prices etc.

The Berlingo Multispace and Partner Teepee also has up to 3000 litres of luggage space compared to 1745 litres of a Mondeo estate.

The fuel economy seems pretty good as well at over 50mpg’s.

How about a Berlingo Multispace[/url] or Partner Teepee[/url] with the 1.6hdi?

We’ve been looking at one for ourselves and considering the cars overall size, they’re huge inside.

The rear seats fold up or can come out completely and they have a lot of headroom.

I measured the one we looked at and the load width even at it’s narrowest is around 120 cm’s, whilst the load length is approx 99 cm’s with all the rear seats in place and then around 160 cm’s with the rear seats removed.

Would it not be better to wait until you’ve got it if you want to name and shame?

Sounds like they offered you the deal of the century!!!!

Can’t believe you didn’t bite their arm off 😆

It might be worth having a look at the completed listings on Ebay to see what similar MX5’s have sold for.

wallop – Member
Ooh…

Whatcar – Dealer price £7704, Private £7148, P/X £6447
Parkers – Dealer price £8805, Private £7770, P/X £6990

Interesting. There is a dealer near me selling an identical car for £10495! It has less mileage though, but what a difference!

Thanks chaps.

Have a look at the values of the cars you’re interested in as well. That might make for very interesting reading!!!!

On the Whatcar.com website, you can get a cars value from it’s registration number.

Have you had a look at your cars value on Whatcar.com and parkers.co.uk?

If you are happy with £6k, then go back to the original dealer with the Mazda 5 and tell them that you’re up for a deal if they can get to the £6k.

You also need to look at what they are selling the Mazda 5 for. If it’s a really good price, then they might not have much profit to possibly over allow on your MX5.

If you can get near to what you want from a dealer without having to tax, service and MOT it, then happy days.

I believe that you need to watch the cooling system on them as they can overheat causing damage to the head.

A guy I work with has one and loves it, but he had some kind of alarm fitted to warn him when it starts to get too hot.

I had a problem with my Maxx-D battery not giving anywhere near the recommended run time.

They told me to return the light and 10 days later it arrived back with a brand new battery. They even fitted a brand new switch even though my old one worked just because it seemed a bit worn.

I can’t speak highly enough of them to be honest.

A Cinch post is 6nm max according to Moots.

I’d reckon trying on 5nm first.

It looks really cool in black with the understated stickers.

Glen Wyllin campsite at Kirk Michael is a great place to stay.

It’s a nice chilled out site with a beach, a pub, a post office and general stores shop all within just a few minutes walk.

It’s also handy that you can still get out to visit the rest of the Island when the roads are closed using the coast road to Peel.

Cool 🙂

The codes I posted on STW 2 days ago are still working.

Here you go 🙂

8VYXFGRVINVIPP

17YA2IYM2GQI9W

HFXM84U8M7JKIL

It’s better to come for both pratice and race week.

Spend practice week getting some nice ‘in you own time,’ rides in around the course, then spend race week parking your bike up and just watch the racing.

Race week is a bit of a nightmare for trying to enjoy riding the course. All the sunny day riders will be out from 5am with a complete disregard for the rest of the general riding / driving population and the mountain road will also be closed between Ramsey and The Creg numerous times due to collisions during race week.

the_lecht_rocks – Member
how easy is it to secure B&B accomodation this year ?

I was asking around a few months ago for a friend who wanted to come over for TT and it’s not easy.

It’s easy to get on a campsite, but a lot of B&B’s will be booked up.

Homestay may be the way forward for anyone looking for digs.

This is the official website for trips and digs

After a bit of a decline in numbers, it picked up again last year.

I think the coverage on ITV4 and also the TT3D film has worked wonders.

I spoke to a lot of vistors last year who had come over to see the TT after seeing the ITV4 coverage.

Only 133 days, 23 hours, 57 minutes to go 😀