Is the OP sure the problem isn’t between the keyboard and chair ?

This was my first thought too. I’ve been through the system a couple of times since the pronlem and the same thing happens.

Could you not just have gone round to have a look or have you moved to the other end of the country? Do you know anyone who lives in the area??

The house is 200 miles away. We previously had multiple parcels, a bike and a car stolen from the property. I didn’t think it was worth getting anyone to check the doorstep because it would be some kind of miracle if the parcel was still there 10 days after delivery.

I reckon I have been ordering kit from Merlin for about 20 years. Maybe more. Since the time of their double-page small print ads in MBUK, anyway.. In that time I’ve had multiple sets of wheels, brakes (canti’s, v-brakes and discs), forks, too many drivetrains to count and all manner of assorted odds and sods.

If they haven’t made a lot of profit from me over the years then I have no idea how they’re still in business!

So, an update, as promised.

The company I ordered from is Merlin. They have again told me they cannot accept any fault and “we will only send orders to the address listed on the order”. IMO this misses the point somewhat, since the address I typed in when I placed the order is not the one they sent the order to.

I emailed them screenshots and have asked them for clarification as to whether they do not believe there is a problem with their system, or if they think it is the customer’s responsibility to pick up on the problem. They have not responded to that question.

I understand their point of view. I should have checked the confirmation screen more thoroughly. However, their ordering system has a clear fault and they’ve refused to acknowledge that.

In the pretty competitive world of online bike retailers, I’m surprised they have let a customer go so cheaply.

Thanks folks.

Bez, this is pretty much my thinking on the issue. Add to that it won’t even cost them £80, as presumably they made a decent amount of profit on the sale.

Andrewreay, not an autocomplete issue. The address was an old saved one from my account with the retailer. The package has already been delivered, so no chance of recovery from the courier.

I also didn’t use PayPal, so it’s not a problem with them.

I’ll post an update when I’ve heard again from the company in question.

Thanks avdave. I’ve made that point to the company and I’m waiting for a response. I didn’t want to name and, potentially, shame without giving them a good chance to resolve the issue first.

Woody, I did consider that option, and might still give it a go, but I think the retailer will refer to the courier’s tracking system which states the package was delivered. I have no reason to doubt that the package was delivered, it’s just a few hundred miles north of where it should have been!

Thanks for the input. 1-1 so far. Anyone else care to weigh in?

The order was about £80. It was a spend x amount and shipping is free deal, so the retailer chose the courier.

Poor girl.

I know nothing of gymnastics, hence the following question: Was that extra mat she landed on supposed to be there? Is it a standard thing?

I ask because to me it looked like she got hurt because she under-rotated, abruptly halting her forward momentum. Landing on a platform higher than her takeoff meant she had less airtime to complete the rotation, compared to doing the same on a flat surface. If she’d always practised on flat ground then that may have made the difference. Small margins, but I guess that’s what they work with.

Having done and coached flips/spins etc in snowboarding, albeit at a much lower level than these guys, I have some related experience.

I had a bike stolen which then turned up on ebay in bits. I bought the wheels immediately and arranged to collect. Contacted the police to help who told me in no uncertain terms not to meet the seller/thief. They told me they would handle it so I passed on all the details including name, ebay listing, address etc. The police pissed around for over a week before going to visit the house, by which time the bike was gone. Needless to say I would do things differently if the same thing happened again…

If you do choose to try to recover the bike through the police then you’ll need pretty solid proof that it’s yours – proof of frame number is best but at a minimum you need photos of you with the bike showing clear distinguishing features (damage is probably best). You might know that your snowflake-laced, purple Chris King and ENVE front wheel is one of a kind but the police have no idea and the crook can say it’s their bike. You have to prove it’s stolen rather than them proving it’s not.

I hope it works out for you.

That’s very helpful and exactly what I wanted to hear! Thanks!

Thanks for the help. I’ve sent Icycles an email. I did look on their website but bike hire wasn’t glaringly obvious, so I missed it initially. I am riding solo, I’m a wee bit antisocial like that.. Not against riding with others, I just don’t want to lumber some poor stranger with a whole day of my weak chat!

Cheers Hodgy. Bike Place is looking like the best bet at the moment. I know it’s pretty much on the way to the Tweed Valley. It’s just a bit limiting having to travel through Kielder during business hours going both ways.

My story will hopefully serve as a bit of an antidote to the tales of woe above. I had worsening inguinal hernias on both sides a few years back. Like yours, they were affecting my ability to exercise so I decided to have surgery. Got a mesh repair (there are several different techniques for fixing them). Was up and about the following day. It was winter though and there was snow on the ground. I had a little slip. Didn’t fall but the reflexive tensing of my abdominal muscles and resulting agony was enough for me to turn round and go home again! Better every day for the next few weeks. I was snowboarding less than 3 weeks after with minimal discomfort. After that it’s been all good. No more pain.

The only downside for me is aesthetic. I no longer have a nice line demarcating the border between my abs and top of the leg. Also, my fat distribution has changed so I don’t seem to grow fat further down than a couple of centimetres below my belly button, which looks a bit odd. It’s incentive to keep slim though! Overall very satisfied with the surgery.

when you live in a nation of **** who believe the NHS will be better off because it’s written on the side of a bus…I’d agree with you

Has Brexit replaced the Nazis in Godwin’s Law now?

Why does it have to be a Canyon? Better bikes around IMO.

This floors me every time:

Thom Yorke – Ingenue

Well, good enough for the eBaythertons I guess…

Fixed that for you!

I don’t understand why this is such a big deal. Pretty much every pro sells off gear when a sponsorship deal ends and often before. I was offered a YT Mob team bike last year. I’ve seen a world cup top ten rider flog 30 boxed sets of Oakleys out of the back of his van. Every few days there’s a pro with priced gear on their instagram. Why is it only the Athertons who get hate for it?

Profiling your customer by what phone they use is scary and tbh very clever.

If this is what’s going on then my new MacBook is paying for itself already! It brings up some questions though. I’d always seen web tracking and targeted ads as a bad thing. I run ad/tracker blocking software and use a VPN when I remember to turn it on. If I am being profiled in this instance then obviously those precautions aren’t working, but also the profile has a very real benefit for me.

I guess it comes down to the same question of what is my privacy worth to me..?

How do you find the Hillbilly 2.6 in the Tweed Valley? I ran one up front for a bit and really liked it. Actually thought at the time that it might be a very good Golfy tyre.

Thanks for the replies.

Flights are from NZ/Oz to London in March. I guess the batch theory might explain it but it was more than one airline.

I’ve repeated the search using a VPN and a different browser and get the same (lower) prices. It’s looking most likely I made a mistake with the searches on the shared computer but I can’t think what, as I made several different searches.

Pretty sure there is a dev from
Skyscanner who posts on here…

If the prices all jump up again in the next 15 minutes I’m going to cut the power and put my tinfoil hat on.

I’m on the 29×2.6 Butcher Grid F+R. Running 23/28+ psi. I liked the tyres initially but was running them on mostly natural trails with very few rocks. I agree with sentiments about them being too thin. Any less than those pressures and they squirm like crazy. They’re also a pretty harsh ride. The side knobs are now starting to tear off mine and they weep sealant. Safe to say I will be exploring other options when this set die, which seems imminent.

+1 for Shimano. For me, they’re almost so faultless that they’re easy to forget. The stuff just works and keeps working for ages. I’ve been mountain biking for over 20 years and every bike has had Shimano components (some more than others). I’ve never had the need to warranty anything. I know some people who’ve had issues with brakes and they’ve always been sorted out with no fuss. I dabbled with SRAM recently but won’t again.

Edit: I’ve just remembered I did once have a Zee mech clutch fail. They sent me a new one immediately.

Giant have been very good to me also. Seemed to take great pride in their products (and some other companies’ products which came on their bikes).

TRP Excellent – sent me spares FOC from the US. Not even warranty issues, I just sent them an email to ask where I could buy a bleed kit and some seals.

I used to work for Ellis Brigham/TSA many moons ago. They’re a good company with mostly very knowledgeable staff and a good range of stock. Borderline in Aberdeen (might have moved to Banchory now?) are also good guys.

Wherever you choose, try to go on a weekday. It’s less likely to be busy and you’ll probably get a more knowledgeable, full-time staff member, rather than the hungover weekend kid who’s there to lend a hand when it gets busy.

Also, as tempting as it is to wait for end of season bargains, if you have specific requirements (which it sounds like you do), go boot shopping early in the season. Shops get their snow stock in before the start of winter and need to have it all sold by the end, so your choices are getting fewer the later you leave it.

Custom insoles/footbeds are also brilliant if they’re made right, but add significant cost and are quite dependent on having someone who knows their stuff making them.

Are we sure they are actually recycled? This is an Australian article but it suggests mostly they end up in landfill because they’re too risky to crush and recycle.

I’m going to go against the consensus here and agree with the OP. I liked the performance of the V4 but they were a bit precious. Same issue, the pistons would frequently get sticky, requiring cleaning and relubing to keep them centred. I was using the recommended silicone grease. It meant they often rubbed and/or felt spongy. Might have been the particular volcanic rock/silt where I was riding but I gave up in the end and went for TRP Quadiems – no issues at all with them.

Definitely don’t spend 2 hours commuting each way to go to a keirin meet in one of the big stadia, only to find when you arrive that it has been cancelled. Otherwise you can’t go too far wrong. It’s an awesome country.

Another thing to consider is if you plan to post any outdoor gear then I think you pay a flat fee for decontamination on the way in. This is different to the rules if you are flying with your gear, where they’ll inspect it first and only clean if it isn’t up to scratch.

Our friends fell foul of this when they shipped tents and other camping gear over. They spent hours cleaning the stuff to within an inch of their life, were complemented as “the cleanest I’ve ever seen” by the customs lady, still had to pay $600…

IMO you won’t get anything which is anywhere near as good as your upgraded MBP for £320. I recently had to use a very well reviewed HP Windows 10 machine which retails for 3 times your budget. My old MBP is far better. Your only issue might be if other stuff starts going wrong with the Mac. Mine is no longer my daily driver but feels like it could go on forever. Realistically though, I know it’ll die at some point.

After doing a bit of research at the time I put two of these in my 2009 MBP. Cheap, easy and still working perfectly 3 years on. SSD is also well worth doing, if you haven’t already.

Why do you hope that when you don’t even know the details?

I’m assuming these are PED using cheats. Obviously I wouldn’t want anyone banned for correctly using their asthma medicine.

Of course, maybe this is all above-board but that’s not how it seems from the way info is coming out.

Who does the testing anyway??

I think this is part of the new deal with the UCI but I’m happy to be corrected on that.

Grip-wise, I’d say the der Baron is up there with the best mixed-condition tyres around. Traction in light mud and rooty stuff is superb. They roll pretty fast for such an open and aggressive tread pattern too. The 2.4 width is pretty accurate on the Maxxis scale. Still narrower than a 2.35 Mary though…

On the negative side, I had 2 of them fail spectacularly when the beads blew off the sidewall. Replaced under warranty but I won’t be using them again. That said, 25 quid is an absolute steal!

I’ve now had 4 Conti tyres fail spectacularly when the bead has blown off the sidewall. All replaced under warranty with reassurances it was a “dodgy batch” but I won’t be using them again. I wondered if the same thing happened to Cathro when I saw a vid of his tyre failure in that SDA race (Ae?). It’s a shame, as I loved the performance otherwise (der Baron and Kaiser Projekt 2.4).

It’s a heck of a drive from Queenstown. I’d guess 8-9 hours. It’s an awesome ride but I’m not sure it’s worth spending a day driving each way for (as pretty as some of that drive is). Make sure you spend a day or two riding in Alexandra while you’re down in Queenstown. Get in touch with Altitude bikes and get Phil to point you in the right direction.

I did this East to West years ago, though I started from Banchory and went through Fort Bill and continued to Kilchoan (about 200 miles total I think). Took me 3 days at a fairly leisurely pace on a mountain bike. I’m pretty sure I didn’t spend 9 hours a day in the saddle. I camped, so was carrying more gear than necessary. It’s a nice ride. Plenty of solitude and scenery but never too far from a decent pub/chippy. Enjoy!

Oh, and I definitely picked an easier route than the guys in that video!

I’ve had a 36 and currently on a Lyrik. Both MY2017, so not the latest version of either. I gave up on the 36 as I found I couldn’t get them set up so they worked well for me. When I got the “feel” good, which meant I could pump terrain, bigger hits were soaked up, and the fork sagged a reasonable amount then I could never get close to full travel. Only about 120mm of the 160 available. If I dropped the pressure or eased off on the damping then they felt like a saggy, divey mess but would go to full travel. I’ve often heard the line that the 36 works better when being pushed really hard but I’ve never found that. Without doing too much willy-waving, I think I’m a good rider of the sort that the 36 is meant for, I just never got on with them. Having said all that, I also used to ride the Marzocchi 350, which the new Grip damper is based on. That fork was great, so maybe time to try the Foxes again..

I have Pro4 and agree they are awfully loud. I tell myself it’s good for letting people know I’m coming but really I’m still bitter that nobody had stock of DT in Boost flavour when I needed a wheel. For me, the trick of muting the Hopes with excess grease lasts about an hour of proper riding before they’re back to full volume. Not worth the extra drag of too much lube IMHO.

It’s a while since I’ve used them but Insure and Go’s annual policy worked out at the same price as a couple of months cover and was pretty comprehensive (there are many levels of cover and options for high-risk activities). I found the same as others about not covering the full value of bikes though. I think in the end I just accepted I was going to take a bit of a hit if it got stolen.

Agreed. Well worth the few extra quid.

I’ve had zero hassle from my Fox Transfer which has been thoroughly abused and never serviced (used for about 2 years and counting). If you can find Marzocchi or newer Race Face droppers cheaper they’re also rebranded Foxes.

I’ve just traded my V4s for TRP Quadiems (for £100 an end I couldn’t resist). The V4 is a powerful brake but I have to say I agree it’s not as powerful as it should be. Also, if you like to run the lever quite close to the bar like I do then they’ll feel spongy no matter how you bleed them. The modulation is awesome but I think there are better options out there now. I’m very happy with the TRP but I’d love to try Formulas and Magura (despite that other thread..) as I’ve heard great things there too.