One of my top ten films…I saw it last night and it was excellent.

That rabbit costume fills me with dread so spooky

I think you deserve all you get!

I have been on the receiving end of a cheating partner and it is not pleasant 🙁

dont do it – it is illegal

maybe…

Please not from Tesco, in fact I would be surprised if you see it there because it is not a mainstream weekly.

Tesco have a policy of stocking quick moving mainstream weekly mags and guiding readership away from niche monthly mags.

BTW I am in the paper trade 🙂

boasting?

sounds like team carbon then 😉

steel is real!

nothing like it IMHO

someone said to me today that carbon frames need changing every two years?

jim/lister-hooded/baa – I’m thinking of buying one of these, any good?

Standard flat-bar roadrat here with some extra bit and bobs. Will have saved around %40 off RRP in the end I think.

Flat Bar Road Rat here….

With the Hope upgrade

Road Rat with hope breaks, it took about 5 months & lots of phone calls,
it was through Halfords.Because they kept losing my details & application
forms, & the company I work couldn’t run a railway, I haven’t paid a penny
for the bike

My other option is a boardman road bike, either carbon or alu frame

Hardtail I think if you want to climb stuff (and can still go downhill)

well generally any full suspension bike I have ever ridden – like riding in an armchair, could not see the point.

Tried to replace my old steel kona cindercone with a alu new one back in 2003 (the old one was 1997). I hated it and it didn’t come even close to the real steel feel! Oh and it had front suspension which was crap (old one didn’t have suspension forks and didn’t seem to need them).

johnners…

I was thinking of buying one of these, can you be more specific?

Hate’s a bit strong but I disliked my Roadrat from the minute I slung my leg over it. So much so that I stripped it down and sold the frame and wheels (which I’d built specially) in pretty short order. That sort of decisive action is very unusual for me, usually things end up in the loft in case I decide to give them another try in a couple of years!

My kona unit 29er I instantly hated as it felt too upright and slow (to accelerate) however it is true about the bigger wheels rolling over stuff more easily. Incidentally I tried it again recently and it felt much better 🙂

I think I am going to go Boardman and halfords but the question is go high end alu with good kit or entry level carbon with not so good kit?

I really do fancy carbon but a few friends have said to me go alu and get better kit on it like shimano 105

BTW Dirtbiker I fancy the charge plug too!

was strongly considering a boardman hybrid team (I couldn’t see the point getting a better version, its great as it is) but as a bit of a contrast went and got a charge plug from evans ha ha.

lovely looking bike Alex!

aw – how about taking your current frame to a frame builder, getting some back entry dropouts welded on, and having a respray? source some kona decals and job’s a good ‘un

Your not wrong CP; I might just do that!

sky and endless adverts with bob Willis droning on!

I used to enjoy the C4 coverage and before that good old BBC2

Test match special is well…special!

I am thinking of going Halfords but the ‘they are not a real bike shop’ puts me off. They would be far more local to me than Evans who’s nearest stores are either Gatwick or London (I live in Kent).

Road bike wise is it better to go Boardman carbon or top end alu?

ilikebikes – thanks for the tip on the Halfords vouchers; I will check it out 🙂

chela – so the Soda is SS at the mo? How do you achieve that EBB?

samuri – sounds so similar to me; all SS then a slow return to a mixture of gears and SS.

Brownbacks is a bit far for me as I live in Kent

mine is still giving me grins 🙂

I agree about 853 although I never had one it is my impression it is held up as some mystic material. Many steel hardtails have bog standard cromly steel and perform very well indeed…old konas, inbreds, etc.

I was looking through the Evans catalogue today (due to inmnet C@W schedme) and the charge duster and charge eight stood out like a sore thumb against the numerous Treks, Spesh, Scott alu HTs. They look so generic and boring. I am sure they are good bikes in their own right but there’s something about those skinny tubes that does it for me 🙂

clubber do you prefer your kona to the more modern 853 frames?

Jason – i found the same comparing the two konas although not both units. I would say the 26″ felt faster but I suspect the 29er was actually faster. I am going to run a test soon head to head so watch this space.

Will you are quite welcome to try the unit without any obligation to buy 😉

the gears are XTR so good kit. The LBS set the gears up after I bent the rear gear hanger and they had to replace the drop out.

there are some good ones on ebay

the theory of the rollover obstacles with the bigger wheels does really work and fits in nicely with running a rigid fork (less need for front suspension).

They do carry through the ride – what I mean by that is the bigger wheels give you more momentum. I did however find mine not as responsive on fast single track as the cindercone.

thanks v10 – yes it was just too upright for me and yes therefore probably too small a frame. I had to buy a longer seat post to extend the saddle enough to get full extension of my legs on down pedal stroke.

Mine is for sale Will if you are interested or wanted a test run…or anyone else for that matter!

BTW just fixed the puncture 😉

Harry…the kona is a 97 and on retro kona site looking through the PDFs of the old brochure it says vaguely cromly steel?

incidentally mine is a little rusty in places where the cables have rubbed. I was thinking of sticking some patches or stickers to protect the frame from further damage?

Mine is SS but having grief with the chain tensioner (I hate tensioners). I cannot position it well enough to gt enough tension on the chain!

The picture below is of the cone but before I fitted the new tensioner (the old one broke).

I am amazed you say skinnysteel that you need to ‘drop more cash’ than buying a cotic soul! Do others agree because if so i will persist with it although as you point out it is not disc compatible (I always thought Vs were adequate) and has a rigid fork (the famous P2 no less).

don’t forget the Cove Stiffee…only alu HT I would buy 🙂

I have a kona unit 2-9er 2007 but I found it a little tame. I preferred my kona cindercone SS. It might however be just geometry as the cone is 18″ frame and I and the unit was 16′ because I thought I might struggle with the standover height. I am 31′ inside leg at 5 10.

The cindercone 26 wheel 18″ frame 1997…

is it pretty sweet as a SS? I would run it as a SS BTW

It does a 1 in 4 hill! or should I say you do… 😯

once more…

RoadRat

try again…
cotic roard rat video

picked up this great vid of the RR…

null

where you guys ride them? I mean o you ride them in hilly areas or relatively flat roads?

thanks (i hesitate to use your tag name as it does not sound that flattering)…

They look cool to me 🙂

Any comments about their performance?

I would say no…too unsafe with all those cars 🙂

Thanks alpin, the sanderson has had good reviews on here. I notice it employs the EBB method to tension the chain – I am not a great fan of EBBs but it does say it is trouble free

I think people test the market and sometimes like me you buy a new bike at say close to £700 and then less 12 months later cannot sell it for £300!

I don’t want to give it away 😉

oh right no problem 🙂

still have not made my mind up…only 11 days to go!

Hi Toombsy…another who can highly recommend the MCC bunch…Boris beat me to it but San Fairy Ann and the Bedgebury crowd I good too!

I live near bluebell hill village and if you want to go for a spin with me you are more than welcome!

BTW…hi Scott, hi Pete and hi Boris (where you been?)

I see the sketchy lot I going out Sunday pm which would suit me (cannot do Sunday am)

how do I contact them?