If you really cant decide I'll buy your place on the course off you

I'd love to say I'm tempted, but the prospect of going on the course is one of the only things keeping me alive some days. Thanks for your suggestion though, it cetainly seems like the sensible way to go. I guess what I really want to do is build something/add 'features' that you simply can't get on production frames.

The auction has ended… Did someone buy it or did the seller see this thread and pull the listing? Get yer votes in.

Onzadog – what did they do, ride them IN the sea…?

Lummox – You'll be top of the list!

Buegger, still no close to finding the dream solution!

Onzadog – fair enough, but I would pay to see evidence of a steel frame that's usted through – I can't imagine managing it.

shin-print – Excellent suggestion! I asked about that though, and they said no. Hunmph.

With 650b wheels on it?

The frame might b able to take 650b, but it wouldn't have 650b wheels on it as I don't believe they actually exist.

I want mine in an aluminium alloy!

Why…?

flatboy – sounds a bit, well, roadie t'me…

Poddy, rocketdog, will, mostly – I want themall, but no can do: sadly, it's gotta be <<fairly>> conventional.

Stumpy – just lay back on this couch and tell us all about your thoughts on climbing firemen's poles.

Tinsy/clubber – good suggestion, but got one already…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!!! Why does this bike exist???? There are, like, kiddies starvin' in Africa and that and some foo' goes and drops 12 gee (apparently) on a frickin' bike. It's like those 'tards who spend hundreds of thousands on cars and hi-fis and gawdknowswot.

WHY????????

And it's "custom". For shite's sake, when will people realise that paying a premium for something custom is only a good idea if you're going to hang on to it? Others might not be that keen on your idea of perfection so either commit for life or just get something generic.

If there's an idiot out there who's willing to pay TEN THOUSAND pounds for that, actually not that attractive, bike, surely they're the sort of people who aren't scrimping cash to get the money together – they'll easily be able to find another couple of thousand to buy their own minging bike.

And why the **** doesn't the seller out a bit of effort into the photos instead of those utterly shite may-as-well-be-passport-sized jobbies on the listing??

Sorry. I don't rant often, but that shoulda-been-aborted bike lit some kind of fuse.

Probably rides quite nice though.

Brilliant stuff guys!

I'm disappearing for a loooong weekend of getting rained on but will see how things stand in a few days time.

a few days off sick surfing porn and buying things from Wiggle

Any carriers of H1N1 willing to come and sneeze on me? Or even send me a used tissue? (I can cover postage with PayPal gift…)

Depends what you want fom it. If you want a tiny 'puter, look to Asus. I have a EEE PC 701 which is tiny and has bags of 'functionality' has actually functions. It's very light, dosn't mind being dropped and fits in your [map] pocket.

Howdy all!

I'v ben collating the offers we have so far and I rckon we nearly have a bike. Here's the essential bits and who has offered to supply them:

Frame – alexpalacefan; heathenwoods; shackleton (well done all of you!)

Forks – heathenwoods; dobbo.

Wheels – fingerbike (disc-only so who above has a disc frame and forks…?)

Tyres – petewhoclimbs.

Brakes – mboy (V-brakes which we'll need if we can't get a disc frame and forks)

Shifters – bregante; muddydwarf.

Mechs – chatsworthmusters; dobbo; muddydwarf (any ideas of front mech clamp diameter & if they're top or bottom pull guys?)

Chainset – shredder; shackleton.

Chain & cassette – silverpigeon.

Stem – dobbo.

Bars – bigsi.

Seatpost – shackleton.

Wrenching – ianpinder (good lad! + I can do one if there's to be more than one bike… :-))

Thanks for all the offers so far, good effort! If you're mentioned above, could you just repost to confirm you still have the bits and are willing to post them to where they need to go.

Lastly, importantly, keep ideas coming for the noble cause this bike can go towards helping.

bigsi & mboy – great to meet you guys the other day, hope you had fun cleaning all your gears and mechs and suspension ;)

steelfan – hope your new hoops are spinning well, and thanks for your vote of confidence! Everyone else – I offer a low, low price (pay me in biscuits!) expert wheel-building service.

Phew, getting there, getting there!

Wowza, this is getting bigger and bigger! Thanks very much to everyone who's offering to donate stuff.

Muchos gracias also to friends, old and new, who are vouching for me not being a scumbag.

I need to shower and eat, but will write more and organise things a little later on.

Cheers guys!

I met Jedi-master Tony briefly yesterday at the Swinley ride and found a right character! Fun, eccentric and with a genuine, hard-core passion for biking. I only chatted to him for about ten minutes but came away inspired and seriously tempted to get some tuition (can he teach a pussy like me to jump…??)

Back to the original post: everything seemed to work fine for me. The site looks great with a good balance of photos of 'normal' riding and 'extreme' skills. If you want ultra-pickiness I'd just say that the "Road Skills" section that's under construction could do with a picture of someone on a road bike: might stir up more interest for roadies finding their way there. Make it a female cyclist and everyone wins! ;)

I find it odd that the cynics are slating this thread: the site's new and needs feedback. Even if it does advertise the site, so what? It's relevant and could benefit plenty of people on here.

Good effort, Jedi!

Doh! I came onto this thread to just rip the pi55 a bit but, postierich, your bike is actually a reet proper stunner an' a half: a perfect blend of old, new and middle-school.

What frame is that? What's the deal with your rear disk mount: slidey?

Syncros stems ahoy!!

Usually enough to get a vegi off their dinner

Not me mate, but if you knew what happens to get meat to your plate, you might think again about eating it.

Titanium coils – a good thing?

ANY form of contraception is a good thing on this overpopulated rock of ours.

The woods behind the Nationwide in Swindon

Liar, I've seen you there and you know it…

Damnit, Goan beat me to the Moon! Room for one more on your Apollo mate?

And RP, I reckon Olympus Mons would be a fairly boring climb: from what I remember about it's size, the slope is so shallow that you could get up it in yer big ring and when you got the top the view would only be of the slopes you'd just climbed…

i believe theres a guy on ebay who will sort you right out

Wow, just how much of a LEGEND has he become!!

it's a condolence card that's premature

We really can't help until we know the details…

Dunno, found 'em in a skip and heard of this poor guy with a slipped-disc who can't ride much these days but does WICKED resprays on whatever and got him to bend them straight for me and make them that RAD new colour you see here.

You wanna see my SS yeah?

Well, I just got a new one and it's the **** nuts:

29er rear, cos it's cool.
24er front, for uphilling.
Drop bars, for no good reason at all.
Running 62:13, anything less is for soggy young lady's shirts.

EDIT: and it ain't got cranks, cos they're for softies an' all.

Hope Pro II Hubs Gone Quite

Quite what…? ;)

I'll get lynched for this, but in that hideous kit and with that expression he looks a bit like Hans Rey, back in the day…

Fun, fun, fun, in the sun, sun, sun!

Such a big thank you to CG for getting this together and leading us slackers around through the ponds that were the trails – a massive amount of fun.

Yeah, it rained quite a bit and there were one or two puddles, but when the sun came out, it was a very good feeling!

I really enjoyed putting faces to forum names (though I've forgotten everyone's real names, but who uses those ANYWAY??) and meeting lots of similarly silly people who didn't take it seriously at all. Prizes to WCA for "Most Niche Bike"… ;)

BTW, the environment agency and the Crown Estate have been on to us for polluting Swinley Forest – apparently we dumped in excess of 3 tonnes of brake pad material on our way round…

Of course, only the best from him!

It is one of the lay-back ones though…

…and I hear he has a tendency to put them in upside down…

Nope, it was just you, you lucky sod. He's on his way over to play "install the seatpost"…

Belt made from nipples

WTF?? Ok, your fear is justified. Now, be afraid, I hear he wants to make another belt….

A… scary, bloke.

Just cos you thought he was gonna come over and eat your brains!

He still might, you know….

Oh how I wish I still lived in Reading – it was so easy to get to the Lookout…

Anyone coming from The Big Smoke/departing Clapham Junction around twenty past 8? Let's clog those carriages!

GJP, you're a legend!

Thanks dude :-D

How do we identify each other? Do we wear name-badges? Paint our forum names onto our frames?

Or (eeek!) actually communicate without a keyboard…????

And does anybody know where I've lost my bite-valve??

there are sacred rock songs that mustn't be tampered with

This is true.

it is bloody awful though…

Happily, I can only barely hear it from downstairs, but from what I heard of that frankly harpooned 'Come Together', this is also true.

That's the spirit, mboy!

I've never been on a forum ride and have never ridden my new bike off-road so, despite this (http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/warnings.asp) and a wonky route on the train, I shall defo be there!

Bring it along tomorrow and we'll all have a go – what's the worst that can happen…?

mboy: summer tyres and driftage is IN!

Dobo: me too! SS and summer tyres is this season's must-have look! Complete it with soggy baggies as wet people in skintights gets me in to trouble with the feds… ;)

Then no wonder the farmers are after night riders: they wanna bag a good skin and trophy!

my daily night riding clobber

Surely "nightly"…? Yours truly, Mr Pedant.