Thanks all – he’s ordered a custom Ti singlespeed 29er.

Only joking… he got the Merida from Merlin – with an extra 10% off – so a pretty decent starter bike for £250!

Brilliant – thanks again to the mighty STW.
Brilliant.

‘A Race For Madmen’ Chris Sidwells.
Does the full business from the start to modern day.
Fantastic for the period you’ve asked for.

As above, for good roundup off more recent racing.

Got a 2010.
It’s very good.

@ Neil_Bolton – Member

Race Blades keep the worst off, but no substitute for full-on SKS jobbies (maybe try mounting the latter with P-Cips?)

Yep.
70 mile club ride yesterday too.
Have still got crinkly ‘bath fingers’.

If mainly racing cross, get the Mares or similar… for everything else, get an X.

The Cotic will get you from the road to the trail, round the forest and back again with more smiles per mile than a flat-out cyclocross bone-rattler.
I’ve been across France on mine – it’s a joy to ride and will soak up a hell of a kicking.

Not used Lupine, but the Smudge light is brilliant and the service is top notch.

bump for lunch folk…?

yes.

It’s great. My wife and I spent a week there recently, stayed in a log cabin nearby.
Beautiful place, enjoy!

That Turner is peachy.
That Orange doesn’t actually look bad in white.

Both on some great looking hills.

I found my Inbred to possess none of the ride qualities of steel: to me it was basically dead, flat and although a good fit (nice long ETT) it was pretty dull.
Same kit on a Scandal seems to possess none of the qualities of aluminium: to me it feels compliant and forgiving without any sacrifice on power transfer and handling… If someone told me it was a very expensive Ti frame I’d believe them.

Not a dissimilar experience to Northwind I guess.

Still reckon geometry and frame design are way more ‘noticeable’ than material.

I’ve beat the hell out of my cross wheel they built me – it’s still spot on (a23 rim on an XT disc hub).
Great service.

Velocity A23 rims work with rim strips and give a great tubeless set-up for cross, they also happily fit 23mm road tyres.
Great rims.
JRA built mine – very pleased with them.

Vaseline on cores works well.

Ortlieb all the way.

DHB Roubaix.
As above, they are superb.

A mate’s got the CDF and I’ve got a Cotic X and we both prefer the ride of the X on trails/bridleway… not much in it on the road.
Mine is a lash up bought from here with ratty Sora bits but a BB7 on the front (still a canti rear). The finishing kit is pretty low-end frankenbike stuff but the frame itself, coupled with Velocity A23 rims set up tubeless makes for a great do-it-all bike.

I’ve been across France on mine and love it to bits.

+1000000000000000 for A23s from Jra.
Set up tubeless.
The best.

mundiesmiester

Genius!
I searched the usual suspects and only came across the pricey stuff in a tube.

I’ve used some toothpaste for the morning ride… Seems like it might do the job. Nice and minty.

Really kind shindiggy, but am down in that London.
Hopefully someone might have bit in an old tube…

Thanks very much anyway!

Are you running tubeless tyres…?
If not, maybe try a conversion kit.

This made the single biggest transformation to my riding by a long way.

Morzine, last month during PPDS.

Nothing broken but was quite a slam, bike landed in tree, still got the chainring scars.
I don’t like falling off so probably ride like a wuss most of the time, but was following my mate Ben who’s very handy.

Blackburn EX1 – cheap as chips, but works a treat.
Spend the saving on Ortlieb panniers, bombproof German quality, properly waterproof.

You’re at the shops, right now, aren’t you… getting some weedkiller and wood-stain so that when you post pictures of your custom 953 frame with 650b wheels (+ neat tyre-logo alignment and correct hose lengths) you don’t get flamed for the state of your garden…?

+1 for the Loire.

I use one of those tiny jobs that screw onto the canister. Works great and is properly small!
Got it for way under a tenner from that place that sells the cheap refills (tyreinlaftors.com or something…?)

Tubeless works brilliantly on my crosser for this type of riding.
I got fed up with pinch flats and thorns.
I use a conversion kit on Velocity A23 rims (which have a nice wide profile, so you get a good tyre shape).
JRA are very helpful.

A suit is a waste of time unless it fits you well, no matter what material it’s made from.

Wool – steel?
Polyester – carbon?
Silk – ti?

Great news is that they both fit – this is pretty much the single most important aspect of a road bike!
I’d go with Cube to support the Euro.

I like it. People seem genuinely fascinated by the tactics of road racing when you talk them through it.
Watching the three girls break away in the road race and work together had some mates who had no previous interest utterly gripped.
It’s a great sport and it’s fun when people discover the nuances, tactics and protocol for the first time.

To me it’s more fun than explaining the off side rule!

Had a similar issue.
I used it as an excuse for a re-spray on the frame and Bob Jackson removed it for me (don’t know how I’m afraid but might be worth calling an outfit who do repairs/re-conditionning to see if they have any tricks)…?

Getting into MTB would not have been possible for my wife and I without these Classifieds.
I’ve built up two bikes all from parts off here.

So far I’ve had such a brilliant experience as a buyer and all the people I’ve sold to seem to be happy. I really hope I haven’t jinxed it now!

There’s some wise words here about checking history, exchanging a few e-mails prior to purchase to ‘get a feel’ for the person and just generally trusting your instinct.
I hope honesty wins in the end and the scammers are weeded out somehow.

Great shots! Pro standard.

I went and rode the course on Tuesday night with my road club which was great fun.
There were five of us working together and we were still nearly 10 minutes slower than Wiggo!

Took my toddler to Chamonix last year.
Loads of outdoor playgrounds along the river path, great pool, good paved areas for scootering/balance-bike.
We all loved being able to just walk from the apartment and have fun little local adventures.
Stick nipper in a backpack and get a lift up for stunning walking / picnic on a mountain!

Le Fayet is 25 mins away with lovely walks around the Spa/Baths.
St. Gervais is five mins from above and nice spot for lunch (boy enjoyed doing the skate ramps on his scooter!?)

Exotics and AM 40s – ace.

+1 on the big ring!

also it’d be good to put some cranks on it 😉

Scandal?
Not far off carbon weight, handles brilliantly, cheap.

Handy.

What a cool thing to do in honour of an old mate. Big challenge. Let us know how he gets on.