Part of the reason SRAM gave up on front mechs is that they’re rubbish at making them.. New DA or ultegra pretty much teleports the chain from one ring to the next. I’d expect this to be as good.
It’s nice to see the return of the Ti chainring teeth.. I’ve still got a 970 chainset which has been through at least 10 chains (obsessively changed!) and still works well.
2x and 3x systems are always going to be more durable. More sprockets driving, and less time in the favourites due to the smaller jumps.
Front mechs aren’t cool, but Shimano are Japanese.. They run to a different cool to you lot anyway.

nope.. My ugliest bike wins out.

ChampSys stuff is deffo on the euro end of the sizing spectrum. I’m a happy medium in their stuff, but a small in anything Endura.

And nooo.. no LBS thread. It’s a reasonable matter to choose between “I’ll give my money to whoever supplies me the cheapest” and “I like to know that the supplier isn’t losing out because of the way I choose to pay”.

Or better still to give away 10% in goodwill, which could produce a return in business, than give it to a bunch of cynical arsebags who don’t care much if it’s you or the next shop.

I agree it’s a good “in” for a sale. For the retailer though it’s the most expensive finance available, and as such sucks.

No offence franksinatra, but many can’t afford it and can’t afford to turn away c2w business either.

“I drink your milkshake!”

SRAM jockey wheels.. Who are they trying to kid? XT ones with ceramic goodness that actually last are £13.

Frame bearing kits are a weird one. The bearings aren’t the expensive bits in them but the special bolts are. Hats off to the suppliers that sell them as parts, but hats back on to Trek for selling a nut for £8 trade!

The introduction of the scheme increased sales of bikes.

I agree with that.. Most of the c2w customers are newbies, and it encourages them to spend up toward the £1000 limit, so often they spend more than they otherwise would. It’s just a tax vehicle though which is simple to implement. If that were encouraged by the government, then I’m sure more small companies would take it up rather than having to deal with an external company. I’ve seen a couple of customers make quick calls to their accountants and then get their company credit cards out. Both ended up spending more as well.

Unfortunately £1000 doesn’t get you the value it did when the scheme started pre-2008. I asked c2w once what they were doing about lobbying the government to increase this. They didn’t have a clue.

EDIT: Eskay’s company have got it right!

Our C2W scheme has a limit of £3000. I think the company has to be able to offer a Consumer Credit Agreement for the higher limit.

They’ll have a consumer credit licence to be able to do that. Then the £3000 is at their discretion.

wwaswas.. A common offer in a place I used to work was offering 10% of the value of the bike in free accessories.. Effectively a 10% discount to the customer, but only costing 5%. Either way, there’s no reason to give the cyclescheme 10% if you can avoid it. They do nothing to help retailers directly, except I’m sure that big entities such as Evans can negotiate a discount. It all gets ploughed back into pushing the scheme to more businesses, and nothing to promote the retailers that support them.

c2w sucks. The retailer looses 10% of the sale to the scheme, which they often cant afford, especially considering how time consuming c2w sales tend to be. It’s a very cynical business model, as most businesses don’t realise that they can administer their own schemes.. The c2w scheme maintains an air of officiality even though it’s only a private company. They can suck my balls. I’m glad I don’t have to work with them anymore! Contrast this to something like the Bristol Uni scheme.. They would send us a cheque covering £800 of the bike’s value, with the customer free to top up what they wanted.

Your LBS will like you far more if you go out and get yourself a new credit card with 0% on purchases. They’ll be able to do you a deal, or sell an already discounted bike. You’ll probably get a better discount overall, no ties to your place of work, and 18 months to pay for it.

Bontrager ones have a nice UD finish. The head works nicely too.

Radio 3 right now, with Sir Neville Marriner. He’s a dude!

Have a look at the track of the pads on the rotor. If there’s an un-scrubbed bit at the top of the rotor, then there’s no reason not to space it out with a washer or two.. And you get a % or two of free braking :)

Bad back, but I’ve hobbled around the flat and done all sorts of stuff. Gave the climbing shoes a scrub and a vinegar bath. eww.

Nope, they’re made out of fish.

Go and ask the LBS to sort out your cables.. I spent last summer chopping meters and meters of outer off new bikes to tidy them up.

Gary Fisher fish shaped valve cap and Klein top cap, circa 1999 :-)

I didn’t know about this.. I must be dead already.

I got a bit habituated to 12 psi on the mountain bike, but it wasn’t sustainable..
New Moda road bike in a month’s time will be tubeless. The American Classic wheels that we do are fairly wide, so 23s come up looking like 25s. The only size to roll on is 28 though, so I’m still waiting.

Put pressure in the system by squeezing the lever. keep opening the bleed nipple.. something has to spurt eventually!

XTR from Rose bikes. Cheaper than trade price, nice and spinny and last well.

You’ll be amazed. Just make sure that the tyre is either side of the valve and shake the jizz around inside as it’ll help the tyre get into place. And pump like a mofo. fnar.

Joe Blow has never done me wrong. If you hang the wheel up so the tyre isn’t flat against the floor it starts much easier.

Put the pads in a 200 degree C oven for 10 minutes, then sand them back a bit. It can bring them back to life. TBH though, you’ll find some cheap aftermarket pads for far less than £20 for 2 sets.

Doubt madison will stock that spare.. Try a 24mm ID rubber o-ring?

sew it up with some strong thread, and whack a thick patch on the inside. Degrease it with some disc brake cleaner first, as the surface will be waxy. Works for me on tubeless tyres.

It never balances out. You’ll just buy more shiny stuff.

Sometime between now and September?

When our neighbour cooks, our flat’s toilet smells of their food. I worry what happens next door when I’ve eaten curry..

It’s all got chewed up quite a bit in the last few years. Loamy sand isn’t going to stay put in the wet… Summer lightning had the same sort of treatment a few years ago.

Working out wheels makes my brain ache.. I usually end up with about half a page of crossed out numbers, and a nagging sense of self doubt.

There could be a tiny bit of swarf in the plates if it’s not going on. Give it a blast with disc brake cleaner and make sure the split link is clear as well. Swarf bits can bugger up the clip part of the link and make them go wrong.

I doubt it would work, unless you have 16 or 14mm nipples and can go down to 12.

Have a look at the current spokes in the nipple head. If they’re up to the slot in the back then they won’t go enough further in and will bind.

Just bought a WTB Laserdisc single duty of CRC.. Slightly weird freehub design, and comes with a 16t not an 18t. Yet to get the rims to build it so I can’t tell you what it’s like.

I had one that got smidsyd by a car, so I bought a new one. The seat angle has been steepened, which is a very good thing, and I’m now using a Surly long haul trucker fork which actually gives it some comfort.. The On-one fork is shite.

Novatec? If it is there’s a few different versions available so good luck getting the right one.

I suppose it would have otherwise turned into a “What tyres for..” thread…

Good luck Cy. I hope the Bicycle Manufacturing Corporation in that there Switzerland don’t throw a Specialized style fit at the name!

It’s the way to go.

don’t clean the foam rings with solvent though… They can expand and be a bastard to get back in.

Trail SL is a proper nice bike for the money, with a very well finished frame, and is one (metric) shed load lighter than all the rest of those. Tubeless rims too.

There’s many a dog walker in Holmbury St Mary who’s seen my butt.

Bibs are better under baggies if you’re going that way, as you don’t have two waistbands vying for attention.. Makes a nature poo more complicated though!