I suspect you are struggling to sell it for the same reason Cove struggle to sell bikes (hardly that popular are they) as they are overpriced and bloody plain or ugly. Warranty is an issue too!

im still on 5, whats the difference?

Sounds like you should apply for a second passport before you go!

Oh not whinstone le tor! Jesus, its bloody scandalous! Can Londoners not walk on rough ground or something?

Had an hilarious one yesterday. First time on a cross bike, thrashing the local singletrack, just got into a section that was still overgrown and uncleared with bracken and rather than slow down knowing there were loads of hidden stumps I simply carried on. Cue first CX front flip! Made me giggle more than anything

Drop me a line if you want a cracking financial advisor. He sorted mine out fee free, I just called him, said I didn’t want to pay him a fee but the mortgage had £600 attached to it for him. He did enough to get it through but none of these other stupid questions, totally unsigned to anyone too. Find the product you want on money supermarket etc, do your own sums and run it past him.

Also, countrywide, avoid, shower of sh1t. You would be better doing it yourself!

Oldham, unlucky! Just escaped after too long there! Williamsons was the best place for stuff like this but its gone now like most good things in Oldham. Someone will post up about the dude on eBay that sells the ones with red seals soon

A marmot got squished on the descent from mont jovet to bozel last year, poor thing!

Cheers guys, lots of good advice there, think we need to have a good think about what we want to get out if it. Not sure the MIL will want to do any Xc skiing with dicky legs mind you. Still not sure on the whole Santa thing though, is there just one main place or does each resort have their own?

Local shopping centre would be cheaper and easier but as I’m not paying I ain’t complaining!

Just had the wifes car MOT’d, last time the list of advisories was as long as your arm, trusty village MOT garage, none.

Think the old one was a it of a money making chancer! Your bushings will have to be pretty knackered for it to fail, how bad are the discs, maybe just need the lip taking off, see how much meat they have left on them or spend £25 on new ones

Are the Kegs of beer for the coke and hookers party? when do we get our invite?

Just emailed you a GPX to work from, best of both worlds, road climb, lap of Llandegla, best singletrack ever and the cliffs decsent.

26.3mi Distance
3:26:56 Moving Time
3,555ft Elevation

Enjoy!

I wasnt aware of the head gasket issue, but now i remember seeing a feint it of white in the oil filler cap when i initially looked at the car so i think ill take your advice.

Petrol it is which is probably far more practical for what she needs and how much it will get used, it will prefer school runs if nothing else.

Cheers for your comments NM

its the T180!

Cheers guys, will prob be cheaper to just drive in, i know that will be the wifes preferred option in any case, if not Wimbledon seems the one for the tube.

I was thinking of parking somewhere like Hounslow West and jumping on the tube, or sunnymeads/Datchet and getting train to Richmond then Tube.

Id prefer to make my life as easy as possible when it comes to getting parked and getting to the hotel afterwards as ill have grumpy wife and kids by both stages of the journey above!

Anyone got a link to Smudge’s decent chargers for these cheapo units were all rocking then?

Oh and if she accepts say £2000 now then thats it! no more claims, case closed, end off, even if your leg falls off next week!

I always remember Chris Evans saying “always settle out of court” as once you do, then thats that, no further recoup can be made. Hence why OOC settlements are often marginally more than what may be initially acheived in court

I had an odd call yesterday, instead of the usual “you have had an accident x years ago” they began the call “we notice that there is an outstanding section 4 blah blah blah against your insurance records” or something along those lines which to me suggests that the national insurance database records all of the details and a section 4 must be a claim and that on my records it was unfulfilled as i hadnt claimed.

Pretty shoddy use of the NID and more reason to just lie to insurers to get the best deal for yourself that you can, they are all a bunch of crooks, the industry is rotten to the core, why feed them with your honesty i say!

If you are unsure go on an organised hunt. Its like anything, the more you do it the better you get, just never take risks if unsure and if you do always leave some of what you have eaten to accompany you to the hospital.

Puffballs are ok, but not that moreish if im being honest, not a patch on even a field mushroom.

Hopefully they will come out soon before a frost comes, just need some nice dry days so they dont get ruined!

Prob because so many are happy to buy them direct, and if you compare them to Enve for example they do have the same saving. A carbon frame direct from china isnt much less than what PX are doing them for for obvious reasons

He’s back! But seriously I’m out of this thread now for good. As I said, and didn’t follow my own advice, it’s pointless arguing with idiots on the internet (me included because I should know better).

Enjoy having the last word as I’m sure you will insist, but I won’t be reading it.

Jees, good job, biscuits had just ran out!

Is it really just coincidence that the Chinese manufacturers don’t advertise in STW and never get their products reviewed?

If you dig out a bike magazine from the mid to late 90’s you will find loads of adverts for parts from Chinese manufacturers, they were commonly advertising anodised alloy parts with terrible adverts, no easy way of buying them and pretty crap designs. These are the factories that then went on to produce items for the big brands and hence stopped advertising in such a way as it was fruitless for them. Instead they took their product catalogs to the big Taiwanese bike Expos and sold their skills to brands from the west, or the likes of Superstar/Planet X to make stuff for them direct.

Buying direct is a calculated risk, the bar that the OP linked to in my eyes is the best of a bad bunch as its not trying to be something it isnt so that suggests to me its an over run, however mine is going on an XC rig as oppose to a alps bashing machine

No conclusion to take from this but just for the record .. I’ve seen fake (or more accurately ‘style-aping’) frames being made in the same Chinese factory that makes some of the most reputed kit and frames out there.

This is the source of so much misunderstanding in this area, it’s a difference in culture that means IP and views of what a product ‘is’ are quite different. There’s more to it than fake vs real, branded vs unbranded.

Its very true, small numbers of Chinese invested massively in Carbon technologies when we were still making everything out of billet alloy or welding steel pipes together. They have the technology, however they have so little clue as to what to do with it in terms of design its scary. This is where western designers come in and provide something amazing looking that they produce in their factory to the specific requirements. You see the chinese can do this and do it well, let them go their own way and design something themselves and thats where it all goes wrong!

The catalog may contain tubes of different shape, size, diameter, weave, carbon quality, inserts, clamps, bearing cases, etc etc, this is what they sell. Its then upto the bike company to chose who to give their design to for production. Fake or real, well some will be over runs on teh genuine product, other factories will have now sprung up that will be less reputible and they will copy others designs using their product as a mould.

dont forget that the main difference here is route to market. Lets for arguments sake say a carbon bar costs £4 to make, they are using the same R&D as Syncross who also happen to pay the same company in China to make their bars (for arguments sake as this is what happens)

Syncross bars
Cost from Mr Carbon Bars with his margin = £7 (for bare product)
Cost from Mr Carbon Bars with his margin = £10 (for paint/graphics added)
Shipping, tax etc = £3
Packaging = £3

So Int Distributor gets the product for around £16, however, they sell it to country specific distributors for £35 (as they need a margin to cover R&D, advertising, staff etc etc

UK Distributor wants their 50% cut so now the price is £53 at trade plus £10.50 in VAT.

Local Shop/Internet distributor buys it for £63.50 and as its P&A wants at least 40% so it sells for £89.99

Alternatively, Mr Carbon Bars knocks out an additional 1000 bars, this puts his costs down to £3 per bar, sells them to a local seller at £6 each who knocks them out on Alibaba at £15 posted seeing a 40% profit for himself, the same as the bike shop here!

That my friends is why stuff costs so much, not because its better.

And before you ask I’ve imported chinese stuff in the same way as superstar do or any others and helped select clothing for a range from a selection of factories that make troylee, 661 answer etc.

Oh and if you think thats bad, its even better for Sunglasses, every one wants 100% margin at every stage!

Should they also adapt a local weather forecast in there so wind should be taken into account?

Its got so much data on there now that its all irrelevant, however its great for monitoring overall performance, i.e. constant top 10% on major climbs or descents means that you are up there with the best and on a same day race you would do ok. Its also useful for comparing your own performance over time or against your mates. Beyond that its little use now as most KOM’s will have been set with strong tail winds so the chance of getting it on a still day is slim!

Champion, Zee shifter and XT casette for £40, been meaning to order for a while too

I never get an email off CRC, must be lucky!

I have this for sale if anyone fancies an anthem instead?[/url]

Its actually this frame as tested, just not quite in this condition anymore

Here you go, insurance group 1, he gets a car, yours doesnt get wrecked, he doesnt need to worry about staining the seats and yes you spend on a car but in theh long term(3 years) work out total spend, saving on insurance and cost of insurance against year 4, plus factor in your car not getting wrecked and its not actually that bad i bet.

Why not buy the cheapest crappest one from this list and just get him going him on his own policy

I have the exact same bars (also from HK – Aliexpress) in 700mm staright flavour for my tupperware 29er Planet X frame. I havent built it yet, so cant comment on them snapping however they dont seem bad quality, look just like FSA bars of old.

Ill report back in the replacement dentures thread!

I suspect the M6, J16-21 may add somewhat to that tally, always someone spannering themselves on it beween these junctions for some reason!

Was cracking that, reminded me of doing photos hoots in the alps, so much time to get one shot

This was exposed enough for me though

If your kids float when you drop them off at the pool it means you have too much fat in your diet, which is no doubt explained by the junk you ate last night!

Surely the best thing to do would be leave it as it was in 2003 when it was introduced, only increase the bands by 41% to reflect the increase in prices

These are on my list, for the price they seem hard to beat. No doubt you will need to tension them up and the bearings will be shoddy from the off but for the price they seem hard to beat

Superstar Wheels

This however is nice and a decent price

Trousers, i want a sweedish military Stove from one of their sister sites

http://www.gisurplus.co.uk/shop/product.php/1126/swedish-army-field-oven

Good fun place is drumlanrig, need to get back soon!

Yet more common sense and personal responsibility being removed.

I personally crash more in a full face than in a pie case, mostly because they are awful for riding in. There is a hell of a difference in doing 5×3 min runs in one compared to 3-4 hours riding.

You decide what you ride on the course and how you ride it, surely you take into account the risk involved and wear the appropriate headwear. It would put me off doing one for sure.