Well I would go with the Pipe dream Scion but I am biased a have a couple of these frames for sale in the shop. They build into lovely bikes but how comfy will depend on the sadlle, tyres, bars, forks e.t.c. The stays are fairly narrow at 16mm which should help with the comfort.

The Scion weighs a fair bit less than a modern P7 with is plus point. The Scion is designed with up to 130mm fork in mind so your current ones will fit.

It’s not the lifespan of carbon I worry about it is what happens in an crash. I have riden carbon framed MTB’s and they were all lovely but I just won’t buy one as I can’t justify another bike and I have had the odd off in the past and I would hate to damage the frame.

However if you can avoid the falls carbon firbre composite is wonderful frame material and should last a very long time. The failures you hear about are mostly down to misuse for poor design.
Stability against UV can be taken care of with the right resin’s.
Plently of ally or steel frames have cracked in the past through poor design or misuse too. As for the those who put down steel, there is nothing wrong with it. I have four steel bikes and I like them all and if I look after them they will last a life time infact the oldest one I have is a 1989 Marin and that still rides very well. Every material has it plus points and drawbacks. Failure or damage in what otherwise would minor accident is the biggest drawback of carbon I think of.

The carbon bikes I would like is a 29’er rigid SS and a summer carbon road race bike. That would make seven bikes though so I might have to sell some steel first.

I have been riding 721’s for years and they are very good. The only issue I have with them is the wheel was built. However since I have learnt to build wheels myself I have rebuilt with proper spokes and they no longer have any issues. Fantiastic rims.

I have two rigid 26″, one geared one SS and a SS hardtail. I really like the rigid SS and I will be riding it today.

Another way is to go for the magic gear and do wthout a tensionewr. I have had issues with tensioners in the past both the BB mounted and hanger mounted types keeping chain tension.

To find you magic gear put the chain on your 32T middle ring (or whatever it is) and the cog at the rear that is in line with the middle ring. Wrap the chain around and bring the loose inner to the nearest outer. Do not join but measure what fraction of an inch you are way from joining. Each roller is 1/2″ apart so that helps. Then each tooth you add to the rear or front cog add 1/4″ to total chain length. So for example if you have a 32T middle ring and it lines up with the 15T rear cog and you are between 3/4″ and 1″ (1″ is a inner + outer link) from joining the chain properly, so adding 4 teeth in total should give you 0 – 1/4″ extra chain. So a 34T/17T ratio will allow the chain to join. Or take 4 teeth of and run 28T/15T for hill climbing and spinning out on the flats. I run my Orange evo2 on a 34T/16T ratio with something approching 1/4″ extra chain. This seems perfect as I get no slippage even on steep climbs and the chain is not too tight.

Of course you can play arround with the ratio as well. If I was going to Cannock again I could fit a 32T/18T ratio and that use the same chain length i.e 1/2″ of from the front and add 1/2″ of chain for the rear. Moving to a 36T/18T ratio would require a chain with 1 extra inch.

Magic gearing is so simple and I have been using it for months. Also you can use you existing middle ramp chain ring. I have used a singlr speed ring and now a ramped 9 speed TA ring and I find no difference, the chain never comes of the ramped ring. I also has ditched a chin guide/chain device that I thought I needed once and yet again the chain stays one all the time. So keep it simple keep it magic.

I can also supply you with a the cogs and chain rings bolts you need. I run a small bike shop (The Cycle Clinic) but I am sure Chalie can help too.

For me Plan A is the West Suffolk Wheelers Reliability trial.
Plan B break out an MTB and go for a local off road ride in the snow.

I can’t say I have ever noticed the sound. I must have got used it blotted it out. I love my hopes and I don’t think I will ever ditch them.

I use the park ones 3-15 NM and the 12-60NM big clicker.

A worth while investment.

I have spent most of this week seriving peoples rough and losse hubs. New balls of grade 25 or better, good quality grease such as rock n rolls super web or similiar and they run smooth again. Some customers just do not reliase how bad they have become. However any pitting on the cones means they must be replaced. Any pitting on the hub means a new hub but hubs only pit/brinel if poor quality bearing are used or they are left to run dry and riden. Weldite bearings for example are grade 1000 I believe, utterly pointless in an engineering application.

I have cartidge bearings in my hope hubs and loose ball in my shimano hubs. Boths run smoothly. When I service even cheap hubs they all run smooth by the time I am finished with them, the more expensives one can be made super smooth. I like them.

Who frowns on using a spoke tension meter? I use one at the end once the tensioning and truing is complete to check my work too ensure even spoke tension.

If I was building a new mountan bike I would build a 2×9 not a 2×10 as it cheaper and off all the same benefits. As ride single speeds which are even cheaper so I won’t be building a 2×9 anythime soon. Unless I find a stash of cash then I will build a 29’er with a 2×10 set up.

I don’t see the point. I have three MTB’s, one with Hope hydralyics absolutly fab, one with V’s absolutly fab also and one with canti’s, these are cheap and nasty and not fab.

My point is there is nothing worng with rim brakes with the right pads. If I rode a tandam then I can see the point but on a road bike I cannot see the how this would help me at all. I have no trouble stopping even with the cheap pads in my Miche brakes.

I use Rock N Roll lube for off road bikes. Seems to work well. GT85 should never be used as lube.

I have also found Finish line green wet lube to work very too.

I vote for what I ride and stock.

Continental GP4000s 23c or if you want puncture resistance Conti’s Gator Skins, they roll well enough and resist the flints you find around Suffolk and North Essex.

Now I am using Gator Skins I can go for ride and not get a puncture!

I second rolling resistance is a function of rider weight, tyre, wheel diameter (larger wheels equal lower rolling resistance) pressure, tyre sinkage and half the contact width. Tyre width has little do with it directly but tyre width is a function (loosely) of rim width which has an effect of the sinkage factor. The main factors though are weight and tyre pressure.

Wow I am feeling luckly then as I like all bike mainenance, maybe thats why I have setup a shop, it’s only been going 6 months so I have plenty of time to start hating it. I think it’s more the way I work that keeps the stress out. I do not rush jobs just working through them methodically while listening to Radio4. I think Radio 4 helps alot.

I have been luckly so in that only one bike in the last 6 months has had dog shit on it.

Again avoid ebay as it difficult to know often what you are buying. Not all bearing like everything else are created equal.

Bearing with grade 25 balls or better are a good idea for longevity.

This reminds of an old post office bike that came in the shop for some work. Perfect ultility bike apart from the rod brakes – no cables though.

Well my magic gear is still magic after many very muddy rides. Chain wear will in the end cause some skipping but I like to change my chains at 0.75% wear so my cogs last longer. I also would not use a 9/10 speed chain on a SS, firstly they are expensive. I use a 8 speed chain with sucess and a 3/32″ chain on magic gear bike and that works very well.

+1 on push up tensioners only working when close to magic gearing. I found the hanger mounted tensioners just did not take enough slack so I had to go with magic gears.

Yes your set up is over tensioned by a little bit. Chaning the chain will not chnage this but it will be more durable. Changing your ratio will change the tension and 36/15T will work well (1/4″ is probably all you need) but this ratio is very tall for off road riding. Fine for road duties though.
Also chains do not stretch in normal use, they wear giving the illusion of stretch.

Well I a light that is visible will allow to you see. A light that will not let you see in the dark will not be visible at a distance. Rear lights are different as they are emmitting that 1/2 Watt of power at one wavelength -red which stands out from everything else and is visible at a distance.

I would say the BBB BLS 62 or 62 is a good choice. 1.5W or 2W LED and they are £40 or at least thats what I sell them for. The light is easily mounted and very good. Needs rechargaable batteries though to replace the AAA supplied.

+1 good advice there.

O.K they do cost more but that is for a good reason they are fabulous components.

+1 on not doing what you thought of doing. You could get a 36 hole hub with a 6 bolt pattern and by a new disc.

I agree it might be alright for pottering around but when I build wheels I do not go for “that will do” and hope for the best. It is either gets built correctly or not at all.

I use the spoke calculator of sheldon browns site, it called spocclac. It seems spot on for easy wheel building. The web based ones seem to give different results for the same info. The differences are not big but they make a difference to how easy/quick the wheel builds. To get a difference that you have quoted the input info must be different. I also do not rely on other peoples measurements. I always measure my self three times to make sure.

I would bin the tensioner and go for magic gearing. Each tooth you add to either cog adds 1/4″ (maths explains this I know it not intuitive) to the total chain length needed. Also loosing one tooth remove 1/4″ from chain length. So wrap your chain around the cogs and wrk out what fraction of a inch you need to take out. Then by a new chain ring or rear sprocket or both (depending on the ratio you want to run) with the right number of teeth and go from there. That is what I have done and I have no tension issues anymore. Single speeds do not need or want a tensioner. If only the bike could talk.

Also chains don’t stretch they wear though.

Coppaslip 1)
all frame bolts for bottle cages e.t.c and caliper mounting
2) BB threads. Grease the seatpost regularly.
3) seat bolts.
4) Coppaslip on headset cups to allow for easy removal.
5) on pedal threads.
You do not need to grease BB axle splines if you have any. Grease/antisieze seatpost.

Coppaslip is your friend!

If the fitting instructions for a component say use threadlock then use some, but otherwise don’t.

Anti-sieze is to be used where two metal surface e.g steel-alu alloy are static and you want to keep them seperate. Grease is used on metal surfaces moving past each other.

Firstly on your current double or triple setup does the chain come when riding. If it does not then it probably won’t running 1×9/10. Chains can come when peddeling backwards or lifting the bike but I have never found a chain coming of when pedaling. Do you suffer from chain suck, if not then you may not need a extra tensioner.

I ride single speeds mostly. When my Orange Evo2 was bought is was a 3×9, that soon became 2×9 and then 1×9 as bits wore/broke/bent. I rode for some time as a 1×9 without a chain guide and never found the chain coming of with a 9 speed ring. I ride mostly in Thetford Forest as hard as that place allows. When it was single speeded it was set up by a shop many years ago then fitted a single speed chain ring, chain guide and chain device with a roller for tension. Many years later I have opened my own shop and I rebuild this bike and removed the chain guide and tensioner as it stopped tensioning the chain. I found the magic gear in minutes just using my noggin. Now I use a 34T TA 9 speed “ramped” chain ring with no tensioner or guide with a 16T rear cog and the chain has never jumped off in the abuse I give it around Thetford or Cannock. Although this is single speed and has perfect chain line. I have two single speeds and the other has no guide either and the chain stays on that one too. I do ride mostly XC though.

If I was doing a 1×9/10 setup for a customer I would use a SS specific ring for the extra teeth height. If there riding is hard enough then I might consider a chain guide. I would a BB mounted tensioner if chain suck is an issue or I felt the riding style needed one, i.e downhilling.

I suggest using a SS specific ring and build it up with no extra tensioner or guide, just ensure you have correct chain length, and see how you get on. If you find chain suck fit a tensioner, if the chain does want to leave then think about a guide. Why spend more than you have to.

The E13 devices are very easy to setup and are probably the ones to get but with guide and tensioner they have a fair bit of resistance as the chain runs over the rollers so if you downhill I suspect this not a big issue but if you XC or pedal up hills/mountains then this extra resistance would quite literally become quite a drag.

Park make some excellent kits. There to0ls may be expensive but are top quality, pretty much all I use in my shop apart from the odd cyclus tools.

Personanally I would buy neither as neither have mudguards mounts. If I was after a carbon bike I would buy either
1) a Tifosi CK2 with Veloce and campag wheels. You should be able to buy one for around £1500, I should know I stock Tifosi so ignore the RRP,
2) try Titan Road sport. Glenn has a lovely carbon frames in which identical to the DeRosa R358? He is importing and anyway way cheaper and will build into a very light bike, with whatever spec you want.

The ne egg beaters 2 and 3’s have a five year warranty now so the 2pure rep says. After destroying many pairs over the years I should give these a try but bought some M520 spd’s instead as CSN (a distributor) was doing them quite cheap. These seem to work very well and are alot cheaper not going back now.

Scratches in Alummium is not such a big problem. Notches are.

Chips in Carbon that have cut strnads give me the shivvers.

I would not skimp on rings. TA for longevity and they are not that much more than new shimano if at all.

As a wheel builder I would not recomend this. You can lase a 18 hole rim to a 36 hole hub but not a 36 hole rim to a 32 hole hub or visa versa.

Spoke tension would have to uneven to keep it straight and round, this a recipie for disaster.

I have 32 hole rims if you want.

Cannock would be good but if you want to live in East Anglia try Brandon as you are the dorrstep of the forest.

Epping is decent (for the forest) if you want to live on a tube line.

I have had Hope Mono’s for years now. The front this year finally needed a rebiuld anf I like the feel and the easy bleeding. The only thing I don’t like about the formula’s and Avids is the little bit of extra faff in bleeding them.

If I was buying new brakes then I would choose, either Avid Elsir 5 or 7’s (for weight), Shimano XT, or Hope as they have served me so well. But as the Hopes are still serving me well I don’t need to. Also Bearin mind Hope still support all there old brakes. Formula do not support their old brakes and a customer had to take his back to the Italian bike shop he bought them from to get them repaired as no lever spares exist over here.

Avid spares are quite expensive. The rebuild kit for Code brake caliper is something like £60 IIRC. I think my Hopes cost me a hand full of pounds for new pistons.

I cannot see the point in triple chainsets anymore. I never use the granny ring on the one MTB that still has one (the other two are SS so it is untlerly pointless. Even in Wales I was always in the middle ring up the steep gradients.

2×9 or 2×10 with 22/38T matched to 11-32 casstte is all you will ever need. If you need a lower gear than 22/32 you are not trying hard enough and it will be quicker to get of and pick up the bike and walk.

I have a similar problem with my Marzocchi’s in that I get a knocking noise when the forks extend after a bump. Given I have never serviced them and I have abused them for years I am not looking forward to pulling them apart as I fear it going to be a bit than an oil change. Thats a point is there any oil left. I know what I am doing tomorrow.

For me TA Specilalities simply the best but you pay for it.

Around the securing bolt there is the spring out the back of the mech in this area is a dowl of metal which sits in a hook on the hanger. Is this metal “stub” sitting on the hook on the hanger or is it in front of it?

Just realised that Rose Bikes is in Germany. Not fair that bike bits in Germany are cheaper.

I don’t think a german distributor will sell to the U.K as that impinge on Madision’s territory. Also I cannot speak German.