2016 is likely. I quite like Shimano’s take on 1×11 and they offer a 38T ring up front (thats right isn;t it). I hope that is kept for XT 1×11.

The best one is the customer who popped in asking to have there brake set up (or adjusted is how they put it), O,K I said but I will first change the front tyre as the inner tube was trying to escape through the side wall. It does amaze me sometimes what some people don’t notice.

If every driver had to retake there driving test (never going to happen) mind maybe many of the inconsideate drivers would be off the road. The drivers that squeeze past are for the most part not being malicious but they are not thinking. You see it when they pass parked cars with on coming traffic and get a bit stuck. It happened to today in the village I live in. Lack of thought about what ahead and what might be ahead is the problem. cylists to be honest can be guilty of that too but bikes rarely kill other, cars do though.

A proper driver awareness campaign is needed to change attitudes and get drivers to think, that all it has to achieve.

Cars don’t have high vis jackets on them so cyclist should not need them too. Good lighting when it dim or dark should be all thats needed. If a driver fails to observe what is around them then they should simply be removed from the road. As I said before cyclist rarely kill other but a car is deadly weapon which is why a licence is granted to drive it. Licences are not removed easily enough as it seen that a car is essential today. It most certainly is not essenital people just think it is.

That bike looks like a roack crawler to me, I bet it would be awesome at that.

I use a Trek 2300 the wheel have been changed now to HED belgium C2 tubulars 28H laced to silver record hubs. Riding on 25mm conti competiton tubs and loving it.
Sannino love this too.

Love this one as well Pinarello Monvisio.

Tifosi CK7 is under £1000 well spec (no disc brakes though) and take full length guards. Most of the bikes mentioned so far will only take clip on guards and that limits the tyre width you can run.

Kit i not really more expenive now relative to income it is ut that incomes are squeezed by other things.

Spoke can be cheap. Sapim Race in silver are £0.45 in places I do them for that so it not just me. Alpina spokes are even cheaper. DT Swiss are expensive and if you have factory wheel then buy those next time as spokes for those are silly money.

I ride a variety of old MTB’s with 7 or 8 speed drivetrains this keeps the costs down. KMC Z82 chains are cheap as are HG41 cassettes. You can put together a very capable MTB for under £500 buy buying a older frame and kitt it out with older parts. My favourite are XT M730/M735 parts from the early to mid ninties. If you are willing to build the wheels yourself then total build costs can be small. I mean the parts for XM317 rims 64 Sapim Race spokes and XT T780 rim brake hubs is about £140 and that is all new parts All you have to do is build the wheels and they will be very good ones.

If you want the latest tech as I do for another bike then you have to pay, that bike has cost me a fortune even at trade prices (which sometimes are no beter than online pricing).

Power torque maybe less easy to work on but it works very well. Even Veloce is a very good groupset and light too. Centaur Carbon cranks are very light weight without getting the price tag of Record.

Record 10 speed is still available for the ltimate 10 speed campag groupset.

For top end though Chors 11 speed is about as high as anyone normal needs to go. For me all I can afford is Veloce 10 speed and that is good enough.

Traitor Exile. There is a whole red and black thing going one with this one.

My XC race bike. Orange Evo2 from 2003 not a light frame but it has new XTR cranks and XT 9 speed mech controlled by 10 speed thumbies. Wheels are DTSWiss XR350 on A2Z hubs, they weight 1346g. It feels perfect.

9.24kg or 20.38lbs but more weight to loose when I change the M520 pedals and the seat. I’ll stop when that is done.

I theory the larger the rolling dimater the lower the rolling resistance. However Mr Moulton did rolling reistance tests (on a drum) and found the opposite. So air resistance was not the reason.

Yes that is because when I see people ftting tyres there technique is all wrong. I see even experienced club rider strugling sometimes with tyres I know slide one with effort applied in the right way. I do try to help but many are relctant to hand over the wheel as they want to do it.

I should do a video on this bt I do not own a proper camera to do a good one. I am a bit of a dinasoaur when it comes to tech.

Carbon wheels are not for commting imo. The OP wants a wheel that is good for commuting and is suiltable for sunday rides.

Mavic OP’s on ultegra hubs is a classic training wheelset. However the braking surface on the OP rim is too thin to make it the best choice for a commutor rim. Proper commuting takes place in all weathers and that wears rims. I am sre many se it but those that do will get longer rim life buy using a Velocity A23, DT Swiss RR465 or another rim with a thicker braking surface. The OP is light for a reason, remember it is doble eyeleted too and brass eyeletes are heavy, that does not leave a lot of mass for the braking surface.

Just beacuse an elite racer may win on a 29er does not mean that that same racer could not have won on a 26″ wheeled bike. I am not sure about 29er’s being faster they just ride differently and some people prefer it and I suppose that can make them a bit faster. Personally I like my 26″ wheels and I race those, I not not win races or come even close. Moving to a 29er will not change that. Being fitter will.

Velocity A23 on Miche hubs RG” or primato hubs. Use the A23 off centre rim on the rear for better tension balance. The miche hub is alot heavier than the Novatec lightweight hubs and as good as these hubs are the Miche hubs are jst more durable and that is what is most important I think in a commutor. Use Sapim Laser spokes front and NDS rear and Sapim Race spokes DS rear. Spoke count will depend on your weight. If you use panniers then Laser spokes on the rear are a not a good idea so use race spokes instead.

This would be a robust wheelset.

I fit GP 4 seaons all the time to A23’s and other rims. The propblem is not the tyre but the your tyre fitting technique. Chase the tyre around the rim when it gets tight. check youtube to show you how or visit my shop and I will show you how, it easy when you know how. Tyre levers are not needed to fit the vast majority of tyres. There a handfl of exceptions but the GP 4 seasons is not one of them on any rim.

I use them and no down sides apart from cost. Getting rim tape to sit properly is easy thogh just get the right width.

Yes give them a go. They are better as they are cheaper.

I know how to tension a wheel and properly tension, no no pinging noises when the wheel is first riden as I troughly releieve stress. I am not joking either. I use Lasers at lot when building road bike wheels. I do lubricate the spoke threads with 3 n 1 oil and this must reduces it. If there is no oil then I would get wind up. Maybe it is the way I tension. Turn the nipples one turn stress relieve then apply more tension and stress releive some more and so on and so on, it takes time but it works. The wind up I get is minimal as when I stress releive there is little pinging.

I build commercailly week in week out with Lasers and never had any problems. I do know what I am doing 😉

The op is free to e-mail me too at my shop with any questions on workshop@thecycleclinic.co.uk

I also carry Sapim Race spokes in all lengths. As I have said Laser are not best for a 29er build. Race spokes are good and D-light spokes possibly depending on rider weight, power output e.t.c. The other spoke that would work is a the ACI alpina DB which I will probably start using more of as they cheap light and good quality. Sorcing these is easy as well.

The nice thing about race spokes is that if the lengths you need are between 288 and 298mm they come in 1mm increments in silver. This makes building quicker as less time is spend dishing the wheel.

Fishers will deal with you direct for warranty. They did for someone in my local road club for a failed force shifter. That shifter was a year out of warranty and they still replaced it.

Sapim Race spokes they are quite cheap. £0.45 in most places (ailver) including my own althogh black cost more.
These are perfect for many 29er builds using light rims.

Sapim do the laser spoke which is the same gauge as the DT rev but cheaper in the U.K. So I would se those. I build road wheels allt the time with them and so long as you lubricate the spoke threads they don’t wind up. At least I never get an issue.

Thin gauge spokes are fine for many but if you are unsure then use race spokes as the build will be stiffer which suits some more than others.

Given the Chinese factory that I am going to start importing rims from make the De Rosa 838 (not a copy the real thing) I’d say there are good chinese carbon frame makers. There are those that also do copies. If you can buy direct from a factory. You can tell them apart from resellers and the factories website is normally crap.

This old thing is a 92 Trek 2300 with modernish kit. It weighs in at 7.57 kg but I could loose more quite easily but it would cost and I like it alot as it is. Wheels are new and weigh 1362g but I will be building lighter soon as I am about to start importing some carbon rims direct from a far eastern factory that supplies the OEM market.

I also use conti’s super sonic tube with issue.

It now has KCNC CB1 flexy brakes but they work O.K

My wife loves her ice spikers too. She especially likes being able to go faster on ice and the slip grip you get in snow.

This very Blue Peter. I hope it works well enough and for long enough for you to avoid a trip to A&E.

SJS cycles are selling carbon disc forks for road bikes at the moment for not alot. These are not cross forks either. Any failures you get will not be due to galvanic corrosion.

It could work though. I suppose you are going to find out! That win.

Weight weenies has a wealth of very practical knowledge, so does the CTC forum.

Traitor Exile if you can find one. I have one but new they would be special import from the states. Clearance for 30mm tyres and omfortable. 1″ head tube though. Plenty of 1″ carbon forks about and the steel fork that it comes with is best avoided.

I think someone summed it up with most cyslist lack confidance to overtake buses. Confidance of cyslists is something that needs to be addressed with road training. Many issues on the road are in part down to lack of confidance by cyclists not just poor driving standards and lack of bike awareness. Too little is done for cyclist training and cyist don’t volunteer for it as it all done a pay basis and the time is very expensive. Not sure of the solution though.

Alan Competizione 1980 or 81
Marin Pallisades 1989
Trek 2300 1992
Orange Evo2 2003
Kona Paddy Wagon 2007
Traitor Exile 2011

Fancy a salsa road disc framset next.

Pipedream Scion too, my next MTB.

I have the same wheelset as the OP and I keep on thinking of building something lighter but why when the wheels never go wrong.

Muddyfunster hubs don’t giove you speed. Even a rough hub has a coefficent of rolling friction 100 times less than a the tyre on the gorund. I think njee by be underwheelmed by the price for the gain over a much cheaper hub. CK hubs are very nice too look at though.

I think I’d like a set of Stan’s crest rims with DT 240 hubs for CX riding on DB spokes. the cost puts me off I can buy at trade.

The saint levers are designed for the voilume of the saint calipers. I don’t think a mix and match would work very well. Even if the hoses fit the XT levers on saint calipers should give excessive lever throw before bite and saint levers on XT calipers would have no modulation, just on and off.

A BMW E34 530i. Best car I have ever owned as it passed it MOT without any remedial work.

I have had to do a few of these and the chepest solution is tap to M& and use an M7 bolt. Takes minutes and the caliper bolt is very secure.

Helicoiling is the other way but if you get the drilling wrong it game over.

I do wonder why hardened steel threaded inserts are not used in forks for the caliper bolts to be screwed in. It would reduce the frequency of these problems and save forks.

That’s a bit like asking were shall I live or what car shall I buy.

With that question all you will get is peoples personal preferences.

I have been riding SS for years now and I have grown a beard. I have not died yet but it comes to us all sooner or later.

There was a Raleigh M-trax FS in R853.

If 34:16T works the 36:18T will also work with exactly 1″ extra chain and retain the dropouts in the same position. Half links are a faff.

I suggest you speak to finical advisor and get proper advice unless one of those happens to be on here and want to give the advie for free.

All the Mr control kits I do ome with a stak of narrow spacers so near perfect or perfect chainline can be achieved. I use this on both of my SS and they work well.

1mm Shimano cassette spacers are good for fine tuning chainline. BB spacer can be a it too thick if they are the 2.5mm variety.