I went from F120 RLC (QR) to XMM 140 (15mm). The Fox forks were better at the small bumps but the DTs were stiffer. This could mostly be due to the through axle. Longevity-wise I can’t really offer a comparison. In my opinion, the Fox’s were high maintenance. I used the XMMs without issue for 5 months (without even opening them up). Then some tosser nicked my bike.

I wouldn’t pay full price for either fork. There are DT Swiss bargains to be had. I imported mine from Germany and paid about £400 a year ago. For me, the 200hrs service interval is a big plus but the manual actually recommends an oil change/inspection every 50 hours.

Richard Burton

Yeah. Got measured up a few years ago before buying a road bike. As I bought the bike in the same store, they refunded the cost of the bike fit.

I ended up with a print out of the fitting which I have used subsequently when buying bikes.

Had a similar problem with a metal-roofed garage. I bought a job lot of 50mm thick polystyrene sheets and glued them to the ceiling.

Do not underestimate the ability of thieves!

Torq ground anchor? Check
16mm Pragmasis chain? Check
Squire closed shackle padlock? Check
Wheels D-locked? Check
Garage doors secured? Check…

I always thought the garage up-an-over door would be a weak point, so I added some pacri locks and sank some bolts through the base of the door into the concrete floor. What I didn’t expect was for someone to rip a steel reinforced, multi-point locking side door off it’s four hinges…

Rather than attempt to cut the chain, my frame was cut. There was
a d-lock attaching the front wheel to my workbench. They sawed through the workbench and took the lock intact. The back wheel was d-locked to the front wheel of my road bike, so they took that wheel too.

There’s not much more I could have done to secure the bike or the garage, save for installing an alarm. Obviously, that’s now in hand.

Our account managers used to be encouraged to ‘farm the base’.

Eh?

Wow. Saddle-geeks a-go-go.

IT bod in the Public Sector. No 90 hours per week for me though. George Osborne can’t afford the overtime.

I’d rather build bicyle wheels.

How I won the yellow jumper.

Just started it but pretty funny so far 😀

My favourite

Same as Shak47…

First pair were leaking around the arse after a few weeks.
Replacement pair still going strong 3 years later.

Best waterproof shorts I’ve used are Scott Helium Paclite, picked up from Evans a while ago for £45. Think they’ve sold out now though and not seen them anywhere else.

Gentle Spirit by Jonathan Wilson. Super mellow 8)

I ride down to my local tip and chuck it in the container marked ‘metal’. 😉

Yes, I believe you can retro-fit one of these

Eyes peeled in BS7.

I feel your pain – my bike was taken last week. The thieves ignored the up-an-over garage door and instead ripped the side door (multi-point locking, steel reinforced) off it’s hinges. Apparently, they didn’t have the tools to attack the chain/ground anchor and so sawed through my bike’s frame.

Halfords do a pannier rack with side frames that bolts on to the seatpost. Bargain at £25 too.

You know what? You’re so right. What a ‘feching’ genius you are. Bye trolls.

anyone who leaves £2-3-4000 of bike in a garage, chained up or not, is asking for it to be taken.

🙄

Sounds like a decent dlock or chain to a ground/wall anchor may have prevented him getting away with your bike.

If only that were true. It’s what I thought until last Thursday when I entered the garage to find the remains of my bike (pictured below) next to an intact chain and ground anchor.

will keep an eye out mate

Cheers mate.

Forgot to mention on first post that the Hope Tech M4 brakes have matchmaker clamps on for XTR shifters. Can’t be that many of those around.

The would be a lot more pencil moustaches during Movember.

I started building wheels about a year ago after downloading the Musson book. 2 wheelsets built so far and I’m addicted. The key for me is to only work on a wheel if I’m in the mood to do it. This has meant that one newly laced wheel sat in the jig for 6 weeks while I procrastinated. At the other end of the scale, the last one I put together took 2.5 hours from start to finish because I was really up for doing it. Unbelieveably (to me), I’ve only had a couple of loose spokes on one of those 4 wheels. The rest have stayed true and taut. For some reason, I always thought of wheelbuilding as some arcane art practiced only by learned initiates. The reality is, that given time and patience, it’s pretty straightforward.

Nice jig by the way!

I must have been followed to the locked, gated lane which leads to the back of my garden/garage. Additionally, someone must have either seen me putting my bike in the garage, or they hung around for a while on my street to see which house I came out of. I’ve always tried to be aware of people following me on my bike.

The thing that really worries me is that it’s someone very close to my home who also has access to the locked area. All this makes me quite paranoid.

wireless is not very good for alarm system

Hmmm, my garage has no power and the quotes I’ve been given to provide power to it have been way more then I expected. I’m happy to have a wired system in the house but I need a wireless component for the garage. Will I have to get 2 separate systems, or can wired systems incorporate wireless bits?

don’t give up hope

Cheers, but seeing as they sawed the frame up… 👿 I doubt I’ll ever see it again unless it happens to be in a skip nearby!

Phone Chinese Takeaway.
Answer door.
Eat food.
Burp.

The sound of blood boiling as I discovered my bike missing from the garage this morning.

Given what was left behind, including my Van Nicholas Yukon road bike (minus it’s front wheel which was D-locked to the Brodie) and a pair of Crank Brothers wheels, it’s fairly obvious that they were after the Brodie. Needless to say, all shiny things have now been moved to a safe location whilst I consider enhanced security measures. The chap from the CSI made some interesting suggestions! Say no more.

I still can’t believe they sawed the frame though. ****.

I’m sure that this type of theft is rare

Not according to the CSI and the locksmith it isn’t. The garage is approx 100ft from the house (long, narrow back garden). Unless we were awake at the time, it’s be quite conceivable that the noise wouldn’t wake us up.

The other thing about leaving it to insurance is the that premiums will just keep on rising. I’m now considering bricking up the garage doors that open onto the back lane. Inconvenient, yes, but then again the feckers will probably pull the roof off next time.

I try to throttle my trumping more these days as the response tends to be “Daddy done poo-poo”, which whilst not strictly true, does make me feel like I’m not setting the best example.

It’ll be more fun – you’ll have fewer people on the stealth trails. Sorry about your bike.

That has crossed my mind! 😀 And thanks.

Where would the fun in that be? I’m just grumpy cos someone stole my bike.

here’s a thought – perhaps trails don’t appear prefabricated out of the box

Indeed, as I’ve helped to establish many of them by riding them over the last 20 years! I’m sure that in the fullness of time, nature will reclaim what is hers, the trees will grow again and well have our beloved noodly, rooty singletrack back.

… the background buildings are VERY familiar !!!!

Well, if you live around Ashley Down Road/Muller Road area, they might seem familiar.

Si, that’s really generous of you and I will have to consider it. I don’t want to make any snap decisions though so will mull it over and hope that, if I do fancy another Holeshot, you haven’t sold out. Cheers.

It’s a little bit Siegfried and Roy

Alas, my pride of fearsome felines was nowhere to be seen.

I ride to and from AC/LW/50-Acre a lot. My spider-senses never tingled.

Distinctive combo or just bad taste? 😉

Have just seen CSI chap out of the door. They dusted for prints but it appears the perp was wearing gloves. Now waiting for the locksmith. The multi-point locking uPVC door to the garage was ripped off its hinges. Possible DNA trace taken away though. I don’t hold out much hope to be honest. I thought there might be prints on the slice of downtube I was left with. No such luck. They must have taken one look at the Pragmasis 16mm chain and decided to hack the frame to pieces.

Have already emailed stolenbristolbikes.com with details.

🙁 👿

Thanks Si. After waiting 6 months for the frame to arrive, it’s gone in less then that 5. I’ve got to seriously reconsider whether I want to build up such a bling bike again.