Had old M4’s, Mminis & MonoM4’s. then ridden all sorts of others that are more recent.
And honestly? My favourite, do everything, dependable, it’ll always stop me in the same distance brake??

Boggo Deore M??? (556 maybe? they are about 2004-5). Cost about £40 for the pair of them, levers, hoses, calipers& rotors (only 160mm). Sure, when at operating temp, they do not have the absolute power of 200mm MM4’s.
BUT. They have never let me down on any occasion, in any weather and I don’t feel the need to shop around for a replacement for them every year.
I do like the feel you get from current Avid Juicies with the carbon lever and hope tech trails.

Try a shorter stem, play with it for a few days and see how you get on.

If not, resell, there are plenty of those about, or put a swap up on a road forum ‘my 56 for your 52’ jobby.
Spesh have weird compact geometry too so their 56 might actually measure (in the normal sense) like a 52 hence the confusion.

plenty do it on CX bikes, often SS or fixed. Don’t see why not!

Aldi £5 track pumps are gash. Mine had under reading gauge = blew up nearly new tyre and nearly took the rim with it!
Then the handles snapped off, then the locking mechanism fell apart within about 4 uses. Avoid.

Any feedback on the LIDL bib’s?

I had exact same worries about road bikes ‘strength’ when I got into it about a year ago.
I built up and ride a 40yr old 531 lugged steel frame with very expensive 60s hubs + 80s rims which I’m always worried about buckling….

however. Put nearly 1000 miles on it now, first 250 of that mostly on gravel tracks & rutted broken tarmac with monster holes in it, with 15kg of panniers on the back.

Nothing has moved, frame is fine, rims haven’t budged 0.5mm, nothing, nada. And I am what I would call ‘heavy’ on bikes (not me, only 80kg, but i ride lazy).

a budget road bike is going to have its short comings, but frankly for commuting, where its going to be left out, banged into, thrown around, lock chain gouged into it, ridden in the rain, sleet, salt and filth (and then not dried or cleaned afterwards), cheap, is what you want.

When you get it, throw some ‘Refuse’ tyres on it, (maxxis or swalbe) around the 28c sort of size, and then enjoy throwing it down canal paths, potholed tarmac etc.

wow, what a horrible experience!
Good work on keeping your cool throughout (so far) the process.

I almost exclusively buy second hand for frames, shocks, forks (got stung once out of maybe 10forks) and wheels; but obviously new for drive train, brakes, contact points & consumables. Buying ex-demo from bike shops I’ve considered, and once came as close as getting to the till (then card declined for the monster bank shock amount and then never returned).

But somehow not sure, ex hire or ex fleet especially on anything more hardcore than trail centre type bike I would always go new. On XC marathon & road stuff I wouldn’t have any qualm’s, but heavier stuff you just know someone is going to have really made sure they have gotten their 20 quids worth of riding out of it, each time 🙁

Forks *could* be repaired with fresh ano + bushings, but again £200+ easy. When honestly you could get away with just riding them into the ground (1-2years use?) then just get something else down the line.

As for repairs, I guess the only sensible option is go full on, get it back to how it should be, take it on the chin that the used bike + repair will likely cost more than RRP.

And most importantly, once its back, built up and your riding it, FORGET ABOUT THE WHOLE THING, don’t waste any more precious riding time worrying about it, as it’ll only get you down and put a taint on things.

I got some forks off here about 5years ago, guy didn’t know the bushs were buggered, but they were VERY buggered.
He dissapeared with my money and I got left with forks that would cost more to repair than I’d just paid, so sucked it up and just rode them to death.

5years later, they are still going, play is slightly worse, but damping is still fine and they have never leaked any air (air fork). Bushs & stanchions are absolute toast, almost no ano left on lowers of the busted leg side, but meh. Cannot afford to replace them :/

though if anyone has some Manitou Sherman Firefly 130/150 they want to shift, hit me!

HTFU, launch off the side of the trail, cut through the woods then gap jump onto the trail right infront of them. then shout ‘on UR right’

sounds about right to me, no?

Seatposts & bars are one place I would spend a fair amount of money, especially on something that you would think would just plain ‘ole do the job.

Only broken the post part of a post, and I’m lucky to still have a leg. Must have been damaged on an earlier ride, then it just decided to give way, tough altura baggy shorts saved the day stopping the jaggered section of post from entering my leg.

post was an OE kona post in my marin frame (only thing I could get that was 30.0mm).

Currently use a thomson, race face XY/XYO’s, shimano ultegra (roadie) and misc. Ti post on time trial bike. Though main reason for splashing the cash is not fear of another breakage, but to get posts with clamps that ACTUALLY WORK.

essentially SHIT POSTS ARE SHIT

^^^ there was another accident on this years evans rideit.

Happened about 20-30minutes before I got to Wrynose, young lad, less than 18 I think, locked up both wheels and came off not far from the top. Pretty sure there were no cars involved just bad luck.

Guy managed to get a scenic lift in the great north air ambulance though.
Think I was the last one down from Wrynose as was watching the helo.
Was a good event, a very demanding course, wish I had taken my MTB instead of a road bike as spent most of the 6hours in bottom gear grinding out of the saddle (and wishing I had lower gears).

To do teh passes is nicer on a quiet week day, morning, and not in summer, you get a LOT less traffic, and the traffic you do get is locals and people who know how to handle a car. Wheras in summer you get tourists in ridiculous massive MPV’s, 4×4’s and BM’s and cannot drive them on teh narrow & rough roads, let alone minding out for cyclists.
Oh and discs on the way down are much needed, rim brakes, no matter how good, just burn up (tyres often explode from the heat/expansion).

sorry for your loss!

Used to ride plenty down in Dent/Lowther woods, guess thats where it was taken? Didn’t know there was still riding to be had in there.

Cleator Moor/Alercdon/Whitehaven etc, I would drag around all those estates in the daytime and keep an eye out, when I was in school there were bunch of kids who were master bike thieves (motor and push), every week they’d have something different, reported them several times but police were never that interested (talking 1998-2003 era).

Also return to scene of crime? even in school holidays, saturday afternoons are the best chance of coming across it again I would say.

Good luck with the search.

local halfrods was talking to the mechanic, he used to have his own shop, was a mechanic on a race team in the states for years, then came back to the UK to a divorce which had swallowed everything.

and yes, I believed him, so now he works in a halfords for minimal coppers, and with relavance to the thread, for the care plans they obviously need spokes right? Wrong, its halfords policy NOT to stock spokes, as they are a slow seller and take up too much shelf room.

FACT!!
Only the bikehut ones sometimes stock spokes, and even then, pretty much just plain gauge cheapies to cater for what they normally have to deal with, i.e. £80 saracens and apollos.

I use the same ‘store policy’ when it comes to buying cheap batteries for my camera. Most garages/supermarkets have them for £5-8 each. B&Q always stock them, but when they have been on th shelf for more than 6months, they reduce them, to about £0.25-50p each, despite having a shelf life of around 5years.
WIN (for me).

shed monster – AKA the ‘singlespeed’ which has been raped for its parts over the past 6months to feed other things.
I keep looking at it, remembering how much I enjoyed riding it, then remember the only reason I have it is because it was made out of junk for free, and that spending a small fortune on getting a new uber light frame with slotted dropouts and then fitting it with t3h carbones is NOT a solution and I should not even be thinking of it.

main mountain bike too, cracked frame = restricted to gravel and forest trail things, anything more and it will die. So last 8months I’ve been turned well and truley to the darkside, you know, those dangerous skinny tubed things with rubber band tyres that are glued on 😉

what about that mazda 6 MPS thing? You see the odd one about, look tidy.
Also the Lexus thing, again don’t know the name or the details as I have no interest in eastern stuff whatsoever.

Guess you could just get a newer 530/535?
I love jags, but I completely fail to get excited about the X or S type models, just look/feel/are(?) american interpretations of what a jag should be like. Guess for the price a 5yr old XJ-R’charger would be the ticket?

I fell down a little hole in the catacombs under paris, hurt like a bastard and had to wedge it with a dressing to stop it rolling around and causing more pain.
2weeks later, back in the UK still giving the same epic amounts of pain, but the same, could not be **** going to A&E and sitting for hours for them to say ‘yes you’ve broken it, what do you want us to do about it’

Turns out it WAS broken, (bothered to find out 3wks later) and the pain was from the fractured bit of bone digging its way into a bit of ligament (right word?), healed up by itself OK enough, no real harm done. Was the big toe.

get back covered, then work out how to avoid phone being remotely bricked.

I’m having fun with another phone company, seems they take the direct debit when they feel like it, some months they do, most months they don’t, yet my bill shows as being paid? crazy shit yo.

I’ve got family just near there, they know a fair number of people nearby with B&B’s but being the olds crew they haven’t quite adapted to the 21st century and still offer 1970s style B&B, do not take bikes, do basic breakfasts and there are lace doilys on everything. So if you find something nice, your doing better than I!

ran around a 2:1 SS mtb for about 6years now as a town/ shopper/ fill in bike for when the big bike is under maintaince (half the bloody time!).

running it round on the road bloody sucks though, so slow and essentially undergeared.

ran a fixed conversion road bike around for a few months, especially when visiting cities and thats been great, helped build up the early season muscles and zero maintainance required. Now its drier the geared road bike comes out. But don’t really see the point in a singlespeed road bike, unless its a zero maintainance shopper.

cost of sale is as previously mentioned, often a lot more than you at first think.

What drives often premium prices on ebay is the face that half the world can see you item for sale; I would love to be sat right at the top of ebay, earning 10% of just about every sale.

but, this ain’t a rant thread without my own 2cents:-

website is full of bugs and annoying issues that should have been fixed months ago.
that rapey 10% fee, then another 5% from paypal + insertion fees.
buyers are king, even when item is perfect and as described, somehow ebay still sides by them, because they didn’t read the description? (though this is people in general).

I have special hate for small town antique/ collectors/ charity/ ??? used item shop set their prices according to meaningless ebay selling stats.

I would watch out, I sold a very scruffy sony X1 on fleabay, expected about £30-50 for it and went for £102, I put extrememly detailed photos up of all the damage and scratchs but even then people went wild for it.

A fair number that go on there have wrong descriptions, ‘good, excellent condition’ often refers to ‘dropped a few times, sticky buttons and virtually buggered battery, as people are either ignorant or just playing dumb.

after thinking about it for ages I bought some raceface knee & shin guards, can’t rememer the name but they are halfway between xc & Fr sized pads.

yeah so cost me £40 or so, used them once, burn’t and itched the entire time, washed em and stuck them back in the cupboard!!!! Its been 3years and I BET they are still there 😉
veggies or something would prob be better or has someone designed something lighter and more comfortable in the mean time?

can bring on massive dizzy’ness, disorientation and reduced ability to think clearly. Sounds like something out of a book, but happened to me. Working a 9-5 office + 1hr commute each way did me in to the point I couldn’t even WALK to the car, let alone drive it.
Doctors puzzled for ages about the dizzyness thing, when my mood improved, dizzzyness, collapsing & brain failure, all gone.
Was also completly dis-interested in food and other things.

almost completly disagree with spongebob.

there are some good vag cars, but someone else mentioned saab spares hidously expensive? I’ve owned in the past few years 2x 95’s (proper ones, not the 9-5), 1x 900 16vT aero (original not GM) and 2x GM 9-3 hot aeros
reason? they depreciate like hell, not quite as bad as high specced alfa’s, so you can immaculatly maintained very high spec cars for less than the equivilent aged 1.2L vauxhal corsa. spares prices? the only thing I’ve though ‘FUNK’ shes pricey was a new air condiitionig compressor. £470 for anew saab part from GM dealer. however, a relative has a 2006 golf GTi, also needed a compressor, £625 or 630 just for the part (albiet tehy live in western scotland). suspension componants, electricla componants all same as you would pay for any other. and pattern parts are freely available.

forgot the name of the project but the alfa 164, croma and 9k were all the same design basis, with each manufacter splurging on the combined R&D cost of developing the body, putting it ahead of its competitors at the time. the croma got a bad name because fiats back then still used cheap import russian steel (part of the 131 blueprint deal I think), appaurling UK dealer network and they tried to put too much tech into the car, result, lots of niggling electrical things with dealers that couldn’t give a monkeys = huge pile of mega pissed off customers.

the original 99 morphed into the 900. something a healthy 10years ahead of its day when launched (1982/4?), i’m keenly looking for another. in high spec varients they are very pleasent to drive, still extremely quick, safe (enough), easy to work on, cheap & freely available parts (and plenty of well reputed independenat workshops about the UK) and if you get a clean one, something that will appreciate in value almost continously.

but for what the OP’s after, a 1999-2002 passat pd tdi, or 9-5 2.2tiD, or mundano wagon would probably be the most ideal choices. If you want a non-mini cabbed wagon, head north (no not manchester, proper north), we’re still using horseNkarts up here, haven’t worked out what cars are for yet 😉

for a start, its MASSIVELY down to the car in question. once you get to 10yrs + cars and your just after a beater, don’t restrict to just one type, keep your eyes peeled for all sorts….

personally a WELL looked after 9-5 estate, T-02 reg with a 2.2dti engine shouldn’t cost you more than 1500 unless you live in london. get a manual, the auto’s they borrowed from opel/vaux/gm are ancient pieces of shit.

9-3 turbos bad on fuel hey? probably something wrong with it then. we have a 2002 (GM900 shaped, NOT 9-3SS) 2.0 16v hot aero (B205engine) + BSR stage 3, rolling roaded + fresh engine pipework (~265bhp, 230lb.ft). 0-60 probably 6-7second region. top end 150mph and been there.
fuel economy? if you drive it like I do (occasionally boot it, well, a few times a day TBH), journeys of 20miles+ in good conditions. I NEVER EVER EVER see less than 37mpg from it. best was 46mpg, that was driving from manchester to glasgow then to oban (3person+luggage+dog), after that it was outer hebrides and so obviously fell. to about 40mpg. this is running normal supermarket 95RON.
personally the economy always amazes me, especially when comapred to a 1.6 focus (40mpg if your lucky) or one of the normally aspirated models (thirsty as **** and no go in them).

with the saab brand, you get quirky styling, neat driving aids, extreme comfort for the price (look at an 8yr old 9-5 then compare to an 8yr old BM series5 or merc Eclass, yeah, cheap ain’t it), good range of engines. things that let them down and to be aware of…

naturally they spend their first 3yrs of life as rep mobiles or being thrashed from one end of the country to the other. I don’t think i’ve ever come across a modern era saab with ‘nromal miles’ (10k/.annum) they are almost always 3years old = 80-120k miles). they NEED ABSOLUTLY NEED to be serviced properly. proper milage, proper oil, properly cleaned out (de-sumped and physically raked out in some cases), and maintained religiously. in sweeden & norge, they do this with all their cars because of the harsh conditions, if your car fails in -40degrees, 150km from the nearest town at 4am on a sunday, your dead. IN this country people get lazy and just expect AN unserviced unmaintained car to perform perfectly. it won’t.

If it was me and tax/insure/fuel wasn’t an issue, go for it, get a 9-5 hot aero, 2.3t 250bhp, reliable if serviced right. or for less money for for any model with the 2.2dti with a manual box.

also wroth considering, B5.5 (facelift) Passat estate with any disesl engine (the 4pot petrols are thirsty, underpowered, rough and generally a waste of space), should go for 1500-2000.

less than that, 1999-2006 shape ford mondeo, any diesel or 2.0 petrol. they go for the price of half used fag packets. nothing wrong with them, but generally tatty and unloved.

happy hunting.

depends entirely what frame you have!

I have a steel hardtail with round section tubing onto a square plate dropout (like jsut about anything else in teh budget bracket), bought one from KMB at full price as I just needed it (rim didn’t have much life left in it on the back so needed to swap onto a spare disc rim). they said they’d help work out how to fit it, which naturally never happened, and when I returned they wanted a stack of cash, when in the first instance they said ‘buy at full price, we’ll help you fit it for the price’. Going back on their word & forgetting conversations seems to be an all too familiar trate with them (on warranty items etc).

if your frame has a fairly square shape on the seatstay and your dropout is again fairly square then chances are it will fit and stay put resonably well. just don’t go expecting to be able to fit hope 6pot’s to your bike!! get the lowest powered caliper & smallest rotor that will fit, otherwise it will just twist the thing off the bike.

bah, with young cows and bullocks especially they are INCREDIBLY inquisitive. anything that moves or smells good will attract them, followed by the rest of the heard, usually in a semi-stampide sort of pace.

normally when i’m out in fields I have a pair of collies, if they were on the lead I would let them off at this point to get them away from me as cows are attracted to the farm like dogs. Then basically do as you would with any other large animal, make yourself look big and walk toward them, generally they will turn & flight, occasionally come back at you whilst crossing teh field, just do the same. With bulls, don’t state them in the eye, and if you do, make yourself big & bold, walk where you want, never turn your back etc etc.

bikes, bullocks love bikes, its like christmas for them, all those colours, smells & noises, and moves at aspeed thats good to chase. do as you want, mostly I just keep riding where possible. they’ll be a whole heard behind me, just make sure you don’t get yourself trampelled at the gate, stop, turn on them, then proceed on foot slowly to the gate. otherwise they will be on your ass like 20tonnes of hot braindead beef ……oh!!… wait 😉

I bed them in on the same hill in the same manor each time yet…

oe pads round 1 = 2years
superstar pads round 1 = 4weeks then fell apart
superstar pads round 2 = your joking right?
aftermarket pads round 1 = 1yr
oe moah better pads round 1 = 2rides
oe pads round 2 = just put them on 🙂

203/185 what?

MM's used to come in 140, 160, 180
MM4's usd to come in 160, 180, 200

whats the 203 about?
I run MM's (phase 1) on MM4 (phase 1) rotors, so 200mm & 180mm respectively on +20mm adapters. works fine, though the contact point on the disc is reduced on the internal side, so part of the actual radial spokes then become part of the braking surface. Only difference is it makes a purring noise instead of just a metal on metal noise.

Iceland

the one with the rotted shark meat, not the one with the rotted fish fingers 😀

the worms are out!

for sintered & organic you can get away without paying too much attention to them, but if your running resin pads (most magura, some shimano) you won't get 100miles out of them if you don't!

Basically find a nice steep hill, ride up it drag A brake the whole way on each run, get it hot! then drench it with water (squirty bottle) whilst braking on it until a standstill. ride back up hill, repeat 2-4times PER BRAKE. job done 😀

ah go on, let MBUK have it, its the only thing worth looking at in there anymore anyway 😉

because I ride heavy, I CAN ride light when I want to. but for the most part, I ride like a fat knack.

I also tend to go on all day rides deep into nowhere, so end up carrying a whole bunch of food & stuff in a pack, so a few inchs at backend helps from getting a compacted spine 😉

Halfords had a Van Nic Zion full XT group for £800, i missed out

I think We ALL Missed out on one of them at that price 🙁

whats the actual difference between the Deore & XT units? bearings of a different quality or is it just the material the cups are made from?

cheers guys!

if i get 18months out of another XT for £25 I'll be happy enough. The frames were both faced when I got them, and I use proper torque wrench of snap-on variety.

haven't got any useful cups to send to betd, the superstar cups, one is stripped out, the other is now rotton into my old (now dead) frame, as its been sat in teh corner of the garage (dead parts corner) for about a year, shame, as it looked nice and only had 20-30miles on it 🙁

mmm, too much £££ I fear.

I need a new back end, new drivetrain, and probably another fork. As i said, have been off the bike for 6months, and it needs an overhaul 🙁

budget for BB is around the £30 mark, and I would expect one to last at least a year and 2,000 miles, to me, if a product can't last that long, esp when mainted & stored under brilliant conditions, it goes back to the shop :/