Okay update, tracking was easy once i figured out the right website.

Dont access it through another site as it appears to have a security block http://www.ems.com.cn/english.html

Once in the UK parcel force tracking takes over speaking of which i received a letter today from parcel force saying ive got some charges to pay.
Import Vat £7.04
Clearance Fee £13.50

This brings the total so far up to £122.20

I feel for you as an ex-bike mechanic a bare minimum standard of work was not performed here and id hope you would try to get at least some of your money back there.

In regards to those saying if your an engineer then do it yourself then having worked near a large engine manufacturer the amount of ‘engineers’ we would see with half assed bodge jobs come in defied belief then again we used to see a retired engineer who scratch built his own electric recumbent bicycle with just about the best welding work i had ever seen. There are many different types of engineer and the skills are not always transferable however a person with a sound mechanical knowledge, patience and the correct tools should be able to do at least basic bike servicing.

Here is mine 19″ I am 6’1″ and its used mostly for commuting on roads/cyclepaths and dirt tracks its no road bike but its a bit of a gate for proper off-roading.

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Vitus Vee 29er[/url] by Tyred Cyclist[/url], on Flickr

Yep i had a Leatherman style until someone robbed me of it these days key ring duty is commonly taken up by a Leatherman style.

Also in my multi too arsenal
Leatherman prst II
Leatherman Squirt
Leatherman Wave
Gerber something or other

Ive had the prst II well over 15 years now, its having a well earned retirement and generally hangs about the house for odd jobs where i dont want to get my tool box out.

The Squirt lives in my Commuting bag along with a couple of handy bits and pieces.

The Wave i use in my Camelbak for longer rides.

The Gerber? well the least said about that the better.

I was running raceface taperlock with my Middleburn RS7 but mashed the cups (seriously are they made of cheese?) Changing frames a while back, im now running some NOS japanese thing that hasnt missed a beat.

I agree with the DT Swiss, no there not silent but they have a nice subtle precision click worthy of a country renowned for there precision timepieces.

Thanks CP

Great any idea on delivery timescales?

If your not bothered about what you look like in it and MX5 will be infinitely more fun and a whole lot more reliable. I know its got a hair dressers image but underneath that is a fully competent chassis more than capable of bringing a smile to your face.

Good news, were you running them with your Scandal The-MilkyBar-Kid?

Looks good madcowkev, were the graphics and paint done in the uk?

Well ill be sure to report in full (as long as im not speared in some horrible carbon failure accident of course)

Apparently a number of UK shops bring them into the country under there own branding but if bought in the uk one might theoretically have better come back if something went wrong.

Heres my current hack/winter

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Vitus Vee 29er[/url] by Tyred Cyclist[/url], on Flickr

and here is my new steed (work in progress)

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SRAM 9.0SL WTB LASERDISC TRAIL 29[/url] by Tyred Cyclist[/url], on Flickr

Heres my current hack/winter

[/url]
Vitus Vee 29er[/url] by Tyred Cyclist[/url], on Flickr

and here is my new steed (work in progress)

[/url]
SRAM 9.0SL WTB LASERDISC TRAIL 29[/url] by Tyred Cyclist[/url], on Flickr

I wasn’t entirely convinced but being 6’1″ i thought i would give it a bash, so i got myself a cheapie a vitus a year on ive ridden it more than my far more expensive 26er and on the rare occasions i did ride it the 26er felt cramped and sketchy. Now im in the process of rebuilding my 26er into a 29er (probably with carbon rigids since i didn’t miss suspension either). You can analyse it all you want but at the end of the day the only way you’ll know for sure is to ride.

I replaced them when i found twin identical pools of fluid beneath my back wheels

Probably best popping into your local halfords, a big one will usually have a large number of keys hanging about for there display boxes racks etc.

Thats them Kona_ona

I have a nice set of Pedros ones but i think they are manufactured by VAR

My parents had one from new, it was in and out of the garage dozens of times, nothing big or any breakdowns but it never was quite right the whole time they had it.

Pace RC 104?

A jet powered electric supercar? the future is here :-D

They have a catalina at Duxford, its in great condition http://www.catalina.org.uk/

I like the Japanese reliability mixed in with the excellent engineering and handling of a lotus, the lotus mantra of light weight still exists as all the new models are lighter than the cars there competing against and i cant see them doing away with cars that are competitive for the track but now there a bit more refined. I think the days of the stripped down impractical track day special are numbered as a large scale business model, the Elise gave rise to many imitators and now there are dozens of small scale enterprises putting together buzzy lightweight track cars (theres 3 manufacturers within my city alone)

Oh if you do use a tyre type, make sure to disconnect your rear brake, trust me your only stupid enough to do it once but once is enough.

My Ford Puma? its in the classifieds now for a Bargainous £1495 :lol:

What about electric glass? Examples here http://www.electricglasswall.com/

I tend to run fairly large gap due to my freakishly large hands it gives me a bit more space and allows the brake lever to fall into a more natural position for me at least.

Die another day was the jump the shark (or invisible car) moment of the series which is saying something given how exceedingly silly some of the other films were (almost any with RM for example)
Im enjoying the reboots though, Daniel Craig makes an excellent bond and i can only hope the next film gets better writing than quantum of solace which had some great moments i just wish the storyline had been one of them.

Lovely nice to see one built up as an SS needs a middleburn crank though :-)

We used to do Hamburg – Harwich when we lived in north Germany, its an long ferry journey but will put you closer than any other. Alternatively You can get the Eurostar to Brussels and a German ICE train direct from there, Berlin has great public transport so you wont really need a car there.

Me too uplink and getting a special pass to travel into the east, those were the days my dad was telling me about his time there in the late 70s when they used to take shifts at Spandau.

Is it me or are race face getting a bit lazy now? that last one looks like someone knocked it up in there shed :wink:

Hi rob thanks for the link, no locals already fortunately

Perfect Hairy

Does anyone know what i would need from the council if anything?

Some great input there thanks guys :-)

It would be a really crappy ad without a link to the bromley bikes website where incidentally those brakes are not advertised

I woke up to discover it on my telly the other night, i felt violated and not in a good way.

Make sure there done up well i almost swallowed a 'friends' ball once :lol:

My hamster 'Rambo' lived for about 4 years and went through about a dozen wheels in that time, he would eat the plastic ones and the metal ones were far too noisy.

Thats amazing its like his wheels were ejected at speed, proper scary good job it was an F1 car on a track.

That shifter will be a 1:1 ratio, the toysrus bike will more that likely be 2:1