Yeah! You can try, if you’re feeling lucky! 🙂

Get yourself a GPS. Not cheaper but better.
Now sounds like you can well afford it! 🙂

Kenda Small Block 8’s here. Wicked in the dry, but surprisingly good when muddy.

I’m also 5′ 11″ but went for a small!
540 top tube and 565 seat tube.

Only the frame, forks, stem, brake and seat are left from standard spec.

Some seriously nice ‘tykes bikes’ on here. Go faster red seems to be ‘de rigueur’. Well impressed.

Yeah! At £320 that’s a real ‘steel’. Nice bike. Enjoy.

Quite right GW, but this is STW where bikes were unrideable in the the pre-disc brake era!

Nah! He races it. So money well spent.

Last years (when built) seriously reduced xs frame and bits from the ‘best parts’ bin. Sadly probably outgrown this year!
Frame just under £200, parts much more!

Might be worth inputting bike details into the ‘good ole’ Cane Creek headset finder and see what comes out;

http://www.canecreek.com/headset-fit-finder

Hopefully doesn’t fatigue as just realised I have a pair of Mizuno full carbon forks which are 14 years old! Oops! 😯
Only really give it a passing thought when barrelling down a hill at over 40mph.

Counter arguement: (although that Burls looks ace!)

So refreshing to see someone considering a light aluminium framed cross bike, instead of all these steel scaffold pole pseudo cross efforts frequently touted on here. 🙂
Although I mainly only use mine for racing, it is great fun for a quick blast round the woods and, with slicks fitted, have used it for the odd 100m road ride – the slightly relaxed geometry and longer head tube making it a fast comfortable tourer.
The current TCX2 & 3 have rack and mudguard mounts plus 2 sets of bottle bosses but these are omitted on the higher spec. models (down to 1 set of bottle bosses).
If discs are an important consideration, hold off till next model year, when I imagine more frames will be available with mounts.

All as anto164 states. 30.9 seatpost. 34.9 seat tube.

Personally I would go for 105. Seems to have 95% of the benefits of the higher groups at a much lower cost.

Maurice the Mongoose

and
Resident the Evil

Definitely ‘special needs’. I’m now VIP at Merlin and CRC, plus Platinum at Wiggle.
My name is Mug and I am a serial shopper!

Sounds like it’s a micro spacer you’re missing, which sit above the compression ring and below the top cap. I would have thought a LBS should have a few knocking about in the workshop if you ask them nicely. Failing that you could try the thinnest headset spacer available, which I think are 1mm, but this might lift the top cap a little too high and compromise the seal.
Edit; If you can’t source one, and have lots of patience, you could make one (or more) from a drinks can! 🙂

Pretty sure one of these is what is required;

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=25399

Although the blurb states 10 speed it looks like the same thickness as the one Mavic supply for 9 speed Shimano cassettes. For 10 speed cassettes Shimano supply another thinner spacer which is fitted as well as the Mavic spacer.

Fingers Crossed? I’m waaaay passed that.

Already built up 2 track bikes in anticipation! 😯

Just think of all that fuel saved not travelling to Manchester.

Dom. Thanks for update. Hope headset fits- will feel guilty if bearings are not 36 x 45!
Sounds a good price for the FSA headset. Hope you enjoy your new frame.
Cheers.

Hi Dom,
Top pull should look similar to this;

Admittedly looks a bit odd but is correct, works OK, and doesn’t catch on anything!

PS. Any luck with headset?

Probably integrated. I have an 08 TCR & an Omnium. Both integrated and take 1&1/8″ ACB 36′ x 45′ 873 bearings which drop in to the frame but they sit on a seat cap inserted between frame and bearing.
Would suggest give Giant a ring (0844 245 90 30) as there are lots of variations of integrated components. They are very helpful and will probably send you a data sheet which shows all the component parts relevant to a particular frame/year.
Giant also sell headset kits if required – about £25 I think.

Edit; The 08 aluminium XTC had a semi-integrated headset – just to confuse matters!

Although I’m no expert, all good advice above. I’ve found the best suspension are your arms and legs, so stay loose, and let the bike move up and down under you, so it rolls over obstacles. Ride light and pick your lines. Can’t really drive and weight a rigid bike through obstacles as you would a front or full suspension bike.

Yes. Ride, or even, better race your crosser around muddy fields and use your hardtail for rooty, rocky singletrack. Although not a very fashionable view on here, it is actually what they are best suited to. 🙂

If you’ve used it with success previously, then I’m sure it will be fine. Personally I would use a synthetic grease, but if you have lithium grease that will also be fine. Any grease or even anti seize is a thousand times better than nothing. Although some are better than others, there is probably no such thing as the wrong type of grease!

Speedium II’s at CRC absolute bargain;
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=20419

Probably! But this is the Internet and I don’t care.

Not concerned in the least.
Just done a 75 mile ride with some buddies.
Just consumed a bottle of wine and feeling smug and cynical. 🙂

So Mr PePPer did you venture out for a ride today? All these generous offers, but I imagine non were take up! Why oh why do people request invites then qualify offers with excuses? 🙂

Quite right Northwind. A good quality grease will be fine for a an alloy bottom bracket in a steel frame. The only application I use an anti sieze compound (and not coppaslip but a graphite based compound) is in a titanium frame where there is a real risk of the threads galling. Grease is fine, so much craap about lubes and grease on here!

Rule EIM21667a states;

It is acceptable to use the VAT exclusive amount in calculating the original price of the cycle. However, where the valuation percentage is applied to a VAT exclusive amount, VAT will need to be added to the result in order to arrive at the acceptable market value. This must be done regardless of whether or not the employer is VAT-registered. For example, if the original price net of VAT was £400, then whilst the VAT rate is 17.5%, the acceptable` market value at 2 years old will be £61. ((£400 x 13%) + (VAT at 17.5% x £52) = £52 + £9 = £61).

The £1000 value I used included VAT so the 25% valuation at one year old was also inclusive of VAT.
The 20% mentioned was the income tax rate, not VAT, sorry if this was confusing.

Posted this reply a few months ago – might be of some relevance to your query;

Sorry, don’t work for a council or a large company, but we run and administrate our own HMRC approved cycle to work scheme in house without a third party facilitator such as Cyclescheme.
The company own the bikes, so at the end of the hire period our members can take one of the following options;
1- Continue to use the cycle free of charge, with no further payments.
This means the company still own the cycle and the hirer cannot sell it as technically it is a company asset and HMRC might require to see it if a check was ever carried out.
When the cycle is six years old ownership can be transferred to the employee with no tax liability.
2- If the employee wishes to purchase the cycle at the end of the initial hire period we will sell the bike for, say £1, and they will then be liable for the tax on the balance left between the HMRC fair market value guidelines.
So, on a one year old £1000 cycle a basic rate tax payer will pay 20% on £249 which equates to £49.80 tax liability collected via a P11d ‘benefit in kind’ form. Total cost to transfer ownership £50.80 which will equate to approx. 5% of purchase price.
Handing the bike back to your employer or worse still, the third party administrator, seems a crazy option to me.

I run the silver Z510s, which I assume is the equivalent 1/8 chain, on track and fixie bikes. Fixie goes out in all weathers and chain lasts and looks OK. Cheap as Chips as well!

No rules stating how often you need to ride to work, but min.50% of the bikes usage should be qualifying journeys (ie ride to work).
Also employers are not required to keep a record of usage.

From the MTB race Rule Book;

8.3.8 A rider must act in a polite manner at all times and
permit any faster rider to overtake without obstructing

From the Cyclocross Rule Book;

11.8 When being lapped, it is the responsibility of the lapped
rider to surrender the racing line.

Not quite as clear cut for being lapped in a MTB race!

Yes mine has plastic jaws but metal head as the one on the ChainReaction link – BikeTool by Union. Didn’t realise there were different versions available.

I’ve had a BikeTools (same) stand for about 10 years and still going strong. A bit of flex evident but nothing like the OP is experiencing! Although when a bike is clamped by the seat post, this is hardly near the bikes centre of gravity, so some movement is surely expected – I can lift the front wheel a couple of inches or so – this is perfectly acceptable IMO.
In the good old days, when frames were not carbon or paper thin alu. and round in section, then it was much easier to hang the bike from the top tube! Much more stable.
As stated above, all heavy engineering jobs like bb’s, are not done with the bike in the stand anyway.

Just for info- Giant’s 53.5 is a medium/large and has a 57cm effective top tube. Probably sits in-between a 56 and 58 in traditional frame sizing. Would suit someone 5’10” to 6’0″.

Although 09 model, frame and groupset still current. Only in med/large though.
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/giant-tcr-advanced-sl-1-isp-road-bike-id45066.html