Yeah should be. I’ll be the one at the back 😉

The ‘old boys’ say the leather is thinner than the 70’s saddles.

The Brooks is about a year old with very little use.

Under a year then return it under warranty.

How old is the Brooks and have you ‘tensioned’ it using the nose bolt?

If it’s relatively new and sagging still with tension then it’s not right.

SJS are asking £270 for that Schmidt Qr15 hub. Ouch

Which means they have just pretty much copied the rrp in Euros. If they were converting the price to pounds as perhaps they should it would be about £50 cheaper than that (so still the wrong side of £200 for most people).

That Schmidt hub is also heavier than the SP dynamo hub and has more drag I believe. However it is made in Germany and does have a 5 year warranty.

Endless road miles get boring after a while.

Plus it’s nice to ‘scare’ myself a bit sometimes. ‘not good’ is an understatement of my off road abilities. 😉

Thanks.

*heads off to move his connector behind fork* 😉

USB charging? Do you just need a particular lead and where from*?

*vauge memory that Exposure/USE list one.

Wetsuit?

Baselayer, jersey, softshell/windstopper (what Njee20 said).

The only problem in my experience is that if you give up on keeping your body dry you need to give up on keeping hands dry too as the water will eventually run down your arms and into your gloves! 😉

Robdeanhove any chance of a picture showing how you’ve ‘located’ your connection in relation to hub/fork?

Plus the link doesn’t work. 😉

Just a little unsure if the cable connection to the hub will cope with winter off road use

Well it hasn’t shorted or broken in the rain, but I can possibly see it being caught by a twig/bush/branch if you don’t locate it cleverly/sensibly.

Robdeanhove is going to be able to answer that better than I but once you’ve got up to speed then it doesn’t drop off and lose that much power if you slow down.

However if you stop or the first part of the ride is an uphill twisty slog then the light output won’t be as much as if you’ve done some decent speed before hand.

To be honest I haven’t taken it off road yet, but there seems to be plenty of light available from using it on unlit (pothole strewn) roads.

Pair with a helmet mounted light to get better visibility in the twisty stuff? So you can see where you’re looking rather than the bikes pointing?

Yes, it’s good.

Some comments on this thread if you scroll through.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/my-ideal-commuting-light-would-be

£30? Not very wide though.

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s142p1942

Sorry mods.

FAO: Thomthumb and tootallpaul, custom built Reynolds 725 frame by Lee Cooper (http://customcycleframes.blogspot.co.uk/).

Not cheap* to be honest and considering it’s ‘designed’ by me the first ride is going to be one of either relief or misery.

*When you compare the cost to the rrp of the closest mass produced frame it doesn’t seem that expensive. However when you compare it to the cost of frames made in the far east you realise why most bikes are made there at the moment.

Anyone want to ‘invest’ in starting a bike company? 😉

If you send it back under distance selling regs you’ll have to pay the cost of sending it back.

If you send it back warranty (which it clearly is!) then the company should re-imburse your return postage costs or collect the item.

Currently Spesh Tricross (which I ride all year to be honest), now has added dynamo light up front.

To be replaced at some point with this

I reckon Coleman has the right idea. 😉

I have a timbuk2 Messenger Large size which I actually bought in the USA. It’s good in terms of size and very hard wearing*. Plus has never leaked in the rain. Down side is that you have to pack it right, i.e. put soft things against your back with hard/sharp things at other side as it has no padding on the back of it which some messenger bags do.

Timbuk2 website shows UK stores in the ‘find a store’ section.

*It once broke my fall in a crash and the only damage was a tiny hole in the fabric.

I think a little clip on cowl would do a grand job

Not a bad idea at all. Had a pedestrian on my 200m towpath stretch last night say ‘you need to point that light down a bit’.

I also think that a mk2 should have an off/low (2 led’s)/high (4 led’s) switch perhaps as all 4 is overkill in town.

You really don’t notice the hub, easiest way to describe it is it’s like riding with a slightly heavier tyre so after the first 10 minutes you get used to it and you’d only notice it again if you switched back.

If you’re going to buy a new brake, Id’ recommend buying a Tektro RX5 mini-V which seem to work with road levers. Use a noodle with an adjuster though as clearance to remove the wheel is tight.

Otherwise I’d say persevere with the CR720’s, they are good brakes and you should be able to get decent stopping power with them (although I’ve never got the rear to be great I admit). Saying that I’ve never worked out why you would want to be able to lock up/skid the rear wheel as long as you can stop/reduce speed safely. Maybe I’m not riding ‘correctly’. 😉

p.s. we did some back to back testing of Shimano CX canti’s and the RX5 brakes at work and the RX5’s were better.

Yeah again not 100% on current spec (and no catalogue to hand) but your description sounds about right. Zymes are more practical off the bike but can get very heavy when wet.

If you are locking the wheel up do you not need to practice modulating your braking so you know how much pressure equals locking up/skid?

*holds hands up because this is where I work*

This converted to a single ring? http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p1927

Sadly no 140mm cranksets in stock currently.

Also – why all the SRAM kit. It’s a Madison brand and they import Shimano

The bikes are still made/assembled in the far east are they not? The factory will have Shimano and Sram available OE. Sram is only on the 1×10 bikes I think, which I assume is as there is no off the shelf Shimano single speed mtb chainset (as far as I know).

Can’t comment on the MTB’s too much but the cross/road bikes seem to be priced around the level you would expect for the components/frames specced.

If go the dynamo route and want a UK made light then I am very impressed with the Exposure Revo that I started using this week*

http://www.exposurelights.com/product/000098/revo-dynamo-mk1-(new)/

*86 miles so far in all weather conditions. Haven’t taken it off road yet though.

and the chick's are easy too

Really? Where? Can you introduce me? 😉

I recommend the South Western by St Denys station for it's rotating real ale selection.

I liked Southampton when I lived there, it isn't the best city in the country but easy to get around and does have a fair bit of good stuff to do/see etc. and the people I met and go to visit on occasion are sound.

its on fireroad so not technical or that steep really just long

She'll probably beat you up it. 😉

Look at the 'body weight' stuff on here.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

DenDennis isn't National insurance the portion of tax that is 'supposed' to cover 'benefits' under the welfare state?

So you focusing on Income tax ignores £104.6bn 'earmarked' for that purpose.

Does 'Social security benefits' in your post cover state pensions? What proportion of these are pensions?

I can smell chips right now! (…and will be cooking myself some for tea). 🙂

Iron Maiden > Harry Potter…OP win. 😈

Nothing wrong with having some fun in the mean time though is there? 🙂

As per Peterpoddy doesn't matter. I have Giant bib shorts and don't own a Giant plus a Magura wool jersey whilst I own nothing made by Magura.

Wear what you want, it's not like you're being 'paid' to wear it/advertise it.

Any single ladies on here then ?

I was wondering when we'd get there. 😉

Mintyjim know exactly how you feel. The right one will come along eventually and you'll want to be bothered and it'll probably happen when you least expect it…well that's what I'm hoping.

http://www.sturmey-archer.com/

Knock yourself out…S-RF3 (only lists axle length and not OLD though) and SLS30 in some form as a bar end or down tube shifter. Don't think think there is an STI method.

No idea on cable stops.

EDIT: If you click specification gives the OLD dimensions for the varying axle lengths.

Well as long as he's dug through it before the meter he should be fine. 😉

1. Don't worry Boba Fatt the only person that ever phones me is my mum. 😉

2. I don't need a mobile but I'd be pretty hard to contact without one, plus I don't really like talking on the phone so text messages are superb in my book!

3. I think 1. stems from 2. 🙄

@Sam Conti and Schwalbe definitely both do Schrader…because Halo Freedom discs are drilled for Schrader valves.

Also I'm sure there is some science behind why presta > schrader but they both work in my eyes, plus my lezyne mini pump doesn't unscrew the middle bit of Schwalbe schrader valves like it does on the presta ones!

It would help on threads like this if people stated where 'local' was so others in the vicinity could advise.

Generally they're not that hard to come by, although I've found Schrader valve 29er tubes harder to find than Presta.

I like the random high five before he starts.