I have had a couple of non received EBay sales in the past for items I’ve sold.

As a result I have made claims against Royal Mail & they have paid out on all occasions (3 in all).

If it’s a very cheap item they usually send stamps, with cheques for higher amounts.

Payments have usually been forthcoming about 3-4 weeks after I send the claim in.

I’ve usually ended up refunding the buyer before the RM money has been refunded.

I always send items non-recorded – RM can’t prove delivery that way, so it’s actually better if you need to claim. You get the same level of cover whether it is recorded or not.

Sounds like you’ve been very unlucky in this case – hopefully you’ll get some good fortune to balance it out.

Not that I can notice, though I’ve never ridden a bike with an 1 1/2″ steerer to compare.

I did the Megavalanche this year on it & it performed well for this.

Best thing I can say is that at no point did I feel limited by it.

I’m running u-turn domains – 160mm flavour 1 1/8″ steerer coil sprung (bought 2nd hand) & a cane creek forty headset.

Performance has been decent, as has reliability (serviced lowers a couple of times & swapped the seals once) – only negative is the weight (they are fairly hefty)

Planning on swapping these out for a set of the Marzocchi 55 rc3 ti’s if/when some become available at a price I can afford.

I was onboard a 21″ Raleigh Lizard (my early teens).

Bought by my parents as I would “grow into it”.

20 years on I’d still not be tall enough for it.

For me it would be the El Guapo – got two mates who own them & they’re very happy with them (older models so no CCDB air).

I also have a mate who’s got the CCDB air on his Knolly – it’s early days, but he’s pleased with the performance.

What would put me off the Hustler is warranty experience – a mate of mine used to have one – first frame cracked, which they agreed to warranty. Second one went & they refused (even though it was within the original warranty term) – wouldn’t even offer him a trade cost replacement.

BTW I own a NP Mega, but the CCDB would sway me towards the El Guapo if I was shopping today.

Well worth getting some coaching to improve your skills – I went to see the Jedi (UK Bike Skills) in February & it helped loads for the Mega

I also did it this year onboard my Nukeproof Mega. I was lucky enough to have no crashes on the qualifier or main race.

Amongst the my group of 8 riders we were mostly running bikes with 160mm forks & 140 – 160mm at the rear (my Mega, a Spicy, Two Orange 5’s, a Spesh Enduro, Transition Bottlerocket), but one of my group did ride a Zesty & the other a DH rig (Morewood).

Most people doing the race ride a 160mm bike, which I think is the best choice. There is some climbing to do on the course (not much admittedly), but enough to regret riding a DH bike. I even saw one guy on a singlespeed hardtail.

Oh & a dropper post is well worth having. I’d also agree on running dual ply tyres & DH tubes.

Worth bearing in mind is how the qualifier works – it determines which main race you go off in – if you finish: –

1-35 = Megavalanche (main race)
36-70 = Mega Challengers
71-104 = Mega Amateurs

Time is irrelevant – it’s all about your placing. Anything higher than 105 & you get put into the Mega Affinity 1 or 2 – the main difference being put into either of these is that it’s no longer mass start – two of our group ended up in these races & were a bit disappointed that they didn’t get the mass start.

Thanks for all the responses.

I think I’ll go for a 450 spring, so Northwind if you’ve got one, then I’d be interested in buying.

ODI Cross Trainers for me

I was recently out in Italy on an uplift holiday

Forgot my gloves one one of the days so had to do the whole day without them – grips felt comfortable for the whole day

Can’t see myself switching to anything else

I have (February 2012) with Jedi

Probably the best mountain biking money I’ve ever spent

Definitely improved my riding (had an instant impact for me)

Changed my riding style for the better

I only wish I’d been to visit Jedi sooner

I think there’s a fair chance you’ll be able to get away with the existing chainring bolts for the Hope bash

I have a Truvativ Rockguard on one of my bikes & a E13 Supercharger on the other

Both are Polycarb/Plastic & did require longer bolts

I did briefly have a Race Face metal bash which I think used the standard size bolts

I only switched as I prefer the plastic/polycarb bash guards

I’m also running one of the Blackspire Stingers on one of my bikes & this has been a good buy

TBH it’s pretty hard to look beyond a Boardman – I’ve had two – both Hardtails (the pro spec)

The spec is hard to beat for £1k

The only not so good part is buying from Halfords – for one of the bikes I bought the gears were so poorly setup I snapped a chain first ride.

I also happen to live near to Sevenoaks & do ride on the trails in the area – in my opinion you don’t need much more than a 100mm or 120mm travel hardtail for most of the surrounding trails, hence well suited to a Boardman (they’re pretty lightweight too – lighter than either the 456 or Genesis)

If you don’t want a hardtail from Halfords then give the guys at the Bike Warehouse in Sevenoaks a try – they’re a good bunch who will provide good advice on any bike you buy.

I’ve also had this happen several times

If I have a final price in mind I usually suggest this & see what they say (after all they are asking to end the auction early so should be prepared to pay a little more for ending it)

If I have no idea what an item will sell for then I usually say I’m happy to let the auction run its course

I often try to get the buyer to PP gift me the cash to avoid fees – remember by doing the deal outside of EBay you’re saving on the final value fee (usually 10% of the final price)

Sometimes I’ve had derisory offers made which I’ve flatly refused

The only thing I would advise is to wait until you have the cash from the buyer before ending the listing (I’ve been bitten by this in the past where I ended the listing before receiving payment, then the buyer failed to go through on the deal – I ended up paying two lots of listing fees as a result)

Depending on which bash guard you fit you may need new chainring bolts

If it’s a metal bash, then you can sometimes use the existing bolts

If it’s polycarbonate (plastic) then you usually need longer chainring bolts

The only other thing you may want to do is (once your current chainrings have worn out) go for a higher tooth count on your middle ring

I went up from 32 tooth to 36 tooth when I did the same as you’re considering, which helped with the loss of the big ring gears

I’ve had two sets of Juicy 7’s (ran these for about 3 years).

I now have Elixir 5’s on my FS, Elixir R’s on my HT & Elixir R/CR Combo on my freeride bike. I’ve been running the ones on my FS & HT for about 2 years, the others since the start of this year.

Performance wise I haven’t had any issues in that time – all I’ve done is the occasional bleed & replace the pads.

I have used both the Juicys & Elixirs for riding in Europe (Northern Italy, Les Gets, Morzine, Chamonix, Southern Spain & Verbier)

Pad fitting on Elixirs is much better than Juicys & the bleeding is a bit more complicated than other brakes, but it’s fine if you take your time.

I’ve had a few people tell me about issues they’ve had, but my experience has been issue free.

+1 for the Mountain Morph

Having made do with cheap pumps previously I bought one of the these about 4 years ago.

Still running perfectly & all I’ve had to do in that time is take it apart once for a quick re-grease.

Everyone who borrows it from me is impressed.

Had a mate who had his crack too within warranty.

They did warranty the first frame, but refused the second one which went (also within the original warranty).

Hope you manage to get something out of them – from what I’ve heard they weren’t especially great at dealing with warranty issues – certainly put me off ever buying a Cove.

Done – well constructed survey

I went up Snowdon by bike with my brother early July a couple of years back.

We went for the get up very early & back down before 10am option. Having set out around 5:30am we hit the summit around 8am via the Llanberis path, probably spending about 20 minutes at the top.

Visibility at the top was less than 5 meters when we were there which made navigation tricky.

We were back down to the car by 9:30 – took the Llanberis path down, would have gone for the Ranger path if weather had been better.

Take a waterproof even if the weather looks good.

Meant to be very good though I haven’t ridden one myself.

I was in Nirvana Cycles near Dorking on Sunday & they had an ex-demo frame for sale at £650.

I was told it came with a Hope headset & also a front mech, size was 18″

It’s silver & looked in pretty decent condition to me

It did have a Fox rear shock included but I can’t remember which one (think an RP3 or RP23)

Truvativ Stylo GXP crankset for me setup for double & bash.

Bash is a Truvativ Rockguard & I’m running a 36/24 tooth setup.

It’s 9 speed (X9 shifters & X9 front derailleur).

I’m running a Blackspire Stinger chain device.

Rear mech is X7 – medium cage.

Been running iBeam on one of my bikes for 5 years now.

It came as standard on a new bike & I haven’t had a single issue with it in that time.

In fact it’s one of only two parts I’m still using from the original bike I bought 5 years ago.

Never had any issues with creaking easy to get the saddle in a comfortable position & once set it stays where it’s meant to.

As iBeam is less popular you can usually pick up a post/saddle for a bit less second hand – it’s not worth buying a brand new one.

Should have said – the minibus only seats 6 as some of the seats have been removed.

Under normal circumstances it can seat 9, so do the 9 seat rules apply or not?

Around about a year ago I happened to be in the right place at the right time & had a couple of consecutive weekends where I was demoing bikes.

I wasn’t looking to buy a new bike & in all I took out about 10 bikes, some hardtail, some full suspension.

At the end of it all I decided I really liked the bikes I already had, but made a couple of part changes (wider bars, shorter stem)

So I’d get out & demo some bikes – you’ll know the answer to your question once you have.

Thought seriously about getting one of these a month or two back – what put me off in the end was the waiting time to get one.

Just checked the site & you’re looking at between 6 – 15 weeks wait depending on size/colour. I did e-mail Canyon to see if there was any chance of getting one sooner – their response was “check the website for availability”

Nirvana Cycles near Dorking have a medium demo Covert available

You can book the bike for the whole day (you do have to pay to take it out)

It looks to me like you’re based in Scotland, but thought I’d let you know just in case.

eyerideit – here’s my advice….

I went as part of a group of 8 – I was advised before hand that a one to one session was the best option to choose, but the chance to go as a larger group came up so I took it.

I think this worked better for me as I didn’t feel the attention was on me all of the time – it helped me relax more (don’t think I’ve ever concentrated on my riding as much as I did that day).

You’ll hopefully know what sort of attention will work best for you – either way it’ll be the best money you’ve spent on biking :D

I was Jedi’d in February this year as part of a group of eight.

Twas good value for money & has definitely improved my riding much more than any bike part upgrades.

I don’t think I’ve ever concentrated on my riding quite as much as I did that day, but I’m definitely faster & more confident now.

Was beneficial to be part of a group as when I ride now with my mates (the ones who were there) we can each point out when we’re doing good/bad technique.

One of my mates found himself in the same situation – from memory I think his frame was a Hustler.

They agreed to warranty the first cracked frame, but refused to warranty the second one (even though it was within warranty).

It certainly means I won’t be buying a Cove ever.

Also recently had similar happen to me on my Mongoose – had one frame on warranty (cracked), then CSG refused to do me a second one even though it was within the warranty period.

Hence I’ll not be buying another Mongoose (or a GT or Charge – all brands managed by CSG) ever again.

I have both a normal XC lid (Giro – one of the cheaper ones – can’t remember the model) & a No Fear Prime II Evo full face.

I take the XC lid for all XC riding & any trail centre riding. I only use the full face for uplift days/jump parks etc.

Wore the full face today & was sweating quite a bit in it (a bit of 4x & DH). Wouldn’t want to wear it XC ever.

However if you want a bit more protection, then why not think about an Urge Archi Enduro – one of my mates has one & it seems a bit better ventilated than my full face. It’s also noticably lighter.

If you’re going down a trail worrying about coming off, then this will make you more tense & you’re more likely to crash. Wear whatever makes you most relaxed on your bike.

I’m sure I saw something on the BBC recently where they looked at basic food & drink & put it up against sports equivalents.

I think they had one show which covered sports recovery drinks vs natural drinks & milk came out a clear winner.

I’ve been running mostly SRAM on my bikes for the last 6 years on so.

In this time I’ve had 5 bikes, four on SRAM (full groupsets), one on Shimano (that’s a newbie so a bit early to judge).

The only part I’ve had notable problems with is shifters – had three go wrong in all – they’ve got a tendency to ‘give’ (push the shifter & it won’t shift) when shifting up to a larger chainring – seems to affect newer ones more than the older ones (I’m still running a pair of 2006 X9 shifters without issue). I’m happy to live with this as I prefer the action of the SRAM kit.

Had 2 sets of Avid Juicys & 3 sets of Avid Elixirs – not had any issues with these either.

I tend to switch my running gear so I’m running all the same/similar to minimise the amount of spares I need to keep.

Can’t see how they can justify the price of jockey wheels – if Shimano can produce them at a reasonable price, then surely SRAM can too.

Have only had experience running 9 speed, so can’t comment on the 10 speed kit.

My components do get a good workout as I ride almost every weekend & evenings in summer – also do some gravity assisted biking overseas.

Update…

CSG have refused to warranty my frame.

Here’s the bit I don’t agree with – it’s based upon the age of the frame!

Needless to say I will be pursuing this further.

The crack is where the top tube meets the head tube.

Here’s a pic: –

Thanks to everyone for the responses.

Seems to be about 50:50 between those who think it will/won’t be warrantied.

The only others I’ve heard from with similar circumstances are one of my mates who had a Cove (they warrantied the first frame but not the second) and a friend of a friend who had a Giant (three frames all on warranty without issue)

I originally bought the first bike in March 2007, so 5 years from this date is up next month

Info had gone of via my LBS, so fingers crossed – will let everyone know the outcome

Cheers Guys

Anyone else got anything to add to this?

Anyone else experienced the same situation as me?

Done

Hope it helps

I’ve been to CYB, Penmachno & the Marin trail.

I liked them all, CYB has the most variety & facilities – the only trail I would avoid is the Tarw (it has a few good sections, but too much fire road including a long fire road downhill near the end). If it were me I’d do the beast or dragons back.

Marin is quite an old trail & also features a reasonable amount of fire road, some nice sections though. The Penmachno trailhead is a little difficult to find, but also has some good trails.

A walk up Snowdon will depend very much on the weather. You never know you might be lucky – if so the easiest path is the Llanberis path, but if it were me I’d park up near the Youth Hostel & take the miners track or the pig track.

If you go to Anglesey, then I’d head for a wander around Beaumaris. For some good food & beer head to the Gazelle Hotel (views over the Menai Straits) which is just outside Menai Bridge.

Used parcel2go at least 30 times now.

Yet to have a problem myself but I know from friends it can be a little difficult to get things sorted if there is a problem.

I usually end up booking Yodel, Citylink, Myhermes or Collect+ via P2G, all have been fine for me.

You only get limited cover as standard (from memory about £20 or £25) but you can buy extra cover.

I’ve always booked the cheaper options (2 day service) but have had a few times when items have been received next day.

So if I read correctly….

You’ve sent the faulty items back, but are yet to receive a refund for anything?

You’re outside of the Paypal claim window, so this is not an option?

Whether you can do a chargeback will depend on how you paid.

If you paid from your Paypal balance, then there isn’t really anything you can do.

If you paid via Paypal, but funded from your credit or debit card, then chargeback is an option.

For more info on Chargeback visit http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/sale-of-goods/your-rights-when-paying-by-credit-card/chargeback-on-credit-and-debit-cards/