I think the picture says it all really… 🙄

Beardie-weirdies on fashion accessories trying to look different, while at the same time managing to look the same as everyone else in their niche! I like the idea, but if it means being associated with the style over substance types, I think I'll pass.

ps. is that helmet really going to protect his hip when the bus ploughs into him as he rides up the wrong side of the road?

I haven't cracked any bike, i can't be riding them right!

You're just not trying hard enough! 😀

Ran over a young rabbit on a moorland track about a year ago. Silly little bugger ran out right in front of me. Sickening crunch as the front wheel crushed its spine. Didn't kill it outright though, so I had to go back and finish it off… 😕

So far I've only owned three bikes that haven't broken: a Yeti ASX that I sold after a couple of years, an inbred that I sold after 10 weeks and my current orange five that's only been ridden twice…

Giant Hurricane : snapped chainstay
Marin Bolinas : cracked headtube
Trek 850 : snapped chainstay
Orange X1 : 1 cracked front end, 3 snapped back ends
Orange Mr O : Cracked swingarm
Orange Sub5 : Cracked pivot mount
On-One Tinbred : Cracked seat tube/top tube

If anyone would like to use me for destruction testing their frames, get in touch… 😀

I know of one Soda that snapped, (right across the down-tube IIRC)

If you've got any sense you won't be sending them to Ev*ns. Get them to TFT and you'll have them sorted out in no time, (and to a good standard)

That only works if you have an existing cable there. Mine was a frame only/first time installation jobby.

i worked closeley with our local council aftre a racist murder by a gang of local yobs, and it took us 10 months of hard work gathering evidence to obtain 9 ASBO .

Sorry, but was that really all that could be done? A gang comits murder and all they get is a handful of asbos? I'm not criticising your work at all, but if that's all the punishment that gets handed out, it's no wonder that this sort of thing goes on.

Lights angle is pretty much spot on. :p

After the faff of threading the brake hose & gear outer through the swingarm, I'd lost the will to trim them down. 😀

I'll second the hammer method. It's probably the most likely to succeed. Just make sure you protect the crank arm at the point where you'll be hitting it. If the bike's still more or less rideable, try riding it without the crank bolts in for a while, to slacken it off a bit.

GaryLake

And seriously, 16 posts without owners pics! Shame on you STW

Happy to oblige with some 2010 loveliness…

Take the pads out before you bleed it, because no matter how careful you are, you will always manage to get some oil on the pads. Put something solid in their place inbetween the pistons.

I just took my new Five out for its maiden voyage yesterday, and to be honest I can understand why people might feel the need for a maxle back end. I had a Sub5 years ago, and I seem to remember it being a fair bit stiffer at the back. Having said that, the new one is not excessively flexy as it is, it's just that I noticed some flex, (but then I'm not exactly the world's lightest rider…)

"S or Pro?" Good question. To be honest I'd be tempted to go for the Pro. The forks alone are worth the upgrade, but when you consider that you're also upgraded to hope hubs and brakes, rather than the cheapest avids and deore hubs, it's a bit of a no brainer. The hub bearings WILL wear out, and judging by the repair jobs I've had recently, the freehub will fail fairly quickly too on the shimano hubs. There's a fair weight difference too…

The only downside I can see with the Pro is that godawful colour. That alone would merit a custom paint upgrade…

Maybe we could join up for a ride or two sometime… 😀

Typical halfords bollocks from someone who doesn't give a flying **** about the customer. The spokes should not be twisted at all. When you build using bladed spokes you use a spoke grip. If they're badly twisted, the chances are they've been significantly weakened, and will snap very soon.

Take it back, demand a rebuild, or better still, a replacement. Don't be fobbed off.

PS. The idea about finding your own niche or unique selling point is a very good one. I did just that, and it's starting to pay off. Now if only people knew I existed… 🙄

Flip, as someone who's set up a bike business in the last couple of years, I can tell you that you'll struggle to get ANY suppliers unless you have a physical shop, and even then you'll probably need to be far enough away from their existing dealers.

Most suppliers will not want you to be dumping loads of their stuff cheaply onto the market via t'interweb either, as they like to be seen to be protecting their independent dealers, (while at the same time supplying the big online dealers who they daren't argue with).

As Colin implied though, it's not always the case. If you can get to talk to a rep or two, and persuade them why you should have an account, (or bribe them or whatever), you might just get somewhere.

Get a chain checker and test your chain. If your chain is worn, your cassette and probably the chainrings will be too, which means it's time to replace the lot! 🙁

I guess you can do it without buying the tool too. Just put a new chain on, and if it skips/slips/jumps under pressure, the cassette is worn. Wear on the chainrings should be visibly obvious, but you'll get the same slipping under pressure with a new chain.

If you want to avoid the same thing happening again, buy three (or more) chains, and swap them over every month or two, so you reduce the stretch, and therefore the wear on the rest of the drivetrain.

Not subtle at all, but I love it! *NSFW*

You can schedule the start of your auction, (and therefore the end as well), but it costs you extra*.

*Quel suprise!

Personally I'm not the slightest bit interested in seeing the latest weird niche stuff hidden away in the corner of a show.

If there was something genuinely new and innovative, I might be more likely to pay attention to a proper review of it, but let's face it, we've all seen pictures of fixies, belt drives, 29ers, handbuilt frames, etc. It's dull, repetetive, and basically just a good excuse for lazy journos and industry types to have a holiday on company expenses. Spend some time on decent content rather than just schmoozing with your mates!

There's plenty of traks & trails around Durham, but you really need to know where they are… 🙄

You can easily get onto the Lanchester Valley way, and the Deerness valley way, both with plenty of little side tracks and diversions if you know where to look. There's also tons of stuff slightly further afield, but to be honest, there's far too much to be able to describe to you here.

If you're looking to expand your local trail knowledge, give us a shout.

You'll need a 68/73mm one, (standard MTB jobby). Should fit no problem.

Toolwise you'll need a BB cup spanner. Remember that the right hand cup is left hand threaded, so will tighten/loosen the opposite way to normal. There's a handy reminder etched into the Hope cups that tells you which way to tighten it. I think you'll only need an 8mm allen key to remove the crank bolt, and remove the cranks. Might be a bit awkward getting the axle out of the BB though.

Actually, now I think about it, have you checked that it's definitely play in the BB, and not just the cranks coming a bit loose?

If you do end up replacing the BB, be VERY careful, as it's fairly easy to get the cups cross-threaded when you install them, and that can potentially write off the frame!

Linky. Should be enough to get you started…

The only awkward bit is sometimes fitting the master cyliner circlip. Everything else is straightforward.

Will they be fine for manicured man made trails? I'd have thought so… 😆

I'll be riding along at the front of the Great North Run…

Of course they don't count Saturday as a working day. Just like they don't count Sundays. Or mondays, tuesdays, thursdays and fridays… 🙂

There's a very vague chance that they'll work ok, but a much bigger chance that the chain will just skip under pressure, in which case you'll need to replace the chain and cassette, (after you've extracted yourself from the stem/scrotal interface that inevitably occurrs).

If the cassette and chain have only been used together they should be ok, as long as the chainrings are the same age. Otherwise you'll need to replace the whole lot (probably).

Headset? Grease the bearings and see how it goes. At worst it'll come a bit loose or seize up.

Rock shox by any chance?

If it's working fine, leave it. It's gonna cost £89 + postage to get mojo to service it, and leave it feeling pretty much the same, so why bother. If it goes wrong, think of it as though you've saved £89 by not servicing it, for every year you've had it. That leaves you with £623 saved to spend on a new shock/frame if it dies! 😀

Sadly now deceassed. 🙁

Don't do anything until you have a contract! Offers can be withdrawn!

Never take anyone else's advice!

When it's brand new, it's best to get it serviced once a year, otherwise Mojo won't honour the 2 year warranty! 🙄 After that, once every couple of years is ok. To be honest, it's probably better to just buy a seal kit and do it yourself, as it's a very easy job to do. There's no need to service the damper itself unless it starts leaking oil or the damping starts to go off a bit.

MTS, Gilesgate, (Durham) Jim's only interested in you if you want to spend lots of money.

Evans, Gateshead, I wouldn't touch 'em with yours.

Steels, Gosforth, Good shop if you get to know them, but can be a bit snooty if you don't.

Bike Place, CowGate, Not been to the new place, but they were always friendly and helpful before they moved. Never really stocked much though…

Denton's, Scotswood road, Sad to hear they've closed down, but not surprised. Used to be a good shop before they moved. Last time I was in they had 3 bikes on display, and only one was new!

Low Fell Cycles, Gateshead, great if you want to be told "you don't want to buy that", then get ripped off. Otherwise, not so great.

Edinburgh, Byker, Stock lots of stuff, but you've got to choose the right member of staff if you want a knowledgable answer, and they're not cheap.

Cestria Cycles, Chester-le-st, very friendly, and stock way more than you'd think for a tiny shop. More of a roadie shop though.

Nothing in Sunderland worth bothering with.

If you're prepared to travel, Bike Scene in Guisborough is probably the best MTB shop in the region.

If you only need a repair, give me a shout… 🙂

This actually happened back in May…. They replaced the lower legs which still are not right. When the wheels is in it looks to the left (out of dish). It was nt like that before and the wheel is pefect. So even without using the fork they went back……Upon return the note said "The carbon is within DT tolerences, and they are fir for use"

Yep definitely sounds like Pace. The steerer tube on my Pro Class 2s snapped about an inch up from the crown, (this was 8 years ago btw), just before they recalled the whole range. Was told the usual line about it being the only time it's ever happened, (even though I'd seen someone else with the same problem at the Red Bull the week before).

Anyhoo, despite the fact they had snapped pretty spectacularly at about 20mph, they simply re-fitted a stronger steerer tube. That was fine until anout a month later when I noticed that 7 seperate small cracks and one huge gaping crack had appeared in the crown. Upon sending them back for the second time I was told it was my own fault and they wouldn't be covered under warranty because I had been jumping on them! Considering that they knew the history of the fork, I found it very surprising that they could try to fob me off like that. These days I'm not surprised by anything they say… 🙄

I see pace have passed on their legendary reliability and quality control to DT. 🙄

A normal vice is ok, but make sure you don't damage the axle threads. Wrap a bit of cloth around the axle if you don't have soft-jaws.

If you're in the north east somewhere I could have a go at it for you.

"Drive side is the side with the plastic/rubber cone cover!"

Drive side is the side that the drivetrain is on, ie. the cassette/freehub!