Well I’ve just done a full service – seals and oil from TF Tuned, print out of service instructions and some YouTube. All went fairy well.

Of course I need to ride it….

Well I wouldn’t ride over a bridge without a helmet. What if the troll got me?

Surprised nobody’s mentioned the bandana, I mean it’s so 80’s. The guy should be embarrassed.

Just got back from the Ridgeway. It’s wet, very wet. Had to pedal down parts I’d normally coast down and grip is at best limited.

This morning I received some rechargeable batteries in the post – just came in the Duracell ‘blister pack’

You want it in carbon fibre or steel?

Fair play to him I say.

The way I read it was someone in Specialized legal got over zealous with a matter that that Sinyard would never have normally seen. Media firestorm ensues and Sinyard apologises and takes responsibility

Never went away!

Great light on the road but there’s better options for off road. Mine sits on my road bike and gets thrown in the pack as a backup light.

My understanding (and I may well be wrong, it’s happened before in 1987 I think :) ) is that they’re only required on bikes bought ‘complete’ so if you’ve built up a frame you’re exempt.

Can anyone clarify?

What wheels did you get? Where from?

jam bo – Member
Or just use lock-ons.

They’re my preference but I needed some in a hurry. Got some lock ons in the spares box, just trying to eek a little more life out of these

Has to be Trouble Will Find me by The National

Pay as you go?

What are they like for ‘normal, riding though.

About the most fun you’ll have with your clothes on.

They are not just for circumnavigating the globe via the Gobi and Siberia not but also trundling around Hertfordshire for an hour and a half every other Sunday…

FTFY

P.S. Don’t listen to cookeaa as he/she’s obviously clueless :D

Don’t forget that some of the best stuff is in the tracks off the Ridgeway

Was up there yesterday above Wantage. Very wet and muddy, for the first time my wheels got so clagged up that they wouldn’t turn

More seriously, especially if you’re new to skiing, you won’t notice the difference so just use anything.

Ski Sunday used to get very het up about wax a few years back. But the right wax depends on snow temperature, dryness etc. so is really the realm of racers who have a ski tech and those of us with a crystal ball to know what the snow will be like on the day. Plus teh average recreational skier is out all day on different slopes rather than a 3 minute race

I’ve got front disc only and it works fine for me. Dawes SST with a Cotic Roadhog fork and BB7, looks aren’t great but the fork is rather industrial :) but far more confidence inspiring than the rim brake. And not unbalanced

Best off taking it out and running a tap through itconverting it to singlespeed.

FTFY :D

Can’t see how much more Sam could have done. He’s given early warning of a potential delay early on. That shows great customer service and a commitment to quality. As others have said that gives me more faith in the brand

Only 3 at the moment but another one on the way?!

Sure it’s not a sticker? :)

Singlespeed is a misnomer. You actually have 4 speeds: sit, stand, push and puke.

And if that’s not enough you’ll instantly be approximately 100x more attractive to your preferred sex. True fat!

I’d just built my road bike when I got sent to New York for a year with work. I didn’t know what storage I’d have and didn’t want it left chained to a lamppost in Manhattan so I bought a cheap singlespeed road bike from Bikesdirect. Probably the best value bike I’ve ever had. Did my first century on it!

When I came to get my 29er I wanted an Alfine 11 on it but as Shimano kept delaying the release I had it built as a singlespeed to tide me over. That was 3 years ago….

I ran my roadbike with 3×10 for a while, then put on the Alfine 8 that I’d bought for the 29er but found I preferred singlespeed. Roadbike’s now singlespeed too.

Having said that when I get my fatbike in the spring I’ll probably run that geared. Before I sold my Pugsley I found singlespeed too hard in the winter, in the dry it was fine but in the mud climbing out of the saddle just made the wheel spin so I like gears to be able to keep my weight back.

I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that!!!

In the simple situation where you have not made any contributions it’s fairly simple:

Return = (end value – start value)/start value

To get the annualized return you then take he nth root as jambalaya describes

But you’ve made I assume monthly contributions so for each month the return is

Monthly Return = (end value – start value – monthly contribution)/start value

The total return is then given by

Return = (1+R1)*(1+R2)*….(1+RN)-1

Where R1 is the return in month 1 etc.

This again needs to be annualized

But the problem is that you won’t have monthly values for your pension so as an approximation your annual return for each year is

Annual Return = (end value – start value – monthly contribution*0.5)/start value

In my day job I sell systems that do this sort of thing so hopefully I understand the mates behind it! And to any CFAs I’ve made some simplifications I know, but given the amount of data the OP probably has its the best I can do!

No, the Alfine uses a solid, nutted axle

Sizing is great as stevenmenmuir says.

Too hot? Well that depends on you. I’ve got a Baked Alaska and it’s great on it’s own for cool spring late summer morning rides or as an extra layer when it’s cooler.

Quality of their stuff is great – I’ve ended up with more of their stuff than any other brand I think!

@sheck Don’t know about Chiltern clag but they’re fine in Ridgeway clag which I guess is simmilar – very much clay.

Surprised nobody’s pointed out how they make the trail come alive!

Seriously though they’re a lot of fun, versatile go anywhere bikes.

So, back to the original question, besides OnOne, Kona, Charge and Nakamura, what else is out there?

Well there’s the old guard: Surly, Salsa, 9:Zero:7, Sandman, Muru (I think that they’ve been going a few years?)

Then the new kids on the block: Specialized, Trek, Singular, Genesis

HTH

Love ’em! Only drops I get on with

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Untitled[/url] by paulfulford[/url], on Flickr

Got as far as getting changed before I decide F this, got changed bCk and fired upnthe wood burner.

Rollindoughnut

It may just be the Rioja but you’re making sense!

Need to get out of my comfort zone, push my limits and go for it.

Thanks!

Double post.

Again!

matt_outandabout – Member
Where do you ride?
What bike?
What is your ‘riding style’ do you have?
Is grip more important than speed?

Mainly ride on/around The Ridgeway so chalk, clay, gravel and rooty/loamy stuff

Bike’s a Swift, set up singlespeed

Style is pretty much wheels on the ground blasting

Grip over speed for me I think, today’s incident was going along in a straight line when the wheel went off on its own.

rollindoughnut – Member
The Saguaro is a very fast rolling tyre and it’s not very grippy in turns. More side knobbles help if it’s muddy but with roots and rocks the amount of rubber contacting the ground is going to help, low pressures will really help.

As to not washing out a Saguaro on the front, in fact not washing out any mountain bike tyre on 50% of all corners you ride, what the hell are you doing? Stop mincing, get your arse off the saddle, lay the bike over, feel the drift, deal with it, straighten up and peddle your arse off. Get you fingers away from those brakes, grip the handlebars tight and scream, lose the frickin anorack and rucksack and get really, absurdly, fit.
Blimey, I despair.

:D I think we have a solution

rollindoughnut – Member
The Saguaro is a very fast rolling tyre and it’s not very grippy in turns. More side knobbles help if it’s muddy but with roots and rocks the amount of rubber contacting the ground is going to help, low pressures will really help.

As to not washing out a Saguaro on the front, in fact not washing out any mountain bike tyre on 50% of all corners you ride, what the hell are you doing? Stop mincing, get your arse off the saddle, lay the bike over, feel the drift, deal with it, straighten up and peddle your arse off. Get you fingers away from those brakes, grip the handlebars tight and scream, lose the frickin anorack and rucksack and get really, absurdly, fit.
Blimey, I despair.

:D I think we have a solution

scotroutes – Member
But not with the Singular forks – unless you do some spacing.

The production forks will use a front standard disc mount, allowing any 135mm ISO disc hub to be used. Hubs built on a rear hub disc standard (eg. Hope, Surly, or any 135mm rear hub) will need to have the brake caliper/adapter spaced across by 4mm – i.e. a couple of washers. This allows maximum flexibility for use of any type of hub.
Someone with access to a decent machine shop could make up some nice adapters…..

Trying to get my head round this too! So I get a normal adaptor and use some washers to push the calliper inboard by 4mm? Is it as simple as that?

Nobby – Member
Blimey, I’ve yet to have the Saguaro wash out on the front of mine. They are VERY sensitive to pressures, especially the TNT carcass, and like surprisingly low psi up front.

So I’m just a crap rider? :) That was my other thought. Always easier to throw money at a problem rather than refining my technique!

I’ll try dropping the pressure next time out, But in the dry they were a great tyre, not so sure in the slimey mud