Martyn Ashton did it on a road bike!

They’re bloody brilliant. I’m a very big chap and the power is phenomenal.

Levers are very nice, and they’re closer to Shimano in feel, but have a bit more modulation. 

Internal routing on my Bird Aeris 9 was a little tricky with the fatter hose but do-able. 

The hype is real and they’re well worth it.

@DrP

I agree with you there on the Cross Climates – they’re excellent all season tyres.

Fantastic grip in the wet and cold, which some people don’t seem to realise is quite common here in the UK…

That sounds perfect.

Baffled sump is a big bonus especially if it’s going to be driven hard or on track.

I blew up a 1ZZ on track before. A big end bearing went due to oil starvation which is apparently caused by oil sloshing too far away from the pickup on long fast corners, particularly left handers.

I fitted a moroso baffled sump to the replacement engine which had a higher oil volume also.

I’m getting ideas now…

Yeah, front wheel off you can get a modern large MTB bike in. 

Make sure you get the 190 version with the 2ZZ engine, and regularly check the oil! 

The carbon has a UDH but the alloy doesn’t – if that matters to you.

Personally, I think the alloy frame looks a hell of a lot nicer than the carbon.

I wasn’t expecting much as most of the adults agreed not to do presents this year, but I received some fantastic surprise gifts:

• Gregg’s gift card (work secret Santa)
• Aeropress coffee maker (asked wife for this)
• Bike Park Wales voucher (surprise gift from wife)
• Whiskey (surprise gift from mate)

And the boxing day trip to the in-laws was cancelled as my wife was ill, so I got to spend the day playing Lego with my son instead.

Another positive review for the Splug here. Much better than the MC damper.

Couple that with a full service and some low friction wiper seals and the Yari punches above it’s price point.

Drank too much port last night watching Die Hard and feeling it this morning. Little man was up at 5am which didn’t help. 

Setting off to the sister-in-laws in about an hour where we’re having Christmas dinner. Then off to the MIL/FIL on boxing day for another one because they can’t be arsed going round SIL for Xmas day for some reason.

Two consecutive days of them…wish me luck. 

@DickBarton – no, you can’t get a bike upright unless you take both wheels off.

The boot is pretty big, and has larger volume and opening than most other EVs we looked at

The optional heat pump makes the winter/summer difference in range far less noticeable. I think the winter range is ~10% better with a heat pump than without. But unless you’re doing long journeys in cold weather regularly, then it doesn’t make as much sense.

Me and my wife have quite a few friends and family around 70-100 miles away, so being able to do a 200 mile round trip in winter on a single charge was a key requirement before purchasing. 80kWh with heat pump easily achieves this in the real world.

However public fast charges are pretty good these days on our routes, so stopping for a fast charge and a toilet break and coffee isn’t any bother.

I’ve had mine for about a year now. It’s got the 80kWh battery, and the optional heat pump which improves range when it’s cold. 

Longest journey I’ve done on a single charge was 240 miles with cruise set to 70mph. That was from 100% and had about 20% left when I got home.

For local driving it will do 200 miles between 80% and 20% easily.

Long term average ‘mpg’ is 3.2 miles per kWh.

There’s less choice for 31.8 bars but NS, DMR, and Gusset all do riser bars. 

You may find more choice and cheaper price if you go with a 22.2 BMX stem instead. 

Lovely 😍

Our Evri ladies are great.

Listen to what @vmgscot said. It depends on what is in your house.

I would need a RJ11 if doing the same as my router and modem are the same device and I’ve got fibre to the cabinet which enters the house via the ‘telephone’ wall box.

That doesn’t sound sound too unreasonable if it includes new timbers.

My Mum paid £25k for her 100yo roof around 15 years ago. Big three story mid terrace listed building.

If you’ve ran before and you’re otherwise fit then just build it slowly, but not quite at couch to 5k slowly – it really does build up slow and you’ll get frustrated/bored. 

I used to run loads but have mainly cycled for the last few years but got back into it this year. I tried couch to 5k and sacked it off after 3 runs. And just reverted to listening to my legs/body and built it up at my own rate, doing shorter 2-3km runs then upping the distance slowly. 

Same as everyone else. Off road fine, road or paved routes, not a chance. 

Had an off last year on a paved canal tow path hitting a patch of black ice and nearly ended up in the canal! 

Yes, acceptable in my view. You paid for the room, and they wouldn’t be arsed if you consumed the lot during the stay.

I love the song – going to whambush myself and put it on now 

Our 4 year old can use a knife and fork with softer things, pancakes, potatoes etc. 

He tends to chop and slice rather than ‘saw’ so would struggle with the sausage example. 

He’s very dextrous, and not all kids are but I’d expect they would have the hang of it by the age of 10 though. 

@DickBarton

I’m 6ft 1in with a 33 inside leg. 

My bars are level with my seat on my Large Aeris 9. That’s running 170mm fork, 30mm spacers under the stem (35mm long), and 38mm rise bars. Oh, and 170mm cranks. 

The large is spot on in terms of fit for me. 

There’s a Weatherspoons (Stick and Twist) right next to the arena, which is one of the nicer ones. It’s usually full of people going to the gigs so not full of locals. 

Other good bars nearby; Belgrave, Social, North Bar, Mojo. 

Another vote for the Neutrons here. 

If you want a bigger platform I can recommend the Crank Brothers Stamp 1 in large. 

Hope this helps summarise buyer protections as the world of payment services and consumer rights is a complex minefield.

Section 75 

• Applies to all regulated credit agreements (credit cards, PayPal Credit*, fixed sum loan agreements, credit sale agreements)
• Applies to goods and/or services over £100 (up to £30k)
• Only applies to transactions made directly with the regulated credit agreement – e.g. using a credit card via PayPal would not be covered
• No time limit on making claim
• Statutory consumer right under the Consumer Credit Act

Chargeback Schemes 

• VISA, MasterCard and American Express have their own schemes, but are largely similar
• Applies to any transaction made directly using a credit or debit card
• Usually has a 120 day time limit for making a claim
• Voluntary scheme provided by these companies

PayPal Buyer Protection 

• Applies to purchases made via a PayPal Account (PayPal pay-in-3, funds on the account, or via a bank account/card)
• 60 day time limit for making a claim
• Voluntary scheme provided by PayPal
• Section 75 does not apply to purchases made via a PayPal Account*
• Chargebacks do not usually apply, but you may be able to make a Chargeback claim if PayPal and the card issuer have a commercial agreement in place.

*Its worth noting that PayPal Credit is a regulated credit agreement separate from your PayPal Account. Normal PayPal Account transactions and Pay in 3 are not part of it and are not covered by Section 75.

Yeah, my mezcals are the graphene ones. And they’re set up tubeless.

I’ve had three punctures that wouldn’t self seal, all along the centre of the tyre. One caused by glass, two by thorns. Bacon strips have only temporarily held and I’ve had to patch them up the old fashioned way. Shame, as otherwise they’re great.

I’ll have a look at the race kings and the spesh tyres. Cheers.

It’s good that the frame looks a lot less-hideous but why then paint it like that. 

I’ve got one. The 2016 model with bright yellow paint job (I got mine powder coated to a more subtle colour). It would be fine for bike packing.

That model year has full rack mounts on the seat stays so no P-clips needed. It also has two sets of bottle bosses inside the front triangle. Later ones don’t have these.

Wheels are made of cheese – mine went years ago. I laced up some better rims and spokes to the same hubs and they’re still going after thousands of miles.

You can fit a 29 x 2.4 at most on the rear due to clearance, so you can have a bit of comfort and volume.

The Suntour air fork isn’t that bad – it’s not high end by any means, but is fine for the bikes geometry and typical riding. I’ve still got the air fork but I run mine rigid these days.

@hot_fiat – I agree, they’re great for getting them interested and used to riding. We’ve had one for about 2 years. And he was on a Thule Yepp Mini before that.

@Kahurangi – Thanks for the info. I came to a similar conclusion the other day at a pump track. Another kid and Mum were there and they had a 14″ Early Rider and it’s smaller than his Vitus 14. The Vee Tire Crown Gem plus tyres seemed ideal. I measured his inside leg and he should fit an Early Rider 16″, so I’m planning on getting him one for Christmas.

M5100 Deore 11s, M6100 Deore, M7100 SLX, M8100 XT, M9100 XTR

They all work. Take your pick.

M5100 and M6100 are identical apart from the logo. And I can’t really tell the difference between those and the M8100 XT once on the bike.

For reference, he’s just turned 4 and although he’s tall for his age, it might be a while before he can stand over a 16in or 20in wheeled bike.

He’s a machine for his age and has been doing 10-15km flat smooth rides. He has also got the hang of the bungee tow rope and I’d love to get him out for rides on the Moors and Dales, but he’ll definitely need a bit more grip and comfort.

Some good suggestions. Thanks all.

They look perfect and can’t argue at £15 a pair.

Cheers!

Get it powder coated – place near me (LSN Coatings in Castleford) is about £30-50 depending on paint and do a really good job sand blasting.

Much easier, often cheaper, and much more durable than rattle can.

How about a 22″ wheel BMX as something in between?

I’ve got a 20″ BMX and a 26″ dirt jumper. I originally got the BMX as something cheap and fun to go out with my son on his balance bike and also for me to muck about on and practice skills on. But then a DJ came up for sale locally and n+1 and that. I haven’t ridden the BMX since.

DJ feels much more like a mini MTB than the BMX and is easier to transition and transfer skills (or lack thereof in my case) between a big enduro bike. DJ brakes are much better than BMX, which helps my confidence, and I controversially run a front brake which is good for practicing trails type skills. Suspension fork also makes a big difference on your wrists. Most cheap DJs come with coil forks which are rubbish, I replaced mine with some cheap air forks.

Surely all these high profile actors don’t knead more dough 

Missed a trick there.

Cycle to work shouldn’t affect your consumer rights, but it may change who you have recourse against.

If it was cycle to work then you should have entered into a Hire Agreement which do in fact fall under the protections of The Consumer Rights Act. However the “trader” you have recourse against is technically whichever company you have a hire agreement with. This might be your employer or a third party company (my hire agreement is with Cyclescheme, so they would be the “trader” for the purpose of consumer rights).

Nukeproof > Bike Shop >  Hire Company (“trader”) > You

It’s quite common for “traders” to direct consumers to the manufacturer (Nukeproof) or their agents/distributors (bike shop) to deal with warranty/defective goods issues, but the obligation will remain with the trader who you have a contract with.

There was a bad batch of them and some frame sizes had issues with the cranks rubbing against the chainstays. Shame, as on paper they look great.

I avoided and went with a big dog instead.

Disappointed. Came here expecting a thread on back yard trails.

I’ve got a couple of 30.9mm 170mm droppers in the parts bin. Crank brothers highlines.

But I’m just outside of Leeds though, so about 60 miles away.

I retired my trusty Runner 3 in June which was still great after years of abuse. Battery life had degraded a bit but was still perfectly usable with all the features you’d want from a sports watch.

Shame they’re pulling support as Strava updated via the tom tom sports app.