We use our racks a lot – every day sometimes in the summer months.

After going through various cheaper options which didn’t last long, 3-4 years ago we bought the top-end Thule one and it’s still going strong.

Can’t see us going for anything other than Thule when it’s time to replace it. Yes, they’re expensive, but you do get what you pay for.

As above, not available yet unfortunately. New brake lever or bar-clamped shifter are your options at the moment.

For those asking about the Vagabond there are some details up on the site now:
http://www.drovercycles.co.uk/first-look-genesis-vagabond-monstercross-bike/

Ben98 – you’re quite right the spec does say straight blade but they’re evidently not, both the sample and the images in the catalogue are lovely raked forks.

I didn’t fit it; but I didn’t hear any swearing coming from the workshop and it was done in no time, so I’m sure it wasn’t too bad. I will have a word with the mechanic who fitted it when he’s next in and get some feedback.

I had a quick carpark test on it today and it feels good – action every bit as smooth as the Lev.

Just put one on a demo bike today. Seems good. It’s going out this weekend but will post something more in-depth when it’s back.

I think most people who buy XT or XTR level kit don’t want the indicator – which makes it odd that the new XT shifters don’t (currently) give you the option to get rid of it.

So do all xt bar mount 11 speed shifters come with an indicator?

Yes, all have indicator windows. Spare part required to change this not yet available, coming later in the year (probably around the same time as the Ispec-B version of the shifter, I imagine).

What about xtr shifters, do bar mount versions have indicator windows?

No, they don’t have the indicator window.

Has anyone tried this with the XT mech? I assume it should all work OK. I heard that xtr wouldn’t support the 11-42 tooth cassette but I guess thats a mech thing rather than a shifter thing

Yes, it will work OK (perfectly). XTR rear mech doesn’t officially support 42-tooth rear but will probably work fine (less than perfectly?). Nothing to do with the shifter, you can mix and match those with impunity. So XTR shifter, XT 11-42 cassette, and XT mech is probably your best option.

Saracen do a 29er 120mm carbon frame / full build

They do a carbon 650b hardtail but not 29er, I think?

Transition TransAm and Genesis High Latitude (recommend what you ride) would be on my list.

and a genesis vagabond if they ever officially announce it

They’re official, they were at the launch and look fantastic. A bike we expect will be very popular in 2016. Shout if you want any info.

Complete bikes due November, framesets end Dec.

If you’re looking at new wheels, the 2015 versions come as 15mm front and 12×135 rear with included adapters for 12×142. If you want QR (front or rear) you need a separate adapter which are readily available.

QR comes as standard on the Crossones.

We have plenty of adapters in stock; if you don’t want to buy from Germany or second-hand but are after a deal, give us a shout and we’ll see what we can work out for you.

Yep we have them, assume anyone with a Madison account should be able to get you sorted.

Yeah I’d go KS I think – the Lev is a quality product and they have some cheaper options too.

neon green with black decals or black with neon green decals apparently

Indeed. They look great too.

It should be fairly easy to see whether you’re missing spacers or not. Are the gaps either side of the 18T you’ve installed the same size as the gaps between all the other cogs on the cassette? If not, you might need to install/swap some spacers. If it all looks “right”, it probably is.

Doesn’t actually look too bad at all for the money although not sure it’s worth £650 originally.

Certainly a weighty beast but then when you think a basic entry-level “normal” MTB could be 14.5kg it doesn’t seem too unreasonable.

I’d not want to be riding it up anything steep with a 42/32 bottom gear, mind. Why on earth would they spec a 42T chainring?

Cheers Drover. I could recall the nett sacrifice being in the region of £40 something, so if calculating the nett sacrifice is just to deduct 20% from the gross, then that should give me a fair idea.

No problem. Deduction is 20% tax and 12% NI, for most people.

We’ve been looking at the Tacx trainers for the coming season which look very impressive indeed – that’s what we’ll be stocking. Options from £100 to £1000 depending on budget and requirements.

Whisky components?

Reports of higher bb on next batch of Patrols.

Nope, Patrol geometry is identical for 2016, just new colours. And Patrol carbon geometry is the same as the aluminium.

Scout and Smuggler both have slightly (we’re talking a few mm) raised BBs and tweaked shock tune.

I think you’d be blown away by how capable a bike the Scout is. If it’s one bike to do everything, for most riders, that would be the one.

The Patrol really comes into its own as an Enduro (sorry!) ride, or for Alps trips, or the gnarlier trail centres – but it’s too much bike for most of us, for our everyday riding. Great to have both, if you can afford/justify it and ride them each often enough! I’d not go for the Patrol as your one bike, unless your riding is significantly steeper/techier/faster than the average.

Both are very limited in availability (basically most shops, and the UK distributor, have none) until the new 2016 range comes in (limited quantities landing in September, then more in December). Both the Patrol and Scout are there in the 2016 range in new colours. The Scout has a couple of small tweaks.

We did get notification today that there is one large limeade Scout frame with cosmetic imperfections available, at 20% off.

We have good stocks of 26″ Ardents and I think we have one High Roller II 3C left.

As above, new Maxxis stock will be a while…

We have two of these in stock if anyone’s interested, email and contact details in profile.

Will check in the morning – I believe we have stock.

From memory – and MisterP may be along to confirm or correct this – for 2014 the Ariel went to 150mm travel and 27.5″ wheels, so it was the 15x (frame) and 151 or 152 complete bikes.

So if you have or are looking at a 16x (which is the frameset and identical in geometry to the bikes) or 161 or 162 complete bike, it’s a 2013 rather than 2014 model.

FWIW for 2016 they’re going to 160mm forks on the 27.5″ bikes (but still 150mm rear travel I believe).

We have a hire fleet full of Disc and Long Haul Truckers, both 26″ and 700c wheel sizes in both… so whatever you’re thinking of, we probably have available to hire.

Feel free to come and have a go, or just give us a call if you want to discuss.

They’re all good bikes and I’d not agonise too much. If you want discs, go for it – wheel size is much less of an issue with the good quality narrower/lighter 26″ tyres you can now get.

So anything else different about the 2016 models?

Where are details of these 2016 Transition Bikes that you all speak of?

Dealers have some information on the 2016 range. Some we can talk about, some we can’t, yet. What we can say is that the Smuggler has more tyre clearance at the rear, and both Smuggler and Scout have a slightly raised BB for pedal-strike avoidance and an updated shock tune.

First drop is coming in September, and we’re taking pre-orders (as I’m sure pigyn will be too. And someone definitely does need to buy that Smuggler – they’re amazing).

There’s some other stuff we can’t talk about just yet, but let’s just say that some of the rumours you might be hearing may just be true…

I think it would be very tight on the current ones but the 2016 model has been tweaked to sort this so should be fine.

The only figure which can be given accurately is the gross deduction, which sounds like it’s £60.69 in your case.

The actual amount of net salary you would have missed out on as a result of that depends on your individual tax circumstances, but for most people there would be an income tax saving (20 or 40% depending on what tax bracket you were in) and NI contributions (lots of rates depending on circumstances).

A £60.69 salary sacrifice, assuming “standard” everything else, in the current tax year, would equate to:

£60.69-£12.14 tax-£7.28 = £41.27 nett salary sacrifice for a basic rate taxpayer
£60.69-£24.28-£7.28 = £29.13 nett salary sacrifice for a higher rate taxpayer

The rates were actually the same last year, thresholds different, but the above would apply if you earned over c. £11k and under c. £150k assuming no other unusual circumstances.

We’ve been through a similar process recently – previously using Hostso, who were diabolical in terms of reliability, and after lots of research we moved to Pipeten. So far they have been excellent. Now paying £7/month plus VAT for unlimited sites, so very reasonable pricing too.

We have a 17″ demo bike – if you’re anywhere nearby you’re welcome to come and sit on it / take it for a ride.

I’d have thought you could ride either, to be honest. I’m 6’2″ and the 17″ is too small for me, as you’d expect, but I’m not sure whether I’d have a 19″ or a 21″.

They’re in stock with Fisher, so any LBS can get you one. They are unlikely to sell it to you for £35, mind. RRP is £50, so trade price reflects that.

They’re tight, sure, which is a bonus if you want to run them tubeless – they go up easily.

Schwalbe tubeless rim tape is very thin and strong – and fine to run with tubes.

Schwalbe tyre levers work well for me getting tyres onto those very rims.

Yep – drive side spokes are shorter/have a tighter bracing angle due to dish in the wheel, so will have to be tighter to keep the wheel in true.

One of the advantages of asymmetric rims is that they minimise this difference hence building a stronger wheel.

Yep – assuming current Pikes it’s a +20mm Post to Post, also known as a 180mm Post to Post, you want.

Strange. If someone is decent enough to give their employer more notice than they have to, why would anyone assume that they’re going to slack off for the remainder of that time?

The only job I’ve ever quit, I knew I was going to leave 9 months or so ahead of when I did – so I told my boss that. I worked hard for the remainder of that time, as they quite rightly expected me to. If they’d turned round and said “thanks, don’t bother coming in next week” I’d have been gutted and would have thought much less of them.

Now, as an employer, if an employee told me they were quitting in 6 months’ time I’d appreciate their honesty – certainly would expect them to continue doing their job to the best of their ability, of course, until the time they decided to go. I’d be pretty disappointed of someone knew they were leaving and didn’t give us as much notice as they could.

The aqueduct you’re thinking of is on the canal leading out of Brecon towards Talybont. Lots of places you can swim in the Usk out that way.

I’d recommend the Bridge Cafe in Brecon if you want a nice, friendly, outdoorsy B&B which is reasonably-priced, and the owners have lots of advice on stuff to do – they’re cyclists and walkers themselves.

Outdoors – take your pick. Loads of good road biking in the area – just grab a map and go to be honest, or plenty of GPX files for download. Hire MTBs locally if you feel the urge. Walks up Pen y Fan from the south or east are much nicer and less busy than from the Storey Arms/Pont ar Daf route. Even better walking on the Black Mountain (to the west) if you don’t feel a need to go up the absolute highest peak.

Indoor stuff is more tricky but there’s a climbing wall at Llangorse which is worth a visit, the Welsh whisky distillery at Penderyn, show caves at Dan yr Ogof, or towns/villages like Hay on Wye or Crickhowell are worth a look too. All these things tend to get busy on wet summer weekends, mind.

It’s unlawful not to, yes.

You actually aren’t allowed to just pay people a bit more each time, either – which seems to be what you’re saying BC do. Employers are required to actually give people paid time off. Subtle difference, but it’s not the same thing.

Obviously you can’t force people to take their holiday but they must be able to do so. And if they come to the end of their contract and haven’t taken it all, they must be paid in lieu.

If the company pays for its upkeep, As it’s owned by the company you can’t claim mileage through expenses.

… would be my understanding of how it works. A proportion of the allowable mileage expense covers the capital cost/depreciation (of a bike, car, or whatever).

Yeah if those measurements are accurate I’d go for 266 and 264.

I think the point is – what makes you say the tyres you’ve bought *are* OE?