We wouldn’t generally offer to give components back to customers if they’ve been replaced as part of a service due to being worn out – they’re worn out after all – but we’d certainly be happy to hand them over (save us the disposal costs apart from anything else).

If fully-functioning parts have been replaced/upgraded we’d always put them in a box for the customer although they’re not always taken away.

Sorry to hear this. From experience it’s absolutely mortifying for the shop (owners/staff alike) when something like this happens and I’m sure they’ll want to put it right.

If you were the customer what would you expect the bike shop to do about this?

I’d expect an apology and for them to put right any damage, sort the problem, and for someone senior there to check over everything and make sure nothing else was ballsed up. If they felt like giving me some freebies or credit on top, I’d appreciate the gesture.

I’d like to think that I’d be understanding of the fact that mistakes sometimes happen, but I’d be pretty unhappy.

And if you were a bike shop what would you offer to do to try and rebuild my trust in your ability to safely service bikes?

I would personally (as the owner) apologise to the customer and I’d expect whoever was responsible to do the same. We’d sort the problem, including fixing any resulting damage caused, and make sure that everything was double-checked. If there was anything else you needed doing there and then I’d sort it free of charge (labour) charge, and if not I’d probably sort out some shop credit or something.

I’m sure the shop in question will want to put it right for you and make it up to you. The last thing any mechanic, no matter how junior or experienced, wants is for something like this to happen.

Having done both (and train too), I’d go for ferry to get there if at all possible/practical. Much much easier than packing/unpacking bikes and less stressful altogether.

I think there are good deals to be had on the long crossings to Spain if you’re not taking a car. Or, depending on how long you’ve got, ferry to France and cycle down – it’s a great trip.

What price you doing them for Drover?

£395 inc delivery, most of the remaining ones have a brand new set of wheels & tyres fitted too (from this year’s fleet of Core 10s, funnily enough).

Could sort out a keen price on a fork upgrade too, if required.

I think after reading through posts, reviews etc I will go check out the Mantra Pro

Just to throw a wilcard into the mix OP, if you’re looking at 19″ bikes we have a few of our 2014 ex-hire Mantra Pros left. We could supply and fit a new, higher-spec fork, and some of them have brand new wheelsets – and you’d still be within budget.

BBs, headsets, chains, cassettes etc all replaced as they wear so other than a bit of wear and tear to the frame (and there’s not much) they’re in good nick. Mail in profile if interested!

If you’re upping your budget to £800 I’d have this over the parkwood. Covers your criteria and then some.

I’m looking for a fun bike that can be sourced and tried locally.

We’re using Genesis Core 10s in the hire fleet this year and have been very impressed. Quality of finish is very high and they look/feel like a nicer bike than the price-tag suggests.

At this level any fork is going to be somewhat lacking, but it’s an easy upgrade down the line.

If you can up the budget to £800 the Core 30 has a better fork and Deore 10-speed with clutch mech. Or have a look at the Saracen Mantra Trail for the same money.

I don’t think you’d see any worthwhile benefits going to a £400 wheelset. If you up your budget a little, you could look at something like the Mavic Ksyrium SLS at 1395g – top quality sealed-bearing hubs with a fast pickup and a fair bit of reduction in rotating mass.

Sapim Race only come in even lengths in black. DT Swiss Competition readily available in 261mm – we can send you some if you like. But fine to use 260 or 262mm in either. Your spoke calculations probably come out at just over or just under 261 anyway, so just round up/down as appropriate – if they’re exactly (or very close to) 261mm and you don’t want to get the DT Swiss I’d go up rather than down.

I think there’s some riding in Haugh Wood though I don’t know the specifics, sorry. Plenty if you head over our way, or down to Abergavenny, both a little closer than FoD but probably still involve a short drive. If I was heading there and wanting to ride from the doorstep I’d probably take the road bike, but loads of good MTBing within a short distance.

Yes, worth it if you can afford it etc – it’s a much-improved spring & damper.

A couple of years ago I’d have agreed with you that Islabikes were head and shoulders above the competition. There are now more and more sensibly-designed lighweight kids bikes out there. Frog go really well and at 2/3 the price I’d have thought that would be a better option.

If I was suggesting someone spend £250+ on a 16″ kids bike the only option I could in good conscience recommend would be an Early Rider – the Belter:
Belter 16 (2019)

Like. A lot!

Hope 12mm bolt-through means 135×12, as above you need their X12 adapters for 142×12 and there’s a specific spacer for XD freehubs.

So, where do I get the XX1 specific spacer from? It doesn’t seem to be listed in the usual online stores, just the “normal” X12 kit Might be a LBS job I guess

The part you need, as spectabilis says, is HUB471 from Hope. Quick Google search doesn’t show anyone selling it online in stock so LBS would be a good option. I’m just doing a Hope order so if you want us to order you one and stick in the post, let me know. Cost is £6.48 posted.

Schwalbe generally, where they do two versions of their tyres, combine all of the high-end options in one tyre and all of the budget options in the other tyre,

So it is here – the Evolution model has a better carcass, better puncture protection, and grippier compound, whereas the Performance version has the inferior options in each category.

The Performance tyres are often what is supplied as OE and are OK as a basic tyre but the Evolution are much better in several ways – grippier, tougher sidewalls, more puncture-resistant, lighter….

If you can go for the Evo version, I would certainly recommend you do.

Yep as above, the “1” doesn’t mean anything wrt size. It must mean something, but I’ve never managed to figure out what it does mean. But 6805 and 61805 are the same size bearing in all three dimensions.

Altura do some of their stuff in sizes up to 18, decent kit too.

It’s just down the road from us. Pretty decent I believe and they’re a friendly (and bike-friendly) bunch.

Not a lot of other accommodation in Talgarth itself. Pengenffordd is not far away and higher up into the hills – http://www.thedragonsback.co.uk/ is there. Alternatively Wye Valley Canoes have a bunkhouse in Glasbury – http://www.wyevalleycanoes.co.uk/bunkhouse.html

2.4 Ardent?

Sounds like a Surly Straggler to me. Lightness will be dependent on the build you choose (we do more custom builds than stock bikes with Surly).

SL-R780 flat bar road shifters? That would seem to tick all of your boxes. You’d need a compatible front mech unless this is 1×10 (in which case I’m not sure if the gear levers are available individually).

We’ve got one, have used it for transporting three MTBs on top of our van and on a little car too.

They’re very impressive, and they do work. They’ve been tested at serious speeds around a Nascar track in the US, I believe.

Highly recommended kit!

Some good deals available on Genesis kids MTBs at the moment, for example you might well find someone doing one of these within your budget:
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/youth-/mountain-/core-26

Nice!

Another vote for a Transition Suppressor. There must be others out there surely?

We organised something similar for a group doing the Passportes du Soleil last year. Might well be able to help you out with this depending on the extent to which you’ll cover costs. Feel free to drop me an email (in profile) if you want to discuss.

As above FSA do a number of reducer headsets depending on stack height required and how much you want to spend – Hope also have the necessary bits.

FSA also do some reducer shims if you already have a 1 1/8″ headset and just want to step the headtube down to fit that.

Sounds good – give us a shout if you plan to do so and we’ll make sure one of the bikes is free. Loads of good riding nearby and certainly worthy of aweekend!

We’re using the Core 24 in the hire fleet this summer. Nice bikes. If you are anywhere near here or fancy a trip to mid Wales you’re welcome to have a sit on one (as is your son…)

Morning Renton – 50mm Atlas stem is sitting on my desk. If you drop me an email (in profile) with your address, we’ll stick it in the post today.

Only on a touring bike….

However the guys at Pyga (http://www.pygaindustries.com/) are always posting loads of stuff on Facebook so I can say for sure there’s no shortage of great riding, and seems to be a very active “scene” out there – may be worth making contact with them and/or some of their dealers near where you’ll be?

I think we have one which has been on a member of staff’s bike for one ride – he’s decided it’s too short for him I think.

I’ll check tomorrow, if so happy to send it up to you to try out for the cost of the postage.

when £50 more will get you new wheels

I might be wrong but I don’t think it’ll get you new hand-built wheels on Hope or similar hubs. Superstar or something similar is one option; having someone rebuild onto new rims using existing (presumably perfectly OK) hubs is another. Horse for courses or something!

Definitely worth getting them rebuilt I’d have thought. Ryde Trace Trail (25mm) or Enduro (29mm), Pacenti DL31 (25mm) or WTB would be my recommendations. Say £70 per rim and £40 for spokes/build, you might pay £220 or so and could then sell your Crest rims to recoup some of that.

You’d end up with a hand-built wheelset – nice.

mccett – depending on what Pigyn can do for you, we have a large Smuggler pre-ordered which I believe is due quite soon.

No idea what is meant by the term “longer distance bike” in general – maybe a training/sportive bike for someone who also races crits etc? But in this case the OP did tell us what the bike is.

Definitely agree that freehubs are more of a concern than bearings on Shimano hubs although in our experience it’s mainly the cheaper hubs that have dodgy FH bodies and higher-up the range the quality is better.

I’d suggest hand-built too. You could have a really nice pair of rims on decent hubs, or Hope/similar hubs with a mid-range rim. I’ve got nothing against cup-and-cone so would probably go 105/Ultegra hubs with H+ Son/Pacenti rims.

Pyga OneTen would be a good shout and are at a great price right now. Yes, carbon would be lighter (and Pyga have a carbon 29er coming) but surely more can be saved on the build kit unless you’ve already got top-of-the-range gear.

The Patrols are in pretty short supply but more are coming in soon. Orange ones look pretty damn good imho.

Scout looks great in both colours, I’d probably go for the black though.

Transition Transam – frame only so can be custom-built, or the stock bikes are well put-together packages too.