There was an article doing the rounds a few weeks back that was fairly indicative of the times… a walker on his regular track crossing farmland curiously asks a farmer why he was chopping down and clearing a large area of trees and ancient tangled undergrowth – an already perfect nesting ground for wildlife and birds. It turns out that the farmer admitted that he was clearing the ground so that he could gain access to the re-wilding subsidies for planting new trees … make of that what you will. We’re a fairly daft country so I’m sure anything goes.

See also the BMC Alpenchallenge, sounds like a hearty breakfast but is in fact another really good flat bar option. A bike snob friend bought one for commuting and said he was surprised how good and quick it is, which is as good an endorsement as any… his other tarmac bike is some full pro level Dogma Fwhatever.

Specialized do a Diverge ‘Evo’ with flat bar. Another niche option could be the Ti Enigma Escape flat bar. Neither technically what You’d call ‘fast’ road bikes, but with normal road bikerists now running 32/34c tyres and calling it normal – you could put skinny tyres on something like this and not be far off. Worth looking at how they tweaked the geo of the Enigma Escape frame from drop bar to flat spec, it looks just right to my eye. To just swap bars/ stems without altering frame reach often ends up a bit wrong. Or get a steel custom builder to fashion you something that works.

Don’t waste money on ceramic bearings expecting them to last longer. There’s huge variance in ceramic bearing quality anyway, only the best and most expensive have hardened races to match the balls – otherwise the harder balls will actually wear the race and shorten the bearing lifespan vs a NTN level of quality bearing. There’s a marginal reduction in rotational friction with ceramic, which is usually less difference than seal type. Tests show that gain disappears remarkable quickly from new conditional, where after a thousand miles or so there is no measurable difference… and a high quality steel will actually be more efficient later in the lifespan.

I don’t know why Enduro would be expected to be better than NTN other than a triumph of marketing towards the bike industry, they are just a fairly mundane average quality – while NTN are recognised across the world and across industries as the best made anywhere.. good enough for Rolls Royce jet engines.

NTN, SKS, NSK, FAG, or similar proper branded bearing manufacturers (not bike industry bearing manufacturer brands!) If you want the best buy NTN, but go on the NTN webpage and only purchase from authorised UK distributors, you can then get a free app on the phone to scan the code to verify that the item is real. There has been a flooding of the market in fakes of this sort of thing in recent years.

In any bearing brand, go for LLU seals instead of LLB for mtb application where water ingress and wear is an issue…. LLB are preferred on road bikes at BB in particular for lesser low rpm seal drag, at hub rotational speeds theres less difference anyway so go for the more protective seal.

I removed the brake as a whole unit and clamped the calliper in a vice to hold it steady. Centre punching being key to start the bit it off dead centre. Just used a hand cordless drill with the tinyest metal drill bit I could find, nothing fancy – the tiny sub mm type that always snap if any angle is applied, it may take a couple…

I managed to drill one with a tiny drill bit, started with a hole punch to centre to guide it accurately. Only needed to drill a few mill in, then was able to collapse the thread end with pliers gripping the remaining protruding head – without damaging the internal threads. Was able to find a replacement threaded pin, though split pin will do. Its not really under any stress in usage, just guides the pad movement. It was a nervous game and not one I’d like to repeat in a hurry.

Ok, I’ll admit. It appears in my haste to find out what the thing was I was driving, I have pulled up the US stats and assumed it was something apparently not in the UK market, with no other identifiers to spec anywhere on the car.. https://www.kia.com/us/en/sportage

I didn’t spend too much time dwelling on it as i’d have to be on the receiving end of 17 consecutive frontal lobotomies before considering one. It’s mpg was shockingly bad, it was only 200 miles old and still smelt like a cheap trainer straight out of the factory, which may have had something to do with it – I pulled up the stats after watching the gauge falling while driving along on Mway, it was thirsty.

I couldn’t detect anything that the vehicle was proficient at while in my charge, other than its excessive scale taking up more than its fair share of parking space. Have rented 20 year old clapped out transit vans that were more rewarding to drive.

Its simple. They should be banned for joe public to use without a special licensed legitimate need. The fact that they now account for almost half of new car sales is a travesty and failure of legislation by the government and gross negligence on behalf of the planet by the car industry. The majority of braindead consumers cant be trusted to make responsible decisions beyond their own vapid self interest.

Was given a brand new Sportage as a courtesy car last week, it was the naffest thing I’ve driven since the last time I reluctantly was given a rented SUV – it was so disgusting I looked in to its stats to find out why. It needs 180bhp to shift its considerable bulk (the smallest engine its specced with) at a sluggish pace that could otherwise be achieved with 100bhp in a sensibly sized car; did under 25mpg, and was about as involving and pleasurable to drive as a tumble drier. Rubbish visibility, awkward to park, just generally vulgar. Personally am a fan of fine motorcars, an interest which is slowly dwindling with the times- would rather drown in a pool of my own vomit than own anything close to a modern SUV.

They should do this for all SUV’s at any pricepoint, and make it payable for the entire ownership span of the vehicle.

The left side of a car is always the left, and right is always the right.just like a humans left hand is on their left side. Doesn’t matter how you look at it or which side of the car you sit on.

If you’re standing in front of the car and noticed that there’s an intermittent problem with the left hand sidelight bulb, which side to you tell the mechanic to replace? Thats why using handed sides as descriptors for any vehicle is confusing, so avoided.

I have seasonally switched between winters and performance summer tyres on a sharp handling hot hatch and the grip difference between the two in some conditions is night and day. Particularly on cold slippery roads but also noticeably different everywhere else. It may not be illegal but it would be considerably daft to mix summer and winter on the same axle, and it is not true that modern traction systems can overcome this – some high performance cars specify all tyres on each corner must be the same for the systems to work properly. The same systems that would kick in if you had to an emergency stop however carefully you’re driving. If it’s a hire car I’d point it out on return and ask for a discount as their negligence has put your safety at risk.

Am confused. So when my XT 11 spd cassette wears out, will I eventually only be able to buy 11spd in this linkglide stuff and end up with a 750g cassette? It sounds good in performance and durability but it is very heavy… is the future that if the rider wants lightweight stuff road & mtb they have to go up to 12spd?

Only one of the Ti road bikes shown above is ‘nice’, all of the others have disc brakes… which aren’t needed on the road and make a Ti framed bike weigh near 20lbs. IMO. YMMV and all that.

The ‘Mericans authorities are ‘not ruling out that it might be Aliens’, what an unusual thing to say given their history with nut jobs.

It’s a common misconception to think that when the Aliens arrive that they will be roughly the same scale as us. Atleast if their attack vessels are only the size of a Ford Anglia then they’re likely to only be a few centimetres tall or so… and their ray-guns will prove only a minor irritation rather than an existential event.

I guess we need to just wait to check out the mothership… unimpressed so far, crafts need more flamboyant flashing lights or a really big horn or something.

Sausage shaped, no means of propulsion, definitely Aliens.

Don’t know why they’d start off in Alaska when Swindon would have been more fun.

I’m pretty sure that humans and rats are the most numerous species of mammal. I think you mean 2/3 of the mammal biomass, not 2/3 of the population.

from ‘our world in data’:  “Livestock make up 62% of the world’s mammal biomass; humans account for 34%; and wild mammals are just 4%.”

It’s a surprising statistic…. but yes biomass is correct, not population.

Global poultry now weigh twice as much as wild birds… go humans.

our world in data. org link

Trying to show empathy with animals by limiting pet ownership is small-fry when compared to the realisation that 2/3rds of the mammal population currently on the planet are bred so that humans can eat them.

Sociological experiment incoming

Out in the country, I’ve noticed that the road can be dry out on lanes but when you enter a village the road is damp. My theory is that moisture clings to the added air pollution often hanging in the winter air in villages thanks to firesmoke etc, and falls to the road surface where it rarely dries out. Only noticed this ooop North where its colder and damp enough for it to be a thing. The same mechanism as why on a cold crisp day you often see your breath after a car has passed, in its exhaust fumes, but not in the air otherwise. I have no idea what I’m on about but have heard it mentioned that air pollution increases air carrying moisture content as molecules latch on to the particulate.

Thanks. Yeah, I’ve noticed it starting to happen on some sites, and now this one. Currently installing Chrome and may switch over to that…. probably need to upgrade the hardware.

Yay, Go STW. Sticking it to the man….or at least lets hope so.

There’s also the question of why the Giant retailer was trying to charge the customer for investigating a warranty claim, which is why he disassembled in the first place. Scope for some follow-up questions here…

Should have asked them what ‘lifetime’ means to them.

…especially considering all the ramifications for their ‘policies’, and possibilities for a sizeable can of worms regarding past similar denials.

At this point it may be best if Giant make-up that all their communications have been hacked by a malign drunk work experience kid – end up doing the right thing for one of their customers, then have a word with themselves in the nearest corner regarding their mildly ridiculous warranty terms. Its clear that if the industry goes down this route as a whole then a lot of experienced riders will be diverting their cash towards more realistic alternatives.

…..well, I’ve not encountered many manufacturers that would be so brash as to include the term ‘lifetime’ alongside a limited 2-4 year warranty…but the key is to understand the term is essentially meaningless. The owner really has to analyse every single word of the specific terms laid out in each manufacturers definition, it is perfectly legitimate for them to arrive at their own interpretation, as long as they set that out in writing. These definitions are rarely consistent across brands and can even change year to year. It rarely means, ‘until the owner pops their mortal coil’ – but it can do… some brands like Specialized changed their definition to ‘lifetime means lifetime’… brands that offer this in any marketplace tend to be baking in the costs with higher initial purchase pricing.

I need to replace my 11year old iMac… if one’s choosing between a mac mini and iMac, are there affordable monitors available that match the iMac screen performance without spending the eyewatering apple monitor price tag?… for work where colour rendition is paramount, but non-pro level. I dig the iMac but separates make mores sense for longevity perhaps and that mac mini is a great price.

Although it is not directly relevant to the Op’s case – it is worth pointing out, as has been done in the past with numerous similar cases in the past on the forum – that the actual meaning of the term ‘lifetime warranty’ is often not the same as the common perception of its meaning. A ‘lifetime’ warranty in law is essentially a meaningless term, and it is open for each manufacturer to stipulate in their terms how they define ‘lifetime’… it may be not quite what you think it is…. it’s not relevant specifically here but it can save a lot of headaches as the term is almost always bandied about incorrectly. In this case 4 years of appropriate usage should be well within any definition of the products lifetime.

When is the Stanton Picolax V1 being released? I’d be up for one.

I never want a job where people speak like that. I’d rather live in a cave. Has the writer been on the receiving end of a frontal lobotomy?. “Delivering against member value” seems to imply that they aim to sabotage the company from the inside, which they will achieve through their ineloquence.

If anyone on this thread actually works at a Giant store, maybe you could forward this thread to your Giant Grand Poobah’s and show them how much negative press they’re getting for failing to do the right thing… these things stay on the Tinternets for some time as free consumer advice…

suggesting a complete dealer check-up after EVERY 25 hours of off-road riding

Ha ha…. or after only one decent ride for a really really keen rider. Giant Cretins tm.

I wouldn’t ever buy a bike from any brand that had that sort of stipulation in its warranty terms, they’re basically saying they have no confidence in their own product to be fit for its intended usage. Given this is one of the brands that appear to be currently struggling in the marketplace, it’s this sort of nonsense misdirection that should deservedly sink them. If you’re pushing out a high value product on to a market then flipping stand by the thing you’ve produced, take ownership of it.. this is as good as saying, our products are price-point junk. So they’re basically saying that if the rider drops their fork out to clean and grease their headset bearings then they’ve invalidated the warranty… brands like this can go stick it.

I hope the free side of it doesn’t disappear, it could do given the way things are going. Used to subscribe but don’t miss the added features. Its a good training aid to be free as you have to up your fitness until you appear in the top-ten of any local segments you’re interested in, if you want to see the position… Any history of segment times otherwise is easily achieved by keeping a log in notepad on the desktop. Its not the sort of thing I’d pay to use these days, but then I’m tight as a gnats rs.

Yes, Flannol this is so true. Exactly none of my old riding buddies have bought into the disc brake ‘upgrade’ for exactly that reason- they’re riding around on pimped ‘vintage’ rim builds from yesteryear with no intention of changing in a hurry, even though they could purchase whatever they wanted. In fact, they’re more likely to source a secondhand top-tier frame off eBay than walk into a shop and drop £10k+ for something no better.

Cannondale could do well to dust off the old frame-moulds of the Supersix Evo from the dark recess of whatever cupboard they left them in and use them to service the growing backlash against overpriced disc enforcement. This was truly one of the all time great frames, and could be offered at a reasonable cost now all the R&D is sunk.

They won’t though. Because. Progress….

That failure point you’ve mentioned is one I’ve come across before on those frames. I’ve worked in the industry before and never came across a warranty inspection being denied based on the owner stripping down to a frame…in fact the mechanics would be glad for the time saved. They are taking the Wee. It’s not even a hard job to strip a road bike, and barely needs specific skills compared to building it…I could have the bike starring at me in the hall stripped and ready for a box in probably 20mins, with one hand behind the back, dancing a merry jig on one leg- and mostly done with a single allen key. Don’t stand for this sort of baloney.

As above though, the manufacturer requesting to judge the condition of the bike as it was prior to disassembly is a not uncommon, but could be sufficiently achieved with a photograph.

Aethos is one of the few modern road bikes I’d consider owning, most others are too try-hard road racing tech only really beneficial for the sharp end of pro racing. The Aethos would be even better if it didn’t have discs… which is more or less identical to my decade old version, so no need to upgrade/downgrade… meanwhile, some big bike brands are laying off staff…

That Willier just looks the same as 27 other extremely similar big brand aeroish drop-stayed frames currently on the market – albeit redeemed by a reasonable paint job. Then ruined by a gopping set of wheels. Debatably, no bike with the marketeers needless disc brake appendages can be considered aesthetically attractive when compared to the preferable alternative.

I’d take an art deco’d C40 any day of the week…

So this place might be an echo chamber, or equally might not be an echo chamber, it definitely smells of boys, and may just be better summed as an enabler of narcissists.