having clipless shoes properly fitted with foot correction (custom footbed with tuned arch support and varus/valgus shims) and set up to suit your physiology makes a massive difference to your riding experience; especially if you have previous injury history or typical anatomical differences between left/right sides

properly setup shoes/pedals with less float can be huge beneficially in controlling knee tracking and preventing further injury stresses

Just washed my mud caked mountain bike with soapy warm water (fairy liquid) using sponge/soft brush and rinsed with warm water

left it to dry under the air conditioner in the workshop

will take it outside later after lubing the chain

-spray the rotors on either side with muc-off disc brake cleaner and a quick blast into the pad slot
-wipe off any surface residue on the rotors with a clean rag
-ride the bike up and down the road outside doing firm stops until the brakes stop squeaking

done this for years, its never let me down…

for rotors contaminated with oil, I’d use Isopropyl Alcohol and put new pads in

try sourcing a headset with a deeper insertion depth (check to see how deep your head tube has been reamed to make sure it will fit without bottoming out).

Often a deeper insertion headset combined with loctite bearing fit compound will cure this kind of issue.

You can do firmware update and charging with the USB module on internal battery but for diagnostic and function reprogramming you need the pce1 kit

Firmware update can solve many problems especially if previous owner for example broke rear mech, bought new one on-line and installed at home without doing updates

Blatting down A-line in whistler and finding riders standing on the big rock drop/roll is guaranteed to cause brown pants

More recently? People standing in front of supermarket baskets / underground station entrances / elevator door completely absorbed by tapping away on smartphone

Are you using the same usb port on your PC/phone charger to charge the battery off? I’ve had this with PCs in workshop where 1 port cannot supply adequate power to the charger and the battery won’t charge properly. We’ve then plugged the shimano charger into a different USB port on the PC and its good…

Cable may be disconnected to front mech where the lower junction box sits inside down tube. Take it someone familiar with di2 and who has diagnostic kit. If you’re in London come see me at Giant Docklands I’ve down 100+ custom builds using di2 and too many repairs to mention so can advise/sort very quickly

3/4″ or 1″ timber board (preferably ply as it retains fixing screws/nails better)

painted a suitable colour

suitable mix of screws and nails to mount tools

the screwdriver block is a lump of 2″ x 3″ beam drilled out

all tools then outlined in black marker

if you want to change in the future, just remove fixings, repaint and reset 🙂

I built the one below in our workshop reception recently, took about 2 hours all in (after waiting for paint to dry overnight)

sent mine Parcelforce with £300 cover cost £19?

no problems…

no drought here, but perhaps a flood?

Recon on my new XTC 29’er, first ride = no damping and 1/2 the travel

sent back to SRAM on Monday, got it back today (super quick turn around), rebound damper seal had failed and dumped all the damper oil into the lowers

really happy with the quick turn around!

but went to install the fork, and they’d forgotten to put the Maxle in the box

next week then…..

best “value” model year I remember?

2008 Specialized Rockhopper Disc

M4 Aluminium frame, RS fork with hydraulic damper, Avid hydraulic disc brakes, SRAM gearing

we used to sell these around £600, cracking bike for the money, certainly capable of “mountain bike” rides on rough ground and in wet / muddy conditions

I remember the prices creeping up and the specs sliding down every following model year

@nathans77

site does not work too great on mobile, its always worth trying it on a desktop device

if you are on the Giant UK website it shows that Giant UK have it in their warehouse as “free stock” (i.e. up for grabs through any of their dealers)

if you are on a “brand store” website (i.e. Giant Camden) it shows that Giant UK have it in their warehouse to be shipped and then collected from Camden, or in Giant’s Camden store as ‘consignment stock’ – these are bikes actually owned by Giant UK and placed into that store for display/sale purposes

the issue with consignment stock is that its tied to a particular store by frame number, and not easily moved between stores

shifter and mech should match from same family (road or mtn)

cassette can be from road or mtn if the mech can cope with capacity

some of the pro road teams use mtn cassettes on certain alpine climb stages to get the really low gears

I recently picked up some Shimano RS81 C24 wheels from Wiggle just over £300, this is the “ultegra” level non-groupset series wheel with the similar carbon fibre / aluminium laminate rim used on the Dura Ace models.

I’ve been very impressed with these wheels, just over 1500gm so light, but feel very fast rolling and much stiffer (rear is 2 cross both sides) than my previous Fulcrum Racing 3 which always felt a bit flexible on climbs. brakes feels very good with Swiss stop blue pads even in wet weather

they also have a steel freehub body which will resist cassette gouging much better than aluminium alloy bodies common to wheels of that weight; my previous wheels including DT swiss and Hope had bad gouging causing creaking

@dawson

there’s not much in it really?

I have XT because a customer wore out both chainrings and gave me the crankset as it was cheaper for her to buy a new chainset on-line than replace the rings!

previous to that, I’ve had several SLX cranksets and they were excellent in performance and value

@cocker

check the internal diameter of the seat tube – vernier calipers are ideal

check the diameter of your current seat post – should be engraved or etched at the bottom

check the external diameter of the seat tube (using calipers), and the internal diameter of the seat clamp (often engraved on base or body)

they all need to match (i.e. 27.2mm seat tube needs 27.2mm seat post)

if they don’t match, get the right diameter seat post and the right seat clamp

if they do match, this can be a tolerance issue with your frame, or some seat clamps are just poorly made and tend to snap over time (bolt bananas)

A quick fix can be fibre grip (carbon assembly paste), but this will only help a small problem with tolerance

You can try a shim made from something very thin like a red bull can, this often works quite well

@Kryton

the SL models use higher grade Toray filament and carbon nano infused high spec resin, as well as more advanced manufacturing (fusion process and continous fibre technology) and the more obvious integrated seat post design

my last 3 orders (Shimano road wheels, MTB seatpost/stem and MTB bars)have gone to Wiggle simply because they had the same stock as CRC but considerably cheaper on each item

shipping was quick (3 days) and no issues, found the experience very painless

I noticed they now have an App for IOS and Android, not used it yet but would be interested to see if it works well

I’m currently using the Wheels PF30 BB and BB30/HT2 nylon adapters on my Super Six Evo and Ultegra cranks, simply because I had them already

no problems with creaking after several months, but as soon as the bearings die I will buy the Praxxis conversion BB as I’ve used these on several MTB’s with great results

I always used Hammerite Smoothrite when painting BMX frames which take a proper beating in skatepark / street environments

keyed existing paint with fine wet and dry paper, degreased to remove grease and fingerprints, several good coats and a decent finish which lasts a long time

only downside is quite limited range of colours, big advantage its designed specifically to be applied to existing paint

@igm

I’ve owned a lot of Specialized bikes including several carbon fibre road bikes (Tarmacs) and carbon fibre mountain bikes (Stumpjumpers)

they have a clever strategy in that people want the top tier (S-Works) but can’t / won’t pay the premium and choose a model several down – typically using the same mold, but actually made in a different factory (less expensive) with a lower grade of carbon and higher ratio of resin/carbon

its been a thing in the bike industry for some years that Specialized won’t actually tell you what their “Fact 9”, “Fact 10” labeling actually means, they won’t admit which brand of carbon or resin they use, whereas some brands will proudly tell you they use Toray

if you’ve ridden production frames and then S-Works frames of the same model, there is a very noticeable difference in the ride quality and a big weight difference. I was surprised how heavy my last Tarmac (SL4 Elite) frame was, nearly 1300 gm for a naked 54cm. It had great handling / geometry but felt quite soft under power and a bit wooden up climbs

Giant do not have the “sexy” S-Works brand and the marketing nous of companies like Specialized, but their carbon fibre manufacturing is really second to none, even on their more affordable models.

they use full Toray carbon on all their frames (they make their own carbon fibre cloth in house from Toray filament, rather than buying in pre-impreg) and use their own in-house developed resin, whereas many brands will mix cheaper carbon with elements of Toray to save money.the fact they own their factories means they are competitive on price for bikes, despite their frame manufacturing being relatively expensive due to the quality

Wiggle overtook CRC last year 😉

Evans saw a considerable drop in turnover and lower margin, like much of the bike industry

@13thfloormonk

the Zipp shorter reach bars have a shape that puts your hands much closer to the brake lever blade when in the drops, as well as slightly shortening the reach between bar centre and hood grip position

this seems to have a much less detrimental effect than running an excessively short stem (I’ve experimented with many combinations of bars and stems) which tends to make the front wheel very light causing scary descents and cramped climbs

the Super Six Evo comes stock with a conical headset top cap and a decent stack of spacers under the stem – it certainly is not as aggressive as many race bikes

to get the really aggressive position (taller drop between saddle and bar) you’d need to swap out the conical top cap for a dome style top cap and remove the spacer stack

you should have no issues getting a comfortable position with the Super Six Evo, if you found the reach a little long you can always fit a shorter reach bar (i.e. Zipp SL-70) which will avoid fitting a short stem, which generally does bad things to the bike handling and weight balance.

I currently ride a Super Six Evo in the same size as I had my Tarmac SL4 and found the fit much better on the Cannondale, and the ride more comfortable in terms of road shock, whilst also being a much snappier frame under power (frame also about 300gm lighter)

@Onzadog

I rode this last season

Also rode this on a dealer demo day in July, the “new” 2016 TCR

the medium and medium / large size carbon road bikes (TCR, Propel and Defy) sold through very quickly in 2015, by August neither we (Giant Docklands) nor Giant UK had anything left. the best bet would be to call smaller Giant dealers who may have purchased stock they are sitting on.

all suspension benefits from regular servicing, and its money well spent if you plan to retain the original fork and shock

the problem with suspension is that it slowly degrades over time, and you don’t really notice the degradation until it stops working, or you suffer an oil leak

if you have your suspension serviced, its very noticeable how much better your bike feel afterwards, whereas before the service, you are often used to riding it as it is…

TCR no doubt. also look at any deals on 2015 Super Six Evo, even the base (shimano 105) model had a great sub 1kg frame with an excellent performance and a full carbon fibre fork

a high quality frame is a sensible base to create a great bicycle on, as you wear out original components and upgrade, or have spare money to change parts

a cheap frame will always be a cheap frame, there is a really noticeable difference in ride quality between high quality carbon fibre and cheap carbon fibre

I’d rather have a good aluminium alloy frame than a cheap carbon fibre frame

a few years back my buddy John and I caught a train to Tring and went to ride up the Beacon

this face of the Beacon was insanely steep (the photos don’t do it justice) to ride down, but kind of fun once you reached the bottom still alive!

what about this mean machine?

if you could live with the aluminium alloy frame, this is available for 2016

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/anthem.x.29er/25020/90550/%5B/url%5D

@tmb467

here ya go!

my missus liked the Sram on her Ruby until she got a 2015 Propel advanced pro with 105 11 speed, and has now also put 105 11 speed on her Ruby

the ergonomics are much improved on the 11 speed STI, which were always bulky in 10 speed generation; the internal lever reach adjust always works great for smaller hands

I used to live next to Aldbury (my gran owned all the fields and woodland between Stocks and the railway station) and tried many times to ride Ashridge during winter

I remember the thousands of horse hoof prints filled with water, either muddy or frozen solid, not much fun, ended up trudging along pushing the bike

Giant certainly have not abandoned 29″ I’ve just bought a 2016 xtc advanced 29’er

Speak to your local giant dealer, all the 2015 bikes are on sale 40% off so cheaper to get a bike to rebuild, and of course full lifetime warranty…

“This is not the cyclist you are looking for….”

a good quality bench vice is money well spent! don’t get a cheap one as they always crack at the wrong moment

we’d charge 1 hour labour (about £40) and then the cost of spokes/nipples

most shops in London charge £40-50 for labour on wheel builds

no idea about your Raleigh, but saw this lovely 1930’s Raleigh Work Bike at the Design Museum yesterday!

was expecting tires with black sidewalls, and these arrived in stead, they’ve grown on me

should not have any issues just washing them with warm soapy water or muc off and rinsing

I like to apply a bike polish afterwards to add a protective layer which helps stops mud sticking and makes the bike looks nice!