I’ve had a set of Hope front light for a number of years – the 480 lumen model with the lead and separate battery.

Hope have been great with warranty, its been back 4 times for problems with the electricals, and each time they sorted it out FOC. Cannot complain about that really?

Would I buy another Hope light? Not sure, have not done night riding for several years now, but their customer service would encourage me if their pricing is competitive with other brands…

Sincere condolences to her family and friends.

To Jenn: happy trails in those beautiful golden skies.

I run a workshop in a giant brand store and we also carry hangers for popular brands like Specialized, trek, cannondale.

We service lots of road bikes so its good business to be able to sort a customer with a tarmac, domane or super six evo, as well as someone with a TCR or propel
We get these from Madison as they distribute Wheels Manufacturing in the UK.

We can get any hanger that is in stock, next day postage free, not a problem.

Regarding cables, we carry boxes of genuine shimano inners in the workshop along with shimano sp41, SLR and m-sys outer.

We also carry retail packs of shimano gear and brake from basic stainless to coated ultegra and dura ace; the 11 speed feels much smoother with the new coated inner brake and gear cables.we carry single shimano packs of coated inner gear cable.

It’s not a lot of stock but means we can get workshop jobs done quickly and satisfy walk in customer who wants to fit at home.

We’ll always offer technical advice if customer is unsure, but never patronise!

Swinley used to be great fun!I have not been for a few years, but am sure its still great fun as its all riding bikes on dirt tracks?

The Jump gulley itself seemed to change all the time, but there were neat hidden stunts to session.

I can see how people got easily injured, with all the constant changes to the jumps, some had very ‘poppy’ lips which would easily catch an inexperienced rider out. For some low scale jumps, you could get quite loose on them

I completely understand why they demolished the gulley, constant accidents are a legal risk that no operator wants, having been through the lawsuit at old Esher Shore, all the H&SE wranglings over the years the park operated, and constant adjustments to trails, or even removal of stunt following patterns of accidents, it makes sense.

I remember being shocked at the blase attitude of some of the people riding the gulley, specifically watching a little lad on a cheap bike crashed his brains out on the last jump whilst his dad stood up top laughing “better get you a helmet then!”. the mind boggles…

Zipp are flexible under power, especially if stood climbing. Was very surprised when I first road a pair of 404, but you remember what they are for.

Personally like shimano c50 if wanting a tighter feeling deep section

@ianc

Switch the stock bar to zipp service course 70. Makes a big difference to reach on hoods, and shortens reach to brake lever when in drops; even with rubber shims fitted many riders with smaller hands find the reach too far with stock bar.

Prevents having to fit very short stem (less than 80mm) which typically does unpleasant things to bike handling

Specialized control fast trak with Stan’s sealant could be ideal for your needs.

@mick_r

The bikes had avid brakes with cps mounts. Sometimes it’s so pissed its no joy.

From another brand:

We had a few guys in the shop coming into the workshop proclaiming what a waste of a new frame, but warranty is legally bound so no free frames for the staff 🙁

Post mount welded on wonky?

Frame warranty. I did this to a number of brand new bikes with wonky mounts.

Distributor insisted on photo that frames put beyond use before shipping new frame.

Easton for the win!

And less trips to the dentist…

@atlaz

There is a little more to your experience.

The retailer is using their distributors warehouse to supply their customers, rather than holding stock themselves, because you need to be a proper business to actually carry stock, rather than some flimsy zombie business

And they are sitting on your order money for a few days / weeks, using it as free credit to help their business cash flow 😉

32tpi hacksaw blade, park cutting guide in vice, steerer tube wrapped in masking tape to prevent delamination. Lubricated with soapy water. Cut softly (flatter angle than usual 45 degrees) with wetted rag under cutting guide, over large dustbin with bin bag. Mask, disposable gloves and safety glasses.

After cutting, rag and contents into bin, steerer finished with fine grit paper and soapy water over bin. Then mask and gloves into bin, bin bag sealed.

I’ve cut 100s of carbon steerer’s and integrated seatposts 🙂

The shop I work in requires a 10% deposit for any bike not in stock. Because we have to buy it, and are stuck with it if the Customer changed their mind. The deposit is transferable though…

I was interested and borrowed a giant xtc 27.5 for a week. Really nice frame but I just found it slower and less capable, especially on flat corners than my stumpjumper 29’er hardtail.

Would like to try a 27.5/650 full suspension bike if I ever went somewhere that needed a more gnar bike!

I guess it depends on why you bought a bike?

With my new cannondale super six evo I found the cheapest model (105) to get my hands on the frame set. Had looked at aftermarket framesets but nothing available of that quality (just over 900 gm) and reputation at a good price.

Whole bike was £1080 on sale.

Already had 6800 ultegra groupset, pair of 1500gm DT Swiss wheels, Vittoria corsa tires, toupe pro saddle and zipp service course finishing kit.

Fully rebuilt out the box. 7kg all in. Feels incredible to ride.

I enjoy both road riding, and mountain biking, its all good

I have both available on my doorstep (ok, the MTB trails are 2 miles up the road!)

I’ll spend mornings before work going mountain biking as the roads around NW London become very congested with motor vehicles

On weekends the roads are much quieter and its easy to enjoy road biking locally, or taking long loops into Surrey or out of NW London into Hertfordshire

definitely a nice road bike for road riding!

CX bikes are great in their element but the geometry (high BB, slack HA) and lower gearing, plus extra weight in frameset and wheels can make them feel like a dog on the road compared to a decent road bike

more recently

Syncros Mental pedals were…mental

very grippy but could still be slipped and this was the result:

I used to work for the Stan’s UK distributor and can tell you the tape is just a packaged 3M product – overpriced for sure 😉

Specialized used to bring the same product, in a wider format and coloured blue, into the UK under their “roval” guise until they received a cease/desist notice, and sadly stopping doing it. It was about £10 for a big roll that would do multiple wheels, and wider so more suited to modern wheelsets

if you shop around you can get this around £2K

I have an earlier model year of this frame,as seen below, and its a wicked bike for trail riding – I have 70mm stem and wider bars

Frame is very light (I weighed mine at 1.25kg) yet stiff under power

Beautifully balanced handling (contrary to what many have said about 29’ers!) yet takes the edge off the bumps with its skinny stays and long 27.2mm seatpost

Regarding braking with disc brakes, a good set of Shimano hydro discs on the road bike have incredible modulation, giving the rider a much larger degree of control over their stopping.

This is contrary to some reports in the media claiming that the huge stopping power will cause crashes, especially in a mixed group of riders. Yes, if you want to cause a crash, you could certainly jam on the anchors (you would still outbrake the tire in reality, and skid) but once you get used to the braking system its not an issue.

I’d say from my experiences riding the hydraulic disc brake Defy the past year, that brake control is something I now feel lacking, as I am back on a caliper brake race bike.

On the hydro disc bike, I could exert great control over the brakes, from the hoods, using just one finger.

Back on a caliper brake bike, there is nothing like the degree of modulation, nor stopping power, especially in rain where even good caliper brake pads struggle compare to the disc brakes

Disc brakes are great, but you are going to pay a premium, compared to a caliper-brake bike with a similar specification.

Entry-level to even mid range disc brake road bikes tend to have quite heavy wheels – 2KG+ is not uncommon and can make the bike feel very sluggish

If you spend good money (over £2K) you can get a decent bike with hydraulic brakes and wheels around 1700-1800 gramme that should weigh overall around 8kg, and will feel zippy under power

This Defy above has carbon fibre wheels that are 200 gramme lighter than the model down which has aluminium alloy wheels, and its quite noticeable when riding hard

@beermonst3r44

the mid range gears can be effected by the hanger being twisted (relative to the fore/aft) rather than bent inwards or outwards (deflection)

I have a brand new cannondale that indexes fine, but the OE hanger is slightly twisted and this presents as noise in the middle of the gear range

This is the tool

And you need someone trained to use it. If the hanger is too twisted, it will need replacing

A good aftermarket hanger from a company like Wheels Manufacturing (CNC machined from quality aluminium, rather than the soft, cast b*llocks provided by OE suppliers) will cost £19.99 and will actually be straight out of the packet – and less flexible = better shifting under load

Whereas many OE hangers are twisted from new, and will then require use of Park tool and trained mechanic

My best regards to Jenn and your family at this difficult time

any decent LBS used to dealing with FS bikes should have no problem getting a damage bearing out using bearing pullers, even for a broken bearing

any Giant dealer should have the Maestro service kit which contains a wide range of pulling tools, that’s it in the timber box

Where would you even get an Ellsworth in the UK, if you had missed your appointment at Specsavers and had a strange desire to buy one based on the stunning looks’?

I heard Freeborn dropped the brand some time back due to ongoing “issues”

Definitely try before buying, especially if you plan to put aftermarket footbeds with increased arch support and varus / valgus wedges. Most of the good Giro shoes comes with a “supernatural” footbed designed by Retul with a arch support system, but those don’t suit everyone

I’m a 42 in most shoes (shimano/specialized,etc.), and probably need the 42 EV (extra volume) of Giro to accommodate the decrease in volume with putting these extra elements inside the shoe (this just pushed my feet up into the top where I could feel the straps as there is little padding under the tongue)

I could not find any EV shoes to try at retailers, and the 43 was too large

talking of Trek owners:

apparently a long time mountain biker, kick ass rider (MBA magazine went for a ride with him and had a hard time keeping up) and has his own trails on his ranch, who’d had thought?

but now its making sense…

to the OP

get onto Evans customer services pronto

they will then instruct the store manager at Canary Wharf (Euan)

Of my last two retail experiences with Evans:-

-buying a set of “new” Fulcrum road wheels which had parts missing from the wheel hubs, apparently cannabalised at some point by a mechanic or sales person

-buying a brand new road bike which had been really poorly PDI with loose headset, gears that did not work, etc.

Customer services were relatively quick to respond, even though I received nothing more than an apology for the bike PDI, and replacement of the missing hub parts after several exchanges of email

Good luck!

Just two bikes and no plans for any more

Cannondale Super Six Evo road bike

and for the dirt, Specialized Stumpjumper Marathon 29’er

This is the new generation (2106) TCR that I tested in the pouring rain in July at Hogg Hill

Incredibly good bike, and I’ve ridden a lot of much more expensive road bikes

@irelanst

Got to say I agree.

However the 2016 TCR is a new beast altogether and very impressive

If in doubt; buy Cannondale. Either last years CAAD or Supersix at a discount, or a new CAAD12 disc. Can’t go wrong.

Picked up my 2015 Super Six Evo for £1080 from Evans. it was a special model made for Evans to hit a price point and comes mainly with 5700 downgraded with FSA crank and tektro brakes

Incredible bike for little money.

I’ve thrown some decent spare wheels/tires (DT Swiss and Vittoria Corsas), Zipp SC SL finishing kit and 6800 bits on there and ended up with a 7kg bike for little outlay.

I weighed the frame when I rebuilt it and my 54cm was 930 gm

Very impressed with the ride quality, handling and crisp response to pedalling

Definitely find some very steep local hills and totally beast yourself on them.

You certainly won’t find it “boring”, and it will do wonders for your physical conditioning.

This is my local, which hits a maximum gradient of 18%

If I am feeling like I need a proper workout before breakfast I will ride it 10 times in a row; at the top you turn left, come back down a very fast hill with speed bumps (fun!) and then turn left at the bottom and back into the climb.

Ever increasing intensity on each ascent, by the end your legs are “sore” to say the least!

Camelbak with 1 litre of water, house keys, mobile phone.

Well maintained hardtail with tubeless tires.

Just riding, keeping it simple.

I’ve been on a hydro disc brake endurance road bike since November last year.

I’ve just bought a new bike and got a caliper brake road race bike. This will be my good weather and climbing bike.

Will get another hydro disc bike as soon as stock is available in 2 months. Best choice for foul weather and commuting.

to the OP, be aware that “PDI” sheets are generally box-ticking exercises, where mechanics get lazy and just tick all the boxes through. does not prove anything!

as a personal example, I collected a new road bike (Cannondale) on Saturday last week from a well known chain retailer in London.

According to the PDI sheet I received with my “welcome” pack:

-pedals fitted (no pedals were provided, I had to walk 2 miles home as they would not even give me plastic ones from the workshop!)

-saddle level (saddle was tipped back like a dirt jump bike)

-bell fitted (no bell to be seen anywhere)

-headset torqued (headset bearings rocking loose back and forth in head tube)

-brake bolts torqued (left brake pad rubbing on rear rim, with rear brake flopping side to side with finger pressure)

-controls set up (handlebar was rotated forwards in stem clamp so hoods were pointing downwards)

-gears adjusted (front mech rubbing on chainring in large chainring / small cog combo)

pedals should be fitted using a crow’s foot and suitable torque wrench typically 40nm

they should never come loose with that level of torque input into the crank boss. The only circumstance would be if the customer has removed that pedal and not refitted it properly.

I would never accept a bike back with a pedal 1/2 fitted into a damage thread using “loctite”….recipe for serious personal injury!

Go back to the shop, its their issue.

I looked into this some months back and ended up going with SLX as I could not see any really difference with XT apart from XT costing more, and having naff looking silver MC covers.

My SLX came with ceramic pistons and brake pads with cooling fins, so very happy from a cost saving POV

I’ve been on Avid brakes for years (many different Juicy’s and Elixir’s) and really like the new Shimano brakes.

They just seem to work…very well, and were very easy to setup, I can see why so many riders recommend them 🙂