I’m running a Specialized S-Works Prowess flat bar at 700mm on my 29’er, but not with bar ends as the bar is not suitable for bar ends, and I’ve not felt the need to run them

@Northwind

@andybrad

the drag you are experiencing is often the friction in the bearing seals (INA) which are good quality, people often comment that Hope wheels “roll slowly”.

with the wheel mounted in the frame and spun, the weight of the wheel will easily overcome the breakaway friction (stiction) of these seal, if you turn the axle by hand you can easily feel this friction

@scienceofficer

Great post and lots of truth to your statement

re HT2 bearing life on NDS, the typical reason is that when customers (or many mechanics!) install the HT2 cranks they often over tighten the plastic axle cap (its only supposed to receive 1-2nm) which damages the NDS bearing and dramatically shortens its working life.

Whenever I buy any new bearing or product with accessible bearings I carefully pop the shields and pack them full of pm600 military spec grease which was recommended to me several years ago by SRAM factory technicians.

Especially for the lower headset bearing of my road and mountain bikes as that bearing takes a constant onslaught in wet weather.

Many shops and distributors see bearings as ‘consumables’ as the truth of what the customer has done to their bike is debatable, but considering the s..t quality bearings with minimal grease many brands use even in expensive suspension frames, wheels, components..

I’ve always argued for the customer when making a warranty claim on a product less than 6 months old, or the shop has ended up writing off bearing and labour as goodwill if distributor has refused to play ball.

Been using hope pro 3 road wheels 130mm spacing on specialized sirrus hybrid 135mm spacing for last year. With shimano skewer its no problem to close the spacing gap but the indexing has never been 100% on the rear.

Have checked derailleur hanger with tool, shimano sp41 cable, 2 x 10 road transmission, suspect its thrown chain line off enough to affect the indexing but its a commute bike with mudguards so not a real problem..

@muddy

re-hydrating is perhaps the wrong word?

they use a proprietary conditioner that prepares the brake pad surface, as the cleaning agent by itself can make the brake very noisy under hard braking

you can find this if you use isopropyl alcohol by itself to clean brake pads and rotors

I returned my vision 2 lights 3 times after problems with? Charger/battery/cable??

Always taken care of FOC.

Returned a number of notched free hub bodies, always replaced FOC.

Top service!

‘At what point do you stop upgrading your bike?’

When all that is left to change is perfectly good steel bolts for titanium bolts 😉

Had a ‘Raleigh burner’ in 1982 the blue/yellow model. Upgraded with Shimano DX pedals and simplex mags as my old man thought they were the same as skyway tuffs.

Started racing, soon bent the frame and got a cromo burner under warranty as that was all Raleigh had at the time. What a difference!

Got into freestyle after meeting Bob Haro at a local event, and got a DP firebird freestyle 🙂

When we built Esher Shore in Surrey we rented the site from the land owner (Sandown Sports). We also paid expensive insurance cover.

The park was primarily built by volunteers, with the on-site bike shop (Freeborn) donating staff whilst the shop was quiet during the Winter, and the shop did all the administration.

The building of the bike park was paid for (materials, tools, etc.) by the shop and the park sponsors (mainly Specialized UK) with the bulk of the 1000s of hours labour done by the volunteers.

The entrance fee to use the park covered the rent and insurance, and helped maintain broken woodwork and other wear and tear.

It was all run as “not for profit” and in later days as freeride / north shore became less in demand, it started to cost money to operate, and so the decision was made to remove the woodwork and bring in 1000s of tonnes of dirt to build “Esher X” (huge dual slalom / 4x and play park)

Which did not go down so well with the land owners leading to the park and shop being ejected from the site.

Thinking about the original Esher Shore bike park, it was wildly successful considering it was all done on a shoe string using volunteer labour, ran for 8 years, attracted a lot of interest from the bike media

During its peak had 200+ riders a week coming from all over the UK as well as International visitors like Wade Simmons and Geoff Gulevich

We also held several “jams” supported by the park sponsors (Specialized, Freeborn, DMR, Da Kine, Monster, etc.) which were extremely well attended.

Truly a labour of love, it was time well spent but I would not do it again. If you undertake a project of this nature, it can be very rewarding but also frustrating and be prepared to work for free for a long time to make it viable. Esher Shore itself would not have supported any kind of salary for a dedicated member of staff.

Also be very mindful of the location, and realistic with visitor numbers, as though we found at Esher Shore we had to build it before “they” would come!

Two things really changed my attitude to brake control, in a positive way:

1. Going chain less in Whistler Bike Park after snapping rear mech and hanger, and being too poor to replace them.

2. Two years riding a brakeless Bmx

Both instances taught me more about not braking/flow than in 20 years of previous riding experience.

@ska @normal man

80mm manitou tower pro I got cheap off crc after the fox forks started creaking in the CSU again, just out of warranty. Mojo very helpful but still £200 to fix, and I’d already had the CSU replaced under warranty the year before.

New fork suits the current frame (stumpy expert carbon) really well. Fork is structurally much stiffer and more controlled damper which means it sits higher in travel under load.

The 2012 evo had an issue with the tolerances on the bb shell and SBC UK were stellar in giving me the carbon frame as an upgrade under warranty.

Specialized Stumpjumper Expert Carbon 29’er custom build

Specialized Tarmac Elite SL4 custom build

Specialized Sirrus custom build

I got rid of my 6″ full suspension bike and bought a hardtail 29’er with short travel fork and 1 x 10 gearing

very simple to wash even after a mud bath, very easy to maintain, and I found having the suspension fork and gearing range still made it very viable for “mountain” biking.

I lay wheel on floor, wrap a rag around the base of the cassette, and with flat blade screw driver and hammer, tap the individual cassette cogs to get them to unseat from the notches they’ve cut into the freehub body. Usually one at a time, until you reach the spider mounted cogs, this should come straight off.

You can dress the body with a steel file to take the burrs off, and refit the cassette with some anti-seize, but it does not really help, and I’ve suffered from the gouges in the body getting worse, clicking and creaking noises under power and even shifting dwell as the cogs have ended up out of alignment

The only solution is to swap out the alloy body for the steel body, after the 3rd one went on my road bike, Hope gave me a steel body FOC.

Hunter or R.S. silicon grease work just fine

@hughj

Specialized carbon made in Taiwan by one of the top 4 independent carbon fibre manufacturers, using proprietary moulds owned by Specialized.Actually very good build quality.

The entry level and mid range carbon fibre frames tend to be a little on the heavier side due to lower ratio of fibre to resin, mix of Toray and Hitachi carbon fibre, and use of metallic inserts = cheaper to manufacture.

My Tarmac Expert SL4 road frame in 54cm is 1.2kg, which is a little porky, but it rides fantastic so I am not complaining.

The top range (production) and S-Works frames use full Toray carbon fibre and higher ratio of fibre to resin, less metallic inserts which explains the higher price.

Production cost for using better quality (full Toray) carbon fibre with higher ratio of fibre to resin, is dramatically more expensive, almost double that of mixed-source carbon fibre with higher ratio of resin

I’d service it once a year if riding regularly.

Between services and after cleaning, a few drops of Finish Line dry lube or suspension spray on the main seal, will keep things running smooth.

Specialized are partly owned by Merida, but Sbc do not own any factories. Merida in turn source the bulk of their aluminium alloy tube sets from Giant!

SBC is a design/marketing company, the only on-site fab in usa, are limited numbers of prototype ‘mules’ often made from cromoly steel or aluminium alloy to test new design concepts.

Seen this on many ‘brands’.

Specialized not a manufacturer but a design / marketing company.

Some bearing sockets good, some bad, on same frame, or different frames, or different brands/models.

Some bad setups require specific tools and skills, some brute force, some a bit of luck, some a new frame component…

Problem is its advertised as ‘tyre sealant’…

I worked for freeborn a number of years and despite Tony EW being ‘difficult’ by all accounts, the frames / custom builds always sold well and the bikes always tested very well when we sent them to UK bike mags.

Couple of my friends had epiphany and moment, no complaints from those guys, I rode different EW bikes many times and was impressed by the suspension performance on rough ground and when pedalling despite many of their claims about ICT being somewhat fantastic

Probably the real issues were poor warranty support from the usa, which led to freeborn having to strip down new frames to give customers parts, and geometry which was not as advertised.

Yikes. Quick way to ruin a chain. Trick with ownership of a chain is to keep the surface clean whilst maintaining the factory lubrication in each roller bushing for as long as possible.

Following advice of KMC and Shimano, I’d never clean my chains with anything more aggressive than warm soapy water.

Road a dura-ace bike with those brakes and found even with 140mm rotors the brakes were fierce to the point of being harsh, causing vibration in the frameset under braking. Would be interested in trying another bike to see what happens with long term ownership.

1-2nm on the preload cap

12-13nm on the twin pinch bolts

Use a torque wrench to get the pinch bolts to correct torque, and balanced.

Overtightening the preload cap dramatically reduces bearing life.

If the cranks keep coming loose check the condition of the axle splines and the spline socket on the non driveside arm.

Terrible stuff.

My two previous jobs were at specialized concept stores and we used stans in the workshop 😉

Specialized Control Fast Trak for drier condition, Specialized Control Ground Control for wetter condition, or run the Ground Control on front, and Fast Trak on rear.

avoid the “S-Works” version as they use a higher TPI count and less rubber, making them more prone to punctures and abrasions than the “Control” versions

suggest setting both up tubeless conversion, especially the Fast Trak which are relatively thin and easy to puncture if running tubes, especially on canal paths where people often drink and smash glass bottles

Give the LBS a chance to sell you the bike, at the price you have seen it on-line.

At this time of year in the bike industry things go quiet, and cashflow is key to the survival of a business, not profit as many assume – profitable businesses have gone into administration because of cashflow problems!

Speak to your mate, let him know the situation, they may actually be glad to clear that bike from their stock, and it might help pay that outstanding bill or the next payroll cycle 😉

Just got back from watching it.what a disappointing and overblown mess.

I’ve enjoyed many of his films, but Interstellar was not one of them.

Not sure about weight limits but on my hope/open pro set Hope were kind enough to replace the aluminium alloy free hub body twice FOC due to severe cassette gouging (using ultegra 6700 cassette setup with anti-seize and fitted with torque wrench).

The front wheel developed clicking from crossed spokes rubbing, its been repeatedly tensioned, trued and oiled but clicking soon comes back…rear hub has had number of bearings replaced in 2 years of ownership despite regular maintenance.

Third time of gouging its been replaced with steel body, also FOC, but it added so much weight the wheels have been relegated to my commuter and I bought a set of 2014 fulcrum racing 5 for £170 for my road bike which weigh in lighter than original set of hopes, yet have steel body as standard.

I’ve used hope hubs for years on MTBs, but cannot deny the issues I have experienced have put me off their road wheels, despite their supportive customer service dept.

@ski

Problem is locking your bike in ‘trusty spot’. Thieves get wise to pattern very quickly. Change your spot frequently 😉

Ridden the 2015 giant defy in both 105/mechanical disc and dura ace/hydraulic disc variants. When I say ridden, rode both flat-out 14 mile road loops with plenty of climbs and descents.

Interesting experience, never ridden a bike with endurance/sportive geometry in anger. Still prefer the geometry of my race bike.

Preferred the shifting and crank set rigidity of the dura ace bike, but the better modulation of the trp spyre mechanical disc bike.

Highly recommend an nst gyro ball for physio hand/arm injury

Was involved in rtc with van last year and found it very good after coming out of plaster.

Interesting to see the impact halfords new relaunched ‘cycle republic’ brand has on the bike industry, especially in London.

Halfords have announced 30 stores for London, following opening of the first store at Euston Tower.

Rumours are a buy out and rebrand of existing cycle surgery stores from snow&rock group, as their owner LGV put their entire portfolio up for sale last year following Legal and General winding down their investment arm LGV.

Cycle republic is headed by the former retail director of Evans Cycles, who has been ‘acquiring’ a number of store managers from said former employer.

The times they are a changing….

Cromoly steel equivalent of the banshee morphine.

Good frame for budget hard tail dh racing and freeriding

Have fun!

My big brand carbon fibre hard tail frame has recently developed cracks in the same place as the OPs frame.

Spoke to their warranty department. ‘Don’t worry its just the paint caused by seat post flex’. Frame is 15 months old and cracks just appeared…

When I expressed my concern ( third of same model frame cracked and put forward to warranty in 2 years) response was ‘we don’t have any warranty frames at moment, keep an eye on the cracks’ 🙁

I’ve ridden with Elbry a number of times, actually a nice chap despite his rep on the forums; I can say the same about Doddy from MBUK magazine too.

@ti-pin-man

I have fond memories of JMC and Plunkett coming riding with the Uni MTB clubs in Newcastle. Team Hardisty Cycles were warned about those rides…

@p-jay

The problem for the cycle ‘concept stores’ and ‘brand stores’ is that they are not owned or operated by the cycle manufacturer or distributor for the country, but are franchises operated by independent retailers.

They still have to wash their face, or more favourably turn a profit, which is not as easy when selling a single bike brand. If that brand runs out of stock of a particular model, you have nothing to sell, this happens more than you’d think.

Specialized Kingston is owned by Sigma Sport, specialized Covent garden is different in that its part of cycle surgery.

The Giant brand stores (20 at last count) are run by independent retailers except for Swansea which is part of treads/wheelies.

A problem facing these stores is the understandable confusion from customers that these stores are brand owned, which I’ve repeatedly seen with customers showrooming product and then buying from local dealer (who may offer an aggressive discount when their payroll is looming and cash flow is tight), expecting warranty support for free (frame has cracked and customer wants warranty replacement rebuilt for free), trying to return goods purchased from other dealers, etc.

I understand the customers POV, you would not expect to pay for warranty help with an Apple tablet bought in PC world if you walked into the Apple store in Covent garden.

probably my favourite riding pic

Leading Josh bender, my buddy Rob and Joe Schwartz (Kona Klump rider) down one of the trails on the Garbanzo zone in Whistler, BC