I think in general Evans Cycles mechanics are very capable. Much better than the shop/stuff they sell etc.

@Hora

the problem with Evans is that most of the good workshop staff jumped ship a few seasons ago as the company shifted its focus from having competent in-store workshop staff, to having “bike builders” and “junior mechanics”.

Pay rates are poor, a high volume of bike builds, a focus on affordable bikes and a lack of proper training means its not a great environment to work in as a mechanic.

The Silver / Gold repair work in the London area is driven to the LCW facility in Bermondsey. It was a flawed experiment that is still having problems several years later.

Most Evans are lucky to have 1 experienced mechanic i.e. workshop manager or “senior mechanic”.

I managed 2 of their very busy workshops in London, as the changes were going through. The rot started with shutting down their in-house Cytech training facility at LCW, Jules (Cytech examiner) left and they introduced their “Evans Training Academy” nonsense…

it was a real shame as Jules had built Evans workshops into industry leading, skilled operations with good tooling, training and staffing.

So when I got home from work set the gears up to take out any cable stretch and to my horror discovered the back wheel bearings hanging out shield hanging out pissing grease every where!?

I am a bit confused as to what happened, based on your description?

you got the bike home and the bearing shield had jumped off the wheel axle, exposing wheel bearings?

@Rik

what frame is this being used on (internal routing / external routing)?

did you replace the gear cabling when you installed the new parts?

is the new derailleur hanger actually straight (new are often bent)?

unreliable or direction-biased indexing is normally a sympton of cable drag or a bent hanger; we see this a lot on bike with internal routing where the routing has not been done correctly

new and even used 6700 should run very smooth, it was a fantastic group set

If you are talking mavic road clothing, its very good quality compared to other mid to high end brands, this includes their bib shorts, gillets, jackets and gloves.

Only item not 100% sure on is their road shoes, my missus has struggled with her expensive mavic road shoes in terms of shoe geometry and fit, whereas her budget and mid range Specialized shoes have been transparent which is ideally what you want.

just been to the Velopark this morning as part of a road ride around NW to East London

had a look at the proper track in the pringle building (very impressive), the BMX track and road circuit (looked good)

then the mountain bike trails were not open, they seemed to be doing lots of work with piles of gravel dumped about and fencing up

rode a short section that was open (on my road bike) seemed to be crushed gravel / rock compacted with rolling bumps and small rock garden bits

the mtb trails seemed to be all over the site and graded into different abilities with the blacks going down the steepest bits with more severe rock gardens, a mish mash I guess there are limits to what you can do with flat terrain

will take the mtb over there sometime and report back!

problems we saw with Stages during my time in workshop at Sigma Sport (roadie shop in Surrey) were mainly related to poor resistance to wet weather, due to a seal on the battery bay, and the battery bay being easily broken because people did not read the instructions and forced the bay when changing the battery

I believe these issues were resolved with some running changes to the design

accuracy was another matter entirely…

neither are mine, but have test ridden both and thought both had potential, liked the wheel size and I normally ride 29’er

@dick

If you could live with 1x 10 gearing I am selling a used but good condition SRAM OE single ring specific aluminium bb30 chain set 175mm arms, 104bcd no chainring, going very cheap drop me a mail if interested!

sticky pistons are normally caused by the surface of the piston bore (the in/out face) degrading over time, it can easily develop scoring from running with sticky seals caused by the corrosive nature of DOT fluid and perhaps an imbalanced caliper centre over the disc brake rotor – this means 1 piston is working harder as its compensating for the offset position of the caliper

its actually very normal for DOT brake system to degrade over time, the solution if you have the resources is to rebuild the brake by draining fluid, splitting the caliper in half, removing old piston and seals, fitting new pistons and seals with DOT rebuild silicon grease, refilling the system, bleeding trapped air and installing to the bike

this kind of thing is worth doing if you are a bike mechanic with time and resources like cheap replacement parts from an Avid tacklebox in the workshop

but most riders cannot be bothered with the hassle / cost and will dump the brake for a Shimano Deore/ SLX or similar.

^^ scotroutes

partial vacuum in the master cylinder

as long as you don’t do anything stupid like shake the bike / turn the bars, or pull the brake lever you should easily be able to cut the hose, install the new olive / barb and reinstall the hose without needing to bleed the brakes

have done this for Hope, Formula, Avid, Shimano, Tektro for years without needing to bleed

of course, if a sales assistant in our shop walks into the workshop and decides in a moment of clarity to pull that brake lever, dumping the fluid onto the floor and sucking air into the MC, that’s another matter…

the Orange may require more “skill” to ride or get the most out of, as its a simple single pivot design which means more feedback through the suspension, as well as the suspension stiffening under hard braking

the Specialized will be more ‘neutral’ in that the chain growth is limited giving a neutral feel when pedalling, hitting bumps or braking hard; however it will feel softer under power

most modern suspension bikes whether the Orange or the Specialized, are pretty darn capable and it comes down to personal choice, I’ve owned many different FS bikes and personally prefer short-link virtual pivots like DW Link / Banshee KS Link / Giant Maestro or DW’s Split-Pivot

in terms of maintenance, neither of your choices are particularly hard to look after, I would also look at the support and warranty terms for both bikes when making your decision.

the Specialized Status is the latest incarnation of the old “Big Hit” which was a ground breaking and highly proven affordable DH/FR suspension bike

@binners

I lived and rode in Newcastle for 5 years and have ridden bikes in Canada, Australia, Europe so I know what good riding is 😉

Quality brake / lever with good pads and setup properly (oiled linear cable, light spring tension, careful pad adjustment relative to rim, use a mavic rim rubber on the rim)

I rode bmx – race, DJ, park, street for years – no issues with stopping power or modulation. Saw many bmx with bad brake setup, it requires some technique to get right, many mechanics who did not ride bmx will not know how to get it right

Fizik do 3 thicknesses?

Last time I went into sigma sport they had a bar setup with all 3 tapes so you could grip and feel before choosing, neat idea

@darrenspink

I’ve got several km of decent single track in NW London only 1 km from my house, even has several steep climbs and 2 long descents, 1 is 3 mins and 1 is 6 mins.

Had a great 2 hour ride this morning, even got a bit muddy up there!

Strictly speaking consumer law says the onus is on the customer after 6 months to prove goods are faulty, as 6 months is considered more than reasonable for any original fault to develop

However, i’d expect any decent shop to repair this FOC as a goodwill gesture, and their mechanic to retension the wheel checking with spoke tension gauge as machine built wheels common to production bikes are notorious for wildly varying spoke tension 😉

@hora

the point from this caller is that Boris is our elected Mayor, but has failed to make good on many of his election manifesto promises, and has relied on a clever PR campaign to camoflage his lack of action on many issues facing London

He has also assumed ownership and credit of many of the projects that former Mayor Ken Livingston did the heavy lifting on.

The secret visit to Mount Pleasant was captured by journalists from Camden New Journal newspaper, who have been reporting on the “done deal” between the Mayor (who has ultimate say on planning issues in London) and a wealthy property developer – this site in Mt. Pleasant is the former home of Royal Mail’s largest European sorting office

The Mayor has overridden both Camden and Islington’s councils serious concerns about the use of this site for community purposes, with “affordable housing” now reported to be less than 12% of the overall development

completely off-track in regards to the horrible cycle fatality this morning, but a demonstration of Boris’ urge to satisfy the wealthy business elite, at the expense of getting anything concrete in place for the majority who actually live in the City

also bear in mind, a development on this scale at Mt. Pleasant will see several years of disruption including 100’s of HGV every week bringing materials from and to the site, with obvious consequences for cyclists in this busy area, you know the little people like us who pedal cycles about this city 😉

found regular Specialized S-Wrap black a great tape

it feels good, is comfortable, durable and very easy to wrap tight, even on odd shaped aero bars

@bikebouy

yeah i noticed the helmet he was carrying straight away!

LBC radio have been running an advert for their Nick Ferrari show “ask the mayor” and one of the clips in the advert is Boris trying to blame “the media” for the cycling deaths by spreading panic among the public

Nick Ferrari of course takes him to task over this claim, during the clip!

sold my FS (Devinci Dixon) in 2012, bought a 29’er hardtail and not missed the FS since?

(owned about 20 different FS bikes from 2002-2012)

Its about getting the right bike for your riding needs, simple as that really?

This is my current ride, its very quick and light, yet surprisingly comfortable considering its only a hardtail

certainly a much easier bike to own during wet weather with minimal maintenance required

most important? Its actually fun to ride where my FS bikes blunted the trails and made everything too easy

very sad news 🙁

I wonder how many more cycling and pedestrian deaths we have to accept before something actually gets done to properly sort this out?

or is it just cheaper to allow people to die from Road Traffic Collisions caused partly by structural negligence, than pay for major infrastructure changes across London and introduce rush-hour restrictions for HGV operators?

A friend who worked for a major motor vehicle manufacturer told me it was cheaper for his company to pay compensation to victims families for fatalities caused by a design flaw in a popular 4 x 4 vehicle (something like 100+ deaths in the USA alone)

than to recall, redesign, retool and manufacture said vehicle with an additional 4″ to the width of the wheelbase

on a separate note. Where is London’s Mayor Boris Johnson and what is he actually doing about this problem? Apart from blustering…

Or is he too busy making secret visits to Luxury property developers at Mount Pleasant?

in the UK

you can get SW road shoes in the following sizes:

39,40,41,42,42.5,43,43.5,44,44.5,45,45.5,46,47,48,49

all other “non s-works” shoes and S-Works MTN shoes are available in “whole” sizes rather than half sizes

DODDY!!

actually an alright chap contrary to his “image” in the MBUK mag, hope the staff find good jobs

had many different brands of glasses for riding and casual over the years, but always coming back to Oakley

Oakley Radarlock

with 3 different lenses for different conditions

nothing comes close in terms of performance in all conditions (whether pouring rain or hot sun), long term durability and optical quality

I ride 300km+ a week so glasses are very important to me

worth every penny I paid for them…which was many pennies!

@jacob

you won’t really go wrong with either bike. you can remove the cone spacer from the Roubaix and slam the stem, but it will always be taller than the Tarmac, and won’t have the same steering steering response due to longer wheelbase, slacker fork race and the less aggressive geometry

probably best to test ride both, and see what you like? The Roubaix will give a more upright comfortable feel that will suit steady cruising, the Tarmac feels more natural going quick leant forward onto the hoods

Sl2 and sl3 have little in common with sl4 Roubaix

Sl4 Roubaix is basically the bottom half of tarmac sl4 with softer seat stays, taller head tube and slacker/longer geo

the newer Roubaix is a much sharper ride under power and sharper handling whereas the older frames felt pretty spongy / soft and appreciated being wound up to speed rather than hammered

Sl4 Roubaix also not as comfortable, it definitely benefits from the cg-r seat post which it was designed around.

Tarmac sl4 is a sharper handling ride especially hard corners and descent, rapid acceleration, but Roubaix sl4 a very impressive endurance frame with more noticeable race feel than older models

check this out, just arrived today so I could not resist building ‘her up

@monster

Free hub failure after 3 months?

I’d be onto the retailer ‘bike not fit for purpose’ either replace the wheel in a reasonable timeframe (2 weeks) or please collect the bike as I want a full refund.

Anything else is typical b.s. cycle retailers think bike buying public will accept as normal. Any other retail business this would be unacceptable, if I bought a television or washing machine and it failed in 3 months I would expect replacement or refund 😉

greenwich foot tunnel

richmond park

sunrise on Waterloo bridge

@easygirl

bring bikes…

you have this:

road

mountain

failing the idea of bikes…get an Oyster Card to save money

check out Camden Market, Covent Garden, Smithfields Market, Spitalfields Market, Hampstead Village and Hampstead Heath (great for walking). Get down to the Southbank and have a good walk alongside the River Thames, preferably East towards Tower of London

and take a “Fast Clipper” boat from Central London down to Greenwich:

whoops!

speak to the owner / manager in a calm manner and ask for your bike to be put ‘right’ at no further cost

this puts the onus on the retailer…

would recommend getting 6800 on a new bike

would recommend getting 6800 groupset for a used bike with a knackered groupset that needs replacement

would recommend getting 6800 if rebuilding an entry level bike where you wanted the frame and were planning to dump the Sora / Tiagra groupset that comes on

would not recommend 6800 if you are riding a bike with a 6700 groupset that works and is in good condition 😉

I am riding 6700 with the new cabling and it feels very slick compared to the older cabling system

@jacob46

might be worth speaking to the dealer you got the bike from, and checking out the Specialized BG road shoe range

~I’ve found the basic model very good for the money, paired with some inexpensive Shimano SPD-SL and get the dealer to setup the cleats properly for you

when we had the Freeborn shop at Esher we did lots of suspension servicing specifically fork “lowers” servicing and we found a great UK company “Rock Oil” who actually ‘rebadge’ their product for many other “brands” sold in the UK

about £5 for 1 litre of suspension oil or DOT fluid, if I remember correctly!

@Normal Man

the SL3 is a good frame but was felt by many, to be perhaps a little too orientated towards professional racing in that it was somewhat “unforgiving” in terms of rider fatigue on rougher roads

SL3 was certainly a step above SL2 in terms of performance riding, as a more efficient frame at transferring rider power to the back wheel

as another contrast, generally the production frames using the less expensive, lower modulus carbon cloth tend to be more “comfortable” than the S-Works frames which use a higher modulus cloth

would recommend using any cable stop fittings supplied by the frame manufacturer:- these are often short plastic pipes with a stop / flange, filled with grease – to ease the transition of the cable from outer housing to entry / exit points in the frame

also use a teflon-coated inner cable from Shimano or similar quality manufacturer

@jacob46

if you are talking about the 2014 model, then its well worth getting, the production SL4 frame alone is worth the asking price of the entire bike (its surprisingly close to the SW Tarmac SL4 in terms of weight and ride quality)

I had a SL2 Tarmac and the SL4 I now have is a quantum leap in improvement of sharper handling, ride quality, stiffness yet oddly more comfortable (the SL2 was a bit of a bruiser on rough roads, yet soft under power and could feel “wooden”)

the bigger brands can seem expensive when comparing component spec. against smaller or directly sold brands, but the quality of the frameset on the bigger brands is noticeable (they basically have more money for R&D and production tooling) and the backup you get should you ever need warranty support gives peace of mind

the bike above is a USA colour SL4 frame model I was given under warranty because my SL2 frame developed an issue. I had a new frame in less than 4 days thanks to Specialized customer services in the UK. I have swapped the same parts over so its a direct comparison riding the 2 different frame models on the same roads I ride.

a guy I work with had an issue with his Canyon road bike and he’s been waiting 3 months for his new frame….

my road bike is used for fast commutes in reasonable to good weather – 30km each way in less than 1 hour, it needs to feel quick so stripped down is good, anything I need to carry is in my backpack!

when the weather is truly foul its the trusty hybrid with full length mudguards, this is ideal for slower rides ploughing through wind and rain

have no problems carrying what I need in my jersey pockets on my road bike?

road inner tube, tire lever and patches in left pocket

mobile phone, house keys, bank card and cash in middle pocket

mini pump and energy bar / gel in right pocket

cannot feel these items whilst riding…

…hate having anything bolted to my road bike except water bottle cages and bottles

never seen ASL enforced in London in 15 years of daily commuting

seen many vehicles, private and public including emergency services especially Police sat in the ASL waiting for lights to change

complete waste of time and money, and leading cyclists into false sense of security

also had many circumstances where I am sat in ASL on my bike, and motorists start creeping into ASL because they are impatient, sometimes ending up 6-12″ off my back tire

from what I understand, a Police officer has to “witness” a motorist entering the ASL to actually enforce the law. Unless my information is wrong, infringing an ASL is £100 fine and 3 points on your driving license.

How many drivers have received this penalty outside of a public relations “crack down” like the one in London last year after all those cyclists were killed in a short period of time

I also understand that TFL is lobbying the Government to remove ASL from criminal law and change to civil law so they can put up cameras and fine the sh*t out of infringers.

This makes much more sense, people ignore the law because that blue line is very thin, but quickly responde to a £100 fine in the post!