Cheers nick, am delighted with it.
So far changed the bar tape, saddle, wheels, tyres and tubes resulting in over 2 lbs off the weight.
New Ritchey red 4 axis stem and Ritchey Superlogic Carbon Logic 2 bars arrive this week.
New wheels are carbon Light Bicycle rims on Novatec hubs, Michelin Pro 4 Endurance tyres and Specialized Romin Expert Gel Saddle.

Will get updated photos once the stem and bars go on.

For reference I’m 1.94m tall and looked at the Cannondale Synapse before going for the Giant and definitely needed the 60 cm but my proportions are fairly even with regards legs/torso.

Cheers, just thought it would be worth asking. I might email them to see if they’ll still do the extra 10% off they were last week.

I’ve got a set on order from Light bicycle with Novatec disc hubs and they should come in just over 1400 grams for the pair.
Depending on import duty etc should cost around £450.

My new wheels were dispatched on Monday but looking at the tracking info nothing has changed for over 24 hours.
Latest update states: 2015-03-31  12:54:23 XIAMEN Despatch from sorting centre.

Is the tracking info updated regularly? Wondering if they’re on the plane between China and the UK or could now be at customs.

I’d get a Praxis / SLX chainset (sell on the rings) & RF NW ring.

£170 ish all in.

So roughly what you are spending anyway, plus, as mentioned, it will probably be lighter.

I’ve got a Defy Advanced 1 in the garage waiting for a set of carbon disc wheels coming from China and for the weather to improve enough for them to stop salting the roads.
The change of wheels and new tyres should drop a kilo off the weight!

The 2015 carbon Defy come D2i ready with grommets in the necessary access points on the frame.

Giant Defy Advanced 1, already got the bike!

Just waiting on a set of Light Bicycle UD carbon rimmed wheels on Novatec hubs to finish the bike off, it’s going to be a long 4 weeks or so.

Well I’ve just bought my 1st road bike and it has discs fitted. I wanted to future proof my purchase but the fiscs were only part of that, also wanted a di2 ready frame.
There are loads of different road bikes out there and brake type is only 1 of the factors to take into account when choosing which bike to go for.
Coming from a mountain bike background I’m used to disc brakes albiet hydraulic, It’s what I’m used to and didn’t want wheels that would need replaced due to rim wear, cheaper to rellace discs and pads than rims and blocks.

I believe discs on road bikes are the future but being the go to option a fair way off, but once more of the big players set their stalls out on discs and aftermarket upgrade options improve they’ll become the majority.

I know what you mean, I’m currently waiting on some carbon road disc clinchers from China! Chinese New Year meaning the delay it even longer than expected.
Just trying not to think about it too much.

Might try retail therapy in the meantime, a new road helmet and bib shorts might take my mind off the wait!

Solid old drills, I service the latest models in the Edinburgh Secondary schools.
You should be alright if it doesn’t have a high low range gearbox in the head.
The fact it doesn’t comply with current H/S will keep it’s value down with no emergency stop or guard interlock microswitches.
I’d be offering about £150 but would depend if they’ll deliver or not.
The drive belts should last donkeys years if the machine hasn’t been abused and the correct belt tension is used.

I’m planning on ordering some complete wheels in the next few days. I just so happen to work for Edinburgh Council, based near the Royal Infirmary but travel to schools throughout the City.

Spoke count for front and rear will be 28, I hover around 83kgs so don’t want to go as low as 24 and risk the wheels not surviving.
LB will be doing the complete build and have said I can have either 2X or 3X.

Thanks again. Still hard to tell the finish, must be the angles and lighting. I’ve got an FSA SLK carbon post on my commuter which is UD gloss so recon it’ll look similar to that.
Some of the other finish options just look a bit too fake carbon effect.

Cheers Jason very stealthy nice bike. Do you have any closeups of the rims to show the carbon finish?

I’m starting to think the 38mm rims might be better looking and stronger than the 24s. I’m not planning on chasing grams so a strongerish build might pay dividends in the long run.

Cheers Gee76, I guess the carbon effect will be more obvious with the gloss over the top.

I was considering some decals but looks like they are applied once the carbon is sanded but before the gloss finish is added at the end so no option to remove if I decide I want the stealth look so plain looks like the way forward.

It was the lively in the wind that made me think the 24mm rims would be better but have nothing to really basethat on coming from a mountain bike background.
Does the UD finish still look like carbon fibre because in the pictures on LBs site could just be plastic which was making err towards the 3k? My frame and forks are red and white gloss carbon so thought the matt finish would look wrong.

I’ve got an FSA SLK carbon post on my commuter which seems to do the job and looks v.nice while doing it.

I had a Westie from 6 weeks old till we eventually had to have him put to sleep aged 14 due to ill health!

He was a brilliant dog, didn’t yip in fact barely barked. He spoiled a walk though as wanted to pee against anything and everything. He was happy with his own company while we were at work but they’re meant to be happiest as a pair.
Big issue we found was health issues, ours had skin issues, pollops in his ears, stomach problems, dodgy hips and finally a heart issue which all added up to regular expensive vet bills.
Our dog also became a racist in his old age and would try and attack black dogs, all the others were safe as houses.

I’d like to know who has done this to you to prevent them doing the same sort of thing to other members buying from them on the classifieds!

It’s one thing selling something that isn’t quite as described but what makes it worse is how they’ve reacted when the buyer questions the item’s condition. The least they should do is offer a full refund and pay for return postage if they want it back or partial refund if the buyer is happy to keep it but for a revised reduced price.

KMC all day long and their quick links are superb and reusable!

I’ve got a 58 plate Mondeo estate Zetec tdci 140 and it’s great. Drives nicely, averages about 52mpg, only had to change a tyre due to picking up a piece of metal in the year I’ve had it.
The boot is massive, I had a 2005 Volvo XC70 before and would pick the Ford every time. It’s bigger inside, more economical and more reliable.

Thanks for the kind comments, pedals and bottle cage now fitted!

What mrblobby said but I’ve just bought Defy Advanced 1 so maybe a little biased.

If it’s over budget then the Advanced 2 is £1399 with 105 instead of Ultegra.
I would recommend Pedalon Cycles as you’ll get loads of freebies using their Podium Points system which you could sell on and bring the price down further, brilliant service from them too.

Weather up here is icy cold.

I will decide on flipping the stem once I’ve given it a test ride but can wait for now.

I know it looks massive, partly the rubbish angle I took the photo from but I’m 6’4″ and it’s the size that fits me, there’s no chance I was going down a size so it looked better but would’ve been too small to be comfortable.
When you’re tall gate sized frames are something that are unavoidable. I think as gates go it’s lovely. 😆

Probably the last time it’s allowed in the kitchen (wife was away with work) gotta love a bit of colour coordination!

My mate got a Strive at the turn of the year and loves it, think he said it was either one of the best or the best bike he’s ridden. It’s his first non 26″ wheeled bike and couldn’t believe how much it just felt right.

I can’t fault De-Feet Woolie Boolie.

Here for £9.09:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/defeet-woolie-boolie-2-4-cuff-socks/

Bump.

Hardtail.

I’d go for the model with Ultegra and ask EBC to throw in a set of pedals, don’t ask you don’t get!

Quite cheap here to & within UK:

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/64996/RockShox_Pike_RCT3_Solo_Air_51mm_Offset_Taper_29er_2015_Forks

Black pudding, scrambled egg and brown sauce is my all time favourite.

Ordering a new road bike (1st ever) in the next couple of weeks.

My 9 year old nephew wears Gform knee pads , the smallest size they do. He has a disability so wears them for walking as he falls over all the time. He really likes them as they’re mega comfortable and can wear under school trousers.

If you can get to Linlithgow I would recommend Flotec who share premises with Elevation Cycles on the High Street. I’ve used them for fork and shock servicing and they said they do Reverbs too.

Does it need to be new?

I’m thinking of selling my heavily upgraded Canyon Nerve xc8.0.

I made one from some black acrylic, shaped it to suit then drilled and countersunk 2 holes.
Job done!

Surely the brake being where it is will get covered in loads of muck and effect braking performance a fair bit.
Really interesting frame with stiff sections around the front triangle, bottom bracket and chain stays joined to compliant seat stays. Very different approach than what you see from the likes of Specialized.

Looks like E-Bay are doing something good for their customers.

I have received an e-mail from them today out of the blue (I didn’t complain to them about the site being down during the hours leading up to the end of my listing).

Their e-mail is below

Dear j40aja:

I’m writing to you today about the recent technical issues that have affected our platform and to let you know that we’re protecting you.

On Sunday 14 September, a number of eBay sites and customer service platforms around the world experienced intermittent issues. When the disruption began—at 11:15am BST—our eBay Technology Team immediately began work towards resolving it. By 6:45pm BST that day, they had restored the vast majority of site functionality.

The personal information of our customers was not compromised by this incident.

We know how much it matters to your livelihood that eBay functions properly and that lately our performance hasn’t met your expectations. We apologise for this, and we’re taking steps to make sure that we exceed your expectations going forward.

As a seller with transactions impacted by this issue, we’ll protect you in the following ways:

We’ll automatically credit all fees for certain listings that ended between 11:15am BST and 8:45pm BST on Sunday 14 September. The additional 2 hours will help make sure we assist all of our sellers who may have been affected.

The fee credit will apply to auction-style listings that ended (except those that sold for a Buy it now price) and any fixed price listings that ended without a sale (except 30-day and Good ‘Til Cancelled listings). If the affected listing was a free listing, it can be relisted for free within 7 days, even if you’ve used all allotted free listings.

Any transaction defects we can identify as resulting from this issue will be removed and will not impact your performance record.

The credits will be applied to your account by 23 September and will be reflected on your October invoice.

Nothing is more important to us than our customers, and we’re committed to maintaining your trust.

As always, thank you for selling on eBay.

Sincerely,

Steve Boehm
Global Customer Experience

Looks like I’m getting my fees back (over £12) but we’ll see if they appear as it does mention in their e-mail about certain listings!

I’d certainly be contacting EBay Customer Services to have all my fees refunded given that so many buyers wait until the end of the auction to place their bids!