Good pictures guys!

Enjoyed losing my Virginity of a STW forum ride!

Had a great day, good trails, great people and fun times.

Looking forward to Buzz's mendip ride in August now….

Yes I do agree with you however before I go out and buy another stem for my other bike if it looks silly and I had the chance to buy a different stem then I can be fussy on looks as well 😆

I am deff coming, not going to do the whole train thing as I think I will be better off coming straight back and do the whole fathers day bit!

See you all at 9:30, oh and I have only got a SS so these hills better not be too bad 🙄

did nothing for my wife whilst pregnant / in labour

See my wife did 22 hours in labour solely on a Tens machine!

I think it works for some and doesn't for others. Don't think they are expensive or if you have any pregnant lady friends, relatives etc. you can buy the replacement pads easy enough so ask if you can borrow and try one.

I rigged the wifes one up to my arm and turned it on and it was a weird! Made me bend my arm as if I was drinking a pint which I will add ended up being a game!

I'll come!

A friend of mine had one and he told me a lot of the problems came from running big (?) gear ratios and the chain then rubbed on the chainstay and evently causing a weakness and for them to fail.

He sold it to another mate of mine and sprayed the backend before he sold it (worked in a garage and got the paint shop to do it) and it looks like new again.

I would get it sprayed

Looking forward to this!

You are all forgetting a very important component to any bike build!

Add tea or beer into list at multiple postions!!

Mine dates back to when I first setup my ebay account and couldn't have my name etc. and at the time Jackass the TV program was on and so I thought I'd try that and it wouldn't except it and gave me a suggestion of Jackass and a random number so in a huff I just decided Jackass123456789 and it accepted it.
I have kept the same user name for all my forum accounts as I used to use my ebay account as an example of being a trustful bike bit seller as I had 100% feedback score.

vewry interested in cola story. does it work? anyone else tried it? i have a stuck seatpost in a mint frame and its upsetting me.

If your frame is mint then don't mix it with coke

I'll get my coat….

I know a few guys who could do with them as well 😀

If it was my baby that they stopped from going into hospital using the helicopter there would be a headline of 'Two youths serious injured after Dad attacked them'

LOVE my Love / Hate, mines a 17.5 and I'm about 5'7 – 5'8. Fits great, just long enough on the TT to be comfy on longer rides (did a 24 hour solo on it and never felt uncomfortable on it once) but short enough to have some fun with the saddle down. I run a short stem as well.

Yeah!!

Hi Lee and thanks for the glowing report on the Love/Hate. It’s really great when I hear from customers and how they have connected with their Dialled Bikes frame. In fact, it kinda makes it all worthwhile and justifies why I do this.

Unfortunately, sales of Love/Hates have really slowed down recently, so the current stock may actually be the last Love/Hates ever as at the moment, I couldn’t justify ordering another batch. So take good care of that Love/Hate as it is currently 1 of only 200 ever made!

Regards

Mike

Dialled Bikes

Mendips are running fast ATM aren't they!!
I learnt last night on my ride that:

1, SS still rules, beat my friends to the top of the steep road hill.

2, Just cos you might have gears doesn't make you fast

3, Death grip rocks!!

4, 3 pints of proper zider and no lights makes an interesting journey home

I LOVE my dialled Love / Hate bike, such an awesome ride, best bike I have EVER owned and I have owned a few 😉 – Steel is real man!!

Some very nice bikes in here, thanks for your responses and keep um coming!

My new Fox forks have arrived today as well as a matching rear tyre – lol.

I have to decide on finishing kit (bars, stem seat post), I all ready have brakes I want to keep and I have decided on the wheels. Just need the funds to finish it!!

Having had a rear shock pushed I can say it is worth the extra. I had my standard OE Pikes TF Tuned and setup correctly for me and they were awesome, I even sold them to a mate and he loved them too, we often talk about those Pikes even now and both wished we never sold them – lol.

I have a mate who's just had his dual air pikes pushed and swears by them however he is a hard rider and descends well so as said above, maybe better for more DH type riding.

Clic 24 hour a couple of years ago, on the way up, got the wheel higher than that – honest 😉

There seems to be a lot of middleburn cranks, I was thinking SLX or XT, explain to me why I should be thinking Middleburn?

Thanks for the response on the rims.

Sorry forgot to say on my first post that I really like your bike. You have got some nice parts on there and it looks like it would be fun and fast to ride.

I wanted a time scale for my LBS to clean the BB threads as one side was slightly mashed at the start, simple job, could of done it my self (have done in the past) if I had the tool, which I didn't.

Tried to get a time scale from my LBS and all I got told was 'well depends what comes through the door' – FFS I still have yet to understand what that means, surely if someone comes through the door after my bike has been dropped of they say I can do it once I've done this one (pointing at my bike).

In the end I dropped it off on the Monday, called on the Thursday and got a 'oh yeah all done no problem' – They hadn't called or anything to say it was done and when I picked it up they commented on the fact the headset didn't seem right, now if they had any sense, whilst they had the bike and whilst it was in the stand they could have called me to say the bike was done and did I want them to look at the headset as it didn't seem right and charge me for the extra work.

Bike shops I think need to operate their workshops like garages and book jobs in etc.

Are the rims more XC than AM or tough XC? I am looking at a new wheel set for my SS and looking at the weights I can't decide between XC717s or the 355s.
(Sorry for the slight highjack)

When I got my bike powder coated I wanted the horrible white wheels a different colour. I was going for something bright but changed my mind and ended up getting the pedals and rims in Basmatic Grey (was the only gloss grey they had). Once I put it together, the rims, pedals, shock spring and saddle all matched!

I also added the matching red bling parts 😉

Cool yeah directions would be good!! (email in profile..)

I like the idea of a Birthday ride, I'll have a think of some funny birthday ideas

I can, the one though that gets me is the manual, I wish I could properly manual – Nearly came a croper the other night and I had thought if I'd manualled between those two bumps it wouldn't have been so bad. Yeah I can pull the front wheel up and using my speed get through a puddle but it's the longer cool looking one I can't do – lol

We used the Brittany Ferries website and booked to go in July, be careful as they classed all of July as peak although we go just before the school holidays. We paid £950 for 4 adults and 1 child which is the ferry and accomdation for the week including a cabin on the night crossing (coming back is during the day). £250 each I didn't think was too bad.

If I was you I would do the following:
Find a drop that won't cause any serious injuries if you mess it up but bigger than a curb.

Practice over and over going off the drop until you feel confident in doing it.

Find a bigger drop that makes you feel nervous and ride it using the technique you just learnt from the smaller drop.

Keep doing the bigger drop until you feel confident in doing it and work up to the next size up and so on.

Before you know it you'll change your user name to Josh Bender Crasher!!

I have recently had issues with jumping after dislocating my shoulder and couldn't stop dead sailoring on any jump, drop etc. Popped down to the local BMX track, practiced and got my head around it again (and set the rebound up on my forks correctly) and was clearing the doubles to flat in the end!

I'd join you on the 20th, 27th is my 30th Birthday weekend so not great for me.

I might come up on the train (from Yeovil) to make it a bit different (and have a pint at each stop and not worry about driving).

Cheers

Lee
(email in profile if you want to email details)

NICE!!

Personally I would grumble of a previous years model. Yes it is the same frame just a different colour scheme but that isn't the point. If you ever decide to resell the frame you would have to list it as a 2006 frame rather than a 2007 and potenially lose money.
If you bought a new car and within it's warrenty it failed you wouldn't expect to go to the garage only to be told they swapped it out with last years model!!

Good luck and hope it's the newer one!

think I will stick to stw classifieds from now on !!..

Me too, I hate ebay now a days, back in the day… lol!

I just sold a Zippo lighter and on the listing I always specify a 2 business day dispatch time. The guy emailed me complaining that he hadn't got it and I pointed out I had specified a 2 business day dispatch time due to difficulties getting to a post office that is open. Anyway I did however offer to refund him half the postage as it was actually day 3 by the time I got to the post office. Needless to say he never responded and has yet to leave any feedback!

Rode the course last night, super fast at the moment, dry and dusty!
Just watch out for the stones poking out as I got a nice pinch flat last night!!

CRC delivery times have dropped I recon, don't tend to use them as much as they aren't as 'next day' as they used to be.

And the whole LBS thing. I have 3 LBS, I needed a new BB for my Hone HTII cranks, first bike shop only had Hope SS ones a £60+ a pop, second had the same but in ceramic at stupid money and so I finally tried the third. £25 quid for the standard deore HTII BB that fits all the shimano range except XTR(IIRC). I paid an extra £10 for being able to drive across town on a saturday and get it there and then.

I think the LBS has cried for too long about online businesses and they need to sort it out and start stocking decent products, have some selection and not just stock Specialized products.*

*contrary to my LBS rant, I did however pop into Bad Ass Bikes the other day and although no means is that a LBS to me, if I am on the Mendips riding I would certainly go there with my business, very nice guy and a good SELECTION of stock.

Rather than worry if the bike will cope why don't think about the setup of the bike. As other people have said make sure you have new fluid in your brakes and they are running well. If you will be doing more gravity type riding think about investing in some more DH'ey parts for your 'XC' bike such as a short stem, wider bars, possibly bigger rotors (check your bike can take bigger rotors), dual ply tyres with bigger casing, DH inner tubes. All these things help make any bike more suited to these type of environments. Also some decent armour and full face helmet will help with the confidence and have FUN!!

I too have recently been diagnosed with asthma. Steroid inhalers twice a day and a couple of blasts of Ventolin before a ride keeps it at bay though.

Me too, my asthma seems to be triggered by animal fur / hair so don't struggle whilst riding, for me exercise actually seems to help – ??

I'm in the same boat atm, can't decide what to go for. A friend has just bought a new Specialized Allez Sport (?) for £600 and the kit on that seems the best for that price. Spend the extra hundred and you can get a Boardman which has the spec of a £800 bike so is good value. I looked at a Trek 1.2 which for the compact (coming from a single speed road bike so 2 rings seem plenty) is £625. Lovely bike, looks more expensive than it is and has similar kit to the Specialized but a slightly lower spec crank set but maybe nicer Bontrager finishing kit.
Hopefully though I am looking at a Trek 1.5 at the weekend which is second hand and might save me a few pennies.

Don't forget that the Sora / Tiagra range this year has technology from last year's / year before that's. Same with MTB stuff really 2010 Deore could be compared to a previous year or two's XT.

Yeah I had one, GREAT bike! Absolute flyer and great fun. Pretty light and very 'all mountain'. I upgraded mine to Lyriks and it ran OK with 160mm but I mainly wound them down and had them at 145mm which suited the bike better.
Here is a picture of me on it for the Mega:

and one with the upgrades:

Only sold it as I wanted a SS full susser, if I could only have 1 bike I would have it back!!

We use them for class room use so they don't have to be spot on. The colours looked good and my Windows 7 backdrop looked nice and colourful.

I was however projecting onto a brick wall painted white (yes us IT guys really do have fancy offices 🙄 )