As a kid (young enough that I don’t remember it) I got one of the foam beads that are used to fill beanbags stuck up my nose. Had to have a general anaesthetic for them to get it out.

Nice picture Bumper, whereabouts in Wales? Looks Mid perhaps?

That Surly is particularly nice!

I wore a shirt, pair of jeans and smart shoes to my interview (which turned out to be more of an informal chat) at Leeds in 2014 and got in. Girlfriend, who is currently at York, said she can’t remember anyone wearing a suit to her round of interviews. That was the theater department though.

Works Components are great and reasonably cheap. The round one I had before my current oval is 18 months old and showing minimal signs of wear, it’s been shifted to another bike now.

Another thing, it surprises me the number of people who ride around in the dark with no lights. And people wearing headphones while riding on the road, seems like a great way to reduce your awareness and increase your chances of getting hit.

I’ve been cycling round and through Leeds in the two years while at uni, in my first term I was hit and knocked off by a van. While it wasn’t my fault it radically change the way I ride on the road around the city.

Coming from Shropshire I had never cycled in a city before coming to Leeds. I am now acutely aware of cars pulling out from junctions without looking, staying well away from car doors and trying to always ride defensively and assuming every car is out to get me. Despite this I’ve since had a number of close calls, mostly from drivers paying no attention or being on their phones, despite not riding carelessly and having lights etc.

I’ve had 2 Works Components rings in 2 years, a round and an oval. Neither have dropped a chain in that time. The round one was replaced with the oval at Christmas and still had plenty of life left in it.

Yep, pretty much. The bolts you have on the chainset will be fine to be reused.

Looking at photos of the El Mariachi frame, will you need to be a new dropout? The SS one hasn’t got a gear hanger.

My Z1 did exactly this a few months ago, one minute it was working the next it wasn’t, it hadn’t been dropped or anything. Neither a soft or hard reset could coax any life out of it. I sent it off to Sony UK and they replaced the battery free of charge under warranty. It was a reasonably quick turn around.

It’s not “just a expression”, it’s racism.

To centre disc brake callipers apply the brake while the bolts are loose, then tighten the bolts and release the brake. Perfectly centred with no rubbing.

I’ve had a round and now have an oval Works ring. In nearly two years of using then on my BFE I haven’t dropped a chain a single time. They look good, are light and are a reasonable price. The round one was on the bike for 18 months and has only just been swapped out for the oval one, it still has plenty of life left in it, it’ll be going on the 29er.

And the Works one has threads for the chainring bolts in the ring, saves using one of those fiddly chainring bolt spanner thingys, not sure if the AB is the same?

Nothing much in Leeds up near the uni. Just damp with the occasional swirl of it. Nothing’s sticking though, maybe over night?

Done.

Not a big fan of how many climbs Llandegla seems to have for the downs you get. Much prefer my local natural riding around the Long Mynd. Winch up for ~30/40 minutes then get rewarded with loads of choice of long singletrack descents. I am absolutely in love with the place, such good riding, way better than I can easily get to out of my door (while at uni) in Leeds.

Really interesting post, thanks!

If you have a decent lbs try that first perhaps? Sounds a little knackered unfortunately, I did a similar thing with some Fox 36s and snapped the bolt off the bottom of one of the legs by over-tightening it. It needed a new Talas cartridge which wasn’t cheap. You might need the internals replacing on that leg? I’m not 100% what Pikes are like internally.

Edit – Double Post

Wasn’t there a thread a couple of weeks ago where someone had snapped an extended seat tube like that by not inserting enough? It might have been a Commencal.. All a bit vague I know, if you can find it it might show how much seatpost he had in his frame.

I realise this isn’t a hugely helpful addition..

Yep, no need for the nut.

I fitted an identical one last week. Either will work fine, I used single ring length ones because that was what was holding the old ring on.

Cheers all, they sound like they’ll do a decent job then.

@plus one – I get that, but it’s kind of getting to the point where it’s rusting rather badly in places and i’d like to halt that. It’s going to be retired to occasional dry use and fully restored. Although they did take 25 years to make, the bike is actually older than me!

@Turner Guy – That peacock blue looks great! I’m going to try and get as close a match to the current colour as possible.

It’s good to hear they’ll fill dents with braze, there’s a small one on the seatstay that needs doing.

Once the pedals are installed fiddle around with the cleats until your feet are in a comfortable position (as above).

There will be a little adjustment allen key bolt on the pedals with a + and -, this changes how easy it is to clip and unclip from the pedals. Probably best to start with them at the easiest to begin with and then change it when you get the hang of it.

It might be teaching a grandmother to suck eggs but clip in by pushing your foot (the cleat) down and into the pedals and release by turning your heel away from the bike.

You’ll probably topple over a few times while learning (I still do..) but if you persevere clipping and un-clipping becomes something you don’t even have to think about.

They aren’t meant to move about. There should be two screws which hold them in place. The cleat can be slid up and down those tracks until you get them into a comfortable position and then tightened in the right place.

For cheap mtb pedals you really cannot go wrong with Shimano m520. Absolutely bombproof and dirt cheap.

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I think the Slx cranks look better than XT and not much in it weight wise. Plus Slx have steel threaded inserts so a bit more robust.

@scaredypants – always has been hasn’t it?

I really like my Lezyne Pressure Drive, not too expensive and very nicely made. I’ve had it four years and it still works like new. The hose is very useful, allowing you to swap between presta and schrader easily.

If they’re really muddy and wet through already, hose them while still on my feet while I wash the bike. Then stuff with newspaper and wack them on the radiator. If they’re still damp the next day just grin and bear it.

Dewalt are decent quality and robust enough.

The black and white Cinelli zebra tape is clearly the coolest looking bar tape money can buy. It also happens to be comfortable and reasonably grippy. You can get the gel pads to go under it to improve comfort.

It’s easy enough to use a calcultor and then buy your own spokes and nipples from somewhere like Spa Cycles. Lacing is straightforward even if you haven’t done it before. Then just get the shop to true them.

XT 11 speed shifter/mech/chain/cassette and an oval chainring along with a few books and a nice shirt. And a dropper specific Hope seatclamp from my brother. All very nice.

Plush Hill Cycles in Church Stretton. Always very helpful and friendly. Would always go to them first if I need to go to a shop.

Happy Christmas to all!! Have a good one.

The saddles on three of my bikes have tiny tooth marks in the from the mice in the shed..

Ludlow really ain’t that bad (Sandpits apart). Loads of great riding in South Shropshire too.

180 front on a rigid 29er, more than enough. The big bike has 185 and that’s plenty too.

What a fantastic read, and great pictures to boot! Really inspiring me to get my bike out to some actual mountains.

For balance, I’ve had my Z1 for 2 years now and although the aluminium surround is battered and the back is cracked the actual screen is fine. It’s not been kept in a case and has been dropped multiple times.
The battery died a few months ago with only 2 months left in warranty and Sony replaced it for free (along with the speaker cover and one of the port covers.
In the same time my girlfriend’s iPhone 5c screen has smashed 3 times and that’s been in a case.