Always got on really well with the Fizik Gobi on the mtb. I also have the tundra but rather firm ,though strangely the Arione is a similar shape and that’s what works for me on the road bike, I guess mostly due to being in the drops more.
Standard fit Prologo nago on the new mtb has just been replaced with a Fabric Scoop radius.

MTB : 2 aluminium
Road: 1 carbon

Never been particularly fussed about having a carbon mtb , but love the carbon road bike.

I’ve had many steel road bikes,years ago. Would still like a steel mtb, one day.

I’ve a Babyliss beard mains powered trimmer from Argos which deals nicely with my industrial duty wire face fuzz. Comes with a selection of guards including my favoured grade 4 for my weekly trimmage.Cost circa a tenner from Argos.

If I ever sell my beloved Defy its replacement witll be a Synapse. Some good deals on 2015 Synapse 105 carbons on pauls cycles.

Lots of useful reccomendations there.
Thanks all.

Where did you get the tape Reggie? I have tubeless valves in my spares box….
What tyres are you using?

Not that cold. If you are out that long you are going to get wet regardless if not by rain by road spray or perspiration. My favoured attire for wet summer conditions is short sleeve Jersey and gilet, perhaps with arm warmers. Can you pack a spare Jersey in a plastic bag and stuff it in your back pocket so you can change as it dries?

If coming from a CX bike I’d think you’ll prefer the easy rolling speed of a 29er.
My favourite of those bikes is the yeti but I’ve still got an old aluminium XTC and it’s been great.i also have a carbon Giant road bike, and frame quality is superb.
As suggested above carbon does not necessarily a light bike make and you pay a big premium.
My Boardman Pro 29er has a better component spec than most of those listed and cost me £900.

My brother built up a Locost (forget which kit but was around £2k). Was meant to be a budget build but now has a 2 litre Duratec, with ITBs, emerald ecu,adjustable shocks,LSD and is around 170bhp at the wheels. Absolute riot.

Managed to get a Nobby Nic and Racing Ralph Evo (non tlr) sealed up eventually using the lying wheel on side on a bucket method.
Should seal . My mate a big puncture the other night on a rear Maxiis when a flint caused a slit across the tread. Much to our amazement Stans sealed it and we completed the ride.

Just bought one for £19.99 in Hemel Hempstead. They have 2 left if you’re quick.

Jammy barsteward!

Just bought the Aldi bike mate one for £20.

Are these lights any good? How do they compare to something like the solar storm?

When I recently tried to get the BC discount on top of a web only promotion they didn’t give it to me.
This was on a click and collect on a new bike.

7600e,i wasn’t sure about the saddle either. First time out it seemed very firm, but I adjusted the position and last time out it wasn’t so bad. Probably will end up replacing it but will give it a few more miles before deciding.
Esher shore, how much would this cost? Asked local LBS but they either don’t do it or have a31.6 tool.

I’ve seen Elbow in concert a couple of times now. At the last gig that I went to of theirs at the 02 he invited a guy who was celebrating his birthday up to the front and gave him his Fender Strat. He’s a great front man and has such brilliant rapport with the crowd. Top bloke.

7600e ,did you get a new post?
I now have one they swapped out of a Boardman CX which is a Matt finish rather than the gloss of the original. It hasn’t scored again so far but slightly irks me that it’s a different finish to the bars and stem but they might get upgraded in time anyway .

Anyway,its been nice to get out and actually ride it,really impressed with it.How are you liking yours?

Are you looking for another steel bike?
If so Cotic Soul or the new Orange P7 could be worth a look.

My new Boardman Pro 29er is 26.9 lbs with pedals. A bit heavier than expected but some of the OE finishing kit is quite lardy and theMountain king tyres are of the non chilli variety so should be able to lose a pound off that quite easily.
By comparison my 26er hardtail is is 24.5lbs but much less confident inspiring to ride.

Would a cylinder honing kit fit inside a 31.6mm diameter tube?

I did phone up a few lbs earlier. None of them had a reaming tool, so the honing kit isn’t a bad idea ………

Of course none of this should be necessary.

Would a cylinder honing kit fit inside a 31.6mm diameter tube?

Quick update.I took it back to Halfords.They have cleaned up the inside of the seat tube and top of the seat clamp, and swapped the seatpost from a Boardman CX they had on display. Seems OK for now.

The Pro 29er thy had on display was missing its saddle and had some fine swarf in the seat tube so it points to a manufacturing problem.

This is the issue in photos =65634082&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2]Scored seatpost

Loving the bike, rides great, but the photo hopefully illustrates that the problem is a bit more than a few scratches……..

If it was an old frame I’d happily do it myself but will take it back to Halfords and let them do it in case they argue that I in anyway contributed to the problem or made it worse.

Out of curiosity i looked at another Boardman in Halfords and it too had a very scored seatpost. It’d be interesting to see how common this is.

Does anyone know of a competent LBS with a reaming tool in Herts/Beds area?

The issue isn’t so much whether a bit of emery paper will fix it more that Halfords ought to be able to provide a £1000 bike that is perfect.
Looking at the seat tpost mine is possibly worse than 7600es, and a look down the seat tube reveals traces of aluminium debris and scoring approx 5-10cm down the tube. To me it would seem that the frame simply wasn’t cleaned up or reamed at the factory. I am going to enquire about the cost of getting the seat tube reamed and see of Halfords will cover the cost of that and a new seat post.

Would a reamer risk making the tube a bigger diameter or can it be used to just clean up the inside? Would your average lbs be able to do this and what sort of cost? Somehow I can’t imagine Halfords having the necessary tool and if I’d trust them to do it…………

I could try a bit of emery on a stick myself but if that doesn’t work and I still have the problem i might jeopardise getting it fixed under warranty.

If they can’t fix it I’ve a better chance of getting a replacement. If I was dealing with a proper lbs I’m sure they’d use a reaming tool to fix it but doubt Halfords have access to them.

Interesting .My post is similarly scored to yours 7600e. I will try my local store armed with the knowledge of your own experience, but I’ll also watch with interest to see how Boardman customer services respond. I keep finding bits of aluminium debris so not sure it’s the post but more the inside of the tube.
Have you tried Boardman rather than Halfords customer service?

I bought the 29er Pro 2 weeks ago for £900 with my BC discount, which would now be the same price as the CX team. Great spec at £900 ,even more so at £764.

I’ve owned a fair few bikes before and not experienced this issue before.Both if the Giant bikes which proceeded this one week well finished so wouldn’t relate the issue to cost…….I have a photo which I will try to share later, but the seatpost is heavily scored rather than scratched, and there’s traces of metal filings on the seatpost and within the seat tube, which would seem to indicate it’s more than a slight cosmetic issue.

To me it seems as though the inside of the tube wasn’t finished. Thinking back the demo bike also had similar scoring. I wonder if it’s a general problem during manufacture or it’s not being picked up when the bikes are be built in store.

I’ve fired off an email to Boardman customer services just now to explain the issue as I’m not wholly confident that the local Halfords won’t just try to palm me off with another seat post.

Im going to take it back tomorrow and see what they say.It seems as though the seatpost wasn't finished properly during manufacture. Maybe Im expecting too much but it’s still annoying that the seatpost is badly scored.

Hire a full suss for the 3 days a year you’ll need it?

Lots of good riding if you know where. I used to live in Harpenden and know loads of routes around the back of Wheathampstead, No man’s land,the Ayots and Kimpton. Sign up with OTT mtb who are based in Harpenden.They used to do an evening ride.

Years ago I had a day’s tuition with Helen at get mountain biking at woburn. Reccomended.

After scouring eBay and here for second hand frames to build up,I just bought a Boardman Pro 29er. Comes with 120mm Reba’s, 142 x 12 at the rear,SRAM GX 1 x 11 group set,SRAM Guides,etc. RRP is £1000 but it cost me £900 with my BC discount. Halfords have 10% off for the next week too so if you have BC membership that is a lot of bike for £810 if you combine discounts…….
Seems good so far, but will be taking it for its first proper ride this morning.
There’s also the Boardman Team for £850 so that’s £765 currently.Geo is 68.5 head angle and 72.5 seat angle.

I have the Arione in my road bike. When I’ve read the Fizik blurb I’m wouldn’t describe myself as a snake more a bull but I’ve done 100 miles on it before and it seem to work.Until recently I had a Gobi on my mtb but now have the tundra 2. The Gobi is more yielding but weirdly I don’t find the Tundra uncomfortable.

I sold my old fox F 100 forks here recently and had loads of interest.
Might soon be splitting my old 26er hardtail which has straight steerer Rebas it. Quite a few looking for short travel straight steer air forks to upgrade kids bikes too.

It depends if you ride mostly on the bar tops or hoods or down in the drops.
Fizik do 3 saddle types the Arione which is flat, Aliante for those that are less flexible and ride mostly upright and the Antares which is somewhere in between. Fabric offer different shapes wit their scoop.