Just up the road from Cranham, had a quick hour blast this morning on my new Scandal in Standish and Maitlands/Stockend woods. Lush day for a ride, but I only managed to take one pic on my way up to the woods as I was having too much fun to stop to take any photos :-)

My off the shelf GX build arrived today (ordered on the 9th and had a build slot allocated for yesterday). So far so good! I can’t fault the comms from Planet-X and everything arrived well packaged and undamaged.

It was hard to tell the exact colour from the images online and I was debating over green or orange pedals (see above for the level of gopping I’m talking about!) Anyway, I decided to go for the orange and its not a great match, but I still quite like it.

I did some rough calcs on dropper length and I wasn’t sure I’d get a 200mm post in there so I played it safe and bought a 170mm Ascend post. The price swayed me as I picked one up for £125.99 and the 200mm was £169 when I ordered it. As it turns out I’ve got 230mm showing but I didn’t want to wait to find out!

Just done a quick shakedown ride and it feels really weird as I’ve been on my gravel bike for the last few months, but it feels playful and I cant wait to take it out properly tomorrow:-)

Thanks @Plusone I think I’d rather have the pedals I want in a gopping colour than some other pedals I don’t fancy in black. Now to decide between orange or lime green…

Anyone have any advice on dropper Post length?

I ordered one of the GX builds last week (glad I didn’t procrastinate too much as they’ve gone up by £200 since!) and I’m looking at getting a few components to go with it.

I need a new set of pedals as I sold my old bike and forgot to remove the pedals before listing it for sale. I had Shimano Saints which were OK, but I fancy something different this time.

A lot of people seem to rate Deity Deftraps, but black ones seem to be as rare as rocking horse poop, so I was toying with getting some in another colour.

Can anyone tell me if the frame colour in real life is similar to the pictures online? I was wondering whether to go crazy and get some lime green pedals and grips if the frame is bright orange, as there are loads of places who have the lime green pedals in stock: . I have a horrible feeling it’ll look shite though! Any alternatives recommended for someone with largish feet (size 11.5).

Also, I’d like to order a dropper ready to fit when it arrives, but I’m not sure how much drop I’ll be able to get away with. For reference, I’m 191cm (6’3″ ish) with a 92/93cm inseam (36″). Is anyone a similar size to me and if so what size dropper did you go for?

TLDR: There is definitely still a market for 26″ kit :-)

Thanks again for all your replies. Having read things like ‘bikes depreciate 50% in the 1st year and 10% a year after that’ I didn’t have much hope in selling my 9 year old Canyon.

Anyhoo, not sure if its the Covid effect (affect?), but within 24 hours of putting it on Facebook I’ve sold it for more than half of what I bought it for and I had people lining up to buy it so I probably could have got more for it.

I decided to keep the Genesis. My daughter seems to have inherited my lankyness, so she can ride that and I’ve sold her old, 2nd hand, 26″ bike for more than I bought it for in less than 2 hours as well!

OP here. Thanks for all your replies, I’ve only just realised I had any replies at all tbh. Is there a way to get alerts if someone responds to your thread without trawling through?

Anyhoo, in between srarting this thread and going to bed, I had a few more beers and ended up pulling the trigger on an XL Scandal so I now have a few weeks to get rid of the 26ers :-)

If I’m honest I haven’t really ridden my full sus since I bought a gravel bike and it always felt like is was perched on it rather than ‘in’ it if that makes sense. I’m hoping a 29er will look and feel more like a normal size bike when I’m on it rather than a bike with kids wheels on!

On the other hand, I’m probably trying to convince myself as I fancy having a go on a new bike with modern geo.

Not so stealth ad: Anyone want to buy a lightly used Canyon Nerve in XL flavour?

When I started my ltd co a couple of years ago I was advised I could buy equipment in the first year but I can’t find the details from my accountant off hand. I’m in IT so i bought a laptop, office equipment etc.

Don’t forget though, if you spend 10k you won’t save 10k in tax. You will pay corporation tax on 10k less than you make in profit. E.g. if you make 100k profit, instead of paying 19% on 100k, you’d pay 19% on 90k.

Edit: I took too long logging in! What @Rone said.

Cheers Timidwheeler, it is quite satisfying knowing I made it myself. My brother is a carpenter and normally ‘helps’ me do stuff (I mainly watch him!), so the acid test will be when he passes comment, but its straight and it opens and closes so I’m happy 😊.

I tried to do a proper job with what I think are called lap joints so hopefully it won’t fall apart after winter…

Being a full time desk jockey, I don’t have the manly skills of a lot of you guys so I very rarely have a go at making stuff, but following the relative success of my vertical planter above, I thought I’d have a crack at making a new back gate.

The old one was falling apart and the bastard cat had used the top as a scratching pad. It was also really narrow due to the small opening and a drainpipe in the way which made getting bikes in and out a pain and any standard gate in the shops was too big.

I decided to make the gate posts smaller and make it open out the other way. I also found a pretty cool magnetic latch which is easier than the old latch which used to jam against the wall intermittently.

Anyhoo, this is the result of quite a few hours of effort:

This is what it replaced:

Thanks @squirrelking, I like the term rustic it doesn’t sound quite so bodgetastic! I also made a trough planter for some bigger herbs/small veg. Should keep my daughter busy for the summer holidays :-)

I had a rickety old picnic table that was on its last legs, so I cut up some usable bits and made a herb garden for the patio. Its a bit rough and ready but I’m quite pleased how it turned out considering it was effectively scrap wood and I had to work with what I had rather than buying the wood I needed.

Edit, image not showing – Here’s a link https://ibb.co/M7gYhFX

I think food prices have been steadily increasing over the last 6-12 months. Family of 4 here including 2 teenagers who eat like horses and our Aldi bill used to be £80 a week absolute maximum. I don’t think we’re buying much more at the moment, but our weekly shop is consistently £140+ for the last few months and was £160 this week! We cook from scratch every day and always had a packed lunch at work, so no real difference during lockdown either.

Hi Jameso, many thanks for the kind offer. I’ve kind of got to the point now where I’m thinking it’s not worth putting mudguards on for a few weeks as its nearly spring and it will be nice and dry soon :-)

I’ve had a reply back from Evans today so I’ll see how it goes and hopefully I’ll have the mount ready for autumn/winter. I was curious as to what I should have received more than anything.

Appreciate your reply though, your input on here was one of the main reasons I ended up with the Arkose. Great bike btw, I’ve hardly touched my other bikes since buying it!

On the subject of spares, can anyone tell me what they received with theirs?

When I picked mine up from Evans I got nothing apart from the receipt. I queried it at the time but I was told that’s normal nowadays.

I’ve since realised I should have had the mudguard adaptor but it’s taken a month of chasing Evans so far via chat and email and I’m no further forward.

Great bike, pants customer service from Evans so far :-(

I would say the Stroud Valleys have everything you are looking for, however getting to ‘nam in the morning can be a bugger. The few times I’ve tried to get there before 9am has been nose to tail traffic from J11 towards town. The route via Painswick can be as bad.

When I was changing jobs last year I favoured jobs in Bristol to Chelt as its quicker to get to! Maybe look M5 side of town for this reason (Stonehouse/The Stanley’s etc)

Oh, and despite what people say about Stroud, I think it’s a nice place to be espeically when the Farmers market is on. There’s also a few nice bars and places to eat of an evening as well.

When I bought my terrex trails, Adidas had a cool sizing tool on their website where you put in the make of shoe that you know fits you and they spit out the size you need. E.g. I’m either 11 or 12. I put in size 11 Clarks and it told me I need 11.5 which fit bang on.

They are really comfy with quite a wide toe box. I wear them for cycling and walking all the time and they still look pretty good.

Cheers all, I’ve tried the tube method on the back wheel this evening so will see how that pans out tomorrow…

Thanks everyone. I think I’ll have a go with the back wheel first that isn’t covered in goo and work out what is wrong before I get sticky white mess everywhere again. It’ll look like a gnome orgy by the time I’m finished!

Thanks all, I’ll have another go tomorrow and report back, assuming I don’t lose my temper and throw the thing over the back gate

Laying it on its side was a last resort as the fluid kept pissing out the bottom with it upright.

I did try pumping it up without the sealant but air was coming out so I stupidly thought fluid might help.

Does the bead pop on to the rim early on or do you need to get a decent pressure in the tyre before it pops?

Air seemed to be coming out around the valve area. It was better if I held the pump against the valve and the tyre against the rim with one hand, but then I couldn’t pump fast enough with the other! I even tried tying a shoelace around the tyre and rim near the valve…

Hmm interesting, hadn’t thought of putting a tube in after doing the tape. I don’t have a valve core remover so I’ll have to get one and give it a go.

Thanks for the tip!

I’ll have to scrub the residue off everything and start over. That’s if there’s any left in there as most of the bloody fluid leaked everywhere

Excuse the weeds and the crappy gnome. Here is the result of 2 hours of swearing, sweating and much scratching of head…

I was in a similar situation this time last year. 20 years at the same place and was constantly stressed and anxious to the point where it consumed my life. I felt bad for leaving the other guys, but in hindsight it was the right thing to do and I wish I had done it years ago.

Unlike you, I quit with no job to go to and I had 0 years worth of salary in the bank & another 0 in savings/investments!

I’m now contracting, earning more money for a lot less hours and I can switch off as soon as I leave the office. Bought myself a new bike to celebrate once I had a bit saved up and life is good!

As you have nice buffer, take the summer off and enjoy it with your wife.

Resignation day is scary when you’ve been there so long, but I bet it will feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders as soon as you get home, open a cold beer and relax!

I found my 3 month notice period flew by and once you’ve mentally checked out in your head the stress starts to disappear…

Good luck 😎

This has to be the best targeted advertising I’ve ever seen! 🤣

Just realised I said the large fits me perfectly. That should have said xl! Too many shandies tonight 😀

Did someone say you want more pictures? Oh, go on then!

Plenty of mud clearance

Cable routing is good, minimal chance of cable rub here!

Oh, and the brakes are immense! I had a 2nd hand road bike a few years back and I never really got on with it. The brakes used to scare me as they were crap compared to my xt’s on the mtb. That was one of the reasons for dropping the extra cash for the D3 over the D1.

It took a few hard stops to bed in and now I can do an endo far too easily 😎.

I love the paint job, but the D1 looks even better in the flesh – almost a two tone effect.

If you want any more pics or info let me know…

Hopefully this will work…excuse the bare wall and the state of the path!

Shiny paint looks better in real life, it’s got a metallic look to it:

Bluebells

Nice views once out of the woods

I ordered one a couple of weeks ago and it had to be ordered in from another store. I must say the service from Evans was very underwhelming but the bike is awesumz!

I’ve done a few commutes to work which is half bike, half train and it’s so comfy on the crap roads round here it feels like it has suspension. I would go as far as saying it’s more comfy than my old hardtail.

I also took it for a mixed ride last weekend for a couple of hours and took in some single track, farm tracks and a bit of gravel. It lapped it all up and I had a great time!

I got a bit over confident on the single track as it felt so planted and I forgot I was on a drop barred rigid bike. I still have a big bruise on my thigh where I glanced off a tree and the bar went into my leg ☺.

I’m 6’3″ and the large fits perfectly. It feels a bit stretched out, but I think that might just be because I haven’t ridden much in the last 12 months and I’m used to old mtbs.

I’ll try and post some pics in a minute…

Went into Evans a few weeks back as I was passing, on the off chance they might have some 2019 bikes in store. No luck, but decided to order a D3 anyway as I couldn’t wait! Popped in again on Saturday and they had the D1 and D3 on the shop floor. I really want the spec of the D3 but oh man the colour of the D1 is gurt lush! I think that is the best paint job I’ve seen on a bike for years – it goes from a greeny-blue to purple depending on the light. Anyhoo, the purple D3 is nice too. Hurry up Evans and deliver my bike cos I can’t wait much longer :-)

Twist and shout

Gnusmas, for me songs that remind me of good times make me feel better. Certain songs instantly transport me back to being a teenager like this one, watching weekend at Bernies with my big bro…

If you can get 4G where you are, I would be looking at something like this:

Huawei HomeFi 

About £24 a month and I think you can do it with a rolling monthly contract.

Edit: too slow at typing!

I’ve just jumped from 20 odd years as a permie into a contractor role and have used Aardvark as they seem to be well regarded and are also relatively cheap!

So far so good, but a few annoyances such as me answering 3 questions in an email and they reply asking me to confirm the answer to 1 of the 3 questions they had just received the answers for in a bulleted list! This happened a few times where they had missed part of my response.

They seem to use a generic email address which gets picked up by the whole (small) team so you get a faster response but not necessarily speaking to the same person each time. Seems to work OK but still early days for me.

They provide Freeagent as part of the package and I have to say it is really simple and easy to use so definitely look at what technology each company are offering. My mate uses a local company but they just use Excel spreadsheets for everything which seems to eat up a lot of his time…

One thing to bear in mind is although you are over 50% through the PCP in time, you haven’t necessarily paid off 50% of the finance if you include the balloon payment at the end (not sure if you have a 3 year or 4 year deal?). I’m in a similar position where I would happily get rid of my car at the moment but I would have to pay a hefty penalty as I haven’t paid off 50% of the total finance so I’m stuck with it for the time being.

Thanks for all the replies. Just in case anyone is interested, the doc said no surgery required, gave him a funky red fibreglass cast and put a split in it ready to fly. Got a note to say he was fit to fly and nobody asked to see it! Currently on board the plane using the free WiFi. Sorry no pics of my shoes!

Thanks Mike, I was in the process of booking the insurance when I got the call that he had crashed so I’ve had to take out special insurance that covers him just in case.

I guess I’m more worried that they will say he needs surgery next week and it can’t wait until we get back. Saying that though, it’s taken more than a week just to see the consultant so fingers crossed it will be when we get back!

:-) Weeksy, If you can pass as a grumpy teenager you are welcome to come!

I would agree with a De’Longhi machine as they get good reviews and seem to be good VFM. I went with the ESAM2800 model as it was on offer at the time and it does everything we need it to (i.e. put the beans in, press the button and out comes consistently good coffee without any faff). I thought I would use the milk frother a lot but generally we just have black coffee or I use a bit of milk from the fridge and drink it before it goes cold! This is the one we have: https://www.amazon.co.uk/DeLonghi-ESAM2800-SB-Bean-Coffee-Machine/dp/B00LB8FHJ4/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1525794835&sr=1-6&keywords=delonghi+bean+to+cup