A couple of good points mentioned previously regarding shot blasting. If you do get it powder coated try to find out how they’ll remove the old paint. Paint stripping should only be done using a chemical strip, if chemical stripping isn’t an option steer clear unless you or they want to spend hours rubbing the frame down to remove the old paint. Blasting isn’t and shouldn’t be used as a method of removing the old paint, blasting should only be used to prep the metal for coating. If the coater does blast after paint stripping, make sure they ‘sweep blast’ or at the very least used aluminium oxide blast media.

As with any painting, preparation is key to a good finish.

Same here – I’m hoping the independent chainring makers will have got this nailed by early next year, as I’ll be wanting an oval ring when I shift back over to Shimano.

@martinhutch Absolute Black make an oval chainring for Shimano 12 speed. I run one with XT8100 with no issues at all.

As above, the tape came off mine in a couple of rides.

Hi Op,

When I first read your message I thought you’d infiltrated my mind and was actually writing on my behalf! I too became acutely aware of when I’m being a tosser. In time I learned a few tricks to help keep me on the straight and narrow.

Mrs Silk lets me know when to kerb it (after I asked her to tell me), I learned to accept her telling me because I know I can be difficult and if she’s telling me then I probably am.

Leave Facebook and moderate your media exposure. Twitter is good because you have much more control over your feed therefore you’re more likely to agree with opinions expressed.

Before launching into full on keyboard warrior attack, try to understand where the other person is coming from. Their opinions may differ vastly from yours but they may have valid reasons for having a different viewpoint to you.

The following quote always resonates with me:
“You are not entitled to your opinion.
You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.” ― Harlan Ellison.

You may be right and someone else may be wrong, but you don’t always need to let people know. Nobody likes a smart arse.

Thanks for your reply @ta11pau1. I’d followed exactly the same YouTube ‘how to’. This one from Worldwide Cyclery was pretty useful too.

https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/blogs/worldwide-cyclery-blog/how-to-servicing-fox-suspension-forks

I made sure the air spring was fully extended before re-inserting. I didn’t pack the spring with ‘loads’ of slickoleum, a few of the ‘how to’s’ I’ve followed recommend just making sure the o-rings are greased up. Most ‘how to’s’ suggest too much grease can be detrimental .

I’m pretty sure I’ve equalised the negative chamber; pumped the forks up to 25psi, cycled them through a few times, repeated for each additional 25psi.

Maybe I’m just getting mixed up with the term ‘stiction’. I thought this referred to the fork sticking at the start of the travel, the various comments posted would suggest this is actually quite normal?

You can get them to match your headset, hubs and now tubeless valves.
For aesthetics and longevity they have you covered.

You’ve really lit the touch paper starting this thread!

I’m going to say all require a certain skill level but I’d look at it from the view point of which one are you most likely to fall off?

Having lusted after Colnago’s since I was a kid, after reading this thread whilst enjoying a couple of drinks I started searching eBay to see what c60’s cost now.

Isn’t booze brilliant!
You’ve got me looking now…

The top 20 fastest road bikes in the world, according to Strava

Aero bikes make the top 3…

If you can how long should it be left to cure to ensure it’s hard?

For an air-drying coating it would normally take around 5-7 days to fully harden. If you’re just polishing use a G4 compound.

Ok, can someone explain how steel that has been lacquered will still rust? Surely the coating prevents oxygen reaching the metal.

All coatings are porous to some degree and will allow moisture and oxygen to migrate through. Generally speaking, the thicker the coating the better the corrosion protection.
Different primers can aid corrosion protection by either slowing down the spread of corrosion, acting as a physical barrier, or becoming s sacrificial layer (zinc rich).

Corrosion is something that can never be stopped, but by using the using the right combination of coatings and maintenance we can slow it down and control it.

To adjust my bike requires a tool, to adjust my body position requires nothing…

Out of curiosity @Zap what Aero bike are you thinking of?
Other facts when contemplating an Aero Bike, or indeed any bike:
N+1.
A pretty bike is a fast bike.
A pretty bike is a regularly used bike.

Can I ask how this changes if the frame is aluminium – obviously you don’t need to worry about rust, but is an off the shelf spray lacquer worth it to retain the polished alu look?

Aluminium still corrodes, instead of red rust filiform corrosion, you’ll start to see white oxidation filiform. If you look at diamond turned alloy wheels on a car that’s a few years old you’ll see the effect.

It’s the powder-coat in a can that’s unque.

This is something I need to know more about! I can see how it could apply but they’re is no way it can cure. Sounds to me like our marketing BS.

Some really good answers have been posted and I agree with pretty much all. In a wind tunnel an aero bike will show gains compared to your gravel bike. If I compare me riding my winter bike compared to me being on my Bianchi XR4, speed on my Bianchi is way faster! The bike is lighter, my position is much more aero and let’s be honest I feel encouraged to ride faster. Is this the bike? Kinda, but it’s mostly the way the bike makes me feel when I ride it.
If you want to ride fast, get an aero bike.

One thing to add, aero bikes can be uncomfortable in terms of rider position and harsh ride, unless you’re comfy you probably won’t be going faster for long.
If you’ve not got a bike in mind, I can whole heartedly recommend an Oltre XR4. Ride quality is exceptional.

When it come to shorts I’m Assos through and through. I find them all comfortable and last extremely well.
Although if I was in the market for new shorts and was on a budget I’d have at look at the Endura Pro SL Lite currently on sale at Tredz. For £50 you probably couldn’t go wrong.
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Endura-Pro-SL-Lite-Bibshort_113320.htm?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Image+-+Endura+Pro+SL+Lite+Bibshort+-+Save+up+to+58%25&utm_content=13-04-2020&utm_campaign=HalWeek2+Monday&_bta_tid=25788599785476412329564296842881929569022143741887672769666985061324839611686489851387042521223949772565&_bta_c=kypqya2z1x331jbq96nr14fdqbf58

I’ve not ridden a Concept but did once walk into a bike shop, credit card in hand with the sole intention of ordering a Concept frame set. Reviews were as expected; fast, agile. No mentions of them being a harsh ride but nothing mentioning comfort either (I took this to mean it would have a harsh ride).
Personally, I loved the look of the frame and was after an aero frame.
The frame they had in the shop stopped me dead in my tracks and caused my to put the card away. For a £3,000 frame I thought the build quality looked pretty poor. Quite a large visible void in the downtube, a little rough around the headtube edges internally where the carbon hadn’t been finished particularly well. Lastly, it just didn’t look that special, not like a C60 / C64.

Never ridden a Concept but on my previous experience I doubt I ever will.

Hi cjr61,

Whenever I’m questioned about what coating to use I have one default reply “what do you want the coating to do and how long do you want it to last?”

If you only degrease and coat you frame it will begin to rust, personally I think it’ll look great! Lots of little red rust threads (filiform corrosion) will start to appear, it’ll look aged and have an attractive patina.
Sweep blasting and several lacquer coats will help protect it for longer, you won’t get that same polished steel effect and eventually rust will begin to show.
If you can’t stand the thought of any visible corrosion a solid colour is your only option. Filiform will still be there, you simply won’t see it.

One final comment on painting, preparation is the key to a good lasting finish. Poor prep, world’s best paint = poor finish.
Great prep, mediocre paint = good finish.

There are more aeroplanes in the sea, then there are boats in the sky.

Is anyone on the forum using http://www.Laka.co.uk ? In principle it sounds great, monthly premium is capped but could be zero if there are no claims in any particular month.

The IG account is now private although You can still report for being either spam or inappropriate.

It promises the shop will be open before the weekend. Well it’s now the weekend and I don’t see no shop…
Old habits die hard.

@singletrackmind
BOC depot currently operating 24/7 producing cylinders for medical O2, order placed this week for 5 figure more medical O2 J cylinders over the next few weeks.

I bought a SwitchbackFS 160mm. That was after spending a couple of days test riding the SwitchbackFS 140mm, 160mm and Switch9erFS 140mm.

The Switch9erFS is without doubt the faster of the 3. The ride with Fox 36’s felt buttery smooth, at no point did it feel cumbersome or lethargic in tighter twistier stuff. If I wanted an out and out Enduro race bike this would be my choice.

Both SwitchbackFS’ felt more ‘communicative’ in comparison, I felt I could feel more of what was beneath my wheels, they couldn’t match the outright speed of the 9er but if poppy and playful is your thing the smaller wheeled bikes definitely felt more fun.
I took the 160mm over the 140mm as the ride felt that bit more plush and a little less fidgety over bigger rocks etc.

The thing which finally swung it, should I want to I can buy different linkage and convert mine to 140mm, or if I really wanted to I convert it to a 29er with new linkage and rear end.

One final point, after a solid year of riding I needed to replace one of the shock bushings, whilst at it I checked all linkage bearings for play etc. Each bearing was still sound with no play.

I used to use Shimano DA on winter and summer bikes, past few years I only use Swiss Speed Blue.
Braking performance is similar, very good. The DA pads seem to wear faster, most annoyingly I’d have to remove the pads frequently and dig out aluminium splinters using a Stanley blade. Never had to do that with the Swiss Speed pads.

Second what Guandax suggests.
I had a pair of trashed FreeRiders, soles worn through after a couple of years all weather riding. LBS who’s a Five Ten dealer suggested I try get a warranty replacement because the top lace eyelets had torn open.
One week later I had £120 credit to spent on a new pair of Five Tens.

Even if they say no at least you tried.

Hi Op,
If you want an exact match to Yeti Turquoise you’re best bet is to get a sample for the paint supplier to colour match?
Paint manufacturers have great difficulty producing exact matches to Pantone and will often interpret the colour with their closest match. Rarely are the matches exact.
As for RAL 5018, you might find the colour too dull / muddy to be an exact match, Yeti Turquoise is much cleaner.

These guys supply touch-up samples and maybe willing to help.

YETI Touch up paint.(all colours) SB – ARC – 575 etc

There’s another reason to have Apple replace the battery. If you ever recycle your old phones you get more money for an Apple serviced phone then if you had the battery replaced through unauthorised means.

Ditto Silverfish.
Had mine serviced by one of my regular lbs’ came back no better.
My other lbs sends them to Silverfish.

KOL started out as a low key (very good) Garage Rock band then came to a cross roads in their career: stay true to your roots or become the biggest band in the world, unfortunately for the music they took the second option. The Sex on Fire tour was possibly the worst show I’ve ever been to. No energy from the band, a male heavy, padded gilet wearing crowd that chatted constantly until KOL played Sex on Fire. At which point the arena erupted to sweaty gilet wearing men dancing their heads off, and after it had finished saying it was the best gig they’d ever been to! Not listened to any KOL since.

Compulsory £3 refundable charge on all cans, bottles, plastic (or plastic lined) cups, etc.

This would work well! A can of Coke instantly becomes £3.80+, hardly anyone would buy cans, bottles, plastic (or plastic lined) cups, etc. again! Problem solved…

No ones yet to overdose in a treatment room, surely that’s a good thing?
There’s plenty of evidence which backs up treatment rooms and de-criminalisation. See Portuguese drug policy for further details.

Those with the MT500 will say it’s great (me included).
Those with the Gore will also say it’s great. As per previous post, buy the one YOU like.

I don’t see why not. I’m running Eagle X01 derailleur and cassette with XT cranks, Absolute Black (Shimano) 12 speed chainring and XTR 12 speed chain. No issues whatsoever, all is cross compatible so don’t see why you couldn’t run it the other way round.

As per above, although you might also want to find out how your company reimburses business miles. My company recently changed the way we pay for our private miles.

Previously, we’d pay for fuel on our personal credit cards, end of each month we’d claim back business miles at HMRC advisory rates. This was good for those running hyper efficient diesels as they could earn a little extra, bad for those with heavy right foot as they lost out and were effectively paying out of their own pocket to fund business miles.

Today, we all have fuel cards, end of the month we have deducted from our expenses number of personal miles X HMRC advisory rate. My rate is 11 pence per mile, if I’ve driven 200 personal miles I have £22 deducted from my expense claim. This way seems much fairer although those who used to earn a little extra now moan about them losing out.

Northwind

Subscriber

In fact, it did not.

Thanks Northwind, I stand corrected. I appreciate you correcting me with details as opposed to a pointless “hmm…” as referenced by Kelvin.

You make an interest point regarding the interpretation of the code, it’s my understanding even the new code has points that could be interpreted in different ways:
“all structural components should be A1 certified” many would state cladding is not structural and should therefore be A2.
“Materials should not be used which may impede safe evacuation during a fire”. Some might interpret this as all materials should meet A1 requirements.

Before Grenfell, my company saw a competitors product claiming to be A1 rated, when reviewing the test report from an independent lab it became clear their product had been supplied to the lab just outside of an industry specification enabling it to pass, in the real world there’s no way it could have passed. Fortunately this competitor didn’t monopolies on their A1 certificate, however post Grenfell we’ve started seeing A1 certified products from other competitors which when tested in spec would not meet A1.

The people who signed off/approving the non fireproof cladding are totally the reason so many people tragically lost their lives, I don’t think racism was behind that decision I think it was more to do with the low income area Grenfell is in. I really get the feeling if it was in a ricer part “town” the tower would have had the correct cladding.

Rob, the cladding did meet building regulations that were in place at the time. The cladding material wasn’t the issue, it was the void between the cladding and building structure which created a Venturi effect helping accelerate the flames upwards. Not one contractor will go to prison because at the time nothing they did was wrong. Money was saved from the original spec and replaced with cheaper materials which still met building regs. There’s probably not a building in existence where costs have been saved from the original architects plans.

When catastrophic events such as Grenfell occur regulations then change, things are then made safer. Remember the Kings Cross fire? Caused by a fire under a wooden escalator. Today, nothing can be installed in an underground station unless it’s fire safe certified. This covers everything from a seat to the coating that protects it.
Regulations covering public buildings such as Grenfell changed late last year.

There are a number of ‘exclusive’ apartment homes all over the country decorated with wooden cladding. Given what we now know would you rather have aluminium cladding covering your abode or live in one of these tinder boxes?
Oh, one more thing. Let’s not get started on asbestos!

I suggest trying Glengoyne. Lowland distillery, exceptionally smooth flavour, not in the least bit peaty / iodine.
There’s a notable taste difference between the 12yo and 18yo, the difference between 18yo and 21yo is less noticeable aside from the cost.

Providing the 105 and Ultegra are the newer 4 bolt design they’ll fit.
Absolute Black make competitivly priced chainrings that fit DA9000 onwards, they’re oval but could be worth a look.

Hi @tommyo
Any reason why you wouldn’t want to use Invisiframe?