http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/dx-sunglasses-uv400-testing-results

Don’t get one of the Chinese sets with the made up battery pack because the pack will be worthless.
Just get a XM-L flashlight (not the cheapest one you can find), some good brand name batterys and a basic mount, and you’re set to go.
The flashlight is basically the same as an exposure light, but with the added bonus if something goes wrong/needs fixed (rare), you can easily do it yourself instead of having to send it away, plus you can easily take a spare battery with you and swap it over in seconds.

If you want me to list the sort of items you need to buy, let me know.

I have just easily put on some Crossmarks that came with my bike I got last year that I had forgot I had. I took them off because they were very sticky tyres and on the road it felt like I was riding through treacle.

I got the Conti’s because I occasionally use my bike for chaingangs, (and just recently a 100m sportive) and its at least 10 miles on the road before my rides take me to my off road play land, so thats why I want fast rolling tyres.

Most of the trails I am on are dirt/gravel (Pentlands/Lammermuirs) and occasionally grassy sections.
I’ll put grippy tyres on my other wheels I have replaced with the Crests for winter and crappy weather, Im really just wanting fast and easy fitting for the Crests.

I don’t need new levers, I have had my fair share of tight tyres/rims in the past and have had to change my tyre choice because of this!

I have the cheap ones on my bike, but I still use a proper rear light.
If you want bright here you go, but they’ll cost you.

A lot of forks are just re-branded, just like frames.
If the ones above had ENVE stickers on them, they would charge 10x more even if they were just the same fork.
When you buy anything, branded or not, just make sure you give it a good check over when you get it and every now and again during use.

Ace Bike Co post

supersixevo – Member

Don’t touch the Chinese cheap frame sets there death traps. They look good, sound good all at a cheap price but there is good reason as they don’t go through the testing like the big brands. One of our local riders had a cheap Chinese frame set, he was on a club run and had do hope a pot hole. On landing the head tube snapped off clean and he ended in hospital with a spinal fracture and was told if it had been 2 mm bigger it would of been game over.

There is is nothing wrong with Chinese frames as long as you give them a proper look over and test before/during use.
Ive had my Chinarello for about 3 years and I haven’t died yet, same with quite a few other people I know too.

Trying to make a point by one persons rare (and horrible) experience, is just silly.
There are lots of pictures on the web of brand name frames that crack all the time, the only difference, you have paid a lot more money and apparently they have been tested!

Here is a Chinese Fatty thread on mtbr.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he claims to know nothing about it.
I had someone door me a while back, the police turned up and he denied hitting me, my word against his, so nothing happened.

Yeah, I have a 50 with the basic maps and they are rubbish on road (just like the basic Garmin maps), never mind off road!
I think they’re like Garmin, you have to pay vast amount to get a decent maps to actually see where you’re going.
I finally got around to uploading a route I made from the Bryton web site and that actually makes it a bit more usable, for me anyway.

hounslow, I’d love to have that sd card or a copy of it, if the op doesn’t want it?

You’ll need to copy and paste your post back onto BR as they removed it for some reason!

While I do agree with all the comments about having basic tools for a tour, Anne Mustoe managed to do multiple tours without any tools or puncture repair kit at all!

Just remember, 99% of any ebay battery from China WILL have a fake capacity, usually they overestimate by 50-80%.
You would be better getting a genuine one from a UK shop if you want something reliable, or buy from ebay, but get several battery’s because only then will you get close to the advertised capacity by adding them together.

This is standard practice for cheap Chinese battery’s ~

Always makes me laugh when this topic crops up, they dont give Cavendish a small wheeled bike because he is tiny

Since when is 5’9″ tiny?!

I have a few of the saddles above, but just plain carbon.
I found it really uncomfortable because it has that ridge along the centre that is suppose to relieve the pressure, but because of that, it means there is no flex at all in the centre like my other carbon saddle which doesn’t have a ridge.
So, I decide to just cut out a good chunk of the centre bit, just like the cut out ones you can buy on ebay etc… and the has made the saddle usable.

Just keep flagging it, they’ll soon get tired of re-doing it every time.
I kept flagging segments on very busy shared cycle paths where the ave. speeds were between 25mph and 37mph! No wonder some pedestrians hate cyclists.
After about the 3rd or 4th time, they stopped putting them back.

I really don’t know what is wrong with some people, that they need to make segments in very busy/unsuitable places.

http://www.youtube-mp3.org/%5B/url%5D

There must be a gang working Edinburgh at the moment, I know 2 people who lost several/all of their very expensive bikes.
One of them had bikes in a garage which was described as almost like Fort knox!
It seems if they want your bikes, they’re getting them no matter what security you have.

Hooking bikes up with some sort of alarm system as well as chains (which don’t seem to work) might be the way to go.

The Pendleton interview was good, but WTF was that annoying woman in yellow/green doing!
Every time they zoomed out a bit, there she was with a stupid big grin on her face trying to squeeze into the shot!
If she was not grinning behind her, she was squeezing herself between VP and the gutter trying to poke her stupid grinning face into the shot!!

I usually always have a light on my bike, so if I filter, then the light gets turned onto strobe (daytime only) until I am through, plus I always expect something to happen anyway, that way I hopefully should be ready when it does.

Here you go, it might take a month or two to arrive though!

Mine packs down to about the size of a tennis ball.

I just got one of these and its very lightweight and packs really small, you can get them with a hood too, but you’ll need to search for it.

Its just a generic carbon frame with a paint job, it’ll be as good as any other frame from China.

No.
Just look at Horner.

Just checked, Google still works 😉
http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html#chain
http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/chain-length-sizing

Okay, if not those tyres, does any run fat road tyres on their 29er?

If you don’t mind wearing out of date Pro kit, then something like this is a good price for quality shorts. Just got mine and they come with a pocket for your team radio too!

Here is a bigger selection.

Strava can remove a single segment from a ride if you ask them, the whole ride doesn’t have to be removed.

dirtyrider, silly short segments or bad gps data from the segment maker can make all the segment data wrong.
Try making the seg again, if you have a reliable gps device and see what happens.

Depends on what the stage is like and if there are only a few seconds between places.

There have been gangs in Edinburgh for years.
In the last month I know several people who have had their expensive bikes stolen.

Cycling is all about pleasing the sponsors, if you are in a break, then you are on the TV, and sometimes the breaks don’t get caught.
Yesterdays Tour of California stage was won by the Mountains classification leader from a break that the bunch miscalculated and never caught.

I bought my Yuba Mundo from Rob about 5 years ago and he was very friendly and helpful.[/url]

They wouldn’t have sold any at that price. Im not sure why, but some sellers up the price sometimes, maybe when they are waiting for more stock coming in and want to keep the ad active.

Well, I got in the zone!
I would like to say this is me finished with this, but probably not…

Just remember, you get what you pay for.
Also, never buy GTL or any other battery that exaggerates the capacity by stupid amounts, best to just avoid ebay for those battery types.
Find out what the best name brand battery capacity is at the time and go from there.
Expensive, but a good brand and trustworthy seller.