Good to see they are back on track and I wish them all thes success. I had a bike on order from them summer of 2019 and gave up as they were a bit overwhelmed/understocked.

Length of time is dependant on the size and structure of your company. In the company I work for the Cyclescheme is administered by HR, who review and approve the application. They then receive the invoice and this is then forwarded to Payroll who pay the invoice. After this the certificate is released to you so that you can buy your shiny bike. In theory it could be complete in a week or two…..

However in reality, the company didn’t know that our Cyclescheme website stated that bikes can be purchased up to £10.5k (it was previously set at £1k),so this was escalated to Corp who then had a number of weeks of debate about affordability etc and then approved purchase. HR admistrator forgot to send invoice to payroll, payroll then waited for next payroll run etc So it was more like one and half months for me.

I’ve been considering downsizing for a while now, but i have issues with hoarding and deciding what to move on. I’m in a fortunate position that space & other reasons are not the motivaters here, but it just seems wasteful to have good bikes gathering dust. Since buying an ebike, my full suspension and hardtail have been virtually ignored- I’m getting to the opinion that for me mountain bikes are all about going downhill and the ebike is the tool for the job. Gravel bike for long mellow rides in the countryside. Road bike for fitness and when i can’t be arsed driving anywhere.

However, as both my FS and HT are pretty good spec i’m having trouble letting them go.

Remove bars loosen stem and turn the stem to undo the top cap.

Good suggestion- going to try that at the weekend.

Yeah its the threaded cap. Cant unscrew the cap as there’s not enough room for the cassette tool. Tried to free it off with a little chisel and gentle nudge, but the cap is too soft. Tried using a rod to tap it out from the bottom with no avail .

It’s difficult to say as i think i put it back together correctly the last time i used it. I cant recall having to force it in.

Yeah the tool. Initially it wouldn’t move at all, however with the help of some grips I managed to pull it out to just about half way up the mini tool and then it wouldn’t move at all. It feels as though something is catching inside the steerer tube that is preventing the removal. Tried to run some oil down it, but didnt seem to do anything.

+2 what lardman and CP said.

Makes me proud to be Glaswegian although I hate the term weegies as I always thought that it was a slightly derogatory term from the east coast.

One thing that amazes me about this whole episode is who thought this would be a good idea to sanction this? Doing this in the FM’s constituency on Eid during a lockdown! Was it an attempt to engineer a negative situation to discredit the SNP/FM. It apears to have backfired spectaculary!

NB I believe the 2 guys involved were Sikhs, but immigration/racism is a sensitive subject for the area.

A few come to mind for me. Evil Sovereign- heavy, dead feeling & probably more of a jump bike that I was using for trail riding. Transition Trans AM- weird bolt through axle and mech hanger that was a proper PITA if you got a puncture. Nicolai Helius(?) just didnt feel right for me and only rode a few times. And finally a 5-Spot- I was quite underwhelmed by it even though everyone else raved about them.

It’s also made in the far east and sold over here

*round of applause 🙂

If it’s still under warranty, I would take it back and let the mfg have a look. Or a dye pen test kit would give you a better idea.

You’ll ride a two legged horse but that bothers you? 🙂

drop handle bars on a ’90s mountain bike.

My mate had the older gen escarpe and loved the way it rode. I thought it was a fugly, but the sir looks well tidy!

I’ve been running the resolutes for a couple of months and reall like them. However I’vev had a couple of big slashes recently. I was going to buy the new version but can’t find any in stock in the usual UK shops.

Liked the intro!

i’ve got a ‘classic’ 2005 Multispace Desire with the modutop. Love it but I’m thinking of changing it. I now spend about £500 per year on maintenance/repairs which is not too bad considering age. Most of the repairs are wear and tear related.

Got the covid just before Xmas and has caused me knee problems. Hope to be out in 2 weeks.

but whenever i’ve done dye penetrant, it’s been under UV to then clearly see what residue is left, not seeing that from the pics

if there’s no penetrant after developing, means there wasnt a crack it was hiding in?

‘crack inspector’ … haha did you have a business card? Thanks for the replies. The reason I was concerned was that I hadn’t noticed it in a decade and all of a sudden when I start using it on the trainer. I’m always a wee bit nervous on the trainer as i’m sure the twisting forces cant be that great for bikes.

Applied some dye penetrant

cleaned off excess

Looks like its hunky dory. Looks like theres a wee bit of undercut.

That looks to me like an overlap where the weld ended over the top of the start.

That’s what I was thinking, however I wasnt sure if it was a crack starting to propagate from that area. I had never noticed it before until it was hooked up to the turbo trainer and I was worried my lardy arse had broken it.

I have one of these that I use for 90% road and 10% gravel. (I have a Marin 4 corners that I use 80% gravel 20% road)
https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/orro-terra-c-105-hydro-2020-bike?gclid=Cj0KCQiAhs79BRD0ARIsAC6XpaV0vjes48OKoJBveV7VvA2uj_xzAQFip4-aZErlYrvBmRzlmZXjKZQaAgXwEALw_wcB#orro-terra-c-105-hydro-2020-bike-small

Doesn’t have the 1x groupset, but i prefer 2x for road.
https://www.orrobikes.com/shop/2021-terra-c-adventure-1x-grx600

Marin 4-Corners here- great bike! Great for bike packing.

For the 1st time in 20 years I’ve not got my eye on anything. I’ve got a hollow feeling not needing or wanting a new bike- I dont even want any bits. Saying that I’ve bought 3 since this time last year.

As a side note, climbing I found quite tough on my Alpine 160 when riding in a group. Always felt I was peddling twice as hard but being left behind. They are generally all on 29ers. My Alpine was on 26inch wheels.

What bikes do all your buddies ride? Do you ride with them regulary? If so, I would consider buying something comparable. It can be a bit of a head buster if you feel over/under biked especially if you’re still just starting to get into MTBing. Eg your comment about evryone being faster on 29ers.

Speak to them and get their thoughts on their bikes. Would they recommend them? What problems have they had? What would they buy if they were changing? Would they let you have a go?

the bike press in the US have been writing a lot of good things about the Ripmo and Enduro mag gave it a good write up. https://enduro-mtb.com/en/ibis-ripmo-af-coil-2020-review/ but they rated the Nukeproof best in their 9 bike testing.

Not knowing how the bike industry works, I’m always a bit sceptical of these multi-bike tests. How do the press outlets select the ‘x’ number of bikes that they test? Do they contact all manufactures and it’s only the ones that provide test bikes? Is it only new models for that year? What about the brands that dont send their models or tested? Are they then viewed as inferior because their not in the headlines?

Ibis have done a good job of getting their bike out there to the press and increasing it’s presence by ‘issuing’ them to youtubers and no doubt it’s a great bike but there’s a lot of bikes out there eg Giant, Bird, Nukeproof, Vitus, Norco, Orbea, Specialized, Santa Cruz, GT, Canyon etc that would fit your needs. In lieu of not being able to ride them, get the one that you like the look of the most 🙂

I think we’re at a time where we’re spoiled for choice with a fantastic range of bikes from 120mm going up in increments of 5mm to 170mm that would fit your bill. Do we have too much choice in that whatever you pick are you going to read the next review or wish you had 5mm more or less?

2nd the Malvern Riders suggestion of the Marin. the handlebar looks pretty useful for bike packing too.

That link took me back 🙂 I’ve just looked through Hairyscarys’ photos and was reminded of how painful that ride was. I’ve never met anyone that’s done it twice.

Where you staying? from City Centre a 1 hour drive takes you to a lot of places Loch Lomond, the Campsies. the trossachs, the coast etc. Or you could ride from the CC

Post ride cold Erdinger for me.

https://www.polaris-bikewear.co.uk/Discovery-Zoned-Trail-Shorts-with-Detachable-Brace-p/pol01-7057-p.htm
On sale for £42. I’ve got a pair and do the job.

Jeff Kendall-Weed has been having a lot of fun on the back wheel of one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8av86gBVBtE

Marin 4 corners. Great bike!

TBH i’m not sure how the bike was received from the manufacturer. If the running chassis was assembled, would they take the wheel off and check cassette lock ring torque?

I ordered a road bike from them 29th of March and it arrived 3 weeks later. To be fair that was at the beginning of the COVID lockdown and i think it was with the couriers for a bit.

Bike came in a big old box and the only thing to do was affix the handlebars and add some pedals. 1st ride wasnt so good as the front mech kept rubbing and i stopped a few tmes to try and adjust. Felt ok until I put some pressure on it and again i had an intermittant rubbing noise. Eventually the whole drivetrain seized and I was left at the side of the road trying to suss out. Turns out the cassette was loose. I don’t think this is a Tri-UK fault as their mechanic probably set the bike up without test ride.

I had a similiar dilemma last year and narrowed it down to the pipedream, stanton, pole, cotic, norco and nordest as I was wanting a hardtail to have similiar geom to my full sus.

In the end I ordered one but cancelled it due to being mucked around with delivery times and poor communication. Then I went with one that was avialable and the colour i liked.

I never test rode any of the bikes, so my choice was based on geom, availability (and colour) and I’m happy with my choice.