what a crock the elbow on the saddle nose is!
depends on saddle length and presumes that everyone has legs/arms/torso which are proportional.

There’s so many old fashioned rules of thumb floating about on forums and the internet.

and half of the above vehicles don’t travel more than 50 miles in a year.

The owners still spend countless hours working on them!

I know we’re mountain bikers n’all but do people simply not bother cleaning/polishing their bikes?

Just seems part of the ritual to me, I like to make things look new after getting a crap covering!

lower priced versions aren’t worth it.

no matter how good they purport to be they aren’t as good as a proper ceramic set-up.

think ceramic speed, fsa ceramic or King.

Others have lasted just over a year before failing or feeling rough.

just my 2 pence but for the wattage savings I wouldn’t bother with the cheap ones

I’ve mentioned it a few times now and if it falls on deaf ears then fair enough but height is NOT the only guide to bike sizing.

this is where your bike shop comes in handy so long as they know their onions

that sounds like the same wheel the Cube’s used to come with. they are a poor 2 pawl design with a hair spring to keep everything moving.

They also run a needle roller bearing assembly at the hub end and a poor seal.

If you need spares for them, the official hub is called the Onyx. I’d recommend giving that needle roller assembly a good greasing.

totally pointless slammin’ it unless the stem is pointed downwards!

I thought you may be part of the cycle distribution network out in oz is all. I used to work out there.

Who are you with mike smith?

I work in retail and have margins I can knock off..

what part of retail do you work in?

what a lot of replies!

I understand that there are a great number of very good carbon frames fit for the job.

I thought the steel option was worthy of investigation despite the weight penalty but my main aim is a bike that fits properly.

Steel appealed as a number of brands offer the customisable geometry which when paired with a tapered enve fork, 44mm headtube and CK headset should make the front end nice and tight.

My build kit would consist of a Sram force group, 42mm carbon clinchers and some nice finishing kit. My alloy storck is lovely and only weighs in at 13 ish pounds but is the wrong shape for me.

I love my salsa vaya but am looking to change to something with a more racey geometry.

Although its used for commuting and training around the countryside, I still like to have the odd sprint uphill and the 450mm long chain stays make it feel sluggish and cumbersome.

Enigma evoke with just enough cleanance for a 25c and a guard would be my pick although enigma could also do their etape steel frame with disc tabs.

he new generation have been crap so far.

anything built 2013 onwards seems to have developed faults, cracks and seem badly designed.

maybe its the snow?

yes

where are you based?

yup, they’re not quite as skinny as the revs but still a cheaper option than cx-rays.

As a side note, I stopped building in spokes like the DT revolution as I found the twist-up a thing of great annoyance!

I built a set of 26″ stans rims and they required a little re-tensioning after the first couple of rides as despite my best efforts, they de-stressed whilst riding.

I’ve built 15 or so sets of wheels using the Archetype rims and all have been great to build and to ride too.

They build into a stiff wheel using something like a 28/24 2x lacing pattern and we’ve had zero comeback for truing.

The lack of eyelet did concern me to begin with but I built a set of 28/28 for a friend who is 6’4″ and relatively heavy with it and can confirm no problems.

sorry, misread the integrated bit in your post.

But most of the time they are included with an integrated headset where tolerances can vary,

I never understand why they come with either a press in or semi integrated headset.

I run 5mm lower on my xc race bike than I do on the road.

who sits down in the tech stuff anyway?

I’ve learnt to get off the back and hover over the saddle when it gets techy.

the other thing about relative saddle heights between road and xc is that the offset makes a big difference. if you run an in-line post offroad you can run the saddle a little higher than if you ran a setback onroad.

Have to disagree with the above but only with the new 6800 ultegra.
Shifting is as light and positive as any I’ve known.
If only it didn’t mean new wheels I’d be on it in a flash!
Brakes are also mega

Longer disc side end cap.

Don’t go with the 2mm difference in length either. There are a lot of variables which may make this wrong

switch is totally worth it.

I’ve run and ridden tubeless and set up a lot of road tubeless for people.

the weight difference really isn’t that great either.

imagine your tubes weigh 100-150g per tube, the offset of weight between that and a slightly heavier tyre and sealant becomes nothing.

I like the Hutchinson fusion for summer but the intensive for winter use. Just waiting on the secteur 28 to come out in a couple months time.

I’m the same, the first moment you think about going for a ride, do it!

otherwise you’ll look at the clock and keep setting deadlines which you won’t stick to.

did the shifters come boxed?

if you bought an official boxed up group they should be in there.

have built a bike using the co-motion in the past and it works brilliantly.

The gilles bertoud was not the best option but still better than a rohloff original

I have the tool for the driveside hub bearing if needs be. bloody expensive bit of kit but well worth it if you run DT hubs

I wish I knew what the bonding agent was!
he machined up an alloy plug to fit and bonded it in after he’d repaired he steerer.

We once got a cracked steerer repaired for a guy on his Sid wc. At the time of repair we also had a threaded ‘bung’ bonded in to save hassle.
The guy then took the bike back to his original lbs for some service work to be undertaken. The bike shop proceeded to then remove said captive bung whilst also de laminating the inside of the steerer!

Carbon steerers in my experience have always been fine. Their failings are that of the person working on them.
It’s generally important to observe the recommendations of the fork and not them stem, 12nm is too much for any carbon steerer no matter what the stem says! We’ve had a good number over tightened but barely a single failure due to stress.

you’ve got an awful lot of polishing to do if you want it to look nice!

Surely try them on before buying?
Nobody knows what your head shape is

Matthew you shot the bolt too quickly as per my post bro, lol!

not sure quite what you mean but you should get your dude to contact cube about it

its not uncommon if the bottom has been in for that long without moving.

you will have had the presence of moisture and likely a little oxidisation going on which has begun to bond the bb and frame.

surely the warranty is with the original purchaser?

it sounds like something is definitely a miss though but I fear that because you didn’t purchase the bike you wont have much come back on it.

a couple years ago the gxp bb’s were shipping and half of them had play from new.

we must have sent 5-6 back and all were warrantied.

there was a specific batch run with duff bearings which Sram published model numbers for voluntary return.

I enjoyed doing my level 3.

The modules contained everything I already knew but it was nice to confirm that.

simply put, one that is comfortable.

comfort over weight any day