I had my cash back put into the account last week. Took a while but got there in the end.

According to their FAQ it has to have Purchase date, product purchased, store name and the total amount paid.

They kept saying that my scanned halfords recipt was invalid proof of purchase. I phoned Garmin to complain. They’d had a few complaints and said that they would contact the people that they were using to process the cash back. I receieved 28 day confirmation email that day. still no sign of the cash in the account though. Phone Garmin uk.

I bought a 29er frame and fork bundle (with the same forks as above) from china in january. I’m impressed with the forks and the frame. The forks are stiff when braking and have stood up to my 15 1/2 stone weight on all sorts of riding over the past 4 months.

I have an 08 Teocali elite bought new a year ago from Pauls Cycles and I can’t fault it. Goes up and down hills brilliantly.

ETT is 22.5inch 572mm 3/4 inch shorter than claimed

This one
29er Frame and Forks

Sorry all I can manage at the moment is a rubbish phone pic taken thismorning before setting off to work.

I’ll sort some more tonight

Not weighed it yet but it feels light.

Bought from an ebay seller. Price £330 for frame forks and headset

I’m 6ft and size is 18 inch.

My frame and forks arived today 19 days from purchase. Brilliantly packaged and no customs charges. The quality of the frame looks great to me and the inside if the head tube doesn’t look like a dogs dinner! :-)
Can’t wait to get it built up and ride it.

That’s fair enough, I think we all want to determine whether the Ebay, Hongfu etc frames are of a good enough quality as does the OP.

But your statement earlier refers to “some carbon frames” Are you wishing to imply that this refers to the frames from Ebay? You’ve not seen a Hongfu frame and you’ve not bought a carbon frame off ebay so which frames are these that you are referring to that have innards like a dogs dinner? It’s all very woolly.

Jameso, Which frames / manufacturers? Ebay sellers or hongfu?

Does it matter what the inside of a carbon frame looks like? I don’t know I’m no expert.

I have a carbon 29er frame, fork and headset deals on order. Due to arrive later this week. I researched these and could find very few negative reports on them, lots of unproven speculation but mainly positive comments from those who have them, so took the plunge. Top tube is 593mm approx 23.72inch for an 18 inch frame.

It’s an A2Z adaptor wich I modified to fit.

I ended up cuting off the rack mount eyelet and with a bit of cutting, sanding, filing some sections into the adaptor I was able to fit it flat on the inside of the drop out. There was plenty of metal in it so no affect on the strength.

Wheel is slightly more difficult to get out than normal but I think they are with these adaptors. Still doable on the side of the trail if you have a puncture

I’m a closet bike hoarder as well. the wife has started to call me Mr Trebus after the hoarder off Life of Grime!

Nice bike, I have a 93 cindercone which is a lovely ride.

The frame was in a sorry state when I got it so had to repaint.

Take a look on retro bike for some inspiration.

Retro Bike

It was a suspension fork. I chopped up the lowers off some old rs psylos, used some shims and some seat clamps to hold it all in place on the stanchions. Now rigid. No movement in the 6 months that I’ve been riding it and I’ve taken it around Coed y brenin, cwm carn etc. There’s enough clearance for the tyre but the A2C is adjustable if needed.

Stuey – it’s a standard 26 inch. The tyre diameter does not alter the geometry as I have a shortish axel to crown set up at (around 425mm) low rise bars and stem.

I’ve riden it on muddy trails the sort that have been churned up by horses and it is relatively stable. Drop the tyre presure and grip is good.

My half fat scandal

Great fun.

I’ve not had any experience of the alpkit lghts but they are 88 lumens and the above head torches are 300 lumens.

I go night riding in the winter with a 300 lumen torch so bright enough for that.

I’ve got one they’re great for the money. they’re bright and the quality is ok also.

Mattbike – liking that. A friend is shortly going to have to walk his 2 to nursery, but that would solve his problem.

That’s one of the reasons I got it, I can drop the little-un off at breakfast club then carry on the commute to work.

It saves a bit of time and my little girl loves it.

Here’s mine

Cargo Bike

Made by a chap in Bristol. I was going to buy a kona Ute on cyclescheme but saw this on ebay for peanuts and thought I’d give it a go. It’s well built and ferries the kids around brilliantly.

Perhaps the thicker grade metal sheds don’t suffer from condensation?? so you may be ok with an Asgard.

It wasn’t an Asgard shed just your bog standard metal shed.

My experience of metal sheds is that they suffer from condensation forming on the roof. This then dripps off and soaks the floor and what is in the shed. Vents do nothing to stop the condensation forming.

Small people carriers such as Renault Scenic / Citroen Picasso (old shape not sure about the new shape) and Fiat Multipla all have removable rear seats which leave flat space for sleeping. May have to sleep diagonally accross.

I’ve used Castle Coatings in Caerphilly for 5 frames. Colours metalic silver, dark blue, light blue, dark grey and satin black. They are ok quality wise although the coating was a little thin around the bottom bracket area of the last frame I had done. Check for blemishes when you pick up the frame and ask them to re-coat if necessary.

They are friendly and are reasonably priced at around £35 – £40.

I’ve had a lot of success with Nitromorse and strips of Emery Cloth. This takes off the remaining paint that nitromors hasn’t got to. Use different grades, start with 80 or 100 grit then progress to 120 grit giving a less scratchy smoother finish to the metal. Hold each end of a strip of emery in each hand and run it back and forth around the frame tube, this acts like a belt sander and makes light work of the paint and gives a good finish.

Have you thought of a Kona Ute or simular??

I take my 5 year old to breakfast club on a Ute style cargo bike. I’ve clamped an old stem and some BMX handle bars to the seat post for her to hold onto.

Fiat Multipla

Two adults, two kids, luggage etc. plus DH bike and kit (with DH kit removed could probably add another bike) fitted in when we drove to the alps last june. The picture doesn’t show all of the luggage that we took. All fitted in comfortably.

This is a cool drop bar disc brake conversion adaptor – Drop Bar Disc Adaptor

I’m going to try and make one myself but will have to use a hacksaw, file, drill etc. as I don’t have access to a milling machine.

I’ve put 425mm A-C 26inch rigid forks on my Scandal and have run it with a 29 inch wheel for a few years. This set up doesn’t affect the geometry and it’s a great ride.

I cycled over to the reservoir there a few times when I was younger but that was on a road bike. Not been over there for years as I don’t live down there at present. Pleasant scenery within a stones throw of the outskirts of Swansea. There’s some good routes around the Sarn Helen roman road also.

Give it a go, get the OS map out and go exploring. Often find some good routes that way.

I have just done the same, bought an old steel lugged road frame off ebay to do up and use as a commuter. When I got the frame I measured the drop out spacing and found the rear was 126mm and the forks were around 91mm. I had thought that everything road was 100mm front and 130mm rear. I did some research and found some helpful info here Sheldon Brown Frame Spacing Looks like the frame and forks can be adjusted with a bit of 3×2.

I've made a 69er by fitting a 29inch wheel to a 26" On-one Scandal frame with 425mm axel to crown 26" exotic forks with discs. It works fine, geometry is great and there's plenty of clearence for a 29 inch wheel and tyre up front. Using a 425 A2C does not raise the front end, I think they are equal to a 100 mm travel fork which is what the frame is designed for.

I think 69ers are a great idea for rigid bikes. Acceleration from the smaller rear and ability of the front to roll over obsticles. Mine is great to ride.

Buy one of these

300 Lumen Zoom LED

and some of these

Batteries and Charger

And you'll be sorted. I've just ordered the above and have been using simular non adjustable lower lumen (around 200 – 250) torches for a few years for weekly night rides. I thought I'd give the beam adjust a go this year. Light output is great, run time is over 3 hours plus and there are no wires to get in the way. You can easily mount on helment or bars with lock blocks or simular. Same technology as DX light and much better than those on CRC and a fraction of the cost.

I've used one of these on my pompi.Seat clamp cable hanger

They are only available in 31.8 though so I filed off the lip and was then, with a strip of shampoo bottle plastic shim, able to clamp it onto the seat tube below the actual seat clamp area. It works a treat. With the shim it doesn't clamp the seat tube securely to work as a seat post clamp but it's fine for holding the cable

Cantis work brilliantly with the correct canti not vee brake lever and some decent cartridge pads.

I'll post a more detailed photo this evening.

The BB shell is standard 68mm not sure of the axel length.

I would guess that it would be around the 113mm mark.

here's mine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25297744@N05/3836516688/

I've just done the same to my Kona to create a sort of monster cross with 700c wheel and 40c cyclocross tyre. No probs with toe overlap

This 700c set up is roughly the same diameter as a 26" with 2.3s

I fabricated a widget to move the V bosses. It works great.

Surely this Superstar BB is moving in the wrong direction. They are marketing the pop it out and regrease feature. We want sealed fit and forget, not to go back to the days of stripping components and regreasing every five minutes. Their pedals and their chain guides are great though, good value and quality. I've never had a problem with their disc pads.

4-5 for me

On-one pomp for commuting
On-one 456 general trail centre, eduros etc.
Scandal 69er rigid SS light weight low maintenance for gentler touring rides. (Sorry bit of an on-one fest but they are tidy frames, well designed and good value.)
DH bike Giant Faith (old style) for DH upift days
Just built up a hack rigid SS out of parts lying around for general rides with the kids on the wee ride.

Horses for courses. I use all of the above for different rides through out the year. I think I'll stop at that though.

I enjoy fettling building up bikes, looking for bargains parts as much as the riding.

I am running out of space though so I'm having to build a garage.

THe wife's not happy about the amount of bikes I have.