Can hire on ebay for about £13 i think.

I bought one with pump, thinking it would be good to use for the road bike too in my jersey, but the its a massive lump and would make my jersey sag too much in your pocket so I sent it back.

Bought a wolf tooth encase that is a beautiful little thing that fits inside an old puncture repair kit box with quick link and stabber. Can also get bar end mounts.

I’ve got a CAAD12 and to be honest find it a bit under whelming. I had a CAAD9 before and that was much more fun. The 12 feels sluggish and bland.

Its the 105 disc model, with hunt Mason wheels set up tubeless with hutchinson fusion tyres in 28mm with clip on mud guards.

However, I got the 12 as a training bike so its generally a bit grubby, and its probably unfair for me to compare as my good bike which is a BMC Teammachine slr01 from 2011 that weighs 6.6kg as you ride it, in basically pro spec. The 12 is a tank in comparison, not sure what it weighs, but must be 8kgs or more.

At least with di2 you won’t need to try and re cable it.

Does anyone know how frame weights vary between these options?

I’m thinking about moving from my XTC to something a bit more trail friendly, thinking along the lines of the Chameleon, Nukeproof scout or the Orange Crush 29.

My 2014ish XTC frame is around 1750g and I think the Chameleon is about 2200g. Any ideas on the others? I’m loath to add more weight, but get that there are greater benefits!

Thanks for replies.

Haha Drew, I love our Tuesday rides.

I dont think its just the bike that gets overwhelmed at Spanish! I’m not entirely convinced carbon is a good idea either as it wont dent as well as my XTC.

Thanks for the joyride, I mean test ride offer!

Just had a peep at her current phone and she’s already got an XZ1 compact.

That kinda means my only Sony option is the XZ2, but its a little expensive and the G8 Power / Oppo A5 or A9 seem a bit underspec’d?

Perhaps I’ll do a reset on hers and delete her 15gb of photos and see how it goes…..

Thanks for replies.

Should I be worried about buying a refurbished phone?

From experience batteries in particular start to die after about 2 years, so if its already had a year or more of use arent you buying something already towards its end of life?

What does a refurb actually entail?

Cornwall is always nearly full during school holidays.

This year there is reduced capacity due to COVID, so it cant be any more full than usual which does mean hot spots get busy.

Your best bet – delay your leave for 2 weeks til the schools have gone back, or just book a random travelodge / premier inn somewhere for cheap and enjoy wherever you end up.

It doesnt have to be perfect to be perfect.

Thanks for the replies. The the Ikea option seems easiest, I can buy two of them and put them against each other.

What can a gravel bike do that a hardtail can’t?

Youll find lots of paths that are ok on a cx or gravel bike, but they’d also be ok on an mtb and there might be bits that would be a lot better on an mtb.

The only advantage I see is if you want a road bike but a bit more flexibility.

Depends how many you travel with.

I’ve got a passat estate and can put my bike in whole with wheels on with seats down. So can fit 2 people in front and two whole bikes in the back.

With kids bikes I can leave one of the split rear seats up and fit 3 people and 3 bikes, with taking adult bike front wheel off and seat post out.

I dont want to drive a van / worse fuel economy etc.

With the 70cc pump will the following combinations work:

EDC + co2 canister + chain links

Or

EDC + space for small jabber (not the EDC one) + chain links

I’ve got these, more expensive than rebuilding and not enough spokes, but a lot less fuss and great weight!

https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycle-wheels/novatec-cxd-wheelset-clincher/11365363.html

Its tough.

I’ve had time off the bike recently with pneumonia and its miserable.

I did things like:

Dismantle my bike in the front room, clean everything, weigh everything and log it on a spreadsheet
Search for replacement items that weigh less
Buy replacement items
Convert wheels to tubeless
Watch 11 series of Gold Rush on discovery
Watch Nazi mega structures on discovery
Cuddle the dog (dont tell anyone that though, and definitely dont mention said dog is a chihuahua)
Eat Ben & Jerrys

Can you do squats or anything like that? Turbo trainer would be really good if thats doable.

I notice that there is now a V2 of the tool that has some changes, perhaps these address some of the problems discussed above?

NEW FOR 2020

Easier to remove from your bike, with a lower friction design.
Updated Chain Breaker is easier to use and has a steel body for increased durability
Stronger steel Spoke Keys
Black Multi-Tool
Tubeless plug jabber cover (Small storage capsule)

EDC V2 TOOL

I had decided to get one steerer mounted, but have since decided that for pretty much the same money I can also get a decent new pump. I can mount the pump on the bottle bosses, and then whip it off to go in my jersey pocket when I go on my road bike. One less thing to take on the road bike too then.

Any thoughts on whether the 70 or 100cc pump is better? I think the 100cc one is that bit too long at 10″, but having the storage capsule would be useful. Does the smaller one work ok?

Thanks for replies.

The DT swiss rear hub is from the XR1501/XM1501 wheelset that apparently have 240 internals inside. Fitwheel seem to have access to DT Swiss stock at good prices!

At ~£40 a caliper they are hardly a consumable! I bought a disc braked training bike to avoid replacing rims, not to replace calipers every winter!!

I’ve got a 4 spare pairs of 785 pads and 1 pair of the 505s, so it might be worth persevering with the shimano’s, especially having seen the price of the hopes.

Am I best going for another 785 up front and a 105 BR-R7070 for the back? Around £37 each.

Thanks for replies.

My bike came from Evans in July 2017 so not much chance of a warranty replacement now, shame the it would have been in warranty if I’d not ignored it for so long and just ridden my summer bike.

The bike is my training bike and generally filthy so very likely that I wouldnt spot a fairly minor leak.

So, what are the direct replacement caliper options? Its sounding like you cant replace the seals.

Thanks for replies. I think the “retroish” frame idea is best.

I dont believe that a new £500 bike is going to be any better than her yukon, and significantly heavier / lower quality than my old bike, despite the changes in fashion that have come in the last 10 years. (Noting that she is far from an enthusiast and won’t be riding anything remotely technical)

Went a few years ago to the last day, my first time in a velodrome, was a great evening out, even the non cycling Mrs enjoyed it!

If you are doing a ride long enough to warrant electrolites your drink will be cold by the time you crack it open.

A clubmate once bought a bottle of tea in one of the insulated camelback bottles on a particularly cold club run. We took the piss, he held up the pretence about how good an idea it was, then, half an hour later he took his first swig and it was cold.

Oh how we laughed.

I’ve got a BUZZ RACK BB4, get on with it fine. Just need to load the car before fitting as it doesnt tilt, but can always pass things over the back seats and plan for it.

As for the weights, never checked, use with a 2013 Passat Estate, but with 2 kids bikes at the moment.

I’ve Hutchinsons Fusion 5’s in a 28mm tubeless, through last winter, and I looked at them the other day and their isnt a cut on them. I’ll be getting them again, although not for a while as dont seem to have worn much. Went up easy with a track pump, went down a bit for the first week or so but soon settled.

They feel like a decent enough ride too.

Although I did go from worn out 25mm’s with tubes, to new 28mm’s without tubes.

Thanks for the replies.

She did come back asking for ‘some clippy in pedals and shoes like yours’ as others in the (under 8s) race had them!

I dropped the cables to lube them this morning and without tension they are hard to action, so am sure that they shifter is the place to start.

Sorry to hear.

What is amicable now can soon change as / if new partners come on the scene or suchlike, so things need to be watertight.

Watertight protects the 3 of you now and in the future.

Personally I dont know if I could force a house sale if my children are settled, but you need to make that and other decisions with your eyes open, aware of the facts options. See a legal. Remember that you should be able to contractualise any agreement, so can hopefully come up with something that helps you all.

PS, got any good bikes going cheap? (sorry, couldnt resist)

I’m using tubeless 33mm too and habe found them fine on some nasty bone shaking Dartmoor trails.

Whilst I’d like some extra robustness and volume, I don’t really want to spend £80 on a pair of tyres for one event, so thought I could at least cover a bit more volume with the 35mm x ones as can then use them for cx racing.

Thanks for the reply.

I’ve ridden my 33s on some pretty nasty stuff and so far so good, but i get your point.

What gravel tyres have you gone for?

It doesnt seem like there are any conclusive opinions!!

I’ve picked up N RX800 mech and ordered an 11/36 cassette.

It’s coming from aliexpress so will be a while until I can test it out.

Thanks for the advice.

I’ve got the Fusion 5 seasons and whilst I really like them, I wouldnt want to use them off road too much….

A CAAD12 is excellent advice, I got a 2017 105 disc version on the cycle to work scheme and its great.

Got a mate who rides the rim brake version in road races and does well.

That said, whilst the planet X pro carbons’s have been around a while, they are still a lot of bike for the money.

Second hand opens massive of options…..

Thanks all for replies.

With regards to current mech length, I dont know for certain that its short cage – i’ve Looked on it and its just stamped with RD6800.

This is the bike…

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/tcx-slr1-2015

I measured the jockey wheel centres at 58mm, and thats the same as on my other road bikes that I assumed would all have short cages. So dunno, can all my bikes have medium cages already?

I dont want to do road riding on this bike, but invariably end up riding road sections, so dont want to be spinning out here. 3 peaks also has 22km on the road, so want dont want to sacrifice too much here.

New cleats ordered (£7 on ebay) and will regrease the bearings.

Thanks for replies.

They are already set to the stiffest setting.

I’ll try some new cleats, but given the cost difference, I might just get another set of M540s, I’ve just seen that they’ve got great reviews.

Thanks for the replies.

I’ll have a look at the angles and toe in later.

Any recommendations for decent pads?