what about the 3rd option, Surrey Hills? Best riding can be found there imho

Great, thanks. I will take a look. I’m assuming the free version tells you if it can get your data but you need the paid version to actually do anything?

My experience with them was very positive. They let me know that there would be a slight delay (2 days) on delivery and gave me a free extra saddle to compensate.

Canyon Roadlite 6.0.
Bike setup and quality has been spotless. Only tweak was re-indexing the gears a few weeks in which I assume was due to cable stretch.

I would recommended them, their prices are incredibly competitive.

The main part of the work was fitting the headset which I didnt want to bodge. But yes, I will be doing things like this myself in the future.

Pound Lane Cycles – Epsom

Avoid them..

Yes, there are gouges on the angled surface, I cleaned away the grease and had a proper look. Not impressed at all. Will this affect performance or damage headset in any way?

Looks like he used the old adjustable spanner trick as there are gouges on the other side perfectly lined up.

Built this bike for my GF using my old Fury as a donor bike (whilst treating myself to a Trek Stache 8 8) ) so its unlikely to be ridden particularly hard.

Time to find a new LBS…

STATO, just had another look, you’re right. There isnt actually a groove, it appears that the diameter gets wider towards the bottom and thats the transition to the wider area.

Thanks for the offer Thrustyjust, going to leave it as is for now and see how I get on. There is a lot of grease on it which is what makes it look a bit funny.

I think those marks are from the old crown race which were fairly large and a nightmare to remove (apparently). Im not sure I would call them un-rideable..

Yes, he had to file the steerer slightly to get it straight.

Im clueless as to if that’s seated properly or not as this is new territory to me so you tell me. Is the lip meant to be that raised?

Just had a closer inspection of the work done. Looks very messy but as you can see its no quite flush.

Assuming a lot of force has been used to get the crown race into its current place, what would be the easiest way of removing it? (so that I can heat it).

Hmmm what pipe tube width would I need if I wanted to try the hot water bodge?

ok, thanks for the heads up. Will take it to a different LBS if it doesn’t seat itself.

Its a bit annoying really as I built the whole bike myself apart from the headset which I thought I would leave to the “professionals” as I didn’t have a headset press or facing tool.

This is actually the first time I have used a LBS for any of my bikes..

mrmonkfinger – I have paid. It was £15 for the headset and crown to be “fitted”. That included a spare spacer so I thought that was reasonable (until I started this thread..)

Being an amateur mechanic, I didn’t know what half of these tools were until I opened this thread!

The LBS has offered to file the crown race down to try get it on snug but advised I should try a few rides to bed it in naturally. If that doesnt work, they will take another look at it.

I would assume the width lost would be made back from the extra width in the steerer. (Assuming it didn’t fit as the steerer was slightly wider at the base for some reason).

Ok, well I will take a detailed look tonight, see how truth the LBS was speaking.

Might give a bodge a go with adjustable spanner and hammer if my ride over weekend doesn’t settle things.

Yes, the steerer is very long as its come from an XL frame with a long headtube.

The guy seems honest and willing to help which leads to believe it was a difficult job. Am i being too kind?

Just spoke with LBS, they said they used a crown race slider tool which apparently was on the max limit. I’m assuming my fork was damaged from use on my old frame.

Again they advised to ride it in for a few weeks and tighten when necessary.

Will get some pictures up tonight.

Ok, great. Thanks for the advice chaps. Will see what a ride round Swinley will do to it!

Fairly close to Croydon (30min drive). Thanks for the offer, I will get back to you once I have taken a proper look at it tonight.

Ben, assuming it cant be moved it and that its completely level, can you see any reasons to not ride it?

I inspected the crown and it did look like its completely level. Will take another look when home tonight.

Is it worth trying to get the thing seated myself? If so, how would I go about doing that?

hmm, thanks. Thats what I expected BC.

Yes the crown came with the headset. I would have thought that cutting the crown would have compromised the seating with headset?

I don’t think it was installed by hand. Is there a specialist tool which should have been used? The fork is a couple years old so might have become misshaped slightly.

Assuming it was hammered on and wouldn’t go any further, is there anything to worry about re it not being fully seated? Was a FSA headset btw.

Just to add, I did catch him hammering the headset with a wooden brush handle and hammer to get the headset “seated” before using the press. Apparently it would go on due to too much paint on head tube.

Not sure how much I can trust this LBS..?

I also tried all of the above solutions but none worked on my old sports tops. This product has prevented me from throwing tops out so worth the £4 a bottle for me.. Don’t use it every time, only every other time so lasts ages.

Other benefit is that this work really well at 30 degrees and keeps my lycra in good nic :wink:

Just got back from a trip to Sainsburys. They had 4 left on the shelf, now I have 4 left on my shelf :)

Worth checking your local stores and stock up before they sell out.

Upsetting news. I stocked up when I saw it in Sainsbury’s as the price was much better than Wiggle, only 1/4 of a bottle left. Might have to use the rest of the bottle every other wash.

Will have to try that Napisan stuff..

Ok great, thanks for the advice all.

Looks like the canyon al 29er might be the perfect solution for me.

Being 6’5 I am hoping it will look more in proportion as well!

enough as in would it be a bumpy/harsh ride? Always saw 100mm as a XC style fork.

I am upgrading from a 120mm HT due to back issues but dont want to be left with a harsh ride as that would defeat the point!

dantechnet, I have the Canyon roadlite 6.0. Its a cracking bike which I would definately recommend.

Full 105 and quality wheels. You wont find much better out there for the price. Service from Canyon was also very good.

Yes I wear one, I see them as an essential peice of kit. Took a bad fall on a black run last year and landed directly on my head, helment took a beating and I was fine after 24 hours… Conditions were very poor and landed directly on solid ice.

Dread to think what might have happened if I wasnt wearing it…

*I wear a Red Trace helment, good for people with huge noggins :wink:

I will be using my Carrera fury as a donor bike so not going to have much choice with the steerer length.

Need to decide if I want the carbon or steel frame now, tough decision!

Thanks for the replies, sounds like it might be a good fit for me. Whipper, what seat post are you using?

Are you both using standard stems or are they riser?

haha thats brilliant. BTW, the frame on pinkbike isnt anything like that frame on ebay?!?

I want to reuse most of the parts from my fury to keep costs down so looking for a 26 frame.

Galaxy s2, still.

Just took a look at the canyon nerve xc (XL) standover hight. With my inseam (35″), it comes to a 1.5inch clearance. Is that going to be too close for comfort? I guess my inseam is calaculated barefoot though..

I dont want a new bike to look good, my bike feels too small and I feel that its holding me back. Think I will stick with the 26″ wheels and ensure I get the right frame. Not interested in getting a 29er just to make me look in proportion.

Thanks for that link, will run through it now and compare with the nerve xc measurements.

Yes it does feel small. Served me well as a starter bike but I think it’s time to move on. Time to consider my options.

I agree, TT is too small. Do you think going from a 605 to a 650TT would be too much of a jump?

My riding is mainly the trails around surrey hills and swinley by the way.

Distance of saddle to centre of bars is 570. I have a 35″ inseam. If only 29ers were cheaper.. Don’t seem to get much for your money.