Well that was a rigmarole! Asked 5 people at Bath Spa and none of them know about a £5 charge for large items. But reserved a bike space on the one high speed service, so fingers crossed! Thanks again, all 😀

Haha, the Frome to Bath and on to Bristol is pretty empty at 6:45am! Coming home though, been told I can’t get on a few times, standing nearly everytime, no aircon, fight for the doos etc etc 🙄

Ok, how am I to find out if it’s a 125 class train? Comments so far suggests it won’t be…?

Finally made the call today. The person I spoke to first said I wouldn’t be able to take it – only normal aeroplane sized luggage is accepted. I queried this, and she spoke to a supervisor, and actually, yes, that’s fine, there are no restrictions, on any service. Feels like the blind leading the blind TBH, but I just gotta takes my chances.

Ah ok, so it’s the Westbury – Southampton GWR leg I need to be cautious of. It leaves Westbury at 6:40am, so hopefully ok, but I’ll give them a call anyway. Cheers!

Thanks again guys. My ticket from Southampton to Gatwick is thankfully useable on any direct service to Gatwick, so if it comes to the worst, I can get a later train and still easily make the flight. 😀

Ah yes – I see you’re right re: Southern. The Southern train will be 8:10, so guess I’ll need some luck and a generous guard. I don’t know why I thought the Westbury-Southampton leg was the long trains. Chose that route because it saves about a hundred quid!

Thanks folks. I’ve been commuting Frome to Bath on the train and know only too well how awful it can be.

I’ve decided to travel Frome-Westbury; Westbury-Southampton; Southampton-Gatwick. All except the first little bit will be on the long GWR trains. I’ll collect my tickets later and see about booking the bag as luggage. Thanks again folks, feeling a little less stressed about it 🙂

I can report that the Airblast is great! Inflated third time! Now just to fit Big Apples to my Hahanna and redo the sealant in my Inbred. Thanks folks!

CLEAR2017 for £10 off over £75, clearance items only… But I’m sure you spotted that.

OP – glad you’re ok, and aP – sorry you had to see that. I’d have nightmares for weeks no doubt.

Old biker friend told me about the illegal motorcycle races they used to have on Welsh Lane, Oxon – people would volunteer and wear orange tabards and stop traffic entering the road… So at least there was some element of safety. Went on for quite some time until the police stopped it, apparently.

(I also got a Nobby Nick tubeless to get the price up to enough for the £10 Clearance discount 🙂 , here’s hoping for a turn in fortunes!)

Thanks all. I managed to inflate the rear. Front is a no go, which is weird, because I got it to seal without sealant, but there were too many leaks and it went flat, and now I can’t get the seal. My arms are shot, not helped by the air leaking from the bottle top where the valves have been inserted. 140psi is totally out of the question, at least with this setup! I’m thinking the airblast looks good, suspect my track pump is past its prime (10 years old!)

Yep, thinking of that – seen a couple on wiggle, and also the separate pressure tanks from Beto and Schwalbe on Merlin. Of course, if it only delivers the same pressure and volume as my ghetto fizzy juice bottle…

Johnny Panic – I have tape between the valve and rim now, but also over the top of the valve. Worked fine in the past.

Managed to get the other tyre done, but with no sealant! It’s Stans Race and says don’t fill via the valve… But I’m gonna have to I think, lest I break the hallowed seal. Back to wheel number one again, retaped, added sealant… And it won’t seal now. But I just got ta let my arms recover, gets to 50psi on my gauge and I start to struggle 😕

I did think about getting a ton of super strong magnets to attract the bead outwards! But I don’t even know if they’re steel beads….

So I managed to get one to seal! Unfortunately, my taping skills around the valve were somewhat lacking, so it’s gone flat, and I need to apply more tape…

SteveL – beads pretty loose, but won’t building up the tape just force the bead away from the rim edge and into the central trough?

Oldnpastit – I see your point, but I hate the idea of ditching pretty new tyres before their time… Not ruling it out, mind…

Tried the ‘inflate from flat’ at local garage – no joy. It’s not even obvious where the air is escaping, no bubbling dishwater, the tyre doesn’t even expand when the air goes at the point immediately over the valve.

Trying the innertube trick, and fully expect it not to work. Got a very subtle ‘pop’ but not much to speak of.

Anyone wanna buy a zesty w/ flat tyres? 👿

Well it doesn’t help just now but I look forward to super-easy installation the next time round!

Was not aware of wire beads being difficult – there used to be a (theoretical?) idea that wire beads would be better IIRC. nickdavies – garage as in petrol station, or a tyre fitters? In the past, garage pumps never worked, but happy to wander to the local tomorrow for a try.

Scc999 – appreciate the thinking, but I really can’t imagine how to do this without breaking both seals when I try to tape the valve back in…? As for more pressure – agree higher would be better but I just don’t have the strength! It’s a Revolution (Edinburgh bike coop) pump – dial goes to 160 but pretty sure I’ll never get close!

Inspiring stuff here.

Due to a combination of 3.5 months of whooping cough, a persistent bad back, and general idleness, I’ve ridden probably less that 10 times this year. Once commuting to work, and three BMX sessions at the skatepark – so almost no MTB. I’ve done tons of walking in and around Bristol, though, and also a long walk in Spain from Montserrat to San Vicenç de Castellet.

So the upcoming year has a pretty low bar to clear. Based in Bristol so lots and lots of Exmoor and Quantocks. Across the river to Wales/Forest of Dean. Visit relatives who live on a mountaintop top in southern Spain. Next trip to my Scottish inlaws will see me taking cycling gear so I can ride Dumyat on the bike I’ve left there. This Christmas staring at that snow-dusted mountain was rather frustrating!

Apologies if this has been pointed out. I tried to view subscription prices, but the boxes with the value/description are blank. This is the case for Windows 8 phone, iOS Safari, and Android.

Late 30s here, and got a 20″ BMX a couple of years ago so I could ride the Aberdeen skatepark when the weather was bad (that’d be all the time, then). It’s great fun, indoor skateparks are usually fairly easy to ride, and if you’re able to visit during school time you’ll often find it empty. I paid £150 for a United KL40, and it’s sound. Hi-ten I think but isn’t that what 4130 is anyway? Not been to a track on it though…

Had a go over some bumps just now and doesn’t feel too bad. Noticed when I first got them they lost tons of pressure, but wonder if this was the chambers equalising. And that dimple! Tiny, no wonder it blocks.

I have Spesh summer gloves. Didn’t work, but do now!

Personally I’d wear them down to 5degrees, but hardly a warm winter glove.

So, seems I can’t help myself. Let the air out of the negative spring by removing the screw in the solo air lower, and depressing the valve with a round-end Allen key, reassembled with the forks fully compressed, inflated. Forks now full extended to 120mm, though feel quite harsh at recommended pressure. A good ride this weekend should show if it’s sorted!

Thanks everyone. I’m exhausted tonight, so gonna leave it til tomorrow when I’ll hopefully be a bit sharper. Will read the SRAM guidance and surf youtube! Cheers

To be honest, I’m not sure what’s wrong – or even if there us something wrong at all. All I know is the forks wouldn’t fully extend. I think I did the best I could with the ziptie trick, but I still can’t get them longer than 110mm – and that’s with a solid ‘stop’ at that point, not the negative spring. I used to be good, and patient with bikes. Now I’m just reckless 😯

Anyone got any suggestions that don’t involve an Ebay claim and trying to retract a 6 month old paypal payment? I’d love to hear it!

Japanese Ebay… 🙁

Yes, that all makes sense. Just odd it was fine for the first ride. And lucky I had a piles of washers that I found on a table in a pub once!

Yes, outer edge rubbing. At first I thought it was side to side, but I can see where the black coat has worn away on the calliper where the outer edge has rubbed. Thanks for your thoughts, helped me get to the bottom of it!

They’re post mount – so the washer is to put the calliper further away from the hub (as in, vertically, toward the tyre, not left or right, if you see what I mean).

Just odd it was fine first time round. Seem to recall Hope rotors (or at least the old ones) are 5mm bigger diameter than standard, so these will be 165mm I guess. Fingers crossed this has sorted it!

Seriously, that wasn’t a rhetorical question. I would like to know if this sounds reasonable, or whether there’s something else that needs addressed? Cheers folks

No other disc wheel I can think of. I have had two disc wheels in my life – the other was a Hop Big Un, with shortened axle, from the days before disc mounts on frames!

Having had a look, the rubbing is against the calliper – it looks like I need to put a washer between calliper and disc mount. How on earth did I get this so dialled without any washers?!

Nope, front is 6 bolt Shimano, rear is 5 bolt Hope.

Front is same brake but shimano 6bolt disc, on a Shimano hub. No rubbing at all. Rear disc does have a very slight warp, but the brake drags throughout the rotation. Even at the stiffest point in the rotation, a squeeze of the brakes shows both pistons moving.

Some of the TDF bikes and framesets are now labeled as discontinued. I’ll bet they’re waiting for the 2016 models to turn up now.

Pretty much what Mike’s Bikes said. They thought the 2016 bikes might be available August or September. But remains to be seen what a Genesis will offer. Perhaps a range of TdFs? Or a pricier spec? Hmmm…

Thanks Ian. I see your point and I’m half convinced. Unfortunately I live at the bottom of a pretty steep hill. I realise I can change the small chainring, but with the BCD I can only go two teeth smaller, AFAIK.

Robdob- good point, but according to the seemingly knowledgable and very friendly folk at Mike’s Bikes, Portishead, there are neither full bikes nor frames available. I do like the idea of building a bike though, so thinking of other similarish frames, not got much past the Surly disc LHT…

Thanks folks. Squirrelking – alas I’m in Bristol now, so Glasgow a bit of a trek! Wells might be good though so ta Edric! Although might take this opportunity for a bit of parallel thinking… 😉