I'm looking into this at the moment (frame & forks) and it seems that you add the cost of the item to the postage, then times it by about 6% duty (14% for a complete bike) and then multiply that by 15% vat. And then pay the Parcelforce 'fee' on top.

OR….. if you are lucky they'll come through with no duty at all. I got stitched up on a fork whereas the chap who recommended them to me got his duty free. It's a bit of a lottery i'm afraid.

There was a story in my local paper a year or so ago when a local cyclist rode past some 'yoofs' and felt a bang on the back of his helmet, assumed he'd had something thrown at him but carried on. When he got home he found a small knife sticking out the back of his helmet! Lucky escape.

I've rarely had a problem when on the road other than the usual occasional shouts of abuse. Once though when commuting in London some tosser swerved twice across the road to try and knock me off after i'd shouted at him for cutting me up. Never had red mist like it and i wanted to kill him. Fortunately my survival instinct kicked in and i let him go as the car had 4 rather large looking eastern europeans in so it would have been a battle i'd never have won.

Don't let these idiots put you off riding though otherwise they win.

I find it's all to do with the length of your stroke, so to speak!

As i have very long arms and legs whenever i use a rower i find that i do less strokes per minute than the people around me but am still going noticeably faster if i look at the computer read out.

Just look at the Boat race on TV to see that the average height for a good rower seems to be around 6'4"/6'5".

I see small people rowing like a madman but they don't seem to be going very far on the readout.

I often wished i'd gotten into rowing when i lived in london and used to cycle past all the rowing clubs on the Thames. It's hard work though and i usually only play at it in the gym and do quick 1000m blasts which take me around 3mins 20secs on a average go. I'm about ready to fall off the machine by the time i finish that though.

I got some of these last week (i was going to do a PSA on here but never got round to it). All fine but the valves are a fair bit shorter than my usual tubes but they should still be fine so yes, bargain. I have enough tubes to last me a few years now i reckon.

Andyl – did you buy that one off ebay – i saw one on there in that size not too long ago that went pretty cheap? i like the look of them.

Starting to look like i may go for the frame only option as it's in the sale at $1250 when its £1400 here! Even with the worse exchange rate now, it's still a hell of a saving and duty is lower if i don't get the whole bike. I can get wheels and fork over here and swap the rest of the kit over from my trance although i would prefer new shiny everything! Should be able to get frame, fork and wheels for around £1600 and then recoup a bit from selling trance wheels and fox fork.

I like the Ventana but at £1500 compared to £1100ish it's a fairly easy choice to make.

Gonna talk to Bonesetter and sort it out soon hopefully.

Duc, I'm in Brum so northampton is not too far for me i guess, i may well toy with having a look before i get the 22".

Ton, i thought the same as you about the Niner, i'm 100kg so would not want a flexy bike. Salsa seems pretty stiff from the reports but the Niners do look nice. Love the Salsa in Orange. :-)

Ouch.

Thanks for all the assistance people.

Still cheaper but now by not so much (unless exchange rates go in my favour big time – unlikely though).

Kind of you to offer Duc, thanks.

Whereabouts in the UK are you? And do you like the Salsa?

I started a thread about Duty and people seem to think it would be more like $1000-$1100. I'm guessing you bought the Lenz frame only which is 4.7% duty (cycling componentry), whole bikes appear to be 14%.

I wonder if they could send the frame and then the componentry to get around it? Double charges then though i guess.

Bloody import duty and tax…… :-(

Nobody seems to sell a full build one in this country. Full build i think looks lovely in the orange. Very tempted once i get confirmation of duty and geometry. Might have to talk to you about that as i'm not really sure what the angles mean in the real world.

So around $1000 then?? Seems steep. Anyone know where i can find out for sure – do HMRC have a call centre or something?

I was 'happy' at around $600 but $1000 starts making it not quite so worth the effort.

I wouldn't be lucky, i never am with these things. I've been stung before when others have gotten the same thing with no duty at all. :-(

Salsa now at the top of the list as Speedgoat in the US have a full build With Reba's at $2750 (£1700ish)!!! Plus a bit of international postage (less than £100) that seems a very good deal so the only problem would be import duties payable. Any idea what they might be anybody??

Nige,

Voodoo only go up to 20" so no good.

Salsa looks very interesting, i've just read a fair few reviews on it and they are all positive. Plus it's £100 cheaper than the Ventana for the frame (although RP2 instead of RP23 on the El Capitan). Supposedly comes as a full build but i can't find anywhere that lists it other than as frame only. Comes up to a 22" which i'm pretty sure would be ok.

Currently on a shortlist of 2 then……… Cheers for the heads up. :-)

No one for the funniest line in Withnail?

"I mean to have you boy, even if it must be burglary"

Classic.

I spent this morning scrubbing up after a regurgitating cat that belongs to my girlfriend. Revenge i guess for when i left it outside overnight on Saturday and it got beaten up in a fight!! Still, cost the GF £102 at the vets which made me smile.

I like cats, i just don't like having one ruining my carpets, curtains and paintwork whilst leaving hair everywhere.

And yes, they are all evil deep down. :-)

Two Wheels in Stourbridge do them. Got a Sultan in for SStu to try and said they could do me an XXL frame for £1600. Still leaning towards the Ventana though.

Thought you wanted a Foes 29er now anyway ;-)

I filled up with petrol and Jo Brand was filling up at the pump next to me. She's not tiny and i had no desire to bump into her.

Oh, and it's always worth a few trips around the local parks and pikey hangouts just on the off chance that it was kids and they are riding it about.

Not that it helps in any way but i put a thread on Bikemagic last year asking if it was such a good idea for everyone to put up pics of expensive bikes on the net as if i was a bike thief, the internet forums would be the first place i'd look to see what i want to steal. I think we are kidding ourselves if we think it's all oportunistic kids nicking stuff, it's obviously more organised now with the money involved.

A few weeks on all the main sites will let you know what most people ride, where they live, pics and specs of all the bikes and quite often pics of gardens/shed/garages where they are stored. They would also know if people live alone or not and when they will be out riding. Eg 'Bob lives alone and has four top end bikes but is riding in Wales this weekend' meaning 3 bikes are left unguarded at home.

I know we all like to talk about and show off our pride and joys but sometimes i do wonder if we make it too easy for the scrotes to take us to the cleaners? I don't use roofracks so my bikes are hidden and 'usually' chained up in a garage but i have no doubt that a thief could get them all if he really wanted.

My one benefit is that all my bikes are mahooosive so not that desirable to 'normal' sized folks but then again with the proliferation of Ebay these days, frames (which are easier to trace) can be binned and the money can be made from the componentry alone.

After all that depressing post, i do hope that you get your bikes back, it can (and does) happen. Good luck. :-)

Nice looking bike actually but only up to a 20" frame size so no good to me i'm afraid. :-(

Jonathan, i'm annoyed that the Fishers don't go any bigger than 21" as the HiFi full bikes are 'only' £1800 & £2100 and i'd rather buy a fully kitted out bike than get a frame and build it up as it's always more expensive that way.

I'd happily buy a Hifi but even in 21" i'm told they come up a bit small? I looked at the Fishers in Chevin Cyles but they didn't have any 21" in store to sit on.

Cheers but my email address off here is my home one, not work so i'll read it later (not techy enough to access it remotely).

I may pop over to see you at some stage to have a chat and to look at your Shockwave, sorry, i mean Lenz ;-).

Just been up to Two Wheels in Stourbridge and they have said they could do the Turner Sultan 29er for £1600 (instead of the normal £1900 apparently) which is something to think about now as it's only £100 more than the Ventana (i thought it'd be a lot more).

Nige, i was hoping you'd be in the Wyre with us yesterday as i was gonna pick your brains on the ins and out of full suss 29er's. Remember how much you had to drop my seatpost when you tried my Rockhopper though, my legs and arms are far longer than yours despite me being only 3" taller.

It'd be interesting to see if i'd be alright on Ton's 21" Ventana but i know the one 21" bike i still own is a tad too small for me. When Ton sells his in a months time maybe i can get it at a knock down price ;-)

Two Wheels said that Singlespeedstu tried a Sultan 29er from them and liked it but was waiting for the carbon Santa Cruz instead. They had a normal Blur carbon in the shop and it was very nice i have to say, sooo light but i'd be frightened to ride it and ruin it.

Thanks Jalopy, i'll bear that in mind.

Ton, just spoken with Alan at Riverside and he was very helpful, he's going to see if he can track down one of his customers who has the 25" frame (he's sold 2 to 6'9" & 6'10" chaps) for me to have a sit on. Then if i could try your 21" as well then hopefully the 21" would be a tad small, the 25" a tad big leading me to the 23" as spot on. :-)

Ton, my buddie lives in Leeds and i go up to ride with him a couple of times a year so i'll chat to him and see when he's next free for a weekends riding. Thanks for the offer, it's appreciated. May well take you up on it. Might ring Riverside in a mo as well.

TooTall – i mentioned the Turner along with the Santa Cruz = megabucks.

I recall you were off to the states to test one – did you get it?

I realise that i'm looking at a niche area so will have to pay over the odds (although i am very happy indeed with my £750 Rockhopper) and it's not that i can't afford to pay silly money if necessary, it's just that i'd rather not if possible. I never really seem to be able to tell the difference between a £1k bike and a £3k bike so don't feel justified in spending the cash. If i got to test a £3k bike in my size and i loved it then i'd go for it but you are fully aware of how hard it is to get a tester in silly sizes. :-(

Ventana is still top of the list for me but i'd be looking at at least £2300 for frame forks and wheels. Although if i could recoup a bit from my trance then that could bring the price down by £3-£400 maybe?

Ton,

Did you use Riverside cycles (UK importer) or did you get it direct from the US? I can't find a US $ price anywhere, all the retailer sites just link me back to the Ventana Homepage? UK price seem to be £1500.

I like the idea of the bolt thru Reba's although i'm 'only' 16 stone. I reckon the 23" would be the one for me if i went for one.

Whereabouts in the UK are you? If i was ever near your area would it be ok to be cheeky and have a look at it in the flesh?

Astrix is interesting, never heard of them before. Are you UK based Jalopy, is there a UK importer and how much are they here? $1100 usually seems to turn into £1100 if bought here.

Stumpjumper is more than i'd like to pay for a Spesh, i was hoping for them to bring out a sub £2k 29er.

It's annoying as the choice is huge at the £2k mark in 26". I reckon in a year or two that i'll have a lot more choice in 29ers but don't want to wait that long. :-(

I use a small combination padlock on the zips so no need for cable ties or padlock keys. It was only about £3 and does the job fine.

Just because you've been flashed doesn't mean you'll automatically get a ticket. I've been flashed several times and never received anything. Often the cameras have no film in them and just flash to make other road users slow down. Once in Norfolk, twice in London but they did get me one time locally. It's usually when i'm lost and trying to find road signs that i don't notice the cameras although one of them was also when i was rowing with the GF and failed to slow for a traffic camera i knew was there.
Don't worry about anything until you know one way or the other if you have a ticket or not.

Besides, you could just pay a student or elderly relative to say they were driving like most people seem to these days….. ;-)

Love my hardtail 29er and a weekend in the welsh mountains last week made me realise i also want to trade my 26″ full suss for a 29er version (just feel way too perched on it on the downhills) but i need it VERY big (hardtail is 23″) so am currently seeing what’s out there that can be seen and ridden before parting with cash. If you are tall you won’t go back after riding 29ers.

I live near a family with loads of kids like this. The only answer i have is that more kids = more benefit money and bigger council house. The foul language this ‘mother’ near me screams at her young children is quite unbelievable. These people should be sterilised or benefits should stop after the second child. (IMHO).

Very common injury for cyclists. I did mine around 3 years ago and needed an op to pin it back together. Seem to recall i was back riding within a couple of months and have no issues with it now except for the big scar. I also dislocated my elbow at the same time which was far worse so the pain in my shoulder was none existent compared to my elbow which was sticking out of my forearm!!!

I just bought an FSA chainset from On-One for £65. V Drive & megaexo BB. Cheapest i could find it anywhere else was £110 on CRC. Fitted it to my gf’s bike last night and it seems pretty good. Again, you could sell the rings (and maybe the BB if you don’t want it) making it a very cheap purchase. The rings on CRC are around £60 on their own.

I’m pretty sure you can get Fire XC pro in a 29er version if you want to stick with them. I’ve only ever seen them on ebay though (new) not in any shops.

I run Spesh The Captains and think they are good and i also run small block 8’s when it’s dryer and am happy with them as well.

Got some bonty mud x’s from chevin when they were doing them for £30 a pair in case i needed them at Mayhem this weekend.

I bought one of the Trigon carbon forks off ebay recently and it is a lovely bit of kit. For my old commuter so i got the one with v brake mounts. Weighs 500g with full carbon steerer. Can’t see if they do a 29er specific one though?

Niner ones do look nice though………

I looked at those to pimp up the girlfriends bike a bit, seems like a great deal as the cheapest i could find them elsewhere was around £115. Can’t go too wrong at that price really.

Second that idea. I bought an XT chainset and then used a singlespeed specific BETD 34t front ring and kept the XT rings as spares for my other bikes, or you could sell them on here for around £40-£50 to offset against the price of a new chainset.

Must be swine flu Mic.

Get well soon (basically because no one else can lead us around the Wyre!!).

Nobody?

Wiggle have a nice CX bike on their site which comes with discs as standard. Called the Mares and is £900. Worth a look.

I commuted for years on my Hardrock and ended up putting a pannier rack on it and changing to a 48/36/26 chainset and big fat slicks. Loved it but my commute was only around 6 miles each way. Just put a nice carbon fork on it as well which dropped nearly 3lbs straight off the weight and looks lovely. :-)

Then like has been mentioned, buy a new mountain bike and keep the Rockhopper for commuting only.

Too tall – i’m pretty much the same size as you and love my 23″ Rockhopper 29er. I looked at the Turner after the review but wasn’t prepared to spend the money. I read somewhere that there will be a 23″ Spesh Epic next season (i think it’s already on the USA site) so may well take a look at that as i’ve never felt right on my 26″ Trance in a 22″ frame.
My local spesh concept store ordered the bike in for me but i almost had to guarantee i’d buy it although i could have walked away if i’d wanted too i guess. It was one of only 2 in the country i could find.
Evans always had the odd big bike in one of their stores to try but it’s an almost impossibility to get a small shop to order in a huge bike (understandibly).
I went to look at a shop in Leeds that does Koga road bikes as they come in a 66cm frame and they didn’t even have any bikes in the country at all – again they had to be specially ordered and i’m not willing to splash the cash without a decent test ride first.
It’s tough always looking at nice bikes that very rarely come in the sizes we need.