Cracked it tonight :-)

6:57.6 Wasn’t as hard as i’d expected, i just had to start off a tad faster and then keep up a steady pace. That’s not to say i wasn’t slightly gasping at the end though…..

Setting up is one thing, just make sure you don’t overtighten the brake guide ;-)

The Canyon bikes ship in a fairly hefty box which is wider than most?

And Charlie, i’ll be ringing you soon to talk about a Krampus, any news on delivery dates as yet? Very tempted indeed. :-)

I’ve tried a couple more times now and seem to have hit a wall. 7:05 & 7:08. Will try and break 7mins but simply don’t have the stamina to sustain the effort at the moment.

Was going to have a little challenge with the gym instructor until he told me his PB is 6:05………! He is 17yrs younger than me though.

This?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=84760

Or £50 cheaper for a v-brake version.

I am currently talking myself into a Krampus and spent today speccing up the build in my head.
I shall be ringing The Bikemonger tomorrow to see what the eta is on the rolling chassis deals.

Seems a decent half way house to me as the play bike 36er I’d briefly looked into would be too expensive to justify and the Krampus looks far more useable in the real world.

I run Schwalbe Big Apples in the 2.35″ version because they are just so comfy and devour potholes. They also do a 2″ version if you want them to be a tad quicker. To be fair though on my 11 mile hilly commute the fat tyres are not hugely slower than the 25mm’s on my road bike.

It’s fairly straight forward although it can take a few tries to get the cones tightened up correctly afterwards.

Good little video that though and it’s reminded me that i need to open up my XT hubs and see what condition they’re in after 3200 miles of abuse…

Si,

I’ve only ridden it once since the ‘summer’ so i still don’t know if it’s a crack or not and it’s now out of warranty. Oops.

If the Wyre ever dries out i’ll try riding it again…….

Ooohhh, that could be handy.

Fancy a quote in Bromsgrove??? :-)

Is that a Large or XL?

At some stage I’ll have to upgrade my Big Mama to a newer version.

Gears Suck, whereabouts in the country are you based?

Shopping around myself at the moment.

Tried this tonight to see how i’d do.

Never really use the rower but used to do the occasional 1000m effort so thought i’d try a 2000m.

Took it fairly easy until the last 400m and pulled a 7:13 so with a bit of practise that should come down to a sub 7. Thought that was ok for a 40 yr old. May try it a few more times as tonights effort was an hour after a 20 mile road ride.

Often wished i’d joined a club when i lived in London, used to cycle past the Putney clubs but never wandered in.

I got a Tiagra 9sp front mech on mine running with 105 shifters.

It’s been faultless but we had to run the bb spacers on the other side to allow the mech to have the correct reach.

I run a 9sp Deore 26/36/48 on mine and it’s been fine for 3000 miles. Couldn’t be bothered to pay the extra for XT at the time and prefer the black deore on the bike compared to the silver xt.

There’s a few of us based in Bromsgrove & Redditch and we ride the Wyre, Clent and the Lickeys on a fairly regular basis (although it’s all so wet at the moment we’ve been out less).

New people are always welcome. Lickeys is easiest for you obviously, it’ll only be a few miles for you to ride from home.

How does that compare to Eastner, more or less climbing?

I wish they’d hurry up and say where it is.

My mate was just about to buy one but the price has just jumped £150 and its up to £599 now :-(

Wonder if the original price was a mistake?

Cheers.

Annoyingly the actual Charge website shows the geometry measurement for all the sizes except the XL which is annoying as I can’t find the dimensions to help with the decision.

Still think its a good looking bike and killer vfm at the price. I’d have one myself if I was in the market.

Yep, problem is that 2 different sites have put him on 2 different bike sizes.

I’ll be in the shop in London at the end of the month to see if I can see one in the flesh to help,with the decision as long as they don’t sell out first.

And I assume you’d not be buying at Evans seeing as you can get them for £450 if you shop around?

I’m looking at one as a commuter for a friend of mine. Very good vfm at the moment for the 2012 and the trade reviews seem good although I’ve not found anybody who’s got one yet.

Also can’t decide on the L or XL for my 6’2″ mate.

I have 2 stem captains that i bought at xmas, one clock and one thermometer.

I got them at stemcaptain.co.uk for £16 each posted and they came really quickly. I’m liking them so far and trying to get my LBS to stock them.

This is the one i was looking at a while back but i thought it was a bit pricey for what i wanted at the time.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cateye-commuter-cycling-computer/

Was the only one i found with temperature on it.

Edit – £36 on CRC

Ton,

The evans rides are not until 23/24 Feb so it’s a while off yet but drop me an email nearer the time (in profile) if you’re still interested in a test ride at the time.

I’m also down in North London with a mate in 2 weeks and he lives 5 miles from Triton cycles so i shall be popping in for a mooch around and maybe pick up a bike for a mate.

I’ve got over 3000 miles on my Fargo now and i absolutely love it. (1st gen ‘Fun Guy Green’ one.

Built with 3×9 using 105 shifters, deore touring chainset, tiagra front mech and xt cassette. I run 46cm Salsa Bell lap bars which are ace and bb7 road brakes. I had the wheels built strong with xt hubs on Flow rims 36h rear 32h front and i use it mostly as a road commuter/winter bike as it just eats up potholes with it’s 2.35″ Big Apple tyres (pretty much any 2.4″ tyre and below will fit comfortably). I tried it offroad and it was fun but obviously not a ‘proper’ mtb although it’s more than fine for bumpy towpath rides and badly maintained back roads.

I run a SKS Bluemel full rear mudguard (available from Germany in the 65mm version (around £26 posted) which gives loads of room even with the Big Apples). Front guard is more of a faff with the brake calliper but is fine with a bit of fettling. I don’t tend to run a front guard though as they always seem to rattle a bit and its a pain to fit in the car with it on.

Ton, i may be in Leeds in Feb for the Evans ride with a mate and could bring it up if you wanted to try one (although mine is the discontinued XXL which is a monster but you’d just about be ok on it)?

Of all my bikes it’s the most versatile and the last one i’d give up.

Saw one up the Lickey Hills a few years ago, thought I was going mad. Never seen one since or heard of anybody else who has.

A sub £1000 36er rolling chassis.

£2000 seems to be the going rate which is way too much for a ‘just for the sake of it’ bike.

A 36″ Inbred would be ideal. Won’t hold my breath though!!

If you want the ultimate in big volume 29er slicks then the Schwalbe Big Apples in 2.35″ size are ace. I use them on the road in my Fargo and love them. Fairly grippy and absorb any pothole a UK road can throw at you.

If less is more then there are loads of hybrid type tyres out there in the 37-45mm range – take your pick.

Unless you’ve been unlucky and got a duff tyre it just sounds like the tyre bead has not seated properly.

Try and refit it and if need be pump them up until you hear it ‘ping’ into place (should go by the time you hit 50-60psi then let air out to your required psi). You should be able to visually see where the tyre has not seated.

I have it’s predecessor, the Salsa Big Mama which has silly long chainstays (a std shimano chain has to be lengthened to fit a 3×9 drivetrain) and i’ve never had an issue with the handling and i also have a super short rear ended Honzo as well. Can’t say i really notice any difference in the real world.

Post up some pics once the Horsethief is done, it’ll be interesting to see it.

Thanks Dylan, thought it’d be pretty expensive. :-(

Shame you’re so far away as it would be interesting to throw a leg over one.

Dylan,

Just out of interest, what sort of prices would it be for frame and forks and also, how much do wheels cost (given a basic XT hub or similar). Tyres seem to be $60-$100 plus whatever shipping etc.

What would be the main differences in building it bigger – less toe overlap and less need to bend the seat tube? Would a much bigger frame be better, worse or no different for 36″ wheels?

Thanks

Coker do a 36″ Monster Cruiser in the US which is about £450 for a full bike but it’s a tad basic and rim braked otherwise i’d ask them to sell me a frame and fork combo.

Just looked at Dylans site and the 36er seems a one size fits all build saying 5’3″-6’5″ which i guess is not what i’m ideally looking for. The site does say though that he’s thinking of making it a production frame but no mention of cost.

There must be a bored inquisitive frame maker out there somewhere….? :-)

As it would only be a silly ‘just for the sake of it’ build i’d not want to go more than a couple of hundred quid (maybe up to £500 as it’d have to include forks) and i can’t see any framebuilder getting remotely close to that budget.

Unless of course there’s one out there who wants to just simply cover his material costs and try to build one for a project to see what can be done?

As i’m 6’7″ with silly long legs and arms i’d just like to see whether that helps with the design of a bike with wheels that big or if it makes little or no difference?

But i’ll be honest – i really just want to ride up lots of stairs!!!! :-)

I ride a Fargo and there is a nice Vaya that gets serviced in my LBS which always looks nice when i see it.

Sounds perfect for what you want but if you want the ability to get a fatter tyre in for a bit more off road capability then the Fargo is also worth a look. There’s a nearly new one for sale in the classifieds in a medium (with custom frame bag included as you mentioned touring).

Edit – That would appear to be your Fargo anyway so i guess you can ignore me!! :-)

Same here TooTall, I’d love to try one. Ever since I watched the video of the bloke ring up the stairs.
Trouble is it only ever seems to be custom titanium ones that crop up. What I want is a cheap steel On One version just for something a bit different and as a play bike as I can’t really see them being up to much for proper offroad.

It would also be nice to see one built upon a 22-24″ frame size to see how it looks as again, all the custom ones seem to be around 18″ which makes them look too cramped.

A 36″er would make a decent 40th pressie for me as the wife got me nowt last month – who’ll build me a cheapish 36er then…….?

As Cupra says, Bluemels are great.

I have a set of the 53mm ones (biggest i could find in the UK) and they were ‘just’ about big enough to use with my 2.35″ Big Apples on my Fargo.

After a thread on here i upgraded to the 65mm ones from Germany and they are perfect (although i only use the rear one at the moment).

If i was closer to Leeds i’d let you try my older ones as they’re just sat around in the garage now.

On a totally unrelated subject, who do you work for Tuffty? ;-)

Will i have a longer drive from Bromsgrove or shorter?

I’ve got a choice of 2 spare unused Deore 44t outer rings (1 silver, 1 black) that i’d sell at £12 (each) posted?

Then get a cheap 32t middle ring and you’re done (assuming that the granny is unlikely to need replacing as it’s generally not used much on commuter bikes).

Certainly not light but i love my Fargo and it’ll run pretty much any tyre you want. I have 2.35″ Big Apples on mine and it just eats up the potholes and country lanes. Switch the tyres and it’s pretty capable off road as well.