There was a video on FB yesterday of a guy who had thrown a couple of handfuls of drawing pins into the path of some road cyclists, what knobs

Have you tried CO2 with the valve core in?

My son had a 1.0 Corsa C £900 insurance was £1200 with a box which actually gave cash back for good driving it actually cost £800 after refunds, fitted a full leather heated sports interior, 16” alloys, all singing satnav dvd stereo and a Irmscher sports exhaust. Was a great little run about

I had a similar problem with Yodel, 3 days running they did not collect a frame I’d sold, there website said no one at home. Send via Parcelforce 48 at the Post Office and it arrived next day

A little update on the sales I posted, both posted with title only, I edited the description into the first one and all looked ok, however when signed out I couldn’t see the thread at all and is shaded a pale orange colour, had a second attempt and that did exactly the same

I tried posting a sale thread and it’s broken, second attempt didn’t work either

I’ve a Kinesis Crosslight 5T bought it second hand frame and forks (was a CX race bike) used as my commuter last year with full guards and rack, now without the rack but with full guards it’s my winter club run bike, weighing around 9.5kg. Originally had canti brakes but value my life so fitted XT V brakes with travel agents, now using TRP CX mini V’s which are superb.

I’ve used these ( http://www.carboncyclerepairs.co.uk/index.html )to repair the seatpost clamping area on my Trek HT, bought it second hand and was fitted with the wrong size reverb that cost £160 but looking at their website there are road bikes that have been snapped and repaired

In 2012 my Toyota Avenesis sustained £6.5K damage from hailstones! At least that was the original quote, it was a company car and had over 200 dents, damaged trim, door mirror and rear light.

The Tortec Epic Stainless steel rack was a big disappointment, very poorly finished, sent it back

If i remember correctly, they come with a bag of gubbins that clamp through the brake lever band

I decided to go for the Tortec Epic in stainless steel. It won’t be a permanent fitting on the bike, just as and when I need to carry a load (have a clunky hybrid for day to day stuff, also fitted with a Tortec rack).

I’ve a Tripster ATR V1, any recommendations for a rear carrier, was looking at the Tortec Epic (probably in Stainless) or the Tubus Cargo/Cargo Evo or Logo/Logo Evo. Are the Tubus worth the extra? Has anyone fitted one of these to a ATR?

Park do some large metal ones, have a pair in my tool box, look a bit evil for most jobs though. Generally I don’t use tyre levers as I’ve developed the technique for working the tyres on and off without the need

Great day out, thanks for waiting for me at every gate

Hopefully I’ll be there, provided my journey down goes to plan

I’ve got a Giro Fathom MTB XC lid that has a removable peak, the helmet is essentially the same as a roadie Atmos (which I also have and a TLD A1 for proper XC type riding)

I bought a set of TRP Spyres off the classified section when I built my Kinesis ATR, fitted new UberBike race pads and used 160mm Shimano IceTech rotors. Once they had bedded in they work spot on

Evans screwed up and sent me 2 front wheels, pleased with the look of the fronts, fitted a Conti GP4000S ii tyre in 28mm flavour and inflated to 90psi. Now waiting for my local Evans to get in touch so i can swap the wheel

I ordered a set of Hunt 4 Seasons gravel disc wheels to be delivered end of March. Unfortunately they have not been able to fulfill my order and having just told me for the second time they will be delayed for another 3 weeks I have cancelled my order and gone for Hope 20five with centre lock RS4 hubs ( I picked up some IceTech CL rotors from the classifieds). Evans had them in stock and are now on there way to me, good price and hopefully some Quidco cash back too.

Like the look of the Hunt wheeels, thanks for the advice

I’ve used a black and decker workmate in the past but have made a headset/BB press like the OP pictured but found some metal plates at work that should be a lot stronger than washers

I’ve got one of these, love it, although I did replace the orange strap for a black one. That Gulfmaster is very nice

Nearly bought a NOS Klein frameset a couple of years ago and I rebuilt an original Orange Clockwork, sold the Orange didn’t buy the Klein got a Trek OCLV hardtail instead don’t really want to do the retro thing again

I had a pair of XTR pedals that broke when I tried to service them, the head of the sleeve part 2 in the diagram sheared off. I don’t have them anymore and now very sceptical of lightweight top end stuff, sticking with XT and Ultegra

I had problem with my XT brakes, the rear was just squealing and no power, I solved by cleaning the discs and replacing the pads with Uberbike finned ones. Been ok since

I’ve always used Cinelli gel tape but recently bought a roll of Boardman tape from Halfords for 99p it’s squishy and so far wearing well

The Shimano R451 long drop brakes are a good budget option [/url] unfortunately more expensive than when i bought mine for £24 a full set.

Cranks have a look on ebay for a Shimano FC-R565 Compact Chainset, perfectly serviceable non groupset chainset fitted to many bikes as standard but often upgraded to finish the groupo. I’ve bought a couple for £20-25

I initially used a cheap cable set of Jagwire outers with galvanised inners, I’ve since swapped to Shimno outers and SS inners, the cables are secure and the pads are hitting square on, the pads are Koolstop Salmon and aren’t worn. It has to be said that I’ve been riding in all weathers whereas my summer bike has never been out in the wet. It’s not that I can’t stop, the front brake is adequate, it could be the pads don’t suit the rims, the Shimano pads in my XT 780 discs brakes on the XC bike felt really poor, it was only after swapping to UberBike race pads did I get really good performance.The TRP brakes have cost me less than the R650’s and the black finish will match the bike better, and hopefully a give marginal improvement in braking too.

Well I’m still not impressed with my rear brake, I still feel that it’s not doing much at all, it’s almost impossible to lock up the rear even after cleaning. In the spirit of constantly upgrading I’ve picked up a set of used TRP RG957 for a good price from eBay they are coming from the US so should have them within 2 weeks, I’m also thinking of changing the Koolstop Salmons for SwissStop BXP.

My wife can be a terrible snorer I often use an app called Sleep Pillow and listen to a pouring rain soundtrack. Where do you get custom made earplugs?

A workmate gave me his knackered Orange Clockwork, wrecked rear wheel, derailleur hanger bent at 90 degrees, I stripped it down and rebuilt with more modern components (the old crap sold well on retro bike and eBay, almost enough to pay for the rebuild), I wasn’t aiming for a authentic early ’90’s just wanted to give it a new lease as our shop bike, cheap powedercoat in homage to the orange-white-orange fade. Does the job but I wouldn’t want to ride it off road. At 14.5kg it’s good for keeping fit, a kilo heavier than my full-sus!

If anyone wants to buy a Trek 8000 frame 1996, I’ve been trying to sell my original MTB for a while, only have the frame left now

, but we all know you’ll then have the nagging worry that you might need an old 35mm film case one day. Best get yourself another one.

I hunted high and low for one of those when I bought 200 cable end caps from China via eBay , sits proudly in my box of bike bits.

My wife bought a set of those battery candles, but she’s lost the remote 😐 mind you she can’t be trusted with an open flame, she did burn the paintwork on the fire place with a real candle

Worst presents Lynx, a Picture frame and a Weird Fish jumper with incredibly short sleeves. In fact I’m struggling to think of a good present, part from my youngest son who bought me a bottle of Jameson’s and a nice Zippo

Went to Mablethorpe to do a job one evening in the summer, place was overrun by pikeys who had set up camp within the town centre, even without them it’s a grim place

Took CP’s advice and backed off the brake pads a mm or two, made all the difference, went on a 30 mile ride along muddy lanes and despite the brake pad holders getting caked in mud they areworking adequately, did pick up a puncture though from a thorn thanks to the farmer cutting hedges.

Here’s a pic of the bike, started life as a Pinnacle Dolomite 2 I bought off eBay cheap, the forks, tyres, mudguards, brakes, rear carrier, bottle cage and lights came from my old single speed (with the parts off this bike replacing them, before it was sold on eBay for the same price), Charge ti saddle, Easton seatpost, bars & stem + front mech again from eBay, wheels, rear mech, chainset, XTR pedals, shifters and Easton top cap from STW, with a few new consumable bits (chain, cassette, BB, cables, bar tape) and a cheap powder coat in middle sky blue RAL 5015. It’s not exactly lightweight but it sort of fills a gap between my carbon hardtail and and road bike as a do it all within reason, winter club rides, long distance day rides (long to me anyway, did my first ever 120km on this), next upgrade will be the bars as I’m not happy with the shape and if I can’t sort out the brakes then maybe look at the TRP ones. Long term I’d love a Titanium endurance frame.

Thanks cp I’ll give that a go tomorrow, got a 35 mile ride planned for Wednesday so will have plenty of chance to test

Thanks for the replies, the release levers were down, pads close to the rims the levers pull the brake to the rim but then go pretty solid, they are ok when braking off the drops but too stiff off the hoods. After my close shave I cleaned the rims with a clean rag and took the pads out and cleaned them with fine wet n dry paper, this improved things. Have been looking at the TRP brakes, but reluctant to spend the equivalent of a set of XT hydraulic disc brakes.

Very smart, looks a proper quality finish, shame about the cable ties for the reverb,

I’ve never had a bike sprayed “properly” the ones I’ve had done have been cheap 2nd hand bikes for commuting or knocking around on, done at my local powder coaters, but if you wanted a smart hard wearing solid colour you can’t go far wrong for between £15 and £40 depending on stripping the old finish or how much he’s messed around getting the job done around his other work.

Easton EC70 seatpost won on Sunday off eBay, upgrade for my winter road bike. Still no sign of the Ultegra shifters bought from the classifieds section on here last week though