Great thread folks!

I always liked this one…

And in Eve Online, I fly one of these freudian beauties…

Cotic Soul, 25.7lbs…

Nothing particularily out of the ordinary in the spec, Next SL seatpost, Truvativ Team stem and Noir Team bars are pretty light but the rest is just run of the mill, XT/717 wheels with 2.1 Nevegal/Blue Groove tyres, SLX triple crankset and XT 34T cassette, RS Revelation dual airs… Light enough to XC and tough enough to trail.

Northwind: how low do you mean when you say “works a charm even with fairly low pressures”?

One of the comments people make about wide tyres on narrow rims is that they’ll roll off the rim at low pressures… I’ve run the nevegal/blue groove combo as low as 25psi (for snow and ice) and they worked a charm.

Oh, worth mentioning- sure, Mavic’s website etc all says they’re only good for up to 2.1, but the wheel itself has printed on it that it’ll do 2.3 as long you don’t exceed, I think it’s 50psi. No issue there really for most of us.

What the fudge is it with you blokes and steel, why do you want to build a hartail that weighs as much as a full sus? (ok, well 1lb more than an alloy frame)

Depends very much on your choice of frame, my medium Soul is 4.2lbs, my Scandal was I think 3.6lbs, so it doesn’t have to be a dramatic difference.

Yep, nuke it with nitromors. Depending on the finish you might also need to wire brush it, I have no idea at all what my old carrera was painted with but it was incredibly tough, multiple attacks with nitromors, wire brush, eventually i threw in the towel and used a wire wheel in a drill. I’d expected it to be rubbish but it was far tougher than the paint on my motorbike.

oh, and you know how loads of stuff has warnings saying “Do not get on skin” “wear gloves”, but often you can ignore it and all seems fine? DON’T! This stuff is evil, even little second-hand splashes off the brush burn like hell. Surgical rubber gloves alone are no good, you’ll want to protect your forearms somehow- old tshirt or similiar.

Algore, it does sound like you need wider bars tbh rather than different grips.

Forks and rim brakes please. And I’ll fit a set of magura rim brakes.

Rusty – yes easily. A bit of high flashpoint solvent they slide on easily – the solvent dries out and the rubber of the grip goes tacky and sticks to the bar.

You’re right, that IS much simpler than tightening 2 bolts! And taking them off is also so much easier than untightening 2 bolts.

I’ve been using Nevegal 2.35s on mine on and off through the winter, works a charm even with fairly low pressures. The tyre’s a wee bit pinched so you lose some volume, that’s about it for drawbacks in my experience. And that’s kenda sizes, which actually are as big as they say on the tyres :)

1991, possibly? 91 or 92. I had a raleigh marauder before that but kids bikes don’t count, I wasn’t really “mountain biking” til I got that carrera. Most of a year’s birthday, christmas and paper round, it cost me. Then, stopped in about 97 or 98 and didn’t ride again once for a decade.

Heh, I got a set of Tora 302s in that flood sale for £70. No box but otherwise mint… Used them for 3 months and sold them for £100. I hope they get flooded again this year.

Boardman? Their £1000 model just won the WMB test.

As much as I respect his opinion, Hitler’s wrong here… I’ve got one of last year’s waterproofs and it keeps the rain out just fine. It’s like being boil-in-the-bag rice, but you expect that from a cheap jacket. I think he just had unreasonable expectations, like that time he invaded Russia.

My Raceface Next SL carbon seatpost, £50… I think the shop had maybe confused the stock with the Deus XC post and priced it up wrong. That possibly makes me a thief. Ah well.

It was a bit freaky when it snowed this year, all of a sudden the bike parking was completely full of C2W £1000 mountain bikes that had never been commuted on before :mrgreen:

I’ve never had a grip fall off, but I still use lock-ons these days just because it’s so nice to be able to remove and fit them without any mucking about.

BBS is a different company, powdercoaters only.

Ah, there’s another minor feature that’s missing, being able to choose the number of posts per page. Trivial of course but it’s nice to have.

Agree that splitting wanted and for sale would make sense, but the board I mod has that and it’s a total pain, everyone ALWAYS posts in the wrong forum.

i’ve got one of the Aldi ones, it’s basically exactly the same as one I saw on Wiggle for £30. I’ve still never actually fitted it, because it turns out I can hang the old rubbish bikes off the garage door rails, but it looks decent enough.

tescos have their bike hooks on discount just now, £1 a set.

It’s because you forgot the tubes. Schoolboy error, they keep the air in!

I’d love to see Pitchshifter reform, and show all these johnny come latelys how things are done 8)

Dust Junkies! :mrgreen: Good shout Rusty Spanner!

Stumpy01, did you see there’s an Almighty track on the Saw 5 soundtrack? How random is that?

The format’s fine, but the board software’s not great. No email notifications, no private messages so far as I can see, and no quote button. None of it’s the end of the world but it could all be added without actually changing the board format/layout. The same only better really.

I use a quick release block for some cheap commuter light, which I got from chain reaction, and a jubilee clip. Since switching to OS bars I just mount the torch further out.

I like the Nevegals, I’ve been playing around with them, 2.1 both ends with a stick-e on the front makes a very good allround set (or a Blue Groove on the front and Nevegal on the back). They’ve done me fine all winter, and they’d do me for summer too I’m sure, but I’ve stuck on a more summery set for now. I’ve got a 2.35 pair as well but they’re just silly for xc (though the 2.35 on the back of a hardtail makes for a nice ride on lumpy trails!)

I’m colourblind too, that’s why my bike’s black and white. At least, I think it is.

As long as the bike’s well designed for it,130mm is fine. U-turn is still nice though, gives you extra options for really nadgery climbs (black hill).

Yup, druidh, far too young for it too :( Sadly missed.

Ah, cheers for the headsup. I’ll stay in bed.

I ran mine with 100-130mm u-turn revelations. TBH it wasn’t great with the 130mm, but it was brilliant with 100-110mm. Just because it’s strong enough to run 130mm (and it is, no worries) doesn’t mean it’s a great idea, I built up extra muscles in my left arm from turning the u-turn lever constantly up and down… Play to its strengths.

65DOS don’t count as obscure, they’ve been used on Match of the Day :mrgreen:

I’d have recommended BBS but I’ve not used them for anything since Al passed away, I’m not sure who’s running the place now. I’ve not used Hendersons but I like their style.

I’d probably post it to Triple S but that’s just me, they’re about as good as it gets.

Hundred Reasons… OK, they were briefly slightly succesful but they’re still going and nobody ever notices. One of the best british bands of recent years I reckon.

rolfharris, what makes you think there’s anything wrong with the frame? Care to back that up at all? Or is it just brand snobbery?

Either one. Take the one you like best. Personally i’d go hardtail but it’s pure personal preference. I just can’t be bothered hauling a couple of extra kilos up to the top of the hill :mrgreen:

Like the Carreras the frames are built by Merida, don’t know who designs them though. But people will always turn their noses up at halfords bikes even when they’re brilliant.

Most repairs won’t be as strong as it was in the first place… So if you broke it once, it’ll break again. Sorry, but realistically a new frame makes more sense. A welder who knows his bikes could probably do you a reasonable repair but it’ll need refinished afterwards too.

Other people named all of mine… I’ve been clearing a new path, or maybe reopening an old one, around a local reservoir which I call Trumpet Weed, because it’s so rooty. (How do you deal with trumpet weed? You root it oot)

The cheap lifeline ones are good… You can snap them but you always feel it coming. If you’re a serial breaker, get metal-cored ones, they’re the best of both worlds.

I’m pretty sure the shimano olives are designed to be one-shot, they’re hard to get off the hose because they compress under pressure, just like a brake banjo crush washer. No doubt you can reuse them just like you can crush washers, but it’s probably not the best idea.

Cheers JxL, I’m really pleased with it. Though the white saddle’s possibly a bit jey :roll: The sizes come up pretty small, I’m 5’10 and 33 inch inside leg, the frame’s a 17.5 medium and as you can see it still needs a lot of seatpost. It’s barely any bigger than my small On One. I don’t know much about the Wanga but apart from the high price I’ve no hesitations recommending the Soul, it’s exactly as good as everyone says.

Oh, also got a 1991 tange-tubed steel carrera rigid in bits in the garage, getting a coating of hammerite’s finest and then rebuilt for road and occasional offroad use… Sure it’s “just” a carrera but its served me well for longer than some members on here have been alive :mrgreen: