Clearly not- then again I did reply at around 7:20am while sat on the toilet, so forgive me if I was not 100% switched on.

I know a couple of guys who have the e13 cogs, who haven’t had any problems (running very similar setups to the OP.)

It can only really be a question of limits, tension and B-Tension IMO. If the derailleur were sitting correctly below the cog, you wouldn’t be having issues.
Stupid question- it is definitely a 10sp chain you’ve got, yeah?

Have you set the B-tension properly?
Also, what’s the age/mileage of the chain & cassette?

Top run from Manon 🙂

There doesn’t seem to be much of a crowd there :S

Higher price= Lighter weight is not necessarily true, and it’s certainly not the only factor what makes a saddle more expensive. In many cases it’s down to material differences in the base, padding, and cover. Basically, the more you pay, the better these get.

When I say better, I mean that the base gets more robust, and has more cleverly engineered flex throughout- to ensure sturdiness without compromising comfort/ensure comfort without giving the base the same rigidity as a bit of ham.

Padding-wise, better saddles tend to use higher-density padding, meaning it’s more resistant to packing-down- in the same way that good bibshorts don’t use massive wads of thick padding. This affects ride comfort as well as longevity.

Cover material makes a huge difference to a saddle’s lifespan, but also the aesthetic (cynics will say this doesn’t matter, but when your bike is your pride and joy, you want it to look good)
A well made saddle will last for years, and still look good after a couple of winters slopping through manky conditions, in heavyweight winter riding shorts. For example, I’ve got an SDG Duster which has seen a couple of horrific winters now, and it still looks pretty much box fresh.

Rail material does make a difference, in ways other than weight. Yes, a ti rail might be marginally lighter than a cro-mo rail, but it is also significantly stronger, and much more resistant to the rigours of riding in shitty conditions.

After years of using crappy saddles (and having them wear out in less than a year) I’ve seen the light and have resolved only to use good quality saddles. The initial cost is more, but a good one lasts for years, and I figure as it’s the part which connects my most sensitive of the 3 contact points to the bike, it’s worth doing right 🙂

In terms of recommending a saddle, that’s pretty much impossible, as everybody has different preferences/fits etc. Best thing to do is find a shop with a few different test saddles, and try a few out to see what you like!

Cheers,
Scott.

It is true that there’s a lot of crap on the market here in the UK, but I guess a lot of that is down to lack of consumer knowledge. As far as the average end user of these types of products are concerned, there’s really very little available.
However, if you get yourself over to Eurobike you’ll see a really pretty significant range of adapted bikes/mobility products. The demand for them is there, but it tends to be in countries which have much more of a cycling culture than we do (seen as a primary mode of transport, than the preserve hobby of a few weirdos.)
Like anything, these will eventually become more prevalent as the demand for choice and value grows. At the moment though, they’re still portrayed as a very bespoke thing, hence why the prices are so high.

As previously said, economies of scale do play a significant part in this- for every 1 mobility bike sold, there’s probably at least 10,000 regular bikes sold. However, the manufuacturers/retailers definitely seem to be relying on the ignorance/naivety of their customers at the moment.

Well look what just showed up!

A very embarrassed neighbour just showed up at our front door, having seen the poster my wife put up in the lane. She was terribly apologetic, but i think she did me a favour in fact- if she hadn’t taken it, it would have gone anyway, and I probably wouldn’t have got it back. Apparently she took it on Friday afternoon, and it’s been sat in her shed since then, while she was away on holiday 🙂

Couldn’t be happier! It’s nice when something like this happens- kinda restores your faith in humanity 🙂

My hack bike went missing over the weekend, but it was a giant… and in Plymouth…

If you feel like sending that one down to me to replace my hack, I’d be a very happy chappy 😉

If you’ve got a half decent bike shop near you, they will be able to tell by measuring. And, they can probably get the spokes for you too, if they don’t already have em in stock.

It was unfortunate about the service with the Luff Bus. Normally they’re great, especially when the owner, Ian, is there. On this occasion he wasn’t there for some reason, and the crew he had running it couldn’t seem to tell their arses from their elbows.
I also thought the pricing was not bad, as long as you were careful what you bought. For example, £5.50 for a massive home-made burger with all the bacon you could want on it (plus salad and cheese) is not bad at all. I had chilli on the Saturday evening, and although £7 was pretty pricey, it was really nice.
Of course it’s going to be more expensive than a supermarket/maccy dees/gregs etc. but you’re paying for the convenience of having hot tasty food served to you on site. It’s a shame the service wasn’t great this time, but they’re at pretty much every event down here in the south-west, and they’re normally spot-on.

I have no connection with the company, but I just feel it’s a bit unfair that they seem to be getting a panning, and called rip-off merchants, where they’re actually pretty fairly priced for what you get.

Cheers lads. Yeah, I reckon that’s probably what’s happened- a lot of shit does get left lying to be scrapped. I probably wouldn’t lift it, but i imagine a fairly honest person could have done so, thinking it was for the bin anyway.

I’m down at 24/12 today, so can’t do anything about it. My wife (the star that she is) has been out putting up posters in the lanes though. I love that girl 🙂

Here’s a better pic of it, taken on Thursday morning.

codybrennan – Member

The Edinburgh shop is about to start a new manager.

He is a righteous dude.

FACT.

Really? I’ve heard he’s a bit of a knob 😉

A buddy of mine has a large (or xl, can’t remember) Trek Fuel EX 29er, and his fits absolutely fine into an Evoc Bike bag. He had to deflate the tyres, but if you’re flying with it you should be doing that anyway.

Mountain Biking has always been expensive when compared to the relatively low cost of rose-tinted specs (the goverment gives a set to you for free once you hit 50, I think.)

Back to the OP’s original point about the new Cove frame being £1700. Yeah, you’re right, that is a lot of money. However, previous versions went for £2000 and had been doing so for years. So, for it to have come down in price makes it pretty good value IMO.

Lets review the facts here:

The other day I had a slow speed tumble

The bike is 2yo, I’ve had it 18 months having bought it through ebay

So, you have crashed your bike, and broken your bars, which you bought 2nd hand.

Should I complain to the manufacturer?

Err… Probably not.

+1 for Lloyd at Professional Transfers. I’ve known him for years, and he’s an absolutely brilliant guide, who happens to own an airport transfer company.

Convenient, eh?!

@ Globalti

The Beards- You should consider having sex with a bearded man.

I keep trying to respond to the questions, but im on a train in deepest darkest Somerset, and keep losing signal halfway through responding. Please be assured I’m not ignoring the comments- all advice is appreciated.

Re: the job. It’s not guaranteed yet- its basically a rep job, and I’ve been working as inside sales covering that area for the last 2 years. I’ve built up some really good relationships with my customers, and generally do well with sales in that area. I know our products, customers and systems, so i can’t see why i wouldn’t get it.

Re: the visas. We’re eligible for two or three different types- already done the checks on the CIC website. We’ve got guaranteed accommodation, and the people we’re to be staying with have already said they’d sponsor us for residency if we wanted to go down that route. My wife has two prospective jobs, and while I don’t have anything solid lined up yet, I have some good contacts in Vancouver through my current work, and at very least, a mate of mine has promised me a job in his bike shop.

Re: Rorschach- Good for you and your short attention span. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all 🙂

@jamie- fixed now. Posted by phone while on a train.

that’s constructive. Thanks.

It’s always a bit of a “piece of string” question. If it had happened within a week, then yeah, probably would be covered.
After 700km though, probably not.

Sometimes spokes snap. I blew two in one go on my MTB last weekend. Shit happens sometimes, unfortunately.

Asr-5 alloy or carbon. Either or, they’re both ace 😉

a grave for a chicken.

You mean gravy, surely?

Ah, you’ll be reet. I’ve got those brakes, and they were fine when I was in Morocco (descents of 45mins or so)

if you’re worried, just use them less and go faster 🙂

@ Pik N Mix- you do seem to be going on about that an awful lot. Were you given crabs by someone called Lisa at some point, and this thread has brought up some bad memories?

Probably wouldn’t. I ride a 140mm setup, I reckon any taller and it would handle like a bit of a boat.

What form have you got? It may be possible to reduce the travel slightly?

http://raceface.com/guards/legs/indy-knee/ ?

Mega light, but have D30 in them. Awesome all day pads 🙂

it’s a bit of a “piece of string” question though, isn’t it? Lifespan varies greatly depending on a multitude of factors- if you’ve been running a single-ring setup, and riding twice a week all through winter then 6 months seems about right… obviously depending on ride length and conditions.
I tend to get just under a year out of a single ring, but then I don’t ride as often as you say you do, especially not in horrible mucky wet winter conditions.
You can get steel single rings from the likes of Surly I think, but they are a lot heavier, and you’d have a run a chain device.

How about these?

never mind- just found it, and it’s not the one.

Got a link to the auction? A friend of mine had his arc-x nicked last year (in the south west too) and I’m wondering if the two could be connected. They’re a bit like hens’ teeth!

Klunker?

I should point out at this point, that the bike had a freewheel at this point- It’s now a proper fixie with no tensioner. It’s vertical dropouts, but running it 42/16 with a half-link chain seems to fit perfectly! It’s also got a deep section front wheel now to make it even more hipsterrific!

My death trap- old Giant Cadex which has been bastardized into a fixie, with bars off an old raleigh girls bike. It’s a proper hipster sled, and I think the lugs are coming away from the carbon tubes, but i f**king love it. The frame is dated around 1990-1992- gotta be one of the oldest carbon ones around, eh?

Expensive, yes. Overpriced, no. FiveTen shoes are ace- I’ve had a set since 2009 which are just needing to be replaced now.

The difference I found is in the thickness & stiffness of the sole, not to mention the incredible grip. I tried riding in a set of skate shoes again last summer, but just found there was no arch support. Its fine if you’re just nobbing about, but after a full day riding, you’ll know the difference.
If you don’t want to shell out for five tens, go to somewhere like millets and get a set of trail/approach shoes. They tend to be a bit cheaper, and offer decent support, but they’ll not have the same grip as stealth rubber.

depends on the cassette you’re running- if it tops out at a 34t, then going to 42t will be a huge jump. 40t will be smoother in this case.

I’d be into that. I’m based down in Plymouth, and am happy to travel. Was there not talk of one happening in Exeter a while back?

DO NOT DO THAT! GET IT OUT OF YOUR POST ASAP! Power steering fluid is highly combustible under compression, which could result in the post exploding and you with a saddle lodged somewhere in your intestines.

Maybe.

Well, probably not.

Honestly, I’ve no idea, but this is STW so knowledge is not really a pre-requisite of a response.

Tbh, it’ll probably be reet. Might damage some rubber seals, maybe? But you’ll probably not die.

I think it’s one of these he’s using, right?
http://www.fabtechsystems.com/Bartlett-Tendon-Universal-Knee-Product-Detail.html

I remember seeing the video put up by the inventor of it, shredding on his DH bike with this artificial limb. Incredible stuff!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcBt2MUzh_Y

Things like this make me happy 🙂