totally agree with officaltob, drove a 700 mile round trip, but i got to see the bike, test ride it, meet the seller in person and got a much better idea of how the bike was treated. and now i have the bike of my dreams, – the guy even threw in a couple of Maxxis tyres, handlebars and a load of rock oil goodies – so totally worth it

thank you StuJenks you are a legend

cost me £100 in diesel, plus those 700 miles in depreciation though – so in that sense the Paypal/ebay fees are very reasonable for peice of mind

My Cannondale failed at the weld about 8 or 9 months after i bought it, but they have a lifetime warrently on the frame, so i took it back to the bikeshop from where i bought it.

the frame was replaced under warrenty, and so far no further snappage has occured and i have a newer frame to sell on 🙂

so take it to the shop and see what they can do – it will mean you’ll be without a bike for ages, but it will be replaced at no cost to you.

the shop will strip the bike, send it to the manufacturer, who will scan the bike, look at the welds, provided there was a weakness there (which sounds likley)they’ll replace the frame and return to the shop.

(Edit; replace ‘will’ with ‘should’)

+1 for taking litter home with you ]

– its frigging lighter once you’ve used it!

i use the 661 Kyle’s no problems, find them perfectly comfortable

as for MTFU, one of my pads them has a large gouge out of the front, which makes me happy as its not my knee and i can continue riding

Yep ridden GBU on a 120mm trail bike with XC lid no googles and flats

and i didn’t die, but as my name suggests i am used to landing on my face 😀

have a mate who rides it with a 80mm hardtail, but then he’s an idiot!

where is the Stag Do?

i’d stay clear of Skyline, as above its basically fire roads

W2 is 44km so depends how fit you are feeling

i’d recommend parking at The Afan Vistor Centre rather than parking at the bikepark. then you can get the climb out of the way first and then loop the bike park which is basically halfway down the descent of the Wall anyway

then do whites level on the Friday morning, as you can loop the bike park there as well

What about a Spicy? always wanted one of those

I have a Nicolai and its the best bike i’ve ever had

I have a mate who has the commencal Meta, and he wouldn’t swap that

would also consider Turner 5 spot (edit: just seen you already have one, what’s wrong with it? i have a mate running his in 160 flavour and it’s pretty good)

and the canyon strive is a lot of bike for the money

i’ve ridden all 4 and still wouldnt change my Nicolai

agreed! night rides rock, especially in the snow

4

Trek 8900
Alpine Allstars pub bike
Cannondale RZ120
Nicolai Helius AM

not really sure, possibly although i did get both frames replaced free of charge and how would they define ‘life of the frame’? i’d say a snap would class as the end of a frames life, however i get ‘unlimited’ text messages with my mobile contract and that actually means 3,000 a month, so i’m sure there are any amount of tricks to get out of paying

I broke a trek frame…….then moved to a cannondale………and that frame snapped too! some people never learn eh?! probably should move to a spesh, just to complete the set 😆

to be fair both bikes have a life time warrenty on the frames – got both the trek and the cannondale frames replaced, took around 4 weeks (8 for the cannondale, but that’s a different story), but replaced free of charge (as long as you strip and build the bike back up yourself – still have both bikes now

misleading thread title – i was wondering how a major city in the State of calafornia coudl be convicted and of what?

i think its worth a watch, who knows it might have been edited and is not so unbalanced, lets face it it is going to show some pretty terrible motor driving

if nothing else it’ll mean we can all weigh in here and rant about how good /bad/ inciteful / it is or how fat bikes are rubbish / brilliant 😆

yep, Afan this Sunday, it was cold, wet, muddy and absolutly brilliant

i think it is a matter of personal preferance. personally i love my Hope Mono’s but i only got them after having a squeeze of a few brakes and decided these were the one’s i liked the best – of course it helps they look awesome, especially with braided hoses, but them i am a bike tart.

my advice would be asking people out on the trails if you can ‘have a quick squeeze……..’ and decide on the ones you like the best, i don’t really think there is much difference in power – unless you buy avids!!

would reccomend a rescue dog, don’t think i could ever buy a dog, however they may have abandonment issues and may not get on with kids, i wouldn’t get a pup if you are going to leave it most of the day.

i think it very much depends on the training and agree with the others mongrels make much better dogs as they are not inbred like the pedigrees

ive got Kyle strait 661 pads and have no complaints for all day riding – although they might be a bit bulky for road riding

ha ha that is amazing

glad you have been reunited

yep mixed XTR mechs and Deore shifters, eventually i’ll get round to some better shifters, but the combo works fine, so can’t justify the expense

ha ha sorry but i love my 5-10’s

if you hate them though i used to ride in a pair of knackered DC’s, and combined them with a £10 pair of neoprene socks, i think they are for body boarding as they are designed to be worn with flippers and bought from a surf shop, but my feet are always toasty warm

Hope! Nuff said 😀

i find listening to my i-pod when on solo night rides helps with the paranoia

yep pretty sure i’d be out quicker than s**t off a shovel wouldn’t give a monkeys if it broke my ankle

yeah was up there last night with a mate, the mist was well scary, not sure i’d have gone on my own last night – normally its ok

i have these cranks and the crank puller works

you need to pull off the plastic cap that is covering the thread you can’t see – a small flathead screwdriver will prise it out.

then you need an 8mm allen key to remove the retaining crank bolt that looks like the end bit of the axle

once this is out, the thread will become obvious to use the crank puller with

or pay around £15 and get you LBS to do it!

try altering the angle of the brake and gear levers – this will alter where the pressure from …ahem…leaning on your hands builds up

also perhaps try more padded gloves?

+1 for fenwicks foaming degreaser – its ace

yeah i run a topeak multitool – it was £15 has the chain splitter and a spoke key

Do the Kyle Strait 661’s not come in small size? i have the large ones and they are brilliant, even for all day riding and they were around £50 from CRC

Do it now!! or at least take it to your LBS and get them to check

the same thing happend to me on my cannondale, i left it as i was alwasy having problems with the bike – and now i’ve had to repace the seatstays and all the bearings. £140 later i’ll definitly check the bearings as soon as there is any play

Bath in a week and a half

does the ban mean we get a grand from the water companies when the pipes burst and are not fixed?

Kudos on excellent petition

duly signed

A) Foot slipped off pedal on tabletop on NRG trail, then took the full weight of me on a small rock jutting out of the hillside, witness by 3 mates – 3 points

B) broke 4th metatarsal – 1 point

c) 3 days off work – 3 points + extra point as had another day off in A&E 6 weeks later for check up

d) do i get a point for mental scars? – was called a freak by some chavs in a corsa while hobbiling down the road with the NHS special shoe and foot cast

e) no ops

f) no replacments needed

8 points

yeah my cannondale is (large about 21.5 i think) and it fits me well, but i think i want something a little smaller – i used to ride a 17.5 HT and loved the way i could throw it around, was difficult to pedal up hill though so thinking between 19 and 21″ would be about perfect, with probaly 140mm rear and 150-160 out front, any larger i think is probably too excessive for 90% of my riding

Andy i’m interested – email sent 🙂

Sherry did you ever find a frame?

i’m in a similar situation, got bored of replacing parts on my 120 susser and am now in the market for a stronger bike as i’m not sure my technique is too kind on bikes.

yeah the ladder drop at Stile Cop is Ace

Road drop at Cwm Carn is waay less scary that it looks, although the take off is quite sketchy