Here’s one I did: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-project-recovering-a-tatty-sdg-bel-air

Personally I think you will struggle with the foam. Getting the same (or a similar) foam would be a chore and then shaping it to the same intricate shape as the original would be very difficult. My Bel-Air foam was very thin and I can’t see anyone making a copy of it successfully.

Those boardman flat bar bikes are really nice.

I’ve tried both and I think that flat bars are great for more technical riding in cities and bike paths (getting out of walkers and other cyclists way) as the control is a lot better. Also visibility and ease of getting to the brakes is improved.
I am now on drop bars as I only tend to do longer rides and no commuting – drops are way comfier for long distances BUT I reckon harder to get a good fit – I asked loads of bike shops about which bars to get and what to consider. Didn’t get on with a couple but now have some FSA carbon wing bars which are a dream come true! Loads of comfy hand position, absorb shock but stuff when you need them to be.

Another thing I found when I had flats on my road bike was that I rode my bike like I was attacking some singletrack when in a town, weaving round cars, braking suddenly etc. Made it a bit more stressful and got the back up of a few motorists. Drops mean you have to plan your braking and weaving around isn’t as easy so it made me chill out and calm down a bit. Might not apply to a lot of people but worked for me so I might be a but safer out there now.

Great news! Always nice to hear.

I think we need to do extensive testing on this bacon cure. I am personally going to easy crispy bacon on a regular basis now just in case it works!!

I would ride it if I had made the dent, but wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole if paying money for it!
May be an odd thing to say but if you make the dent yourself you know the circumstances, the force applied etc so can make a decision based on that. Buying it from a shop means you don’t have that and you have no idea how long bike was ridden afterwards or how it was treated in general.
For a sake of a few pounds I wouldn’t bother.

I think the bike shop, unless they are frame builders themselves, aren’t really placed well to say what they did.

Yes it’s a modern one. Heavier and not as nice to ride really. But ok at that price if nothing needs replacing.

94 Fire Mountain:

Nice bike. Don’t let the plain guage tubing put you off, these ride really nicely as they have the much nicer triple butted forks. Lovely bikes. I did a Hahanna for a friend which had the heavier forks on and it was great to ride – yours should be better.

Bike I did for my mate:

Headset – something normally available on CRC for £10. Remember you’ll need proper headset spanners to adjust it though. Worth seeking out an Impact headset (ask on Retrobike or eBay) as they only need 1 Allen key to adjust and last forever.

Specialized Enduro XL for me – I like chunky grips and my local shop has the lock ons for £7 a pair at the moment so I stocked up!

If you can post some pics up I’ll be able to tell you in about 10 seconds what it is!

Only problem with old Konas is their retro rear tyre clearance

I fitted a 2.1 Splashback in with loads of space and they are quite chunky. 2.1 fire XC Pro had even more clearance.

Pinkish-red with a silver fork sounds like a 1994 Kilauea, this had a columbus steel frame, and XT thumbies.

You couldn’t be more wrong. My Kona is a 94 Kilauea and is made of Prestige Concept tubing. Originally specced with XT/sugino, Kona brakes and XCPro thumbshifters.

And was grey all over. 🙂

Headset may have been replaced?

Old Konas FTW.

My bike was the perfect bike in the Surrey hills, only problem was people on modern 29ers slowing me down. 😉

I can’t believe any sane person has to ask this question!

Mine is a small problem to be honest, just a small part missing. Got an email via their own service system from Brant who said he would look into it. Another email came from another member of staff who asked exactly what was missing (which was in the detailed description in the “ticket” I had submitted) and the order number (which was the subject title of the email he sent me – are you kidding me?).

Been three weeks since I made the order and 8 days since I reported the missing part.

Have people been sorted out now?

I haven’t.

Baznav – very bad advice spraying them with GT85 if you want to keep the lubricant/oil/grease in, GT85 will just wash away any of that as it’s a very effective degreaser.

I buy a fair few second hand wheels and bike and have encountered problems with every single wheel that has alloy nipples on it. They seize, split and snap and so I’d never touch them myself.

I cannot for the life of me understand why any company who cares about their reputation uses Yodel to deliver their stuff. I wouldn’t use them if they actually paid me to let them deliver my stuff.

There is a star rating you can choose in their helpdesk system. 1-5 stars. I’ve just put 1 star to see if it generates a response.

Although I am not sure if they bother looking at their “helpdesk” anyway. Anyone else had any response from it?

….Although reading the other peoples problems almost makes me grateful that a) I didn’t order anything expensive and b) I at least got something similar to what I ordered.

I ordered a load of bits 2 weekends ago, had a part missing on something – not surprising as it had just been thrown in the box in an open bag and all the parts were rattling around a large box.
Submitted a “helpdesk” thing and now have a “ticket”.
Been 5 days now and no reply.
Does “ticket” mean “file it” and “helpdesk” mean “bin”?

Yeah the 921 is a second choice but I am limited in storage space.

I’m not buying anything but Thule – I have a Thule strap on rack at the moment which uses metal straps and basically clamps down on the bootlid with a sprung QR type action – no side straps or stretchy nylon things you have to use and no bungees. It is simply amazing and far and awat the best strap on rack you can buy.

I have a new work lease car coming (Focus Estate) which I have specced with a electrically retractable tow bar so it’s time to get the rack I really want……

No way I’d get a cheap rack when I might have £4-5k’s worth of bikes on it!!

The reviews on the Atera are very good BUT I had one of their roof systems and I didn’t like it. Creaked like mad and their fastenings weren’t good at all.

I hate mudguards, 10 years in the bike trade and never saw one that stayed where it was meant to and didn’t rub or rattle after a few rides.

You must not have had good mechanics then!

SKS guards on my Kinesis, fitted myself and have never made a noise or worked loose. Used to take them off in the summer when they were on previous bikes but just leave them on now as I like the look of them.

My 1992 GT Tequesta
In 1992

Trials practise

Joe bloggs top and frogskin copies – sweet! Neon pink Scott motocross gloves – still the best cycling gloves I have ever owned.

2013 rebuild – rode very nicely indeed! Me in the Peaks riding it too.

There is a lot of stuff on Sheldon Brown which is very useful. It isn’t the bible everyone things it is though, as some stuff is just plain wrong.

Hydration might be a key. I do forget to drink enough water throughout the day.

Samuri – thats the app I used – but walking a lot for starters was great for me!
I do a ParkRun every saturday which is a good guide to how I am improving and obviously use Strava. I’ve set up a load of private segments near my house to gauge how I’m improving on certain gradients.
Every Tuesday I run to someones house which is 6.6km away – last time I did it in 44mins with an average pace of 6m37s/km. That had 83m of climbing!
I am doing one day a week of intervals – 1m walking, 2m jogging, 1.30s sprinting. I think that may be helping but not 100% sure yet as only been doing it a couple of weeks.

I’m also doing the 38mile round trip to work on my bike once a week now hopefully which I am hoping will help with my calves.

Thanks all, any other suggestions welcomed.

I have a company car I would use to get to work. No garage but would be parked off the road.

Velocity is good, my nearest shop , but they don’t have much in stock to choose from.

Sowerby Brothers in Mirfield is good, my usual shop.

Every time I go to the Halifax to use one of their services I find them to be useless! Rude and condescending when we went for a mortgage quote and pestered us for months afterwards even though their quote was a joke because they didn’t listen to us. I’ve tried to get one of their credit cards twice for use overseas (they do one that doesn’t charge) and they made me jump through so many hoops for no good reason at all (checks that no other CC has ever asked for), lied to me and made it sound like it was my fault, lost documents. When I eventually got a card I was too scared to use it because of their ineptitude along the way.
I also know of a few people who have endured misery when dealing with them with house sales/purchases too.

I have persisted with them as “Halifax” is local to me (not sure if the offices are any more though) but I’d rather keep my money in a tin box in the back garden than entrust it to them now.

I gladly pay for Virgin as any other option in my house (even though I live in HD1) gives me a 1.5mb max line.
Going up to 60mb soon for free.

It’s illegal to use it.
It’s nasty stuff, very ecotoxic like permethrin and the like.

Please don’t use it. Take whatever you have to a council dump where they can dispose of it correctly.

As part of my job I attended an incident where several thousand fish were killed as a result of a spill of a similar substance, you don’t need much of it in a watercourse for it to have a devestating effect.

Take them to a shop which has genuine ones and compare.

This is the reason why I would never ever buy second hand ones – the fakes can be really good.

What cranks are you trying to fit?

I lost 2.5 stone using myfitnesspal and I think its ace. It’s an eye opener as to what is actually in food and actually how little you burn during exercise compared to how easy it is to eat the food in the first place!

Knowing if I eat a choccy bar it would take 30mins of running to burn if off puts me off eating it in the first place.

Yes.

Report to:

A) police.
B) taxi firm
C) council taxi licensing department (I know someone who works in one and would be very interested in that sort of info)

Why wouldn’t you?

The fiesta was expensive cos it was a top end Titanium model with all the extras on it. Regular models most people have are way cheaper.

I’ve driven a few cars that size and the fiesta is head and shoulders above the rest. The way they were ragging it round the corners made me want one! I am very fortunate to be taking delivery of a new Focus soon which thankfully as class leading in its handling.

A cinema near us (Rex in Elland) doesn’t charge much for a ticket (ok it’s a very old cinema with ancient sound system so not great for action films) and sells sweets and cups of tea at normal prices. They ask you not to bring stuff in yourself as they don’t overcharge for snacks which helps pay to keep the place going – but you don’t mind as it’s so cheap!
They also have an interval and sometimes have a Wurlitzer/organ thing on too during it.

It’s not the latest Dolby whatever or mega ultra HD Picture but it’s a great experience and it’s the only cinema I’ve been to in recent years – they are often full too!