Cargo bib liner shorts for £34!! That’s a winner for me. Picked up some shorts and pants too. Nice PSA. Thanks!!

£31 with free postage.

By the time you’re done faffing to make sure it works I’d have thought something like this would be cheaper, plus it’ll keep your bum dry when it’s wet…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354108618612

If he wants a BMX (and he does) it’s pretty easy to find a good one for far less than £250. I picked up a near-mint WeThePeople last summer for £40.

E.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185453415019

I’m pretty sure sure that’ll be a better (and maybe cooler?) option than a Mafia bike, but who knows with kids. As has been said, for some reason all the kids want a Carrera whereas when I was growing up I wouldn’t have been seen dead on one, even though they were pretty decent back then.

Yeah. I’d run a million miles from that. They could’ve rerouted the sewer / drainage when they built the extension. That they’ve chosen not to is an indication of the impending barrel of bodge-jobs that you’ll discover if you become the owner of this fine abode.

Yep. As with others I was pretty sceptical about whether or not this would happen, and whether it’d be any good in a county that’s not exactly known for it’s elevation, but that looks alright and then some.

Yep. As lovely as they are, even if I had the money (which I really, really don’t) the stories of abysmal aftersales support are enough to put me off.

Came here to say bent mech hanger, but also read the entire thread.

Firstly, never use the shop that told you that it’d improve over time.

On to the bent hanger. It’s not a major issue, but you will want to sort it before you ride it further. On a regular bike it’s not ideal. On an e-bike I’d imagine the higher torque + drivetrain alignment issues (assuming it is a bent hanger) will at the very least be doing your mech and chain no favours.

My suggestion would be to find a more reputable local bike shop – ideally one that stocks your brand of bike, fall on the sword a bit and explain the situation (online sale, supplying bike shop miles away), and see what they say. Be prepared to wait a bit for parts if necessary to sort it.

Don’t stress – you will get it sorted, and soon you’ll be out there shifting seamlessly as you pass us less fortunate souls on analogue bikes trying to hide our jealousy.

DHF/Dissector here in MaxxTerra flavour. I’d describe my riding as xc bumble with occasional bouts of rowdy. The Dissector out back is grippy whilst also being relatively low rolling resistance and climbs well. I view it as a more trail orientated DHR II.

DHF is… well, it’s a DHF.

For years I’ve been a Selle Italia Flite kinda guy. Hard wearing and light (very ligh if you get the ti railed version)

I’ve got ‘flow’ models on all my bikes to keep my plums happy. There are probably better saddles out there, but they just ‘fit’ my bum, and despite being firm (…the saddle, not my bum) I can happily perch on them for hours at a time.

Sounds like they’re not set up right. I’m not super knowledgable on these things, but perhaps not the right weight or volume of oil in the damper. When you say they’ve been serviced was it lower-leg only, or did you get the damper done too? That would be where I’d start before spending on further upgrades.

Pop it in the shed until next year’s colourway is released.

Yes. Every time. And this is regardless of which shop built it and how good (or bad) their reputation might be. I’d rather *know* that it’s been built properly, by which I mean assembled clean, bolts torqued correctly, and either grease or thread lock in all the right places.

It gives me a bit more peace-of-mind and given the things I’ve found over the years I’m also always glad / satisfied I did.

Employer integrity – depends on the employer and how much they stand to lose.

in the past when I’ve worked for small businesses I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them.

Now that I work for a blue-chip, they know what their reputation is worth, and in any such situation I would expect them to behave ethically and do the right thing.

Would anyone care if you blew the whistle on your current employer?

Odd that people are struggling to get their 29” wheels in the Ikea bags. I’ll measure mine up when I next use them in case there are different sizes. Granted they don’t pop straight in and there’s an element of rolling the bag around the tyre, but my 29 x 2.5 DHFs mounted to an i30 rim fit and I can zip the bag all the way up.

A quick bump on this. For anyone who’s been up to Woburn in the past couple of weeks they may have seen that both the park and the permissive trails are currently closed – the former due to alleged unauthorised digging, and the latter due to storm damage (despite the trails now being clear).

Rumour has it that relationships between the volunteers who maintained the trails and the land owners (Greensands Trust) have broken down, that the volunteers have handed over ongoing care to Greensands Trust, but that Greensands have little or no interest in keeping the trails open. This could result in all of the all of the trails returning to non-permissive, and the park being flattened.

As above, this is all rumour, but what’s definite right now is that the trails and the park are closed until further notice, and worryingly refunds are being issued to those who’ve paid for permits.

For me and many others, the trails at Woburn represent community and sanity. I don’t know if it will make any difference, but if you want Woburn to stay, could you take a minute and sign this petition:

https://www.change.org/p/reopen-woburn-bike-park-and-xc-trails

thanks

To answer your “does it affect the sound quality” question, to avoid amplifying a weak signal you should output the source at 100% and use the amplifier to reach the desired volume.

At least that’s what my amateur sound engineer head tells me  a professional will come along shortly to tell me why I’m wrong

If the gnar isn’t very gnar, have you considered getting something like a Synapse or a Defy and sticking some more robust tyres? Bona-fide Road credentials with the option of taking it off road.

What does this offer over holding the lever and tightening the calliper bolts?

Pic might help. I use a socket type external BB tool similar to this

No bother, no issues just don’t go mad or you’ll strip the threads.

+1 to this. I can’t use a cassette-type tool on my centrelocks due to axles.

9k! That seems a bit spendy. We took out and moved a stud wall to put in a larger bath, relocated all our pipework, fitted a high spec bath, overhead rainfall shower and handheld hobbie for washing your bits plus an overflow bath filler all controlled by a single thermostatic valve, a sink, loo, column radiator with towel rail, bathroom cabinet with light, skimmed the ceilings / walls, and tiled half height plus full height around the bath and had change from 3.5k.

Have a look at Ergonomic Designs. If you shop smart and know what you need you can save a fortune on very nice kit.

https://www.ergonomicdesigns.co.uk/

It’s for putting muddy wheels in when they’re in the car so those ikea bags might be perfect. Have you got a link to the Amazon ones?

That’s exactly what I bought them for and they’ve been perfect.

linky

I recently picked up some of these from IKEA. Not sure if they’ll fit a 29er fat wheel, but I can get my 26×4.8 fat bike wheels in there, and my 29×2.5 wheels from my trail bike in them.

At three quid they’re considerably cheaper than most wheel bags. Also available on Amazon if you don’t have an ikea near you

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/dimpa-storage-bag-transparent-10056770/

I know this wasn’t a “what bike” thread, but just to throw a curveball in, there’s someone selling a titanium Sick! on eBay at the moment (complete bike). I’m not sure it’s worth the £1,750 being asked, but then perhaps it is, and the seller’s open to offers.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SICK-Bicycles-Titanium-Grizzly-Wolf-MediumLarge-650b-LYRIK-Forks-Hope-160m-rare-/224673083161

I can only get them down to £40, but that’s still a good PSA. Any idea how these size up compared to Freeriders?

DIY Kitchens. Now, what’s the question?

I found IKEA to be a bit ropey, and having seen some of their recent kitchens once they’ve been used for a year or so i’d steer clear. I’ve heard they used to be much better, but quality seems to have slipped.

Avoid Wren. Garbage kitchens with a huge marketing budget and very “old school” sales techniques (MFI sales people seem to have found a new home).

Finally, think carefully if you really need a built in wine rack or cupboard that unfold like Optimus Prime. This seems to be how you turn a £4k kitchen into a £17k one.

I don’t know your specific circumstances, but I think you need to learn to apply segregation between your work and non-work life, and be smarter about how you apply your skills in your current role. Also, I suspect you may suffer from imposter syndrome. Have a think about that, as it can make good people burn themselves out. Here’s my advice. YMMV.

Number one – stop checking email in the evenings. I used to be a sucker for this myself when I was busy. You get into a false mindset whereby you convince yourself that; by batting away work in the evening, somehow you’re going to make tomorrow more manageable. You won’t. It’ll hardly make any difference, but you’ll always be exhausted, stressed, and feel on high alert. Unless you work in a job where someone might die if you’re not checking email out of hours, turn that sh*t off. You need to very consciously decide that when you shut the lid of that laptop at the end of the day (whenever that is) you’re done. Also, FYI it makes YOU look out of control to your peers if you’re forever replying to emails at night.

Secondly, don’t be a hero. Only take on tasks where your specific and unique skills allow you to add value beyond that of your colleagues. Businesses rely on heroes but they’re unhealthy for both parties. It’s unhealthy for you, as you end up burnt out, chasing your tail, trying to do everything because you think you’re the only person who can do a job correctly. It’s bad for the company too, ‘cos when you finally get fed up and hand in your notice, they’re f*cked. Place a bit more value on your skills and ability (…not just your capacity to take on work) and use this wisdom to decide whether you should be taking ownership of a task. Ultimately, unless your name’s above the door, if plates smash and you know you’re delivering value against what your employer brought you in to do, it ain’t your problem.

So, try that ^. Put some boundaries in place. Stop trying to be the hero. Value yourself. Focus your efforts on where you can best add value.

Good luck, and if it all falls to sh*t, leave. Life’s too short to let work make you miserable. There are always other jobs out there, and believe me – it doesn’t take much to stand out from the competition if you’re a driven individual (…which by the sounds of things you are)

Also, wear sunscreen.

Someone says 8psi?? I’d be running on the bloody rims.

not on a fat bike you wouldn’t

I’m running 8psi front and rear on the fat bike, sometimes less, though on 4.8” wide tyres it tramlines something wicked at less than 4psi

22 front / 25 rear on the trail bike (29” i30 rims running tubeless 2.5 front and 2.4 out back on exo+). Weighing in at 80kgs, and mostly riding loam and roots. If I were riding anywhere rocky that would be going up by a few psi

If you want a dedicated device, I believe the correct answer to this is Sony RX100.

However for me personally, unless I’m out specifically to *take* photos, I’d rather not have to bother with carrying a camera AND a phone. As such I’d probably instead be looking towards whichever current phone has the best camera, and thus only have to carry a single device.

I’m not sure if this has been covered, but enforcing cameras-on would be a hard-no from me. In this ‘WFH’ context, when you ask someone to turn their camera on you’re asking them to invite you into their house, Teams background or otherwise.

A little story for you…

At my last place of work I managed a number of software developers, and I had a good relationship with all of them (I.e. mutual respect for each other’s craft, a personal enough relationship for there to be “bants”). I was holding a team meeting, and one of the staff had their camera off. I teased her a little and asked her to turn her camera on so we could all see each other’s faces. She switched it on and behind her was her unmade bed and a clothes rail with everything she owned on it. She looked clearly embarrassed and I was mortified for asking her to invite us all into a personal space that she was already having to share with a desk and two 24” company issued monitors.

Some people live in house-shares and are working from their bedrooms. Some people live with vulnerable people. Some people just don’t like being on camera. If they’re not engaged you’ll find out pretty quickly, camera or otherwise.

Whilst not what you need after a shift at work, at least you still have your bike, and it should be a fairly easy and inexpensive fix.

As others have said, get a junker for commuting. Something like a Dawes will be suitably unattractive for a bike thief but won’t be completely loathful to ride.

Something like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Dawes-Rough-Trade-bike-Reynolds-501-Magnum-frame-/403392754661

Nice PSA. I’ve been after a waterproof jacket for a while. The Havoc H2O jacket at £90 less 10% looks like a good deal. Free delivery and returns too!

In the kitchen. With a workstand. And all the right tools. With good music on. And a good cup of coffee. Or a fine malt. This is my happy place.

Unless re-routing internal cabling is invovled. Or it still creaks after you’ve put it back together for the seventh time with enough greate to launch the Titanic. Or if a bolt makes a break for freedom under the washing machine.

But mostly my happy place.

Also, for pete’s sake, clean your bike!

Personally I’d go for a 30mm rim. The weight difference on a wheelset built up with XM421s vs. XM481s is 50g a wheel. I doubt you’re really going to notice that but the wider rim gives you the option of running >2.4” tyres if you fancy.

Sounds like the lads who “owned” these two bikes found them a bit too hot and stashed them until they could more discretely transport them to another location.

If only there was some sort of discrete GPS device stashed in the steerer tube that could’ve alerted the rightful owner of their location when someone with an iPhone was within range.

I hope they rightful owners are reunited or at least appropriately insured.

That Barzo would work, but there are better choices. If you’re going to be mostly on road but with the option of getting across a wet field or tacking some tow path it sounds like you might want to be looking at Gravel tyres. Specialised Fast Trak come in good compounds for tarmac riding and maintain a mountain-bikey like profile whilst also being a bit okay off road. Oh, and they’re cheap too!

I paid £59 more for a set of XM481s built onto DT Swiss 350s from Fitwheels.eu a couple of months back. That’s delivered with taxes paid and dished to my specification for no extra fee. I’m running these with an HG 9/10/11 speed driver at the moment but you can spec or switch out for an XD or Microspline driver in about 10 seconds.

I’ve a posh (to me) full suspension trail bike for when the weather’s not filthy. Once it gets foul though the rigid fat bike running much cheaper components comes out.

The main reason I bought a second bike was to keep the winter wear on the posh bike to a minimum, and being rigid and 10sp Deore it requires a lot less cleaning and maintenance. That said, I’m glad I bought a fattie for a winter hack as it’s sufficiently different to the trail bike that it’s easy to justify as a second MTB.

It’s not an exclusive affair though. Both bikes get a look in year-round.

Those gloves look fab, but Ineos and Jim Ratcliffe can go jump in the sea. There’s no way I’d give that brexiteering cockalorum a penny of my money after his decision to move Grenadier production from Brigend to France.

Not much more to add to this, other than that work issued me with an M1 Air about six months back and I love it. I’m no power-user, but it’s seriously quick for my needs compared to any Intel equipped model I’ve used and I can do almost a whole day’s work on battery alone. Nice that they got rid of the junk keyboards too.

Chis has always been an amazing rider, however I feel like he’s always (rather unfairly) played second-fiddle – initially to the likes of Martin Hawes, Ashton and Hans Ray, and subsequently to Danny Mac and more latterly Fabio Wibmer. His riding’s never been packaged up in such an MTV friendly format but there’s never been any doubt in my mind of the power and accuracy of his riding, and his skills on the bike are much more pure than those riders that I’ve mentioned.