Vitus seem to have some really good offerings in the 20″ and 24″ market in both MTB, CX and Road categories just now, you kids should have a lot of fun on those bikes.

What I generally see with the kids I coach is a 20″ bike lasts from about 5-7 and a 24″ lasts from 7-10.

A 20″ bike gets them into gears, the weight penalty of suspension is often outweighs the effectiveness of it at this point. Brands I see regularly, Orbea, Frog, Isla Bike, Specialized, Canyon

A 24″ bike gives very useful roll over benefits an there are better options for lighter air forks at this wheel size. Brands I see regularly, Orbea, Vitus, Nuke Proof, Canyon, Marin, Cannondale.

Dependant on frame size from about 10 they can hop onto a 27.5″ bike.

@bentudder I would look at contacting Exposure again, I have just had a light repaired by them for a very good price, about half what you are thinking it may be.

A move to bigger wheels and gears will open up so much more biking for your little one.

You may want to remove that rear reflector and see if you can drop the seat post a little more, where it is it would not be seen for the rear tyre anyway.

If the bike is a little big for you kid id also look to slam the stem and bars and move all the spacers above the stem.

While the fatter tyres do add cushioning they also add mass and rotational mass to the bike, this will make it a little more effort to get going, any damp grass over an inch or so will suck speed out of the bike. If you are practicing on it try and pick a path or carpark or gravel trail over a grassy park if the grass is long.

I’m not sure if it xc marathon is being broadcast.

live timing for it is currently active and can be found here:

https://www.tissottiming.com/2023/mtbxcmwch/en-us/default/Stage/1/live

Developing mountian biking in Scotland and Wahoo have produced the following video which provides some insight into the course design. – https://youtu.be/tPF8EX7NX8s

Hopefully i still remember how to embed a video.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/tPF8EX7NX8s&#8221; title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen></iframe>

The lead tech from Jungle that dealed with all the KS servicing has gone out on his own, this happened a little over a year ago.

https://panoramacycles.co.uk/

I sent in 3 dropper posts for servicing and even had one of them changed from 30.9 to 31.6 diameter, they all came back looking like new and working perfectly. I sent my stuff in last year and at that point he service turn around was excellent.

The branding aspect may be muddied by the fact that the Stanton Log is embossed/machined into some of the parts of the frame (head tube gusset and chain stay plate and possibly others) the painting of the frames and applying of decals I believe is done in house at Stanton in England, the 1bike4life frames appear to be using an older version of the Stanton logo, it would not be a stretch to think that these may have been painted up and decals applied by the manufacturer if this is something they had done for legacy models of frames.

There was a fair delay in the first batch of Taiwanese Switch 9er frames with these initially anticipated in the July of 2020 and them eventually arriving  late October. It would seem that from 2020 Stanton had been trying to work with the manufacturer of the frames and due to Covid delays in production led to delayed sales and I’m speculating here that this led to Stanton missing the boat on some key sales when the industry was booming and their investor decided to divest their interest in the business as they saw the slow in the sector coming that we are in now. This then in turn led to Stanton going into administration and a batch of frames in the 200-500 region being built and part paid for being left with the manufacturer.

From their the manufacturer has looked to fully recoup their expenses and sold them to another company they are a supplier to and that supplier has taken a punt on Stanton fully going under like other small bike companies had done and looked at a quick way to turn around the fames and sell them on by copying all the previous marketing info.

Dan managing to find a way to get the company back from the administrators was unexpected, I suspect he may have looked to buy these frames back in the future but lack of cash flow in the business probably made that impossible at the time and with many of the smaller manufacturers working on tighter margins they likely looked to shift on a potential bad debt as quickly as possible.

If there is only 10mm left on the seatpost of her current bike please double check the minimum insertion line.

Frog bikes are good, if she likes what she has the the same but bigger is likely going to be spot on.

Orbea bikes are lovely, my daughter had a MX 20 Disk and now has a Laufy H20 24 but is more into the mtb sides of things.

Take a look at wiggens bikes and Hoy bikes, both do 24″ wheeled bikes.

if you need shorter cranks take a look a the link blow

https://kidsracing.co.uk/collections/short-cranksets-kids-cranks-lengths-narrow-q-factors/products/hup-kids-cranks-childrens-short-104bcd-narrow-q-factor?variant=15137739079743

I’ve seen the bike in person a few times now, one of my localish bike shops up here in Aberdeen has one that seems to be out on demo quite a bit.

IMO it looks better in person than the photos on the website. The down tube in the stock pics looks quite angular and a little awkward in pics but it is not as noticeable in real life. The green is really lovely in person.

@andybrad

https://www.stantonbikes.com/product/switch9er/

Dependant on Paint spec you want they start from £649

For 2021 the Mx 20 trail bike and Mx 24 trail have moved over to the Laufey range. If you are looking for a kids bike with disks and an air fork then you need to look at the Laufey range rather than the MX range.

Ropey Reign Rider how tall is your son?

My 7 1/2 year old daughter has just moved from a 20″ Orbea MX20 Disk to a 24″ H20 Laufey 24 – these are in very short supply at the moment and if you don’t get one of the few in the UK the next batch is due in Feb 2021.

My daughter is 129cm and is able to ride the Laufey 24 just fine, the dropper post at full extension is a little too tall for her just now but she has already figured out how to set it at the correct ride height.

For the forks to be effective for kids IMO they have to be air. The Laufey has SR Suntour air forks and they seem to be working well. She is able to get some benifit from them over rocks and roots, bumping down kerbs and little drops. We tried a Commencal with coil forks and she was not able to get them to move more than 5 -10 mm. Another friend has a Nukeproof Scout with the Manitou J-Unit forks and they work well too.

@bungalistic,

I wish I had ordered one of the original made in the UK ones but hummed and hawed too long. When I went to order one the website was saying £699 in places but then £999 when you got to the point of order.

It was way back in April I heard about the Tiwan made frames and that they were going to come in slightly below the original frame cost.

As the UK made Frame was out of reach I decided to go for one of the Tiwan made frames in May shortly after they were released on the website.

Unfortunately with COVID there has been delays on these frames and I’m still waiting on mine.

Oh that YouTube video is quite interesting. Looks like the Switch9er frames alongside a bunch of others only arrived to Stanton on October 1st not mid September as suggested on the website.

@marksnook

It depends on what you order. I believe the UK made frames are built to order and all the bikes are painted and built in house.

There was a delay on the Switch9er Taiwan made frames getting to the UK as advertised on the website due to manufacturing delays caused by COVID. I don’t know if this impacted other frames they were getting made.

Hope this helps.

Reeksy,

I dropped you a message. That seems a long time to get base coat.

When I looked a few years ago the ABS locks were as good as any i could find. Anti snap, anti pick and anti bump.

We have has these fitted for a little over 6 years now and they have been faultless.

He has mentioned in other videos that he has autism. Maybe part of his way or remaining professional at work is by letting it all out on the YouTube videos.

Some of his stuff is quite good, and interesting but it does get frustrating sifting through the mire of vile insults.

Is the general consensus that if your child starts on a balance bike, the transition to a pedal bike is one without the need for stabilisers?

It seems to help, there is no hard and fast rule as such.
My eldest daughter took to cycling like a duck to water – She got her bike with pedals for Christmas, 3 months before she turned 4, hopped on it got a push and pedaled away. She had the balance sorted from her balance bike and had pedaling licked from hooning around on the trikes in nursery.

It was not quite so easy for her friend who is a couple of months younger, he got a bike for the same Christmas and it took him till the new year and going out a couple of times with my daughter to get going. He is now better on his bike than my daughter.

Nither child used stabilizers.

Shortening a suspension for will likely mean shortening the lower legs as well as internals, this is a very complicated task.

If you have a 26″ air fork the run it with 24″ wheels. Yes there is additional axle to crown length but not a huge amount that couldn’t be adjusted for by slamming a stem and putting the headset spacers all above the stem for a while.

If you want proper little person suspension forks take a look at the manitou J-Unit forks and kit. It looks very impressive.

Can you get any of the push on Lezyne quick chucks to fit the mini pumps?

I don’t know if there is any difference in the length of the spacer (should a SRAM freehub differ in length to a Shimano one)

Drop the guys at hope an email service@hopetech.com they will let you know if there is a difference.

They likely produce both as there is a different outer diamiter to the face that meets the bearing in the end of the freehub. That face, the lip on the end cap will act as a barrier to grit grime and dirt getting into the bearing.

I’d be wary of machining down a cinch axle as it attaches to the crank arm on a taper if you have to take some material away from the taper you may end up with a wobbly crank.

You can likely get a google pixel 2 refurbished for less than £250 with some warranty.

Whilst i would probably look to repair it I have seen that repairs to carbon rims and in particular the braking area is not recommended. Even if you use a resin that can cope with high temperatures it is likely to fail again due to temperatures experienced in use.

http://www.carboncyclerepairs.co.uk/your-questions_4.html

Internal roller door would be may suggestion.

@juanking

have you contacted Buckleys just off St.Macher Drive. Near Euro Car Parts
https://www.buckleytowbars.com/buckley_towbars_towbars_aberdeen_aberdeenshire.html

I got a tow ball and standard wiring harness from them 2 years ago. It has been spot on.
I went with a fixed tow bar and it was a whitter that was fitted. No cutting of bumpers.

matt_outandabout

Subscriber
🤟

Kids on bikes do indeed rock…

This lots

@warrend
From what i hear from the boss it is pretty darn wet in Aberdeen shire this weekend, your likely to have more fun when it is dry.

@GavinB
Diversion was dug in by the Aberdeenshire Trail Association after consultation with the land owner where a safety concern was raised. I’m told it flows really nicely now.

@hodgynd
Look at Mastermind over the other side of Ballater, down the road a little on the south deeside side of Aboyne you have Masterblaster and Friends Electric that are good too.

So we have had the first hard tail frames built by Downland that were brazed together and did not look pretty (no fillet filing to save money)
We then had the ti and carbon full sus frame have-blue that was “always only a technical exercise” that when the copies appeared on the Chinese frame builder site the Sick boys announced on a live stream that it had had multiple failures at the bottom bracket and their single copy had been welded 3 times as it kept cracking and the Chinese copies should not be trusted.
Now we have a bunch of hard tail frames that are stuck in Peru as they haven’t been fully paid for.

That is some track record.

Work stand
Soft faced Mallet
torque wrench
Spoke key

Spare parts youll need for all those tools.
Spare chain links
Spare brake pads
Puncture repair kit
Tyre boot
Tubless Sealant
Tubless plugs
Spare freewheel Pawls
Bearings bearings and more bearings

That is terrible news, today is now a properly shit day.

Condolences to all of Chris’s Family and Friends.

Ah crap, that is terrible news.

My thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends.

There have been quite a few people on here report of positive experiences with the Atera Strada racks, have a quick search and hopefully a few will pop up.

General consensus is good rack, works well with the tilt system.

Being a Rams fan I really hope they can put one over on the Patriots. It is 17 years since the Rams last made it to the Superbowl and there has been a lot of shit seasons in that time. It was the Patriots that they met in the Superbowl 17 years ago and Brady and Belichick stopped a great Rams team. The Pats have subsequently gone on to build one of if not the the most successful NFL dynasties in the professional era. Whether you love them or you hate them every one know who the Patriots are.
It would make a pretty interesting story of the Patriots stopping the greatest show on turf 17 years ago for the Rams to come back with a team that is now braking records from that era and beat the Patriots.
It is going to be a nail biting affair, both teams have the ability to be explosive and creative on offence, the Pats have a stout defense but i think this is where the Rams edge them.

Could be a few things, you are on the right lines with alignment of caliper and bolt tightness, these would be the first areas i looked at. The other things it could be are contamination of the pads and/or air in the system.

If the alignment and bolt tightness does not resolve the issue i’d be looking to bleed the brake then check it is bedded in right, there was a Park tools tech Tuesday video on how best to bed in your brakes not that long ago that gives a great example of how best to do it.

Good luck.

If you are worried, look to fix anything that is damaged, replace any items that have been broken but don’t add extra stuff and make the property as clean and presentable as possible. This will minimise any frustrating expenses. Deduction from the deposit has to be pretty clear cut these days and it is required that any deduction takes into consideration any general wear and tear.

For example if you have dropped the iron and burnt a big hole in the carpet you will likely be charged a percentage to replace the carpet, if you have spilled some coffee and cleaned it up and as that bit of the carpet is cleaner than the rest so is a slightly different colour i would not anticipate any deduction – carpets do get dirty over time.

If you have had a pet in the property and the lease prohibits this then you could be in some bother as any damage would be considered reckless and out with the lease agreement and there is the potential that a significant amount of your deposit would not be returned for repairs.

This is the safe deposit scheme we use and they have some useful info on their site for tenants and landlords.

Familiarize yourself with the process of the scheme your deposit is held in – it should be similar to this and ensure you respond in writing within the time frames noted.

https://safedepositsscotland.com/resources/files/Payment%20of%20the%20deposit%20at%20the%20end%20of%20the%20tenancy.pdf

There is further info her on guides to disputes.

https://safedepositsscotland.com/landlord-information/guidance-documents

https://safedepositsscotland.com/resources/files/Adjudication%20digest.pdf?view=1

Try it without the lid, my mobi v15 works without the cap screwed on.

Good news the owner of the property seems willing to discuss resolving the issue.

Stockbridge is a lovely part of Edinburgh my wee sister has a flat down there – nightmare to get parked where she is but the park near by and the water of Leith are brilliant for taking my daughter for a wander when we go to visit.