I got drunk and had a party while my mum and dad were in france, anyhow the garage burnt down and my mums car in it… 2 fire engines.. I slept through it pi$$ed … yes I got a rolecking

will keep an eye out around filton, little stoke, Patchway and Bradley stoke…

you will prob get them standard parcel delivery… I may even have a bet on it

Im thinking mine is going to be called Evie May after my daughter who is 1 today!

thought the PA was max 125mm forks only?

does it matter if they go out of fashion? as long as you like em thats all that counts

if you had a level saddle on a DH / FR bike and your poinging down a hill your saddle would end up forward so you would slide to the bars, tilting it back it ends up level once your pointing down a hill… I used to have mine level but hated sliding forward. ok on DH / FR your not in the saddle much but there are times if you hit a long flat decent where you want to sit and get a bit of rest bite… thats when you want to sit for a while and not slide forward! best bet is try your saddle level and see what happens on a steep decent… you will soon tilt it back! it looks daft but it works

well the 5.5 I had the back end was all over the place, changed the tyres and the forks, and the stem, still was not great. I have read many reviews and it is a skittish bike, and in reality it did not live up to its name (for me anyhow) considering the cost of an intense frame, I was not impressed! all I will say is try before you buy as the 5.5 does not suit all by any means!

sad isnt it, trying to work out the best color scheme. Change the stem to silver or the post to black!… I may just eat a pie instead!

I was going to get a silver thomson stem but not sure it would look right, its still a build in progress so may change it a bit, just went for a silver thomson post in the end! the wheels are not changing ever, they are worth as much as the frame! all in all im not sure, I may change the stem! then again

are people really that naive? most reviews aren't worth the paper they are written on.

really? you honestly think that if a new company starting up gets a bad review on the net and in mags , they would survive and get great sales? most people search the net and read mags for reviews, ok an exising brand may survive a bad model or 2 but a new company would sink.. at start up a company has only 1 thing, the quality of its product, they have no reputation to go on, no existing client base, just their new, un tested, unknown product, a review can lauch them into the limelight. And word of mouth of reviews spreads fast in the industry… you know the "what about this new frame", "yea had it or read a review and it was not good, stick to the known brands" Big existing companies live of their track record, Cove, Specialized, Trek etc, they are known and you cannot go wrong, small brands live only on their rep and word of mouth as well as reviews.. who would buy a no name bike especially with any bad reviews. Is a new frame going to instantly get top votes, reviews and word of mouth? I doubt it

that said if your the king of person would who splashes £500-600 on a no name frame with no history, then you obv have more money than sense. I can think of quite a few frame makers who have lauched to fame through reviews, which lead to word of mouth on forums. A review speaks 10,000 words once people start to talk about it!

plumped for some silver braided gear cables and matching brake hoses and some Ti headset spacers. That said had my meeting with the surgeon yesterday, I will be operated on soon, so a week in hospital and 3-4 months recovery, so for a while it will be stared at… and polished a lot

a no name brand will struggle to break into the market, especially if they are the same price or more than existing brands. With the price of an on-one or a cotic etc why would you buy a no name, un tested frame for more? to me on-one, cotic, 18-bikes etc etc are available with ease, have direct support (even on this forum) now you cannot get better than that, how much support do you see on forums from other companies? in a nut shell they have cornered the market! and tbh if it rides well, has a history of being good and reliable, has Uk support all at their low prices who really cares where it was actually built? now a lot on here have an on-one, in fact I would almost say it has a cult following on the 456…. small uk, personal service and support and very cheap to buy. fine its made in Taiwan, but how can you compete with that?

I dont think it is likely that you can shift 2 frames per day, every day? if £200k profit was that easy, others would have done it!

Personally I would not want to go head to head with cotic, on-one, orange or for that matter any other frame makers… trying to get a name for yourself above them would be nigh on impossible.

I think an assumption has been made, are your 1st frames going to be an instant success that ride perfectly and appear in top reviews? many designs will be ditched and it could take years to get a good design, even then it may not get any reviews never mind top test marks from MBUK, Singletrack, MBR etc all it would take is 1 bad review and game over.

Living the dream sounds great and should you try it. good luck, you will need it

tinsy.. thanks for the advice on the gear cables, crc are out of stock :( basically after full length inner and outer for front and rear, either white or braided hoses, most kits seem to be split hoses for conventional cable routing, I may just buy some goodridge cable outers but a tad expensive!

if you mean the oak TV one, IKEA … they still sell them now (I live 10 mins form Bristol IKEA)…

there's a rug in the middle of the room :) and a half eaten Biscuit, and a damn washer I lost under the sofa…..

I must admit I do like to build something a tad different, and for some reason I like white, same scheme on all my builds, however I just hope it rides well, and fingers crossed my surgeon will bet my spine sorted out for the summer so I can enjoy it!

to be honest I never sit in the saddle unless im going up hill or on the flat, going down im always out the saddle … or on the floor

TBH I dont get on with level saddles, always need to tilt them back for some reason.. that said its obv not had a test ride so things will get a tweak!

ah, now the saddle I have and have had before does not go dirty looking, it cleans up very well each time, I admit its a lot of white, it looks better in the flesh but I may replace the bars with some carbon ones… perhaps! and the fireplace was a one off from Van Nicholas… honest ;)

40mpg.. more than a lot, I admit I have a temper, a bad one and I really have to keep working hard at the phylosopy of how to deal with it, my instinct says shout, take stuff away, call him a so and so, walk away, or even have a beer,… why, to make myself feel better, but then its not all about me!. and in the 1st 3 years thats what I did… everything the wrong way! I can only see it now im down the line

Keeping cool, spending time, having fun, rewarding good behavior, doing daft stuff like dancing round the room for no reason, making stuff, getting out the house, doing some sports, swimming, even blob and watch a film together, just spending time made the world of difference… and most of all listening, that super nanny "tosh" as I used to call it has changed my life.. one of the few programmes I have watched and used for the better!

Also shouting, never ever works, ive gone blue in the face trying.. never did damn it! and if he does have issues like being bullied shouting will just make it worse.

If she has a fav hobby or interest, such as biking, cinema etc take her out for a day away from home (the hot spot) have fun and slide into the conversation about whats bothering her, perhaps just spend more time with her! my sons now loves me just sitting down and watching stuff like Shrek, or simple things like sharing some hair gel to make him feel like a grown up,, drawing pictured, cleaning the car, in fact just time together. its usually the small things which will turn it round and have for me.

age is an important factor, in whort my son was a mare, he is now 5 and pretty good, we watched the super nanny programme a lot, and I hate to say their advice works, we used the naughty step and he lost treats and toys if he played up, however the important thing is REWARD and praise good behaviour and when they help, my son now helps clean, tidy and even bath his baby sister, in return we take him nice places and buy him the odd magazine / treats. Its not buying him, he only gets these each week after a nice week of being good. My life is so much nicer, in retrospect we did not praise him when he was good, well not enough, we took it for granted. He even now takes himself to the naughty step to calm down before he blows! now if he is older I can only say take him out for a day and do the not a dad talking to him, more a mate speaking with him and explain how his actions effect you, how it makes you feel… worked with my when I hacke my parents off, never thought how they felt

did your mum hear you Procreating? that would have done it, most parents would be happy for their kid to live at home with their other half, but as soon as they think or know your doing "it" under their roof, game over…. my advice, tame it down and keep the shouting of "give it to me baby" down a notch… ;)

bristol is far the worst place for bus drivers, arrogant, rude and dont know the highway code, always pull out when they dont have the right of way, I have had them come head on to me down my side of the road then beep their horn at me.. Every day I drive to school, nursery and work with at least 2-5 busses driving like idiots and never stop when they should!

worst was when my wife went to catch a bus 8 months pregnant, she gave the driver a £5 note, the cost was £4 he said change only, she said I dont have change and he told her to get off the bus ffs she was 8 months gone trying to pay for a bus ride… I paid him a visit the next day on his route :)

yes front or rear

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/SearchResults.aspx?Search=dt+swiss+hub+conversion

if you need a rear QR to 10mm adaptor I have a set to fit 240 hubs (may be compatible, you would need to look it up on crc's list)

mini pros or tech x2 with 180mm rotors would do the job! or formula R1's uber light but tough brakes

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/disc-brake-systems/product/r1-brake-09-32765

cost a lot though!

he found osama bin laden… about time too, look s a bit worse for wear though!

m4's on ebay will get around £130 – 150 without the rotors, then add them at £20 a pop and you have £170-200…. splitting them will actually get less as people want more of a bargain for 1 brake, your hoses add some value! I have sold 3 sets on ebay they all made £150 +, one set went for £220…. all bidding listings not bin! just looked on ebay now at completed listings, £190 & 185 for similar sets! ok thats ebay and prices tend to be high but with floating rotors and goodridged I would say £150/160 is a fair price on a forum or £120/130 without rotors.. all imho

just building it for now, I have a clamp but its a bolt thru, would prefer a QR, I read on tinternet in a few places it would be a 29.8 which seems too small to me, its an 18" frame not that I would expect that to make a difference

carbon frames can be stronger than any metal, fact.. I have watched over 30 videos of carbon being hit and then being ridden after, do the same to any metal and it can fold at the dent / impact point, carbon can be repaired, a dented metal frame on the whole is trash after… Scott bikes designer did a Donwhill run and came off the bike, it bounced around 60ft down a hill, they retrieved it, big hole near the BB, he rode for the rest of the day with the hole and then patched it up that night…. now that is confidence in his design, apparently he said, its a hole, but due to the layering it is still as strong! I am confident with carbon (no I no longer have a carbon bike) but technology has moved on and they are now very strong, easy to repair and pretty crash resistant, and well made carbon does not explode and splinter like people think it does (note the well made point).

if he can ride and I mean well, fair play, its unique, not run of the mill black & boring….

nice… I looked up the prices of a ti post and then decided to buy a small country instead….. almost as expensive as a frame! I did used to have a dean ti post, it was great but sadly needed cash so had to sell the damn thing!

I'm sure I must have ape arms or something.

Or just needed the 18? I did read up that I may need a 20" (so lots of different advice)as I may be inbetween sizes…. mmmm I prefer shorter bikes and normally go 17.5, hopefully an 18" with 70mm stem will be spot on (I hope). There is a guide on on-one which states most people need an 18"

http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/?page_id=940

I hit the 18 or 20, guess it depends if you prefer long or short bikes, I thinkk who ever told you that you need a 16" needs to be shot!!

oh that is nice whipper, is that a Ti post as well? Andy those DT forks look just right on there.. how do they handle on the 456?

Well mine will be having a set of Magura Thor's, hope mini pro's (green team) EX1750 wheels in white etc… just need to strip my old bike down 1st ;) any excuse for a beer and a bike build! im 5 11 and have gone for an 18"…… should be ok looking at the geo!

that response is wet

around 22 years, brough the 1st muddy fox courier comp… kept it for years and years till it died. on and off the bike for many years due to life issues etc….

the hummer would be an 06

wheels on the ground as I have a nackered neck would be built with EX1750 dt swiss wheels (20mm front) thomson kit, Mono Mini Pros, x9 gears and XT chainset, really looking to build an all rounder for all day rides in wales, somerset etc needs to be light but take abuse at the same time

ccheers sola, will have a look later, some good prices there, basically I have £800 for a frame and forks, may be I need to go 2nd hand for a nice Ti or consider none ti to keep the price down, I guess there is always on one for a cheap frame…. keep em coming!

Hi thanks but the Whyte is not really what I am after and I think they Ti frame may be out of my price range, im really looking for either huge sale discount or EX demo really I was after 2nd hand unless a bargain came up from a shop!