I had one of the bad experiences which is somewhere on the forum. Had a cracked headtube so the frame had to go back to Germany. After many emails and phone calls I got a new frame on warranty. Unfortunately they then broke the rear mech transporting it back to me, so I had to wrangle with them again to get a replacement.
The frustrating bit was more around trying to speak to canyon UK for updates. They simply didn’t respond to emails or answer the phone. After a few weeks of waiting and constantly chasing it got pretty annoying. This was about 3 years back though so set up may have changed a lot since then.
Was in the market for a new bike to replace my nerve am and I fancied a capra but I just didn’t dare go through it again if there were issues so I went LBS and accepted the higher price.

We’re heading up from Newcastle upon Tyne.

I think we’re binning glentress and doing Innerleithen instead. Knee pads at the ready! Cheers for the advice guys!

thanks guys! Life savers!

Paddy, joking aside – have you looked at jobs related to the construction industry?

I did a grad scheme for M&B, basically learning to build pubs! Most of the breweries and pub co’s have pretty big construction departments, a lot of it is refurbishment rather than new build but its a way in.

They put me through post grad and also my chartership so support is good too.

Hi, just a bit of an update. I got a Thule velocompact in the end, somewhat cheaper than the euroclassic and a lot smaller and easier to store and move too!

Just got back from its first journey, did Birmingham to the Berwyn mountains and back. The bike rack was absolutely solid, no movement on the tow bar itself, and the bikes were clamped really securely. Literally no movement even on the bumpy track up to the campsite.

We got 2 full Sussers and a hard tail on, with the pedals on although it was pretty tight!

In terms of trying a larger bike on it by the way (I asked about this on a separate thread) we tried it with my mates xl meta and it just about fit, which is the biggest bike in terms of wheelbase i think I’ll need to use it for.

Finally, just to mention I got it from towcraft in blackheath. Really good service, they actually let us try our bikes on the showroom models of bike racks they had before buying which I really helped with the decision.

Right, been out and tried out a few at a local shop – the Euroclassic fitted really well and is rock solid – it’d take a bomb to get it off!

However, it’s a lot of money, so i tried a couple more – the velocompact also fitted really well, there was obviously a lot more of the wheel hanging over the end, but it was still really solid.

However, after a bit more research, i think i’m going to try this one:
Buzz Rack Scorpion

It’s as wide as the velocompact, is made to hold bigger bikes and is over £120 cheaper! roofbox will do a 90 day return, so if it isn’t utterly confidence inspiring i’ll switch it for the velocompact.

thanks Nick, that seems to be the biggest one around – but also really expensive!

thanks Dan, any ideas what sort of wheel base they had? What size tyres do you run?

Has anyone tried the buzz rack ones with a decent sized full suss? They look very good value and get good reviews but obviously you can’t really try them out!

hmm, quite like the look of those – i’ve contacted them to check if the measurements will fit – also asked about big tyres as that’s caught me out before too!

cheers guys, any ideas which thule model? The blurb on their website says the euroclassic is the biggest in terms of width – but obviously it’s also the most expensive! The euroride looks good but it looks significantly narrower!

just had a similar job done – we live in a house rather than a bungalow but kitchen and dining room are now a single room kitchen diner. Kitchen door was removed too – so nothing separating stairs from kitchen – there’s nothing in building regs covering this as far as i know – certainly nothing was picked up during our project?

I’m fairly sure you don’t need a protected route out (fire separation to stairwell) if its up to 2 stories – so obviously a bungalow won’t have any issues.

Sunday, Yes of course I can fit another roof bar, but as I can get a towbar for very little cash, and it won’t be left on, affecting my mpg (I do about 40k miles a year) then I think the towbar route is better? Is there any reason you’d definitely go roof?
Steve h, it’ll be a factory fitted audi one, so whatever that is? It’s not removable as far as I know?

Thanks wally, would you recommend that one then? Is it fittable (is that a word?!) by one person or does it need 2?

I wouldn’t consider powerline to be a downhill trail though, it’s a reasonably fun course with some nice rollers and a few drop offs you can jump, but certainly not downhill level.

My in laws live about twenty minutes away and it’s a good course to do lots of laps on as its pretty short. I’ve not really explored much of the forest though, so there may be more trails lurking elsewhere?

We use our virgin TiVo box to get Netflix, but you can use any phone or tablet with a chrome cast or similar device and cast it to the tv. I would guess Apple TV and the lk e would also work.

Netflix itself is very good. We mainly use it for watching the tv shows, so house of cards at the momentum, with breaking bad waiting in the wings. It’s merely ok for films, you can usually find something to watch but the films seem way behind sky movies.

Can’t comment on Amazon films as not tried it though.

I had an ix35 for two years as a company car. I really rated it , very high spec for not a lot of cash, comfortable to drive and absolutely enormous in terms of boot space. It was great for weekends away biking with a set of roof bars.

Hyundai have gone from our car list so sadly it’s not an option anymore but I’d have definitely considered another if I could have.

Things to consider though are that it really isn’t a fast car, so don’t expect to be burning anyone away from the lights. Also motorway cruising speed is limited by the wind noise if you push it too high. Finally, it corners as you’d expect a big, soft suspension car to corner.

You know, I mentioned this to a mate today and he reminded me that I hated COD MW2 when I first played multiplayer. I’d got so used to halo and the game play mechanics that switching to cod seemed really weird!
Why have I got to press an aim button?!
Where did that guy get that weapon?
Why can’t I get it?
Hang on, so the guys who’ve been playing for ages, and are therefore better, get better weapons and skills too? How the **** is that a good thing?!
Then it clicked.

Lifer, well when you put it like that….

You know, you can call me a heretic but I just have never ever ‘got’ the gta series! Just didn’t appeal to me at all, I don’t know what it was but even after hearing all my mates (who generally played and enjoyed the same games as me) rave about it, I just never saw it.

Now fallout 3, that’s a different matter…

Hi, just spotted that aldi have both seat covers and boot liners on sale tomorrow!

OK, got a few to add…

Street fighter 2 and pro evo soccer tournaments in the boarding house at school!

COD MW2 multiplayer online was simply amazing, heart rate would reach dangerous levels as we neared the end

Agree with earlier comments though, doom 3 on the xbox was incredibly creepy, the torch vs gun in hand mechanic was so clever, if frustrating! Oh and basically every half life released (except blue shift which was outrageously short!)

How has gears of war not been mentioned yet?! Some of the art pieces were phenomenal.

EBay is your friend here, if you hunt about you can get a full set for a lot cheaper than that. Plus if you look at the ‘normal’ square bars rather than the aero ones they’re much cheaper to get hold of. I got mine for a tenner collected iirc. Also, have a look at the 810 rack as that’s an older model so seems reasonably easy to get hold of for good price.

Have you considered a bronson? I was absolutely set on a banshee and then demoed a bronson and was utterly blown away. Climbs very very well but felt really quick on the downs and really encouraged me to try jumps I wouldn’t have considered before! Obviously biased as I own one though!

I have a bsc in psychology from Liverpool uni, went into it with the plan of getting into clinical psych eventually. As mentioned earlier, to actually practise requires a lot more than a degree! One of my year is now a practising clinical psychologist and she’s had to do a lot of “volunteer” (read “free”) work as well as an msc and I think she’s having to do a PhD to get any serious progression.

Personally, I did several months work as a nurse in a mid security hospital and decided it wasn’t for me – the psychs seemed to spend very little face to face time with the patients and the treatment plans were generic. Got quite depressed about it for a while!

However, the degree itself was useful, lots of work around understanding the scientific method, statistics and analysis and also report writing which have all been really useful in career.

This is from a purchase a few weeks back but here you go…

Crc28v&cs8*

Should be a fiver off 50 quid

Nanos are great, I’ve had several sets on different bikes.

I’m about to be selling a pair of red ones (I’ve got green ones now). In good nick, no seal issues , although some of the colour is wearing a little?

Fitted a reverb to my canyon about a year back and I definitely wouldn’t ride without one now. Makes a huge difference for me, probably the best single upgrade I’ve done.

New bike has a ks lev integra, so I’ve tried both. To be honest there doesn’t seem to be that much difference. The remote for the lev is much smaller though an therefore flexible about where it goes on the bars. I also prefer the design of the lever, just easier to push in a hurry (I’m really splitting hairs here I know).

Not had the lev long enough to comment on maintenance issues, although my mate has had a couple of minor bits, mainly around the cable stretching. He has done about 1000 miles on it with no maintenance apart from cleaning it though. Had no issues with my reverb at all though, over about a years use and again no maintenance apart from cleaning.

Just bought a new pair of keen approach shoes following recommendations on here for their walking sandals. Really really pleased with the sandals, they are on my feet for a lot of the year for casual wear. The shoes so far feel really solid, far more than my Merrells and hi tecs (make of that what you will!), fully waterproof but they are pretty warm when worn for a while.

You can plug the second router in and set it to repeater mode if it has one. It’s fairly simple to set up and works well, depending on what you want to do.

Otherwise you can go with a proper repeater (which does the same job, but in a smaller package) like this one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Repeater-Extender-Complies-Coverage/dp/B00A6STNVI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416657552&sr=8-3&keywords=Wifi+repeater

I use the above to connect my virgin media tivo box to the WiFi rather than as a strict repeater but it works as either. There’s a couple of limitations, as even though you’re on the same Wifi network, you’re sort of not so sometimes two different things won’t talk properly but it’s rare.

You dont need to spend five grand on a bike to have fun.

Thanks David, I never saw it that way, guess I’ll just cancel my demo!

So after expecting to pay £1xx on demos, I got them all free over a period of 4 months.

I’m just not that patient! Literally struggling already waiting, it’s like Christmas! I want a new bike!

I was about to say that’s a bit harsh. But actually I guess that’s what’s happening with me too, although I’m only doing it in the case of this purchase rather than every subsequent purchase!

Ironically it’s looking increasingly likely I’ll end up with the santa cruz if it rides well, even though it’s right right at the top of what I wanted to spend, as it’s the only bike I seem to be able to sort a demo on. The cube shop have admitted defeat, and can’t source a demo even if I’m prepared to pay, same with the nuke proof unless I wait until jan.

Agreed on that, I’m planning on taking my demo to Cannock, can’t see the point in taking it for a pootle around the block, you won’t learn anything about a trail bike that way! It’ll come back cleaned and obviously I’ll leave a deposit so if I trash it, it’s my own fault.

Lol, yeah I guess that is the major problem, sorting the people who actually do want to buy from people looking for a free rental of an expensive bike.

I would personally appreciate it that the charge would allow me to demo more than one bike, or if it’s multiple charges they all are deducted from what I buy. Or maybe the charges could be put toward a discount on other stuff you might buy?

The problem here is that being awkward I’ve managed to pick frame choices that require me to test at several different shops so no matter how serious I am about each bike, some one isn’t going to get a sale. And as they’ll only refund against a bike purchase I’m not going to see my “refundable” deposit again!

No, because I can’t bloody get hold of one to test!

I completely get the concern about trying in a shop and then buying online, and I guess it’s a difficult one of address. But as a customer it’s just frustrating that I’m basically writing off cube and nukeproof, both of which look sweet bikes, because I can’t test ride them. I’m also having to decide if it’s worth test riding a banshee for £60 if I already can try a santa cruz and a spesh for nothing.

Actually, and apologies for the cliché, but this has changed my view on one of our local bike shops as the guy couldn’t have been more helpful both in terms of pricing up a spec and sorting a (free) demo. Whereas in another shop they just seemed determined to make it really difficult to find out the info I wanted and to organise a test ride.

I guess I’m just frustrated as I thought people would be eager to take my money!

ok, that sort of thing is waaaaaayyy out of my league! Just about clearing 1m gaps at the moment and building confidence!

Oh, while we’re on – does anyone have any tips for table tops? I seem to be getting air but then belly flopping onto the top with a thud!

its a 2011 nerve am 7 in mamba green. couple of minor upgrades but basically as spec with a reverb added.

im currently using 661 rage, they have padding on front and sides. quite a snug fit, but fairly comfy for all day riding