landcruiser plus, mine are 650b, level 5 protection, good tread for a bit of off road, roll well on tarmac, quite cheap, not had a punture since using them over one year

shimano brakes seem to come up on here and other forums alot lately for the same problem of leaking caliper seals, may be if more people sent emails complaining about the poor quality of their seals, hopefully one day they might take their heads out of their backsides, and decide to sell seal kits. i wont hold my breath though knowing shimano, or maybe they would listen more when lots more peolpe change from shimano brakes to using other makes.

i recently had the same problem with my rear m615 brake, sent it off for w warranty claim, shimano sent a new complete brake back, but i was told its usually down to the caliper seals having a very slight leak, and to be honest if it happens again ,i would rather just buy a new caliper than have to wait four weeks for a replacement from shimano, the seals seem to be very prone to developing a leak due to the seals drying out abit if not used on a regular basis, if shimano took its head out of its own arse, and sold seal kits, we wouldnt have this problem of warranty claims, you could then buy a new seal kit and fit it yourself , bloody shimano lol.

same thing happened to me last year. i was averaging over 100 miles per week, then had a bad chest infection, which then turned into blood clots on both lungs and left leg, i struggle to do more than 15 miles these days, and now im back on antibiotics for another chest infection, i wont let it stop me going out on the bike though, it just means more coffee and pub stops, and on a bad day strongbow n painkillers lol, seems to get worse with the cold weather, so probaly gone get a scarf to put over my mouth when riding, so the cold air doesnt go straight onto my lungs, hope this helps.

unless you,re doing the more downhill type of riding, i cant really see the advantage of any shimano brakes above m615,s, they are the most value for money brake on the market and are usually reliable, iv,e used avid, shimano xt,s, slx,s, and now will stick with 615,s, levers and calipers are cheap to replace, they are just as good as xt,s, what more do you need, unless you want the bling factor, ive also tried a friends new xt m8000,s , they look nice but not much difference in power compared to my brakes, and he has already had the dredded bite point problem, which ive found my talking to various people seems to be down to dodgy caliper seals, i recently had this problem with one of my sets of m615,s, which shimano warrantied, it was indeed down to the caliper, so my advice to peolpe having varying bite point problems,try a new caliper, if thats not the cause, at least you have a spare, usually when bikes are left unused for a while, the seals seem to dry out, my solution is, if your not going to be using the bike for a while, clean the caliper seals with shimano mineral oil before you put the bike away, that will help keep the seals from drying out, cheers steve.

iv,e just sent my cube back to tredz, because of this issue, mine are m615,s, the rear brake was never as good as the front, no matter how many times i bled it, it would randomly pull back to the bars, but when pumped it would be solid again, i think its a shimano qc problem, its about time they started selling spares, instead of people sending back their brakes under warranty, i would of bought either new seals or diaphram for a few quid, rather than be without my bike for a few weeks, while shimano look into my rear brake. i couldnt find any leaks either, and when the mech at tredz looked at the brake he couldnt understand it either, they have been sent back to madison.we will see what shimano have to say, not expecting them to admit to anything though, they will probably just send a replacment brake back.

had my bike stolen a month ago, i registered it on ,bikeregister and immobilise web sites and reported it stolen, only last week the police told me they have put it up on their web site and circulated to local shops, bit late a month after it was stolen though, so in my opinion you would be better off searching the local freeads yourself, and going round the local bike shops, cheers steve.

ive used the park patches on my latex tubes with no problems, they were on the tubes for over 6 months.

sadly times have changed, far more pervs and far more traffic, which equates too far more idiots on the roads,its not about the age, its more about being self aware on the roads and treating all drivers as if they havnt seen you, so take more precautions,ive cycled since i was 10yrs, im now 54, and been knocked off 6 times luckily nothing serious, but now im alot more aware of where i cycle and where i position myself on the road,it only takes a near miss to put some people off cycling on the roads, my misses doesnt like it for that reason,i think ita all down to the individual, wether or not they are confident in their abilities on the road, it will never be a 100% safe, but you can minimise the risks, like on busy roads instead of waiting in the middle of the road to make a right turn, wait at the side and wait for a gap in the traffic.

epicyclo, yeah cheers mate, the warfarin im on seems to be working, i carry a card with me, in case i have a major bleed, or accident.

i,m 54, 2 months ago was in hospital, in the critical ward with big blood clots too both lungs and one in my leg, last summer i was averaging over 100 miles a week, these last two months im gradually getting my fittness back, doing round about 70 miles ish a week at the moment, but these are very much slower miles these days, as ive been told not to stress my heart too much, so everytime i start to get out of breath i take a rest, there was a guy who was cycling around cardiff barrage last year who was over 90, havnt seen him for a while though, cant see me lasting that long.

i wear a helmet for my kids sake, if it means not leaving my kids with no father then its worth it to me, i couldnt care less about what i look like, because i look and act stupid without it on anyway, btw ive been knocked off my bike six times during my 40 yrs of cycling, so i tend to cycle on the pavement as much as possible, its safer to have an argument with a pedestrian than over a ton of metal and rubber

richc, Taff trail isn’t a bike track, its a multi-purpose route cyclists don’t take precedence. if you read my post properly, i didnt state it was purely a cycle route, ive cycled the taff trails for over 15yrs, and in my opinion its only the last 5yrs its getting worse with the dog owners, there is a few great dog owners, that when they hear a bike coming or see it they call their dog to one side, but they are in the minority, but like i said, if you read my post properly, theres good and bad on both sides, it all depends on what type of person you are, im very considerate when it comes to other users when on the bike or car,unfortunately, theres not many of us left, what about the bike riders who ride across the bridge at black weir, when it clearly states to dismount, thats just one point, why the rest of us get a bad rep, if cyclists want other users to respect them, then they should also follow the rules, but from what ive noticed after over 30 yrs of cycling both off and on the road, we will always get the rough end of the stick.

Keep dogs under close control, try telling that to the idiots that let their dogs run all over the taff trail, and when you come to a screaching holt, because the dog thats under control has just run out of the bushes and straight in front of you, then they say sorry hes usually quite good, im a dog lover, used to have two working dogs, and i wouldnt dream of letting them run off the lead on a bike track, especially when there are loads of fields around which are adjacent to the bloody bike tracks, and also extendable leads are ok, if the owner knows what he or she is doing, thats not usually the case in my experience, i feel sorry for the dogs when they get hurt, the owners deserve everthing they get, including big vets bills,but i will say theres good and bad on both sides, ive also seen bikers go speeding around blind corners, and through the under passes, they wouldnt be smiling if they hit my kids, all it takes in the end is common sense, but that seems to be rare these days, thats my rant over, dont even get me started about the roads ?

put it all down to experience, doing favours for so called friends, is like pissing in the wind, done similar myself, then everytime something goes wrong, they expect you to fixit, its sometimes not worth the effort,

cyclists will never be high on their agenda,s until it starts costing them, votes and their seats with their fat wages at stake.

tredz are well known for this kind of behavior, this is why i no longer deal with them or any company who operate the same policy, i would rather spend a few more quid with a company i respect and trust. the less time i have to spend with any companies customer services the better, talk about bad customer services try orange and EE, truely abysmal, they have paid for more of my sons contract phone than i have , because of there inept staff, and there constant £20 credits.

for the guys who have a saddle that is creaking, try putting some oil between the rails and the holes they go in on the saddle, has cured two of my saddles for a while, then just squirt some more oil, has now stopped my flite saddle from creaking for over two months.

+1 abus granit and a cable for the wheels n seat,its not the lightest set up, but its a gold standard lock as needed by my insurance company, touch wood no probs so far?

i learnt my lesson a few years ago, never take for granted what you think a driver will do, because before long your lucky judgements will run out?

my advice would be , never put your self in a position where you have to rely on the common sense of the driver, because alot of drivers dont seem to use it that often, and when you are in contact with any vehicle, your gonna loose and end up regretting it, wether you were in the right or not, its just not worth the risk, better to wait a few seconds longer and live to ride another day

i will listen if their dog is on a lead, if their so called under control dog is running off the lead all over the cycle path, then they can just F–K OFF. i praised a dog walker yesterday, as i went pass, the couple quickly called their dog by their side while i cycled past, i stopped and congratulated them, and we had a chat about the other selfish and irresponsible dog owners,who never let their dogs off the lead on the many fields, but always insist on walking in the middle of the cycle path with their dogs running all over the place, maybe these selfish owners are afraid of getting their feet wet on the grass, and before all the dog owners out there start shooting their mouths off, yes i am a dog owner and lover, i would hate to hurt any dog in an accident, i dont blame the dogs its the crap owners, ive got more respect for my dog to let her run all over a cycle path, i have heard of one lady who had her dog hit by a cyclist, and then had to fork out nearly a £1000 in vets bills, she rang the police, they said basically it was her fault, for not having the dog under control on a cycle path, but getting this message through to the i dont give a shit brigaid is never going to happen , until their dog is involved in a similar accident, trouble is its always the dog that suffers for the actions of their owners. my rant over.

i didnt realise allen keys were so precious, if the mechs on here are so frightened of loosing a 4mm ak, weld it on a long chain, like the banks do with their pens, ive forgotten the ammount of allen keys ive lost when lending them to apprentices,and i still lend them out,the op wasnt talking about lending tools, it was one 4mm ak, if people on here are so tight with their allen keys, try going to tool fairs, where you can pick up allen keys for pennies, that shop has probably lost far more than the cost of a set of allen keys, because next time the op will buy his next £50 worth of bike gear elswhere,so who looses in the long run, the mech with his precious allen keys, when the shop closes due to bad customer service,it takes a long time to build up good customer relations, but it doesnt take long to loose them to the internet shops

its not so much, cheap allen keys these days, it the shit cheap allen cap bolts that manufacturers keep insisting on fitting out their bikes with that would probably round off first, also it doesnt matter how much you spend on tools, a crap mechanic will always ruin them, which is why i can understand shops not lending out expensive tools, but you have to admit, how petty is it for a shop not to lend the op a 4mm ak, after spending good money in that same shop,any workshop should have at least a few sets of allen keys lying around, especially a bike shop where a 4mm ak is used quite often.

the op only wanted to borrow the ak for a ten minute job to get him home, he wasnt expecting the ak to last him a life time,besides that, i dont think it was even about the tools, the salesperson probably just couldnt be arsed to go and look in the workshop. i suppose if the salesperson actually owned the shop their attitude might have been different,when its not your business and your probably on minimum wage, you probably cant blame them.

theres some serious shit talked about on here, the op asked for a lend of a 4mm ak, the op didnt ask to rob the shop of their so called precious tools, 4mm ak wats the cost 50p, if a shop cant afford that to lend to a customer who has just blown £50 in their shop, then they dont deserve any customers,theres a common theme through all this, bikes mechs and their precious tools, ive been a bike mech and an engineering toolmaker by trade, i damn sure if we had a customer asking at our front door for a lend of a 4mm ak, and who had just spent money with our firm we would even hesitate,its just plain n simple shit customer service, and if i were the op, i would of told them to stuff their £50 worth of goods and made the guy give me my money back, which would of taken him longer than it would of to find a 4mm bloody ak, its shops like that, that make people shop on line, with out good customer services all you bike mechs with your precious tools would be out of a job, and im not talking about the people who expect a shop to lend them their whole tool boxes here, it was a 50p 4mm ak.

btw, it would take the salesman longer to reverse the transaction, and give you your money back, than it would of taken him to go in the workshop and look for a 4mm ak, which ever way you look at it, its just piss poor customer service, especially having just spent £50 in the shop, you have a lot more patience than me op, that £50 would already be winging its way back into my account by now.

dont blame you op, theres certain local bike shops ive stopped using due to similar customer service issues, its their loss, theres always another shop to buy stuff from and get better service from.

i can understand shops not wanting to lend out expensive tools, but a 4mm ak, for fs, how petty is that, take your business elsewhere and f-em, its gonna cost them more than a 4mm ak in the long run, without good customer service what use is a local bike shop anyway?

i hope itv4,s coverage of the tour is alot better than that crap,its eurovision gone mad?

Iv,e been biking over 30 yrs, im now 53, what ive noticed is that most older bikers start to look up the ladder as they get older, thus they start to notice the 3k + bikes, mostly down to wanting better kit but also having more income to spend on a hobby, the trick is to know where the cut off point is for you, i found mine years ago, absolutely no point in me spending 7k on a bike that i wouldnt get the benefit from even when i can afford it,you will always get the people that just have to have the best kit out there, that will never change, its the same in most hobbies. btw, i think bikes are far better value for money now than they were years ago, depends were n when you buy it from of course.

i think youve learnt a valuable lesson, after buying a new bike always check it over completely, before going out for a ride on it, ive learnt that same lesson over the years, although you might not have noticed the dodgy hub, but you would have noticed the short cables, i never trust any shop when buying a new bike, i will always check over before using it, especially from certain shops?

now taken

got a £5 voucher code available if your interested, send me an email, or pm, cheers steve

for future reference, if any one with the same bike, wants to know, halfords sent me an email this morning, its a medium cage rear mech on this bike, good to see that halfords are getting better with their customer services.

topeak joe blow mountain, but change the crappy plastic adapter and use one of these, http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/lezyne-floor-abs-spares-pack/rp-prod73485, far better

ive used latex tubes for the past year on my mountain bike, only had 1 puncture in that time, which was easily fixed in 10 mins with a mormal patch kit, so i would recommend them no probs, only thing is they loose air over a few days, so you will have to top the presure up, apart from that, they are lighetr than normal tubes 113 grams, and i dont get so many punctures, though i do have them pumped to 36 psi.

+1 for the abus granite, on the heavy side, but a gold secure lock, that my insurance company fully endorse on their web site.

i think if the guy wants to spend that kind of cash, whats the problem, its his cash, ive seen quite a few people spend alot more than that on their first dslr camera, i know some people where that kind of money has been spent on a watch, if he were my friend i would advise him that fitness is far more important that equipment and how much the bike costs, if its just a one of event why not just rent a bike, if on the other hand he likes the idea of making it a hobby then its money well spent, it all comes down to what value the guy puts on enjoyment, to me and others to spend that ammount on his first bike is a bit risky, or next year some one will get a good bargain, never talk people out of spending their money, cus this is where alot of peeps on here get thier bargains from. cheers steve

I think in this day n age, when insurance companies will look for any loop hole in order to avoid paying out for a claim, you are going to need all the luck you can get, at most 50 – 50 i would say, i hope im wrong for your sake op,but i would be amazed if they pay up, good luck, you will need it lol.