If you dont have any luck, I just dropped mine to a place in Essex, if you want to drop me a line I can let you know later if its a nice job or not…

£50 for solid colours £70 for something a bit more fancy..
http://www.powdercoatingessex.co.uk/

A 2nd hand Scandal or a new Kinesis XC120 will both just about run your forks at 130mm without too much problem, and both nice and light at about 3.5lbs in a medium sorta size…

Summer arms and legs like a member of the self harming society… 🙂

yup, why there is no Elite in oversize I dont know, the X4 has the stanradrd clamping bolts instead of the Elite's clever clampy thing…

I tried all that but it needed one off road, keeps the chain off the lovely frame.

Really nice bike I tried to get my mate to buy that when I saw it, but he poo poo'd it… he made a mistake.

Lovely, but you will be needing an N-Gear jump stop for it…

Another opinion is its not a lube but a packing grease to stop the chain tarnishing, it definately stops the chain from shifting smoothly, some completely de grease em and then apply their fav lube….

I just get all the sticky stuff off the outside myself.

I run 200 and 180 for general XC stuff as thats whats on the bike and the bike does everything, they work just as well on my local loop thats is fairly tame as they did in the Alps, maybe i dont need them so large but thats what I have.

They still get mighty warm on a prolonged braking stretch so unless you have zero hills at all I cant see why they shouldnt ever bed in.

ps I never ever do more than pop the new pads in and go for a ride either, and dont suffer from poor performance or bedding in issues so often talked about.

Thanks again for all the input.

psling, just what I wanted to hear.

Very nice reallyoldgit, that the sort of thing in my head, only difference is I am trying to source some double glazed french doors and windows to build into mine (hoping to get some mistake orders and 2nds), not so much for insulation as asthetics and security. I thought 3k sounded a lot but its the sort of construction woodsman is looking for, its beyond the usual shiplap of most sheds.

woodsman, you can have any constuction you want made, there are a few places near me in Essex, my last one was a lean too type affair (broke every rule in the book) and I used triplewall roofing like some conservatories so it was nice and light.

Not quite as easy as internet shopping but both Aldi and Lidl do sports glasses from time to time with interchangable lens's and a nice pouch thing for under a fiver….

I got Bolle safety specs too and they are as good as sugested.

Had an old style 20" hotrock, a good bike but it was really heavy.

The isla will be lightest.

I did 1 lesson in a snowdome thing, spent the whole night just scraping down on 1 edge, whe I sugested maybe we could scrape down on the other edge for a bit, or heaven forbid actually do a turn and scrape the other edge they laughed and said that would be 2 more lessons!….. Yeah Right.

So I just went on hols, strapped my 2nd hand kit on and linked turns on the first run..(obviously just the nursery run mind you) Rekon it depends if you have skated and surfed and stuff mind.

I bought gloves with built in wrist things, rekon they was a godesnd.

yup it seems some hurt like the blazes, some dont much, guess its all to do with the damge to soft tissue around it as your finding, 3 weeks is not long, move it as much as you feel comfy with when your supposed too.

I broke mine in 2 places the bit in the middle spun 90 deg and was a really sore point that looked like it wanted to break through the skin, getting back on the bike (mx'r) was only delayed while waiting for the broken ankle to heal (same crash you see), so about 8 weeks until racing again, sadly broke the collarbone and the other shoulder (humerous, and not that funny at all) at about 9-10 weeks……

The good news was I knocked the horrible pointy bit that was due an operation to shave off back and up so no need for the opp. 🙂

No agro from the collar bone at all, however the not so funny humerous break isnt the same story, 25 years on and got a sore shoulder all the time. Agrevated bursa or something, I await some X rays, cortizone and whatever for that, as recent shed base digging (see chat forum) has really annoyed it..

Back to plan A £260 isnt the end of the world but by far the best bet for the size I am doing….

Thanks for your help all.

Any of you bought the interlocking rubber floor sheeting? Maybe that on top of slabs would give the shed some insulation and make the floor nicer for sweeping etc.

I just rang ready mix and he worked it out at 1,8 m3 with a quote of £260 and I can barrow it into place…. but I dont own a barrow as yet!!

I am going to give this a serious re think, I laid my last one on slabs as has been sugested to me but I knew I wasnt going to live there for long, this was supposed to be a bit more long term, I think the slabs concrete corners is looking a lot more likely, will now also look into split railway sleepers too…. I really wanted a flat concrete base but beggars cant be choosers…

what??? £170 for an 8×6???? bugger, I rejected a quote of a grand for laying the base and thought I could save the money!!!!

I am getting very bored of digging..

gusamac, yeah if I piped it I would attempt 1 hit, but if I mix it I want to be able to do it in sections.

I guess I need to make a phone call to my local authorities..

sv Yes been thinking of a little reinforcement mesh…

Its well away from the house, just wondered if there was a limit on sq footage, though its only quite wide and not deep at 7ft..

Plane is to make it pretty comfy and very secure, am planning on using proper doors and windows in the front of it so it looks nice, and not shed like though the main construction will be pretty standerd wooden shed fare to keep cost low.

Vinte the P7 torch is ace, but sooooo last year,if I was buying now I would just buy the dedicated bike light….

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149

I guessed it would be shorter, I posted it as I was astounded by the claimed weight..

Now this light, but no idea what size they measured to get 1.2kg!

And it doesnt mention sugested fork length either.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=31512

Hora, but that {edit} steel inbred{edit} doesnt fit in with your post for a light steel or compliant alloy hardtail, why not the Scandal and save 1 1/2lb in weight.

Have to go 2nd hand for a non slot one though.

I ride an 18" at 5ft 8" I am supposed to buy the 16" but was very happy with the Tinbred so bought another 18"

This takes up to 130mm fork out the box..

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=15099

I cant see it listed now, but the Halfords Carrera blast in green with disc brakes was the best value I found by a long way at about £170 it was light and the forks felt nice (shop test) but the green was horrible and my lad rejected it on the colour, I spent a fair bit more on a Felt from Evans with V brakes and though its decent enough its no lightwieght.

yup they take 120-5mm have done for ages, that what I am saying another 15mm isnt a lot. And there are lots of XC frames for 5" forks out there, maybe an overforked XC frame will do what your looking for, a light, compliant 140mm bike.

That said I was never sure if my Tinbred was pre 5" fork or not, but am certain my Scandal frame is.

Its your money, I cant see it being a problem as thisisnotaspoon says, for XC and the rough and tumble that comes with it…

I actually hadnt read the advert and hadnt realized they were carbon ones, but they should still work out ok, but if your buying rings then they are not cheap at all, I would be tempted to try them as a dual ring setup with the rings that come with em and an 11-34 on the back. Might even get a few quid back for the big ring in the classifieds.

edit I might have to ammend my opinion as njee20 seems to have tried lots of stuff out..

Yup they will take it no problem, do you really need a 50t big ring though? or will you miss the smaller granny?

My Campag ones were lovely, and took 10 mins to strip out and grease the bearings.

Go on what?

I bought a 2nd hand scandal for £80 off here for example plan on running 125mm forks as thats what my stolen Tinbred was running and what I have to swap off my full sus, cant see why running 130mm plus would wreck the handling especially if they are like I say on the fly travel adjust or lock down type.

Have a scan about, find a frame you like the look of thats happy with 120mm forks and give it a try.

Here is the Tinbred at 125mm I dont think it looks like a chopper, another 15mm by the time you take the sag into account isnt going to kill it.

I dont have pics of the scandal yet as waiting on getting it powder coated first but geometry is about the same as this.

edit.. you might want to pay attention to axle to crown lengths of the forks you have or what you have in mind, as a 130mm of one make could be longer than 140mm of another.

On topic, have you thought about getting and XC frame thats corrected for 120mm ish forks and then popping something a bit longer on it to see how it works out?
That will give you the lighter more compliant frame, the extra length in the fork will slacken off the head angle a bit (no biggie) and raise the BB slightly so it might be what your looking for.
Opt for a fork with either lock down or on the fly travel adjust and it wont bother the climbing either.

Loads of sub 4lb ally frames out there that are very reasonable price wise.

Get hundreds of em down my tip, Probike, Appolo, Raleigh, Claud, Dawes..

No chance he could move on and get something nice instead?

I know what seth means… i gave you a bike once and you moaned. 🙂

There is loads of riding to be had with a few trips out of London, the old wall around the town isnt there now (well most of it isnt) and neither are the sentries that used to gaurd it.

Its a flippin tight budget Jim!!

question is Jim, what you bought yourself?

How do you like the Scandel frame?

Not built it up as yet…

Yep its just another alloy with a bit of scandium in it, there was the pictures of the snapped in 2 Kona recently, but I am not too worried myself the Scandal looks strong, mine is the old one with the bit of Scandium in the tubing… I just wanted something a similar weight and ride to my stolen Tinbred.

Weight… builds a light frame compared to steel for a similar strength.

I recently bought a 2nd hand Scandal, but was looking at the Lappierre scandium race frame but they wont sell that as frame only…