If you can be bothered, periodically applying ACF50 would stop it – https://www.amazon.co.uk/ACF-50/dp/B0761TV16Y – it lasts a bit longer than WD40 or similar.

So-so, once the tyre has warmed up it’s generally fine, when I first start out it used to skip a bit*. It can be awkward trying to calibrate your bike to get the perfect balance of rolling resistance and tyre slipping. Calibration was the other awkward thing with the tyre based trainers. Obviously with my Kickr I just take the wheel out, chuck it on and go. With the Vortex I’d have to swap tyre, ride for 15 mins to warm it up, make sure calibration wasn’t too far off, then go.

Once calibrated it would be fine without faffing for a week or two, assuming I didn’t use my road bike for anything else.

*noting I’m 6’6″ and 15 stone though, I need put out quite a lot of power just to maintain a fairly average watts per kilo. If you were considerably lighter I don’t think it would be an issue.

Oh and before I forget, the pain of using a trainer tyre on my road bike, that was the other thing I wanted the Kickr for! If you don’t mind swapping the tyre over or have a spare bike it’s no issue. I only have the one road bike, so I was less keen.

I liked mine, only used it a year then decided I was so into Zwift I should have a more expensive one, I upgraded to a Wahoo Kickr. The Kickr is definitely better, due to the wheel never slipping under big accelerations, sadly it’s also awkwardly loud compared to the Tacx Vortex. Neither really give the impression of being on the road if I’m honest.

If you happen to be anywhere near Leamington Spa you’d be welcome to borrow (or buy at low ebay rates) my old Vortex. It’s in perfect condition, with all the bits, boxed.

How tall are they?

It depends how well your building has been modeled. I’d be shocked if it was hammering modern PCs to the point of needing a totally top end discrete graphics card.

I pondered the same set (although the 29 version) for a while, I just couldn’t quite get around the fact that they’re almost 200g heavier than Arch Mk3 and cost almost the same.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/stans-no-tubes-arch-mk3-mtb-wheelset/rp-prod152389

Tragically I think I’m taking some Crossmax Elite over the Arch S1s (I’m stuck using Evans as it’s Cycle to Work). The Crossmax are a similar width to Crest, but have a 35lb higher weight allowance and lower weight.

“Sorry, no messages were found.”

Yeah, that sort of thing, there’s bugger all mountain biking around here, so if I go out on an evening it’s for a big road bike ride. The 4X course is literally about a 5 minute walk from us, I just feel like I should be cashing in on it a bit. Due to being tall I’ve always gone for huge frames, I think I try and over compensate a bit and it’s hard purposefully hunting down a tiny bike.

Cheers all, I’ve got a big list of about 20 open tabs. I’ve definitely ditched my original pondering of a modern long/slack/low hardtail, I’d rather get a cheap jumpy bike.

Yeah, maybe I should just ebay an old 26er of some sort. We live really close to a 4x course (which has had a bit of a revamp recently) and there’s a few pump tracks around. I’ve had a go, but it always feels awkward.

Do jumpy bikes still work when you’re 6’6″ sort of size or should I look for a medium sized tandem?

If you ponder a 520, try and make sure it’s a 520 Plus, very similar price, better mapping from what I understand.

I’ve been following him for ages, he gets up to all sorts of adventures, seems like a decent bloke. Most of his miles are on his ebike these days.

Shame you asked today, they were selling Garmin Edge 820s for £200ish yesterday via the Amazon Prime day stuff.

Cheers, what frame did you mount it too?

I’ve just had a week at Glentress, got out on 4 of the days. 3 days on my Enduro 29, 1 day on a hired Trek Powerfly LT 8, absolutely loved it.

The main thing wasn’t the uphill performance, you’re not uploading to Strava with everyone else anyway, the best thing was how uncompromising it’s downhill performance was. Big 650b 2.8″ Nobby Nics, very low centre of gravity, 150mm Fox 34 on the front end. It was massively inspiring and you didn’t have the nagging feeling about then having to slog for 30 minutes to get back to the top. You got there feeling refreshed and ready.

I finished the ride and my Garmin uploads immediately, before switching to ebike it showed as me having 4 KOMs getting back to the top. You’re not just getting there without spending all your energy, you’re getting back up there faster than the fittest about. The bike didn’t fit hugely well, internally routed seatpost meant I couldn’t raise the saddle enough, it’s also pretty rough and loose over there at the moment, if it was your own setup you’d be seriously quick everywhere. It’s genuinely not something for people new to biking.

Loved it. I’m now pondering conversions on old bikes.

Edit: Oh, I should mention, I was quicker downhill on almost everything on the Enduro. It didn’t feel it though, much more flowy there on the big 650s.

Another +1 for not getting it. If you’re getting a towbar setup anyway, why not just get the standard Thule/Atera type rack? The sort where you don’t have to awkwardly dangle the number plate/lighting board on the back, you can remove bikes one by one, no issues with them rubbing against each other etc?

Using an Atera Strada at the moment, the bikes are locked in individually, wheels held in place, it holds 2.8″ tyres easily, price not hugely dissimilar.

I’m guess, but shirley would go something like this £1 at 1.08 daily

1.08 is 8%, not 0.8%.

Risky getting twist and go though isn’t it? If the UK catches up with other EU regulations they’ll also be banned, seems a very grey area.

Amazing stuff, I bet there’s going to be a big demand for skilled drone pilots for filming all manner of stuff very soon. To be honest, I can’t see it working for something that isn’t made by taking 1000 clips and piecing together the few successful ones though.

Very jealous. Tragically (and I do mean tragically) the only thing putting me off is the yearly miles I’ll lose on my Strava/Veloviewer account, as I’ll end up riding it everywhere.

Standard NHS practice for that sort of accident requires a hockey mask to be worn at work, I’d go with that.

I’m a Ferrari CX60 with Suntour Epicon forks, I don’t know what I’m doing but I like to pretend.

I eagerly look forward to someone who sees themselves as one of the older Cove bikes.

I wouldn’t stress over it too much. I’m the same height and inside leg, I started on a 61cm Tricross years back, a 62cm Canyon Ultimate Al (2XL, they do a bigger one too) and now I’ve got an XL Giant Propel. All of them have had space for higher seat post, all of them I’ve just blindly bought, then faffing with stems and things until I’m happy. Trek sizing seemed generous, I was tempted to go that direction for a while.

I struggle more with mountain bikes to be honest, modern longer frames are helping, but a lot of frames max out at 20″, meaning I need a mile of seatpost. With carbon frames this generally leads to creaking due to the 15 stone balanced on the other end. Cars and trousers too, they’re rubbish. Road bikes are easy though.

I was thinking the opposite to the OP bizarrely, I’ve seen loads out on the trails. Impressive given how awkward they are to demo. Obviously their last big spike was a good few years back, I think they’re recovering well, while brands they used to compete with, like Lapierre, seem to be struggling over here.

I’d love a Meta Power, huge gamble though!

Making simple little games in something like Pygame or Corona (or one of the similar LUA variants) would be a vaguely friendly way to start out, no requirement learning a big IDE.

There’s no wrong language to start with really, the principles you learn in one language will immediately transfer between languages very easily. Types of variables, methods, loops etc and you’re there, the rest is just fluff. Learning how a specific problem could be expressed as code is the learning part, you just need to dive in, set yourself a target and see if you can get there.

Also bare in mind, when copy/pasting your first few bits of code, you don’t literally have to remember every function you’re using. For example, if you did dive into something like C++/DirectX, there are pages of setup code, just to get a triangle rendering, no one remembers this, copy/paste/configure is the way to go.

Personal preference. Assuming you need the bar higher, do you prefer the look of loads of spacers or a riser? I always go with a riser (because it was cool 20 years ago).

Ooh, I’d forgotten about that bloke, absolute joy to watch. It’s set me off binging on loads of his videos, awesome stuff.

Do they allow the same service with cash notes? :)

Edit: Also – https://monzo.me – pretty much Paypal, but straight to your bank.

Well, to be fair, one bonus for me was that you can just sign up, get a card, transfer a few hundred to it and see how you get on. If you find it’s working out, keep using it, if not just cancel. Since it’s a current account there’s no fees. It does everything my HSBC current account does, just a bit better. I still get paid into my HSBC account, then just transfer a load over. Sounds like I’m doing the same as simon, above.

The one thing that would stop me fully swapping would be cashing cheques or paying money in directly. I just like how speedy and clean everything is, my HSBC app is an awkward black/white list of transactions, even paying off my HSBC own credit card involves blindly transferring money to a random sort/account number, with a specific reference number and hoping it works. It’s just all a bit rubbish.

It’s lot of things, they just seem very sensible. Take for example Monzo’s new overdraft, 50p a day charge, that’s it, no secret admin fee, no surprises. I can freeze my card in literally about 5 seconds, all purchases send notifications immediately, you can even split the cost of things via the app. I can click a purchase, select another user and they get a prompt to pay half the bill. Sending money to other users is very slick and fast as well. The app is clearly written by professionals and it doesn’t require a completely ridiculous 5 stage authentication, unless I want it to.

It’s just very modern and well thought out. Why would I want to pay extra fees to the big banks, so they can run a big high street branch I rarely use? Old banks just don’t seem sustainable anymore.

I’m using Monzo as well, I just liked the idea of it really. No reason why a bank NEEDS to be slow and awkward these days, they’re just too big and old fashioned. From a software developer perspective, I also admired the Go architecture on which it was built! :)

Zwift and only Zwift here. Curious what you’re looking for specifically and why you think it looks boring, you can literally race against other people and gradually climb the league tables.

https://zwift.com/events/

I’m about middling C class, because I’m lazy and like donuts :( Nothing has driven me like a proper race though, there’s no way I could coax myself into sitting at 165bpm average over an hour if it were anything else.

Picking a random example – https://www.strava.com/activities/1213865772 – more brutal than any real rides I had that year. I’m 37 and my max is roughly what I had that ride.

First time I’ve signed up. I had such a good time with Velo Brum I was keen to have a peep. Congratulations letter came through yesterday! Sadly it’s on the exact same weekend as Pivot 24 12, which the missus has signed up for. Argh!

Cheers both, good to hear I guess. I still find it a bit shocking, I thought we were past this stage.

Yeah, mine didn’t come with front mech bits either (or if it did, I didn’t recognise them). It sort of forced my hand a bit to go 1×10, which is a shame.

I went for the Hunt wheels, bought a Giant Propel recent and it came with rubbish bendy wheels so I wanted to swap them before Velo Brum. They’ve been fantastic, really solid feeling, decent weight, wide rim, sensible freehub design.

The only issue which may bug some people is how loud the free wheel is, people have made fishing reel comments while riding with me before :)

Hunt didn’t have any stock, but Sigma Sport did.

Even if you did stay and get the police involved at the scene, he’d likely just argue you went into the back of him as he was slowing down and it was your fault.

I genuinely think you did the sensible option.

https://www.wideopenmountainbike.com/2017/09/steel-real-demo-day-heads-forest-dean-october-29th

Cheers for the link! I genuinely might pop along to this to have a look. Just having a moan really, I ride a Swift so I’m not totally against the idea. My old mk1 Scandal 29er was notably more comfy, a pound lighter and cheaper though if I’m honest.

On an old note:

I bet you are. It doesn’t fatigue or corrode. Why wouldn’t it last forever?

I’ve had 2 carbon mountain bikes, both broke from having a huge long seatpost with 200 pounds bouncing on the end (Ibis Mojo and Zaskar). I’ve had a couple of steel bikes and a good 20 or something aluminium frames, I’ve never broken one.

So, it’s not that modern bikes are rubbish – it’s that they are 1lb heavier than they used to be. That about right?

Im just saying I don’t see the point in the ones that are super stiff, super heavy and super expensive. Which seems to be the majority. People used to buy steel for the way it rode.

I know it’s a half marketing rubbish and there’s loads of compliant aluminium frames about. My Scandal was more comfy than my Swift to be honest.

Yeah, the Soul was the only example I could think of that wasn’t built like a tank and used decent metal. It’s obviously possible and people seemed to love them.

I just wonder if most steel frames sell on niche/retro value alone and the cost of expensive tubing usually doesn’t pay for itself.