I bet it’s totally overstated how much washing machne comprised that infamous washing machine bike.

The seller decided that he was infinite consciousness, and therefore we are all linked cosmically.

Everyone lived happily ever after and a nice theme tune played till the end credits finished rolling. It was epic.

I could never get rid of a bike.

I spent nearly 3k on my Pitch Pro. Every part was upgraded. I haven’t ridden her in 8 months or so… but she will be ridden again. What is nice about letting her sit about, is she hasn’t become history. I like that Specialized have essentially made the same Pitch frame for 3 or so years.. some full suss designs come and go so quickly, too quickly. Some designs are over before you really get to ride them..

I found Clarks pads to be as good as EBC.

I get out every morning about 6.30-7.30am..

This morning I hadn’t appreciated how icy it was, or indeed how good my tyres actually are.. was very impressed with how the WTB Stout and Prowler gripped on ice… only when it was solid did I almost come a cropper!

You could spend £100 and get £50 off next £100 order. Send something back from that first or second £100 order and you’ll get a refund. So potentially you could get £50 off £100. os someting…

I hear the word crack mentioned and I immediately want to steer clear… why go to all the trouble building up?

What is the Commencal crack issue in a nutshell? I haven’t been playing close attention…

I might go down the shops.

I haven’t trusted SRAM chains since two in a row bust on me from new.

Yet I love their cassettes, rear mechs, and shifters…

KMC? Meh.

Connex Wippermann. The End.

I don’t think the shop owner has any right to hold on to it.

It’s common to grease externally, on the seal, especially with something thick.. they do it in marine applications a lot..

If that was my bike, which admittedly is worth considerably more, nothing, and I mean nothing, would stop me from getting it back. They (the staff) would literally bounce off me as I took it out of the window and out of the shop.

Personally I found KMC to be almost identical.

Giant are the biggest manufacturer in the world, they make bikes for loads of people.

I use a mixture of Shimano and SRAM groupo and I get perfect shifting with a Connex… plus more miles… three hundred more or so..

I’m fairly heavy and have experimented a lot with chains over the years. My personal faves are the German chains: Rohloff and Connex. I used to favour the Rohloff 9 speed, but that doubled in price almost overnight, from £25 to £50..

I now favour the Connex, where I buy 3 for £45 from Ribble. The 900 lasts just as long as the 908, just not quite as shiny, but still shiny… my Connex chains have outlasted my Shimano chains… most Shimano chains are made by KMC.

I like it. It’s brave, different.

Does the paint on a Carbon 456 not look nice? I was quite liking the red..

Nothing wrong with clashing colours! Besides, most people play it fairly safe, like at home, with magnolia walls.

How many people have really examined colour theory here? Complementary colours don’t mean the colours necessarily compliment one another, rather two complementaries contain a full complement of primaries. Red and green can look awful, or it can make a Matisse painting sing! Red, green, white and yellow may sound silly, but it can make a Lancia Italia sting!

Most stuff on bikes can be done with feel. How many people regularly check the calibration if their torque wrenches?

A cantilever type torque wrench like the Park can be recalibrated by a child intuitively. I have one of these for things like BB’s and a small spring type for other duties.

How many people have the same size muscles? I find almost everyone without a torque wrench overtightens rotor bolts and stem and handlebar bolts.

Are you evcen sure you have over-tightened? The 35 N/m recommended by Shimano and Hope and others is seriously lots, and that seems to be a low torque compared to some BB’s. I doubt many people could crank an all-in-one BB wrench to that torque.

I like to keep British people in jobs also. I have a LOT of Hope bits.

But I couldn’t resist the Chinese made lights and have lots, a bikeray, magicshine, sub 66.. and a 3 x XPG magicshine.. and several Chinese battery packs. All have been fine. Only one broken charger out of the lot. One set has been charged and used well over 300 times, yet run time is still near new.

I would be up for it.. if you don’t mind someone who falls off a lot and is basically crap.

I still have Pikes on both my main bikes. You cannot buy them anymore, I think they reincarnated into the slightly lighter Revelation. More people are Fox fans these days I think.

As for tyres, 2.3 means more grip and comfort but slower speed on the flats and roads. But not all 2.3’s are created equally!

It’s nice to have both, but having both is a luxury. Somehow on £30k a year with a £800 rent I keep a 3k full suss in the wings. It hasn’t been ridden in weeks, but it will be…. can’t lose what I have built. It’s too pretty!

Wouldn’t it be great if the lobster could take a +130 plus fork?

For the price its a bargain no? Why is a lightweight 853 so expensive outside of lobster land?

lobster i reckon.

America will not be saved by riding a bicycle.

America will only be saved if its manufacturers return home.

Since the UK is destroyed, record numbers of young are without hope of a real job etc. This will become more commonplace.

The eyes of of the shafted generation(s) are green with envy or hungry for doughnuts and they are eyeing up your bling.

Still, as long as you get your Made In China bits eh? It can’t possibly be related eh? lol

I wouldn’t judge in this way. I’m heavy on gear, I ride a lot, and SRAM X9 (the only SRAM I have tried) has been as good or better than XT and overall I must feel better, or I wouldn’t buy like for like replacements when the need arises. I haven’t had to change a rear mech at all.

They SRAM don’t wear out any quicker than Shimano in my experience…

After 20 odd years of Shimano, I went SRAM X9 and I love it. X9 cassettes and rear mechs and shifters are easily as good as Shimano and they need much less calibration because of the different pull ratio.

On both main bikes I run X9 rear, X9 shifters, Connex 900 chain, and Shimano XT front mechs and SLX chainsets. I would try SRAM for front mechs also but I’v e never got round to experimenting with front mechs and for the money I paid, the SLX was the better chainset to anything else on offer.

I’d say Bourbon, but I have a drink problem and am trying to stop.

I can and have, many, many times.. ridden offroad, quite aggresively, and over-confidently after 20cl….

Edited to add: in one gulp, unscrew, glug, gone.

Youtube obviously has the same policy. No sex, but violence is fine.

Strange indeed.

Since I’m on my day off.. and I have er… some herb.. I mean herbs. ahem.

http://www.bikemoviemusic.com/mtb/movies/15/kranked-7—the-cackle-factor.aspx

Kranked: The Cackle Factor as much for the soundtrack as anything else…

he’s a mass of contradictions…

I hate cars though.

I wanted to talk about shoes. And Pritt sticks.

btu waht if the evidecne gtes slot?

Didn’t they used to crack because they were CNC’d from billet? Now they CNC forged blanks? I weigh 16 stone with work backpack (I commute) and the bike gets ridden on and off road a lot.. I have two sets.. been great, despite the clicky clack (which I like and don’t like for different reasons), they seem to spin almost as well as cup and cone…

I had a Hope BB bearing die ultra quickly (just one side), and they offered to fix it free, but I think it was my fault, so I bought new bearings and fitted them myself..

Or buy Hope ones and keep jobs in the UK.

Soz.. I assumed you were talking about fitting a BB as well..

So no, you don’t need silly amounts oif grease, but you do need the shaft smeared… it can be a bugger to get out.. to get it out to change BB bearings, you will find a rubber faced or wooden mallet useful.

Any. I have used automotive anti-sieze like copaslip, fancy smancy grease by Finishline and cheapo grease from Weldite.

All does the job. I stick loads in, seriously loads.. I’ve definately plugged the odd draianage hole in my over-zealous greasing.. and I roque the cups to the advised 35 N/m using a cantilever style torque wrench.. there’s no way anyone using an all in one BB wrench is putting 35 N/m into the cup, especially if its one of those shit half designs that slips and eats the rebates..

The ebay kits are almost identical and come with some better fittings. I have both the avid one and an ebay one. I attach different fittings to it when I bleed my Hayes.