TeamHurtmore – I think I was in M&B when you were there.. haslemere yes?

So the Cervelo you took a quick spin on was the R5ca which is mega, but I dont think its made anymore as it was limited.

Cervelo really are nice frames. I borrowed last years S5 demo for a few weeks and set PR’s consistently on most of my local short segments. Wouldnt want to take an S5 on an all day trip as too stiff, but a proper blast. The new R series look very nice and they do a disc version where as I dont think Spesh are in the s-works tarmac this year, but probably need to check.

Ive had Spesh on and off for years and now on a Swift Carbon and many high end frames now are much of a muchness. However the new Tarmac looks a real step forward so agree its worth demo’ing.

Personally, if I wanted to do a custom build I would go for the Cervelo and really pimp it up. If I wanted a stock bike I would go for the new s-works tarmac. BUT I would certainly think long a hard about discs as they do make a difference in the wet and would future proof the investment.

Good luck on choosing. If possible try and arrange a back to back demo on the same day, loop and conditions. Im sure the boys could arrange a shop ride for you to do that on say a Sunday…I may even come along for the fun, but you are in good hands with Mike and Ben. Both race for good teams, so know their stuff.

Yep got a worx unit last week as my outside tap has gone due to building works. Very good. Not as much pressure as a main unit but good enough for a bike. Does the job very well. I run it off a 25litre water tank (5 quid off ebay). More pressure than a hose and multi head for different spray patterns. Dont make the mistake I made and buy the sub 100 quid one as it doesnt come with battery or charger, so I sent it back and swapper for the full kit which is much better value circa £118.

Not had a complete failure but had two with knocking in the first 20% of travel. Both have been replaced under warranty. Been ok for almost a year since.

if you can get hold of one the 9point8 posts are supposed to be THE ones to have

Timb34 – Variflex – I guess you did the Etape on Sunday? It’s quite fun to see how many Etape participants fall outside the time limit set by the pros.. some years it’s 100% !!(fastest amateur this year was 5:15)

Yes indeed… due to the heat I took it easy and came in at 10 hours! Lots of people throwing up and passing out. Im not super fit, but do between 100 and 200kms a week of MTB and Road. There were plenty of hefty lads and lasses out there, so god knows what time some of them came in at.

Just shows how super fit the tour guys are to do this type of thing day in day out.

I did that stage on Sunday…. it was BRUTAL!! especially in the heat. If the weather turns today it could be carnage as some of the descents have new bits of tarmac. Damn shame Im stuck in meetings all afternoon and then out tonight, will have to catch up on the itvplayer later.

Cant beat this for value:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-bikes-sentier-vrx-hardtail-bike-xt-1×11-2017/rp-prod146562

XT, Yari, WTB rims.

Get another 10% off with British Cycling membership.

Ive had 2 x rt3’s get replaced under warranty and it seems to be a reasonably common theme. No experience of CCDB’s though

Related post. Ive got some TACX wheels fitted to an M8000 rear mech… have been fine for a few months but all of a sudden have started squeaking quite badly. Ive lubed them but to no avail. Anyone else had a similar problem?

Received my 1985 jacket last week but put it to the test this morning on a dog walk of all things. Proper biblical rain and even when bulked up underneath with two layers I stayed dry as a bone. The surplus waterproof trousers didnt hold up anywhere near as well as they wetted through. It really does shake dry too. Very impressed.

I had the same requirement as you OP. I have the same bike and spent slightly more than 350 on the hunt aero light disc wheelset with 28mm tubeless tyres on for road use and keep the original wheelset but with WTB Nano’s for offroad. The Hunt wheelset with the 28mm tyres is great for road use. Definitely notice the weight difference.

Would be nice gesture from Sky or others to help TomD out today. Personally I think he deserves the title if he can get through today. Given other individuals havent really played nice have they. Ok, they played by the rules, but I wouldnt class them as gents. Been impressed with TomD on this tour having never really had him on radar before.

Would definitely go with 29er over anything else given the type of riding and climbing. As above Whyte 629 would be perfect or another Trek or Scott. If steel is your thing then Cotic Solaris is a great all rounder. Lots of choice out there. Demo rides are probably your best bet if you get some.

real shame, poor nicky, wish him well. bit ironic though for someone who hurtles round a track at 200mph on two wheels to be seriously injured on a push bike at sub 30mph. fingers crossed he recovers

X-Tools ones should be fine. Im using them with 2.8s :)

As above, if I was doing it again I would go WTB Asym i35’s on DT350’s.
Ive currently got a set of scrapers on hopes which do allow super low pressures (10psi on front with 2.8 nobby nic and 20psi rear WTB) but 45mm is almost too wide for standard pikes…anything more than 2.8’s rub when turning hard. If you have boost compatible forks and frame then scrapers will be fine.

Ive always been a hope hub rider, but recently switched to DTSwiss (ok so not UK based) and wont go back. Super smooth and silent, really impressed.

Used SS, Uber and Rahox over the last few years and now gone back to standard Shimano as they last longer and dont squeal anywhere near as much as the others when wet.

djglover – Member
Interested in one of these..Does it come with any mount that can attach to aero road handlebars does anyone know

It comes with standard bar mount plus the standard type rubber band solution for attaching to top of stem.

For aero bars you may need to look at other solutions as many include Wahoo inserts. There was a really good one on kickstarter a while back now in production but its 40odd quid I think from memory.

Yes really good unit. I only use it for road use as I use a garmin watch for MTB. Much easier to use than Garmin units. Black and white navigation isnt as good as the colour garmin1000 but with turn by turn pop ups giving 200m warning of the next turn, its been pretty consistent so far. Dont expect to just download a strava route and expect it to tell you when to turn, you have to use ridewithgps.com to enable that and include a cue sheet. Lots of info online.

Overall, much faster than garmin to pick up satellites, sensors etc and the ease of setup via a phone is really good….its biggest selling point. Value for money too I think.

Thanks all.
MTB Batteries is sending out a replacement cap and lead which I can solder on earily enough… spot on. Took the opportunity to order a spare pack from Mark at the same time. Great service

Got it…. M4x8.5mm if anyone else needs to know :)

Superstar components have outlasted my previous hopes and they are ridiculously cheap compared with some.

chrisL – I have a medium 829 frame kicking about and not being used if interested?

be warned though as i found out tonight the hard way… zwift doesn’t support old
Usb1 ant+ dongles… has to be 2.0

Oops, well spotted, thanks MrGrim…will txt you back

MODS – Pleas delete

NN 2.8 on front with trailblazer on the rear.
As above, in the dry and tacky conditions they are GREAT fun…lots of grip and you can plough over things that would normally be quite rough to get through IMO. However once everything gets sloppy like the current mudfest, forget it and go back to normal winter mode. Weirdly they are TERRIBLE in proper mud, they slip and slide allover the place.

Thanks all. Prefer SRAM for the quick link. Ive gone with X1 @ 18.99. Saves me the best part of a tenner over the Shimano recommended M8000 chain.

ageldust- ‘Mega breathable’ compared to what? Or is that just Gore describe it as? Any packable waterproof (in fact any waterproof full stop) won’t breath anywhere near as well as a non-membrane windproof. People regurgitating marketing spiel with no personal experience of using the goods…..not helpful in any way really.

Hmm… sorry have to disagree as I know a number of people who have them and reckon it was the best product last year and does exactly what it says on the tin…for once.

if i had the cash i would
look at the new gore one range as i’m sure they now do one with a hood. super wind and waterproof but mega breathable and packs down to sub 200 grams i think

Cheers gents :)

Interesting as I had the same problem on my last frame….every so often the rear mech would jump up and down like a banshee when in the larger cogs. Never got the bottom of it as it happened quite infrequently. Since then I have swapped frames and cables and the problem seems to have gone but I wont rule it coming back as I havent ridden the new frame much. I wonder whether its related to chain alignment?

given the state of the market, anyone with stock is likely to negotiate down a bit and if uk
distributor has stock again you can still probably negotiate a little
off via a dealer. u.k. market seems to be 25% down this year across the board

Dont the new T130’s come with 30mm WTB rims and pretty decent hubs? I wouldnt have thought you would save any real world noticeable difference between the stock wheels and hope/stans combo? Maybe 100-200 grams per set which on an MTB isnt as much of a difference as it would be on a road bike.

I’ve got a 2012 829 medium frame sitting around doing nothing if interested. drop me a txt on 07771637237 could throw in some parts too if needed

Why would shipping costs swing it Royal Mail are one price whatever distance within the uk!

Agree for uk to uk post, but what about sending abroad from NI to Europe and afar… that and inbound stock wherever that comes from?

I hope they have done their maths correctly as I was expecting Wiggle to move its operations to NI and not the other way around. Warehousing and staff will be much cheaper in NI than mainland UK and Im sure they could have got some tax breaks for staying, so I guess the shipping costs must have swung it. Just sounds a bit odd given nearshoring is normally always more cost effective than onshoring.

Also given the CRC service and support is superior to Wiggle, I really would question the maths.

Real shame.

Thanks all, was looking for something as agreesive as the mud wrestler but wider….not as much choice as I thought. Will have a look at some of the suggestions above

lol…think Ive managed to answer my own question. Great site called http://www.justpark.com seems to have lots of cheap options

Im lucky enough to be running WTB 45mm Scrapers with B+ tyres, WTB Asym i35mm wheels with 2.3 tyres and also a set of WTB asym i30mm wheels again with same 2.3 tyres.

The sweet spot for me is the 35mm. The tyres have a far better profile and provide more grip at lower pressures with lower risk of burping.

The 30mm’s when compared to some hope enduro;s on a back 2 back ride earlier this week provide more grip but the tyre profile isnt as different as I was expecting.

Hope that helps a little.