Go through your insurers and don’t accept their sorting it.

As long as you have admittance from the other party then it will come from them and your NCB won’t be affected. Sadly your premium will go up, most likely, it shouldn’t but after our car was hit, parked, when we were in a different country, with the other party admitting liability and both of us having the same insurer, our has gone up.

Just make sure that in all communications you state “this will come from / be covered completely by the other party’s insurance” especially if it’s to do with a courtesy car or anything like that.

Also be prepared to get some examples of cars in the same condition as yours for valuations if it’s a write off. If they offer a repair, then ask to either have it sent to a main dealer or repairer of your choice (if you have one) or it will go to the cheapest garage the other insurer can find.

Keep in touch with your insurers and make sure the liability is confirmed and that you confirm you will incur no costs.

Sadly as helpful as Bird are I suspect they can’t override a global pandemic and Brexit.

Have you tried ringing them and asking them what can be done? Maybe they can get on on order for you even if parts aren’t in stock. If you’re happy to wait.

@cany0n I can only speak for my own experience, but the customer service at Bird is fantastic. They always answer the phone and emails and in person they are really happy to answer questions they have probably heard thousands of times, without making you feel like you are doing so.

When I got my Zero 29 I was getting back in after a 20 year gap and wasn’t sure if it was sensible or not. I asked if I should upgrade anything apart from the forks for my beginner bike.

The guys said to save my money. They could have scalped me for wheels and component upgrades etc.

So 7 months later there was only one place getting my new bike money.

The bikes are great. The build quality is excellent and I had done 1600 hard miles on mine since June, night rides, crashes, mud, clay, sand. The only issue I’ve had is my dropper post cable and that was after 1550 miles. All the new bikes in my riding group have failed, mostly due to poor building.

I’ve kept up with FS bikes on the Zero and it is far more capable than me!

I think the question you need to ask yourself is “are the difference’s deal breakers?”

Parts, you can change and if you want bigger rotors then they upgrade price is not much really (unless you are going for Ice-tech). You can spec bigger forks too.

So, will the carbon RT and the +10mm of travel make a huge difference to you, whether it’s mentally or in real world performance? e.g. some people just want the “carbon effect” and “mentally bigger travel”, others it doesn’t matter. Those two features are the ones you can’t change.

Do you use a water bottle regularly?

I would look at the geo more than the parts. The Aether is longer in reach and ETT and has a lower BB, with 10mm shorter chainstays (medium to medium size). And then if you want the suspension curves etc and see what the kinematics are like.

Me too. I was contacted by the latest owner a couple of years ago wanting to known if I wanted to buy it back.

Sadly no space or I would have snapped it back up.

I miss my S3, that said it has been 17 years since I sold it…

At the moment there is a risk that every time something moves, the bikes may slide etc. and damage the car, so needs must at the moment. I’ll put them up and then probably hand off the thing myself to make sure it’s strong enough. I may also put a safety strap on it too and tie it to the wall.

But the Griff may be going at some point, pandemic aside I just don’t drive it. It’s been sitting pretty much dormant for about 8 years.

Cheers. Pair ordered.

Any advice on fixing and sizes etc? I’m going into brick.

Yep. Guilty.

The Griff lives in the garage and he only gone once this year. But I need to get the bikes out of the way.

Cheers for the links everyone, I’ll get a couple on order. I can do one one either side of the car.

Oakley do asian fit for some glasses. Maui Jim also have various glasses with different sizes, although you have to have a bit of a guess. Beware of going too small though. I used to think I needed asian fit and got a pair of X-Metal Penny’s as they were smaller than the Juliets. Nope they just looked too small.

I have the Holy Moses and OMG combo on the bigger (not the bottle) batteries for both. Managed to do London to Brighton on both with no issues this July.

They both work really well on medium for fast (for me) trail riding and then I drop them down to low for general riding.

I think I’ve only ever used them on high a few times.

When I got my 125mm dropper I thought it was all I’d need. But as I got used to low top tubes and short seat tube I ended up having 35-40mm sticking out.

I’ve just bought a 150mm and still have around 10mm of the post out (I put the 125 on my wife’s bike as she had a rigid post) and it feels great.

I have to say that the extra travel didn’t change my world, but it is nice just to have it that little bit lower on the steep stuff.

I have the OMG and Holy Moses Combo and it is really good! Used very regularly and the quality is well above cheaper lights.

My only issues are self inflicted. I crashed and broke the Gravity mount when the bars spun around and sheared off the battery mount. Then I totalled it again 3 weeks later putting the bike in the car, because I was being lazy and didn’t take the battery pack off.

Both times the guys got me a bracket out quickly.

I’m a massive Oakley fan but since Luxotica bought them out the quality is crap.

I usually ride in a pair of Half Jackets from 2000. 20 years and the lenses have a few scratches. They’ve been hammered round the world, dropped, stepped on etc.

Got someone to make up some custom Prizm Trail lenses for them.

Scratched and generally very inferior.

Maui Jim are the way forward for non-bikey glasses.

Amazing clarity and quality.

Thanks guys, just sat on he bike. Totally bad bio-mechanics. Dropped the angle on the brakes a little, which has straightened my hands a bit more too.

The sad fact is that as a vulnerable road user (I’m both a cyclist and motorcyclist) you can be morally correct but you’re very likely to come off worse. Once you’re off the bike / out of the car, it’s a different story.

I’ve had a guy try and do the same to me on the motorbike and end up chasing me to try and get me. Until he realised I was heading directly to the police station.

Anyhow, the advice I can give you is make sure you have a decent low light if you are riding at night, as you will want the reg number. I only got a partial when someone ran a red light. That and the police “declined to attend the scene”.

That and decent stabilisation.

Something like the Go-Pro Hero Session may do the trick.

But consider where you mount it, if someone tries to push you off the road and your camera is forward facing you’re not going to get much.

Both my mate who got NX this year have had longevity issues. One shifter blew up, second one had a mech fail. Very plasticky and not very solid.

Conversely I have smashed my Deore 6100 through a lot and aside from a chain it’s all really good. Although I have fitted an XT shifter.

How rounded out is it?

An old trick is to put some grease and some grinding paste into the bolt, then tap the bolt as you apply rotational force.

You could also try some denim and then tapping the bit into the bolt, then as above, rotation and impact.

Unless you have a variable torque electric impact driver?

Do 50/50 riding by myself, items only the night biking that is probably a risk.

I did crash 6 weeks ago and cracked my ribs but I was 2 min from the car.

These days I’ve learned to just slow down a bit when I’m by myself. Especially at night.

I have find my friend and Garmin locate me set up for my wife.

Thanks everyone! Now just to find a 31.6 150mm that is in stock!

Right off to find a Brand-X 150mm.

FYI Deore vs SLX vs XT brakes

There’s not much in it performance or feel wise, if you are comparing 44 or 222 (pots).

The XT get the mostly useless bite point adjuster (via a screw), tool free reach adjust, banjo and you use an allen key to get the pads out, so you don’t need to carry pliers with you and are black.

SLX is identical except no bite point adjust and are painted blue.

Deore, you need an allen key to adjust the reach, the pads are secured by a split pin and there is no banjo on the hose. I believe the pistons are not ceramic either.

I went from Deore to SLX and a riding buddy bought XT.

Pretty much every thing I need, especially in winter.

Pump
Tubeless repair kit
Multi-tool
Inner tube
Chain link and short length
CO2 inflator
Little bottle of sealant
Valve core tool
Spare valve core
Tubeless patch kit
Mech hanger
Spare gloves
Base layer
Neck / head tube
Latex gloves
Zip ties
Protein bar
Energy gel
Bit of cash

All kept in a Camelbak Mule.

Mainly because when I do ride, I either do 40km+ for adventuring, or a short journey to the Surrey hills in the car and I don’t fancy a 10 mile walk if I can help it.

Not tyre brands (I’m too new for this), but I sessioned a bit of track yesterday and as I was climbing I was trying to find my previous tracks in the mud..

I’ve just put a Hitchinson Griffus on the front of my hardtail in he place of a DHF3c Exo MaxTerra and I have to say it’s bloody good.

I never got on with the DHF, probably lack of talent, and for the price and availability of a DHF Maxx Grip, the Huchinson was a fairly good buy as it was cheap and available.

The rolling is marginally slower than the DHF MT, but I find the grip so much better. But on corners where I would just not feel confident with the DHF, the Griffus just grabs and grabs.

Despite it being sold as a summer tyre, out in full on slop last week in Surrey it was very good, no clogging, gripped the roots well and allowed the Discetor on the rear to be more predictable in a slide or slip.

I am considering picking up the rear to see what it’s like.

No issues setting it up for tubeless either.

Can’t compare it to the MM as I was looking for a Trail casing one and couldn’t find one for under £70 odd. You can get both Hutchinson’s for £85-ish which in my opinion is a bargian.

Awesome! Just what I was looking for.

Single pressure Worx ordered with a 20L bottle for the car. No more muddy, smelly, interior of the car for me.

Just more crap to cart to the car for a ride though.

Can’t leave it in the boot as the car is left on the road.

For me no, just a blast of cleaner, brush and then the hose on jet for the non-bearing’d bits and flat for areas or care.

I have some 3M and a sheet of Xpel (Invisiframe) and the Xpel is so much easier to use and the goes on with far better transparency.

If anyone knows of a film that is like Xpel and not as expensive?

Bodyglide or anti-blister wax for shoes works really well. Bit on the skin and bit on pad.

Excellent stuff. I’m getting tired of cleaning the roof on the wife’s car and trailing mud inside it.

£85 for the basic and a jerry can may do me as all I want to do is get the real horrible stuff off the bike before throwing it in the car and a squeezy bottle of water isn’t much help.

I’ve got a Karcher at home if I need it, but a spray bottle of Ammo Pro Magnum and a hydroshot may get me 90% of the way there.

Hmmmm.. a fair bitt to think about as I’m in the same position.

Mostly once a week, one bike, but in summer maybe 2. The only downside is my car is kept on the street and the chances of the roof rack and carrier still being there after a week is minimal.

I have the cold and extreme cold and generally I can see where water has soaked into the outer, but my feet are mostly dry. The only time I’ve had them leak is after a very, very wet ride and around 4 hours of riding. By this point you could pour water out of my shoes.

Hmmmmm… I guess the seal between the adapter and my compressor attachment wasn’t good enough.

I have one but it’s too tall, so the schrader valve in side the compressor function doesn’t depress the presta core.

Got mine from CRC. So if you’re looking for one then get a short one.

I changed mine at 1500 miles or so and it was pretty shot, the mud and clay really did a number on it though.

Deore. Replaced with an XT, so we’ll see how long this one lasts.

Still not made a decision.

Cash is a little tight at the moment so I’m either leaning towards the Magic Mary or the DHR 2 for the rear.

The MM looks about the same weight as the Asagai.

Thanks, I’m going to try pretty much all of this. I’ll also experiment with some where my foot naturally comes down on the pedal and where it sits when I apply pressure.

The MTB gets washed after every ride. Usually 20 minutes of hose down, quick spray with Ammo Pro products, quick brush and then rinse and dry and chain lube.

If it’s particularly horrific (sandy or clay) I’ll spend more time.

But that said my bike lives indoors in a store room and has to go through the communal passage ways to get there.

Or you could give the guys at Bird a ring…