The Fretboard Cycling Club

Mellish

Carbon framesets are very strong, light and responsive @MagicPigDetective but don't ovwrlook Reynolds. Steel, yes, but 531, 653, 753, 853 - as good as you can find anywhere in their price range.
☺️

Nikc

Orro bikes are really nice lovely paint finishes a friend of mine is a has them in his shop.

drofluf

90k through the Cotswolds yesterday and then stripped the bike down ahead of having a new group set fitted

Jaycee

drofluf said:

90k through the Cotswolds yesterday and then stripped the bike down ahead of having a new group set fitted

Is it an upgrade or needed replacement?

I upgraded the groupset on one of my previous bikes from Tiagra to 105, was able to get a good re-sale price for it a few years later, and it was like riding a new bike.

vanlooy1

Rode the Dunwich Dynamo last night, 112 miles from London to the Suffolk coast, bloody freezing and bloody knackered!

drofluf

Jaycee said:

drofluf said:

90k through the Cotswolds yesterday and then stripped the bike down ahead of having a new group set fitted

Is it an upgrade or needed replacement?

I upgraded the groupset on one of my previous bikes from Tiagra to 105, was able to get a good re-sale price for it a few years later, and it was like riding a new bike.

But of both

current setup is 105 cranks and the rest Tiagra. The derailleurs work but are rusted so don’t look great, shifters are fine . So moving to GRX 1X11 which will also let me replace the BB7’s with hydraulics. 

MagicPigDetective

Completed the 50km sportive, it went well, had a great time. The first half was tough, cycling into strong winds (no surprise on Anglesey!) but heading back inland it was fine and a pleasure cycling small country lanes. In fact, I felt strong finishing and I  could have gone much further! The first of many I hope, it was great being amongst other cyclists, everyone super friendly. Another 75km sportive on Anglesey in a month. 

Pjon

m_c said:

I'm looking to replace it, as I'm eyeing up an event next year that a shorter travel full sus that can handle some abuse would be perfect for, but I've not really seen anything that ticks the same boxes, and the new version isn't available in the UK as they don't currently have a UK distributor (previous distributor was hopeless anyway!)

Which event is this? I've always enjoyed shorter travel, slacker bikes. My main ride is a 140mm slack angled HT, which is fine for most of the MTBing locally, but I have a slightly longer travel FS for the bigger and steeper days out. (A lot of which is very local, as well! ) 

m_c

Pjon said:

m_c said:

I'm looking to replace it, as I'm eyeing up an event next year that a shorter travel full sus that can handle some abuse would be perfect for, but I've not really seen anything that ticks the same boxes, and the new version isn't available in the UK as they don't currently have a UK distributor (previous distributor was hopeless anyway!)

Which event is this? I've always enjoyed shorter travel, slacker bikes. My main ride is a 140mm slack angled HT, which is fine for most of the MTBing locally, but I have a slightly longer travel FS for the bigger and steeper days out. (A lot of which is very local, as well! ) 

The Transvesubienne - Transvesubienne UK | UCC Sport Event (ucc-sportevent.com)
80 km distance, 2700m climbing, and 4000m descending.

I've done the Mega 3 times, and as much as I've enjoyed it and want to do it again, I want to try something a bit different.

As much as I like my hardtail, I'm not sure I'd be in any fit state to still remain attached to the bars after 4000m of descending on it, and I'm not sure dragging a 180/160mm travel full sus up 2700m is a good option either.
Although replacing that bike would probably make more sense, but I'm holding off any major purchases until later this year, as redundancy/unemployment might be looming.

Pjon

m_c said:

Pjon said:

m_c said:

I'm looking to replace it, as I'm eyeing up an event next year that a shorter travel full sus that can handle some abuse would be perfect for, but I've not really seen anything that ticks the same boxes, and the new version isn't available in the UK as they don't currently have a UK distributor (previous distributor was hopeless anyway!)

Which event is this? I've always enjoyed shorter travel, slacker bikes. My main ride is a 140mm slack angled HT, which is fine for most of the MTBing locally, but I have a slightly longer travel FS for the bigger and steeper days out. (A lot of which is very local, as well! ) 

The Transvesubienne - Transvesubienne UK | UCC Sport Event (ucc-sportevent.com)
80 km distance, 2700m climbing, and 4000m descending.

I've done the Mega 3 times, and as much as I've enjoyed it and want to do it again, I want to try something a bit different.

As much as I like my hardtail, I'm not sure I'd be in any fit state to still remain attached to the bars after 4000m of descending on it, and I'm not sure dragging a 180/160mm travel full sus up 2700m is a good option either.
Although replacing that bike would probably make more sense, but I'm holding off any major purchases until later this year, as redundancy/unemployment might be looming.

Nice, and yes I'd be the same on a HT on that event!  

MagicPigDetective

I appear to have my first case of cycling induced chafing. Chamois cream ordered....

Mellish

@MagicPigDetective something you might want to check is your saddle height. Not saying that's at fault but if it's a bit too high there's a sideways rocking of the body that won't help.

 

thermionic

I finally got round to stripping and rebuilding my old school retro MTB. 1996 Marin Eldridge Grade - skinny steel Tange triple butted tubing and Shimano 8-speed Deore LX/XT. I took off the Manitou elastomer suspension fork and refitted the steel fork. Ideal for exploring urban bike paths.

https://i.imgur.com/KYemPp7.jpg

Airmiles

We rode Penny Farthings on Sunday morning - round Parliament Square and down the Mall! Terrifying...but strangely addictive. We're going back....Courtesy of https://pennyfarthingclub.com/

Teetonetal

Airmiles said:

We rode Penny Farthings on Sunday morning - round Parliament Square and down the Mall! Terrifying...but strangely addictive. We're going back....Courtesy of https://pennyfarthingclub.com/

A friend of mine has a penny farthing... even getting on the damn thing is quite a task.

Pjon

thermionic said:

I finally got round to stripping and rebuilding my old school retro MTB. 1996 Marin Eldridge Grade - skinny steel Tange triple butted tubing and Shimano 8-speed Deore LX/XT. I took off the Manitou elastomer suspension fork and refitted the steel fork. Ideal for exploring urban bike paths.

https://i.imgur.com/KYemPp7.jpg

I had a 1997 Eldridge Grade (I think it was 97!) It was the purple one, with optional Manitou Mach 5 forks.) I loved it, but it was really underbuilt, I could make the bottom bracket shell twist by sprinting. It was raced for about 18 months until the reach mech hanger got twisted irreparably and I bought a Klein which I only got rid of about 2 years ago.

elstoof

Classic paint jobs on Kleins

ewal

Just dropping in to say I've built myself a gravel bike, having bought a Genesis Croix de Fer frame from my brother. Very enjoyable process building it up, and really happy with the bike so far.

It's early days, however I'm wondering why it's taken me so long to jump on the gravel biking bandwagon. I've mainly done road cycling over the years, but always hankered to go off road, without having the handling skills to do full on single-track mountain biking. Gravel riding on all the forestry, estate and drover's tracks round here is the ideal compromise.

Jaycee

Well done @ewal it is a good learning curve, and enjoy your riding

Mellish

@ewal there's something good about building your own bike, choosing and fitting each component carefully; not rushing assembly but taking the time to make sure it's done right. 

Well done!