Andrew Barkley

Science is not about faith. First a hypothesis is put forward. That is like a temporary assumption. The hypothesis is then exhaustively tested and peer reviewed. The longer is stands up to objective scrutiny the closer it gets to becoming provisionally accepted fact. Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Oh for sure but these things are all relative, Ultegra regardless of the year will never be total rubbish unless you've become accustomed to really slick new kit in which case you wouldn't entertain a 10 year old bike to begin with. I'm just glad that I haven't been spoilt and can still enjoy low tier equipment.

Well fanbloodytastic then!

Maybe I'm about to get schooled here but to my ignorant eyes it would appear at face value that one could purchase a second hand road bike for around 7k that has Ultegra components and isn't a hell of a lot heavier than new bikes fetching serious money. Yes it will have an aluminium frame and the parts will be dated but the purchaser at the lower price point will not be pro level and will also not be left behind by blokes who are at similar fitness levels on pricey rigs. I have seen it myself however anecdotally. In addition, These bikes unlike MTB's haven't been thundering through rock gardens and are usually in fantastic condition. Are they worthwhile or is there a huge pitfall that escapes me?

Thanks man

So can a standard 2.1 tube be used in a 2.3 tyre?

Sweet bro, thx!

Sweet bikes man!

This is going to sound doff but how does one upload a pic. I'm not forum savy and there is no simple attach icon.

As in cheap and nasty. I guess nasty is a harsh term.

Who's rocking a budget banger and having as much fun as team specialized?? Or is it just me

Coffee shop albeit with an odd name. They make some mean flapjacks!

Well they're black so could belong to a woman or a bloke. That and if you believe there is a correlation between shoe size and wedding vegetables you could claim them via pm to save face lol.

I was at Bootleggers in Tokai for my post morning ride cappuccino and I inquired about a glove I had lost 2 days earlier and the chap mentioned that he had a few items which they had kept among them a pair of smallish cycling shoes. If you're missing a pair and can correctly identify them you may be in luck!

This is turning into a headache lol. Didn't downhill dudes used to run QR?

I recently missed out on a sweet deal due to a lackluster salesman and I've been sucking the bitter pill ever since. Where can I get my hands on one of these for under 5k? I have already ordered an adaptor to take the tapered fork in my straight head tube so technically I could manage either. That all said, I'm prepared to try other options with similar performance and minimal maintenance drawbacks Tia!

Anyone dealt with Merlin Cycles www.merlincycles.com ?

I'm a long time self employed person and the experiences I outlined would be scandalous if they happened to my clients most of which are long standing. The lbs's I am referring to appear at the face of it to "not need my business". In the one instance I have been waiting for 2 weeks for my call to be returned after 4 messages over 3 days. I understand being busy but yoh. I am always polite and these folk of whom I speak don't even know that I'm annoyed which in itself is bonkers.

So from negative personal experiences of late with at least 2 lbs's 1. Please actually call me back rather than to ignore 4 polite messages if you are busy 2. please treat me the same as the bloke who inquired about the 100k bike. I can't promise to be buying one of those ever but I am a talker and will punt the hell out of you and won't ask for anything outside of this list for my efforts. Sometimes you can practically feel a persons eyes rolling back over the phone at your price point and that's not cool. 3. Don't have salespeople that just say "it won't work" when you could take 1 minute to tell me of adaptors to make it work but just don't have the decency such that I must find out myself about their existence and miss out on sale items that I couldn't afford without the markdown. 4. Have a competent Mechanic. Servicing is expensive when you're financially knackered and it's not nice to miss rides just for your bike to come back shifting badly when it was fine going in. (thank goodness for YouTube!) 5. Open when you say you are opening with all hands on deck and not 20 minutes after opening time with 2 of the 5 staff present non of which spoke with you.

Looking to replace a horrid suntour with Rockshox or similar fork with damping. my frame is straight and not tapered and I need 27.5. Which supplier can help?

I plan to build even if it costs a lot more. My reasons for this approach are as follows. 1. I am sailing close to the wind so big financial hits of 7k upwards for a well priced groupset are out but a derailler here for R1500 and a shifter there are not unassailable amounts. At the end of the day, one eats an elephant one mouthful at a time. 2. I am a married man and will have my gentleman's sausage severed if I bring a new bike home with a 40k price tag (not that I could) and then try to lie about it. All the components will fit in a box in the garage until assembly day at which point I will take some heat for buying a nice frame only and then "transfer old components" across. 3. As was mentioned above, I would prefer to get the stuff I want rather than house brand low end bits. 4. I don't want compatibility issues so I will choose my favourite key bits and build around them (assuming this is sound logic until my research either confirms or refutes this) 5. Even if I pay more I will pay no interest given that all purchases will be cash and it is my hope that this will help to equalise. Lastly, I'm told that Chris Willemse are great with bits and bobs and will keep an ear to the ground if you provide a list of requirements. Good luck.

Noted, thank you, will keep that in mind. Probably best to drop out the fork and take it with me when buying something new.

That's reassuring. Thanks!

So a few months back I decided to re-enter the MTB scene having last ridden the slopes on an mtb some 15 years back. I set off with a budget more suited to a gaming consul than a respectable carbon something or other but I was determined to get rolling without delay with a view to learning on the fly (in respect of tech) with a unit of measurement for comparison, in this case a Giant Talon 4. Stop laughing! It's heavy ish but with agreeable geometry and I can stomach it for now with one huge exception, the fork! The fork mated to this rolling scaffold is a notably dreadful Suntour XCT which is much like 2 pogo sticks welded a tyre width with clearance apart. As I understand it, the Talon 4 has the same frame as the Talon 1 which sits at around the 13k price point, the difference being the fork and components. Please bare with me as I attempt to frame my circumstances and make my point before suggesting that a Santa Cruz or similar as a solution to my woes. To outline the title of this post and the disillusion of which I speak, one needs only to glance at the current pricing of kit namely mountain bikes and components. While I know it's ultimately cheaper to buy a bike out-rite, I am neither a hedge fund manager nor trust fund beneficiary. I cannot simply dip into a non existent access bond, swipe a credit card or finance kit as i am pretty bloody sure many have done if I just look around at the equipment rolling on our roads. If you have 30 to 50k cash lying around for a bike, power to you, I do not. Ok so to my mind the only option available is to do the uneconomical and over capitalise by replacing that dog of a fork with something rated for actual offroad use. I was rather alarmed when after riding hard over reasonably heavy single track and taking jumps (within reason, not downhill or serious trail stuff) to discover a warning label which pretty much excluded all of those activities or anything harder than an estrogen inducing ride along the promenade. I did ask the chap at the bike shop if the bike could handle some level of abuse as I come from a mountain unicycling background and as such am far from fearful and wanted to have more fun and not less. I was assured of the suitability of the kit before committing so I'm feeling a bit unhappy about that but spilled milk is just that. Online reviews and vids from reputable sources give the bike 4/5 as a rating at it's price point and all condemn the fork. So, can I replace the fork (27.5) without changing my front hub to Thru-Axle and if I can find a new unit at a good price that happens to be of the quick release variety, can quick release handle a thumping? Should I opt for a new hub to take a thru axle is the conversion doable? Thank you in advance folks!