MarkO

Nah, Singletrackworld is okay, but there's not enough muppets there for my liking. That's why I stick to Scoobynet.

And besides, I don't wear body-armour whilst riding XC, so the STW people wouldn't accept me.

ChrisB

Who needs body armour when there's all the blubber from the second box of mince pies?

the moose

Glentress in a few weeks time?

If my bike ever gets back together, I'll be there. Can you believe I've been waiting for spokes for a month? None in the country, apparently.

I'm reduced to riding Mrs Moose's bike, but I've managed to screw the rear wheel on that now, and the pivots aren't too happy either.

MarkO

Moose - I know for a fact that there are more spokes than you can shake a stick at @ the Hub. What happened to your bike anyway?

Race against time - will you get spokes before my frame arrives?

ChrisB - they were Ti mince pies with air pastry, so they shouldn'd add too much weight.

the moose

MarkO, if you can get non-driveside spokes for a Crossmax XL (disc) then you're a better man than I! I'm told they're arriving in the UK "imminently", but I've heard that for the last three to four weeks. I'm actually picking up a spare wheel because I'm so frustrated at being unable to ride the black beast, so in reality the bike should be back on the (off)road this weekend.

anc-sti

Ouch that sounds expensive, why are you having to replace them? I've got the SL's and was told replacement spokes are about £20 a piece

MarkO

Ah, well, forgot you had Crossmax wheels. Well, if you will have such poncy wheels, what do you expect?

the moose

Spokes are only (only!!!) £3.00 each, but getting hold of them is a right pain. I had a bit of a braking issue in the Alps (crash took out the front brake), so I was descending on the rear only. When that failed (pads worn down to the backing plate, brake line melted) I had to slow down by running into the side of a chalet - it was either that or fail to make it round a bend at 25+mph.
Cue lots of pain, broken bike ...... and the need for a good few rear spokes.

I was honestly amazed that the forks and front wheel coped with it, and it was just bad luck that my foot got entangled in the rear wheel as I landed, otherwise the bike would have been fine.

NeilT

"I had to slow down by running into the side of a chalet "

LOL - sounds like the sort of thing I'd do!

Neil

MarkO

Well, my frame has just turned up and the bike should be ready for the weekend.

Hmmm, concentrating on work is going to be difficult this week.

the moose

The race is on .... then again, my sneaky "get another wheel 'cos this one's buggered" approach should mean the bike's back in use by Thursday. Which is handy, 'cos I'm meant to be out on it that evening.

You building it up yourself, or are the Hub staff helping you out?

MarkO

The Hub are building it for me. I don't have time to do it myself (not having a personal stand or a particularly well-endowed toolkit would have made it a bit tricky anyway).

ChrisB

Talking of stands, is there any alternative to shelling out £100 on one?

I want to use my old bike as as self-teaching project - adjusting mech's, replacing cables - that sort of thing. However, I'm too tight to splash out £100 just on a piece of metal and plastic to hold the thing up!

MarkO

You can adjust mechs, replace cables and do most of that without a stand. It's just fundemental things like fitting headsets and bottom brackets which are a PITA without a stand and the right tools.

You can pick up an okay stand for £50 or so, as long as your bike isn't a 45lb DH rig (which will require some serious counterbalancing of the stand to stop it collapsing and pinning you underneath it ).

anc-sti

Have a look at Tacx Spider Professional Workstand and Tacx Spider Team Workstand there less than a 100 notes and good too. I've had the older model about 8 years and it's still going strong

Look here http://www.probikekit.com/display.ph...0%26%20Storage

ChrisB

Ooo, cheers anc-sti

One of the wall hangers mounted to the garage wall should do the job for £10. Much more like it.

Don't worry Mark, I won't put my cake tin on the stand as well

MarkO

Anyone fancy their own piece of history?

unclebuck

£50.00 starting price!!

MarkO

Already had two offers of £80 before I even put it on eBay, so I'm starting with a low bit to get some interest.

Yet again, UB, you contribute to an MTB thread and show you have no idea what you're on about.

the moose

MarkO, I'm sure UB meant that it was a stupidly low price, and that you were a fool to offer such a fine bargain for sale.

Well, it's one interpretation ......

MarkO

Yeah, that must've been what he meant.

Thing is, never under-estimate the stupidity of people who buy stuff on eBay. I mean, if anyone had told me I'd get £60 for a set of 8-year-old XTR V-brakes, I'd have laughed in their face. But the money's in the bank, and I'm not complaining.

the moose

You actually *got* the money!!!! 'Kin 'ell, there really are some mug punters out there - how much do new XTR V-brakes cost - can't be much more, surely?

MarkO

According to Wiggle/ChainReaction, you're talking £45 per-end for brand new XTR V's. It's not entirely clear whether that includes levers though.

anc-sti

Thats just the brake, the levers are £50+ for a pair

the moose

Yay! Spokes are here! Brakes are fitted! New mech hanger fitted!

****, I'm poor again. But at least the bike's up and running again.

Looks like I won .......

MarkO

Bah, humbug. Well, I was never going to get my bike before the weekend, even if it was actually ready. Never mind.

On the upside, it seems there's plenty of interest in the eBay auctions for my frame and forks, so I won't be as poor as I could have been.