StickyMicky

Been to Halfords for a look about this morning, first thing i looked for was the Carrera Kracken, and to be honest, i thought it looked a bit poor, the one on display had some sketchy welding on show which immediately stood out to my eye.

So i had another look about, the entry level stuff all looked a bit gash so i wondered over to the pricey`ish stuff.

One really caught my eye was the Boardman "Team" (iirc the middle range one)
Yes its a lot more than the Kracken but the frame looked a lot nicer, infact the whole bike looked like it was put together better, iirc i could not find any dodgy welding on it at all, so maybe they grind the welds down?

Looked mint in its kind of matt grey colour, and i have deceieded to skip the Carrera stuff altogether and go for a Boardman jobbie.

Decision now is do i go for the 2011 Boardman "Team" or the 2010 Boardman "Pro" (works out the same price) need to research the components and hurry up because the scheme is kicking off in may at work

Frosticles

iTrader: (1)

Decathalon Rockrider

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Is Decathalon now badged as B'Twin ?

Shaun

Frosticles

iTrader: (1)

I bought a B'Twin 8.1 after a lot of research. There was no other bike out there that could match the spec for the price. They have a great range from the cheapest tothe dearest and good service. 5 year frame warranty, 2 year parts warranty. If you are not worried about the "badge" then you can't go wrong.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

I thought French manufacturer Decathalon had rebadged all their UK models B'Twin, maybe it was just some of them.

I looked at B'Twin earlier this year when I was looking for a cheapish new road bike, Very good price for the kit you get: I eventually went for a Basso, the frame on the Basso is really nice but the finishing kit was cheaper. Reasoning was I could always change stuff as necessary LOL

Shaun

chrispy200+

iTrader: (2)

My first bike was a carrera fury, had it for a while and for the money was a bloody good bike, quite well specced as well. Sold it on a couple of years later for the same money, seems that second hand bikes are selling really quite well with everyone getting back into them

Clarebabes

Glad you eventually found one you like. Was it the same model? Perhaps you got a Friday afternoon job....

Clarebabes

Just looked at the Subway as I want a hybrid too. £215! That's good value.

davyboy

What sort of size are you? I might have some old kit you can have.

davyboy

I've got a couple of tops. A specialised short sleeved and an Lidl long sleeved you can have. Might even find a pair of shorts.

Clarebabes

Please take some off our hands so I can buy him some more.

Clarebabes

I told you already that you wear the shorts under your joggers/outdoor shorts. Softens the blow of the saddle without you looking a plum

I cycled to work and back, and though the sight of me in lycra might appeal to some, I didn't want to put my colleagues off their breakfast, so I wore my Adidas running pants over the top of my bib shorts. Looked OK and not vomit inducing, LOL.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

davyboy........how big are you?

Perhaps I'll rephrase that...........what size are you err what size are your cycling clothes, I could make an offer. All I have at the moment are some Endura padded undershorts LOL

Shaun

Clarebabes

I will answer for him as he's up the pub with his MX mates

Some are large I would imagine. He is about 6' 2 1/2" and weighed about 15 stone when he bought some of the stuff. I'll try and get him to post some pics, or at least describe the stuff he's got to get rid of

Clarebabes

On a mountain bike, the look you are after is knee length shorts with lots of pockets, cargo style.


Those are £65, but have padding included. You could fake it with a pair of Matalan cheapo shorts with the cycling shorts underneath.

davyboy

Or you wear normal shorts over some half decent Lycra shorts, that someone is offering to give away or free.

davyboy

Send me your address and the shorts are yours.

Do you want the tops too?

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Davyboy

I'm 6 foot 2 LOL

How about bravo2zero sps has the shorts and I'll take the tops.

I'll drop you a cheque in the post to cover postage or donate to any charity you would like, at work it's a ride to Paris starting Wednesday morning

Shaun

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

It must have been a set up error on the first one then.

My Vulcan (2008 model) has recently needed a service, the gears on that were starting to require more force to get them to change and the chain was catching on the derailer. I thought i'd give it a go and after an hour had made it far worse! I've sorted it now though and re-lubed it all and again it feels better than new!

I wish i'd have seen your link to the Vengeance earlier on this week though, I could have sold my bike to the Father-In-Law then and got one myself! Instead, he's collecting one like yours today.

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

He went to collect the Vulcan today and was told there was a break in and his bike was stolen. They didn't have any more in stock so they've upgraded him to the Vengeance FOC! I'll give it a go and report back on the differences.

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

Really impressed with the Vengeance, the hydraulic brakes work far better than the discs on my Vulcan, the gears are smooth and the ride is generally better.
As he will only do short journeys around parks etc and I like to go bombing through forests we've decided to swap I'm changing all the bits over tomorrow morning
On another note, we went here today http://www.sherwoodpinescycles.co.uk/ Great for getting out on the bikes. 3 different trails, bbq/play area, well stocked shop etc. If you're within an hour of it i'd suggest giving it a go.

StickyMicky

Righty, well i came home from work on monday night to find an email letting me know that my LOC was ready to print out.

So i printed it out

Then popped over to Halfords for yet another look, and within 15 mins, i had walked away with a 2011 Boardman Pro MTB and this is after trying a bike on for size in the shop and pestering the manager regarding the best way to setup the seat and such for my height.

I declined there offer of building the bike as i dont hold much confidence in them at all, plus i was reasonably sure i knew how to build a bike, upon removing it from the box so it would fit in the car, it was mostly assembled anyway.

Got it home tuesday night, had to fit the front wheel, complete handle bars, pedals and seat/post, fantastic.

I was dieing to get out on it but the bloody thing came with presta valves and i never had an attachment for my compressor, so i had to just look at it all night in the living room (its not getting stored in the garage until i put in an anchor point and decent lock)

Last night i called into my local Sports Direct store as i was told they had cheap cycle gear, and picked up a pump and such.

I was bloody knackered just after pumping the tyres up

Managed to get the tyres pumped up (convinced the pump is a bit dodgy tbh) then jumped on it for a quick test ride, hit the front brakes and nearly went over the bars as i was not used to suspension forks , dohh. i also figured i would test one of these android cardio aps to log a test run.

Locked out the front fork and whipped around the block to test the gears (all setup fine from the factory fwiw) with me recently moving to this area i dont reall know my way around, so i went off down a trail round the side of the house towards the rugby training ground, managed to get round the back of the training ground following some kind of trail and figred i would get the thing really shifting to see what the fork was like, i ended up jumping down a bloody 3 foot slope that i never noticed until the last few seconds, well the fork works pretty well

Figured i would come back around to the house and check all the bolts and such, got it back onto the road, locked the fork and turned the corner to get back to our street.

Only i rode straight past the house for some reason, and ended up going on (what felt to me) an epic journey until i saw the signs for the coast, at this point i realised that pretty much the entire journey so far was down hill, and i had to get back home, so i doubled back, damn the hill really killed me, 16 years since i have ridden a bike and it was destroying me trying to get home

I was getting a stitch so i was about to stop, and this little bloody kid just came cruising past me up the hill delivering papers so i cracked on and managed to get home, i had to use both arms to lift my leg at the front door step lmfao!

Totally knackered i crashed on the sofa with some Strongbow until the missus came home as i could not be arsed to move

Bike is brilliant, really impressive machine, although i have a sore **** from the seat, sore/destroyed body from the ride, and that app claims i only rode 4.33 miles (it MUST be lying)

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Oh dear Micky, 4.33 miles, thought you had rode hundreds based on the build up.

Honestly it gets easier, im about 17 st (and on a diet) at the moment, was 40 last year and can just get on it and ride 50 or more miles, have done 20/25 every day this week by extending my route home, so if I can do it and not really feel it you should be able to build up pretty quickly, the seven mile route home is a breeze, road bike helps....

So satisfying happening on another rider and then cruising past, saw a serious looking roadie as was turning out, got behind him and caught up, was only doing 13/14 mph and getting out of the saddle for the smallest incline, gave him half a mile and waited for cars to pass, then blasted past with a cheery "Morning", no repsonse.

davyboy

Takes me 4.33 miles to warm up

The more you do it the better it gets. Just keep at it.

JPL

Also consider a cheap £100 bike will probably have poor gears, i.e. 15 gears but you might only be able to select 3 of them due to the poor manufacturing. (Especially if they are selectable using a push/pull lever or handlebar grip). This will p1ss you off no end when you are going up a hill and you can't change down.

P1Fanatic

The latest guidelines from HMRC have made my works Cycle to work Scheme (Halfords) pretty unfavourable now. If you had a LoC < £500 the final market value is 18% of original LoC and if its > £500 its 25%:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/EIM21667a.htm

I guess as they cottoned on to the fact that people are buying more expensive bikes than they really need. My work has implemented that as 5% taken net from your wages and they pay the outstanding 20% but have to add it to your P11D as a taxable benefit.

I calculate that as just a 20% saving now which you could probably easily get walking in to a shop off the street. Berkshire Cycles near me is a Specialized main dealer and offer 15% off RRP as standard.

Gave my bike its first proper workout at Cannock Chase on Monday. Stayed with my brother and we did the Monkey Trail. Never done anything like that before and the uphill was soul destroying and left you knackered for the high speed downhill sections. Still I only managed to stack it once with minimal blood loss so cant grumble. Can now see the appeal of a full sus bike lol.

BOB.T

I had a go on my old hardtail the other day, utterly horrific and I've no idea how I used to ride it at all!

Funkii Munkii

B2Z, dont know if you're still looking (cant be arsed with 5 pages worth )

I noticed Toys R Us started a half price bike sale this morning.

davyboy

Toys R us will be selling quality bikes I should imagine!

davyboy

Where has B2Z gone?

Seems to have left the building.