The Cycling Thread

I bought what is exactly the same one a few years before Aldi stocked them and if I remember correctly I was pretty happy at only paying £38, so having a spare at just £19 is perfect.
 
I really should put my old Specialized on Gumtree and similar as I’ve only used it for the last few years to ride with the twins in their kids seats.

Will give it a clean and put it up soon.

Will you be putting it up for sale over here? Might be interested if you are local
 
Will you be putting it up for sale over here? Might be interested if you are local
I might advertise here in case a fellow member is interested. That said I’m in North Essex so location won’t suit everyone, especially as it would be collection only
 
I might advertise here in case a fellow member is interested. That said I’m in North Essex so location won’t suit everyone, especially as it would be collection only

I thought it was your Specialized you're putting the new groupset onto?
 
I thought it was your Specialized you're putting the new groupset onto?
Ive got an older Rockhopper Disc ...that ist he one I'll sell

The main MTB is the Stumpjumper Comp...and on that note... it's complete

Got it done today (hurried ti along as probably riding tomorrow now.

I am so chuffed with it.

But in truth, it didn't go smoothly. Started off with putting a tyre on the new wheel. getting cassette fixed on properly and greasing accordingly.

Then greased and fitted bottom bracket and tightened using my new torque wrench.......then proceeded to fit the crank arms

then decided to fit the new headset bearing and get the forks back on...then hit a snag...I somehow overtightened the stem bolt which then split in two.....argh...thought never mind..ill just turn it out with some pliers...no chance...super soft bolt...got got stripped more.....even tried one of those re threading tools...but no joy and assumed I'd killed my forks meaning no riding for a bit longer and some new forks.....

BUT no...neighbour popped round and said, you just need a new star nut ....a what I said...called LBS who had some in stock...went along...queued for 45 mins for the 1 in 1 out....picked up a bolt for £2.95...got home and neighbour popped round with a special Star Nut tool....so just knocked the old one down into the forks....and fitted the new one...good as new.....and forks refitted.

Got the bars on, brakes, new shifter and then new grips...and then started on the rear derailleur. Got it fitted simply enough, new cable connected and tension sorted...then adjusted the derailleur to its min max settings...again pretty simple stuff...then fitted the chain...which I wouldn't have been able to do on my own.......and then went about adjusting the gears...and here it got a bit silly.

My mate suggested to let all air out of rear shock for when setting chain length....so we did that and cable tied the rear triangle to stop it opening up again. Once the chain was threaded and turning it kept jumping off the chainring. The chainline was ridiculous and seems far too wide and the reason why it kept jumping off, we thought, was the 4.5mm spacer the instructions said to use as too wide so we tried removing it but still issues with train dropping off all the time....never again will I assume a big bike company gets their fitting instructions wrong

Then he remembered we hadn't put air back in the shock AND we hadn't done the final part of fitting the Powerlock connector properly.
Bike back on the floor, shock inflated, Power connector properly engaged and boom...gears were changing perfectly. Smooth as silk. Gear 12 is not quite as smooth but living in flat Essex, I simply cannot see a time I would ever need to engage it. It does work...but it is not something I can see myself ever needing.

Other than that the bike rides lovely now and feels like a new bike. The weight difference is minimal. All the parts I took off totalled 2120g...thats rear and front derailleur, crank and bottom bracket, both shifters, chain and cables.....then NX groupset going on totalled 2019g...so a meagre saving of 100g (ish)

But to me...the bike now looks amazing...and rides like a dream....single chainring is bliss to ride and the gear range is huge...can't imagine me using 12 or 11 much...and to be fair gear one is big and even that isn't something that will see a lot of use but I can see 3-4 through 10 being fantastic and certainly easier to get through than with a triple front ring.

New SRAM grips added a nice final touch to the bars and I'm all set for my first ride tomorrow over at Danbury...not the bomb holes, just some trails around it...although maybe I'll sneak in quickly at the end of the ride

I'm kind of sad the build is done now if honest as its been a big learning curve and enjoyed every minute of it. Learnt loads and certainly happier doing a lot more stuff. All in I spent around £450 for parts and a few tools and some grease/lube but far cheaper than buying a new bike.

Now really looking forward to riding it tomorrow

Here are a couple of pics...annoyingly I don't think I have a pic of the drive side but found a stock pic of the bike which gives a good idea

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ironically, got an in-law selling this...almost 2k already.,.!

 
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but you ignore me anyway haha
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
Ive got an older Rockhopper Disc ...that ist he one I'll sell

The main MTB is the Stumpjumper Comp...and on that note... it's complete

Got it done today (hurried ti along as probably riding tomorrow now.

I am so chuffed with it.

But in truth, it didn't go smoothly. Started off with putting a tyre on the new wheel. getting cassette fixed on properly and greasing accordingly.

Then greased and fitted bottom bracket and tightened using my new torque wrench.......then proceeded to fit the crank arms

then decided to fit the new headset bearing and get the forks back on...then hit a snag...I somehow overtightened the stem bolt which then split in two.....argh...thought never mind..ill just turn it out with some pliers...no chance...super soft bolt...got got stripped more.....even tried one of those re threading tools...but no joy and assumed I'd killed my forks meaning no riding for a bit longer and some new forks.....

BUT no...neighbour popped round and said, you just need a new star nut ....a what I said...called LBS who had some in stock...went along...queued for 45 mins for the 1 in 1 out....picked up a bolt for £2.95...got home and neighbour popped round with a special Star Nut tool....so just knocked the old one down into the forks....and fitted the new one...good as new.....and forks refitted.

Got the bars on, brakes, new shifter and then new grips...and then started on the rear derailleur. Got it fitted simply enough, new cable connected and tension sorted...then adjusted the derailleur to its min max settings...again pretty simple stuff...then fitted the chain...which I wouldn't have been able to do on my own.......and then went about adjusting the gears...and here it got a bit silly.

My mate suggested to let all air out of rear shock for when setting chain length....so we did that and cable tied the rear triangle to stop it opening up again. Once the chain was threaded and turning it kept jumping off the chainring. The chainline was ridiculous and seems far too wide and the reason why it kept jumping off, we thought, was the 4.5mm spacer the instructions said to use as too wide so we tried removing it but still issues with train dropping off all the time....never again will I assume a big bike company gets their fitting instructions wrong

Then he remembered we hadn't put air back in the shock AND we hadn't done the final part of fitting the Powerlock connector properly.
Bike back on the floor, shock inflated, Power connector properly engaged and boom...gears were changing perfectly. Smooth as silk. Gear 12 is not quite as smooth but living in flat Essex, I simply cannot see a time I would ever need to engage it. It does work...but it is not something I can see myself ever needing.

Other than that the bike rides lovely now and feels like a new bike. The weight difference is minimal. All the parts I took off totalled 2120g...thats rear and front derailleur, crank and bottom bracket, both shifters, chain and cables.....then NX groupset going on totalled 2019g...so a meagre saving of 100g (ish)

But to me...the bike now looks amazing...and rides like a dream....single chainring is bliss to ride and the gear range is huge...can't imagine me using 12 or 11 much...and to be fair gear one is big and even that isn't something that will see a lot of use but I can see 3-4 through 10 being fantastic and certainly easier to get through than with a triple front ring.

New SRAM grips added a nice final touch to the bars and I'm all set for my first ride tomorrow over at Danbury...not the bomb holes, just some trails around it...although maybe I'll sneak in quickly at the end of the ride

I'm kind of sad the build is done now if honest as its been a big learning curve and enjoyed every minute of it. Learnt loads and certainly happier doing a lot more stuff. All in I spent around £450 for parts and a few tools and some grease/lube but far cheaper than buying a new bike.

Now really looking forward to riding it tomorrow

Here are a couple of pics...annoyingly I don't think I have a pic of the drive side but found a stock pic of the bike which gives a good idea

View attachment 1309273View attachment 1309274View attachment 1309275View attachment 1309286


That looks really nice and makes me want to finish mine off now....Got the parts sitting in the basket, but I must behave and get everything else done first :D

Tool late now, but a tip for chain fitment is to take an old pair of (or splash the cash and buy new) tweezers and open them all the way out and twist the last 10mm inwards.

It now holds the chain perfectly like a pair of hands and leaves you free to finish the fitment.
 
That looks really nice and makes me want to finish mine off now....Got the parts sitting in the basket, but I must behave and get everything else done first :D

Tool late now, but a tip for chain fitment is to take an old pair of (or splash the cash and buy new) tweezers and open them all the way out and twist the last 10mm inwards.

It now holds the chain perfectly like a pair of hands and leaves you free to finish the fitment.
Maybe I’m getting my wires crossed but fitting with the new Powerconnectors is a doddle (at least it was when we fitted it properly)
 
Maybe I’m getting my wires crossed but fitting with the new Powerconnectors is a doddle (at least it was when we fitted it properly)

Yeah was not saying they are hard to fit, was just pointing out that a third hand tool can be used to bunch the chain together and leave your hands free to push fit the connectors.

Useful when removing the same chain for a deep clean.
 
first ride was amazing....did some of the trails around the Danbury area and finished off in the bike park.....all great fun
 
first ride was amazing....did some of the trails around the Danbury area and finished off in the bike park.....all great fun

How did you find going from 3 front to single front and 12 rear?
 
another bike ride today...was good and bad as I went on a bridleway and got mixed up on which way to go at a junction - as it turns out the left was a dead end, but i went up past a farm and backtracked, and a woman at the farm was shouting of me, i replied saying i wanted to be at xx village and she pointed to the route i was already heading...however, the bridleway i needed to be on went through her farm..!! i either missed the sign or it had been removed? - i've got the information from the county durham website, but anyway...rode an extra 2 mile diversion :D

the start is less than 1/2 mile from my house -
View attachment 1309821

View attachment 1309822

View attachment 1309823

View attachment 1309824

View attachment 1309825
 
How did you find going from 3 front to single front and 12 rear?
i found myself using more of the available gears as they are simply quicker and easier to access
 
i found myself using more of the available gears as they are simply quicker and easier to access


Just pricing up and I might go for the 11 speed which has a rough difference of €100 all in (mostly spec'ed Shimano)

One thing I would be keen to eliminate is a zone in the gearing that seems to persist, even with different size front chainrings, and that is a spot that is either slight too hard or too easy to peddle.
Hopefully changing the gearing this was will stop that.
 
Just pricing up and I might go for the 11 speed which has a rough difference of €100 all in (mostly spec'ed Shimano)

One thing I would be keen to eliminate is a zone in the gearing that seems to persist, even with different size front chainrings, and that is a spot that is either slight too hard or too easy to peddle.
Hopefully changing the gearing this was will stop that.
To be fair the RRP of this was 365...i paid 250....the 12 is always there if I never need it. Not sure what an 11-speed costs in comparison but to me, the setup of this and the performance is well worth the 250 I paid.

Those gear ratios can be an issue....but you can be always messing about with them via a front ring to get the gearing perfect for each individual....I guess that is always going to an issue for some but appreciate your point.

What groupset are you looking at....interested to compare
 
To be fair the RRP of this was 365...i paid 250....the 12 is always there if I never need it. Not sure what an 11-speed costs in comparison but to me, the setup of this and the performance is well worth the 250 I paid.

Those gear ratios can be an issue....but you can be always messing about with them via a front ring to get the gearing perfect for each individual....I guess that is always going to an issue for some but appreciate your point.

What groupset are you looking at....interested to compare

This is where I am at the moment, haven't looked at Rose,CRC or UK sites as yet.

main1.jpg


I would not be fussed if I jumped ship on Shimano tbh, it is something I just know very well.

Could you send me a list+stores you bought your set up from please.

EDIT: Just realised I may be able to retro fit 11 speed onto my 9 speed freehub????
Need to check this out.
 
I ordered new wheels from Hunt in early March (albeit through a reseller so that I can use Cyclescheme). They were supposed to arrive in early-mid April - guess what, I'm still waiting. This ain't a good look for Hunt... (edit: or the reseller, I still haven't figured out where the issue lies)
 
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This is where I am at the moment, haven't looked at Rose,CRC or UK sites as yet.

View attachment 1309991

I would not be fussed if I jumped ship on Shimano tbh, it is something I just know very well.

Could you send me a list+stores you bought your set up from please.

EDIT: Just realised I may be able to retro fit 11 speed onto my 9 speed freehub????
Need to check this out.
id check out Bike24.com as well..their prices and delivery times were excellent
This is where I am at the moment, haven't looked at Rose,CRC or UK sites as yet.

View attachment 1309991

I would not be fussed if I jumped ship on Shimano tbh, it is something I just know very well.

Could you send me a list+stores you bought your set up from please.

EDIT: Just realised I may be able to retro fit 11 speed onto my 9 speed freehub????
Need to check this out.

I've fitted the 12 speed onto my existing 9/10/11 speed Shimano freehub...the NX, for example, is made to fit this without issue and it did. All the relevant spacers were supplied and had to be used and once tightened all was good.

I got the full NX groupset from Tredz in the end as they price matched another store..but then they pulled the price match option from the website (was £35 cheaper I think)

Everything else apart from lube, grease and an extra pump holder, came from Bike24.com So id certainly look at them for your entire order if you can as they were far cheaper than all other UK suppliers and quicker to delivery as well (for a £6.95 delivery charge from Germany)

My order included new SRAM Dub bottom bracket, Bottom Bracket tool, new SRAM grips, new headset bearings, new rear-wheel...arrived in 4 days from Germany
 
Man, all this talk of changing groupsets is making me think about buying another bike :D
 
I bought some new wheels recently as I fancied a change, the Fulcrum Racing Zero Nite I’ve had for a few years were absolutely superb but I was hankering after some deeper carbon. There are loads of wheel brands around at the moment, lots of them pretty unknown and I didn’t fancy taking a chance. Hunt are Kinlin rims with rebranded Novatec hubs so very generic, I ended up with a set of Roval CL50 which are the same rims as their more expensive CLX 50.

I didn’t expect any speed increase as I’m sceptical about these things, but over local rides I’ve done dozens of not hundreds of times, for matched rides with the same average power (I’ve got a PM) I’m consistently 0.5mph faster, which is a nice bonus! And I sold the Fulcrums for £400, I got them from Germany when the exchange rate was really good and only paid £625 (they were nearly £900 at Wiggle) so did well there.

I’ve also just found out that work are bring the cycle2work scheme forward to encourage people to commute via bike, and also increasing the limit to £2k. I sense another winter/training bike coming soon!

BA6CC48C-9CE9-4DAF-A262-B4686FFD746B.jpeg
 
I bought some new wheels recently as I fancied a change, the Fulcrum Racing Zero Nite I’ve had for a few years were absolutely superb but I was hankering after some deeper carbon. There are loads of wheel brands around at the moment, lots of them pretty unknown and I didn’t fancy taking a chance. Hunt are Kinlin rims with rebranded Novatec hubs so very generic, I ended up with a set of Roval CL50 which are the same rims as their more expensive CLX 50.

I didn’t expect any speed increase as I’m sceptical about these things, but over local rides I’ve done dozens of not hundreds of times, for matched rides with the same average power (I’ve got a PM) I’m consistently 0.5mph faster, which is a nice bonus! And I sold the Fulcrums for £400, I got them from Germany when the exchange rate was really good and only paid £625 (they were nearly £900 at Wiggle) so did well there.

When i changed my road wheels on my summer road bike a couple of years ago from Fulcrum to Easton EC90 Aero55s the difference was unbelievable- best upgrade imo. On various runs i'd done pre Easton's v post Easton's i was consistently hitting Strava PBs. Once they get up to speed it is amazing how well they also hold the speed. The only issue is strong cross winds when you get the sudden gust and the front can then get a mind of its own!!!
 

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