Hyppy wrote: ↑Sun Nov 24, 2024 3:08 pm It was Evri rather than the postie, but yesterday they delivered some shiny silver bars allowing me to finish this eBay/parts bin build.

IMG_7982.jpeg

Beautiful that Hyppy. Congrats.

A shiny pair (set?) of Pike Ultimates, 140mm travel to go on a Nukeproof Reactor 290 carbon frame I put a semi speculative offer on. It'll be the first bike with more than 100mm suspension I've owned and will be shared with son (his Spesh Camber Evo frame and Pikes will be up for sale to reduce the cost). Frame is in excellent condition, Ride Wrapped and with headset, and with the forks were £1050 in total - and I had £100 credit sat on Paypal I'd forgotten about, so forks feel like £300 The Pikes are brand new, from the back of a dusty cupboard at Zyro Fisher I'd say. Few days off next week so looking forward to building it up with old parts and recent BF brake and seat post bargains.
It won't be light or climb well......so just like me

Finally after a week and a half wait my Outdry trousers from Columbia have arrived.
Now with my matching Outdry jacket I'm 100% waterproof
And
100% gimp
But at least I'll be a dry gimp that never needs re proofing

100% w/p? Outdry socks, boots, gloves?

RIP wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 11:49 am 100% w/p? Outdry socks, boots, gloves?

99% then Mr SmartArse

RIP wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 11:49 am 100% w/p? Outdry socks, boots, gloves?

100% before donning

… and dropped off some old-school stubby little bar ends to try as inners on the bend of my Kyotes. It's too bloody cold to go the bike shed and check properly, but I think they may work as I'd hoped.

And dropped off a wahoo elemnt bolt V2 and a lovely carbon pole from Stu, thanks!!

with two of these. Reasonably priced from Fawkes cycles and actually heavier than Surly Bud's which is a good thing, obviously.

Seem to be the same width as Bud with some gratifyingly large knobs. Crucially they can be studded which I may do, just because....

and bought me a lovely Garmin Edge Explore 2

My shiny new Firemaple Petrel G3 pot and stove have arrived. My old Ti pot, stove (not ti), and a new Ti spork (that came with the firemaple, I already have a Ti spork) to be posted for sale later today once I can take some photos.

A CV joint for Dee's Bongo - deep joy but now fitted, although I can no longer feel any digit.

Postman didn't show up, so it was a good job I took a stroll into town, with the dog, and picked up a new pair of Shimano PD M520 pedals for my commuter bike.

£30, rather than the £18 I paid last time (to be fair, that was a long time ago), but amortised over their lifetime, still a bargain.

Before you ask, the old ones were beyond repair, but have served me well.

Pair of 29er hope fortus wheels and brake discs

A Camino Ti from Alpkit. A 40th birthday present to myself to replace my 10yr old Pickenflick.

I wasn't expecting it to be a great build from the start, but figured it would be at least usable for a while.

I've never actually seen wheels built so badly. Dished 5mm to one side, wobbling like a clowns bike, uneven spoke tension, and as a extra stamp of carelessness, the logos don't align with the valve holes. And wrapped in some toy 'tube only' tyres. It's also got a nice scratch on the seatstay from transit...

Return parcel heading back to Nottingham for a refund on the 'UK Built' wheels and tyres, and some compensation offered for the scratches.

How these companies gain a good reputation whilst churning out such rubbish is beyond me.

Johnallan wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 10:24 pm A Camino Ti from Alpkit. A 40th birthday present to myself to replace my 10yr old Pickenflick.

I wasn't expecting it to be a great build from the start, but figured it would be at least usable for a while.

I've never actually seen wheels built so badly. Dished 5mm to one side, wobbling like a clowns bike, uneven spoke tension, and as a extra stamp of carelessness, the logos don't align with the valve holes. And wrapped in some toy 'tube only' tyres. It's also got a nice scratch on the seatstay from transit...

Return parcel heading back to Nottingham for a refund on the 'UK Built' wheels and tyres, and some compensation offered for the scratches.

How these companies gain a good reputation whilst churning out such rubbish is beyond me.

A few years back now, but a local bike mechanic was telling me he was making a good few quid from fixing/properly setting up Alpkit bikes post-delivery as so many arrived with problems. It was evidently easier for Alpkit to reimburse these costs that to arrange a return.

Alpkit bought the wheel building machine from Superstar apparently - so make of that what you will!

Shame about the experience and shoddy wheel build - the frame is meant to be a decent one!

The frame looks decent and I've checked everything else over. Other than a few loose cage mounting bolts (and the wheels), it doesn't seem bad.

Postie delivered a pair of Hunt 35 gravel wheels to replace the naff Alpkit ones. They seem well reviewed, hopefully the rims don't crack around the nipples like the Alu ones seem to do. Currently awaiting 700x44 Mezcals from Bikeinn, then I might actually get to ride it

Postie dropped off a Isobaa merino t-shirt to replace my Bearbones bamboo t-shirt that got snagged by barbed wire when on the Cairngorms loop. Teach me to take the right route.

Second item was a Wera Kraftform kompakt mini ratchet set. Very satisfying little bit of kit

A XL Sonder Frontier frame in black. Had been watching it for ages on alpkit ebay outlet. Finally dropped to £159 posted, so pulled the trigger. It's a brand new ex-display (i think) but seems as new. It's going to be my utility/town bike. That bike has gone through a couple of iterations lately, none of which i've gelled with. Have all the parts and wheels I need and looking forward to making the bike I have in mind, which is a bit less ratty/to be left in town, and more about general usage locally and some load hauling.

Dropped off the last (sorry) Rab Alpha Flash jacket from Sportspursuit. Took a while to arrive as not one of their "ready to send" items. Made from polartec alpha with no lining, bit like a Senchi Designs open weave alpha hoodie, but has no hood and heavier weight 120 Alpha, and half the price. Missed the last medium which may have been too snug but went with large and actually seems OK fit. Super breathable and warm. Zero wind resistance but very good mid layer under a shell. Works great with the Rab Vital windjacket I got from SP for £30 odd at end of last year (they still a few Vital jackets for that money) Not bike specific combo but think I'm going to use it for most activities to be fair.

My alpkit bike was perfect from new and never had an issue with it.

L2R24 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 24, 2025 7:38 pm Dropped off the last (sorry) Rab Alpha Flash jacket from Sportspursuit. Took a while to arrive as not one of their "ready to send" items. Made from polartec alpha with no lining, bit like a Senchi Designs open weave alpha hoodie, but has no hood and heavier weight 120 Alpha, and half the price. Missed the last medium which may have been too snug but went with large and actually seems OK fit. Super breathable and warm. Zero wind resistance but very good mid layer under a shell. Works great with the Rab Vital windjacket I got from SP for £30 odd at end of last year (they still a few Vital jackets for that money) Not bike specific combo but think I'm going to use it for most activities to be fair.

I've had a Rab Alpha Flash for quite a few years now and I really like it. I've ended up with quite a lot of Polartec Alpha kit and rate all of it

A wee stamp off etsy for putting my mark on things.