Matt24.

Completely agree - they’ve done a great job on that series. I’m on third season and it has definitely reignited my interest

It sounds like the agents unhelpfully have passed the buck onto you rather than being upfront with the sellers and explaining timings and the why. We had this continuously throughout the purchase back last autumn where solicitors and agents would say different things have different updates on the same day and then frustrate the buyers / sellers as they just weren’t aligned and setting expectations effectively. I had always erred away from being personally involved with the seller however I watched my mum purchase a house over the last few months and she went out of her way to get contact details for the seller and it has meant all the BS can be cut out and the record set straight for solicitors and agents when they are not on it.

Long live the vbrake

Competitions should introduce a seats only +10” seat tube minimum classification!

Thanks - yes I l won’t be returning the place that did my last frame - the blaster did exactly that and it took me an age to clear it all out the threads.

I’m considering getting this Hex I have picked up powder coated. Is the reason you would t shot blast the above four play is for the raw look. If you are going to be powder coating any reason you wouldn’t shot blast?

Cheers guys - so I reckon between the spare BB’s cogs some old 170 middle burns and the 165 cranks on the alias I should be able to try most combinations!

Trying to now work out actually I could maybe give my alias cranks a go if I did something like 17/14 or 18/15

Cheers @Ali C yeah thought I had seen you mention in a previous bike check running 170s. Think I may have to see if I can find a cheap way to try 170’s and 165’s. Buying new cranks and getting it wrong looks like an expensive way of doing it!

So picked up an older hex the other day. Bearing in mind I have been using an alias you can imagine that they feel fairly different. The main thing I am interested in an opinion is the rear cog and crank length. I have always ridden 160/165’s on mod (165 on the alias) 170 on 24” and 175 on 26”. However my last 26” was I think over ten years ago. I also remember running 22/18 and on occasion flipping between 16&18 cogs - finding 16 normally too hard. The Hex I have has a 17tooth with 175 cranks but it doesn’t feel snappy and am wondering if 170s with an 18 could feel better. Just interested to get a view of some people riding the hex and what they felt works best. My riding is relatively old school I’d say in I tend to like to be on 2 wheels were I can and pedal at things etc. Ta

There has also been a lot more demand for cycling products in the last 12 months due to it being a form of exercise you have been allowed to do throughout. I know people running shops who have got huge waits now on stock that normally wouldn’t be an issue

Short but sweet

Impressive that the bike spec came complete with some HS33’s

I gave the crewkerz bars a go on my alias when I first built it up and they felt horrible on a ‘street’ setup. Switched in arcade bars and they felt so much better.

I live just outside of London and ride their regularly - well did before the pandemic! There is also a relatively active group of riders at the moment who organise rides every couple of weeks in London led by Matt & Ton who do the shin dig podcasts. If you message me through your details I can get you added to the group. You are in a pretty good location for riding. There is a Little Rock section down by St Katharines dock which would be good for starting out on and plenty of spots within a 10/15 minute ride of where you are.

We are 3 months into the renovation of the house we moved into at the end of November. One thing that we ended up doing was look for a house that needed a lot of work! Part of that was after our first house purchase being so stressful with trying to be the one to get it going for stuff that is less popular because it needs a lot done became more appealing. We had no competition buying this and was able to purchase well under the guide price leaving us plenty of cash to get it done up. I hated the going up against others and then the wait and then repeat. Good luck all with your purchases, I am glad I’m out the other side and not planning to buy / sell for a long time after this house if finished!!

This looks awesome. I remember being very tempted by one of these frames back in the day - the silver looks a lot better than the blue / black they came in.

It looks so uncomfortable on a transition and shouldn’t be allowed near one! The seat is the issue for me, why bother. It would look better without. Pretty lazy effort at jumping on the street bandwagon from a marketing perspective when all you have produced is a 24” trials bike. I’m sure for trialsy stuff it works alright but in my eyes it’s just marketed all wrong!

@Mark WI picked up an older hex the other day to have a spin on a 26” after a 10 year hiatus. Going to be running some cross marks tubeless. Is it worth running inserts or should I be ok without?

Haha - Those responses far exceeded my expectations. They definitely brightened my Friday afternoon!

I’ve always had a hankering for another 26” steel bike - had a history with Pashleys and Leesons. From what I can see Dominic Raab has had a handle in some new bikes a 24” and 26” steel bike. I can’t seem to find much out about them though - anyone know anymore about the venture?

Akrigg is an alien. No one should ever buy a bike expecting to ride like him as he is an alien. They will be disappointed when they realise they are not also an alien.

I’m not sure of the geo but I remember them well. Short, low bb and slack HA. The earlier ones were weak around the bb. I guess it depends what they want from their first bike - if they are used to mountain bikes they could be a good starting point to ease into trials. They are nothing like modern comp bikes, they are closer to street trials bikes so bear that in mind depending on the style of riding they are looking to do. They will be harder on the rear wheel than anything you can buy today but quite stable on 2 and if they are starting off and use this to get the basics down anything modern after will feel like a breeze.

It isn’t the calipers that age an issue it’s the flimsy mounts they come with. If you use chunkier mounts they are fine. I ran Deore 2 pots for a while on a mod and they were enough so 4 pots would work well in the deore range.

Likely you are probably set on the Maguras as they do seem to get recommended. However as another option I have been using the shimano XT 4 pots and they have always felt like plenty of power and I like the lever feel - nice and direct. I’ve also bashed up the levers a fair few times without to much damage and when I did to smash one up to far it was a cheap and easy fix. Anyway thought I’d just throw them in as an option!