TheBrownDog wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 9:35 pm The seal is fine. Can't wait to spark her up.

A new model Thud Buster ST and a QR seat post clamp from Shona and Rich of Keep Peddling in Manchester.
Yet again their service, communication, price and speed of delivery (thanks to Royal Mail out of Manchester) is second to non.




New model


Original model

It will be interesting to see how the new model compares to the original one I've had for a while now.

Biggest curly bars I've ever seen

And delivered some garmin goodies

First out the box was a charge power pack, it’s really well made and comes with a lever operated replacement for the 1/4 turn mount. The other thing I noticed is that the pogo pins have rubber seals so it should be fairly weather proof.
Initial tests confirm that it works seamlessly with the dynamo. Is it worth £100? Hmm it’s expensive for the Capacity but very well thought out and should last.

The next exciting goodie was a varia taillight, I was looking for a replacement for my Exposure tracer as its currently doing duty as a barend light ( highly recommend if you have drops)
It’s party trick is being a radar car detection device, honestly it’s an amazing piece of technology. Cars are detected about 150mtr away and displayed on the garmin screen accompanied by a bleep, if the car is really tanking along the screen flashes red at the edges. It also increases the flashing of the rear light in detection, again not cheap but then not substantially more the the exposure I was looking at. Probably not much use in town but potentially a life saver on quiet country roads where a car can suddenly surprise you. I’m seriously impressed.

Not today but 'tother day.
Mostly bits from 'stock' in the boxes of stuff in the garage



Bars could have done with 15 or 20mm higher, but I'm not buying new kit for it.
Tyres could have done with higher volume / wider rims (2.3 Purgatory's on old Crest / Hope26) but again, it works for now

Aye, that's the ever-present danger of a cheap "garage build", the desire for upgrades

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 9:21 am Aye, that's the ever-present danger of a cheap "garage build", the desire for upgrades

Indeed it is, I shall resist - for now at least as it works rather nicely.

And delivered an Exped Travel Hammock plus. Handy for ligging out hanging out between the apple trees at the foot of the garden 420g including the suspension so not the lightest.



Might even try it on this weekend's WRT (Yorkshire edition) coz the trees are full of blossom and smell lovely.

Some bends. Let the exhaust fabbing commence

And delivered a very nice carbon pole from a bloke in Wales

Go on, stick it on the scales then! "World's Lightest" blah blah .

Go on, stick it on the scales then!

No, it's heavy Reg. 'World's lightest' is not something to be chasing on a pole that length

Weight-for-length not absolute weight

Obviously the World's Lightest Pole is probably 1cm long but its shelter-elevating properties would be somewhat limited . Instead, how about some photos of you dancing round it then Steve .

Ain’t got the legs for it reg.


This it what it might look like

The other day he brought a pair of Merrell MQM flex 2 trainers, today a set of lock laces. Shoes seemed ok on spikey flats yesterday, lock laces only improve things for me especially a nice snug fit. Loads of room in the toe box of these things too.

A rear Shimano flat mount 160mm disc adapter and a bottle of Squirt chainlube to try, exciting days!

Some Skytec Basalt R work gloves.

Having tried a few of these things for bike/general maintenance these have the right compromise of feel and robustness. Thinner ones tend to come apart quickly. Nitrile gloves rip easily and aren't that reusable.

and delivered two helmets for the kids. No excuses for them now...

Slatwall hooks.

Man, I'm going to be soooo organised.

Me collecting the first one, but still vaguely exciting... A mission duet MTB tandem - means I can get my son out on a bike again as he's outgrown the trailer bike I bought from here years ago. He's got a brain tumor, and a few years of chemo/operations have left him a tad unsure on his feet so also reluctant to ride a solo bike. His little sister is recently bike obsessed and the tandem now means we can all get out together.

Tinkering has already started - a 2.35 front tyre, plastic BMX pedals, on-one fleegle bars and getting rid of the horrid sprung saddles so far, 205mm rotors next I think.

Postman delivered a dozen climbing holds to screw to the large dead tree in our back garden, so the kids can climb up to the treehouse platform I started to build this afternoon.

PaulE wrote: ↑Fri May 08, 2020 9:31 pm Me collecting the first one, but still vaguely exciting... A mission duet MTB tandem - means I can get my son out on a bike again as he's outgrown the trailer bike I bought from here years ago. He's got a brain tumor, and a few years of chemo/operations have left him a tad unsure on his feet so also reluctant to ride a solo bike. His little sister is recently bike obsessed and the tandem now means we can all get out together.

Tinkering has already started - a 2.35 front tyre, plastic BMX pedals, on-one fleegle bars and getting rid of the horrid sprung saddles so far, 205mm rotors next I think.

Postman delivered a dozen climbing holds to screw to the large dead tree in our back garden, so the kids can climb up to the treehouse platform I started to build this afternoon.

Sounds like excellent work all round there Paul.

I particularly like the sound of the climbing holds plan.

And delivered some spokes for my onyx hub which I ‘won’ at the virtual WRT prize draw.
Unfortunately I used a different calculator as it had the onyx preloaded, the other calculator I used assumed 3x by default, this one didn’t so after stripping the rim I realised I had perfect spokes for a completely radical rear wheel, which would be a bad idea.....so no bike until I sort it. Really I should know better.

He’s dropped off a dynaplug tubeless thingy. Hopefully I won’t need it

Postie just dropped off the Osprey 7litre bumbag from Sportpursuit highlighted by "due" in the Bargain Alerts thread, it looks really nice (in common with the other Osprey pack that I've owned for a few years).