Shooting the Breeze

FFWD F6 Wheels – Demo model available!

Mark — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:17:06 +0000

Fast Forward Wheel Review: F6R With DT Swiss 240S

No going back with these Fast Forwards (By Cyclingtime.com)

The first thing that strikes you as you place your hand on these to lift them out of the box is the weight. At 1350g for the pair these are very light for 60mm deep rim wheels. The rim itself has an unu- sual feel to it also as it tapers to its inner edge, designed to nip through the air more effectively.

This profile has been tagged DARC. In short, this means Double Arc which is why the rim has a ridge then the taper. They say DARC creates a ‘negative arc’ where the air is compressed more at the positive section, increasing the airflow much as a hydrofoil does. This means less resistance on the wheel and therefore, so the science says, you go faster.

The low weight of these wheels immediately transfers itself to the feel of the bike, a sensa- tion only heightened further when you’re really rolling on them as they are also plenty stiff. There’s a snap

into the corners that only very good carbon wheels will provide, and another on the way out as you out the power down to sprint away.

Under breaking the wheels were excellent, the breaking surface and the provided SwissStop yellow pads working harmoniously together even in the rain. I was very impressed in this regard as some of the so-called best carbon wheels under-perform in the wet.

Fast Forward chose a high-tensile TC-35 carbon for the majority of the wheel’s lay-up, which represents a calculated decision to go for durability over stiffness. However that is not to say these wheels are not stiff. FFWD’s engineers use multiple layers of carbon to increase stiffness in the requisite locations.

Final Verdict:
Great wheels. It’s that simple. Tight, smooth, stiff and with no little degree of comfort, the F6R With DT Swiss 240S tubular is an ideal wheel for flat and hilly races, criteriums and tech- nical time trials.
The F6R With DT Swiss 240S. Very much recommended.

Demo Wheels – Giant P-SLR1

Mark — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 19:42:15 +0000

Road.cc tester Mat Brett has been riding on Giant’s new P-SLR1 WheelSystem for a few months now and what’s not to like? Well, nothing actually! Following some thorough testing Road.cc particularly liked the WheelSystems overall performance and were happy to recommend Giant’s P-SLR1′s with a top rating of 4 stars!

The Road.cc Verdict?

“Light, quick, and efficient tubeless-ready wheels with some high-quality features”

“These are intended for performance riding. They’re designed to be stiff yet comfortable, and light… and they are.”

“These wheels perform really impressively out on the road. I went for a standard setup with Giant’s own tyres (which we’ll also review soon) and a set of inner tubes. They’re lively, sprightly, energetic… all those qualities that you want. They accelerate fast, spin along easily on the flat and they climb noticeably quicker than wheels just a little heavier.”

You have the chance to make your mind up with a demo of these amazing wheels from our shop. They come with Giant 700c tyres and tubes. All you need to do is bring your bike in and get the cassette swapped over, gears and brakes set up and off you go. They are available over a few days so you can ride your usual roads and get a proper test!!

New Range of Energy Food

Mark — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:46:04 +0000

As always at this time of year we spend a bit of time looking for products that we feel our customers would use (and hopefully buy). So this week we have taken delivery of enrgy gels, drinks and bars from Torq. These products are developed in the uk using all natural ingredients and really taste great. There are some quite standard flavours in the range as well as some that sound quite odd but are all very tasty. The Rhubarb and Custard gel is a defo for any long ride as it very gentle on the stomach and tastes lush! The vanilla energy drink was a flavour I was not sure about but after a couple of rides this week using it there is a very surprised thumbs up.

Loads of flavours to suit anyones tastes!

Demo Mountain Bikes

Mark — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:43:35 +0000

Giant Anthem 29er DEMO MODEL

The mountain bike market has become very complicated with choices in wheel size, rigid, front suspension, xc full suspension the list is almost endless. So this season to help you part with that hard earned cash we will be offering a range of demo bikes. With the support of Giant we will have a hard tail 29er, a full sus 29er, 4inch full suser and 5 inch travel all mountain bike.

The character of all these bikes are very different and most riders end up parting with said earned cash on a bike that does not suit their riding style or the terrain they ride in. The demo program will require a prebooked time/day/weekend as well as a deposit!!

Trance Demo Bike

So you can book a ride on a XTC 29er (alloy hard tail with fox forks), Anthem 29er with fox front and rear shocks, standard Anthem (26″wheel) with fox shocks or a Trance 5″ travel all mountain bike. Take your pick and let us know.

This is the start of a large demo program this year with road bikes and wheels all due in the coming weeks!!

Bike Clearance

Mark — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:58:23 +0000

Although we never usually have loads of bikes left at the end of the season there are always some display models that need to be moved on. So this is our MegaSuperFantasticAmazingHuge Sale.

Surly Karate Monkey 29er was £999 now only £699

Steel fully rigid 29er

Along with most of the Surly bikes this is a real do anything go anywhere bike. It comes with a cro moly steel frame and fork, Halo Aero Warrior wheel set with Twin rail tyres. It is set up with LX shifters, Deore rear mech and deore chain set. The frame is a 18″ and the steerer tube has 40mm of spacers under the stem. So plenty room for adjustment. The bars are flat oversize alloy with a adjustable stem. This bike is a great model for our area as its perfect for b and c roads as well as the coastal cycle path and off road riding. The frame can be used with a hub gear with mount points for pannier rack and mudguards as well.

Giant Talon 0 (2010) was £850 now £550

Giant Talon 0 Size Large

This is the 2010 model Giant Talon with alloy frame, Rock Shox Tora forks and hydraulic brakes. The Gears are SLX shifters, XT rear mech and shimano chainset.

Orange G2 (2011) was £699 now £500

Orange G2 Size Large

The best selling mountain bike for us last year and this is the only one left! Very nice set up and a really nice ride. Just been our display bike in the store and been ridden round the car park a couple of times.

Kuota Korsa Road Bike was £999 now £850

Kuota Korsa was £999 now £850

This is the entry level offering from Kuota and a very popular bike as it suits all types of road riding from sportive to racing. A good geometry gives stable handling and a lively ride. This bike is specced with Alloy frame, carbon fork, SRAM apex group set and R500 wheels. Its been used as display in the store and had a couple of trips around the car park.

Try before you buy

Mark — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:00:53 +0000

Would you buy a car (even a scrapper) without giving it a road test? I know I wouldn’t so for the winter and spring of next year we will be offering a wide range of bikes for demo rides. From the latest carbon race bikes from giant to 29er mountain bikes and full susers. This will give you the chance to swing your leg over the bike that you have read the reviews on and make your own mind up.
Ripping round the trails at glentress or riding your hilly road loop give us a shout and book your day. There will be a demo list appearing on the website soon with info on demo days and nights.

I don’t need a fit!

Mark — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 10:05:33 +0000

Most riders seem to feel that the position that they ride in is fine and as long as the seat height is ok. Like everything in life its much more complicated than that! The guy in the photo is a mate of mine who started triathlons at the same time as me and now organizes events as well as competing in them. The response to my question “Is your position comfortable?” got the reply yes…but I only use it for short events cause its not comfy! So after a 10 minute chat its onto the turbo with the bike and get some video of him riding. The DARTFISH software that we use allows immediate playback so the rider can see the 10 second clip on the tv in front of them. With the video loop playing I can then point out any issues or alterations that may need to be made. Then the whole process of measuring, adjusting, moving and swapping starts. All of the time the rider is asked for reaction/feedback to any changes that are made. At the end of the fit the rider can then do a short (or long) ride on the road to get a feel for how the bike has changed. Each change is accompanied by a short video recording that the rider can then view themselves at a later date (and bore their friends to bits at the same time). So what about barry? Well the photo below shows before (left) and after (right) of the fit. Saddle was raised 35mm, bars 40mm, elbow pads changed + lowered, saddle changed and cleats repositioned.

The only problem is he will be even further ahead of me in the next triathlon!

Bike Fitting

Mark — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 21:57:05 +0000

Its been a busy few weeks in our new Fit Studio with bikes being fitted to riders as well as insoles to feet. The idea behind the fit studio has been on the back burner for several years, actually 8 and started when I completed (not competed there is a BIG difference) in triathlons. In transition before the events there were all shapes and sizes of people setting up but most of the bikes looked the same. By that I mean very low handlebars and super long tri bar extensions. When I looked at my bike it seemed very different but what I always noticed was that in the last few miles of the bike section I was still riding on my tri bars and feeling very comfortable. This could not be said for many of the other riders and that struck me as odd. While travelling back from an event the conversation in the car turned to my favourite subject BIKES!! The starting point was how long could you stay in a aero position. Out of 4 of us I was the only person that could ride aero, feel comfy and run strong after the bike leg. That started the whole bike fit idea rolling and was reinforced over the last few seasons of riding sportives. I still find it amazing that people expect a bike to be uncomfortable to ride.

Happy Feet

Mark — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:32:06 +0000

Today was a day that made me smile! I have been working for a while on my plan for a custom fit studio and its just about all done now. The feet in the photos are from a fairly fit (actually annoyingly fit) regular customer who has been desperate for a try with some Sidas footbeds. After the standard chat while drinking tea (but no biscuits wots that about?)we went into the fit studio and made a start. After a foot exam its time to jump up on the seat and make the moulds.

When we were happy with the shape and support the warmed footbeds are placed into the mould and pressure applied for a couple of minutes as they cool. Then its a simple case of trimming the footbeds to fit in the shoes. Then the footbeds can be tweeked to make sure the fit is 100%.

So why does it make me smile? After a busy day and a late finish my phone beeped just as I was getting the kids to bed. I opened the text and smiled this is what it said….Awesome!Shoes as comfortable as slippers, ankle felt firm and my right foot remained straight (it tends to kick in). Very impressed! Also increased 10watts output at lactate threshold!!!

That why I do what I do for moments that make me smile.

Surly?

Mark — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 22:10:08 +0000

This winter has been quite hard in the cycle trade with poor weather followed by poorer weather followed by unbeleivably poor weather. This puts off most people with a brain from riding a bike with any kind of regularity and means the shop is quieter than normal. The advantage from my point of view is it gives all of us the chance to consume huge amounts of tea/coffee and talk about how the shop develops further.

Our store is not blessed with huge amounts of passing trade and having half the catchment area populated by fish is not a great help either. We need to offer a range of products that maybe aren’t available in every store but suit our customer base the modern term for this is a “destination store.” So after many cups of tea and packets of biscuits we decieded that we were perfect and didn’t need to do anything!

That was my conclusion but apparantly everyone else thought differently so after a bit of research and 500 miles of driving in 12 hours we are pleased to become SURLY dealers. They offer a wide range of touring, cross and mountain bikes that we can have as frame only or complete bikes. They come in a very wide range of sizes so that will allow us to offer a very custom fit. It also comes with the added advantage of matching the staff attitude ;-)