The "Show off your bike" thread!

[Silvs]

My Full Sus and hardtail on a trip to the Castle

[TheGreatSoprendo]

Silvs said:

My Full Sus and hardtail on a trip to the Castle

Castell Coch?

[molineux1980]

Just picked this up for a bargain price last night. Chuffed with it, but frustratingly, i've got a broken rib at the moment so can't use it in anger yet.

[Silvs]

TheGreatSoprendo said:

Castell Coch?

Yep, one of my favourite non-trail centre places. Really good trails around just a little moist in the winter! Still learning my way though.

[AndyWoodall]

Silvs said:

My Full Sus and hardtail on a trip to the Castle

I used to live a short ride for there for a good 4 years and never explored it on a bike.

Love the Canyon, I've likely posted this before, but the frames just look so 'right', with the possible exception of the kink in the top tube.

[Silvs]

AndyWoodall said:

I used to live a short ride for there for a good 4 years and never explored it on a bike.

Love the Canyon, I've likely posted this before, but the frames just look so 'right', with the possible exception of the kink in the top tube.

It is a maze up there a lot of the trails have been cut by groups so they are never make public. Just a case of going out and trying to find them. Worth it when you do. Nicest looking frame for the money that's for sure. The top tube and Seat stays line up dead straight and I am a massive fan of the kink! It's a really nice bit of kit to ride really!

[MadDad]

New tyres, new pads, lubed, serviced and ready for a bit of off road action on Sunday;

[TeaNoSugar]

I've been thinking about getting a road bike for a while. Hopefully if I can get "bike-fit" I'll enter a duathlon next year, and the low-impact cross training might help with my running fitness without the risk of shin splints, and knee niggle.

Anyway I bought this bike, unseen, for 200 quid this week from a colleague of my Brother-in-law.

many

It's called a Viner Dedalus. The guy selling it cn't remember when he bought it, or when he last used it, so I don't know what year it is, and I've taken it to my local bike shop for a service, but they said it's not really a mainstream brand and they hadn't seen many others in the past.

Does anyone know anything about Viner? Any good? I'm really not up to speed with road bikes. It's got shimano 105 gears and brakes, but other than that dont' know what else to say about it other than it feels light, it seems to run smoothly, everything works as it should but the gears could do with a bit of adjustment.

[m444ttb]

My new Cannondale CAAD X Tiagra for commuting to work on. Like it so far although I'm wondering if I should have gone for the next size down as it's quite long. Considering a slightly shorter stem to compensate although I don't know what the downsides may be.

Edited by m444ttb on Saturday 6th December 21:24

[Magic919]

Is it really a tiara? How big is your head?

[m444ttb]

Bah tricked by my iPhone yet again. Despite being PHer for quite a while my head isn't quite big enough to use it as a tiara.

[yellowjack]

TeaNoSugar said:

It's called a Viner Dedalus. The guy selling it cn't remember when he bought it, or when he last used it, so I don't know what year it is, and I've taken it to my local bike shop for a service, but they said it's not really a mainstream brand and they hadn't seen many others in the past.

Does anyone know anything about Viner? Any good? I'm really not up to speed with road bikes. It's got shimano 105 gears and brakes, but other than that dont' know what else to say about it other than it feels light, it seems to run smoothly, everything works as it should but the gears could do with a bit of adjustment.

I'm no help with experience of the Viner brand, nor that particular model, but that saddle has the look of a Brooks, and I would guess that the tyres and wheels were upgraded too, over the originals. I say 'guess' because the only reason I say it is that they don't 'look' right for the bike, and manufacturers have a habit of having batches of wheels made to match their bikes' colour schemes, or using generic rims by the likes of Alexrims. If the saddle is a Brooks B15, they retail for around £130 new, so it's either a copy, or it makes your bike a bit of a bargain

Off the top of my head, I think that (if they were fitted at the factory) the Fulcrum Racing 5 Evolution wheels date the bike to around the 2007/2008 period, or newer. Current Fulcrum 5s are easily a £180 wheelset, and Michelin Lithion 2s can be had for £25 to £30 a pair. It looks pretty good for the price you paid, though. Enjoy!

Here's a bit of BikeRadar chatter from 2009 on the subject of the very model you have bought. It seems to be quite highly regarded...

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40...

ETA:

I don't want to sound 'snidy' or come across as a doom-monger, but...

TeaNoSugar said:

...Anyway I bought this bike, unseen, for 200 quid this week from a colleague of my Brother-in-law...
...It's called a Viner Dedalus. The guy selling it can't remember when he bought it, or when he last used it...

...you can trust this colleague of your brother-in-law, right? Only the kind of chap who buys something as far out of left field as a Viner, then adds a Brooks saddle, doesn't sound like the sort of chap who can remember nothing of when he bought or last used his bike. Please don't shoot! I'm not making accusations, just saying that that's how it comes across from your text. If I'm way off the mark, I apologise, unreservedly.

Edited by yellowjack on Saturday 6th December 22:14

[TeaNoSugar]

yellowjack said:

...you can trust this colleague of your brother-in-law, right? Only the kind of chap who buys something as far out of left field as a Viner, then adds a Brooks saddle, doesn't sound like the sort of chap who can remember nothing of when he bought or last used his bike. Please don't shoot! I'm not making accusations, just saying that that's how it comes across from your text. If I'm way off the mark, I apologise, unreservedly.

Edited by yellowjack on Saturday 6th December 22:14

Thanks for taking the time to reply. It's much appreciated, and very interesting. I'll definitely check out that link you posted. Since posting my message I took it to the local bike shop for a general service. They didn't seem to know much about the brand other than "you don't see many of these, but it looks like you've got some decent kit on it".

They said the saddle is a Brooks B15 Swallow, and I should keep it for now, and see how I get on with it, as they're at least 125 quid new. Also, the wheels are Fulcrum Racing 5 Evolution. The red-walled Michelin Lition tyres I put on myself because the chap selling it said the tyres that were on it (Schwalbe Stelvio) were punctured, although I did pump up the old tyres just to check, and they seemed fine after 2 days. Odd, but as I'd already been to decathlon and bought them, I put the new inner tubes and tyres on anyway. It's the first time in about 10yrs I've been on a road bike and it's so much nicer than a MTB on the roads I couldn't believe just how easy it is to accelerate and get up to a decent speed.

So far its cost me 200 for the bike, 55 quid for 2 inner tubes and 2 tyres, and 50 quid for the service.

In terms of being able to trust the bloke who sold it, he works with my Brother-in-law, and he seems to think the bloke is 100% straight down the line. I think the whole "can't remember when he bought it or last used it" was a bit of embarassment on his part because he spent a lot of money on the bike with the best intentions and then didn't really use it vey much and also put on a fair bit of weight in the meantime.

Anyway it's due back from being serviced on Tuesday, so if there are any major issues I'm sure they'll let me know.

Thanks again Yellowjack.

[yellowjack]

TeaNoSugar said:

...in terms of being able to trust the bloke who sold it, he works with my Brother-in-law, and he seems to think the bloke is 100% straight down the line. I think the whole "can't remember when he bought it or last used it" was a bit of embarassment on his part because he spent a lot of money on the bike with the best intentions and then didn't really use it vey much and also put on a fair bit of weight in the meantime.

Anyway it's due back from being serviced on Tuesday, so if there are any major issues I'm sure they'll let me know.

Thanks again Yellowjack.

Given that clarification, all my suspicions melt away. Sounds like a fella with enough cash for a nice bike who just didn't get on with cycling. Shame for him, but a stroke of luck for you. Despite not having experience of the brand, I think it's nice to have a bike such as a Viner, that bit different from the cafe stop crowd of Giant/Specialized/Trek etc. I'm no snob, but it is nice to have a rarer name on the top tube, and yours is a bit of a bargain. Even if you find you don't get along with that saddle, you ought to get a fair bit back if you decide to sell it on. To make the best of it, contact Brooks, to get hold of the care and adjustment instructions for it, and look after it. Same with the wheels. They aren't 'top of the tree' kit, but they're nowhere near rubbish, neither. You could upgrade and lose a fair chunk of weight from them at a later stage, and there'd still be a few quid in them second-hand.

The new tyres? I'd recommend putting fresh rubber on a bike that's seen use, but stood idle for a while. Especially if the fitted tyres had stood around deflated, as the sidewalls can suffer from cracking. Tubes too, so new rubber was a good idea anyway. The other things you may need to swap are the brake and gear cables, and possibly the brake blocks, but everything else, judging by the photo, looks to be in pretty good shape. The chain and cassette are also potential wear items. But that depends a lot on how much use the bike's had. It's a nice bike, from what I can see. I hope you enjoy it more than it's last owner seems to have...

[WinstonWolf]

A Brooks can take a bit of breaking in but you can't get a more comfortable saddle. Mines done about 6000 miles and I don't know I've even got a saddle now

[littleandy0410]

WinstonWolf said:

A Brooks can take a bit of breaking in but you can't get a more comfortable saddle. Mines done about 6000 miles and I don't know I've even got a saddle now

I'm not sure that's a good advert for Brooks!

[WinstonWolf]

It feels like you're riding on air

[lukeyman]

Does it actually say Brooks on it?

It just it looks very similar to the Brooks 'inspired' saddle found on a Felt TK4130 track bike... I've got one!

[TeaNoSugar]

If you're asking me about the saddle, then yes, I think it is a Brooks saddle. It has an embossed metal "brooks" badge on the rear frame of the saddle, and "made in england" on it as well. It looks like the saddle can be tensioned as well (if that makes sense), there's a little threaded bar and nut arrangement at the very front which stretches or slackens off the leather surface.

Glad to hear they're comfortable, saddle comfort is about the least appealling part of riding a road bike. It's due back from being serviced tomorrow anyway, so all being well I'll give it a 30-odd mile road test on Saturday (weather permitting), and reserve judgement on the saddle until I've experienced a couple of hours on it!

Thanks for all the feedback though, and the comments on the linked forum page do seem quite positive. Hopefully I've got a decent bike on my hands (about time if it is, I've bought a couple of real lemons from ebay in the past!).

[anonymous-user]

Cool ride in the Chilterns....