Cycling UK Forum

Good guess on the Genesis Vagabond...I already have one of those. That was the bike I was going to lighten up with the carbon forks. It's a brilliant bike, but saving weight on the forks is like eating a kebab but ordering a diet drink... pointless.
In the end I got a Pinnacle Arkose R2. Evans knocked 10% off without me asking, and did a free tubeless conversion.
It has carbon forks, bosses and eyelets, good tyre clearance, 105 groupset with amazing hydraulic discs. It comes in under 10kg too.
Initial impressions are great; very comfortable for an aluminium frame. I'm £1000 better off, which is an awful lot of Audax entries or weekends away riding. Ok, so it's not exclisive, but I'm a bloke who thinks George at ASDA is a designer range, so I'm ok with that.

A grand 'saved', but what is the downside?

I guess the downside is accepting an aluminium mass produced frame against a titanium frame made in limited numbers. However I'm not sure if the Elan frame is in any way handbuilt; probably still made in a factory to Spa's specifications.
Then there's the whole longevity/finish/durability thing too. Titanium won't tarnish, and can in theory be repaired by the right person.
Then there's ride quality; titanium is supposed to be a superb material for long distance bikes....but then again so is a nice steel frame.

Lastly we come down to aesthetic sensibilities. The Pinnacle is very nice, but it's not a WOW bike. But WOW has downsides though...any tea-leaf would see the Spa bike is expensive. The Pinnacle might be more understated. Besides if I was going purely on bling, I'd sell a kidney and go to someone like Paulus Quiros.

I guess I decided in the end I didn't need a Jag, because I was put off by the salesman. Instead I got a Mondeo, because it shares much of the same components, but is a tool for a job.

Would a Spa bike attract a thief?

I know bike thieves are pretty switched on these days, but a lot of folk would never have heard of Spa?

I take your points about feeling more secure with an apparently less attractive bike though.

My most ridden bikes are my old Ridgebacks and I like to think that they won't attract thieves - makes me feel more relaxed.

From what I have read, bike thieves fall into two categories. Those who nick bikes and have no idea what they are...and those who are quite savvy about their trade and recognise quality. They steal because they know quality components can be stripped off the bike, whatever the name.

Bought a rim a couple of weeks ago, the one I wanted at a good price - except they sent the wrong size, despite the invoice being for the correct one. A phone call, an apology, right rim sent straight out, postage refunded. Not a disaster (I've only just got round to building it) but an inconvenience and something that happens more with Spa than any other retailer I use. It's too minor to stop me using them again, but it's enough that if all other things are equal they're not my first choice. It's a shame and it must cost them more than improving stock control probably would.

Milfred Cubicle wrote:From what I have read, bike thieves fall into two categories. Those who nick bikes and have no idea what they are...and those who are quite savvy about their trade and recognise quality. They steal because they know quality components can be stripped off the bike, whatever the name.

A fair number of bike thieves are more than savvy. Using the dark Web they are taking 'orders' for bikes to steal. Usually high end carbon and titanium offerings. This has gotten so sophisticated in major towns and cities that they will often case entire areas via live video messenger apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, coming back maybe weeks later to steal a machine they have seen locked up on consecutive days outside offices or transport hubs.

Note to the wise. Its a bad idea to chain up ANY big brand or exotic bike for more than a few hours in the same place on consecutive days. These people are technology enabled now, and your bike will probably sell hundreds of miles away, if not in a different country before plod can even register the theft.

PH wrote:Bought a rim a couple of weeks ago, the one I wanted at a good price - except they sent the wrong size, despite the invoice being for the correct one. A phone call, an apology, right rim sent straight out, postage refunded. Not a disaster (I've only just got round to building it) but an inconvenience and something that happens more with Spa than any other retailer I use. It's too minor to stop me using them again, but it's enough that if all other things are equal they're not my first choice. It's a shame and it must cost them more than improving stock control probably would.

Have bought a fair bit of stuff from them and never had the wrong items sent. Now I've said that it probably will happen next time I order

Just received a Carradice Junior. Amazing price and great delivery.

Just to add to the accolades - Spa had some brake levers I'd despaired of - I ordered them over the 'phone last Tuesday.
The cost was £49. The chap I spoke to said that if I gave an order for £50 it would be post free. I added some bar tape which took it to £52 - it seemed like a generous discount actually and I needed the bar tape anyway.
I received confirmation by e-mail from Spa on Tuesday evening, and they were delivered by Royal Mail on Thursday.

Last week I needed a new front mech but wasn't sure which one would work best with my set-up. The bloke on the phone wasn't sure so said he would ask around then ring back. The call came about five minutes later. I ordered the mech, got it a few days later and it works very well. Perfect result.

pwa wrote:Last week I needed a new front mech but wasn't sure which one would work best with my set-up. The bloke on the phone wasn't sure so said he would ask around then ring back. The call came about five minutes later. I ordered the mech, got it a few days later and it works very well. Perfect result.

Which one?

horizon wrote:

pwa wrote:Last week I needed a new front mech but wasn't sure which one would work best with my set-up. The bloke on the phone wasn't sure so said he would ask around then ring back. The call came about five minutes later. I ordered the mech, got it a few days later and it works very well. Perfect result.

Which one?

It is a Sora triple with a braze-on fitting, combined with a free adaptor (the "braze on" as a band). It is perfect with my 9 speed set-up. I had never considered the adaptor route before but in practice it is ideal. I got the adaptor as close as I could estimate to the perfect position, then all subsequent adjustments to the position of the mech itself did not involve unclamping and reclamping on the seat tube. So kinder to the frame. But if I ever make a radical change in chain ring size I can move the band.

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s106p36 ... Front-Mech

https://spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s106p2631/S ... Mech-Clamp

Milfred Cubicle wrote:From what I have read, bike thieves fall into two categories. Those who nick bikes and have no idea what they are...and those who are quite savvy about their trade and recognise quality. They steal because they know quality components can be stripped off the bike, whatever the name.

The sad thing is they only need a few allen keys and a pair of cable cutters and £300+ STI levers can be gone in 20 seconds, with it not mattering one iota if the bike itself is locked up or not, you can't lock the handlebars up. Snip cables > undo stem bolts > thieved. I'm not a thief but I do sometimes think about what the fastest way is to steal the most valuable part(s) off a bike.

"I have seen this reported on here before, and some one suggested gluing ball bearings into the bolts on the stem to prevent this." - some guy on Reddit

That's quite clever but how are you going to undo the bolts yourself.

EDIT: If you did superglue ball bearings in, you can dissolve the glue back off with acetone.

Maybe there's a market for special bolts where you get a unique shaped "allen" key with them.

Manc33 wrote:Maybe there's a market for special bolts where you get a unique shaped "allen" key with them.

All of my German friends use these:
https://hexlox.com/

Not sure if they've made it to our shores yet. Although it didn't stop thieves stealing my friend's wicker shopping panniers.