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Potentially in the market for a budget/lightish 700c disc wheelset and have seen 4 seasons coming up for sale cheap on here recently. I'm aware there have been some quality issues but the likelihood is these will spend most there life on the turbo. Is it possible/are the parts available to change the end caps back to old standards? The ones i've seen up for sale have all been 12mm TA/142mm, the bike in question is QR/135mm.

i am lost

Easy, imagine an ape to man diagram then reverse it.

Small win, Arkose has external cable routing, might be practical but it looks shit. Clipping 2 gear cables onto the stock clips holding the rear brake line was going to look even worse however i found these nice low profile triple cable jobs off a Ragley that sit over the bosses and pull the cables right up against the frame.

Yayyy...

Stripped the Arkose and the CAAD in preparation for Arkose part deux. Frameset alone weighs at least 650g more then the CAAD10 and add to that the guards and heavy wheels (1kg heavier than my rim brake wheelset) i'll be lucky if this comes in under 10.5kg.

Haha, yeah things are not going to plan atm. Rides are limited to a few mile radius of my house so a heavy bike with low gearing and big tyres is actually working quite well. Gonna fit the Rasket off my partners condor and some better cranks when i can find a puller otherwise i won't be doing much to this for now. Treating this as rehab bike only.

Shelf in my garage is currently where joy goes to die.

Given the current reduced rrp this wasn't a massive bargain but it came with sub £150 of upgrades and my now sold Steamroller frameset paid the for most of it. Not a bad package as standard but this one has a Clarks hydro brakeset with Hope front rotor (pretty good setup!), Ritchey bars, carbon post, Nukeproof saddle and SKS guards. Big selling point is the steel fork for my front rack and obvious masses of tyre clearance. It weighs a ton and the setup above needs works but it's already a really enjoyable ride.

New plan is to turn the Arkose into my road bike. Sad to abandon the CAAD10 as it was coming together nicely but i can't justify a bike that is only used on the trainer or the very occasional sunny day sprint. The Arkose should work as turbo trainer bike, a geared commuter with guards, an all weather road bike and will open the gates to some of that no gravel nonsense. An (occasional) geared commuter with guards being the main driver, big tyre shorter rides also sound appealing. Well aware it'll be a little sad in comparison to the CAAD both in performance on the road and the way it looks but i do enjoy the challenge of tarting up something bland.

Another reason for this new plan is that the Arkose wasn't doing it for me as a nip to the shops/gym/pub bike. In my head a dadbike was more what i was after for local jaunts but i didn't want to go down the doing up an old MTB rabbit hole knowing full well the time and cost associated with it. So i figured as i would have a nice rim brake wheelset spare i would seek out an early 2000s hybrid with decent clearance and use the 35c GK's and PDW'S. Unsurprisingly after days of trawling Ebay i found nothing that fitted the bill or made financial sense but instead found something unexpected on budget.

Introducing my first proper BCBB

Not much riding happening as i fudged my back again but just before i went twang i'd been struggling to get the tyre choice, fit and ratio right on the Arkose. I treated myself to some Cinturato's but was disappointed to find them sizing up so small. The 35c measure up 32.5mm, 1mm wider than the Vittoria 30c's i already had. That said they seem like a quick tyre so i stretched myself out a little with a longer stem and stuck some track cranks on to play with different gearing. As said already it rides really well but it isn't ticking the comfort/chill box so time for a rethink.

For real? Ah man dreams shattered

increasingly simplistic

As others have pointed out the embodied carbon vs operational carbon section wasn't included in the EV owners bible. I get shit for owning an early 90's car that gets used once a month by people who spend every moment they can enjoying their new found lifestyle.

That said, i sat outside a cafe on a junction in central recently that was mainly used by black cabs and the difference between a diesel cab waiting at the lights vs an electric one was fairly startling. EV's are not the solution to sustainable transportation but i think they are having some positive impacts on a smaller localised scale.

Sorry to read about your situation, sounds rough.

How long have you had Daisy now? Nori is an ongoing project but it was at least 18 months before things really started to click for us. Whilst not in your situation currently it's something we've had to consider over recent years and it's very sobering to face up to the difference between could i look after her or should i look after her long term on my own. Whilst Nori can feel like a burden at times she has given me purpose and i whilst i swear she'd willingly leave with a burglar if they waved some skittles at her i think i'd untangle without the routine.

A big game changer has been finding some help locally. Not always easy to find but having that one morning or evening back for yourself will make a big difference. Is there anyone you could ask to dog sit once a week so the dog doesn't go to your ex's but you get some time out on the bike?

First drive in almost 2 months was supposed to be a nice leisurely cruise to the west country to see friends and do the bodywork assessment. I should of checked the weather. I've been caught in some flash floods before but i don't ever recall being that scared on the M4. I particularly enjoyed pulling into the left lane to exit into the services then simply aqua planning onto the exit road. By that point water had leaked into the car and steamed up all the windows so it was a 5 mile an hour crawl into carpark before beaching the car anywhere and stepping out into ankle deep sitting water. I fully expected to be stuck there with a flooded car but a coffee and a Greggs later the rain had stopped and after running the engine and blowers for 5 minutes i was on my way like it had never happened. There was a moment in the rain when i thought i really would like one of those modern 4 wheel drive puppy killers but after binge watching Saab advertising on Youtube i've reconvinced myself my car is still the pinnacle of advanced automotive engineering.

The drive to the bodyshop the following morning was the opposite of the terror the night before. I can't imagine a car i'd prefer for a 50 mile round trip on B roads in the sun. I wasn't really sure what to expect as they have no website or social media presence but the plug came from a reliable source so i was hopeful they would be good. Impossible not to go golf club here but having visited some amazing bodyshops including ones in California and Japan i don't think i've ever been somewhere that ticked so many car-dork boxes. On one side you had a DB5, a 1949 Alfa that had raced in the Mille Miglia, a GT40 and a host of classic Merc's, Jag's and other prestigious classics. And on the other side there were chrome bumpered Japanese mini truck lowriders, 80s Aerodeck on airbags, race prepped Civic's, fully stripped Evo's getting nut and bolt rebuilds, OG type R's and a bunch of other interesting project cars. Unfortunately i couldn't take pictures and i can't share details publicly but i can forward on details if anyone has a genuine interest via pm.

Anyways he gave the Saab a going over and was happy with the overall condition but declined my low budget option of doing localised repairs for fear of it looking like a patchwork afterwards. After discussing the top end of my budget he suggested a full respray could be had for a little more if i stripped and rebuilt the car myself (tick) and left the bodykit and trim for another time. On the latter i always struggle with where you draw a line with doing a respray but having talked this through with him and given it a lot of after thought i'm quite happy with the idea of refitting the aged and in some instances a bit scruffy trim as it will retain a lot of the character and also reduce anxiety over it getting marked up in the future. It also means a lot less work for everyone involved. We ran through the the entire process of how he works, how he'll keep me updated and how payment can be spread and it was refreshingly caring and non salesman like. Chatting backgrounds we're a very similar age, have both gone to design schools and he even pointed at the Boa's on my trainers and told me he was involved in the design of them and Puma disc's when he did his apprenticeship! Although very reasonable in comparison to high street bodge jobs it's not a small amount of money for a car that won't get a lot of use and may end up getting sold if i need something more practical down the line. But having seen the work and met the man behind it i'm convinced i want to at least try and raise the funds for this. Timing is good as well, he doesn't have space until spring next year so i have a few months to decide before putting a deposit down.

Before then i want to fit all the new/better than what i have spares i've sourced over the years. The original plan was for me to spend long weekends in Bath with my dad getting it all done but it just isn't panning out and has become a source of stress for both of us. After talking it over we've decided the best thing would be for me to leave the car with him and he'll do bits in his own time. I had really hoped to be hands on and learn stuff of him but it just isn't worth the hassle atm when i have many other jobs to do. He loves tinkering but hates deadlines so this'll be a win for both of us. I'm waiting for a window but hopefully i'll be dropping it off in the next month or two.

Too much waffle with to little to show, here's a pick of the car at Castle Coombe classics meet last week and another OG accessory clean up project for me to undertake.

4 onwards would be much more enjoyable IMO, watching 1-3 before those is like doing the Die Hard series backwards.

Speaking of i watched Die Hard with a vengeance for the first time in well over 20 years and think it's held up pretty well. Maybe it's just fatigue of seeing the same guy shouting over and over again but SLJ was a lot more likeable back then. I'd also forgotten about the psychologist who pops up to explain why things are happening from time to time and now cannot un-see him when certain forumongers pop up with nuggets of information in every thread.

I'm kinda sad they abandoned the booking slots at the recycling centre. Now i have to risk big queues, have to rush and can no longer talk at the staff about other peoples lack of separating materials skills whilst they die inside.

Samesies, he always slows down and smiles when passing me and the mutt. Bike looks well sorted.

Now sold.

Hope all’s ok.

This. I've been a fan of many of these builds, be sad to see them given away under difficult circumstances.

still a lot of cash

I'm sure, i've considered pouring some cash into my 900 with a pipe dream of converting it one day but suspect the asteroid will have hit before then. Has your company ever done an old Saab? Seems like the perfect platform!

That is lovely, do I recall correctly that you're doing a conversion with it?

Some faves from today's meet

Hey, they were from Arkane, DCR Flirt rims on Zenith hubs, sold now.

Not keen on taking a deposit but keep me posted if you're heading to London

Sending pm

What was i saying about Carlos being the better of the pair... Great drive from him, don't expect RB's drop in form to last but it was nice for a weekend.

Lewis fan so probably biased but he seems to be one of the quickest out there as each race gets into the later stages. Shame he also seems to be a bit crap during the first half of the race.

After a bit of back and forth i still have this, price drop to £200.

Bump with a price drop.