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WTB rims, probably an i23 or
WTB rims, probably an i23 or i25. Pretty standard OEM fitment – even high end stuff like Santa Cruz use them.
For inner tube go with
For inner tube go with Michelin Air Stop – very high quality and most importantly they don’t have removable valve cores. Some mini pumps (particularly those from Lezyne) which screw on to the valve have a tendency to remove the valve when unscrewed. Which, on a wet November Tuesday night in the middle of nowhere, is not ideal. I speak from experience.
Another vote for R650s if you
Another vote for R650s if you can find them. Easily hauled up my 18st bulk, just slightly less responsive than 5800 brakes. Stick some Swisstops in and you’ll hardly tell the difference. Not sure but R7000/R8000 brakes have generous drops – will fit a 30mm tyre I seem to remember. They might be an option. You can also get shoe adapters to drop brakes pads lowerNo tubes, but you need to
No tubes, but you need to carry one just in case, as not all punctures will seal/self-heal – particularly at high pressures
Tubeless repair kit, which is about the same size as a traditional puncture repair kit and consists of a knife, reamer, and applicator. Topeak have one built into the PT30 mini tool (review on this site). Then you need tubeless plugs. You use the tool to prep the hole for the plug. The idea is that most punctures will self heal – thorns etc nearly always will – anything up to a 3mm cut as a rule of thumb
You install a tubeless-ready/tubeless compatible tyre and valves, add sealant (liquid latex basically) and hopefully ride for miles without a visit from the puncture fairy.
“Tubeless Ready” is a whole other can of worms. The problem is that there’s no industry standard for what that means. Basically though it comes down to having a rim and tyre bead that snap together under pressure, like a car tyre. With sealant added to the tyre this forms an airtight seal.
Having had a quick look at the current bike spec I think you’ll also need to convert the wheels to tubeless. That involves replacing the rim strip with wider air tight tubeless tape and fitting tubeless valves. Trek/Bontrager have a kit for this but there are many aftermarket kits. Easy DIY job.
Depending on the tyre you might also need a tubeless tank to get the tyre to seat on the rim for the first time. You might also need new tyres – definitely if you’re still running the stock tyres (R1 hard case lite?) which came with the bike.
All in, budget £100 to convert the wheels to tubeless if you need to buy a tubeless tank. Double that if you need to replace your tyres.
Is it worth it? Well, you can run lower pressures, and lower pressures reduce rolling resistance and make you faster. You no longer run the risk of snakebite punctures. Its great for hedge-cutting season because small thorn punctures will automatically seal. Bigger cuts can be more problematic, particularly at road pressures (tubeless sealant works better in high volume low pressure tyres). To keep everything running smoothly you need to change your sealant every 3-6 months which can be a messy job (but have a look at Milkit valves as they minimise mess). And there’s no guarantee you won’t get a puncture. I run tubeless on my MTB and tubes on my road bikes. Reason? MTB tubes are massive and carrying a spare uses too much space. There are neat solutions that allow you to stash your repair tools in bar plugs (also available for road). I can also run ridiculously low pressures which helps with comfort and grip offroad. I didn’t do the same on the road because I’m a heavy rider and so even tubeless I needed to run high pressures, and very high pressures don’t always work well with tubeless sealant.
I rediscovered cycling when I
I rediscovered cycling when I was 43, previously I’d cycled up until I was about 18 and had my bike nicked from college. Brief return in my thirties lasted for a couple of months until that bike got nicked too.
I guess the obvious thing is that I wished I’d known quite how expensive it would all be, and how addictive it is. I also wish I could have gone back to my 30yo self and told me to start cycling back then, as it’s completely changed my life. Prior to cycling I was hugely unfit and huge – around 22st. Struggled to climb a flight of stairs. Now I’ve done Ride London, think nothing of riding for 2-3 hours (family permitting), and have dropped around 4st. Mentally and physically fitter for it.
Another piece of advice? A bike is a bike is a bike. Try not to go chasing the latest trend, or think that you need to change a perfectly good bike so you can have disc brakes, or internal routing, or Di2, or gravel, or slack geo, or full suss, or carbon, or titanium, or steel. What’s most important in all of that is whether the bike fits you, and whether you can happily ride it for hours at a time. You don’t necessarily need a bike fit but having a good relationship with your LBS will definitely help here. It will save you money, because you won’t disappear down rabbit holes chasing bikes which end up not being suitable or comfortable. Chances are, there will be experienced cyclists of your age running the business, and they’ll be able to offer practical advice on position, comfort, and efficiency.
Finally, even if you’re not particularly good at DIY, learn to fettle your bike. Most stuff is easy to do with the right tools, there is so much advice available for free on YouTube etc now. Just about the only things I won’t (yet) DIY are knocking in headset cups and cutting steerers. Everything else you can learn, and it’s really satisfying getting a drivetrain shifting perfectly. Bikes are the new cars in that regard, as there’s so little on a modern motor that a home mechanic can fix compared to the cars you likely grew up with.
All Hunt wheels are (at least
All Hunt wheels are (at least) 11sp, how many cogs on your Synapse. Some 10sp cassettes will need a spacer to shift the cassette to the right position.
Centrelock is centrelock so should fit, can you send some pictures? When you say it’s not fitting, what’s the issue? Not lining up with the brake caliper?
I haven’t found anywhere but
I haven’t found anywhere but definitely avoid Wish – they’ve been selling knock-offs of the Prendas designs for a while. It’s definitely a niche that needs filling, particularly for larger riders. As admirable as FLAB’s intentions are their designs are lacking and I’m not keen on the whole pie/pint aesthetic.Normal wear and tear.
Normal wear and tear. Starting to see hubs on some wheels with a steel bite guard insert, including some of the Hunt wheels. £30 is reasonable for a freehub tooThese are in the Alps
These are in the Alps somewhere too. I would tell you exactly but as it was in the Sunday Torygraph travel supplement it’s currently providing an absorbent area for our chickens to poop on, sorryI should add that this was on
I should add that this was on Boxing Day too. Merry Christmas.
Actually, the fact that my son was proper distraught about it was the only reason I didn’t go full postal on the guy and his Range Rover Evoque. It was fortunate because I would have done serious harm and probably ended up in jail.
He didn’t see any issue with it – “you were holding me up, I had to get past” – and this on a lane with no following traffic, high hedges on both sides behind ditches, with a NSL road about 200 yards further on from where the incident happened. He’d been behind me for less than a minute, and we were clipping along at around 20mph (slight downhill)
I’ve never seen him or the car again despite searching every driveway in the vicinity, I suspect he was visiting someone for Christmas.
Sorry to hear that – road
Sorry to hear that – road cycling for my son was ended by a 4×4 driver squeezing us into a hedge and then brake testing us – he was on a tagalong so experienced the assault first.
Yep. Mid and low end stuff in
Yep. Mid and low end stuff in particular. Looking to put Altus level stuff on an old MTB frame for my son and it’s in very short supply or expensive. No low end MTB forks available either. Ended up buying an XTR BB because the standard Shimano MTB hollowtech bracket is off of stock in the UKMy sympathies. Sounds very
My sympathies. Sounds very similar to the incident that made me give up (& my missus is in the same camp as Mrs Badger re where I’m likely to end up giving scrotes a mouthful)
I had a couple of sleepless nights over mine and it’s stuck around too. Fortunately it was just before the start of the summer school holidays so very quickly I had plenty to distract me.I agree with you and realise
I agree with you and realise that I’m still dealing with the trauma of the road rage attack which could easily have killed me on my 50th birthday. Logic doesn’t come into it when you’re traumatised, and I did try the “just get back on the horse” approach but it didn’t work for me. Handed over my last road bike today – a bike I specced, assembled, and upgraded myself, paying attention to every little thing. A bike I thought I’d never sell. And as the new owner wheeled it away I didn’t feel any doubt or regret. Possibly a soupçon of relief but to be honest I didn’t feel anything at all, other than the possibilities offered by the grand in my pocket – a shiny new Scottish hardtail frame arrives on Monday for me to build.
I really hate that I’ve not been able to deal with the road rage attack and effectively I’ve let the bastard win but I was so close to not coming home from that ride.
Re point 2: No point being
Re point 2: No point being brave if you’re dead. Having a pair of bollocks ain’t gonna save you from a close pass that ends up as a collision. And, to be honest, the red mist generated by aforementioned bollocks doesn’t help defuse situations when you’ve just been passed by an artic at 50mph on a country lane (thanks, Tories) . That’s part of why I stopped – one too many confrontations with drivers.
