Brettoll

Thinking of the new half of the station as a starter, few benches and little walls to warm up on

Yeah definitely up for that!! But if the weather holds fire will be out tonight still

Just throwing this in here, few of us are having a street session in Reading tomorrow evening if any ones around. 8pm onwards from the new side of the train station

So yeah, just about finished building my 24" and itching to go ride... Thinking 8pm, outside the (new) entrance to Reading train station where we have some new benches and walls to play with before hitting the usual spots. Brett

Those sidehops straight to rear are awesome!! Enjoyed that

Looks like the scene is on the up in Reading!! Few of the riders have been building 24" rigs (including myself) so expect there will be some rides appearing soon

Ross I can tell from the pic you sent me of the cellar!! Loving the old mark 1 Ashton frames

So after riding trials now on and off the best part of 14 years I have been accidentally collecting parts off many of my rigs. Was going through the shed and found a host of old stuff like flat bars / short cage road mechs / massive 22th bashrings for middleburns / gripshifts / all sorts of stems and it got me thinking about building a retro rig up again. How many of you have done the same and just thought, sod it I am going to re-build a bit of history for some fun!!

I always wanted one if their 24's in Howies Blue.. Ha, I wouldn't sell this, I would buy it but like all the stuff I want it arrives mid month and is out of my toy budget.

So bored on a Friday and scrolling through eBay I have stumbled onto a little gem.. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Curtis-T24-Frame-and-Forks-/261477620170?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Fragrances_Women_s_Fragrances_PP&hash=item3ce147d9ca Someone is parting ways with a bit of 24" trials history of a hand made Curtis T24 frame kit that looks in a decent nick! For those who don't remember, Curtis are a UK handmade frame company who dabbled in a bit of trials back in the late early 2000's with a Matt Berridge as their rider. http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/matt-berridge-interview-7535/ The T-45 was back in the day £850 of customisable frame and fork combo that was for pure 24" street and a lot of fun... So if you always wanted to own one, snap it up as they are rare as rocking horse poo now! Edit: I can't seem to add the link to this post... sad times - so here is the eBay item number - 261477620170 - Done it now, stupid IE wouldn't let me add in links?!!

See if you can get in touch with Jack Meek, he is a Berkshire based rider and used to organise a lot of the rides we all went on when the scene was up a few years back..

Yeah think that might be the best way to get close to it... might have to give it a go

Right then, I am looking at buying/building a retro 24" street machine and was wondering if anyone remembered the "Howies Blue" paint that Curtis used to use and if it is available anywhere still?? I would settle for a different name of the same colour if people have come close before... To give you an example of what colour it is, below is their MX24 frame in the colour.

Retro vee brake for the win! Looks good, only thing I would change is having black forks but that's just me

So I am currently bike-less after the other half and I having a kid and becoming a sole provider / rent & bill payer / taxi driver for 2.1 people... Sold off the last of my bikes September last year and even with all the rain I have not stopped thinking about getting back in the saddle. I don't know about anyone else, but after always owning a bike of sorts since I could ride one. Having 5 months of no bikes is driving me insane! I have tried to warrant it in that we are in a 1st floor flat with no bike storage other than our bedroom, but I can't fool myself. So there must be others who went through a stint like this, has anyone managed to completely stop riding? Or has everyone had to go back to one discipline of riding or another to stay sane? This is only a temporary gap for me, I will be either buying a budget all round street bike soon or just saving my pennies and getting something spanking for the summer as I cannot stay off bikes. Brett

Canyon or YT Industry, both are pretty good on the spec for money front as they sell directly

Ahh I see, so it is still a relative street machine, just a bit lightweight. Nice one

Quality, loved that little edit and some nice spots

Just curious as there is a mint looking T1 Comp appeared on eBay and I can't remember how the geo's differed... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321284874066?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Just found this whilst looking at pics, that has to be the nicest Marino I have seen!! Loving the simplicity and clean lines, plus the colour scheme sets it off nicely!! Good job!!

Yeah insurance is never an issue being 30 and running a chipped 1.9 Audi A4 Avant TDI for a while, but sold it as it was massive and very expensive for parts. Nearly crapped my pants when the turbo started playing up and a recon was nearly £500! Luckily it was the ECU so £70 for the part with a few more pennies for labour. Yaris' are cool but a bit small. Been toying with a MRK2 - MRK3 Golf GTI as parts are rife and they are decent runners.. Civic's are an option

So after getting stung buying cheap and Malaysian (I bought an 04 plate Proton for £600 and the clutch/gearbox has gone) I thought I would see what the forum has experienced on sub £1000 cars. Have you had any that have been absolute bargains? What bags of spanners have you managed to get and regret? Brett

Went here about 2 weeks ago with two others, awesome guys that run the site and the runs are fantastic!! Shame it was so wet and some of the runs were closed.. next year this place is going to be insane so if you have a long travel / dh bike get down there

So I am looking to change the tyre set up on my 26" dirt/street bike and was looking for some input? Currently have a DMR moto on the rear and on the front an old Tioga DH at present. Really want a set that I can run primarily for street but with a front perhaps that is light and grippy so if I take it out for a dirt spin (though highly unlikely now with the weather change) I don't have to run multiple tyres. Any experiences / thoughts post it. Cheers, Brett

It's extremely tidy for its age, it has only seen a bit of dirt action and a lot of XC then sat in a shed for a number of years.. so needed a service etc but not much. It is a beast of a steel frame, but it's awesome!! I was considering stripping and painting the frame. But after a day I decided it should be kept in all it's glory. Hopefully by modernising some of the parts the weight will be decreased and the build will be a lot more solid (but still keeping some heritage).