peter_t

Im not being funny but if you say you're a noob and don't know what you want are you sure a custom frame is a good idea?

All steel frames are made of chromo but there a lots of different grades. Lightness come from a process called butting which makes the walls of the frame tubes thinner in the middle and thicker on the ends where they are welded together. Because the walls don't need to be as thick in the middle butted tubes can be lighter for the same strength as plane gauge tubes. Reynolds is a classic make for quality frame tubing but there are many others.

An old leeson or pashley frame would be another choice. Chromo is just short for chrome molybdenum which is the type of steel they use for bike frames.

Really like this! http://www.trashzen.com/bike-trials/wp-content/uploads/2006-leeson-mod-TrialsAddic-tf.jpg

Im going but i'm a nobody :$ lol

Just found Evolve, I love these old films but wasn't into bike when they came out. Maybe we should make a list of classic films?

Has it hard a lot of use? All parts do eventually wear out or brake. Check this out http://www.trashzen.com/trash.php

Cool, i found this on youtube but sadly with no sound because of copyright issues.

I guess i've been riding on and off for around a year but a bit more seriously lately. I last rode on sunday with a new stem and the bars tweeked which was a big improvement but the ache was still there. I never have problems with my mountain bike but i guess thats like compairing chalk and cheese.

Ok for that kind of riding they should be ok. If you can try and find one with a suntour raidon fork. These are the next step up from the forks on your suggested bikes and can be found on bikes of that price range. I had one on my old bike and the difference is like night and day compaired to a XCM fork. Shimano make some of the best brakes and even the cheap ones are still brilliant. http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-bizango-29er-mountain-bike-18 This is a very good bike, im not sure if halfords do finance though. Look out for last years models too as you can usually get really good deals on them.

On your budget i strongly recommend you buy seccond hand. Bikes on that price range come with very poor components especially when it comes to suspension (makes a huge difference). Suntour forks are pretty pants. Also are you sure you want 29" wheels? What sort of riding will you be doing?

How do you find it compared to the 26"?

I used to ride flat bars on my old T-pro with no real issues.

Im using Funn 30mm riser bars, although i am looking for a higher rise stem too as im using a makeshift mountain bike stem at the moment. I don't feel like there is too much weight on my hands. I'v rolled them forward like i see other riders do. im not sure if this doesn't agree with me. The only other thing i can think of is my brakes arn't the best. Im having to use two fingers for them to hold. Could this be straining them?

Outstide, in line with my little finger. It hurts when i twist my wrist left and right opposed to moving my hand up, down, side to side.

Had a good three hour riding session yesterday, started to notice a bit of an ache but thought nothing of it. Woke up this morning and my left wrist is painfull when i move it! Could it be my brakes? handle bars? I'v had problems before when i used to work as a tree surgeon, i think climbing and power tooks didn't help but i havn't had any problems for around a year up untill now. Any suggestions? No masterbation jokes please!

Enjoyed that Looks like a great place to ride!

Apeshit! Liked the BB facing camera shot, very cool.

How lucky are you to have somewhere under cover to practice! Must be great for rainy days.

Really good riding, sorry to hear they are no longer with us. Also i havn't heard that song since i was at college! Used to love that band.

I don't really know what i fancy lol. It felt OK with the 100x5 but all i know is it feels a hell of a lot better than a very oldschool T-Pro! One thing i noticed is that i can't lift the front wheel purely by shifting my weight over the back. Is this normal for stocks?

Thanks isitafox, is there a general rule, higher rise for high BB? longer for taller riders?

Iv recently built a 26" bike and am unsure what stem i should use. The frame is a GU le +40bb 660mm reach. At the moment im using some 30mm rise bars and a 100mm low rise stem borrowed from my mountain bike. Im 5ft 6. What would you recommend? cheers

Crap i know but this is me having a practice this afternoon. Any comments are welcome

This wins for me so far. Awful.