Anjow

Yes, that's very helpful thanks. Do I need to take the wheel out to do this?

So I rode my new bike to uni today and I was showing it to a friend who has ridden BMX for many years. He had a go on it and said that the cones on my back wheel were loose and that I should tighten them up. The thing is, I don't really know what this means because I only just got the bike and I know little about maintenance. He pointed to some things either side of the wheel. What I want to know is: - What does loose cones mean? - What effect does it have? (My back wheel does wobble side to side a little - will it fix that?) - How does one tighten them up? - What tools does one need? - What are the risks of leaving it like that? So if anyone could fill me in that would be great, thanks.

Can you link to anything to corroborate that though? So far this page has been linked to and it makes no mention about wheel size. Does emergency stop == endo?

Yeah, because the freewheel is upside down you'll have to both pedal backwards and go backwards, won't you?

When it's hot I can never be bothered to make an effort to do anything... So it's the nicest weather for biking, but I just can't be bothered.

Thanks for the help, I did just loosen the mounts and reposition it. It just feels a bit daunting to be dealing with scary hydraulic brakes when I never have before.

As I posted in my other topic, I just got my Zona Zip. It's my first trials bike and I've never had to maintain Maguras before. It seems that one of the rear pads (the one the hose goes to first, on the left if you're looking toward the front of the bike) is rubbing against the rim. How does one go about fixing that? I did look in the FAQ and saw something about lazy brakes, but I didn't know if that was describing this situation. Thanks.

I got the bike this morning and it's awesome. My biking skills aren't though! They have diminished so much since when I used to ride. It's a lot harder to balance than on my ancient 26" bike, I suppose because of the wheels. I'm also thrilled to be able to ride places on it, I was afraid of the gear ratio being too low and not being able to effectively get anywhere.

I wouldn't dare. A coursemate had a Morphine Banshee DH/Freeride bike worth ~£2.5k which he locked up outside the building we have lectures in using a £90 lock. Fortunately the uni security guards caught the scallies as they were wheeling it away. He's since gone to a ~£4k Santa Cruz VPFree which he hasn't brought in to uni... I wonder why.

I've never actually ridden a mod bike before so here's something I was wondering: I live 15 minutes walk from uni. Say it's a nice sunny day and I wanted to ride my bike to uni, would that be feasible? Or would I die trying?

I've placed the order for the Zona Zip from Supercycles. They said they had to put it together anyway, so they'll be sending it out tomorrow and I should get it by friday. Which is good because I'd want a bit of a ride before I get back to uni, because when I'm there... - If I ride it on the streets of Salford I'll be murdered and/or raped - I have a 20,000 word dissertation to do in ~2 weeks - If that wasn't enough I've also got to write some forum software for an assignment Thanks for all the help and information.

I'm actually in Salford, near the university there.

~7 years and counting. Do I win Though hopefully that will change this coming week when I buy a new bike!

That sounds good, but I'd imagine that would make it take a lot longer to get to me - and I kind of need to get it by Friday as I'm off back to uni at the weekend. I'll look into it, see how much that would be and perhaps give them a ring tomorrow.

Are you guys sure Tartybikes is still closed on Tuesday? Their front page says otherwise:

I was thinking I'd get the Zona Zip from Supercycles, but there were a couple of concerns: Like I said, I wanted to buy from Tartybikes. From looking at their site and seeing people's feedback here they seem like a great place, but they don't have the Zona for sale as a complete bike there. As for how far I am from them - it is pretty far to be honest, just not far enough for me to be out of driving distance if the bike broke within 2 minutes of riding it, so I could still drive back and shout at them. I'm home from uni right now, but when I'm there I am in Manchester. The Supercycles site is of some concern to me. Loads of the pages don't work, and haven't for months. I looked at that site back when I was first looking at bikes a long time ago and they had the same problem then. It doesn't make me feel good about a place when they don't bother to keep their site working. I wanted to get some gloves with the bike purchase, but the gloves page is one of the ones on the Supercycles site that isn't working. How does the Monty 219 Magura compare to the Zona Zip? If someone told me they were on equal footing then I would just get the Monty from Tartybikes. The thing is I'm not knowledgeable enough to tell the differences myself. If it was around as good then getting it from Tartybikes means I could get gloves with it, be near the place I bought it from and be comfortable in knowing I'd be supporting what seems like a top notch shop. And I'd get a free chainstay protector

It seems I've got the money faster than expected, so I've got a couple of questions: Supercycles - are they okay to buy from? How's their service? Anyone had problems? In what state will a bike be when it arrives? Will I have to put bits together? Is that doable with little to no mechanical knowledge? What tools would I need? Do trials bikes have quick releases on the wheels?

Can you explain what you mean by this? Do you mean that the other bikes don't have freewheels? So you can't coast down a hill for example?

Unfortunately I can't ride any bikes to try them. I don't know anyone with one, I live nowhere near any shop that sells them aside from Tartybikes, and they have said that I can't try any.

If they're still offering it when I have the money (could be a while yet, I'm relying on someone else giving me it bit by bit), I will get the Zona. Can someone explain about long/short frames? Are they entirely preference? Or does your size come into it? I'm 6' if that matters.

After looking at this topic: http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/forum/index....showtopic=94351 It seems the world and his wife recommends the Zona Zip above the T-Comp. Given that it's also cheaper, I could be swayed into getting one from SuperCycles.