Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

where atm I should really be cleaning my chain daily and making fenwicks rich but I'm not.

Very very OTT, I usually lube it extremely lightly every month (spray GT85 to clean it, then apply lubication in middle of chain all the way, and wipe away as much as you possibly can), too much lubication mean your chain will wear out a lots quicker.

It's the cost factor that drive I and my friend away from belt drive, we can buy several £5 chains, last about 4,000km each and still be cheaper than a single belt.

Belt aren't indestrucable, I learnt that they wear out sooner than their claims (7,000km).

I'm gonna disagree with what everyone else has said and point out the very low end shifters and finishing kit that I presume are a result of budget being eaten by Dynamo, rack and guards.

The shifters are the main thing that'll effect ride quality, feeling woolly instead of snapping into gear like they should.

Might be better to spend £230 on a better specced 'bare' hybrid and add the extras in bit by bit if he takes to it?

The shifters are the main thing that'll effect ride quality

Citation needed

What about this Verenti Division 1, Personally rather have that over the Btwin on that budget

Citation needed

While it have a Shimano drivetrain, it's the shifters that provide the biggest difference in shifting performance, those bike usually come with Sunrace shifters in the lower end model.

Those model are hard to shift, more prone to break, and wear out sooner than later, it also felt quite sloppy.

The other factor that @M_V forget to mention is that even the cable and housing can make the whole bike feel very sloppy and spongy, simply fitting a full Shimano cableset does wonder.

I still go for the b'twin because of their warranty, which is still immersiby better than the like of Halfords and their bicycles.

No citation but personal experience.

I find these type of low low end shifter pretty horrible to work with. Index points are vague and inconsistent, they need much more input than the cheapest of Shimano or SRAM units. Cable replacement is sometimes impossible.

BTW, a better alternative, while it doesn't have the finishing kit of the dynamo, it is better equipped with reliable components, the Ridgeback Speed;

.

I always view Ridgeback as the de facto hybrid bicycle, the only time it goes wrong is when the customer rode it down to the ground.

Cable replacement is sometimes impossible.

Make replacing the cable on a Shimano 5700 shifters a piece of fucking piss.

I second this, we sell shed loads of these in Camberwell

It's even grey, you can't get a much more hybrid colour than grey.

Only just notice Ridgeback introduced a men version of the Traditional;

£400, not too bad looking if the stem and saddle isn't sky high.

Pics of pdw rack with bullhorns:

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I've also added temporary basket at rear (carradice bag will have to go), can anyone recommend similar but sturdier available? The plastic used is quite brittle.

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Tesco crates are made out of pretty nice plastic if you can liberate one. They come in a few sizes, so pick what you like.

Thanks will look into that.

Excellent! Thanks for coming through with the pictures, @rhb - I really appreciate that!.

Tesco crates are made out of pretty nice plastic if you can liberate one. They come in a few sizes, so pick what you like.

they're the same crates used by most bakers. dunno how small you can get them but they're definitely sturdy

I've seen three sizes so far. The standard large ones like you have there (40x25x60 cm) and two smaller sizes: 30x18x40 cm and 40x15x60 cm. I think they use the smaller ones for some fruit and veg. They all have the flip-out bits so you can stack them in or on each other. They're doing a great job or organising my horde of parts!

Any suggestion for an Hydraulic solution for a future tandem couplered with road levers ?
Any expérience with Gebla for Rolhoff ?

Not the most ideal, but shimano STI's come with hose couplers that can detach using 2 8mm spanners. You can attach them at any point of a hose when cut and sometimes come with plugs that fit into said couplers to stop fluid from leaking. At any rate, Shimano master cylinders are valved so don't lose much fluid when hoses are removed.

I am loving this thing, OTP Kona Jake the Snake, apart from saddle and Barlow Pass tyres
road, gravel and singletrack handled with ease

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Konas are the best, I'm still ripping it on my skip found dew plus. Almost bought a used unit a few weeks ago so I could do some more trails, regretting it now! What's the clearance like on the jake?

Summit Road?

yeah, up at Godley Head

if by clearance you mean tyres, 38s have heaps of room, probably could go to 40 or 42