Varun's Bikes, Stayer, Cotic, that singlespeed Rockhopper....

Did a quick test by hand / eye – the stays are much more maleable than the guard thankfully.

TBH more worried about getting it right in terms of drilling + alignment.

Ah but that’s because they’re aluminium though! And so also pretty damn brittle. Let me know how it goes as I found them unnerving. Mike has refunded me for them anyway which is very good of him - feel sorry for him and all the GB dealers!

Will do. Hopeful that if it turns out at all hokey VD will be able to refund and claim back via GB. Seems reasonable if you're just diligently following mfgers advice.

I hope so. It’s a bit of a raw deal for Mike and Co as they’re basically the customer service rep for bad manufacturing.

No, I don't neglect my bikes at all, promise...
The chain on the Cotic is 100% toast though - blame a mix of grit salt, rain last weekend, forgetting to clean it for a bit, lack of lube...
Contemplating whether I ought to sort it or just go through with my semi-realised plans to sell it and put that money into my Rockhopper instead.

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That's not toast. Degrease, dry and oil and your are back!

Really? I haven't shown the bit by the chainring where the links are stuck together on a curve....
I will have a go at it and report back.

In other news, the Ultra Di2 shifters I bought for £49.99 from Wiggle/Evans eBay arrived. Intrigued by whether I would ever use them on my Stayer, instead of the hydro levers I'm used to. Obviously they're a lot smaller, but I'd also have to swap to cable discs and currently the cons outweighs the pros slightly. A big pro is I will be able to finally left shift in the cold, which currently is almost impossible below 0 degrees due to Raynaud's.
I think they will stay in the parts bin for a bit before I either find a bike for them to go on, or flog them. No loss either way.

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I am down for them if you want rid

I mean by all means if its on its way out already swap it for a new one. But to meet that looks like surface rust Which should be fine with some tlc

I think it has endured too many cycles of rust/clean/repeat. I might swap it out for a dedicated singlespeed chain now - this is the original geared one, just shortened.
@glws let me sit on for a bit unless you have a project in mind?

Sorry I'm missed the notification.
Mine came out a bit off too, I had to slowly work them to have them fit.

I think Berthoud might have some QC problems at the moment, because the shape was ever slightly different on the last installs I did.

So yeah, the install is a bit of a faff - having to drill extra holes two. But generally, the end result is worth it.
Seing the Stayer with the proper install, it was worth the extra work! 👍

According to Mike @ VD they have some machine / tooling issues. 26 x 60 guards have been in short supply for a while, so not sure if thats connected, and VD short on details so also not sure if thats the fender rolling or stay forming tooling.

Lots of out of opts currently out of stock on Berthoud site https://berthoudcycles.fr/en/71-fenders

I did think maybe they are working through old stock piles before relaunching shapes or new tech, which is why they are shipping 50mm stays with with 60mm guard. But it would also make sense if they are looking to reinvest in new tooling due to machine failure to work through significant stockpiles before they do that, if the new tooling means designs need to change ...

All good. I didn't use the Berthouds in the end, went back to my trusted VO wavy. Ultimately I'm sure the Berthoud solution would have been fine, but after already having a guard failure that damaged a tire I wasn't taking any chances!!

You wait for a Coventry bus for ages, and then, they all show up. But not the one you were actually waiting for...
It's been that kind of month. Chronically ill colleague, taking on loaaaads of extra Y10, 11, 12 and 13 classes so more involved planning and teaching, lost both guinea pigs (one passed, one adopted by a friend), housemate of 11 years moved out today. And of course I picked the biggest glass shard on the Stayer yesterday...
Adversity makes for serenity, though, as I found myself breezing through this all with my head held high and seeking out the joys rather than the sorrows.
The front tire on the Stayer is pretty buggered for now, so it'll be the fixie/Rockhopper for a while until I can decide on an affordable semi-slick fast-rolling tan-wall durable-casing 650-45 tire replacement. How hard can it possibly be?
Suggestions are welcome, and no, @Browndonneur , it won't be Mountain Kings 🙃

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After some weeks of meh/commute tedium/loss of love for bike riding I finally got back up north, and rode around with close friends. Average pace = 14 kph. Bird watching, mince pies and mulled wine were all involved.
I had a go on a friend's Fearless Warlock - its the fork pictured in image 2 - and I really rather liked it, even the fact that his XL size fit me saddle height-wise but the reach was not ridiculous like the Cotic. He's selling the frame for £350 so could easily replace the Cotic for that and actually have a dirt drop bike.
Pros - colour is great, feels 'premium', dirt drop-ready
Cons - not a fan of its curved ST, and the geo is pretty much identical to the Stayer. Too similar?

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I reckon you could pick the warlock and use it instead of the Cotic, with big knobs and all the optionals you already have on that one. Since the Stayer is your most used bike, i'd count the similar geo as a pro? It's an investment that might be worth money wise, the real "struggle" might just be the amount of time you'll have to spend to swap everything over

I reckon at least part of it is not riding the Cotic nearly enough - like, given the pace and terrain yesterday I reckon a SSMTB would have been ideal - and it is languishing. Think I will get it out a bit more in the holidays for bimbles and that ought to act as a kick up the bum.
Also it feels a tad frivolous and ungrateful to complain about bike choice when actually, being able to play around with friends and go travel, see places and do things is actually pretty damned special.
Anyway, I had a play with handlebars today - dirt drops on the Cotic with a tiny stem is actually similar geo to the Stayer anyway. Sweepier bars on the Rockhopper I'm not sure about yet - a bit too much curve, no rise.

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Ohh ID on those Ergotec bars? Might be ideal for the Moulton

FWIW I think the curved seat tube on the Warlock looks sick but I hear you re: overlapping bikes, easily done innit

If you like the Warlock, go for it, nowt wrong with having similar bikes.
Glad you enjoyed your time spent in the north with friends.

You might be able to have them tbh - unsure if I'd get along with them and tbh I ride the Rockhopper so little that the old less backswept but more rise bars would be just fine.
I think they are Ergotec Moon bars, 660mm but a search yields like 5 variants, all with different shape so unsure which exactly.

I agree, but I think it's very much a case of lack of use prompting a change. I need to ride it and it will feel better.
Partially though I've realised that I had left the old chain on too long, and now with a new chain either the chainring or cog is so worn that it slips terribly - will play around with that but it is rather annoying. It would be a great bimble bike for over the holidays.

I was saddened to hear about the forum's imminent closing; I've been here a blink compared to some of you, but it's left a mark. I rode my Raleigh into work this morning, the bike that arguably wouldn't exist if not for Hayley's encouragement, @Hulsroy 's relentless aesthetic zeal, @Marcootsee 's great bike taste and basically @trigs and @Browndonneur 's entire parts bin.

Anyway, it felt flowy and smooth and looks great and all was alright with the world once more.

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It took a moment to realize why i was cited in your thread without a previous prompt, but i just discovered everything in the main announcement.

Now everything makes sense, between Hulsroy's recent comments and other messages here and there. Even though i'm still processing what's going to happen, this place will be sorely missed (even more so for the people that inhabited it).

We'll eventually get it done elsewhere, but it's still a damn hard pill to swallow. Great bike @vthejk, as always.

Yeah, it doesn't seem set in stone yet, which is reassuring. I guess so many of us were so invested in the forum and so many of us are so skilled that it's only a matter of time before someone chips in to save it.
Oh, and your Cinelli is a big reason why I have this bike in the first place, so massive props :)