Plane X XLA SL (Sold)

[Venod]

One thing I forgot to mention above is that I need to beef up the front brake on this bike. The back brake is fine, but as on my CAADX, the cable front disk brake isn't providing enough stopping power. I may be able to sort it out with the existing BB7 calliper, but my backup plan is to pinch the very effective TRP HY/RD calliper from the CAADX.

I run TRP Spyre on my CX bike not the hydraulic version, they have an actuation arm that gets very close to the spokes, to give it a bit more clearance I fitted a 180mm rotor, this also has the advantage of improving the braking, the calliper has to be spaced off the forks of course.

 

[dan_bo]

I've had an ALS for three years now done the three peaks on it and two cross seasons. Great bike.

 

[Spiderweb]

VERY sold!

@Venod very kindly delivered the bike to me at Leeds station this morning. He was there before me and I was a bit earlier than arranged too, so I was able to get home much sooner than expected.

The bike fits me perfectly. I haven't checked the setup with a tape measure but I rode it back from the station and it feels very close to the way my other bikes do. I'll have a closer look later.

I really like the look of it.

I wanted to try a 1x11. I think it will make a nice change - an interesting cross between the simplicity of my singlespeed bike and the gear range of my triple-equipped CAAD5.

I have never used SRAM double tap shifting before but got used to it within the 5 minute ride home. It seems an elegantly simple design.

I like the stiff, shallow drop bars. They will stay.

I will have to see about the saddle. All of my other bikes have Planet X saddles. I'll do a couple of rides on this saddle and decided whether to keep it.

I will be replacing the Look Keo pedals with SPDs. I knew that before I bought the bike.

I was expecting the wheels and tyres to be basic and heavy and they are. They will do for now, but my long-term plan is to stick the biggest knobblies I can on these wheels for occasional moderately bumpy offroad riding in Devon, and buy a better pair of wheels and good slick road tyres for my road rides. I'll do that early next year when I start receiving my state pension.

DEVON, HERE I COME!

Your new bike looks fabulous Colin and a fair price too, enjoy!👍

 

[ColinJ]

Your new bike looks fabulous Colin and a fair price too, enjoy!👍

Thanks. I think it was a very good deal!

There IS work to do on it, but I didn't expect perfection at that price. The rear wheel bearings need replacing and the spoke tensions are not good on that wheel either. I'll take a look at those over the next couple of days. I've adjusted the front brake but haven't tested it yet. (Not much point in putting the bike back together when I will be working on the rear wheel.)

 

[ColinJ]

I have now been riding the bike for over a week in its new home (south, central Devon) and it has been great! I scraped together enough cash to buy some new wheels (Mavic Aksiums) and I had a spare pair of road tyres to fit so that reduced the weight of the bike to 10 kg, which is pretty good for a rugged, versatile, road/CX/gravel/adventure/touring/call-it-what-you-like bike!

I'll finish servicing the old wheels when I get home and put decent semi-slicks on them, then bring them down on a future trip. I'll keep them for offroad rides and as spare wheels in case I damage an Aksium.

I cleaned the discs and carefully adjusted the brakes by following instructions on a very useful YouTube video. They have worked perfectly since then. I got caught out in torrential rain and that make the brakes squeal horribly, but they did still work. 30 minutes of riding in the dry the next day burned off any residual crud on the discs and quietened them.

The original setup gives a perfect riding position for me so I haven't touched that.

I wanted to try 1x11 to see how I get on with it. I like it! I quickly got used to just having one SRAM double tap lever. The range of gears is good. I could have done with one lower gear for a couple of stupidly steep lanes, but I was probably better off walking the steepest ramps anyway.

I quite like the saddle, but my bum was starting to suffer on long rides so I think I will put my spare Planet X saddle on and transfer this one to a bike oop north that I do shorter rides on.

So... thanks a lot @Venod (and son Andrew) for a very good deal!

 

[Venod]

So... thanks a lot @Venod (and son Andrew) for a very good deal!

Glad your enjoying it @ColinJ as I mentioned when handing the bike over to you, I thought it would benefit from a set of lighter wheels, I have 1 x 12 on the MTB I wasn't sure how I would get on with it, but I quite like it now.