First of all a neighbour came over with this "Thing" of a Mountain Bike he bought a couple of months ago. Cheap Claud Butler but for the price he paid for it- he got a good deal. He wants to use it for commuting the 5 miles to work. Couple of problems- A click on the crank----Could be B/B- pedals or loose cranks. And the steering is a bit springy. Cheap front suspension with no adjustment so he is stuck with it and the crank noise will have to be investigated. Then I ran through the bike- Rear wheel does not turn freely so Cone adjustment or Greasing needed- or both. Brakes definitely need adjustment and new blocks- Gears need adjusting and I don't like the look of the cables so they will need replacing for reliability. Reckon a few hours and he will have a respectable bike but it will cost him more in parts than he paid for the bike. I don't charge for labour as Neighbours have skills That I might need- This one is a Plumber.

Then my Son in law came round. He has started commuting the 10 miles to work and the weight is falling off him. He has the FCR1 that I bought as a possible commute for me and although he has good mechanical knowledge- he is not a bike mechanic. So check over the bike and Crank noise again. Tighten the pedals and the outboard bearings and noise still there so might be changing over to my spare Standard crankset for him. Then a check over- Chain needed cleaning so after that he had to clean the bike. Chain is still not worn so no worry there---Yet. Check tyres and a hole in the carcase on the rear. Didn't like the look of it so so changed it to my last spare tyre. Took the tyre off and it is almost bald. It has only done about 500 miles- but that is the difference beween a 150lbs rider and a 185 lb one. I get at least 2,000 miles out of Michelins but have to admit that these are Lithions- not my favourite tyre at all.

Then a test ride on the FCR. Found the crank noise--Front derailler cable hitting the crank. The bike rides well- well it should do as it has all the right bits on it- but for me the frame is a bit heavy.

Problem is- It fits me perfectly. Saddle height- position fore and aft and the only difference is bar height. He has the bars level with the saddle now and I have mine 4" below the saddle. The Problem**********??-- I can see that one morning he is going to go out for his commute and find a problem with the bike. He is only round the corner and if I fit his bike- he will fit mine. I had better keep Boreas under lock and key in the shed and make certain that it is not borrowed one morning. Because if he borrows it for one morning- I might not get it back.