You know those days where you wish you hadn’t started fiddling?

Well after a bit of a wait for hope headsets to come back into stock by new HX1 arrived today, all good so far.

Now, this is one of those builds where you rationalise it by owning 1 part and figuring that you may as well buy some other stuff to use it? Well this build started with the forks and wheel off my Pitch, the forks are OK and but the rear wheel’s pretty crap so figured I may as well build them into something and kill the wheels off before upgrading them at a later date, so really it’s just the forks (can you see where this is going yet?).

They’re 10mm (at least) too short! Despite going from an externally cupped straight headtube to an internally cupped tapered one they don’t fit!

Garrrrrr humbug.

So I decided I may as well bleed the rear elixir on the pitch whilst I’m out in the garage having just unearthed the bleed kit I thought was lost.

Bleed screws out, syringes full of fluid in, pump in, pump out, shake them all about, de-gas the fluid’s what bleeding elixirs is all about, you do the hokey cockey and and you flush the air out…………

Syringe off at the calliper end, flush a smidge of fluid through form the other, screw back in, done. Just the screw in the lever to go, screw on the end of the torx key, unscrew syringe, WTF!!!!!! where’s the screw gone, it was there literally a split second ago. So now I have a set of buggered elixirs and a new bike with no forks, f***sticks!

Anyone got either the bleed screw for an elixir or some long steered sektors/revelations? You might even have some tapered ones and you need straight ones? Anyone????????? Maybe you’re just about to cut the steerer on some box fresh ones to about 190mm and you’re feeling generous?

And for added bonus infuriation, everything seems to be 15mm now, so that means new wheels as well, grrrrrrrrrrrr

Some hubs can be converted from 20mm to 15mm

You need excuses to buy new stuff, you have been provided with them by the bike fairies. Enjoy.

Ah, i could be in deep do-do then… 🙂
Being of the big boned variety I decided a change to a bolt through fork (from QR) would be good.
Randomly, actually on the back of a thread on this hallowed forum, I end up surfing the web for wheels – no reason whatsoever, just surfing, and I happen across 2011 Crossmaxx 20mm front wheel at CRC, for just £125…. It was delivered yesterday 🙂
So, logically, forks required, at least.
Then the new BFe gets posted. Oh, that’s nice… so, that would be new seatpost + front mech, at least.. lets be honest, it would also need a short stem and wide bars…. 😈

Does your missus know about all this??? 😉

Does your missus know about all this???

No, I was planning on the forks and wheels being enough to justify a new frame (she wont notice the new brakes, cranks, bars, grips, stem, post, mechs, gold hope bling everything etc).

Can’t decide what to do now, may as well get tapered forks as the headtube is, and the only 140mm tapered fork with 20mm axle is the manitou minute, and I swore I’d not touch a pair of those with a barge pole after issues with 2 of their predecessors.

Some hubs can be converted from 20mm to 15mm

Unfortunately none of mine can, one set of bulbs and 2 other sets of no name hubs mean I’m really reluctant to go out buying new wheels!