We almost went for New Mills but the missus preferred Glossop, doh! Thanks for the link and other advice, much appreciated :D

I’m already a big fan of big volume, tubeless tyres so no probs there…GavinB you mentioned most rides start at hayfield…are there any decent trail guides for the area or is local knowlege needed for the good stuff? I’ve checked a few sites like trailzilla, they seem to have a few rides around there…I’m hoping to start most of my rides from the doorstep without having to drive and park etc. Especially with the heavy traffic stories I’ve heard about glossop.

Hardtail with a suspension seat post? I was thinking of getting a thudbuster just before we decided to move…still thinking about it..the wife already has a USE sumo sus post on her bike…

thanks for the replies…I’m not really the type to drop £3000 on a bike (the wife won’t let me :cry: ) so I’m trying to squeeze the most out of what I’ve got…both current hardtails are reasonable spec so I was thinking of looking for a deal on a Giant Trance frame or similar and swapping the other bits over for the missus and getting something like a Ventana el capitan for myself…if funds allow…

poly: I’ve never met an IFA that I actually trusted. I’ve also found that the phrase “we don’t source mortgages from the whole market, but offer a wide selection from a range of companies” or whatever is says on the FSA form they pass under your nose once your trapped in their office, actually translates to “we don’t source the best deals on the market, but we will offer products from anyone willing to pay us a good commission!”

This thread’s gone cold but I just wanted to clear up one thing, I wasn’t referring to an IFA (I don’t trust them either), I was talking about HSBC’s in-house mortgage advisor (unless they’re classed as IFAs but I didn’t think they were?). We had already done our research and decided what our best options were, she went through everything and basically agreed with what we’d already decided was best but pointed out a lot of other helpful bits and pieces of info that are buried in the fine print… very pleased :-)

A few of the guys I work with and myself have bought a few bikes on the scheme from various suppliers. The 10% charge was only applicable if you’re going through one of the 3rd party providers (voucher system etc). We managed to sweet-talk our HR/payroll to administer it themselves so the 10% doesn’t apply. We all bought sale bikes etc and just paid with a company credit card and payroll sorted out the salary sacrifice etc. Before we sorted this out internaly I recall Pauls Cycles were only charging 10% extra on sale bikes (but most of them are aren’t they?…) but if not using a third party voucher scheme it didn’t apply…

+1 on what ChrisA said…we just had ours approved yesterday with HSBC. The mortgage advisor was excellent…we’ve been saving for years and bought a house in a price range that left us with a 20% deposit (just!!). 20% seems to be the magic number at the moment…if you drop below that your mortgage choices drop from around 25 to 6…

We only borrowed about half of what they said we could have…we figured, smaller house=smaller mortgage=lower payments=less stress=easier to sleep at night… :-)

+1 for Thule…I have this one:

http://www.thule.com/en-GB/GB/Products/BikeCarriers/Towbar/Thule%20RideOn%209502.aspx

Been very reliable for the past year…plenty of 6+ hour car trips (Kent – Lakes District) and no problems at all…

I’m running Halo freedom disc 29er rims…went ghetto tubeless using the tape method following the youtube video…was running Bontrager 29-4 ‘tubeless ready’ tyres with homebrew sealeant with no probs at all and am currently running WTB Exiwolf wire bead (non-tubeless) and have had zero issues so far. Both sets of tyres can be taken on/off the rim by hand. I run pressures between 30-45psi (I’m around 17 stone). The bontragers inflate instantly with an air compressor, the exiwolfs needed a bit of manipulation to inflate but only took a few minutes…tubeless rocks! Tyres feel more grippy and the wheels feel much lighter with quicker accelleration etc 8)

I’ve got a huge melon and got one of these:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=44759

A good fit, I can even wear a beanie under… and the quality you’d expect from Giro.. :-)

big_scot, did you strip the HX2 to build this? Those wheels and forks look familiar?…

just removed and measured the hope 20mm adapters, they’re exactly the same size…looks like I’ll have to stick with the rotor shims and try another rotor…I guess it’s possible that I received 2 rotors that are slightly out of true?… It would have been nice to eliminate the shims as a possible contributor to the rotor noise…it seems a bit odd that the sun Ringle hub lines up nicely with no shims… I suppose the offsets are slightly different?…

I bought the adapters new from an ebay seller, they said pro2 on the label but I’ll check the widths to be sure.

I must have been searching using the wrong key words when I was looking for rotor spacers…I thought I had looked fairly thoroughly and I had searched CRC but clearly not well enough…. thanks for the link. The ones I ordered from germany are pretty much the same thing except they remove more of the material in between the holes and are 0.2mm wide each.

I just don’t see the point of post mount, IMO spacing is much easier with IS as you’re only dealing with 2 bolts/shims instead of 6 and if you happen to damage a caliper bolt thread you can just replace the adapter instead of getting a new set of lowers (or a helicoil etc)…

thanks for the replies anyway…

Just a quick update… since my last post I removed both pistons and seals for inspection and appear to have found the problem…it’s a bit fiddly being a one peice caliper and not having the bore end cap removal tool (according to formula it’s only available to service centers).

The inner piston/seal was moving quite freely, probably a bit too freely as a tiny bit of fluid/air bubbles could be seen around the seal while bleeding(the side with the worn out pad). The square edged piston seal wasn’t cut cleanly and had small dags on the square edges and some bits where a bit of the seal edge had pulled away. It also seemed to have a pinch in it which is probably where it was leaking…

The outer piston was barely moving at all…it turned out the seal edge had also pulled away and was probably jamming in the edge of the piston, here’s a pic:

I used a scalpel to cut away the loose bits as best I could and reassembled it with silicone grease on the seals but it still wasn’t quite right.

There wasn’t any evidence of silicone grease on either seal when I first removed them so maybe that’s what damaged the seals in the first place?

I spoke to Formula Italy directly last week, they refered me back to silverfish who later contacted me with an returns authorisation number etc. Prior to hearing from silverfish I explained what I had found to formula italy and they agreed to send me some new seals/silicone grease etc. The replacement seals look much better and they’re all back together now with a new set of pads, the pistons both seem to be moving freely and fairly easily but I’ll have to keep a close eye on how the pads wear.

In this case the service from formula italy was very good and I’m sure silverfish would have sorted it out pretty quick if given the chance. I just hope this caliper was a friday job in the factory or maybe one that was assembled by the work-experience kid :| The front one has been fine so far… thanks to everyone for the input

thanks for the replies…ChrisE, are you using the 626 2RS bearings as replacements?

thanks for the offer racing_ralph, if they’re surplus to your requirements I might buy them off you otherwise I’m happy to source them elsewhere. I just wasn’t sure about the OD measurements (see OP).

I’ve removed the bearing seals and cleaned thoroughly…the bearings spin freely now but they’re already corroding inside so even with a re-grease they probably won’t last long…when I first opened them the supposedly ‘sealed’ bearings were jam packed with grit.

Even at £17 the cost of the jockey wheels seems disproportionate compared to the cost of the mech, I paid about £35 for the new X7 mech…are XT mechs/jockey wheels any better?

I don’t abuse my bike but I use it for commuting 4-5 days a week and my path to work takes me across some bridle ways which get muddy when wet. I always clean everything but don’t have time to strip and re-grease the jockey wheel bearings after every muddy ride.

In the past year I’ve had a 2009 X9 mech fail/replaced under warranty (the action became stiff and it wouldn’t shift smoothly, a common problem as I learned from other forums). This was regularly cleaned and re-greased. I bought this X7 to use while waiting for the warranty replacement and this is now on the wife’s bike so only has occasional use.

Is it just me or are SRAM mechs rubbish? Since getting back into mountain biking I’ve only had SRAM kit, are shimano mechs any better?

I realise this is an old post but I also had this problem on my 29er. I used an XT M771 derailleur which seems fairly low profile anyway but used a dremel to cut off half of the cable guide/pivot arm. After doing that it can only be used as top pull, since my frame was setup for bottom pull I had to use a cable stop clamp on the top of the seat tube but it gave me plenty more clearance and doesn’t look too bad… Let me know if you want some pics. :-)

does anyone have, or know where to get hold of the special tool for removing the bore cap on ‘the one’ caliper? I can’t see it listed in the formula store…

thanks for the encouraging words flyingfox :-) I do like a challenge and am not giving up yet…(I can’t afford to anyway! 8O ) I ordered some sintered pads from disco, they emailed later saying their stock count was wrong and have offered 2 pairs of semi-metallic instead…I’ll give the pistons a good clean and lube, re-bleed and give them another bash. The first few rides were awesome, first brakes I’ve ever had that can lock the rear wheel at will…(even with my heavy carcass on top!) They come with a 2 year warranty so as long as the factory after-sales service isn’t too slow I’m sure they will be fine once the teething problems are sorted…

portlyone, Are your megas the 2009 model? Did you buy direct from formula?

coatesy, do you think silicone spray (like the 3-in-one product) would be OK?

thanks for all the comments…I thought I had done some fairly comprehensive research before buying these but not enough it seems…I don’t really drag the brakes but I am quite heavy so that won’t help pad life. I like to tinker and carry out regular maintenance on my bikes, the comments I had read beforehand all suggested they are a bit more fiddly to setup than others but overall the feedback seemed to be good. they felt awesome for the first few days before the long mud bash…I’ll persevere for a bit longer, hopefully this is just be a minor setback… :|

I’ve just had another go at bleeding and discovered a small air/fluid leak on the edge of the inner piston…looks like a warranty issue after all…I bought these direct from formula italy so I guess they’ll have to go back to them…they haven’t answered my tech query from last week yet, I’ve just posted another one explaining this problem…hopefully this won’t turn into a drawn out saga… :roll:

Anyone else dealt with formula factory warranty support directly?

I guess I’m going to have to stock up on pads then? Most of my riding seems to be in the wet… Trimix, when you said “lube them with some fluid” did you mean brake fluid?

psychle, is the stuff you use?

http://www.drugstore.com/doc-johnson-mans-grease-100ml/qxp185054

:D

that doesn’t sound too promising…I noticed that the inside piston has a nice rounded/bevelled edge whereas the problem piston seems to have a sharp edge…maybe it’s meant to be like that?

:?:

What type of fluid do you use to lube it?

The fluid comes into the outside which is the side that the piston moves less…

Thanks, I thought the pads included were sintered :? maybe they are organic, that would explain the quick wear…I have a set of sintered pads on the way…I just did the bleed following the avid guide but with the brakes removed from the bike and the lever mounted vertically as the formula guide suggests. I’ve bled plenty of other brakes and I’m fairly certain I got it right but the pistons still move unevenly…

Just fitted a set of the 09s…I’m a heavy rider and these things can stop me on a dime….bolted them up straight out of the box no probs. Caliper alignment was a bit of a faff but now have them spot on after using 2 feeler guages….awesome brakes…worlds apart from my old hayes strokers… 8)

I thought the reverse was supposed to give better clearance?

2.3…measures 58mm, the manual says max tyre width 63mm

Thanks for the replies, another question…what’s the max size puncture a decent sealant should seal? The stans sealant says up to 1/4″ which is quite a big hole really…I mixed up some sealant using latex and screenwash (from a receipe I found on another forum)and after inflating to 40psi I found a puncture that blasted all the sealant straight out. After thickening the mixture and adding some tiny bits of diced up rubber from an old inner tube it’s finally plugged…here’s a pic:

The hole measures about 2mm diameter, should sealant be able to plug that size hole easily or is that generally a patch job?

Also, what patches do you use to repair the tyres? Park tyre boots?

Thanks

I’m glad you started this thread Ropeyreign, I’m having the exact same dilema…I was ready to get the K24s then saw the Megas, I’m a bit lump at 240lbs so I figure the extra power wouldn’t be wasted….did you make a decision yet?

+1 for the HX2, I’m 6’4 and it fits like a glove…

I’m also looking for an x-firm spring/ride kit for 2010 Minute 29er 120mm…I phoned manitou USA and their tech support guy said the parts diagram for the 29er minute forks in the 2009 service manual is wrong. He said the parts listed under the 29er fork are for the 26er. He gave me part number 141-26744-K003. I had already ordered part number 83-3177 as per the manual and the above post but he said that part is for the 26″ model. I phoned hotlines and TF tuned with the part number and they said it didn’t show up on their system at all and it doesn’t come up in any web searches. Manitou USA have them in stock but only sell to dealers. I’m confused? Can anyone shed any light on this?

They are air forks but have a coil spring (manitou call it the ‘Ride Kit’)to assist the negative side (I’m sure someone can give the technical terms). As mentioned above they’re shipped with a medium spring for the ‘average’ weight rider.

As for travel, it depends on what type of riding you’re doing but the frame is specced for up to 100mm so that’s what I would go for…

I was reading in some older posts that minutes are usually supplied from the factory with oil levels lower than what’s specified in the service manual, has anyone checked and/or found this to be true?

ok, thanks..I just ordered a set of minute 29 120mm with 20mm TA from winstanleys, looks like I need to order the firm spring now…