I use a Thermic Boot Dryer. Can take a day after hosing the boots out, but only uses a couple of watts.

Viro-sol

Racing Ralph 2.25s are my choice for that kind of riding.

El Mar!

Here’s a route: http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk/routes/1-the-peak-district/12-eyam-a-bakewell.html

(I haven’t ridden it yet so can’t comment on how good it is!)

So long as the ground is firm (and I’d expect the Lakes to be more rocky than mud?), I find RR’s to be pretty good. They only fall down in deep mud.

The 30t needs machining from a wider billet of metal to allow for the tabs that space the ring away from the crank arm, hence it is slightly more complex and expensive to make and not as readily available.

CheesybeanZ – Member
or buy a Works components for £35.00 and support a small UK company who make great quality stuff .

I already have a Goldtec one in 32t which has been excellent, but they won’t make me a 30t one despite a lot of begging and I need all the easy gears I can get on marathon stuff.

Remove front mech/chain device and existing chainrings, add one of these and a clutch mech, enjoy your 9 or 10 trouble free gears and a fractionally lighter, better looking bike.

I must admit, my El Mariachi (430mm actual CS) feels more nimble than my full sus (445mm actual CS). Also seems to have more climbing grip.

Whilst I ride lots with mates, and sometimes pretty quick, every time I do a shorter XCO race (1.5 hours) it strikes me that the main thing I am missing in training is race simulations. Find a short local circuit that matches the sort of races you do and treat it like a race with energy drink, gels, stashed bottles and go flat out for a race duration.

It doesn’t answer your question, but I use the insoles and wedges from my Specialized summer shoes in Shimano winter boots with no issues. Keeps my knees working right!

Distance 4,804.5 mi
Time 347h 31m
Elev Gain 304,350 ft
Rides 350

Had a slow end to the year after a good start :(

Ok, sounds pretty unanimous… I’m not that worried about punctures on tubs, haven’t had one in over 10k miles in the road with lightweight tyres and tubes. I did wonder about them in the wind but apparently the shape makes them better in crosswind. I often find my c24s hairy on a breezy day (Winking Man descent from Buxton to Leek has been especially bad the last few times)

I’d rather come second last and have enjoyed my life.

Kona Honzo is a good shout. Meets all the criteria and some places are selling frame only too.

parkesie – Member
Thats not your bike

Yes it is, hence the shorter stem.

core – Member
How are you getting on with the new salsa bacondoublechee?

Only had one (very hungover) ride on it so far (plus demos). Despite nearly puking on every climb it handled spot on, had stacks of grip and was a huge giggle. Large size was definitely the right choice for me.

Despite having zero experience of comparable bikes, tradition dictates that I have to wholeheartedly recommend my own bike and include a picture of said bike at any possible time.

It is quite good though.

Formula RX hoses are not metal braided and should cut fine with a knife/wire cutters/good pair of scissors.

Thanks all, seems like the consensus is certainly with a large…

I’m about 180cm, so according to Salsa just on the border. Interestingly the Cotic Solaris is a very similar bike and their sizing puts me right in the middle of medium!

The large is pretty much identical sizing to my full sus 29er, and I guess that works fine, but a rigid singlespeed is a very different bike.

I’ve just had to warranty my XT mech after only 3 months light use. I noticed there was no difference between clutch on and clutch off, so I popped the plastic cap off (hasn’t opened it up before) and part of the mechanism had snapped off inside. Made from very thin metal and held the force of the whole clutch spring.

That’s good to hear!

Well I have read the manual (there’s a first time for everything!) and have now found my workout saved as a tcx. Strava read it fine so that’s a start. Would be nice to view it in the app though so I can compare easily.

With the laptop in the house I’ve also had a go at creating a workout. It’s actually not that bad, but being an IT bod I can pick it up easily – some more prebuilt ones would be less daunting to new users.

Haze – try playing the video outside of the app and see how it goes. Just about plays on my laptop but gets a little stuck in places so add the app on top and it seems about right. The developers should consider that dedicated garage/trainer computers probably aren’t top spec. 720p from decent source footage is more than enough when your eyes are stinging with sweat!

I used this for the first time the other night, initial thoughts:

Good Stuff:
Fairly simple to get up and running
Nice fast display updates
I can’t think of a cheaper way to ride with power (albeit estimated but still consistent)
Demo videos looked good, I might be tempted to buy a full one

Could be improved:
-As soon as I hit the end of the default workout it reset to a new workout making all the average and max power/hr/cadence useless as I didn’t get chance to look at them. It should stay on the workout screen until you exit
manually.
-Can’t see a way to log/save/export sessions for future comparison
-If you don;’t know your FTP (I don’t) then it’s a bit fiddly to set the workout intensity. I used some sort of zoom feature which seemed to work just about!
-Some more basic prebuilt workouts would be good and quick for the developers to add. II’ll freeze standing in my cycling kit in a cold garage setting up all the separate intervals in the UI
-The video’s seemed a bit jerky but that’s probably the laptop I used for it!
-Countdown to next interval/end of interval is a must! It’s impossible to tell from the graph accurately (especially on rollers while sprinting!) so you have to wait until the power gauge shows you are too low/high to tell. Also knowing how long you have to go on an interval is always good.

All in, very good for free – will use again!

I tested the ANT+ connectivity with the eBay USB stick last night and it worked fine, picking up my Garmin HR strap no problems. Will try it in the garage with the rollers and speed/cadence when I get chance and report back.

I’ve used gorilla tape before and while it does work it doesn’t feel particularly secure (when deflated the tyres are completely lose and can practically fall off. It also makes them a bit harder to inflate (even using the compressor took a little while to get them to catch).

I’m currently using Bontrager symmetric TLR strips http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bontrager/rhythm-tubeless-rim-strip-symmetric-29-ec037916 on my LB wide 29er rims. The strips fit perfectly, snap in very secure and feel like they were designed for the rim. Just make sure you screw the valve through before putting the rest of the strip in the rim, otherwise you will never get the hole lined up! The same tyres as described above then fit the rim much tighter, they inflated and popped over the strip into the bead hook with a nice bang (at about 30 or 40psi!) and stayed inflated before I’d even put any sealant in.

In my experience, the Gorilla tape does work however the TLR strips are a much better method and I’m much more comfortable running lower pressures without waiting for it to burp.

and don’t forget the speed & cadence sensor.

Already got as I use a Garmin 500 on the bikes anyway

bacondoublechee, where did you get the Garmin ANT USB for £15?

eBay – just do a UK only buy it now search for ANT USB and order by price.

Awesome, it’s got my Sportcrafters rollers already preset (although it looks like a 5 min job to plot in your own kit if not already listed but you have access to a power graph for it).

I’ve just ordered a Garmin ANT USB stick for £15 to give it a go.

Thanks!!

Dan – Quite the opposite, the frame is very light, hence mine being a light bike with sensible components. The stock weight of the cheapest model is only 11.5kg (2014 model a bit heavier) and you can take a full kilo off that with just a wheel upgrade.

With the rear shock in trail mode I don’t find mine bobs too much at all, when XC racing I haven’t felt the need to lock the rear out but I have used descend mode (at Eastridge for example where there was a single long and bumpy descent). The chain length grows as the rear suspension compresses to dial out pedal feedback.

I’ve changed the wheels, bars, seat, stem, chainring and rear mech on mine to date.

Here’s mine:

It comes in just under 23lbs and I’ve done around 1500 miles on it this year and still really like it. I’d say it’s sweet spot is somewhere around rougher short XC tracks, marathons and general trail riding. As it is effectively a linkage driven single pivot, it feels more active than dw-link/vpp/maestro bikes under pedalling, however the EI system should help with that (or CTD in my case).

The bike really is at its best with the shock in open mode and descending, the rear end feels perfect and I would definitely like to try some longer travel forks out at some point. Even on hard compound Ralphs I absolutely trounce the times that I set on trail centre DH sections on my old Cotic BFE running Minions…

Jammed up with mud. Sad times for the drivetrain!

I like to ride a bit warm, reminds me of summer! Round here it’s often best to stay covered up all year to help fend off the relentless brambles, bracken and nettles.

There was a section of slow muddy fields containing cows but they weren’t especially shitty luckily.

I rode it on a full susser (mostly locked out though) and was happy with that choice. The only time I wished for a cx bike was on a muddy back lane where my wheels kept jamming up with mud. We even passed the lead two cx bikes on the final (mostly road) section after they sneaked past while I was busy ploughing my way through four(!) cakes at the final feed.

My 1000 mile old Ralph is starting to struggle on the back in this weather :(

Luckily I have a set of maxxis beavers on the spare wheels for muddy days!

I used this kit for mine: http://welovelapierre.com/formula-mega-the-one-hose-joint-kit-fd40018-40

Superview does indeed take a 4:3 video (using all the pixels on the sensor) and turns it into a 16:9 output. It captures the same view width ways, but extra pixels on the height.

This actually seems a very good feature to me for MTB use as you will capture more of the trail, rather than a choice of front tyre view or upcoming trail view.

I get it on my Garmin HR straps (both old and newer ‘premium’ models). Its more apparent on certain days, typically colder weather. Might also be due to static from tumble drier in the winter, as that’s when I notice it most, but it happens at other times too.

BETD Goldtec

You need anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen or diclofenac. Failing that, you can have it removed but I wouldn’t recommend it. Long recovery!

On the way home yesterday I was shoulder brushed by the back of a caravan doing 60mph after the driver decided it was perfectly safe to overtake on a fast but blind country lane corner. Obviously a car just happened to be coming the other way. I don’t think they even noticed.

The marketing speak does say that it uses flex in the seatstays as an extra pivot. It’s nothing new, Yeti have done it for years and last years Salsa’s did also (and in aluminium which would be more prone to fatigue I’d expect).

How much they actually flex is debatable, when I had the shock removed to change the bushes the back end moved through its travel without any resistance so I’m not convinced they do actually flex, they just wanted to make it sound less like a single pivot with linkage bike as the XC target market wouldn’t like that.

The XR does seem more prone to failure on the inside of the main triangle where the rear shock intersects the seat tube. I’ve heard of one of two going there and mine has some lines in the lacquer, but nothing more so far.