Hope X2’s…where to start :?

I love Hope kit. My current Orange Five is kitted out with a Hope BB, headset, seat tube QR, hubs and floating rotors. I like the design of their kit and I like the fact it’s homegrown. Until last week, I also had a set of X2’s fitted.

Now in all fairness these brakes were bought around 6yrs ago and have worked pretty much flawlessly. Except that 2-3yrs years back the rear failed completely when the brake fluid punched a hole through the rear caliper. At the time, I returned both calipers to Hope who immediately replaced them, (even though they were out of warranty), citing ‘corrosion’ as the reason for failure.

Fast forward to a week ago and I was in touch with the warranty department again, this time I had found that my rear brake lever was spongy and on closer examination,figured the problem was down to the reach adjuster screw having ‘mushroomed / flattened out’ and wasn’t giving me the full amount of travel adjustment. Again, the exceptional service from Hope meant that I had free replacement screws in the post within a couple of days. Brilliant service again.

I replaced the reach adjustment screws, but that didn’t fix the problem, so I then decided it was time for a re-bleed. That’s when I spotted the small fluid leak from the hose / master cylinder junction. Went to tighten this up to try and stop the leak and a 5mm split appeared down the length of the master cylinder. Pants!!

At this point I decided enough was enough and went online to buy a set of Shimano brakes, a brand I haven’t used since I was whizzing about on my 2001 model Patriot with Saint dinner plate brakes (awesome by the way).

At the start of the week, I went to remove my old Hopes and the first thing that happened was the bolt holding the rear caliper banjo in place sheared clean off, taking part of the caliper with it, the thing felt like it was made of paper it was that brittle. I then had a look at both calipers once they were off the bike and again they were showing significant levels of corrosion.

I admit that the split in the master cylinder was down to my cack handed attempts to stem the leak, but the caliper corrosion really worries me.

When I emailed the warranty department about this, I explained I wasn’t looking for a replacement, even though they offered to do so for a very reasonable £45. I was told that a single winter exposed to UK road salt could be enough to cause this level of damage. Now, I’d almost accept that if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m currently running a set of 12/13yr old Hope Mono Mini’s on my winter bike and a set of even older Hope Mini’s on my Tandem and the calipers on these look as good as new!! Three sets of brakes all treated the same, yet constant problems with the X2’s on a bike that doesn’t really get ridden that much in the winter.

I’m still going to buy Hope kit, just not their brakes as it’s come down to a trust issue now. I don’t understand why my X2’s failed and that worries me.

If you’ve got X2’s that are more than a couple of years old, just unscrew them from your frame and check the undersides for corrosion. My original calipers had gone all flaky and crumbly on the underside when they failed and the replacements were quite badly pitted and scarred when I took them off last week.

Think it’ll be Shimano for me from now on, although I fully expect my Mono’s and Mono Mini’s to outlast everything!!

C.

I’ve been twice. The first time to get married to Mrs Beagleboy, other than the wedding the highlight was a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon with a champagne breakfast actually down in the canyon itself. I really like the place though, it’s just like a huge theme park for adults. First time round we saw the Folies Bergere, and a few different acts that filled our evenings.

Last time we went in 2012 to redo our vows (10th anniversary), and it was still great fun. We saw the Cirque Du Solei, went to a medieval banquet / jousting competition, got punted down the canals of Venice and saw a couple of good bands. I even had time to get in a day of this…

…in Red Rock Canyon, just watch out for the Chipmunks and the American’s hilarious habit of putting their brakes on the wrong way around.

I don’t gamble, but I do like people watching and you don’t half see some people in Las Vegas. Looking forward to going back their for my 20th anniversary in fact!

C. ;-)

For years, and I mean well into my early 20’s, I assumed that every time someone talked about their ‘estranged’ husband or wife, that the poor soul had gone bonkers and been committed.

I was honestly worried about the amount of ‘estranged’ spouses out there and why marriage was driving them over the edge.

Of course, after 20 odd years with Kerry, I understand things better now. ;-)

I think our two are on a basic Petplan annual policy. Think it’s around £24 for the pair of them. It’s certainly paid for itself a couple of times already. Last time Luna came down with some sort of fever, (Probably from something that fought back!), ended up spending a night at the emergency vets, then another night at our regular vet. Add that to a course of antibiotics and a couple of blood tests….£495. Of which I got everything back bar £50.

My mate’s much loved family cat got run over by some git in a car, leaving it for dead. He also had her covered with Petplan which was lucky as the surgery etc ran into the thousands, but again he only had to pay a fraction of that because he’d taken out the insurance plan. As my mate put it at the time, it’s piece of mind at the cost of a couple of weekly Starbuck’s coffee.

C.

I thought I was going to have to go through this sort of hell when my wife bought a 2nd hand Blackberry. It was on O2, but she’s on Virgin methinks. Anyway, I went to one of those ‘unlocking’ shops you see on the high street and the guy said he’d do it for around a tenner, but first I should just try putting the Virgin Sim card in and see what happens.

Turns out the phone recognized the new Sim card no problem.

Don’t know if it’s of any use to you, but if you haven’t tried it yet, might be worth a go.

C.

My wife just bought herself a new pair of roller skates yesterday. Apparently their called ‘Quad Skates’ now. She’s looking at me to accompany her down to the Helix park in Falkirk where she’ll skate and I’ll fall flat on my face trying to relearn what limited abilities I had to balance on my Bauer FX4000 roller blades that I last wore 17yrs ago. :|

I dug them out from under the cupboard last night and they just sat there, with a malevolent look about them. I’m truly scared of a pair of boots. I think I’m going to have to man up…..and tell Kerry that I’ll cycle along beside her. :oops:

Mountain biking? No problem. Snowboarding? Really starting to love the whole ‘off piste’ through the trees rush. Strapping a set of wheels to my feet and wobbling around a flat park? Terrifies me! 8O

I too was at the Princes gardens gig, I also saw him a few years earlier at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow where I had the privilege to shake his hand.

A true artist who seemed to love his work.

C.

I agree with Andysredmini’s solution. ^^^

Scottoiler have been making MTB chain lubrication / cleaning systems for what must be a good 15yrs now. I had the system in what was maybe a very early incarnation, which possibly clouded my judgement of it somewhat, but that still can’t take away from how well it worked!

Basically, the system I had replaced the bottom jockey wheel with one that had a tiny little feeder tube in it. This tube led up to a reservoir of water based lubricant (most folk clip it to the seat tube via a rubbery ‘squid’ that when squeezed, pumps the lubricant down the hose onto the chain.

As the lubricant is water based, it’s only really needed on dry days. On wet rides, the lubricant is washed off the bike and good old fashioned water keeps the chain running smooth. Also, being water based, very little trail crud sticks to it and even when it does a quick hose down, spin of the pedals, squeeze of the squid, and you’ve got a ‘just out the packet’ clean cassette and chain.

I really liked it, but to be honest I drifted away because of issues with getting spares. What with the way t’internet rules all nowadays though, I’ve been thinking of getting one again as it easily tripled the life of my drive chain, and I’m hard on them as I’m a proper biffa of a lad.

……Having said all that, I can’t seem to see the system on their website now! It did work though, wasn’t the prettiest, but it did really work! However, they still supply the water based lubricant which was at the heart of the system.

C.

It might be worth getting that checked to be honest. I’m a type 1 diabetic, and I’m sure I’ve read something somewhere that balding shins can be an indicator of type 2 diabetes.

At your age (50?? I didn’t know people could live that long!!!), it can’t hurt swinging past the local witch doctor for a MOT anyway.

50? Wow, I hope I can manage to live as long as that. That’d be like the year 2020 when I’m that old. Flying cars and Jetpacks….woohoo! :wink:

Seriously though, hair loss in certain areas (fingers / toes more commonly), can be a diabetic indicator. No harm in getting it checked.

C.

I’m actually very confused now because I’ve got a Hope stainless steel external BB on my Orange Five and it has plastic (top hat shaped ) shims that protect the bearing and extend between the crank axle and bearings. Is this just a peculiarity of my setup? 2009 Orange Five / Hope BB / Raceface Evolve XC crankset, because even though I don’t go through bearings as quickly as you (replace them every couple of years), I do have a BB wibble that I’ve always kind of put down to wear on the crank axle.

Now that I think about it though, I don’t think I got my replacement bearings from Hope. I think I got them from a guy off t’internet, and they came supplied with the little dust cover / shim things. I wonder if the wibble will go away if I ditch them?

Sorry, I can’t help, but I do the same as you for all the bearings on my bikes. I buy them in bulk, generally £10-£12 for a tube of 10. This is my ‘local’

http://www.scotiabearings.com/

Still think it’s more economical and less wasteful than buying non-serviceable throwaway BB’s.

Stick with em’ I say. Stand up and support great British engineering!

B. :-)

I just finished stripping and cleaning my entire chainset in an effort to get rid of a horrible squeaky creaking noise. Turns out it wasn’t that, but a slightly loose bolt on the dust cover of my main bearing (Orange 5). On the plus side, I now have lovely clean chainrings and chainring bolts, however I also need to sit in a quiet place with a cup of tea for a wee while to let myself calm down a bit! :-(

C.

How can they be classed as old when they’re digital? Digital is like the coolest, newest thing out there!

Anyway, some nice watches on show, but I don’t need one, partly because I generally break them within a few months, but mostly because…..

Yup, I’m Batman!

C. ;-)

I got my Oakley Sideways (and was actually wearing them today….in Glasgow!!!!!), last year from the eyewearoutlet place that Yorkshire89 mentions. Think they cost me around £60-£70 and came fully boxed and warrantied. Well pleased.

C.

Well, I went out and used my cheap (£25), Brite-R light for the first time last night.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brite-R-2x-CREE-XML-T6-LED-Front-Bicycle-Bike-Rechargeable-Light-Torch-Headlight-/251439343548?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item3a8af3e7bc

Firstly I was pleasantly surprised that my head didn’t instantly explode, like the guys in the Running Man, nor did I catch fire at any point. Having read stuff on t’internet about cheap lights, I figure I was just lucky last night, but hey, what’s life without a wee bit of risk, eh?

As for the light, it has a very solid ‘click-in’ connection with the battery. An easy to find ON button which cycles through Low-Mid-High and flashing, it’s very lightweight, low profile and didn’t melt through my helmet on what was quite a warm spring night.

As for the ‘quality’ of the actual light it casts, well, I’ve only been night riding since the very early 90’s when I used to go out with a 5w / 10w Cateye with regular little bulbs and a lead acid battery, so I’m probably not as qualified to comment as some, ;-) but what I can say is that the unit appears to throw out as much light as my £280 Lumicycle system (Single LED lamp with the big Enduro battery, as I can be out in the dark for 5 or more hours in the winter months), but it maybe has a slightly tighter beam.

I certainly couldn’t see any dark spots, flickering or Creatures from the 8th dimension. Did see a huge Alsatian with glowing eyes come looming out of the woods at me though!!!

Very pleased, albeit in a slightly disappointed way as the light is very nearly as good as my Lumicycle (obviously with only a fraction of the burn time), but at a silly tiny price.

I still wouldn’t use it as a main light though, it doesn’t have the burn time I need and I certainly wouldn’t trust it the way I do my Lumicycle. As a cheap, ‘if it breaks bin it and buy a new one’ item, I’m well pleased with it.

C. :-)

I got this one through the post at the weekend and am about to try it out tonight.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brite-R-2x-CREE-XML-T6-LED-Front-Bicycle-Bike-Rechargeable-Light-Torch-Headlight-/251439343548?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item3a8af3e7bc

Seems very well constructed, with a regular looking (‘phone style’) charger and most importantly, the lamp comes in red.

The company I got it from claims to be UK based with a full UK warranty, which I’ve no reason to doubt. However if my head does explode, or house catch fire, burning me to a BBQ briquette, I will expect some sort of recompense, even if it’s just a packet of Haribo. I’m pretty sure it’s just the same unit as the Solarstorm, however I was swayed to pay up the extra tenner, by them stating that it comes with a CE certified charger.

Honestly don’t know anything about these lights, it’s replacing a cheap Cree lamp that cost about a tenner less, had an identical charger and mounting gear, but unfortunately didn’t withstand the impact of a low hanging branch. Neither did my helmet or my neck to be honest though. Still looking around like Robocop!

I use it as a backup to my Lumicycle lamp which is getting on for it’s 10th birthday now, but still running flawlessly.

Beagy ;-)

Hey DezB, if you liked that one, check out this badboy. Makes me kinda wish I was German. It’s awesome……

Enjoy, I’ve actually got a tear in my eye listening to it.

It certainly bored this mid-forty year old. I don’t think anyone would thank you for making them listen to that. It doesn’t do anything, it’s just drums and crappy electronic guff in the background.

Thank-you though, for now I know of something else I shouldn’t waste my time on. ;-)

My lovely Orange O2 Evo Ltd edition. Not that it was a great bike or anything, just we had such good times together and I so regret selling it (at mates / club rates), to a guy who painted it black and turned it into a commuter. What a horrible end for a nice MTB.

I think a few years later the same guy got banned from here for making sectarian comments. Ruined my lovely bike and was a weegie bell end at the same time. I’ve never sold a bike since to be honest. All my old frames are hanging up on the garage wall now.

Sorry ‘McCoy’, you were a great wee hardtail and I’d have you back in an instant if I could. :cry:

Nay lad, what you want is one of these…. :wink:

http://www.jaspacycles.com/

I bought the 1st one in the front page picture gallery. It was only the 3rd bike they’d sold and it’s truly lovely. It just swooshes along, until you try to change gear with the kickback hub, then it tries to kill you, but when it’s not being homicidal, it’s a work of art.

Go on, you know you want one.

Beagy 8)

So, am I the only one that read the original title and thought, “Well surely you just stick your thingmagig into her whoogywhatsit and waggle it about a bit?”

Only me then? :oops:

B.

p.s. I might add that Mrs Beagleboy and I decided to go for cats rather than children, so the whole process is a bit vague to me.

This was Ruby and Luna as six month old kittens, about two and a half years ago. They still exact revenge on us daily.

I was just browsing this thread without logging in and a whole page advert for “I survived a Zombie Apocalypse” appeared. I’m in Glasgow at the moment and need no reminders that the Apocalypse is ongoing! 8O

Magazine subscription gets you a bunch of lovely mags through the post, ideal for reading in your private ‘meditation suite’ AND at a reduced price AND the option of an advert free website.

It’s a bargain to be sure!

C. 8)

Buckaroo Bazai’s Adventures in the Eighth Dimension is one of my favourite films ever. :oops: Next you’ll be saying that Doc Savage was rubbish. :cry:

+1 for Jonathon Strange, I even think they’re making a version for the tellybox, so it must be good! China Melville’s Perdido St Station is one of the saddest fantasy / sci-fi books I’ve read, superb though.

I’m working my way through the Ender books at the moment and really enjoying them. Also just read I am Legend, that was corking good stuff.

For something a bit fun, have you ever heard of A.A.Attanasio? There’s a quite superb book called Last Legends of Earth. It’s really, really good.

C.

I’ve got the whole of the UK Landranger scale OS mapping on my Garmin Oregon 450t. I got the microSD from a dealer on ebay for £29.99 and have no reason to believe it isn’t legit

Works perfect.

:-)

I have what’s called ‘Low Hypo Awareness’, that means I’m really rubbish at telling when I’m having a diabetic hypo. Upshot of that is I’m not allowed to drive because I’d probably swerve all over the UK and kill you all, sorry.

So I do all my riding from home. I’m lucky to have some superb trails starting right across from my front door, but more often than not I’ll use the 10-12 mile road bash into Stirling as a warm up before hitting the big hills behind the town. The ‘warm up’ also doubles as a handy excuse when I’m blowing out me arse half way up the hill. As the smug so and so’s are all waiting for me at the top of a climb I can look pointedly at the southern horizon and claim that I’m keeping something in reserve for the long slog home. :wink:

We stayed here for a weekend and it was lovely.

http://www.7stanes.com/item-601903-nether-barr-steading

I’ve just recently started (last couple of months) using daily lens for riding. I’ve definitely noticed them moving around a bit at times and have felt them being blown to the sides even when wearing clear riding glasses on top. I’ve even managed to lose a lens whilst riding.

In saying that, the benefits have far outweighed these minor annoyances. No more steamed up glasses, leading to me taking them off and squinting my way through yet another technical night ride. No more glasses left at the side of the trail! Being able to see where you’re going on a night ride is pretty awesome, as long as it’s not done with stupidly over powered lights!

Beagy :lol:

Dunno if it’s been mentioned already, but do you guys remember a film (late 80’s maybe early 90’s) called Hardware?

It was based on a 2000AD, ‘Tharg’s Future Shocks’ story about an artist bringing a deactivated ABC warrior home to work on it as a sculpture. It didn’t end well for her in the comic, can’t recall much about the film other than Lemmy from Motorhead having a cameo!

B. :D

Years ago, there was a large group of us building our bikes in the courtyard of a Moroccan hotel before we started out on the first day of our holiday. Everyone stopped and howled with laughter at one of the guys who had put his bike together with the fork on backwards. Everyone that is, except me as I quietly stood at the back of the group loosening off my stem bolts….. :oops:

I’ve been biking down in the Lakes regularly for the last 15yrs or so. There were 7 of us down from Stirlingshire just this weekend and we all had a superb time. Most of the folk with us hadn’t ridden there before and hadn’t experienced the very friendly, outdoors oriented vibe of the place.

I’m pretty sure everyone headed back up North on Sunday already planning their next trip down there, I know I was.

C.
:D

Everyday by The Dave Matthews Band, it’s just a lovely idea for a video

Oh my giddy aunt, I didn’t know I could turn the adverts off! That’s much nicer to look at now, thanks folks!!

B.

Hey Matt,

The SBC moderator won’t approve you for the bike club forum unless you email him to prove that you’re a real person. He used to pretty much approve folk automatically until the incident when pictures of a very generously endowed young Asian gentleman were mailed to everyone’s account from a bogus forum user!

Craig x

Geez! All the best Ton.

Last night, during a show called ‘The Generation of Z’, at the Edinburgh Fringe. It was an interactive show akin to ‘Alien Wars’ if you know what I mean. As we were being screamed at by the soldiers to get out of the room it was all a bit of a laugh, but when the zombies smashed through the barricaded door behind us and the soldiers started blasting away with their guns right beside me….. I kind of left my mates standing. :oops:

I may not sleep this week. :cry:

Thoroughly, thoroughly recommend it though. A brilliant show with superb actors and very….visceral scenes. When I was walking through the ‘medical centre’ and realised my feet were sticky from blood…..bleurgh. Actually, make that two weeks!

Hope your sleepless for the same silly reasons as me. If not, all the best mate. 8)

Beagy

I’ve been having a great time with my first week of bike commuting from Buchanan Bus station in central Glasgow (I bus it in from a wee town to the south of Stirling), out to the University in the West End. It’s only about two and a half miles but I’ve been doing it on a pink shopper with a basket on the front. It’s awesome, and nearly impossible to ride without making ‘Brrrrmmmmpph’ motorbike noises!

They’re ‘Nextbike’ hire bikes and if I can do the whole journey, there and back, in less than 30 minutes it’s essentially free. I’ve got it down to about 22 minutes in total, but it’s killing me and you should see the sweaty mess I’m in by the time I get to the lab! :oops:

It’s such a lift to the day though, getting a bit of wind in my hair and the heart pumping, well worth it.

Have a good one mate, I’m just about to head off and see if I can find a bike to take me back into the city centre. Woohoo! Brrrmmmm….BrrrrmmmMMMmmmmhhh!

Beagy :lol:

Years ago, riding down a narrow track with trees on one side and a fence on the other, about five deer darted from the trees and attempted to jump the fence. Unfortunately one tried to go through the fence, got jammed and then firmly punted through as my wildly fishtailing rear wheel caught it on it’s behind…..be-hind….see what I did there?

When I eventually got home, there was deer hair burnt onto my rear disc rotor. I worry sometimes that it’s still out there, looking for revenge on the fat man who branded him on the ass with ‘Shimano’. I changed to ‘Hope’ brakes not long after to escape detection.

B. :wink:

Ah, short, sweet and informative. Thank you sir, I’ll let her know.