Currently Norlando grey which i do like, Wasabi green looks tempting as does Charcoal Grey or Cosmic white…descisions..

tis all emperors new clothes.. lls just doesnt do poppy, playfull and bmx like despite what anyone will tell you. Yep its possible but theres no free lunch, just compromises…depends if you like rolling over stuff downhill fast of jumping off every tree root in sight..

Butser, etc ticked off as weve done SDW in a day quite a bit, looking for a change of scenery..

Was looking at the mendip way (sister lives in uphill nr weston) but am crap at planning routes. Can i cycle the length of the Medip way..

Wife did sdw today from winch to Eastbourne on her own. Got a bit lost and ended up on monarch’s way. 2 very nice gents not only gave her directions but rode her back the right way and made sure she was on track. Made her (and mine and the kids as we were picking up) day much better….

Sold my Raleigh ultra burner sat in the garage to fund my sunburst red escort xr3i I thought I was done with bikes. Promptly lost my job. When my spoilt mate let me ride his 1990 team Marin (the one with the grey teflon paint and pink forks/stem) to the job centre I was hooked again, haven’t looked back. Wish use kept the xr3i though…

Smoky paprika chicken, beetroot and bean salad, Sierra Nevada IPA and Daniel nogren (check out “the flow”) amazing, happy…

Fulcrum will probably have odd sized bearings and very expensive parts that are hard to get hold of, Mavic, well just dont. Dt’s obvs..

Just sold a frame that I paid £255 for in 2007 for £385, I felt a bit uncomfortable with it tbh… And a pair of 2007 forks that were £250 for £220. Madness..

I’ve recently built up an Orange frame and in the process was trying to find forks with the same offset as the full build version. I phoned Orange who were really open and honest and full of good advice. Straight from the horses mouth, their advice was that the mountain biking world/internet was making a big deal of it at the moment. Their own advice was to get a fork with offset about the same as the ones specced and not to worry about a few mm…

Its silly, at least these companies supplied their products in good faith and im sure wouldnt condone such behavior. You should though burn that chavvy Hugo Boss gear who kitted out the Nazis in style or not buy the Siemens Washing machine from John Lewis who used forced labour to make people build their own gas chambers…just sayin

They arent really black, they are a greyish blue that looks more or less blackish/blueish depending on the light, thats why i went xt and they are even slightly grey/blue in some light…

Frames are already redesigned though thats the problem. I would have happily fitted 2×9 onto my new frame but like many now its not designed for a front mech. Sure, maybe i could have hacked it but now worth the bother to me of adding cable stops/guides then finding out the chainline wouldnt work…

Great price but as above, not sure what they weight but they feel really heavy..

Reluctantly went from an Xt 2×9 ,pg990 cassette which was perfect to Xt 12. I was convinced there was no way it could have been as good. It’s better,if your 1×12 is problematic it’s either Sram or set up wrong..

Yep video is too long tbh but thought i would share as i had no idea this was a thing. I figured there must be a fair few people riding carbon rims with rim brakes and are oblivious to it…

+1 for Beau Miles, great character and really great content..

Yep i do fly on planes where carbon is clearly used in the right application..

Yep, i didnt even realise that was a thing. Im amazed you can buy a bike like that, when Raul explains it it seems madness. Like buying a car which will explode if you brake too much..

Is it just me or do they look like they have been sprayed in halfords rattle can coloursand some free stickers put on off a magazine. Mate had a Sherpa and got rid of it after trying to love it, didnt really get it when i rode it, didnt feel any more special or springy than anything else, they look so overpriced now and the spec on the first ones awful. Terrible gears, crap wheels etc

I got some 350 straightpulls on xm481 (30mm width) with dt competition race spokes from Fitwheels, come in at 1730g in 27.5 flavour. Dealt with Lukaz who was brilliant, lovely build too, haven’t needed to touch them. They came in at about £380..

Ok cool, good advice thanks. I’ll check out roof box and go with Thule..

Xt 12 speed, sid ultimates, dt 350s/240s onto your dt rim of choice..

agree, the bikes newish and much longer than the last one, i like to feel stretched out a bit on longer rides

i did 5 litres yesterday but only have 1 set of water bottle cages..

In response to above, ive done loads of 50m rides and much longer. Done sdw in a day 5 years running. Did it the year before last with a 15 mile ride to winch then did it. Im pretty sure the forks need looking at. They feel really wooden through the mid stroke and werent using all 130mm travel on fast descents yesterday, felt like they were choking up. Took the last token out ths morning and they feel better, ive noticed they are reluctant to return through the last 15mm of travel….

Thanks for the advice, I’m going to stick the spacer back under the stem , roll the bars back a bit and try some of those grips. Oh and maybe a small beer fridge on a rack at the back..

Thanks, I think my bar height with 30mm of spacers is good. My bars are rolled forwards a bit so will roll them back a bit. Did have a 3l camelback on though..oh yeah the tap in Amberley isn’t working. The very nice lady at the t shop filled us up and gave us ice aswell which was a bonus when buying lollies!

Mm, did have 30mm of Spacers under the stem but put one above, you might be onto something there…

Ive got 2 sets of original V12s in the shed, 1 set is 15 years old, the other over 10. Periodically pushing grease through them by removing the end cap, filling with grease and doing them back up means they are both on original bearings and bushes. Im not sure my Bergtec plastics will last that long…

Rf narrow wide didn’t work for me on Shimano slx chain..

There is a big difference in my opinion. Eagle chain on slx m7100 cassette is not in the same league as slx chain on the same cassette…

Thats taking the biscuit, they are worth about £150 and not bad value at that price. Birdshit welding and crap paint for £600 no way. They just loose credibility in my eyes with the pricing yoyo, ide be gutted if i paid £600 for one and compared it to something “nicer”… ymmv

Its rubbish, ive used it for years too. Pumped the tyre up 3 times now. Turned the bike upside down and span and span the wheel. The moment the wheel stops it starts leaking. Its currently blowing revo bubbles continuously….

Shocking, no excuse. Even if the road wasnt closed you would have a couple of banksmen to stop the traffic either way whilst it was felled….

Hmm, puzzling. I think we will try a Shimano chain and see how that goes, thanks for the feedback…

Not really, shifting is a bit painfull, struggles to change quickly at on the bigger gears and on the lower cogs its ghost shifting a bit up and back down. Ive told him to get a hanger alignment tool as i suspect this is the culprit but the chain not sitting right down on the cassette seems wierd..

That’s very kind yd, happy to pp gift you some ££

my old sealant looked like a bandage rolling around in there, i could feel it wobble at 30mph..

Coming from 3×9 then 2×9 and straight to 1×12 i was worried i wouldnt have a crawler gear (or 2) , or the ratios would be badly spaced etc. Gone 1×12. 32t front on shimano 10-51 rear and after a few rides I would never consider going back….