Having seen a few ruined mavic cross max free hubs which ultimately mean a new hub is required, and people stuck with non-engaging drive… I wouldn’t bother.
Plenty of better options available imo including the 1450’s.

Maybe its an urban myth but I thought there was a bit of leeway to allow for speedometers that aren’t exact.

Spedo’s can read incorrectly.. but spedos have to be calibrated to only read fast within tolerance.
A speedo cannot read slow.. i.e if you are travelling at 60mph, your speedo cannot read anything below 60mph, it can however read above 60mph (infact anything over up to 15%.
This info is as per the kit car Single Vehicle Approval compliancy.

So, you actually have no excuse if your speedo is wrong.

I got done by a private speed camera van in a 50.. mighty annoyed as it was parked in a hard shoulder on a dual carriage way, but I didn’t have the piece of mind to go back and get a photo of it(illegally parked?)
Anyway, I believe they sell their fines to the police, so its in their interest to sell every speeding offense whether it be +1mph or more.
Private speed camera vans are worse that static speed cameras, they don’t make considered judgment and they ALWAYS have film. :o

Is it for the Rush?

Seems odd having a 9″ adjustable seatpost on a 4″ travel bike.

I cant see that you’d ever need more than a couple of inches of saddle drop on an XC bike.. surely all you need is enough drop to let you get of the back of the saddle to make descending a little easier when things get steep or to give you a little more lateral bike movement when things get techy

Don’t get me wrong though.. I though that adjustable seatposts were a waste of time… until I used a Joplin on my Ransom then I saw the clear benefits in that bike application. I will most likely run a Joplin on my Genius too.
I do however think its possibly a negative thing in terms of xc riding as I’ve always tried not to drop my saddle in techy sections as i’m not going to want to do that in a race.

Product looks good though

Whistler bike park can be dusty for late July, early August and early September. The valley XC stuff doesn’t suffer like the bike park though.

Pemberton is Uber dusty, squamish not too bad, ever.

We’ve had record snowfall in Squamish and Vancouver this year and consequently the trails are only just opening up. Normally in Squamish you can expect not to ride in Jan and Feb, but good to go year round aside from that.

Whistler is an entity that will never be equalled or rivalled. In fact, Whistler bike park management are so convinced of that, they established a consultancy company to help resorts develop summer operations. Whilst resorts could become as good as whistler in 10 years time through constant development (assuming viable business case and funding) but in that 10 years, Whistler will have developed so much further that they still wont be comparable destinations.
Gravity Logic – the consultancy company formed [by Whistler Blackcomb] with a view to creating wide spread access to quality facilities bearing in mind that Whistler will always be the premier resort destination and they figure exposing people to resort riding in other locations will ultimately draw them to Whistler.

I’d love to see a lift assited riding facility in the UK along with an enormous trail network, but until a UK bike specific trail center that allows you access to 1,200m vert and 100+kms of lift serviced world class DH trails and 250+ kms of XC trails and a local bike club who’s membership is 10% of the local population exists, then I don’t feel there a fair case for comparison.

The bike park is currently 10 years in development and the local bike club has been sporting the development and maintenance of XC trails for 20 years.

Tourism Resource Consultants have been appointed and have begun work on the detailed
feasibility study for the development of a purpose built downhill mountain bike park,
including the option of a chairlift, at Innerleithen in the Tweed Valley, Scottish Borders
FD. The team of consultants include Gravity Logic from Whistler in Canada.

Forestry Commission website..

and Innerleithen site

I hope it works out UK riders

Have a friend with major knee issues.. he went through allsorts before being sold on an operation in LA whereby they transplanted the meniscus of a cadaver into both his knees…

Spent somewhere in the region of £40k with that procedure trying to get himself back to skiing and biking.. although 18mnths later he’s still a long way off :( Needless to say, he’s been through your blue stage too.

He had a second op last week to check on things after falling of a ladder but said if they have to do more surgery, then he’s ready to scratch off this ‘miracle cure’ and get a state healthcare knee replacement as at least he knows where he is with that!

He is now set on taking recovery slowly as months of easing in through rehab before getting carried away is a good time investment in terms of longer term knee function.

I hope you get it figured.

p.s. Maybe head out to Whistler, both to cheer yourself up and as a bonus we’ve got DR McConkey a top notch knee specialist here who is available a day a week in the local clinic – no ridiculous waits to find out whats wrong with you in this town :)

I’m with Stoner.. in BC, distributer to retailer markup on bike parts is 100% for everything.. cables, drive train, wheels, bike racks, brake pads, tyres etc. This holds true for Norco [parts], OGC, Cycles Lambert etc.

Difference between retail and cost on a full bike or frame is price point dependant but iro 30% less.

I’ve never had to deal with manufacturer to distributer magins.
I also have no experience of UK margins and I’m sure its different everywhere.

Iron Horse frames and full bikes are currently being cleared out at 50% off MSRP (RRP) in the US online shops.

Would a longer trip back to the UK be a good idea.. get based there in a realistic representation of how you’d be if you made the move and see how it is to be back there aside from the somewhat tainted view you get when visiting on holiday. Everyone making the big visit effort, which in reality probably isn’t how it’d be once the novelty of you being home has worn off.
The grass is always greener and it sounds like you’ve established the life you want.
Playing devils advocate(?), what happens if you commit to the permanent return, then realise you miss aspects of NZ life more than you appreciate those aspects you’ve got back in your lives since returning.

Fortunately, my parents have always been super supportive and have told me on many occasions to follow my own path in life.. the GF’s parents weren’t overly supportive on her making the move… until they came to visit and realised just why we don’t want to be in the UK. It made it hard for the GF until she knew her folks accepted and ultimately approved of the move.

I guess from my point of view here in BC.. if I need to go home, its only a 10 hour flight and if theres a real need to go.. I’d go regardless.
Also, my family (apart from aging grandparents, 90yrs+) visit every year anyway and along with weekly phonecalls, we’re really not that far removed from family life over here and I’m back once a year for ‘business’.
Parents arrive tomorrow for 3 weeks and my big sis was here over xmas/NY.

Tough call though, either way I’d imagine there will be regrets.

do you have bottle cage rivnuts?

Scott use a nice neat solution at the bottle mounts.

best img i could find

If you’re into a bike justified by a family of 4, a roadie and a bum and designed and R&D’s using eggs, toast and bacon.. then Kona’s your brand ;)

Dew Files – not 100% sure how this is marketing though ;)

Sorry – I’m sure that was completey useless and hasn’t helped in the slightest.

I’ve likely missed a few posts on the subject so apologies if i’m repeating anything.

Whilst I agree that wether or not to wear a helmet is a personal choice made by adults who are aware of the potential risks involved in riding bikes, I do feel that the choice to not wear a helmet could be considered a selfish one.

Whilst people are responsible for their own wellbeing, should that decision to not wear a helmet unfortunately be the wrong one, is it fair to subject your riding buddy’s to having to deal the same situation that the OP was faced with? (although likely worse as fortunately he was wearing a helmet)

/2p

IIRC french ski schools won’t accept kids without them.

Kids should absolutely be made to wear helmets in ski school and IMO it should be a requirement of mountain access for kids.

I choose to wear a helmet as whilst there is a great deal of difference between the inherent risk that mountain biking and skiing have.. tree’s still really hurt when you ski into them.

I ski in a helmet, i ride in a helmet.

My business partner came off the side of a cat track (racing mates) and struck a tree 20 ft below the level of the piste… broke 2 vertibrae, 2 ribs, shoulder blade, spent 2 weeks in hospital. He now works as full time ski patrol, clearing up those same messes he was in a few years ago… bizarrely though, he still doesn’t ski in a helmet?!

I do think we’ll see helmets being a requirement at North American ski resorts at some point soon. It is a requirement at every lift assisted bike park after all.

I moved to Crankbros after ruining my knees with worn shimano’s. I need crankbros pedals for the added float.

I’m personally not a fan of eggbeaters, but love the candy’s and acids. I find the extra platform on these pedals really helps.
If you’re one of those people who find themselves hovering between clipped in and clipped out if things get techy, then you’ll not appreciate the lack of platform the eggbeaters provide. in terms of trail pedals, candy’s better, acids best. IMO of course.

If you’re looking at budget, you’ll find the smarties are the candy equivalent of the Eggbeater mixer.. a price point pedal. The Candy C’s should be a similar price point to the Egg c’s.

Having platform will help reduce any shoe sole wear and I opted for shoe shields to protect my shoes.

I sold my almost mint Blizzard with the spec as linked.. IIRC I sold it for £900.

So, in comparison, I think the bike above is over priced relatively! – that or the very nice chap who bought mine got a very good deal on a very nice bike ;)

In hindsight, I wish I’d kept it

I’d expect that the rims would be a cheaper verion of the 5.1, probably the sleeve jointed E530

Stantion wear between bushing and stantion means that the anti friction silicon coating has been worn away and you are asking rough metal to run across a now rough bushing. You will get a huge amount of stiction as a result.

I’d avoid used forks showing signs of wear and buy new and be responsible for your own maintenance of the forks.

With proper and considered maintenance, stantion wear is an non-issue. You’d clean and lube your chain, so I dont see how simple Fox maintenance is something that people simply don’t bother with.

I wouldnt bother with fox forks at all unless you are prepared to maintain them

I wouldn’t bother wearing a chamois either unless you are prepared to wash it ;)

Another Magura vote here

What are you comparing with? an old shimano drivetrain with sticky cables, worn cassette and that’s not set-up well vs a brand new Sram drivetrain :P

I’ve got an carbon bling X0 shifter and rear mech sat in my parts drawer.. I just have no desire to put it on anything ;)

If i’m pedalling – Shimano, DH – SRAM, although now Saint doesn’t require the through axle mount.. I can finally ditch SRAM for good..

You can change to QR using a DT conversion kit. Its super easy to do.

If you want a QR, i’d suggest running a DT RWS axle, that way it still fits in a standard drop out but gives you increased stiffness. (IIRC in any event)

What is the weight limit on a Spark?

100mm fast full sus in Carbon for 3k.. the Spark 20 is the bike you are looking for.

Race bike, all day enduro bike and will be fine for the Welsh trail centers etc.
If a spark can comfortably last 2 seasons racing, guiding and trail riding in Whistler, then its a pretty solid bet for the UK even at your stature imo.

does it rotate in this orientation? doesnt move from side to side?

If so, loosen QR, reseat, retighted and see if its still the same.

Sorry if this sounds condescending.. but I’ve maintained lots of bikes, but still managed to waste an hour trying to get v brakes evenly balanced with the axle not seated correctly in the dropouts.

Its my ‘everything’ race bike..

I thought big toe ball was the ideal guide, but listening to a lecture from Andy Pruitt would suggest that further back on the shoe doesn’t impact pedalling performance a great deal.
My mtb position is a little rearward from big toe.. I think this helps me to reduce calf cramping on longer races.
I’ve even seen some roadies blogging about mid foot cleat positions.

Anyway, I’d definately recommend looking into Pruitts thoughts on cleats.

Good points.. any experience on the Endura 500 overshoes? (cheap at CRC) They’d go over mtb shoes for road sessions.. but i’ll probably follow the suggestions of merino under sealskins for trail use.

the 15 hours service thing is ridiculous though.

Depends if you consider cleaning your bike a service I suppose ;).
I’d suspect you’d clean a chain more often than every 15 hours of riding … chains are somewhat cheaper and more of a PITA to clean than what TLR suggests:

here’s the solution for pain free fox ownership.

1. keep wiper seals and stanchions clean after EVERY ride.
2. store upside down when not riding.

sorted.

Do this and you probably wont need to do the 15 hour service. Although long rides in the Peaks or gritty muddy places and it makes sense to increase the frequency your maintenance routines. But that’s the same for everything right? Brake pads, chains, jockey wheels, pivot bearings, cassette etc etc

Dry stanchions with dirty wipers and dirty oil would eat a fork up very quickly (as would a dry chain covered in grit)

Fox service schedules

My Gambler DH10 spec:

DH10 Long with Short dropouts
DT FR2350
Fox 40 RC2
Magura Louise BAT w/ventis
Fox DHX 5.0
Raceface Atlas FR Cranks (83mm BB)
E13 LG1
Kenda Nevegal 2.5 FR single ply with butyl inserts (1kg/tire)
5050 xx
Sram X9

Cranks and those lighter tires are the biggest weight saving I think. Always gone Diabolus on the DH bikes.. but Atlas FR seems just as stiff and a bunch lighter to boot.

It’s about as light as I’d psychologically want to go for a Whistler park bike. Ti spring would shed about a pound i think.. but not worth it for the money.
Built it to the spec I wanted as opposed to hitting a weight.. consequently I’ve not weighed it as thats not really the point of a long lasting DH bike

240s with aerolites on 4.2d rims will be a nice wheelset.. available as factory built under the guise of XR1450.. which oddly, weigh 1450g.
You can get all those bits in uber fast white too ;)

We’ve had 1 rebuilt shock out of our 5 Ransoms over 3 summers (rebound top out).. all get a full summer of hard riding though. Shocks good, works well, and defines the bike for the most part.
If I were building an ally Ransom for gravity only, i’d be tempted to try a DHX air. However for a carbon bike that gets pedalled as well as descended.. the equalizer is the perfect fit imo.

One of our guides had ‘problems’ with his leaking air.. but after a bit of education I managed to convince him that it really wasn’t leaking at all.. it was simply the way he was referencing his pressures.
Basically, with the small volume and high pressure of the shock, if you attach the pump and unlock the valve, in the case of the negative chamber, you loose something like half the shock contents into the pump hose/body.. and viola.. it appears that the shock’s pressure has dropped massively. If you ‘pre-pump’ the shock pump body and hose to your required pressure before opening the lock valve.. you’ll see very little pressure difference.

Anyway, I digress… the shock does what its supposed to.

I’ve done classic and modern kit. Austin Sprite and Westfield.

Whilst the kit was infinitely better, theres still something special and unforgettable about a classic..
My Sprite was a 1275 A-series with twin SU’s increased compression etc.. so had a pretty useful throttle for a 17 year old :) Quicker than the MGB boat anchor I suspect.

Sold both now but if I ‘had’ to have another pointlessly fun car then the best way to have the best of both worlds would be a 1972 RWA Midget with a RX7 rotary engine… classic with guts :)

Classic cars is an experience that I highly enjoyed, and would always recommend them… as long as you know what you are potentially getting into.. and that you could quite easily be buying someone else’s bodged cover up.. so… unless its cheap.. check out the restoration quality!

Ski – was yours an Austin Sprite? AAN10. quite rare don’t you know.

Anything you didn’t like about the existing Talas.. if its just time for a new fork, then a new Talas will be better.

Steep head angle gives it homicidal tendencies.

Goes like greased shit off a teflon shovel though.

Possibly the best 2 line appraisal of a bike i’ve ever read :)

The 4″ travel Anthem X with a 1 degree slacker head angle has to be a winner!

Yes, the spoke guard has gone now.

Get in touch with Pete over at http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk

Theres a bunch of good lads that ride every Saturday and every Thurs night from the Bridge Inn at Oxton.

They have great local knowledge and do lots of away rides too.

If I’m ever home (Southwell) with a bike, I drop in with them for a ride.

Toe down technique?

Out of interest, why is this? is it a technique to overcome a physiological problem? short hamstrings? Only pedaling high cadence on the flats? trying to build your thighs? bad ankles?

Do Giant not sell an extension for their seat posts? I know its possible to get some length back out of the Scott integrated stuff by using the old cut off parts of the seatpost as ‘shims’ under the seatpost clamp.. you could probably get 10mm or so from that.
Its suggested that you cut a sliver through the cross section of the removed part of the post and stack it on top on the existing post before re-attaching the clamp. Not sure if it would work in your case.

Have you ever seen a 1 legged cyclist?
I’ve been passed by Brett Wolfe on a race climb.. guarantee that he was putting more than 10% through his upstroke… otherwise he wouldn’t be going anywhere.. let along up.

And therefore in lockout you feel quite high up and a bit perched.

Which makes it ideal for fireroad/paved climbing and road sections

fwiw, I ride in TC out back almost all of the time, and 100mm on the 36’s up front. Even with full on techy descents, i’ll run TC and 130mm front

If i use full travel front and rear, I feel a bit detached from the bike with the resulting slack head angle although its nice to know its there when you ‘really’ need it.
I do love the bike though.

T-cut also do a cutting/restorative compound for metallic paint..

Once you’ve given it a good going over, you need to polish to protect the paint/laquer finish,

You’d be amazed at how much ‘superficial’ improvement can be made with tyre polish! Keeps the dirt off pretty well too.

Just to be clear then – would you leave your kid with him?

as a responsible adult, why would I leave my kids with a clearly very odd stranger ;)

Numerous people have testified in court , under oath, that he molested young boys.

Me thinks he may have made himself a target after the first out of court settlement

Plenty of odd people (albeit not as odd as MJ) would be prepared to stand up in court and lie (or otherwise as who knows) about being fiddled by a very rich man… win/no win/settle.. the odds of making a fortune are somewhat better than that of the lottery :o
Probably an easy couple of hundred grand for a media exclusive about your story for a start.

Strange times – strange man ;)

Already have my 5 bikes, don’t need to swap them.. but would whack out some lottery winnings on a pimped garage and Sportsmobike van ;)