Loco – what are the implications of putting the thin seals in where the thick ones should be??

I recently serviced a pair of old recons I have and had a similar situation with the foam rings stuck to the inside of the lowers so got damaged on removal. I had a new pair of foam rings lying around, but they looked alot thinner than the ones that came out – I assumed some room for expansion, but reading the above, they are probably the thin (wrong?) ones.

Cheers,
bigdonx

Try TF Tuned – they have loads of different seal kits on their spares bit

http://www.tftunedshox.com/Catalogue/Shop-RockShox/RockShox/RockShox-Recon-Parts

30 front / 35 rear ish. Sometimes a bit more (never more than 40), sometimes less, depending on tyres and/or terrain. I weigh about 13st.

Quite normal to hear a bit of “swoosh woosh” with Rockshox forks (well some of them at least), what forks you got?

Edit – at least sounds like air – but it’s probably oil/air in the damping part….

Have had the rubbage thing on a few occasions with Kyle Straits – usually after lots of pedalling with saddle down a bit.

Sudo Cream (or however you spell it) is the way forward……

I started with 32/20 (29″) and was glad I did, think if i’d gone straight for the “classic” 32/18 I’d have given up with ss – the hills would have beaten me.

Few hills involved in my local ssing routes though

Got one of these http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-swap-pex-scott-genius-mc50-5-travel-full-suss-frame-medium-1
which comes with a fully serviced shock……..

I know you are after a complete bike , but if your interested……..email me and make me an offer that suits your budget.

Cheers,
bigdonx

PS apologies for the lack of useful input other than trying to sell you something, but just thought it may be the kind of thing you’re looking for.

Taking time to get it set up well in the first place is critical – otherwise it will p1ss you off to the point where you will become a tubele-sceptic.
You will need lots of Fairy liquid, and lots of patience (at least IME with non-tubeless ready tires and rims)

Druidh – I’m liking that, a nice balance of Blue/White, with just enough of a smattering of red/black in the right places……..very nice!

One set of mine have the proper blanking caps on the other set have Duck Tape – works fine – it’s just for keeping foreign bodies out, not waterproofing.

Ton – are your past knee problems biking related? I’m starting to get worried now that I’m a (relativly) new entrant to my 5th decade!

Currently only on one pee per night – I guess that progresses in parallel with the knees……… 🙁

Like the ones here??

Or

Here

They’re not cheap though! Or is it the original mini ones?

Aye, it’s not actually a Stans rim, its a Sun, but using a Stans No Tubes kit, is what I meant.

It’s only a small ding and to be honest not sure yet if it’s the cause of my problem. I have had two occasions of the the bead seeming to come away from the rim – in the same place I think. I had a good look at the rim this time before trying again and that’s when I found the dingette. I have marked it and will see if I get a similar result again – but it may well be another, as yet unknown, issue.

Never thought about an adjustable – obvious now I think about it – Cheers.

Realman – where your last piccie from? It has a weirdly familiar feel – anywhere near St.Martin de Bellville??

Probably why companies like On-One do so well – after a wannabe gnarly dude has spent all his money on a 6" bike, discoved he can't go large enough, so buys a 8" bike. Still confused about why he's not going large, he then discovers that it's actually much more fun to ride a hardtail on relatively non-gnarly terrain – at that point an On-One is all he can afford!!

All IMHO of course………

probably because an XC bike is what everyone at some point realises is all they need (after they've tried and failed to be huck meisters) – so XC bikes should, logically, sell themselves……

Edit – "logically" to the marketing folk I mean!

It's marketing to (some/lots of) mtbers aspirations. Problem, as you rightly say, is that you kind of get sucked into the hype and half the non-sense that's spoken.

It's a very accessible "extreme" sport to get into, so I would say yes the marketing boys sex it up to encourage armchair extreme sportspeople to spend some more money on bigger, better, newer things that they don't need……plus all the accessories you need if you're going to go large!!

That's the way the industry will continue to go until it stops selling bikes that way.

Witnesses are good.

You should at least be reporting the guy to his employer.

Legal fees should be paid if/when you win – it wasn't your fault.

Have you tried speaking to your own insurance (which you should have if you run a business)? There may be something in your own cover, plus they will want to know incase of any future claim of any sort.

If you are sufferring concussion, you should be looking into at least reporting the incident incase of further complications – insurance people like to be informed straight away, otherwise they don't like to pay!

Make a record/notes of exactly what happened while it's still clear(ish) in your mind. Dates, times, witnesses, etc, etc. Same for witness statements.

Even if you don't take it further, with a bash to the head I would be gathering as much info as possible while it's still freash in peoples memory.

Apart from the ones made by deer, sheep, badgers, rabbits…

I wonder do deer, sheep, badgers, and rabbits have similar debates about what kind of trails they prefer / are allowed to wander on? I mean I think a rabbit might struggle with a step-up made by a deer, and the deer might have a problem where the badgers decide to go sub-terranean……..

And as for sheep, well they are basically man-made themselves, does that not mean the trails they make are effectively man-made??

SLX – pretty dashed good for £30 IMO – Merlin &/or Wooly Hat Shop often have them sub £30.

at 26 was spent 50% of my time on a boat looking for oil around Europe and Africa, and the other 50% skiing, travelling, and generally having a tremendous amount of fun!

To be fair I was on quite a good salary for a 26 year old with no responsibilities/morgage/etc – so that helped – oh and the 6 months of the year I did work were pretty enjoyable too.

When I was 30 I quit and went skiing full time for a few winters. Now 41 and been back to a more "conventional" lifestyle with family, house, cats, mtb, etc for a few years – and to be honest that's pretty good fun too!

All that travelling stuff IS character building, it's not just a cliche – you learn lots about yourself and other people (especially how to deal/communicate with them)which is the kind of stuff that makes a difference when you embark on your next career challenge……plus I think in most cases it makes you appreciate your "lot" a bit more after seeing some of the more sh1tty parts of the world.

Swimming works for me – takes the weather excuse out of the equation, also it's nice and gentle on muscles that have just done nothing for the last 8 hours (tryed running in the morning, didn't work for both of the above reasons.
Defininetly get kit ready the night before, and get up and get get ready as soon as you hear the alarm – the instant I give myself time to think, then its all over!!
Also it really is a good feeling to come out of the pool exercised, refreshed, and totally ready to take on the day!

Anyone else got an i7??

Do you have one of those bleed kits for Formula Brakes (Avid one works as well) – pretty good bits of kit, make the job very easy and there is a video on youtube I think that shows how to do it – the vid is for Avid brakes – but basically the same principle.
I've used it with Formula K24's, I would guess that your ones will be a similar process.
Good luck.

scaredypants – I did see the Rase one somewhere – is it of the mach 10 nut crusher variety, or the nicely damped nut caressor type?

Crashdummy – how tall are you? I too have an 18" Five which I'm planning the uppie/downie for. Not sure if I like the sound of forking out a couple of hundred quid for something that I can't get to the full height I want – kind of deafeats the purpose.
I'm 5'9" ish by the way – so not overly tall……..
Have you any idea how much distance from the top of the seat tube to top of the saddle at full extension?

Cheers m_b_28, how long have you had the i7? Didn't think they'd been avaiable for very long??

Any more for anymore??

There'll be air in the system that "rises" to the caliper end when bike upside down.
Need bled really, but if you do the cable tie trick and then keep the bike upright between rides the situation should improve. Most of the air should rise to the top of the reservoir – and stay there.

Having said that, my experience of the same symptoms has been with Shimano brakes – the Formula reservoir arrangement means that they (the reservoirs) may not be at the highest point where air will settle??

Cheers Scruff – looks interesting – the more options the merrier……

My winter setup is Swampthing ST 2.35(ish) on the front, Minion DHF (also 2.35ish, but not ST) on the back. Works pretty good in exactly the condtions/terrain you describe.

Had a ST Swampthing on the rear for a while, but by the time I got to the trails it was time to go home – v slow on the tar! Wouldn't bother with ST on the rear again.

Can't comment on the non ST Swampthings.

On the steeper bumpy climbs try and avoid dismounting, if you do make sure you don't "miss out" any of the hill by walking to where it's easy to get back on – walk back down a bit if you have to, but try and ride the whole hill – this helps get over the "can't do that bit" thoughts that will "allow" you to stop at that tricky point everytime.
Then set yourself targets to get past your usual dismount spots, eventually all the hills pieces will join into one……..success
Takes time though.
Also using your very lowest granny gear can make things more difficult as you don't have enough momentum to get over small bumps etc which will stop you in your tracks – try a gear up.

I've had a pair of Kyle Straights for 3 or 4 years and they are still going strong.

Very unobtrusive – can be worn all day, and easy to maintain – stick them in the washing machine, and most importantly have saved my knees on numerous occasions!

What's not to like?

Forget lower gear / higher cadence – you want higher gear / higher cadence! Get rid of your granny ring – that's what worked for me, and make yourself get up hills that you would have required the granny for (if you had one!).
Strength will improve and hence speed – all IMHO of course

Another + for the Cyclus tool – excellent bit of kit, use mine lots (mind you quite alot on other peoples bikes who don't have one!)

Somebody once showed me a trick using a wheel (think it has to be one with cone/bearing arrangement – take out the skewer and the axle screws into the mech hanger, and you can use the wheel to lever it back into position – trailside trick that one!

Four cows in a field – which one's on holiday???
The one with the wee calf……….

Cheers Loco – Sag measured Standing in "attack"/pointing down hill riding position? or sitting with seat high for climbing/flat? Or some other option/combo??

Edit – should have read the guide first……….

Soulrider – thanks for your valuable input!

Feel free to point out the "rubbish" from the useful parts above.

I was under the impression that ProPedal is a low speed compression damping adjustment (not strictly a platform which has a defined threshold), with settings 1 to 3 increasing the resistance to low speed inputs eg rolley trails, pedalling forces, etc, but still allows the shock to work when you get a "higher speed" hit, eg drop off landing, square edge, etc.

So in theory (if riding agressively) PP shouldn't affect you reaching full travel??

Cheers for the answers guys. At least I know I'm not way out and I can increase the pressure for a bit of experimentation.

I was using the PP in position 3, as to be honest I can't see the point otherwise (yet!).

I think the tuning on my RP23 is "Med" IIRC. It's an '09/10 frame, brand new – the last of the old models.