I stopped reading MBUK when i turned 13.

You say that like it’s a mag for kids. You could be 13½ for all we know.

Google maps has live traffic data. Put your route in and have a look.

Crank Brothers Pica+ for no other reason than it looks lovely. Touch pricey though.

Where will you be getting your replacement rings from when you need them?

That’s my only thought on the subject.

Not been there, but the Cyclopark in Gravesend has some rocks apparently – http://www.fuki.co/Cyclopark-Mountain-Bike-Trail-Coaching-Session.html?PHPSESSID=9ff4b3c0c09dc4a1cbd7daacc9748d7a

My bum didn’t get on with the Bel Air I had. Much preferred the Spoon.

It really is technique when it comes to getting the tyres on. I’m also running crests with tubes and Maxxis tyres – they were a right pig to get on first time, thought I’d have to carry metal levers with me for all my future rides.

As said above check out the video on the stans site for the correct way to fit tyres. I ended up wading through a whole load of youtube videos and it didn’t take long to find three key pieces of information that now let me fit with my soft pen pusher hands:

1. Start opposite the valve
2. Wear gloves for increased grip and to protect my baby soft skin
3. When working on the second side of the tyre, get in in the central channel of the rim.

There isn’t much of a channel on Crests, so you may need to chase the tyre bead into the channel more than once (maybe 3-4 times) as the bead becomes harder to fit around the rim. I’ve found that each time you push the bead into the central channel gives repeatedly more slack in the unseated section of the bead and allows the remaining part of the tyre to simply push on with little force.

I spent a couple of hours practicing in a warm kitchen and it’s now an easy job that I’m more than confident in undertaking on the trail.

Ok. Many thanks for your help.

I’ve got another cassette and chain if needs be, so no worries there.

Have I bought the wrong chain ring, or have CRC sent me the wrong chain ring, or is the chain ring I have packaged incorrectly?

I mean it says ‘middle’ on the packet – surely that means it’s intended for the middle of a set of chain rings?

Hmmm, mine doesn’t look exactly like that, it looks like this –

It states middle 8/9/10sp chainring on the packaging though?

I tried some cheap low profile goggles for a while – these to be precise… http://www.i-sunglasses.com/Birdz-Wing-Lightweight-One-Piece-Goggles-Yellow

They do versions in smoke, blue and clear too and I thought they would be ideal for mountain biking. Unfortunately I found a few issues, the biggest being that when I sweated heavily on a climb the sweat would leak into the goggles and they would actually fill up! Not ideal.

Ventilation wasn’t particularly good either, but I still keep my eyes open for something similar that may perform better.

I’m not feeling much love for the Superstar BB’s!

I didn’t realise that Uberbike did BB’s (thanks argoose) – been impressed with them before so may well give them a chance with their ceramic BB.

http://www.uberbikecomponents.com/view-product/Uberbike-Bottom-Bracket-Ceramic-68-73mm—Black-Truvativ-SRAM-GXP-MTB-Road-Compatible

Why bother buying Stans rims and then add a tube?

Knowing what I know now I doubt I would buy again for my needs, but then hindsight is a wonderful thing.

My reasons for purchasing Crests and sticking with tubes were as follows:
-They were one of the lightest rims available
-Reportedly they were very strong for their weight
-They were available as a wheelset with the hubs I wanted
-They can be run with tubes
-Gives me the option to go tubeless in the future if I wish

The reason I won’t be running them tubeless for now if that I also commute on my bike and run at 60 – 65psi, Stans recommends that these rims when run tubeless do not exceed 45psi.

I understand what the yellow tape does, but it also works as a rim tape does it not?

Stans yellow tape has been dispatched from CRC so I’m hopeful it will be with me soon. I didn’t use the yellow tape to start with because I wanted to get out riding! Didn’t work out though 🙁

The front wheel has also developed a clicking noise, if you shake the wheel you can hear something moving about in the rim, so the tape that is currently on there will be coming off to try and fix.

As far as I read on the Stans website it’s safe to run higher pressures if you run with a tube – http://messageboard.notubes.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2948 I’m still not going for 100psi though!

I’ll wait and see how it mounts when I’ve got the yellow tape on them. Thanks for the responses so far.

Had “There’s a light on your head!” from a group of kids yesterday. I had an answer in a second to his witty comment, but was still too far away to bother shouting it out.

Also recently had “Oi bruv! Bruv! Bruuuuuv!!! Bruv! Come back!!” from a guy at a bus stop I didn’t even get a look at. Just why would I want to be stopping? My brother lives miles away.

The worst for me was a group of four mid teen school girls walking down a very steep and long road in an isolated area. God knows what they were there, but anyway I had just spent the last 7 or so mins in the granny ring grinding my way up the hill looking like some sort of scuba Steve who’d forgotten where the sea was. Speed would usually be my friend in a social gathering of this kind, but it was all I could do was try to look like I wasn’t absolutely spent at my snail like pace.

The odds were against me and it was inevitable that a comment would be coming, after all they had plenty of time to think of something. To my surprise all I got was a hello. I replied in kind and thought all was good!

I then got at least 30 seconds of constant abuse for not saying goodbye 🙁

What’s brown and funny? Clown poo.

What do you call a bear with no ears? B.

What do you call a fish with no eyes? Fsh.

To fish in a tank, one says to the other – can you really drive this thing?

Many thanks all – most informative as usual on here 🙂

Most HGV’s are limited to 56mph by law, so you may want to check your speeds, but this is depends to your perception of what constitutes a ‘large truck’.

If there have been deaths on the road due to speed, why aren’t the council doing anything to reduce speeds there? Have you raised concerns with them?

Have you approached the operator of the trucks to see if you can ask them to reduce speeds? Not many businesses want to cause problems on their door step.

On the flip side as an operator of an HGV fleet I have had nothing but grief about our vehicles travelling through a particular area. I’ve had complaints about 7 tonne vehicles going through 7.5 tonne vehicle restrictions because the public aren’t always as clued up as they like to think and I’ve also had many, many speeding complaints – all proven to be rubbish via GPS and digital tachograph records.

Thanks everyone – I was just slightly miffed that after purchasing some new disks online and also separately purchasing new bolts to go with them, that the discs did indeed come with bolts.

None are mentioned in the product descriptions and none shown in the pictures. I know I can send them back easily enough and it’s just a few quid, so it’s just a minor grumble!

Many thanks all – order placed 🙂

Depends weather the brand of hub you buy has that option.

Sorry, maybe didn’t explain too clearly – the hub has the option of the 10mm through axle, but I just want to check that it will definitely fit in the standard QR dropouts on the bike.

The Zee rear hubs look great value too. 10 or 12mm bolt through for £30-40 and faster freewheel pick up than normal hubs.

What sort of bearings do the Zee and Saint hubs use?

Fog lights on?

You are most certainly not stuck with a spanner my friend! You could also use a socket wrench 😀

No need to thank me.

So who wins the fight at 50 and 1:13?? I’m routing for the little guy.

The “can’t judge distance” line is odd – how do you manage with ambulances?

I think the rate of the flash is key here. I use a Moon Shield 60 as my sole rear light on its steady flash mode – nice and bright and grabs attention. It’s always angled slightly downwards though with a view to ensure no one is dazzled.

I also use an Exposure Diablo up front mounted on my lid with a solid beam – gives good spot of light that I can aim wherever I want, whether that be for my vision or to catch a driver’s eye.

Both lights have a ‘strobe’ setting – it’s these setting in my opinion that make judging distance difficult and can be disorientating for other road users.

Shimano PTFE – just thought I’d try it. Not had any problems using it.

Front crud catcher combined with a neoguard works nicely for me. I like the fact my frame was designed for the crud catcher too, so it mounts very nicely and high up the frame – I never understand it when I see them mounted halfway down the down tube!

For the rear I favour the Topeak defender thing – really solid, it does its job and quick release to boot. The quick release is very good, clamps very firmly and the guard doesn’t move around. I hate the looks of any rear guard so being able to remove it quickly does it for me!

Do you have the chain the correct way round as the 10 speed chains are directional ?

Now that I didn’t know! There doesn’t appear to be anything on the chain indicating direction though?

Sounds way too silly, but are you sure you’ve routed it correctly through the mech. Once or twice when I’ve been thinking of other things I’ve put it the wrong side of the little ‘deflection plate’ thing that some mechs have…

Thanks, just checked and all looks good in that department.

The grease is linked to in the second post 🙂

Superb info. will get ordering tonight. Many thanks.

And, if nothing is leaking, leave the seals as they are!

I’m actually at the point of asking myself ‘have I left this too long?’. I don’t want to end up in a position where I need to shell out a few hundred pounds on some new forks.

However there appears to be nothing noticibly wrong with the forks at the moment – no leaks, lock out works well, they feel nice and smooth – but the only maintenance I’ve ever given them is regular cleaning. My concern is that they’ve covered around 5,000 miles and a few threads on here have me concerned that I’ve neglected them in a big way.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

463 commuting miles now under my belt this year. Happy with that 🙂

Eat at the Stay. Nom.

I also found the Bel Air a touch wide, the Aliso is thinner and for me, more comfortable. It’s also dirt cheap over on Wiggle…

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sdg-aliso-saddle-with-titaniumalloy-rails/

29.5ers.

Try it and see? If you have any spacers on your steerer tube you could always shim it up a bit if it’s too low for you.

Lezyne have some good lights in and around the same budget. Exposure lights such as the Diablo may be too pricey, but I love mine (not in a gay way).