I think the shim stack was altered a tiny tiny bit to give a more subtle low speed compression feel. It was a very minor change.

Creaky/clicking pivot bearings

Rick- I take it you’re affiliated with the trade or have a good connection to a source if you have more in stock? Care to divulge an STW special pricing scheme…?

The link above confirms recharging with a shock pump is OK, so no need for nitrogen.

398-00-662 looks to be the only tool that can’t easily be worked around. A good pin spanner will get the damper out, a 14mm hex key with the chamfer ground off will get the base plate out. I’m sure a bit of filing on a cheap socket woul make that 662 tool quite nicely. It’s rare that you can’t effectively work around a special tool, especially with a very well equipped shed. Shame about a £120 parts price, that more or less cuts out me putting one in as I can easily live without at that cost.

If it’s that little then it’ll be a miracle! It’s generally a 3 figure minimum for anything damper/valve related. I’d fit one for £20 plus some red oil.

http://www.ridefox.com/help.php?m=bike&id=664

Straightforward enough, but what’s the parts cost…?

I still remain curious if anyone has added the climb switch to their X2 yet? Dare we even ask how much Fox will charge for the pleasure!

Novyparts is who you’re looking for

The distance between the pots, large pad size and overall size of the caliper means a 160 disc won’t have a good contact path with the pads. An E4 on the rear would be better in your situation, or realistically that mount isn’t going to break, so put on a 180mm. The back wheel will lock up and skid with a 160mm disc, and it’ll do the same with a 180mm, so you’re not going to be putting any more force through the frame with a 180. The fork would be a very different story though.

£500 sounds like a week in the lakes or similar…..that’s assuming you haven’t already allocated pocket money to holidays etc.

P&klie or park tool master are both very good and feel nice in the hand. The p&klie is my favourite at the moment as it does have a very precise fit and is really easy to put a lot of force on due to the wide design

Teasing the olive open a little more helps a lot if your cutters haven’t left you with a nice clean cut on the braiding.

Hope, love them or hate them. Personally I’m a hope brake fan boy. Of the 5 bikes in the house, only one is not a hope setup. We have the full range from x2 to v4 and each is excellent. They do need a little more tlc than other brands, but if you do have a problem then parts are very easily available and they’re a doddle to strip and rebuild. There is also a lot to be said for supporting British industry.

It was a retail boxed fork, and yes, had a good play with the spacers. I can improve the feel by adding one blue and one orange spacer, but then seem to sacrifice about 10mm of travel unless taking a massive hit. They are a great fork when ridden hard and setup for that, just miffed at myself for choosing the version I did originally.

Is there a market for used FIT4 dampers to recoup some cost? Any idea what one would be worth in perfect working order?

I’ve fiddled to no end with the FIT4. A big part of it is trying to tweak out the harshness, but it appears the E16 tune on the FIT4 may resolve this from the recent announcements. The other issue is having no HSC means I’ve been unable to find a balance between big hit compliance and g-out/braking compression.

The 2017 dampers haven’t been announced yet, but I don’t suspect there will be any revolutions there. Certainly don’t want to splurge for the sake of it, but I’m also keen to try something different now (without going into the custom tuning options).

It was one of my ‘minus’ points when deciding to get the X2, but having run it for a good 6 months, I’m pleased to say I don’t miss the climb switch in the slightest. It’s now setup so well that pedal Bob is very limited (OK, DW Link on an HD3 might be helping here) and on tricky tech ascents the added traction is a bit of an eye opener. I’ve also not ended up hitting the climb switch, then ended up blowing so hard I forgot it was on and ended up a bit skittish in a big descent.

I’ve also taken the same view with the fork now, get it setup perfectly then leave it alone.

As for the CS upgrade, then at some point soon the X2 is headed into mojo for a good servicing. I’m actually pondering if I even bother asking how much the CS upgrade is as it’ll bring another faff element back into the bike. But then, if it’s only £50 or less then I’d consider it (I’ll be paying out for the service cost, and mojo usually chuck in any upgrades at parts cost only if they are doing a service). Either way, I’m certainly not rushing to get one fitted as the shock is so good in the first place.

Magic Mary up front with a rock razor on the rear. Otherwise I’m partial to a hans dampf on the rear and magic Mary up front in the winter. The Doris runs a nobby nic (latest version in 2.25 pace star) on the rear and hans dampf up front, and swears by the combo. What has made both our wheelsets turn into grip monsters is moving over to Ibis 741 rims as the extra width really makes the most of these tyres.

We’re with MS, very good apart from they use Wheelies for any bike related claims. Unfortunately this is where a good insurer suddenly gets ruined thanks to the frighteningly bad service (I’ve had a very bad run in – basically if it’s a low end off the shelf bike you’re ok, but anything high end or custom then you’re in a world of difficulties).

Very reasonable. Usual cost £25 to £35 labour and £1.40 to £1.90 per spoke and nipple. Extra £5 to 10 to strip an old wheel. Obviously the price ranges for spokes depend on quality and brand. You also tend to get charged a touch more labour for a boutique carbon rim as opposed a cheaper aluminium one (although I’ve never figured why as carbon builds up much easier as they’re so much stiffer).

Mine has been outstanding. Moved from a DW link 5 spot to the HD3 and never looked back. It is genuinely a proper all day adventure machine. It’s not perfect, and is horrendously priced, but I’m extremely pleased with it.

If you want to be mega picky then the DB Inline as stock isn’t reliable, the bearings are only protected by their own seals and the head tube tolerance has meant some people can’t fit a CK headset as it is a bit oversized compared to some frames. I did have a bushing issue, but it was resolved next day by 2Pure.

Overall, I’m keeping this for a long while.

If you ask nicely, I’ve got a nearly new 350 rear hub in 12×142 with the 36t upgrade going for sale. I’d have kept it if it weren’t for everything else in the house being hope.

Turbo=turbine. As most turbo trainers are derived from a ‘turbine’ resistance mechanism, you get ‘turbo trainer’.

And anyone will tell you, turbos are just cooler.

That’s correct. Look at the fox 36 YouTube video for how to install the axle. Once it’s all tight, then the wheel will be perfectly snug with the lowers in perfect stress relief from tightening.

http://cyclenaturel.com/2015/02/13/tips-tricks-unclipping-a-quick-connect-chain-link-with-a-spoke/

Crude, but if you carry pliers in your bag (like a Leatherman) then it’s a lightweight effective method.

As for putting it back on, as already said, join it as best you can, hold the back brake and push down on a pedal.

Enve crash replacement is a big point to consider. If you have a crash, then you can send back the damaged rim and get a new one for 50% of RRP. I’ve recently been through this, and a 3 day turnaround can’t be snuffed at.

I honestly prefer the Ibis 741 rims against Enve.

https://www.bike-components.de/en/Schwalbe/Magic-Mary-Evolution-SnakeSkin-TrailStar-27-5-Faltreifen-p40038/

Be quick, they’re not going to be there for long!

Part of the damage was a carbon rim that had a huge lateral run out as a result of a big impact. I had sent a video with the measurements to the manufacturer and UK distributer. Both came back very quickly and advised it should be scrapped. Although it was not outwardly cracked, it was very likely compromised.

Wheelies decided (and I actually have this in writing from them) that the wheel should be returned to them and they would true it up no problem. I did question this and give them the opportunity to rethink their plan as it’s a bent carbon wheel, but no, they wanted to true it back up.

If I hadn’t appreciated and understood the process of carbon component replacement etc. I’d now be riding a rim that could go bang on the next hit thanks to Wheelies.

Needless to say we had a big falling out at this point as Wheelies decided to go against the recommendations of the manufacturer and industry best practice. A trip to my LBS resulted in an instant recommendation not to ride the rim and a replacement would be required.

Sadly I too had a very bad experience with Wheelies. They consistently did their own thing, sometimes over inflating the claim, sometimes telling straight lies and occasionally putting my safety at risk. Fortunately the insurance company agreed I could head to an LBS for a damage valuation (I had the damaged bike). LBS was brilliant, sorted out a quote and the insurers did a cash settlement.

I genuinely think Wheelies are good at direct ‘off the shelf’ replacements of low to mid range bikes. It’s an easy process for them to supply from stock. Where they didn’t have the competency is evaluating damage on components and sorting out higher end custom builds. If it’s highlighted anything, having and using a good LBS is worth paying a slightly higher price versus the online discounters.

2×11. Highly unfashionable, almost frowned on, but it is so much more versatile for heavily mixed terrain. I enjoy riding/slogging up horrendous stuff and pedalling back down. 1×11 just leaves it a bit short of the desired range for me. I don’t get confused by all the levers and wouldn’t exactly say the bars are cluttered thanks to ispec etc. Ride what suits you, and ignore the fashion police.

not had a go with the lyriks, but I am a 36 convert after riding pikes for a while. They do have a very stiff chassis, so really helps the front end stay put. The small bump compliance of the 36 is harsher than the pikes (and lyriks if reports are right) but when you’re pushing hard they are so much more responsive and capable. You just have to decide if you want a plush feeling fork or something that thanks you for pushing the limits.

If you can, then wait a few months for the 2017 fox lineup as there are rumours the harshness has been tweaked out….

Was at gisburn yesterday, it is indeed covered in ice. It is doable with very low tyre pressures and some gentle riding, but be bloody careful on the rocky descents as there are patches of black ice on top of most rocks.

Snow may be a big problem on the north loop there today, and the roads will be entertaining too.

Zipvit sport regularly have offers on their website of pretty much everything. Fairly decent stuff too (the caffeine energy gel is rocket fuel)

638 will come out as the ‘substrate’ carbon is uneven and the headset is so smoothly machined (and anodised). You will need a decent remover and the frame held securely. It’s not like it’s going to weld it together!

Worst case, you could fit the headset with some bearing fit or similar (loctite 638 is particularly good for this type of application where shocks and vibrations are going to occur). Once it’s in and cured, then is not going to move. Make sure to coat the inside of the head tube and the outside of the headset so there’s a generous quantity to fill all the carbon surface. You should be able to get it back out one day (hopefully never needed), but you’ll need to work at it a bit!

It’s possible you’ve got a CK headset at the lower end of the tolerance scale and a mojo that’s on the upper end.

Do you know what headset the original owner had in there? Being carbon it could be there’s been something very tight in there, and now you’ve got something that’s supposedly a proper fit, that the frame has been left a little wider than original.

Other possibility is the original owner has done a gash job at some point and had the headtube reamed out to remove some scuffs or damage.

I wouldn’t expect it to be an issue once the fork is in and the headset has a decent preload applied. My main concern would be it creaking a little if it’s not a snug fit. This should be eliminated with some grease.

I’ve fitted 2 CK headsets into HD3 mojos and I can’t say either would have gone in by hand. They’ve needed a pressing tool, but it’s not required as much force as some others I’ve put into different frames.

It might be worth an email to ‘ask chuck’ and see what they reckon. You usually get an excellent response in 24h or less.

Did you use any grease?

https://www.invisiframe.co.uk/StumpJumper

There isn’t a 2013 listed, but there are later models that I’m relatively sure will also fit. The invisiframe come as a complete kit, and you can specify matt or gloss finish. Looking at your photo, a matt finish would be pretty good. A complete kit will also help protect the whole frame if it’s still in pretty good condition. I’ve certainly thanked myself for doing it on more than one occasion!

If you don’t want a complete kit, then perhaps call invisiframe and see if they will do just the lower parts.

Probably not a cheap option for just a bike bag(not done the homework locally in Inverness so could be wrong), but a storage rental company might do a deal on a small bin or locker for a week or two.

I know a number of people that have stored stuff at this type of place while on holiday. i.e. first half of trip is with their canoes, then second half is tourist stuff, so they used temporary storage to securely keep their kit until travelling back.

I’m running a magic mary trailstar compound as the tyre weight is reasonable (other versions are very heavy but amazingly sticky). The nobby nic doesn’t get overwhelmed by the magic mary, but compliments it quite well in sloppy conditions. In dry or rocky conditions, then the nobby nic will not perform against a magic mary. This is where a hans damp suits very well on the rear when a magic mary is up front.

I’ve also been tempted to put a magic mary on the rear, and with conditions set to stay wet, I’m very tempted. It will obviously mean that any transitions on road or fireroad are going to burn the thighs a bit! All good training though!