I just saw someone on a great looking road bike with all the mountain bike gear, it look odd

My road bike’s shit. Can I wear baggies?

This is one of the best 6bs you’ll ever climb.

If you’re staying the Milly campsite it’s walking distance too.

I’ve been using an Osprey Raptor 6 for a while, and it’s great, except it rubs my back quite annoyingly. I tried to go back to the Mule but the shape reminded my why I stopped using it.

Now I’m looking for something else about the same size, that’s not sausage shaped or an Osprey.

Had a look at an Evoc 10, but the waist strap sat right across my stomach, which p1ssed me right off.

iainc – So would you say newer Mules are less sausage-like? (I’ve got a new bladder but it doesn’t seem to help with my old one.)

Mine’s not got a stiff back and I’m not sure the new ones have either.

Do you mean the Charge and the Volt? They do look good and feel comfy in the shop. I hate having waist straps done up though, so I’m not sure how I’d get on with them.

That price looks like pretty good value – and not a huge amount above what I’ve paid at trade in the past.

Belay plate and HMS are fine.

As to whether the harness is comfy, that depends on you. Ignore the comments about none being comfy. You’ve just got to find the right one.

The time you’ll notice a harness most is when you’re holding the rope for a leader who’s taking a long rest, so try and replicate that angle of pull in the shop (assuming they have a testing point).

As above: 32 is fine. I’m using all of the sprockets on an 11-36 cassette on a regular basis, but that’s what they’re there for. Climbing in the Peak, Lakes and Northumberland (up for 40k days out) has been fine.

I do spin out occasionally however. It’s not a problem at all in day-to-day riding (my other bike’s a singlespeed, so it happens all the time), but I’ll put a 34-tooth ring back on the front for racing (enduro stuff).

I’ve currently got an Ardent EXO 2.25 run tubeless on the back, having always used Minion fronts in the past. It’s been pretty tough (one pinch in two months in the Peak District), reasonably fast-rolling, great around corners and surprisingly grippy at this time of year. It’s not great in really muddy stuff, but if it’s just wet, or rocky, it’s great. I think the Minion is probably a better all-round tyre, but I’m not planning on binning the Ardent any time soon. I’ll certainly be running it on the rear in the summer.

I thought there was occasionally an issue with Schwalbe tyres and Stans rims. I think the rims are a little larger than usual (to help convert standard tyres) and Schwalbe tyres are a little tighter than usual for the same reason. Usually it’s fine, but if you get one or other that’s at the limit of the manufacturing tolerances, you’ll struggle a bit.

My 26″ set was fine, not that it helps.

Dothie Valley.
Grizedale.
Quantocks.
Surrey Hills.
Northumberland border ride.

(in no particular order!)

Ten miles east of Matlock? You shouldn’t be too far from Ashover. There’s a good hour or so’s worth of singletrack around there if you want a quick escape. It’s in the Vertebrate book again, although there’s an extra descent you should add to their route.

EDIT – Although it is, as NBT says, a little sticky there just now.

My word. Mine might not even have lasted a week if I hadn’t greased them!

I tried budget bearings in my rear switch. A week in the Alps and they needed replacing. Four weeks later they needed doing again.

Maybe I went too cheap…

EDIT – I think it’s a 6804 you need, not a 61804.

Just had an eye test, 20/20 and no problems, thanks. No, wait, 0.25 longsighted in one eye.

Still getting dazzled.

It’s not a question of not hitting a bright light, it’s a question of hardly being able to see anything immediately after a group of six or so riders have gone the other way with their bar and helmet lights on full beam.

It’s a tricky one. On one hand, if I’m on a skinny road bike and hitting 25 mph+ down a Peak hill, I want to be able to see the potholes.

On the other, I’m regularly blinded by night-riding mountain bikers and roadies around the peak when I’m in the car. On a mountain bike I always have my ‘proper’ lights on the lowest settings and pointed at the ground/shielded by my hands.

I’d also disagree that they’re less blinding than a car headlamp, possible due to the angle they point at, especially if there are a few of you. We’ve virtually forced oncoming cars to a halt (by mistake when forgetting to dim lights) when nightriding in a group of 4/5.

Exactly that. You’ll need the wide ratio mech. It was probably a bit slack in small/small, but why would you use that?

My tiny clutch Zee is lighter than my medium non-clutch SLX, worked fine with a double and now with a single ring, and seems tough (it’s survived six months of me riding it, and I have a tendancy to drop bikes onto their mechs when I crash). I like it.

Ok i’ll give every single hold and wall (for smears) on the problem a brush before i start it. I’ll jump right on that

You’re climbing indoors, right? It’s probably busy at the mo? And the holds are getting dirty and greasy? So if you’re slipping off a particular hold, yes, you may need to give it a quick brush.

I’m not suggesting you don’t have good footwork. If the holds are greasy you often have to pay way more attention than you’d expect to a particular move. I get caught out by this ALL the time.

It’s more likely to be the hold than your shoe. Give that a brush, or just pay more attention to your feet on the move in question.

(Provided you’ve given the soles a quick squeak before pulling on, of course.)

Peter that should be capitals for Surrey and God, if you can’t manage two Capital letters then just for Surrey …..

Actually, it’s only a capital G for god if you’re talking about THE God. I’ll not mention your ‘Capital’. Or your five-dot ellipsis. (Whoops.)

If you’re going to be a pedant, do it right! 😉

Crossmark? Ardent if you want a bit more grip?

Warning: potentially utterly useless reply as I haven’t got any Formula brakes to look at (at work) and have only done a brief google.

That sounds like the top of the master cylinder. I’m not sure if there’s a seal there that can be replaced on its own or if you need to buy an entire new body. Ukbikestore used to be good for parts.

If there’s just a little bleeder hole that fluid’s leaking out of, it is sometimes possible (with other brakes) to get water or something on top of the reservoir and for this to then bubble out and appear to be leaking, but that’s probably unlikely given the position of the cylinder. Is it definitely brake fluid?

EDIT: What he said.

Genuine mistake followed by apology?

If you’ve got a lower roller fitted then, unless I’m missing something really obvious, a clutch mech won’t make a blind bit of difference, so don’t worry about that.

Wow. Really?

ESI grips are great until the first crash. Then you just have some scraps of material flapping around the ends of your bars…

They’re brilliant bikes! I’ve had three (one MX, two ‘normal’ Prophets.) Raced XC, the Mega, done mutli-day trips… awesome.

Never cracked or broken, but my MX did go through shock bushings VERY fast, which was annoying.

To answer an earlier question: I got the shock pushed on the MX. It felt good – I felt it had been bottoming out too easily prior to that.

I’m about to strip a large 2009(?) frame to sell if anyone’s interested… 😉

I shouldn’t have watched Dog Soldiers last week

😆

My favourites are 24/12 and the Strathpuffer. How adventurous are you feeling?

I know a few people gone for Mayhem first and loved it, the atmosphere’s ok, the scenery is average and the courses aren’t the best. I’ll not do it again.

Bonty is smaller, but the atmosphere’s ‘fun’ and the course is good Scenery? Some woods and fields.

Strathpuffer’s awesome, but you need to really sort your kit out. It’s got the best scenery, fantastic riding and a friendly atmosphere but it’s also pretty ‘basic’, especially with the long night.

I’d suggest 24/12.

They just drove off?

Not me, sorry, mine’s an 18. It is loads of fun to ride though.

Bfe, overpriced

Yet cheaper than either a Slackline or an Alpine. Or pretty much anything else bar an On One

and beefed up gas pipes

Yet an 853 down tube…

with geometry optimised for 120mm fork,

You want more? On a hardtail? And they ride very well with 140…

(and a mate recently snapped his chain stay after two years).

So did mine. And Cy replaced it for him.

You don’t really know what you’re talking about, do you?

I’d not mention it if you weren’t talking such complete bobbines, but I’ve won Gravity Enduro rounds (hardtail cat) and podiumed at 24 hr races on them. So yeah, rubbish bikes. Souls/Bfes are great fun.

On the other hand, I’ve just bought a Slackline. It’s not as well finished, but it’s longer, lower and stiffer. Better at playing in the woods and going fast downhill, but also heavier and possibly a little less lively for XC stuff. Depends what you’re after. I now have the Slackline built up for ‘fun’ and my battered Soul for XC.

I’ve not ridden an Alpine.

If it’s a ‘well known retailer’ that happens to have a few stores and a head office, then a polite ‘disappointed customer’ email to the HQ/Big Boss may well work wonders.

I know when I’ve worked in shops in the past we’d get a right rollocking passed down from head office to area manager to manager etc when this happened – even if the customer was basically being a dick in the first place.

Cheers – looks like all is not lost!

Ta. I’m guessing Raceface ones would mean new cranks… Saint ones might be worth a look.

Think it might be back to Maxxis for me…

Anyone want a three-ride old Pacestar Hans Dampf?

Haha, Cheers! Some people puncture Snakeskin, some don’t. Some rate LUST, some don’t! Some like EXO… I should have known! 😆

I think there are enough people with ‘fragile’ Schwalbe’s that I’m not risking more money and punctures on a Snakeskin.

Anyone used a Super Gravity Schwalbe and able to compare it to a Snakeskin?

BWD – I’ve popped LUST tubeless before too. How’s the EXO holding up?

Are the Super Gravity versions better? I’m not sure if they’re beefed up under the tread (Schwalbe make a big thing about how light they are there!!) or just on the sidewalls.

Any EVO users?

The HDs have been on a hardtail and a full suss around the Peak and Wharncliffe. Pressure around 30psi in the rear, (35 if I’m racing and really don’t want to puncture), so not silly low. I don’t really like hard tyres and I’d go lower if I could.

I’m a fairly ‘clumsy’ rider through the rocks…

I guess I’ve probably just been unlucky.

Any experience of Maxxis EVO v LUST? I’m thinking of going up to either 2.4 Ardents or 2.5 Minions in EVO.

Even Snakeskin ones?

I assume these are Kevlar-beaded Maxxis? What rims are you running?

I’ve blown a few Maxxis tyres off the rim when running ghetto tubeless (inner tube, Mavic/WTC rims), so went back to steel beads as a) you can still get decent compounds, b) they’re cheaper and c) I don’t mind the weight.

Based on that, I’ve always felt it’s the bead that’s the problem – too loose and it seems to stretch. I’m not sure [caveat – I don’t ‘know’] that the EXO bead is any different.

That said, I’ve got a LUST on the back [same bead again?] and haven’t had any problems. That is with a Stan’s rim, mind, which seems to ‘lock’ the bead on more.