Sorry, I wasn’t clear.  It’s the same bike but I have both fork / tyre options.  Living in the Midlands where it isn’t that rough, rigid is fine and the plus tyres have been great during this dry summer.  But I’m not familiar with the terrain and surface at Degla.

Just ordered a 3rd Gen to replace my Inbred singlespeed because my Sherpa doesn’t like that set up.  I love the Sherpa but the horizontal swapouts aren’t quite long enough to get chain tension when running 27.5 with 3″ tires.  The Sherpa will have to put up with being geared and only coming out on the hillier trips.

I use this on one of my singlespeeds https://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CROOSS/on-one-stainless-chainring

And this on the other http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/black-by-absoluteblack-narrow-wide-oval-xt-m8000-chainring/rp-prod139806?gs=1&sku=sku590444&pgrid=55375185827&ptaid=pla-425180682213&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=PLA+All+Products&utm_medium=base&utm_content=mkwid|sqGGNoL8Q_dc|pcrid|253998738371|pkw||pmt||prd|590444UK

Cheap bolts here: https://www.tweekscycles.com/uk/race-face-chainring-bolts-4-pack-sila10060/?istCompanyId=56f52ebf-49f3-492a-9cbb-cb6ab0fc1bf0&istItemId=-xrpwrttlxx&istBid=t&gclsrc=aw.ds/

Pump jiggle spin repeat

27.5+ at the front with a boost Surly Krampus fork and 29 at the rear because I couldn’t get the chain length right to fit the plus tyre in.  The sliding swapouts aren’t long enough.

Stanton Sherpa with a rigid steel fork and 27.5+ wheels

Steel is springier (and real) but carbon lighter obviously.

check out Salsa and Surly for quality steel or Carbon Cycles for value for money carbon.

Bladed carbon looks neater but not essential.

I’m currently running a Van Nicholas VNT on my Sherpa 29er but use a Surly Krampus 110 when using 27.5+ wheels.

Avoid the cheap Chinese carbon on eBay,

Rigid?

dont knock it til you’ve tried it, your climbing will improve no end and flex will not be a problem.  I rode 75k at Honc this weekend on a Stanton with 650g carbon fork and had a blast.

Suspension is overrated for cross country riding. Next thing you know you’ll switch to singlespeed, save weight, save maintenance, get fitter, leave your mates in your wake and enjoy your riding even more.

it’s a thought.

I’d been planning to do it singlespeed but thinking that gears might be more sensible in the mud.  I’ve already decided to swap the 27.5 plus wheels back to 29ers, at least at the rear.

I last saw him at the NEC Bike show and I bought a Surly fork for my Sherpa, my mate Eric bought a whole Karate Monkey.  He’s a regular on the one cogger FB group, easy enough to track down.

https://www.wideopenmountainbike.com/2018/02/stanton-slackline-ti-review

Was there in September and it was as awesome as ever, even though the cafe and shop at Glyncorrwg were closed, which was a disappointment. The caf further down the valley at Cynonville was open tough and the trails there were great too.

FWIW the couple who run the Queens B&B in Glyncorrwg said that Afan is now managed by the same people as BPW.

Malverns. Never been there before so it will be an adventure.

I’ve decided to take the geared hardtail rather than the normal singlespeed, will have to see how it goes.

Poor bike fit is causing your neck/back to be positioned in such a way that the nerve cluster that runs from your spine down your arm is being pinched. It’s C6 I think but a doc or physio will confirm. Try messing with saddle position, stem length, bar width & sweep or even a whole different bike. Good luck.

Stunning views from Breedon Hill this morning.

Tenns here, cheap and effective, can’t fault em.

Or does the op mean do I really need another singlespeed bike?, in which case yes of course.

And you will also die but not from this thankful.

Not one but two pairs of five tens (kestrels off Mrs Bob and freefiders of me mam)! Plus some TLD socks from the boy. Very pleased and looking forward to Thursday’s ride.

Road: mine is retro and not worth 350 so I wouldn’t spend anything on it. Maybe spend it on tools.
MTB: a Gore jacket

MIL in the next room watching trash tv while I smurf the tinternet. She earns her keep though and has done the washing up and made numerous cups of tea.

thoughts turn to static fun(!) in the garage

Jeez are you serious, get a headtorch and put an extra layer on.

Great answers all, tvm

Can it take a solid axle ?

Yes but I’d rather avoid that.

Scotroutes – I’ll look into that one thanks, glad you said it’s 190 not 290, that would be ridiculous. I actually need it to be about 170 but maybe I could cut it down.

Any Krampus owners out there?

Could you put me back together please?

Finally got CLEAR2017 to work by adding a pair of road shoes I’ll probably only wear twic,e but they were a bargain at less than half price and it means on the rare occasion I take the road bike out I won’t be wearing my muddy MTB shoes.

Thanks Poopscoop for the offer of your BC code, I tried to use it and although it initially took off 10% it removed the code when I tried to go through with payment.

May work for others though so here it is as promised… BCMS17K3DDQYYF

i’ve been riding this gravel-hybrid

Looks a tad small for you.

I’ve got one of those Mudhuggers too, they work great but ruin the look of the bike. 😆

use my BC 10% code

Worth a try

Everything in my basket is clearance. I made it apply the code by adding more of the same item, taking the value to £111 before the code would work. But I don’t want 5 pairs of socks.

Ever feel like you don’t have enough gears

No.

Whatever it is, does anyone want it?

Wow, that’s actually cheaper than my solution! 😯

Deal. I’ll mail you.

How would one go about measuring the thickness? (Preferably with equipment I’m likely to own)

This…

Make sure the clutch is on, obvs but easily done. You might want to try a NW chainring, my XT 1×10 used to jump off until I swapped to a NW ring up front.

clutch mech?

I’ve got some scuffed deore crank arms from a double you could have for the price of a cheap bottle of plonk and a couple of quid posted? 172.5mm

Is that with an axle or just arms?
How cheap do you drink plonk? 🙂

Oh poo! The crank only cost me 30 quid and is turning out to be more trouble than it’s worth, sounds like I’d be better off sourcing a Shimano compatible one and trying to shift this on to try to recover my cost.
A quick look at reviews suggests that GXP BBs aren’t favoured anyway. 🙁
No chance of CR accepting my XT BB back after it’s been fitted and ridden.

Oh dear! Perhaps I have the wrong BB, it is brand new MT800 from ChainReaction. The crankset is second hand.

Maybe some more pics will help clarify…




The last pic is the bolt my LBS gave me