That’s kinda what I was thinking, riding with a bit of forethought, rather than how I found I rode my road bike, constantly shifting.
I’ve seen some SA 3 speed barend shifters going cheaply, might be worth fiddling them into friction only.

Hmmm thats interesting, do you find you’re shifting much?

I’m 35 and have felt too old for it for a long time now. Last new BMX I bought was in 2008 and that was a Floval Flyer. Rode all through my teens and mid twenties up to about 2004. After that it just lost its sheen and I can’t seem to relate to it anymore……
Why do I keep buying 90s frames off ebay then?????
On a side note, the Floval Flyer was probably the most disappointing bike I’ve ever ridden, felt absolutely dead.
Would love an old Challenger or Quadangle though…

Some very nice bikes here, especially Unovolos’ Saracen!
Here’s my other-halfs’ Kona Kilauea; it’s been sat in the shed since May, so decided to give it a revamp.

I removed all the cable barrels and stops and silver-brazed on full outer barrels, plus some headtube rings to add a bit of strength there.

I know it doesn’t fit the thread exactly, but I’ve been riding it to work and I forgot just how nice it was!

I saw this at CTBM and had to pick my jaw off the keyboard. I was hoping they would have been cheaper than Knards!
If I’m correct, that’s Knards, Chronicles and……….is there a Vee Rubber?
And where are the Dirt Wizards?!

Oh FFS! I think I paid full price for the Alu ones, about 5 quid cheaper!
They are exactly the same as Carnegies, the riser ones at least. Very comfortable, nice width and not too stiff.

I think for a 120mm rear end, your’e pretty much stuck with track hubs with a screw-on freewheel, so there’s plenty of cheaper System-EX/Ambrosio/On-One type stuff that have flipflop fixed/free threads.
Maybe Dia Compe Grand Comp or Surly hubs for a bit more?
After that I think your’e into WI, Paul and Goldtec. I did also see recently that Suntour have released a 120mm cassette hub that takes a short cassette, similar to Hope trials hubs. Probably more than you want to spend though?

Zombie Flesh Eaters was another awful one…..I remember being disturbed by a scene with a zombie having an underwater fistfight with an obviously drugged shark.
A friend of mine also introduced me to Archive.org which has loads of out-of-copyright films. Carnival of Souls being a very weird one!

Some nice ones on here!
My two pennorth;
Surf Nazis must Die, Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town pretty much any of the Troma films.
Some good 60s Hells Angels films too; Rough Boys, Hells Angels 69 etc.
El Topo, Holy Mountain if you fancy something a bit more psychedelic

I had one briefly on a Kona Kilauea and I thought it was fine off road. It’s obviously not a DH fork, but for singletrack stuff, not too rocky, it’s fine. It is a stiffy though, so more rubber up front!

Hmmm I had thought about Decathlon/Go Outdoors/Mountain Warehouse. I have a Montane velo for showers etc. And it’s good for that, but not much more.
The Paramo looks very nice, if a bit pricey!
Is it a case of diminishing returns? The Tog24 MIlitex jacket I had lasted about 5 years, not very warm initially, and ended up a bit sweaty after a while.

I can’t really add much more to what’s already been said.
I’ve had the XLT forks and I was always suprised at how much they did soak up, considering the consensus on Al forks is of teeth-rattling stiffness! Also, quoting Jeff Jones, I believe the Truss forks have absolutely no movement in them at all, but I suppose that does tie in much more with the rest of the frame design?
I did find On-Ones’ steel forks fine, no problem. The Carbon ones frightened me with the amount of flex and flutter though!
On my last 26″ I had a Continental Vapour 2.5 on a 47mm trials rim on the front, that worked beautifully in wet and dry (though not mud).
Also, ODI Longneck ST grips have always been a favourite and come in a little cheaper than the ESIs.

I always thought it would be great if someone wrote all of Kilgore Trouts’ novels!
On The Beach is a fantastic book, very bleak, but hasn’t dated at all.

I can thoroughly recommend Frank Herberts’ Dune and at least two of the sequels. If you’ve seen the film, forget it. The book is so broad and deep, completely immersive.
Kurt Vonnegut is another great writer too. SF, but not lasers and green tentacles. Slaughterhouse 5 and Breakfast of Champions are good to start with.
On an aside about Ballard, I’m currently reading The Atrocity Exhibition and finding it hard going. Are all his novels in a similar vein?

Thats making my donut twitch just looking at it! The down and toptubes are going to be a casserole of soft/hard/soft/hard nonsense!

I’ve been a fabricator and maintenance engineer for a few years now. I’d say for general home/diy projects, go with a MIG. I’ve always struggled with MMA. It’s ok for farm machinery and specialized welds, but generally MIG will do the job 99% of the time. Clarkes do a good range, the 135TE is about the most powerful one you can run off a 13A plug.
Oxy/Acetylene, although prehistoric, does have its uses though; for car panel work, it’s very useful, as the weld is softer than any arc produced joint, meaning it’s easier to planish and beat about.
If you were interested in building steel bike frames, gas brazing would be a good start. The motor skills you’d gain from that would be a good start to move onto TIG, if you wanted.

Weird thing is, I just called them, spoke to another advisor who said
“ooh, no you shouldn’t be doing any of the leg work, that’s for us to do”
In the past, I’ve always been told not to deal with third parties directly, but to go through their insurance companies. I tried calling the third party directly and was ignored basically.
It’s only for a couple of damaged indicators and speedo shell too!

I have one with a Knard mounted. I think they’re quite good, reasonable weight, the width is nice. Maybe a bit on the pricey side for a rim without eyelets, though I haven’t had any problems with it yet.

I tried a few years ago and found that I had to drill the Bushings out, bit sketchy if you haven’t got a decent drill. The outboard bearings can be found cheaper, although if the axle has worn, that’s another thing to buy. I personally rate the V8s over the V12, just because they’re a lot easier to service.

Motorman- I love how that 9zero7 looks; is it the angle? It looks kinda short and tall?

Any excuse to post a pic of mine! This has a Velocity P35 on the front with a Knard. Theyr’e good tyres, but I think more of a heavy touring/dry trail tyre. Been finding out its limitations recently-
Wet rock, no.
Thick dust, no.
Packed dirt, damp sand, woodland, gravel, all that sort of thing is right where it’s comfortable.
To be honest, although the P35 is ok, I really do think the wider Duallys and Rabbit Holes would definitely help bring out its good qualities. Plan is to save for a Dually and bring the P35 to the back.

I have one going spare actually. Not planning/able to spend £50 at the moment, so PM me.

I think they’re still relevant. I have one and it still works, even though they released an updated version! The geometry is still the same on the new one. Plenty of room out back too. I’ve seen people just about getting Knards in there……not much room left, but the wheel will still go round!

Can’t believe that’s the first Canberra posted!
My old man did his national service as a fighter plotter at Nottingham in the early fifties. He told me a story about how the USAF used to do exercises with F86 Sabres, intercepting Canberras. Flying flat, they could catch up fairly easy, until the Canberra went into a climb……..and NOTHING could keep up with them!
Sort of a spiritual ancestor to the Mozzie

It seems the Marzocchis are the way to go then. I guess that’s reflected in the Ebay pricing then……about £40 for Rockshox etc. of the period against the Bombers. I’m also maybe beginning to see why my view of a lot of suspension forks has been coloured somewhat.
Also, what are the spares back-up for Marzocchi like?

Hmmmm food for thought. I had been looking at various Manitous of that period. It seems the consensus is they’re not so good? The funny thing is, I got the bike about 6 years ago and it had Bomber 04’s and I didn’t seem to get on with them and promptly sold. More to do with my cack-handed luddism than anything else! I’ll have to have a look into the Fox’s. Funny that there’s not much love for Rockshox of that period though……Indys no good I take it?

I can vouch for the Cromoto’s too. I had some of the 420mm disc-&-V ones a few years ago and they were very nice, though, I still think the On-Ones are ok. They are more rigid-rigid, but I don’t find that too much of a problem…..Surlys are ok. Best I have had for 26″ were Orange F8s, whch I don’t think they ake anymore. They were beautiful!

Can you imagine a car forum discussing how many beers they can dive after?

As a Karate Monkey owner and lover, I can’t help feeling they’ve wandered a bit with this. It’s a lot of money for what it is, and geometry-wise, it’s still the same bike but with a few mod-cons. I did wonder if it would have been better off being a sort of Krampus-Lite, as there’s now loads of crossover between the Karate Monkey, Ogre, ECR and Krampus now.

Ah fair enough then, disregard what I said, I always thought the geometry of the two looked reasonably similar. More so than anything else………bang goes that idea then! 😳

If I may interject, I do believe the Singular Gryphon has a reasonably similar geometry to a Jones, a 3/4 Jones if you like, though, from what I gather, a superb bike in itself and way more versatile than just a drop-bar mtb, especially now after some tweaks. The headtube is tall, ut the forks are short, so I think the top of the headtube only comes in at 15mm higher than a Karate Monkey (which does have a short HT). I hope this makes some kinda sense though!

I think Charliethebikemonger had some Sanderson Soloists going reasonably recently? Also, Surly 1x1s can be had fairly cheap

Just filled it in!
Kerrrrazy questions, though! Very loaded.

May I also add the use of the sounds “pacifically” and “acrosst” for specifically and across.
Also, “would of” is another annoyance.

I’ve been running 20 psi on a P35, could go a little lower,but does feel a bit squirmy. Does anyone know if Dually 29s are in the country yet?

BW – I am 6’4″ and the frame is a 21″ (XL), I have it set up for my measurements and it is the same position as my geared crosser and my mtb now.

Mr.M.Mountain, I take it they’re Midges? Also, bit of a hi-jack, but got any close ups of the paint?

I run my Surly KM with monster bars and a 60mm stem, means my position after a fit is perfect and I am huge.

It works lovely!
That’s really nice! Just wondering about the se-up there? What size is that and how tall are you?
I built up a Kona Koa couple of years ago as a CX type bike, with pretty much the same results. Too long, too low, ended up riding on the top all the time.

Ahh I see, I suppose a quick google woud have helped!
Sam, is ths going yet??

Thomthumb, love that Unimog!
For me, any early 911, just basic, boggo engine wheels and body. Just a raw car, bit dangerous!

The blackest Citroen DS I could find!
I love motorbikes, but I just don’t seem to lust after specific models.
Garage-wise, I think I’d just like the means to produce anything I fancied, nice old Bridgeport mill, decent Lathe, decent 200Amp TIG, all you need!

I can vouch for oven cleaner too, I think OvenBrite? Used it loads of times to remove anodizing. It does leave the surface dull, but some elbow grease afterwards with wet and dry paper, starting at 240 and working your way to 1500 works well. If you have an angle grinder handy, get yourself a 3M Roloc backing pad, 75mm with a fine Scotchbrite disc.
Quick spray of WD40 and this takes off anodizing too, plus gets the surface back to a point where you can go straight to 1500 grit wet and dry, ready to polish.
Less dangerous mess, but do wear a good mask!

Oooh you git! I was considering a new Gryphon build for spring, but now………How does the kickstarter thing work? Is it basically a case of putting a deposit or full amount down to get a bunch built? If so, what are we looking at? Sorry to be vulgar and talk about money on a Sunday!
I have to say, non to the yellow though!