i’ve had a few frames, forks, wheels all be fine and ridden loads of miles. £300 is on the low side as depending which shipping method they use you will get taxed, XDB won’t get taxed as goes via eastern europe but usually slower and more expensive. I’d buy through aliexpress or direct

i had this with my lauf fork on superstar headset, the taper of the fork was binding on the headset shell, id of the shell was small than the headset, so had to file the headeset shell flush, hard to explain but sounds similar

From James’s instagram he is back on it again with fresh brake pads and pump

was another enjoyable event! sure felt cold out on the hilltops in that wind! think the start felt less frantic than previously, think the national xc on the same day removed a few elite egos. happy to get round in 3:01 as not been on the xc bike alot lately and i was quite clumsy!

when i did my first 24hr, i had maybe done ten 12hour races before with some reasonable results. i didn’t change a huge amount of volume, but i did go to the gym regularly, it was convenient as my work had one on site, found that i was strong throughout despite riding hardtail, i also used to do a road chaingang once a week and a few long back to back days, including erlstoke 6hr saturday, 100mile graveldash sunday. seemed to work for me as i won, came back in 2017 but didn’t do as much gym work and training felt more of chore as i was coached, which took the love away, but managed 4th in national 24hr, not sure i’ll do another, maybe when i’m tougher

It was a joyous moment when i got home that my bike only needed a brush clean! great, if relentless course! finally got my podium sport in 4hr after so many years of racing them!

Looking forward to, the trails were prime last round and weather has been reasonable. one of the fluro boompods

not loads of help but my friend uses 43mm 700c gravel kings and we did a pretty muddy ride up salisbury plain and he didn’t complain on clogging. he swapped from 650b 2″ to 700c as he felt they were faster

from personal experience of trying to be money savvy and getting cheap hubs, they are just not worth it, novatec are an ok pick but bitex are made from cheese, cheddar freehub and the flanges are very weak, so loose tension. get some dt swiss 350’s and have them for many years, i’ve a set of 240’s which have done 15,000miles and still on same bearings

i do it because i commute a fair bit and cba washing my bike after every ride, and training on heavy bike in the winter helps build form, automatic gains when you jump on the summer bike after riding some 2.5kg heavier all winter

i’ve had a caddy for 6 years, i have thule roof mounted bike rack attached inside cross ways on the floor which i used almost daily, then the second xc bike fits along the side, only need to take wheel off with my enduro bike. great van, never had a problem, gets an aux adapter kit for cd player and you’re sorted. i need to cut a hole in bulkhead to fit in for sleeping, but i’m 6ft

the altura attack waterproof trousers are pretty good, but not that light. the Vaude spray 3 pants look good but the arse wore out my shorts pretty fast!

they seem good bearings, i had to modify mine as for some reason my carbon fork fouls on the taper as the ID of the bearing race is larger than the ID of the bearing, which is a stupid design, nothing a file can’t sort

pro bike in lasanta might know of someone, otherwise just ride the 4 day la santa race routes, but would be fairly easy to get lost, wouldn’t say its a mtb mecca tbh, raced there 3 times and only go for the workout

i’ve been using on for the last year maybe longer, shifting seems less crisp than an xx1 cassette, but not a vast difference. had to replace the aluminium section but the steel section seems untouched, its moved onto my gravel bike now. i think its a good buy, don’t forget you will need the special freehub which does push the outlay up, and the selection of wheels it fits, as i’ve a few dt swiss wheels

is singular back under Sam now? i thought the brand had been sold to germany, did always love my swift!

how is the frame quality? been interested in a sniper, although the frame weight is a plus with it being so light, its no good if its knackered after one season, like a scott spark. my pivot 429 is fairly old hat now, but its 4 years and its had one set of bearing, but the frame weighs 2.6kg!

Ted James would probably repair it for you, the prices are Jones stuff is a joke now, £4000 for a frame made in taiwan is madness

Uberbike? and the original stuff seem hit and miss, think they’ve changed their receipe

Some impressive stats from strava

256km, 4600 meters of climbing, 38kph average speed…..

Class ride from Mike Woods!

i left engineering for a career break, feeling i wanted a change, investigated going into teaching and discovered they get paid even less (to start with) and work more and i don’t really like children who don’t care about themselves enough. ended up back at my first company from uni, and its more manic and dysfunctional than before, but its flexible hours and a nice commute. but there is definitely demand for engineers

such a worthwhile investment, i have a 2011 mpb and the SSD has kept it running sweet years later, boots up quicker than my year old work PC

i’d add that with most carbon things, they’re not all born equal, i had the original niner carbon fork which i sold and now i have a aliexpress special and the ride quality is nowhere near as refined as the Niner fork. i’d hold out for a Niner or Enve fork if you plan on doing big miles on it

edit: the kineses fork looks damn close to an aliexpress special, i guess moulds can be similar and layup varies

i think there is a perimeter path map that will show you which bits are allowed, i never stray past red flags unless its a bank holiday, plus its not hugely exciting,

there is a gravel/chalky loop which may be more suitable?  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26892569

yes the Vernon barker guys have been helpful so far, although they’re not so keen on my logic of why i want it modifying

wow those Reilly’s look nice! Yeah Ted is my possible option at the moment, just seeing who else is out there

i hit a car once and broken 9 ribs on my right side, that definitely smarted a bit!

solo 6hr for me, been a few years since i’ve raced BD, 4 i think. on the Pivot Boompods team, ancient 429c hoping it stays dry as the chalky trails in the wet scares me!

i have a Toro, also have the original 6pack, found the Toro more than sufficient for night use when coupled with a good headlight, plus the battery life is great and useful being able to select power modes. the smaller size is also handy if you’re a weight weenie like me

12hour solo, still can’t feel half my foot thanks to 25hours of muddy hell last year!

one of the more polite overtaking pivot boompods

really excited for today’s stage, spent the summer of 2016 living and roadie guiding on those mountains, i wonder how my strava times compare to the pro’s…..

I’ve had similar problems this year, never been an issue to me previously, multiple bikes and saddles but this year i seem very susceptible to them. In you case checking the bike fit is the same across all bikes is a good place to start, but with anything each saddle won’t be exactly the same, worth sanity checking the rails aren’t bent etc

Went round a slippery corner too fast on the road bike, 4×4 coming up the road, ran wide, hit my ribs square across the wing. 9 broken ribs, 5 in 3 bits, 5 titanium plates & 6 weeks later back on trainer, 2 years later came 4th in the National 24hr champs at a biblical pivot 24:12, sure did put my ability to suffer some mild discomfort up a notch

never used the core shorts, I have pro team, pro team thermal and classic, used the pro’s solidly for a 3 months touring trip and as well as the summer before and much use after, including a 24hr race, they are starting to fall apart. the classic’s seem a bit odd, the lycra is very different and the pad doesn’t feel as tight. the thermal ones are lovely, great for spring mornings. sizing is key i’m 6ft and 30″ waist but always get small

EDIT: the archive store sell, an archive short special which is the original pro team short, but only one length

vittoria for the win, seem to last better than schwalbe and much easier to inflate tubeless, the Peyote is a fairly good all-rounder and can cope with some slop

prices are getting much higher now the pound is so weak and prices have generally gone up, some good prices on aliexpress but more of a risk, asian cycle express ships from germany and their rims are around 200euros with no tax, can’t remember who they use but think quality is good. been happy with all of mine, my original front wheel is 4 years old and has been rebuilt once and never trued since, rears take more hammer and few are geting a bit ropey, lsat wheelset came from carbonfan as their prices were best but it came dished badly

nino rocking the etap eagle for the race is a sign it must be fairly close surely, good job it wasn’t that that went wrong at the end. awesome race, new kids stepping up now kulhavy and absalon have passed their best

used x2’s for years but they are pretty weedy power wise compared to every other brake i’ve tried, E4 up front for sure

i got a rideworks t47 bottom bracket for my chinese ti frame, great design and pretty glad i chose t47 with 30mm cranks

yes, it’ll handle like a dog