My Pikes do this periodically. I notice straight away on the trail as the fork feels very harsh and my hands hurt. Let air out, see if forks suck up, if they do just put foot on the wheel and pull up on the bars to forcefully so extend the forks. This should clear the transfer port but to make sure, pump up to max pressure, cycle the fork enough to pass the transfer port and then set your normal pressure. Job done. I have recently serviced my air shaft and am trying what they do in the new Rockshox forks, which is to use dynamic seal grease on the air shaft and 3ml of oil on top. So far I haven’t had the same problem. I think the oil maybe stops the grease blocking the port

Another vote for Bird. I do have one so maybe biased. AM160 might be a good shout if you do a lot of jumping. 506 reach on L or 528 on XL. Best thing is you can spec the bike however you want, and for £5k or a even a lot less you would get a seriously good build that would blow any other bike away spec wise for the price.

I wonder how many people that smashed their helmet but had no injuries reported this? Precisely none I imagine, myself included. I can’t help but think that if my helmet is smashed and broken, I would have been in a bit of a state if the impact would have been directly on my unprotected head.

Oneup alloy. Super light, super thin, super grippy with a fivetens (with middle pins removed).

I recently took them apart after a year of use and they were clean inside. Quick regrease and good to go again.

I haven’t been to 417 to compare, but Aston Hill can be good. I say can be, as if it’s been raining it is savagely slippery so keep an eye on the weather leading up to Sunday. The runs are only really up to 2 minutes and the push up is fairly hard work. I would say you would get more actual riding done at 417 with the uplift

I didn’t even get 600 miles out of my original eagle chain and cassette before they were knackered. New chain went on at 600 miles and slipped in bottom 4 cogs so I just ran the old chain and cassette until they died. To be fair this took another 600 miles before I replaced the chain and cassette so not too bad. I now just periodically change the chain every few months regardless of wear. They only cost £20 for gx so worth doing and makes the cassette last a few chains.

I recently had a real problem with my legs not recovering after rides. I’ve fixed myself completely now. I significantly upped my protein intake, started having a protein shake with dextrose immediately after every ride to kick start my recovery and now I can ride on consecutive days without recovery problems and feel a lot better.

If it’s binding on the way down then it may need a service anyway. It’s actually very easy to do a basic service and no special tools are required. I take mine apart now and again to clean all the crap out from inside (it’s surprising how much gets in there) and regrease everything. I also undo the seal now and again to get some grease under it. Makes the post feel like new again.

It might be worth doing this before you bleed the post again.

I went last year and safe to say I won’t be going again…..unless I become a triathlete

Take headset apart and clean the bearings and frame up. Grease the outside of the bearings and put it back together. Could be the outside of the bearing rubbing in the frame. I have had this and it drove me mad for ages with the creak, headset was running smooth as well so I ruled it out at first. Turns out it was that all along.

Probably cassette. I replaced my Sram NX cassette like for like and the new one makes a bit of noise in 1 particular cog and won’t change down properly out of that one either. Seems like the rivets are a bit loose.

I don’t think there should be a spacer on a 73mm bb. There certainly isn’t on mine and it works perfectly.

The law just seems strange to me. If someone robs my house and I chase them down the road and batter them, I’m in serious grief with the law as it wasn’t self defence if I chase them. Apparently if another road user upsets me, I can deliberately turn around and do this with my car for no more than a slap on the wrist. The law needs seriously looking at in regard to driving and the sentences that can be delivered. It does seem true, if you want to kill someone, do it in a car and you will almost definitely get away with it, especially if said person is on a bike.

I have the 18t on mine. I can definitely notice the lag in the engagement. You can actually hear it on gopro when on and off the power in tight sections, it makes an audible ting when it finally engages. Having said that, I have had the hub for 18 months and haven’t changed it yet. Definitely a bomb proof hub in any case. I will upgrade to 54t eventually.

For most accurate wheel measurement, just mark the tyre tyre and the floor, sit on the bike kitted up, roll forward one wheel revolution, mark the floor and measure the distance between the 2 points. That’s about as good as it gets for a speed sensor i reckon.

I will try and offer some advice that may help.
When you strip them again (which you will have to do anyway), check the air shaft and inside of the stantion tubes to make sure they aren’t scratched anywhere. If all the seals look ok, make sure there is enough grease on them, including the small o rings on the inside of the seal head. I usually slide the air shaft up and down to make sure the grease is right in there and get grease all round the inside of the stantion and over the air shaft. Be certain that the circlip is installed properly. You could at this point put some air in the fork (not too much) before you put the lowers back on. It would be very obvious if there was a leak from the air shaft then. When you slide the lowers back on, only slide them enough to get the bolts onto the bottom of the shafts, don’t close them right up or you make a vacuum.

I have a 4 year old and 7 month old and a job that can be stressful. Time on the bike and fitness took a real dive in the summer last year after the baby arrived. It’s certainly more difficult with a baby around but I think for me it’s sleep that makes the biggest difference. I’ve noticed recently since I have been getting more quality sleep that I have more motivation.
Setting an actual goal helps me so that I’m training towards something. I’m doing the South Downs 100 in July and an enduro race in September (I did a few last year until baby arrived). Both are perfectly do able, but require training. 2 interval sessions on the turbo and 3 indoor workouts a week breaks it up so that I’m not just on the bike and I get some variety in my training. A good fun social ride on a Sunday morning is always easy to get up for and never a chore.

Let the air out and see if they suck down into the travel. If they do then air is trapped in negative. Put your foot on the wheel and pull up on the bars hard and they should return to normal (this may take quite a bit of force). Works for me when this happens.

I’m trying to get away from the whole “enduro” thing. Going back to a more playful bike that can do a bit of everything including full day rides, which I know an enduro bike does anyway, but it is very much on the side of descending, at the expense of fun and climbing ability. I’m sure I will end up with the 5010 cc frame anyway, even if I don’t strictly “need” carbon, the lighter weight will probably have me, especially if its as big a difference as SC state.

I got quoted 3.1kg for 5010 alloy and 2.5kg for carbon by a Santa Cruz dealer.
If it is genuinely over 1.3kg lighter, as quoted above, then I can see a big benefit to the carbon frame.

I really want a Santa Cruz 5010 and am in the same debate over carbon or alloy. I won’t buy a full bike as the components I already have are far better than what I would get on a full build, right up until a CC model, and they would all fit. £1300 extra for cc over alloy seems ridiculous though, even with a better shock. I think I’m going to test ride both back to back and see if I can tell the difference.

Pulling up on the post when it’s not fully up or pressing the button when the bike is upside down is generally what causes the problem. I’m 18 months into mine and it’s been spot on. I have taken it apart once when it got a bit rough after a full days ride in biblical rain and sandy soil. I didn’t even let the air out. Just disconnected the connectamajig, undone the seal, took the circlip off the bottom and took it apart to clean and regrease the seal and brass keys. Went back together without even bleeding.

Minibus with trailer for the win I reckon. Split the cost between 8 and price shouldn’t be too bad as it’s not actually that far to travel. Far more convenient than splitting up on coaches too.

I have approx 1200 off road miles on mine, ranging from 70+ mile all day rides to 3 Enduro races, 1 downhill race and 3 uplift days. I just clean everything after each ride and that’s it, but after about 600 miles I replaced the chain and the new one just slipped badly on the bottom 4 cogs of the cassette. Back on with the old chain and it’s being run into the ground now to see how long it lasts. Still shifts fine at the moment despite a considerable amount of movement in the chain rollers.

I had 1 mech that destroyed itself when the chain came off the top jockey wheel but that was replaced under warranty and the new mech has been fine for 6 months.

Put some pictures up of the current set up as it looks miles out in the other pictures.  Somebody else might spot something that you haven’t.

I was doing a lot of road riding earlier this year on my xc bike to build miles up.  I was running 45psi as it felt really fast on the road.  On one particular ride I decided to come back on an off road route.  I managed about half a mile before I stopped and let the tyres down to around 30psi as it was unbearable at 45 psi.  The bike didn’t float over anything, it just bounced off all over the place.  So I would definitely start with dropping pressures.  I will add that that was with tubes…..after I set it up tubeless I lowered the pressures even more and it fees even better.

Small drops with no gap would be a manual.  If there is any sort of gap to clear, or a lip then it would be a hop.

Everyone should learn to do a small manual and bunny hop.  I’ve got friends that can’t do either and it’s very limiting I find.

Saint and Zee feel very much on or off to me although very powerful.  I had Sram Guide RS but I couldn’t get the bite point far enough away from the bars which caused problems with my fingers, although they had reasonable power, not really enough for downhill use.  I now have Hope V4 on the front and E4 rear which suits me for a mix of trail riding and uplift.  Once they are set up properly they are awesome.  Good modulation, loads of power and loads of adjustment for bite point and reach.

I’ve had a pair of FWE mtb shorts for over a year now and they are still perfect.  I only brought them as I found them really cheap in Evans so I thought I’d give them a try but I would have another pair now.

I wear them for uplift or a specific enduro event but if I’ll be pedalling up then no.

I struggled stopping my glasses steaming up last year so I’ve gone with RRP Proguard max this year and my god it’s brilliant.  Don’t bother with glasses now if it’s wet out and they are steaming up.

The standard of motoring in the UK is shocking and getting worse I’m sure.  It’s no surprise with sentences like this.  There is no accountability any more and some people seem to feel invincible when behind the wheel.  Texting, calling, social media, sat nav etc all seem more important than looking out of the windscreen!

I cycle everyday, drive a car and an articulated lorry so I can see the roads from different points of view and impatience seems to be the biggest problem…that and having an incessant need to be in front of a slower moving vehicle no matter what the danger.  Just yesterday a car tried to overtake me on the bike, despite an oncoming car and stationary traffic ahead.  With the closing gap they just decided to swerve in to me and push me out of the way!  In the lorry I have been undertaken by cars on the hard shoulder, undertaken by bikes whilst turning left….all due to the same reason….impatience.  Luckily I am a patient and chilled person and if somebody else makes a mistake I can just let it go.  I do know of people that would rather have an accident than back down though, which is extremely worrying but seems to be becoming more common.

I have DT E1700’s with 350 straight pull hubs.  After a full year of fairly hard riding and over 1000 off road miles, I haven’t even had to put a spoke key near them.

Thanks for the link.  I’ll have a look.

The only place you can get Norco in the UK is Evans

+1 for Rad8.  I have had the 502’s for a year and they are good in all conditions.  Great customer service as well.  My case broke, a quick email to them and a replacement is in the post foc.

I had this recently with my GX eagle setup.  It’s a shame Sram don’t sell parts of a cassette as with 1x setups you spend so much time on the small end of the cassette and they wear a lot faster.

I’m back on the old chain until it dies, then I’ll refit the new chain with a new cassette.

I couldn’t believe the amount of people pushing their bikes over the qualifiers.  I’m not sure what must be going through your head to think it’s a good idea!  Even on rollable drops like wibbly wobbly.  If you can’t even roll off a small drop then don’t ride a red.  The worst I saw was a group of 4 riders entering coal not dole.  3 carried their bikes down the 2 rock drops and the last one just rolled off as though it was a curb.  I thought it was game over for him but somehow he managed to save himself from going otb.  Complete stupidity but maybe it’s because groups tend to head to bpw as a bit of an event and egg each other on, or get carried away seeing much better riders head off down harder trails or hitting big features.

Easiest thing to do first is pump up to max pressure and then cycle the fork a few times making sure you pull them all the way back up.  This should unblock the transfer port.  Then do the zip tie when the forks are at full extension.  If this doesn’t work then you will need to start taking things apart as mentioned above.

I don’t have a mega, I have a super but making routes on ride with gps and then uploading them onto GPS root is easy and takes a couple of minutes to do. Don’t expect the cue points to be very accurate though. Making routes on the Lezyne app is hard work so I don’t bother with that unless you just want to tell it where you want to go and let it map a route for you.

I have loaded a 65 mile off road route onto my super from the app and it took less than a minute.  The phone doesn’t need to remain paired to navigate if you don’t want it to, but why wouldn’t you?  I have been out for 9 hours with the phone paired up and following a route and the phone was still on 65% battery when I finished with the added bonus that if someone calls or texts you, it tells you on the screen.

It’s certainly not as good as as a Garmin for functionality, but it works and at a cheaper price.

Try turning off the auto pause function for a start.  I had problems until I did this and strava will automatically calculate moving time when you complete the ride anyway.  Also make sure that the app has all the permissions accepted so that it keeps the gps running.

Alternatively, Lezyne gps’s are cheap and work well, with auto sync to strava.  Lezyne super gps is what I use now because I wanted a cheap option for following route maps.