Firstly, I wouldn’t rue out a new bike. If it’s more that 5 year of then Al those advantages of new school geometry will immediately be of benefit. Simon first say how old his bike is? Plenty of bikes to test ride now we are past the majority of supply chain issues.

Secondly, I can’t recommend group riding highly enough. It really worked when my wife stated riding and even now. It’s incredibly difficult to not come across as patronising when trying to encourage your significant other. Help and advice from third parties is a lot easier to take. Rebecca will feel supported and it will lessen the worry of holding Simon up. It doesn’t even need to be a group of other women. Just a group of mixed ability riders. Simon may have to alternate with this new group and his old riding buddies or tar it in turns to go out with different groups. Coming back together to ride as a couple will then be more relaxed and Rebecca with have more confidence.

It’s strange, when I bought the Stanton bars I really wasn’t expecting any massive differences. Without a true blindfold test (that I imagine would be fairly dangerous😬), I don’t think I could have come into it with more of an open mind. So much so that I really wasn’t thinking about it. I just put them on, thought they looked nice and promptly went on to thinking about something else.

So first ride out it was a bit of a surprise that they felt really different. It just felt like they were taking out the buzz from the trail. I know others have questioned if this is realistic given soft, fat tyres and suspension being more impactive on feel. However it was noticeable. I’m not talking ironing out small bumps or anything like that but just a reduction in vibration.

Like I say, really impressed. Is it worth the significant cost? Probably not, but as a nice side effect of a purchase I would have made anyway, it’s a real plus.

Sorry Tdoyle I didn’t weigh them. Not carbon light but not girder heavy either, if that helps?

I’ve had the Stanton bars for a few months now and they are great. To be honest the Ti was a little bit of a luxury/treat to myself. I needed some replacement bars and wanted to move away from carbon. I wasn’t expecting huge differences given all the claims of carbon bars ‘tuned for compliance’ etc. However the difference was immediately noticeable, they take out so much trail buzz, it amazing.

Highly recommended

15 min time limit was ridiculous

Silverfish have got a 50% off sale at the moment (mostly Raceface and Yeti) just picked up some very nice Yeti shorts and a top.

Fabric Tool Keg?

Cageless Tool Keg

Yep, running hope hubs here. As STATO suggests thats probably the difference. Interesting and not something i’d ever considered.

Not quite the same but run those hope rotors on my wife’s 5010. That is definitely not right. However I would suggest that it is a hub issue rather than the rotor or the frame. Check all the hub spacers are correctly installed and in the right way (drive side on the right side?), check the cassette is installed correctly with the right spacers. If that fails try and accurately measure the frame axel spacing to see if the frame is out. I wouldn’t think this would be the problem though?

Thank god for super fast broadband, furious refreshing from 0628 and got 5 enduro tickets :D

My CRC order last week was dispatched in two parts. Chainring from CRC (on time) and chain dispatched from the Wiggle warehouse (three days later). Paid for the express service but it seemed not to work for the chain :( No reply when I tried to chase them up either. I hope this is not signs of things to come in the new merged world.

Got a Rotor one on my CAAD9 about 18 months ago, all I can really say is that it went on easy and I’ve not had touch it since. The old BB30 was only good for about 3 months before the braking started again.

Did the sam as PDW with a co2 extinguisher but managed to source a schrader air tank valve

http://www.tyre-equipment.co.uk/acatalog/Schrader-Tank-Valve-1-8–BSPM—-14039.html

This screwed straight into the filler valve with a bit of plumbers tape round the threads. Works a treat

[/url]IMG_0042 by MikeH78[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Sounds good, I’ll make a note of that, thanks

looking forward to the cakes, they definitely swung it for us when choosing the accommodation!

Thanks, luckily that’s where we are staying. We have booked the whole place as quite a few if us. stu did say there were loads of rides straight from the door. Just wanted to get an idea of a good starter ride for Friday afternoon. I’ll take a look at the thread. :)

It used to be free to take a Santa Cruz out on test from the Factory but there is now a small charge. Still not too bad and you get a top spec bike of your choosing. You can book online at their website.

Easy access from the factory to most of the local riding spots and they were super helpful in suggesting suitable rides.

The point needs to be made that it was the CPS and NOT the police that discontinued this prosecution. They are a completely separate entity and one that officers struggle with daily to get them to prosecute offences. I can guarantee you that officers want offenders to have their day in court as much as anyone.
The officer interviewed and summonsed the suspects for the appropriate offences (due care could have been added but given the other offences carry higher penalties so there would have been no additional penalty). Personally I would have loved to stick the driver on for dangerous driving but if you have ever tried to get that passed a CPS lawyer you will know that would never happen

InterestingI had no idea you could do that, but the original cranks are Hollowtech II so cant be shortened. The wont take the smaller chainring either without faffing about using the inner bolt circle, spacers and mucking about with the chainline.

Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately square taper will not be compatible. She has made do with 175mm for along time as these were on her original bike. As were were looking at upgrading I thought I would take the opportunity to go for something shorter. She rides a 26″ with standard 73mm threaded bb. I’ll take a look at Isla bikes but may end up with the Hope’s

A bit of a high jack but the drivetrain on my wife’s bike will need replacing soon and I was looking at the Hope’s. Going single ring but because of her petit dimensions they will need to be able to accommodate at 26-28t ring and be 165mm in length.

I can’t find much else that fits the bill. Shimano are a no go with no option for smaller rings. The Sram or Race Face options are only available in 170mm and are not far off the £162 I’ve seen the Hope’s for. The Hope direct mount rings seem about the same price as the competition (the Sram and Race Face options come with a ring but not in the size I need so I’ll have to buy another one anyway). I have no issue with buying the BB as I know they last.

Am I missing any obvious alternatives?

I opened a loft hatch when searching a house a couple of days ago to be greeted by an avalanche of sleepy wasps. Thank god I was stood on the right side and didn’t get the pleasure of them cascading all over me. I’m still having nightmares and shiver at the thought if it. The nest was the size of a dustbin and quite impressive if it weren’t for the horrible little buggers that made it.

Endura Baa Baa scull cap

+1 for Fork Juice

Try this for a review:

Seven Protection M2 helmet review

+1 for Downieville. We were there for three days last year and we’re already planning a much longer trip. Yuba Expeditions couldn’t have been more helpful.

Not sure I’m going to have time for a daily post. What with approximately 4 hrs of tour watching, 12 hours of sleep, 4hrs of eating cake and 4hrs of browsing for N+1 my days are going to be pretty full.

The bad news: 3 weeks on crutches and no work for me after Sunday mornings ride.

The good news: I’m going to have to watch all the live coverage.

25th June 1993

I went with my dad to GA Cycles in Southampton and parted with my paper round, car washing and early birthday money. Bought a long lusted after Kona Kilauea in silver to red fade. I can’t remember the exact amount but it was definitely a fortune and I haven’t looked back since.

Promptly went for my first ride with my brother on his now second best Cinder Cone and binned it on a gravel decent. Some nice gravel rash and missing a chunk of skin from my elbow (scar is still there) and I was most gutted over the cut I put in the saddle.

I have just replaced a Heckler 6.0 and gone to a Bronson. Not the 5010 the OP was after but I would imagine my experience of the change to VPP and newer geometry could be useful.

As far as climbing is concerned the change is night and day. I never thought the Heckler was a bad climber but it did have a habit of lifting and wandering at the front when it got steep. I found myself using the launch control on my forks allot and dropping them down from 150 to 130mm to counter this. The Bronson on the other hand feels incredibly planted at the front. Back to back on the steep and sharp climbs we have locally there is a marked difference. Even with the 150mm Pike’s at full extension it is noticeably better than the Heckler with the forks dropped. Grip at the rear with the VPP is also tenacious in comparison. When seated it just powers on up. Standing on the pedals was also something I avoided on the Heckler (with a simple Float R shock). All the power just seeped to be spat away losing traction. The Bronson on the other hand doesn’t seem to mind a bit of pedal stomping.

I hope that is in some way useful to you OP

For a slightly left field choice I had DT Swiss EXM’s. They were 150mm light and seemed torsionally stiff when compared to Fox Floats I had previously. My build was very light and it certainly made it a very capable all round bike. Good up hill and a blast down.

No worries Mark, If you have any specific questions I can try and answer them. I’ve only owned the one but can certainly let you know my experiences of owning this one longterm.

Just put my Heckler 6.0 frame (large white) on the classified’s if you are interested? Hasn’t snapped in 7 years if that helps.

Commuting to work down a very steep hill I saw a car coming up the hill. At this point hit a massive patch of black ice, hit the deck and continued to slide on my back down the hill towards the car. Its a narrow lane so i’m convinced i’m going under the wheels. I manage to sit up while still sliding and bounce my back down the off side of the car before coming to a stop. a few metres behind. I’m not sure who came closer to death, me or the old dear driving? I had some some good road rash but she went very grey and I thought she was going to have a heart attack.

Thank you I knew it would be something obvious

Frame and forks will be here in a week, rims wont be here till mid march (Chinese New Year again). Can I bring myself to ride it with the wrong size wheels (26 instead of 27.5)?

Just replaced my excellent 7 year old Eagle Six’s, great shoes for riding in but a bit like Bambi on ice off the bike.

I went for some not so subtle orange Giro Terraduro’s. I was concerned about reports of soles de-laminating but I am assured this was an early batch?? Only time will tell but oh my god they were just so comfortable when I tried them on, I could wear them round the house as slippers. Also, walking is now not such a precarious proposition.

I’ve just had a set of Race Evo E4’s land on the mat this morning :D They are replacing a set of Mini Pro X2’s I’ve had for the past five or six years. These have been absolutely faultless and will now probably see service on my wife’s bike (she loves getting my hand-me-downs). The only reason for the change is i’m looking for a bit more power.

Before buying I tried the new Shimano XT and XTR options as well and was very impressed. They were a significant step up from the Mini’s and I would be very happy to run them. Brake feel was definitely different but neither were bad and I could easily get used to either. All including the Mini’s are so much better than the dire Hayes, Avid and old Shimano dual control crap I have had before. If anyone wants a lovely set of Avid Elixr’s let me know, they’re fantastic (honestly).

I got 30% off at Whinstanley’s and paid £125 an end. This is cheaper than I could find a set of Shimano 9020’s (£145) which are arguably the direct comparison. RRP for all the XTR seemed to be pretty much the same as for the Hope’s. Older 985 and 987 brake were only slightly cheaper. You could argue that a set of XT’s would be cheaper and comparable but i’m not sure its a like for like comparison. I’ll go with it though and make the assumption I could have spent £100 less. So why did I choose to spend more on the Hope’s?

The main reason is things break and wear out. I’m not saying Shimano brakes are less reliable or poorly made but that ham fistedness or lack of skill on my part mean there is a good chance I could break any component. When they do break it is also likely to be at the worst possible moment. For example the bearings on my rear Hope hub wearing out just before a trip to the Alps. Inevitably lax maintenance and poor planning mean I am left with a bearing race seized to the axle with only 48hrs until we leave. A panicked call to hope results in a new axle being dispatched at 3pm on Thursday and arriving at 9am Friday totally free of charge. Or the circuit board on my very well used seven year old lights packing up and again being replaced within 48hrs free of charge. Well out of warranty so above and beyond in my humble opinion.

Customer service seems to have become a bit of cliche with Hope but in my experience their reputation is warranted. It is only my personal opinion but as long as their products are as good or better than competition I can live with paying a bit of a premium. I also feel fairly good about supporting British industry but agin thats just me and opinion will no doubt vary.

Good point!! but then I will never get my head round the contradiction that is the fairer sex.

I like the green version myself myself, saving hard as we speak

Bronson in small. It was ok for my 5ft wife but 5010 was much better and more in line with your 120-130mm needs probably not all that helpful but just a bit of bike porn. Sorry didn’t take a pic of the 5010

[/url]P1040398 by MikeH78[/url], on Flickr[/img]