Cheers guys.

Rebas on one and FIT RLCs on another. Both seem fine.

Don’t think I’d ever pay RRP and next bike will definitely have some X-Fusions on them. I don’t want the “trail literally coming alive” all over me.

My best friend left today with his. All he’s doing is cleaning his bike up to get it through Customs. I don’t think there’s any import duty involved. However, the excess baggage charges get insane if you’re not careful.

Will see how he gets on and report back.

Your bike your rules.

I’d tell my mate to go make love to himself if he told me to be ok with something that obviously bothered me. He should count himself lucky he has a mate willing to lend him an expensive bike for a pootle.

Spesh prices always seem a bit high. I remember demoing a 29er hardtail. 1 x 10, aluminium frame, Fox Evolution forks, Elixir 7 SL brakes, £2000.

Mind you, the warranty service is second to none. So it depends on how hard you think you’ll ride it over the years I guess.

Nice work man. Makes me feel there is still hope for me!

I had the same thing happen. Mechanic couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

I didn’t see anyone camping when we stayed there. But the place was freezing when we stayed there and the showers were running cold. It’s unmanned after a certain time so you’ll have to call someone out if you want someone to have a look at things. We didn’t bother. Cold shower and pretty basic amenities seemed the price to pay for cheapness and easy access to the trails.

Stayed at Green Lanterns the next time. Cost a tenner more per person, but it was money well spent!

Have a Nerve XC 8.0 from last year. Love it. Canyon were pretty quick to sort out any problems I had with it. It turned up with a broken mech hanger, a couple of pictures and a new one was on the way and they paid for my LBS to fit and do a derailleur adjustment.

Bearings had to be replaced within a year which is looking more and more like par for the course for any UK full sus bike that gets used a lot. Did it under warranty and they had it back to me in time for a trip to Spain.

Would definitely recommend them. Currently saving up for a road bike from them.

Manito above speaks the truth.

Not sure what you can do on the road, but on MTB rides wearing shorts over my bibs does the trick.

I have one. What do you want to know?

I am not a downhiller though I wish I was one in the movies.

Let’s see what’s important for me:

– Fits great. Doesn’t bob about or any annoying shit when I’m holding on for dear life.
– Doesn’t obscure my field of vision as long as I’m looking ahead. Like I’m meant to.
– Googles fit in nicely.
– Airflow is great. Not uncomfortable in the summer or winter.
– Strap is nice and positive.
– Looks great, which is what really matters.

I like the “why I ride” type articles when they come around. I like to think there’s something in the magazine every month that makes me want to go out and ride my bike.

Issue 69 page 84.

I have some Sportful No-rain tights. They work to a degree with keeping the rain out. But I still was a bit moist over a 2:45 road ride yesterday. The pad stayed dry, which is what really matters I reckon.

I found resistance training helped a lot before easing back into running after over 3 years away from it. Was always a short-middle distance (5-10km) runner. I did a lot of squats, lunges, leg presses and deadlifts. I started with a gentle 3km after 6 gym sessions over 2 weeks. Not going crazy, just over 5 minute/km pace even down to 5:30m/km pace at times. Steadily bumped up the distance over a few weeks and I can now run over 15km. It took 5 months to get here, including a month off for an injury.

Pace is still slower than I like. I’ve had suggestions of adding some sprint training to my running work. I’d do it, but there’s not enough time before my half-marathon in September after which I plan to never run anything more than a 10km distance.

Good luck man. I’m sure you can get back to it. You just need to take it easy and listen to your body without pushing too fast too soon.

The missus’ Whippet. Shame she threatens murder every time I broach the subject of making it mine.

@_tom_ There’s no available witness mate. I’ve offered to canvas for witnesses in the neighbourhood. As the incident was on a residential road around 8pm I’m hoping someone would have seen/heard something. I’m not going to waste my time if the cops have no appetite to help out though.

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov rides in your club?

it was road rage against you. the other cyclist is a witness to the incident?

Matey managed to threaten the other cyclist as well. What a charming specimen he was.

I’ll write a letter today and pop it in “signed for” over the weekend. Somehow, I reckon it will only result in the waste of a stamp.

@nickc any pictures of your Privee Shan mate?

I scoop of Stans is about 60g I reckon. Put my tubeless Hans Dampfs on using a track pump last weekend. It was a previously used one and it seated despite having holes it needed to reseal while reseating it! Didn’t take long, but probably not wise to do them in the kitchen with sealant going everywhere.

How long is considered long then?

I will. Trying to figure out what I can push for him to be charged with.

I told them he struck me (albeit gently) with his car, threatened me verbally, and then attempted to intimidate me using his car by preventing me from leaving. If he’s confessed to this and they’ve done sweet FA then there’s no hope really.

The Guard.

Finally got a letter back from the police stating the driver of the vehicle had “admitted a road rage incident involving two cyclists”. They won’t pursue the incident due to lack of CCTV unless fresh evidence comes up as it’s “word against word”. Wonder what those words were.

Does anyone know what’s done with these complaints that don’t go anywhere? Is there any point in trying to find out if the guy admitted to driving while smoking a joint and to using his car to intimidate me? Part of me feels like it’s a waste of police time, but part of me feels it should know what the guy admitted to. I’m not going to bemoan what a world it is that someone can admit to “road rage” while in a 2 ton vehicle with no consequences, but it seems a bit rubbish.

Got my first Chopper around 4 for my birthday. Still remember fighting with my brother because he wanted it. Rode the hell out of it, but never got a replacement for it. Parents gifted it to local tuk tuk driver when we moved house.

Around 13 a boy down our road got an MTB. Horrendous thing it was. Discs (like aero ones, not brakes) on the wheels, 12 speed, plastic tyres. Colour scheme could probably be described as “Neon And Blue Slushy Vomit” and probably designed by someone who’d never ridden a bike! I was so jealous. Convinced my Mum to buy me an MTB. Single speed, steel and rigid. No mountains at all around where I lived in Sri Lanka so messed about riding to classes, mates houses and such. Eventually discarded it when other sports took precedence, but not before converting it to 3 x 6 with a gear kit I bought on a trip to India! Head tube shifters and all!

Brother got a free BMX-ey kids bike with his bank account (I never had my country pegged for such a forward thinking place). It was neon pink because they didn’t have anything in his size! We messed about the neighbourhood doing skiddies, endos and dumb jumps with it. Wish we had someone who could have taught us to wheelie or build proper jumps then. Probably never would have stopped riding at all! Still playing other sports at this time so didn’t really get into it. There was no riding scene back home at all to sustain interest.

Fast forward 7 years to living in England. Started riding to work using a borrowed bike to save time. It got nicked. Replaced it with an MTB. Thrashed around fire roads and some rocky stuff in Somerset with my partner’s family. Moved to London, bike followed, rode some trail centres with some quick guys. Realised my 21″ bike was way too big for me and how unfit I was. Decided it was cheaper to improve fitness after spunking too much money trying to upgrade the bike. Convinced current partner to buy a decent MTB after she hurled her crappy hire bike down a hill on a trip to the Peak District screaming “I HATE THIS SHITE!”. Sold my Crap Claud Butler gate sneakily hoping she’d not like MTB and I’d get her bike instead. Got threatened with a dumping if I didn’t buy my own bike and I now own my first full susser.

Somewhere along the line I acquired a road bike (impulse buy after being dumped), entered my first MTB race (which was also the very first time I rode clipless, and I’d not recommend it to anyone), went on my first overseas trip to ride some proper mountains, met some people I’d never have met if not for mountain biking, found out what Allen keys are for apart from assembling Swedish furniture and am now close to the fittest I’ve ever been.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane on a rainy morning OP.

TL;DR: Messed around as a kid with them. Started riding to work. Rode with some better guys. Got hooked. Love it.

buzz, I hope you’re at peace mate.

More to do with stem length I think. Especially on steep climbs!

I also find wide bars good for out of saddle climbing. Imagine lifting a heavy bar, wouldn’t do it with hands close together.

Makes it easier to manual too! May be completely unintentional.

785mm and 60mm here.

Feels pretty good except when the terrain is over 10% ish. Would maybe consider changing the bars to 750 to better avoid trees, but I’d be on my bum if I shortened the stem anymore!

Even then, I’d get the 785s out for uplift days or for messing around on jumps and so on.

@logical

Oh and Curiousyellow. What are you doing outside of English Voodoo?

Looking for my sister I think.

**** me that HPC site is a barrel of laughs.

If your parents love you, enjoy you living with them and you genuinely help them out then I’d not think you were taking the mick.

If having kids and a relationship will make you happy then you should pursue that instead of hanging your happiness on a price crash that may or may not happen. Don’t worry about making your parents happy with grandkids if kids are not what YOU want.

My kids? I’d want them to get out and live their lives instead of turning into 30-something Ebenezer Scrooges because of something they have no control over.

On my first full sus bike for over a year. So I’d usually budget bearings being swapped out once a year and a pro service for the forks once a year too.

Don’t know about the BB, because I upgraded the drivetrain including the BB 10 months into owning it. However, I took my road bike’s BB out thinking there was a creak in there and it was fine. Turned out it was crud in the cable outers causing a creak when the handlebars turned. That was the first time I’d had the BB out in the 3 years of owning the bike.

MTB’s BB looked fine coming out of a really crappy, rainy, cold, snowy, frosty winter (for the Southeast!).

Sounds like you got the square root of fudge all. I’d ask for my money back, or at least an explanation of what he thought he was doing.

My BG Fit took about an hour and a quarter. I’d rather they didn’t waste my time to make me feel like I’d had my money’s worth. Most of the things that take time to change out, like bar, stem lengths, heights were already pretty spot on. It helps to have a good idea of what you’re trying to achieve before you book your fit though.

Changes that worked for me:

– Saddle height (mine was too high).
– Saddle position. Mine was too far behind. Not by much.
– Cleat position. Moved it further back I think.

Changes that didn’t:

– Fancy Spesh insoles using the thermal image thingy. The soles they gave me hurt like billy-oh. In all fairness, they did swap them out for free.

Things it fixed:

– Occasional knee pain.
– Hip discomfort.
– Back soreness.

Things it didn’t fix:

– Numb plums on extended climbs.
– Persistent saddle sore on my inner right thigh. I think I need a saddle with a narrower nose.

Thing(s) I changed later on:

– Stem. Shortened it to 90mm from the original 110mm. Bike feels a lot nicer now except on those very rare steep climbs we have in the Southeast. May change to a 100mm stem at some point. Can’t help feeling a lot of it is due to a loss of upper body strength due to riding a lot more for exercise because the bike felt nicer to be on.

I paid £100 for it as a special offer at their Kingston Concept Store. However, for the next bike I will probably use that guy trained by the Bike Whisperer. You can find him by searching the internet if you’re interested. I get the feeling that a more experienced bike fitter will be able to dial the fit in a lot better due to experience than a young lad who has been trained using a “by the numbers” approach, as that’s what the BG Fit feels like. No offence to Specialized. I thought the fit was a great thing, but it didn’t solve everything. They offer a follow up service, but I’m not sure if their recommendation to use a saddle with a cutout will sort out my testicular issues.

I just ride my bike more when this used to happen.

It’s just like when you have problems with your girlfriend. You have to go back to first principles and find out why you’re with them in the first place.

Or just get a mistress.

Seriously? I have the use of a lovely 120mm full suspension bike and an equally lovely 100mm carbon hardtail. They’re both great, but for different things. Either way, it’s nice to have the choice. Go for it if you can afford it.

Took them to FoD yesterday for an uplift day. Some water filtered through the rim on the first run, but they were solid the whole day. Seems I was unduly worried!

The leak is tiny. About 1mm. It seals, but I’d not have noticed it out on a ride.

May add some rubber cement next time it comes off. What’s the consensus on tubeless once they get a hole too big to reseal? Bin? Repair?

Sealant had shrivelled up when I took the tyre off to pop the tube in. There are 2 cups of sealant in there and it’s holding, but it didn’t half piss out sealant while resealing itself!

It goes bolt, washers/spacers, calliper, washers/spacers, adapter, washers/spacers, frame post mount on the rearmost side. I’d post a picture but it is a ball ache using the tablet for it.

180mm rotor.

Looks like there may have been a washer between the frame and adapter because the PM on the frame where I replaced the crunched washer is pretty clean on that side. I did wipe it down so I cannot be 100% sure. D’oh!

Cheers mate, but the spacer I’m talking about is between frame and adapter. There’s one on the side I didn’t remove but I don’t remember seeing one on the side I did.
That kit was the one I used to replace the plastic washer I crunched being heavy handed during a caliper alignment. I’ve temporarily used one of the conical soft washers in the kit between frame and adapter until I know something’s missing or not for sure.

Edit

There’s a spacer on the rearmost bit between the post mount on the frame and the adapter the caliper screws into. I’ve shoved one of the spare rubber washers (conical) that came with the washer replacement kit under there just in case. I don’t think I’ll die, but it’s winding me up not knowing what should be there!
Mate has some X0s on a Nerve AM, but isn’t answering the phone so I may check. Bastard.