Rode that stone section last night, its pretty good and heading in the right direction!! I think the best approach is to almost throw caution to the wind as being cautious seems to make you slip and slide everywhere (into a tree, luckily i managed to scrub all my speed off with my shocking v-brakes).
Try and stick to the grass and it is good but on the wet mud it is nuts!

I did wander who had cleared it, well done that man!

Agreed on the slippiness, yikes!

The piglet has a 73mm bb shell and a 50mm chainline so you need to go and look at the chainset you want and see what spec it is, it should say the chainline with the info of the chainset.

I replaced mine last week, came off ebay, a 73mm x 118mm octalink.
Paid £12.99 i think and got it within 2 days.
I have never had to hunt one down and reliability shouldnt really be an issue with them.
I only swapped mine due to another frame having a wider bb shell.

The m595s will be well under that, so will the SlXs.

I have heard nothing but good about the formulas though.

Yes but the deore m595s are cheaper and supposedly more powerful according to the bikeradar test.

I have had two sets on different bikes and they are excellent and stupidly reliable.

I suddenly became very skint so sold my Scott scale HT with revelations, hydraulic discs etc etc
I then bought a 1996 Specialized stumjumper HT with Judy sl forks and v-brakes.

The spesh has excellent geometry and is more fun and challenging to ride but the brakes scare the crap out of you, that is where i lose my confidence!

I say you should keep at the hardtail and just alter your riding to suit it, thats what i have done from bike to bike, you just have to think about it a bit more when confronting obstacles.

Looks like it, never mind.

Yes you have indeed! I have done the same in a way by selling my 2011 scott scale with all the bells and whistles and bought a 1996 stumpjumper for £130!

I too was in delamere but in the evening and it is great fun, a bit iffy on v-brakes but i am slapping a BB7 on the front soon.

I can go just as fast on this as i could the scott and have more fun negotiating obstacles on the trails etc.

I love the m595 brakes, i have had two sets on bikes, i havent got any at the moment (different bike) but they would definitely be my first choice.

That is mainly the issue i have with Avids, the reviews definitely are mixed (weighing heavily towards a pain in the backside).

I like reliable too hence why i recommend Shimano.

One would argue why one would purchase SLX brakes when one is shopping at CR Mag level…

Because under the bikeradar tests, the SLX are more powerful plus they will undoubtedly be more reliable, the classic fit and forget stuff.

I would go for Shimano brakes every day over Avids, the only brakes i would consider buying over Shimano would be Formulas the one.

People are mentioning big volume tubeless tyres, what sort of size? 2.3 and up maybe?

[/quote]only a extra 15 minutes to llandegla!

that is pretty special if you can get from delamere to llandegla in 15 minutes!

Sunline lock-on thicks here, used them for a while but my hands have been aching a lot lately so might have a change for some thinner just foam grips.

I just dont feel the need to go absolutely balls out everywhere, my hardtail is fine for what i do, hell, it even has v-brakes!

Nah, i love it, pretty jealous really!

Are these things quite nice to ride, i like the look of them and want to build a tough as old boots hardtail and wandered if the long travel stuff is the way to go, i dont want a full susser but want something that/ will take the hits etc.

Kenda SB8 26×1.95 in the folding variety are down to £11 each at CRC

I know that some of the xt brakes need xt specific adapters, i had this problem but it sounds to me like you have the worng adapter entirely, are you using a rear adapter on the front maybe?

I have some Deore m595 for sale, only had for 3 months and have done about 300 miles tops.

In excellent condition, ready to go with no bleeding needed etc.

Yours for £70 posted.

Financial, although i am changing from a modern hardtail to a mid 90s hardtail with v-brakes (i will put a disc on the front) and gripshift gears!

:?

Just to let you all know, i have plumped for a stumpjumper off the evilbay, bit of a discrepency to how old it is he say 2001 but it isnt in my opinion, the decals etc suggest it is mid 90s, i think it is an A1 FS stumpjumper so here we go, i have some modern kit to go on if it doesnt work well but for £130 it was worth a punt.

I think the 2010 Kona buffer looks nice.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/buffer-uk-2010-mountain-bike-ec026235?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=froogle

I was turned briely but soon came back, not keen on road riding proper but might get a flat bar bike just to pootle round the back lanes on soon.

Just buy some and try them, i dont like spds, not even on a road bike but that is just me.#

The simple answer is that it is down to personal preference, it really is an unanswerable question as we are all different.

Yours arrived the other day btw, thanks for that

Excellent, i trust it arrived in one piece?

You can get them as i have bought one recently and sold it on, you can get them from winstanleys.
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/31366/USE_Seatpost_SS_309mm_Shims
It says no-stock but it did when i ordered mine but still got it within a week.
Oh, and when i searched for one it took about 10 seconds on google.

I dont mind running v-brakes to be honest, i know the 2005 rockhopper wasnt old, i just used it as an example because it is nicer than my 2011 Scott scale.

Can any bike be run on suspension forks and what year roughly did v-brakes take over from cantilevers (or is that a how long is a piece of string question)?

Replied to you psychle

I have one available that i have taken off my bike.
Email me on johnbpowley@aim.com if you are interested!
John

Rockhopper frame off ebay?

I may have to go that way, tempted to build one up as a spare bike anyway!

I really didnt like my Ribble road bike but then i am not 100% convinced about road riding anyway.

With mountain bikes, i had a 2005 rockhopper and loved it but then on-one started selling the scandal 26 at £134 so i bought one and swapped all the bits over but really didnt like it one bit. I had already sold the rockhopper frame which was a huge mistake! Sold the scandal built up when i should have split it up as it had some ace bits on it.

I currently have a Scott scale which is a good bike but sadly not as nice to ride as the rockhopper. Ho-hum what can you do?

Scott scale or a Cannondale flash 1?

Thats good to know, thanks!

Nah, i agree with others, you have been grossly misinformed about delamere, there are miles and miles of singletrack in the forest and primrose wood.
Allsorts from pretty quick downhill bursts to very technical tight singletrack.
I go out on a monday and wednesday evening, you really should come out and give it a chance, the routes are endless and you learn new ones all the time plus new ones are constantly being planned and laid out.

Email me at johnbpowleyATaimDOTcom if you are interested.

The conditions are fine up there, ground is mostly hardpack, the start of the red run that goes out of the forest is rocky and very bumpy at the moment, battered me to death on the hardtail a couple of weeks ago!

Oh bugger, my HT is heavier than some of these!

I will miss it, its great fun but i enjoy riding full stop!
not looking forward to the midges and gnats though!!