If you go for a towball mounted one an alternatice is Atera. There’s a 10% discount code for Roofbox co that’s easy to find with search too.

It depends whether you want to get into smuggling or not really. Personally I don’t. Also, if you buy out there you will pay State tax which varies from state to state but is typically around 9% or 10% I believe.

Definitely worth buying parts instead of a complete bike. The duty is calculated to the price plus postage then the VAT is calculated based on that total. Duty on parts is 4.7% whereas on whole bikes it’s 14%.

Also, I just imported the frame, headset and forks. I could get the other bits cheaper by shopping around and negotiating here or from Germany.

And bear in mind that you can normally negotiate a discount off the RRP with the US dealer too.

All in all I now have a bike I couldn’t have justified at UK prices but am also aware of potential warranty problems in that it might need to be sent back to the US.

Hope this helps.

Just to balance that out a bit. Hope Tech M4 front with Tech X2 rear, Hope organic pads. Front brake fade whilst riding down a fairly short but very steep road section in the Peaks.

My choice would be the new XTR trail from what owners have said. I still like the Hopes though.

I had a problem getting the Kevlar pads to bed in on my wife’s bike. My LBS did the usual riding around and braking routine but used hot water, fresh out of the kettle instead of cold and it worked a treat. May be worth a try. The still squeal like hell though.

I’ve been using Racing Ralph bought from Germany (bike-discount.de)

I think my five tens will take about a month to dry after todays ride (Penmachno – was just a bit wet today)

I was planning on swapping the wheels as the Arch/Nic combination is more all mountain for gnarly rides. I only thought about swapping as I have the choice and am a bit concerned about the front sliding out in some conditions but I don’t have that much experience to know what’s best.

Anyway what I’ve done should be fine and at least if out riding with my wife we will have the same combination.

Cheers. I couldn’t afford to wait so put a Nic up front.

I went on one of Ed’s courses at the weekend. He had us practicing manuals first followed by rear wheel lifts then the bunny hop was a combination of the two movements.

Lots of practice needed by me before I can do them properly though.

I had one in my spine so not the same and I would say it was more uncomfortable than painfull. I have an irrational fear of needles and was pretty worried about it but just told myself to be brave. It was a lot easier than I had imagined and all over pretty quickly. I’m no doctor but I think there’s always an infection risk. I’m not sure what else but just make sure you get all your questions answered before deciding. And I would get that scan done first too.

I’ve decided to go for this and replace the existing one (which as two audio sockets and 4 usb 2.0).

http://www.icybox.com.tw/pdf_spec/datasheet_ib-863_e.pdf

What cables will I need to connect up to the motherboard SATA and USB 3.0 connectors? I just don’t want to order the wrong things or not order all that I need and end up paying the £5 odd postage twice.

Thanks

I’ve actually just found a pdf data sheet which although not completely clear would suggest it probably links usb 2.0 internal to the usb 2.0 external, SATA internal to eSATA external port and usb 3.0 to usb 3.0 external port so all separate.

I’ve just managed to check the spec of my old card reader and it’s USB 1.1 so it seems that unless there is one with just one USB 3.0 internal connection then this will probably be best and I’ll just disconnect the existing USB connectors. I have a drive I use for back ups of my laptop so the external eSATA port will be handy too.

Thanks for the clarification and for pretty much confirming that what I would ideally like probably isn’t yet produced.

It is externally but I don’t know about internally. I’m hoping you can just use the internal USB 3.0 motherboard conection all the external ports go through that but just want to clarify it that’s the case otherwise it’s a shame to lose the USB 3.0 capability.

http://www.lexar.com/products/lexar-professional-expresscard-compactflash-cf-reader?category=213

That’s the reader I use for CF with my laptop and the card is a 60Mb /s UDMA.

With the other pc I only have a basic USB card reader that is CF only. This is probably the bottleneck as you say and it may in fact only be USB 1.0.

That said, cards are always getting faster and I don’t have a USB 2.0 connection free on the motherboard though I could replace or disconnect the existing 5″ bay (that has the audio sockets in too so discounnecting the USB hub would probably be the best option).

It’s just that the pics of the above panel just show a few wires out of the back. If I could see exactly what they are I could decide. Maybe I should call a stockist (tend not to think of that these days!)

I currently use a lexar expresscard CF reader along with UDMA CF cards when using the laptop and it is much faster than using USB 2.0. Basically my USB 2.0 motherboard connections are already in use so I have a choice of SATA or USB3.0

I figured getting one with USB 3.0 would make use of the motherboard connection leaving the SATA one free for future use plus the panel limked to above includes a USB3.0 hub so I would not only be able to transfer at the maximum card speed but also have an external usb 3.0 socket.

I’m just uncertain as to whether the panel has just one connection internally which is to the USB 3.0 motherboard terminal which ‘powers’ the USB 2.0, uSB 3.0, card reader and esata external ports and was suspecting it doesn’t.

Simon, I posted before reading your post. I guess my question is whether the card reader is linked to the USB 3.0 motherboard connection or if this is effectively just a front panel with 3 connections on the back – 1 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0 and one SATA?

I really want high speed read/write capability due to dealing with 20 Mb raw files and possibly video if I get a cam for my bike at some stage.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/icy-box-ib-864-b-35-6x-slot-card-reader-with-3x-usb-20-1x-esata-and-1x-usb-30

Basically the above and similar. My thinking is that this probably allows you to connect a usb 3.0 cable to the hub and motherboard but also usb 2.0 cable to link the usb 2.0 hubs and motherboard and also a eSATA to the SATA but all separately whereas I want an internal card reader with the speed of USB 3.0 and ideally a hub as well so I can fit USB 3.0 accessories if I want to in future.

The other option is to get something like this and get an external lexar one that fits CF and SD but they’re expensive and not as neat.

Presumably cables need to be bought separately for the internal ones too?

I saw a couple up ahead the other week whilst I was descending quite quickly so immediately started to brake. The trouble was it was wet and my brakes started to squeel like mad. That left me with a dilemmma. Slow down to walking pace and scare the life out of them with the brakes or fly past as wide as I could.

My old steed (excuse the mudguards and pink drink!)

I think he means what he would have to say, not what everyone else says.

In case you are interested, Goldtec have an Orange demo day coming up on 21 June (I think it’s an evening but need to check). They’re also an Ibis dealer but I’m not sure if there will be any of those to try.

Just bought some of the new Unabombers on sale at Evans. The old ones look like the protection might be better and are cheaper but I could only find one place that had them online in my size and colour choice and the reviews suggest there have been quite a lot of problems with them so I thought it best to buy from somewhere I can take them back easily if needs be. Thanks again.

Those Unabombers or similar look just the ticket.

Thanks, a couple of options there. The 661 look decent for the price though I can see white getting filthy very quickly.

What trap had been left? Does this kind of behaviour get reported, investigated etc or is it an unavoidable hazard to live with/look out for?

55g difference which although not that much is still significant if you’re trying to keep weight down but still want a strong rim. That said, I’ve not tried flows. I have tried Crests though – I bought a pair for my wife’s bike but as she’s not doing much at the moment due to an injury I have been trying them. Arch on the rear and Crest on the front seems a good idea though which I might try. Currently my plan is to use the Crests (with Racing Ralph) for more normal stuff and the Arhches for the rest (currently with Nobby Nics) but one of each, Nobby Nic/Crest up front and Racing Ralph/Arch rear might be ideal.

I’m about 100kg kitted up and have Arch on goldtec hubs with brass nipples and double butted spokes. They’re a very similar profile to Flow but narrower so nice and strong. No problems with mine yet and I ride rocky trails around the Peaks and Lee quarry and am not yet proficient at drop offs and small jumps but am practicing so not particularly smooth.

Hmmmm, I was tempted by Chris King but thought the Pace might be a decent alternative with a similar greasing facility. I meant the cost of the greasing tool on top, not the wrench but I wasn’t absolutely certain the standard one would be ok so thanks anyway.

I’ve had a hope ceramic before on my old bike but didn’t really have it long enough to form a proper opinion (I sold the frame and the BB was team green which doesn’t go with the new frame orange so I sold it on). The purging grease idea seems a good one.

Who has the best deal on Chris King? and Pace for that matter.

Having had both on Hope tech brakes I wouldn’t bother with them on any bike where keeping weight down is important.

I have an Air Tower as well but can’t remember which model. It was mid to high range I think but heavily discounted and has been great. I even managed to break the retaining strap by fogetting to undo it in a rush and pulling really hard (very stupid) and was sent another free with no quibbles even though I told them it was entirely my fault.

Spokes and nipples also effect strenght and I believe a lot is to do with the quality of the build. I don’t know that much about all this but would avoid alloy nipples and, from talking about options with Dan from Goldtec, was told about pro-loc nipples being an option which don’t loosen so easily. It’s great dealing with them as they will build wheels with their own or hope or whatever hubs etc you want but as they manufacture hubs themselves they know their onions when it comes to the engineering side. Dan also races downhill (and was competing at the worlds at Fort William) so can talk from experience re what to go for for particular usage. They tend to be pretty competitve on price too. Not the absolute cheapest but with the advice, bespoke build and service they certainly offer value for money.

http://www.mountainbikecomponents.co.uk/about.asp

You just park anywhere around the business park. You then just head straight up the track. Best to try and do Cragg quarry too as in my opinion it’s ace.

Stans rims with Goldtec hubs is another choice. You can even get your own graphics laser etched on. If you want a price I would give Kev a call rather than go by the website (BETD). Wheels are hand built to your specification, hubs are light and strong (I went for All Mountain front and Pro Competition rear) and support is excellent.

We did a decent ride starting at Hayfield the other weekend, taking in the campsite decent amongst other stuff. The route is posted on the wall of the Slow Rides For Unfit People group on facebook.

+1 for quidco. I’ve had several hundred pounds for very little effort and all transactions have either been tracked and paid successfully or occasionally paid after submitting an enquiry (easy process).

I search for the best deal I can then look on quidco to see if the retailer is listed and perhaps try a few off there if I haven’t thought of them.

I do factor in the cashback as it can be reasonable and make a difference.

But a lot of these are very expensive and don’t have built in weather protection.

Battery pack and cable in saddle bag would work but is not very neat and with my dropper post might cause problems. A bottle cage mount would work and I guess I could fashion something to fit with a bottle and some outdoor electrical fittings (I forget the name) but it gets to the point where I think I might as well bite the bullet and get a Garmin 850!

That Dahon one does look good and you can put a charging lead into it. Does anyone know of a weather proof battery pack that could be plugged into it and mounted somehow?

I am considering the topeak one but I’m not sure it’s available yet. Another problem is battery life and I doubt the extenders will fit in the mount.

I had a 29er hardtail (Kula Deluxe) with a pretty light weight build and really enjoyed it. I’ve since splashed out on a Tallboy FS build and as I couldn’t see me taking the hardtail out in preference to the Tallboy, I’ve now split it. I had a great ride out in the Peak District around Macclesfield forrest area that was a reasonable distance, quite a lot of climbing and some pretty gnarly decents and it was ace!

With propedal on and forks locked (and Talas set to 95mm) it was very hardtail like anyway and a bit lighter than my (high specced) hardtail was even with a fairly robust build.