If I had to choose any tube interface I'd not want to ride around on broken, I think it would be the headtube! Why didn't you buy a cheap as chips old HT if you are going to mince about then you wouldn't be looking for a shock or have to ride on egg shells waiting for the inevitable

🙂 🙂

yep. my 456 frame plus AM2 forks cost me 90 quid and it is a riot. Only built it up to ride to work but it is a brilliant piece of kit to ride while the meta is ill.

NB I have only done 2 x 15 hr interval fork services since my meta was new (Aug 2009) so I guess that is 30 to 40 hrs in all before it started creaking and groaning (and half of that uphill) and then I noticed the cracks in the welds. I dont even ride hard (I am a bit of a pansy!)

I would not ride a meta with a headtube crack, dude

I have one…its ace!

Currently awaiting a new 2010 frame on warranty (my 2009 is cracked 🙁 )

dont be so keen to get out dude. They change so fast, you blink and you miss it 🙂

Little dude and I are having fun while Birthday girl gets pampered today.

Did a 7.00am start ride yesterday though. It was probably the best ride I have ever had! I was fast, the bike was ace, the conditions excellent…I even did a log drop-off that I havnt had the guts for before. result

Personally I only suffer this if I am a bit sketchy, using the brakes too much and looking down. It used to be really bad for me

When I am on form, I am looking way ahead and picking lines well. It just seems to transform my riding. The bike slides around a bit but it is an ace feeling.

Marzocci All mountain 2s set and forget at 140mm – they came with the frame!

Its a very odd feeling craving food. I have booted fags into touch and only drink occasionally at the weekend (I used to do both in excess). The only thing that has kept me awake at night though is this craving..got to eat..got to eat. Hunger? No.just peckish. Greedy

This kind of behavour got me up to 110KG pretty much un-noticed in a few married years (I was 85KG at 19) and the only thing that pushed me to change was having a baby. Couldnt affort 2 cars so one went and I got on a bike for the first time in 10 years! I got down to 92kg last year but it took real concious effort –

Trouble is that effort must be sustained . I am gutted as now my weight has bounced up to 97kg. I ride my bike just as much but I give into the lust for food more often… You let your guard down and you are eating again. All those new clothes are starting to get tight. Your willy gets smaller. (its true you know)

So I am giving it another go (Marin Roughride in June 🙂 )

3 days and its all good. No binging (a big problem for me; a snack turns into a blowout) No half-loaves of bread. Long way to work. Lots of water.

It is down to the individual to loose weight. The more society accepts larger people though, the less the individual feels he/ she needs to change. Only now do I realise how unbelievably unheathy I was.

edit. Oh and my Wife informs me I am snoring again 😯

Go to somewhere like Redhill Extreme where the jumps progress in size and you can roll them/jump/do what you like on them.

is it open yet? Its only up the road from me and I fancy having a go. I, too, have some serious wheels-oof-the-ground issues

RIDE? on a Saturday??? thats crazy talk

ok it is for me 🙁

Buy some spokes and' ave a go!

I had a wheel like yours that was pinging spokes off every five minutes and cost me a lot in repairs. I bought a "new" one and the spokes came loose twice 🙁

I had had enough after this so rebuilt my meta wheel first with a new 12mm axle hub and I have just respoked the one that came loose twice. First one turned out ok, the second one really well. Only cost 15 quid for some spokes…worth a punt?

TBH I will only build my own from now on. My "Jig" is an old kona frame stuck in a workmate…

Can I cut in here, or do I have to read the whole thread?

I loved that!

Particularly enjoyed the pork pie and the get-offs too; makes you remember you arnt the only one falling off.

Not sure about those wet rocks though. Looks a bit scary 🙂

For bog standard, easy accsible fun it is Standish, Gloucester for me (ok Haresfield) I have only done a few of the big trail centres and only once so I cant count those!

Standish is cool; lots of little bits all in one tiny place. I use it as a training ground and a confidence builder. The dogs come too, and are not in danger of getting run over etc (mind you if the downhillers are flying about, I tend to bugger off for everyone's safety)

Did my first ever pre-jump today 🙂 It was only a baby but it is a start

And the Sun was out

And the trails were proper summer-like dry

YYeeeeeessssss

3 of us were on a night ride at about 1.00AM and were rather shocked to see a young lady on a mobile phone seemingly in the middle of no-where in the pitch dark.

Dont know what surprised me more; thae fact that she was there or the fact that 3 dudes with mega bright lights riding straight at her didnt even throw her of her conversational stride

Turns out there was a campsite nearby but of course i didnt know this at the time!

The sound of my tyres getting loads of grip which means it is dry and I am going well

The sound of deer ripping through the forest out of knowhere or a buzzard taking off 🙂

Smells: Anything that reminds you how much you love being outside doing it.

saw a pro 2 on ebay once.

Advert said "Awesome Clicky noise!"

Wally – Member
Brake pads,

Dancake – Member

Went through a set of pads too

I don't understand this.

I'm local to Afan and the pad wear on my bikes is no worse when I ride there than anywhere else – I still go through a set of pads about every 6 months of riding 2 – 3 times a week.

It does rain a lot though!

cos im not very gnar, me and spend most of my time with my fist clutched around the brake lever. (the back one anyway )

last time out at cwmcarn; whats that clicking noise? oh its my pad spring winding its way around the disc becasue there is no pad left. 🙂 I dont have this prob locally! None of that sandy stuff for a start

here is my blog about it[/url]

bushes came out ok, but only ended up changing the top ones.

Used to ride a road bike with really high saddle and flew to work at 100mph (ok not quite)

Trouble is, I run my Mountain bike with a low saddle so when I was getting on it after the road bike I was getting ruined. I recently sold the road bike and bought a MTB for work set up exactly the same. Riding to work is a chore but I feel much happier once I get it (or the other one) off road.

If you wear specs take a spare. I was constantly wiping mine because of the rain. By the end of day one the lenses were ****..couldnt see a thing on day 2.

Went through a set of pads too. Mate of mine did a chain and another had a few punctures. Other than that no probs

I do it sat down on the Meta and it works out nicely and rides well. If I do same on my 456 it doesnt really work out too well for me. ( so I do it standing up over the bars a bit. )

Using TJs ratios here 🙂 (ok 11-32 ont back but close enough)

Havnt missed the big ring at all since going all double 'n' bash. I have even put that setup on my Dog bike which does some miles on the road

Are you using QR? I dont know what bike you have, but a conversion to a nice solid 12mm bolt thru may be what you are after? (can you get a conversion kit for the xc?) It may be also worth sourcing some good quality bearings yourself

This is what I have done on my Meta. It was 10mm QR with an XT hub. Trouble is, I was repeatedly re-adjusting the cones as they kept coming undone (even at silly levels of tightness ) My prob is down to the twisting action of the swingarm I think (others have had the same prob I believe due unequal length arms or some such thing)

As for the wheel, I bought a hub and had a go myself. The spokes swapped over ok and it was quite a good result for a first time. I used Sheldon Brow's guide

Chainguard:
Main Drive Cog

I dont even know what that means

halfbee – Member
I'm getting this beauty – £109 FS and only 26lbs!
Dunlop Full suspension with discs

look at the spec

Brake Leavers:
Adjustable

Now; At the table drinking some booze with Lappy trying to drown out my wife and her mate.

Earlier buying Bday Pressies for upcoming 2 yr old's Big day

Tomorrow. 2 kids parties (woohoo ?) and a big kid's party in the eve

Monday ; Out with family..dinner etc

Tuesday: Work

oh well, the local trails are probably sloppy anyway

Only realised it was too small after I bought my next bike; a Medium Meta 5.5.2#

you need one of these

A story.

We once had an odd smell in the kitchen and it was getting worse. My wife blamed it on her spilling a pint of milk over the oven; some of which must have got into it through the knobs.

Anywhoo, the smell got really bad, so I took the side off the oven to clean it, only to find a RAT stuffed into the cables and gubbins under the electric hob (must have electricuted itself) Said rat had been cooked over and over again for what must have been weeks.

After disposing of the oven, we ripped out the kitchen units and found a nest and a trail of dog biscuits. This rat had been LIVING in my KITCHEN!!

It is almost certain that my crap (but much loved ) cat had brought the rat in through the cat flap and then let it go; he does this with birds too.

This was a few years ago now and he cant really be arsed these days.

Thankfully

Just had this conversation with 2 of my mates. They insist on 35 + but I much prefer closer to 20psi front and 25 rear.

Curiously, out of the 3 of us, I have not suffered any pinch flats? (they have)

I run High rollers 2.35 SP

Well the most I have ever done is 60 miles in 2 days at Glencorrwg 😳

Got back and ate for a month (ok ever since) Right now 20 miles around the local trails nearly kills me

Recently got rid of the roadbike as I was doing the same commute miles but putting in half as much effort and getting less fit by the second. I have bought a Mountain bike to commute now and have set it up exactly like my 'posh' bike (totally wrong for the road) so I can get the muscles used to it again.

Doing the Roughride in June..need to be ready 🙂

People can be overly critical of Gloucester and some of peoples feelings are genuine but from a practical sense its all there, just not as pretty or as high flying as some of its surrounding areas.

yep. live right in the middle of it all, (in the "black bit" and I love it here flor the record) me about a mile from the docks. (Im at the Stella, Tesco and VW Passat end of the Spectrum)

Painswick, cranham (and dont forget Haresfield/ Standish that is ace) all round the corner and you can link to leccy/ cleeve too.

you need to bling up those spoke nipples there, dude

Good luck in your new adventure; By month 3 my wife and I almost murdered each other through tiredness but they are not all like that (my 2 nieces slept through the night really early. whereas It took us 18 months with some serious heart-wrenching "leave him to cry" nights ).

Little dude has slept every night since Christmas now and it is ACE!

Just 14 sleeps until his 2nd birthday, and the Balance bike comes out. So excited; hope HE likes it…

22/ 36/ bash on the 456. TBH with a 50mm chainline the 36 is very close; not sure if a 40 would fit without changing the bb length. (or spacers for you posh dudes whodont do the square taper thing 🙂 Love the setup BTW. chose exactly the same for the meta

Sleeping off nights, spending the whole day miserable and moaning about having to work 10.30 to 18.30 Sunday.

Hopefully Ill have an hour at the woods with the doggies

Standish, Gloucester 🙂

Wow! Old topic revival..

The bog standard float sort of worked, but I ended up buying an RP2 165mm. I set it to sag (about 8mm) and got used to flicking from open to Propedal on climbs. trying to set it up to zero sag didnt really work though. I found at less than 8mm sag it would bob about all over the place until the pressure was stupidly high.

I kept this setup until I got rid of the bike. My first FS…happy days

hang on..that was only 10 months ago . I bought a Commencal Meta since then, and recently a 456. Crumbs this mountain biking lark really gets you doesnt it? No wonder I am so broke 🙂

Have a look at Sheldon Brown's Bottom Bracket database .

I had an old pair of Truvative cranks that I needed a BB to suit; it told me to get 113 and thats what I did. Worked out fine, with a 50 mm chainline…

just got an R12 bolt thru complete hub from CRC. 50 quid too for a white one.

looks nice, if not a bit of a heavy lump. Stiffened up my Meta nicely!

I ended up fitting an RP2 and setting it up for sag. Found there was a "sweet spot" where bob would be minimal even on the "open" setting

Regarding the "zero sag" setup with the NRS shock, I never really got there…

Got used to flicking the lever for climbs; worked well imo