This seems to reinforce my first impressions that there is no such thing as a “bargain” Lefty :D

ebay doesn’t seem to save much over a new fork, especially a 2013. Even then 2011 forks seem to sell for around £500!

Stripping a full bike is a decent idea but I think I would be lucky to get a Carbon XLR equipped bike for just over £800 :D

I think ndthornton has it closest.

A “scandium” frame is basically and Alu frame with some trace scandium. Alu frames themselves are not especially popular now, especially at the mid to high end where a “scandium frame” becomes marketable so it is inevitable that the amount of “scandium” frames you will see will be tiny. KCNC are one of the few manufacturers I can think of off the top of my head producing “scandium” parts…

Sunset and Cyclopedia tend to do a quick turn around and a decent job if you are in the city centre. Don Skene are also very helpful and quick.

Selle Italia SLR – 135g of “Why the hell isn’t this painful?”

Or maybe the “135g of- why the hell did I pay so much money for something that is actually 20% heavier than the claimed weight” :D I get on well with my SLR but man was mine overweight.

Proper Weightweenies saddle p0rn has to be this hand made piece of art

Another to throw in the mix is the Schwalbe Dirty Dan.

Great in proper mud and as fast if not faster than a Mud-X on the smooth and flat.

I found the Mud-X to be particularly good on wet roots and rocks and the Dirty Dans are right up there in that respect too.

The main advantage then over the Mud-X (besides a little additional speed) is they are damn light at 445g. I got mine for £20 from a well known German retailer.

Stick to the Mud-X if you are going to be giving sidewalls a hard time, otherwise go for the Dirty Dan :D

Unfit riders on light bikes are cheating themselves of the advantages of weight training.. A fit + lean rider spending most of their time on a heavier bike will do best come race-day on race-bike.

“Weight training” by riding a heavier bike is classic. I mean, you couldn’t ride a harder gear on the same light race bike in training to increase the intensity could you? :wink:

It was a while back admittedly :-)

Bad Ass Bikes always seem to get recommended and put together Oli Beckingsale’s wheels together if I remember correctly. Never been there myself.

@CRC

Also lots of annoying little bugs like the brand filter on the left of the page being in no apparent order and several brands being listed twice with slight variations like “Mavic” and “Mavic 2013”.

Ta!

That looks very normal to me and nothing to be concerned about. Of course it is hard to be 100% certain from pics alone but the clearcoat on carbon bars does seem to compress under stems/ brake lever even when the bolts are torqued correctly. Personally, it looks very normal

I always enjoy TSP articles :D

Rumour is it is one of two OGE guys based on the combinations of races TSP describes racing in. I’d rather not know since that isn’t the fun- the fun is the insight in to the pro way of life and way of thinking.

Too amazing to comprehend! 8O

A few impressive things in a 3 min edit is all well and good but 8 minutes solid of banger after banger is just nuts!

If you decide you are not keen on the Enduras when they arrive I would also recommend looking at Uvex.

I have just bought the Uvex Active Variomatic for around £50 with a stated range of 8-80%. I have tested them from bright sunshine to a 1 mile tunnel (with only very low level lighting- no bike light) and they have been great in all situations. My concern was also that they go clear enough since super sunny days are few and far between in the UK and I am not in the slightest bit disappointed :)

They are super light weight and hard to feel on the bike. No fogging as yet and they even worked well in the rain where my previous glasses wold have been useless- the water runs straight off the Uvex. The lenses and overall quality get great reviews so they would have definitely been worth a look.

They were really quick to deliver my 3.

I can second the Mt Zoom bars- really great value, weight and feel

I would be more than happy to donate a big box of parts I would have offered on here for free anyway. Everything is good working order but not so desirable nowadays such as v-brake only frame/ wheels/ brake etc. Is this any help or can yo only really make use of full bikes?

KMC X10SL, £25 from the ‘bay

Light, strong, last forever, shifts well. Can’t ask for more

I would second what others have said in getting together with a group ride.

If you want to explore by yourself then you can’t go too far wrong with any of the bridleways or by-ways around Bath, especially in the sunnier weather when the ground is firm. Exploring in Winter can be a bogfestroulette :D When in doubt explore a new trail down hill and climb up somewhere you know is passable or a road. Nothing worse than trying to push up a steep, overgrown bog!

Around Bath there are trails in pretty much every direction. If you are in Trowbridge then maybe these places are worth an explore straight out of your front door:

Pipehouse
Limpley Stoke in to Monkton Combe
Southstoke/ Combe Hay/ Englishcombe By-ways and bridleways
There looks to be a lot around Peasedown St. John/ Norton St.Phillip/ Hinton Charterhouse I am yet to explore.

There is plenty more besides this too. All of the above are general areas but look for the bridleways and by-ways (Bing maps for example) in these areas and you can’t go too far wrong in the Summer. If you just want an easy flat ride then there is a good network of canal paths, and bike paths as I am sure yo already know :D

Get a new friend who is slightly less fit than you but not so unfit it makes rides tedious :D

There isn’t much to add besides the importance of consistency in all of the above.

There isn’t much to gain from one good night’s sleep if you have 6 days of only grabbing 5 hours sleep a week. Likewise with riding, you can see some improvements in a month of decent riding (whatever that might be to you) but if you then don’t do much for the next month or two then it is almost wasted. Most people have busy work and family lives so struggle to keep the consistency going which I feel is one of the hardest parts to staying decently fit and fast (not that I ever have been or will be fit and fast- just observing others :D )

I would want to replace everything in one go so would personally go for the kit. I found the bearings last quite well but the seals for example lose their effectiveness pretty quickly. Likewise bushings if your version uses them and there is no way I would be using the standard plastic end caps on more than one or two rebuilds as they are so soft and easy to damage (I use Ti end caps though). The kit for the versions requiring bushes also now includes a conveniently sized metal rod to help press them in and out much easier than before. I don’t know why you would get through bearings quicker than bushes and seals???

Awesome achievement

That would be another level of mental to be pedalling at that cadence and effort approaching 100mph 8O

I like the quote “it is potentially fairly dangerous” :D

Same good experiences here. £24.99 gets you a KMC X-10SL in gold or silver from certian sellers in Taiwan including postage. Every link is stamped correctly, they weigh the right amount, function perfectly (several hundred km of use) and it arrived within a week! I am yet to be hit with extra charges ordering from the far east (touch wood!)

I can only think that as the pedal body is turning, it is somehow tightening the NDS nuts but I have payed attention to making sure both nuts are correctly tightened with no change to the stiff pedal a ride or two later. There is a good chance I am doing it wrong though! I have been adjusting the first nut (nearest the bearings) so the slack is just taken up and everything can spin freely,then tighten the second nut to firmly hold the first in place. I forget the exact torque but no more than 4 or 5Nm (whatever the instructions say) on the second nut. The one thing I haven’t done is use any Loctite- I suppose this might help???

Dirtyrider’s Scalpel is probably my favourite here. “Proper” superbike in that aswell as it being damn expensive and light, you are highly unlikely to ever see anything else the same.

My all time favourite is here. Again, another “proper” superbike :D

A superbike in my eyes is a no expense spared machine with lots or personal and unique touches you are unlikely to see anywhere else. A £6000 S-Works/ Santa Cruz/ whatever is still not a superbike in my eyes if anyone else can buy one off the shelf. I’ll never own a superbike so am probably just jealous.

There are alot of bikes that clearly have a lot of thought put in to them speccing interesting and unique mixes of components and these are closer to superbikes as far as I see it than a bike that is “just” expensive. Some cracking bikes in this thread! :D

Bontragers law comes from a time before far East based manufacturers could put out light and strong for cheap :D Of course all three involve some subjectivity in their definition but I disagree you can have all three (for my needs anyway).

My take on this is that most people tend to ride heavy wheels with heavy tubes, heavy tyres and an overall heavy bike. Vice versa for an overall light bike. I doubt you would notice the difference in even 3-400g on wheels alone when a fair chuck of that is likely to come from the hub and spokes, not just the rim. Get light wheels, faster rolling, lighter tyres and go tubeless then I would say you will start to notice a difference. Go the whole hog and pay attention to the weight balanced with performance of every minute component and then you will really notice a difference. Just my subjective take so take it with a pinch of salt!

I also recall a video of Mavic testing new XC race wheels where they gave several prototypes to the pros of different weights and stiffness and the version which came out on top after pro feedback on feel and also on lap times was not the lightest but the wheel that balanced lots of factors best. I am not sure how much of that is true/ scientific or if perhaps just clever marketing to try and encourage customers to buy their XC wheels which are comparatively heavy to some other custom options. Interesting nevertheless

Mt Zoom for around £80 are definitely worth a look

I said “sod it” to all carpet and bought the cheapest Ikea rug which doesn’t quite go the distance :lol:

Warbs looks to be out for 4 months Report Here

Great looking Sc there twoniner :D

Anyone else got a build on the go for the weekend?

This will be keeping me occupied over the weekend- just finished but a few changes still needed to keep me busy. Very, very happy so can’t resist sharing :D All built from new parts for less than the cost of Carbon SC frame.

That makes sense. I knew there must be some reason to not make a habit out of it otherwise everyone would do it surely?

I just gave this a quick try and was surprised how easy it was and how well it worked, even watching iplayed through the phone’s 3G.

Did I just get lucky or can I expect reliable, good quality internet on the laptop through the phone?

Even not carrying you own gear, 50 off road miles a day (assuming 5 days overall) is still 50 off road miles a day! No getting around that simple fact, let alone an average of ~550ft per 10 miles climbing- not the hilliest but not exactly flat either!

Another big thank you for the route. A quality effort!

The Mountain Bike Routes UK website says “It is a ride of epic statistics – the longest off-road, coast-to-coast ride in England,comprising a week’s trail-blazing that traverses the breadth of the ancient kingdom to which it is dedicated. Yet it is far from being tough. Although one of our longer routes it’s also one of the easiest.”

Looks tough enough to me! Chapeau :D

A fair point, and yes I have measured as best I can to confirm my existing chainline. Chainline should always be to the centre of the rings IMO. So, I need a few mm more than I currently have- how the chainline is measured on the new cranks needs to be looked at carefully I agree but with On and on being happy with the FSA/ MRP set up I can be reasonably confident it will work for my too and FSA’s numbers are correct.

The Lightning MTN crank is 440g without chainrings so lose 30g over the FSA. The Hollowgrams built up with a spiderless Carbon Ti chainring are about 495 all in so again only lose about 15g over the FSA w/ alu bolts/ e13 guide ring. FSA looks like a damn good option and is in keeping with a Cannondale “Factory” theme more so than SRAM cranks.

My Scalpel definitely isn’t intended to be a show bike for Summer mincing so proper robust options only :) I do have a FibreLyte top cap and resevoir caps on my old brakes though :)

Cheers!

STATO-

My Rotor chainline is 48.5. Another mm or 2 will make a big difference.

On and on is using a 36T ring with a 50mm chainline chainset so I think it is more that my current set up is unusually close to the frame.

I swapped the Rotor spacers around to give a 51mm chainline (but pedals shifted towards the drive side) and there was plenty of room for bigger rings while keeping ok chainline to the cassette.

As in my previous post, a 51mm chainline can be acheived on SRAM BB30 cranks with an Absolute Black Spiderless chainring. Absolute Black state the chainline on the 156 versions is just 45mm which ain’t never going to work

XX1 w/ Absolute Black or FSA K-Force Light are looking like the best options…

Hi,

I am a bit late to the party but if you are still deciding I am 1.75m (5’9”?) and found myself most comfortable on a Large with the saddle towards the middle of a 15mm Thomson layback post and 105mm stem and 640mm bars. This is after lots of fitting and tinkering between different bikes/ sizes/ fitters. Of course this depends on many things but I wouldn’t rule out a large.

Loving my Scalpel, an awesomely fast machine :D

EDIT: The FSA looks to have a chainline of 50mm for £207 and will be 511g (arms, e thirteen guide ring, alu chain ring bolts)- another good option.

FSA £207 on CRC (170mm required)

On and on, why do you say it is not necessarily the best solution? Also where is the FSA for sale for £150? Thanks again!

I have bodged a temporary chain guide/ crank solution (filing the chain guide back plate) but the 32T ring still has just 1mm or less clearance from the chainstay which does not fill me with any confidence.

Foolishly I assumed cranks would be made with sensible chainlines!

The e thirteen XCX is adjustable for chainlines 49-53mm.
e thirteen direct mount tech specs[/url]

I measured the Rotor chainline around 49mm and their notes say it is 48.5mm. That seems quite small and most likely the Scalpel frame was never designed for such a small chainline (even if the chainguide should in theory be close to fitting).
Rotor 3D Triple tech specs

I think that is my problem!

Solution? Something with a 50-51mm chainline I think.

Running through the cheapish BB30 options the best seems to be SRAM XX1/ X0 with an Absolute Black Spiderless ring. 51mm chainline, £250 all in, ~510g. Hollowgrams would be nice but will be at least £450-500 even with buying the arms second hand (~495g with the same spiderless chain ring set up).

Does all of that sound correct?

Many thanks again!

Prids, it is 24mm axle Rotor cranks in the BB30 BB so there are currently just the BB30 to standard axle adapters in the bearings and the standard Rotor spacers. The DS crank arm needs to go further out away from the frame but adding spacers isn’t an option as the axle isn’t long enough. The Rotor cranks have a 7.5mm spacer on the DS and a 10mm spacer on the NDS. Just swapping these spacers over has problems as in my original post. I suspect the Rotor 3D+ (BB30) cranks may be easier to get a good fit with more flexibility on washers to choose from…