20-30 miles is a long way offroad, so don’t be too hard on yourself.

Make sure you’re drinking & eating enough.

The best training for doing 20 miles is going to be riding 20 miles (which you are alsready doing), but i think that where a lot of us go wrong is not riding hard enough. Put in 100% when you are out (and maybe extend that commute a bit on the way home) and you’ll soon find yourself going harder and longer….

I went from a ti railed Bel Air to an ibeam Formula FX, noticed little difference in comfort. Bel Air is more padded but I’m perfectly happy with the FX. Not tried any other ibeam saddles to compare.

I had a similar noise from mine. I took them apart and the oil in the right hand damper was well past its best. Not just a lower leg oil change: i had to take apart the actual damper cartridge. Service manuals are on the web: but you’ll need a pair of circlip pliers to get in there.

ScienceOfficer: My understanding with the Stan’s rims is that UST tyres should be fine with just the yellow rimtape, non-UST tyres need a rim strip.

I’ve managed to get a Minion (non-UST DH casing) seated on a Mavic 823 fine without any burping.

In my experience (and those of my mates) non-UST tyres are likely to burp if you corner hard. I’m now running Stan’s Flows with UST tyres. Was thinking of trying some non-UST tyres (cheaper & more choice) with the Stan’s rimstrip (but the rimstrips are pricy).

My wife is fairly scared of heights and she did Striding Edge without too many dramas. To be honest it looks far worse than it is. Slightly tricky step down at the end of the ridge. Then an easy scramble up to the plateau which felt like the most exposed part of the whole climb.

We cheated though and did the path just below the ridgeline.

You’ll be fine.

Don’t know much about the MCEs but get over to the MTBR Lights forum and satisfy all your geekish tendencies. Loads of info over there. As far as I understand it the MCEs are just a number of single dies mounted under one dome. The different solder points allow you to wire the individual dies in different ways (series or parallel)

The Troutlight uses 6 XPE LEDs. Similar output to the older/commonly used XREs but in a smaller package.

Many thanks Muddy_bum: that’s great and saved me loads of time

We were out SW Sheffield last night: was very wet & muddy in places and looks like we’ve had a load more rain overnight. I’d say no.

From my point of view the stinger is not there to take up extra chain slack, it is there to prevent the chain jumping off the front chainrings.

If you set up the chain so it was just long enough without the Stinger, adding the stinger may result in too short a chain (as the chain takes a slightly longer path from the bottom of the chainring to the rear mech). Guess it depend how high you mount the Stinger. On an elevated chainstay bike you can set the Stinger at the 8 or 9 o’clock position which will result in needing a longer chain. If you mount it at 6 or 7 o’clock you probably won’t need a longer chain (but will probably smash teh Stinger to bits).

And the Stinger is for 2 chainrings and a bash so we will be using big (actually middle) big.

Can’t believe I’ve just typed all this about chain lengths… Must get out more.

Si, it’s going to depend on where you mount the stinger and how much extra chain wrap round the chainring you get. Sure 1 link will be enough but to work out the right length:
1. Fit the stinger.
2. Let all air out of the shock.
3. Chain on big chainring & big sprocket through Stinger but not through rear mech. Don’t join the chain
4. Get someone heavy to sit on the bike to bottom the shock: don’t tell And I mentioned her name 😉
5. Chain length = minimum length to join plus 1 complete link (2 half llinks).

I’ve had 2 sets where a caliper piston seal went. I could bleed it OK, but then would lose power with each ride and I got a tiny bit of fluid leaking onto the back of the pads which burnt off (pad over cooker) with loads of give-away smoke.

had another set where I could never bleed it right: air bubbles just kept on coming. I figured must be one of the lever seals: replaced the whole lever and problem solved.

AFAIK you cannot replace the seals on the Shimanos: its a new caliper or lever if anything goes. Can usually pick them up off ebay cheapish.

I personally like the look of a low top-tube. I’m only 5’9″ and can easy get the saddle up to pedalling height on a 14″ frame (Dialled Holeshot with a 410mm Thomson).

I’ve never seen the point of the raised and braced seat towers you get on a lot of bikes: why not just have a longer post? Though I guess they would make sense if I had loooong legs and wanted a short reach

10mm bolt through fits in a standard QR dropout frame. Will need a 10mm bolt thru wheel though: Hope Pro2 are an easy conversion. Hope do a bolt-thru axle. Don’t think you can convert a Crossmax.

To echo what’s said above: definitely take the ferry over & back on the bridge.

Campsite at Glen Brittle is in a near perfect spot. Not stayed there though. Fantastic walking into the Cuillins from the campsite. The campsite at Sligachan has a pub right behind it.

Never ridden there but I’m sure most of the riding is going to be pretty technical. I’d love to do some big rides there but went recently & didn’t miss the bike at all: get your walking boots on!

Did this on my side door. I removed the lock barrel: do a search on t’internet to find the type of lock and how to remove it (mine was very easy). But I guess the lock would have to be unlocked to do this.

After it was removed I managed to shake and tap the bit of key far enough so I could get it out with some tweezers. Failing that I’m sure lock barrels are very cheap to buy and replace.

I’ve got a set of Straitlines for sale: the bright green lenosky models.

About 6months old. All pins intact and come with some spare pins.

Cosmetic marks / scratches, and some slight lateral play in the bushes which has been there pretty much since new: never notice it while pedalling.

£60 posted?

Dave

I’ve got a couple of pairs for sale, some well used silver ones, and little used black ones. Brand new cleats. Mail me if interested.

davewoods33hotmail.com

Think you’ve got that wrong 100mphplus.

Maxxis may have copied Michelin on the tread patten but not on rotating direction.

I run Maxxis ‘right way round’ (ramped part of knob forward), but I run Comp16s and Comp24s ‘wrong way round’ (also ramped part of knob forward).

http://www.justridingalong.com

they will post

I’ve had my 6 year old round Llandegla & he loved it. Bitch of a fire-road climb to start with though: luggage strap a good idea: I pushed him.

The climbs on the Marin Trail bore me senseless. I think the whole lot would risk putting my lads off biking forever. I got my wife to shuttle us to ‘the top’ near the lakes and we did a decent descent from there.

Took my 9 year old round the short loop at Penmachno. We both really enjoyed it, but a fair bit more of a technical challenge for him (and bigger drops if you get it wrong!) than either Llandegla or Marin.

New singletrack at Sherwood Pines sounds very child friendly but yet to try that.

Dave

Really depends on whether you have problems keeping your feet on the pedals. 5-10 dotty rubber is way more grippy than anything else out there.

My 5-10s have started disintegrating so I’ve had 1 ride on a pair of Nike Air Whistlers (with supposedly supertacky bike specific soles). Nowhere near the grip of the 5-10s. Which for me is fine if I’m pootling along, but hitting rocks fast and with my less than perfect technique (I’ve only been riding flats for about 1 year) would soon leave me with scrapes all over my ankles from my feet bouncing off the pedals.

Bottom line is that some of us could probably rip the DH tracks in a pair of slippers or hiking boots. Others need more help!

I’ve just dropped my Nikes off at Feet First for a 5-10 dotty rubber resole.

I’ve got a 6XPE Troutlight and is very very good.

The Troutelight is amazingly well built and everything fits in perfect. Build up is fiddly. £20 build up cost a good investment if you’ve not played with lights before.

But great thing about these well designed DIY kits is that everything is replaceable should anything fail, so maybe worth getting to know how it all works and fits together.

Is very bright as you’d expect. I reckon its about twice as bright as a HID or Hope 4LED. I use it as a barmount with a Cutter 3xR2 helmet mounted and ride at near daylight speeds.

I run mine with a 2.6ah Smudge Li-Ion which hasn’t failed me on 2.5 hour rides (you can reduce the current when not needed to save battery power). Smudge’s pack is also a lovely little thing: make a great package.

I have a PUSHed RP3 for sale. Was PUSH tuned by TFTuned for the Meta 5.

Just had an oil change before I realised the frame was cracked 🙁 Works perfect and way better than stock.

£150 posted.

davewoods33@hotmail.com

Big fan of 2.4 Schwalbe Fat Albert’s : about 950g if I remember right, and come up fairly big (bigger than a Maxxis 2.35: about the same size as a Minion / HighRoller 2.5)

Much less vulnerable to pinches than Maxxis LUSTs.

Good allrounder: fairly fast roller (but then I’m used to dual ply 2.5 supertacky highrollers so others might disagree!)and good in mud & dry.

D

Anyone actually stripped an orange? i thought they were painted not powdercoated.

D

I cracked my ’06 (linkage plates, then headtube). The guy I bought it off had been through 2 ’05 frontends which were replaced under warranty. These were older frames so maybe they have improved their quality control/ironed out the problems.

2 year warranty isn’t too bad. Would consider a new Commencal with warranty but personally would not buy one second hand.

BTW: rode great: really supply suspension especially pedalling through rocks & roots. Great going down.

Check out the videos online: there’s a good one on one of the DH websites. Basically remove driveside endcap, pull off freehub, bash the axle out towards the non-driveside, remove bearing from axle and bash it all back in in reverse. Don’t be afraid to hit it hard!!

If you’re after a 12mm axle kit (with endcaps) I have one for sale. £20 from CRC. £15 posted for mine.

davewoods33@hotmail.com

Shimano say that all calipers and levers are compatible. I’ve run new servowave levers with both ‘lod’ xt and xtr calipers. Work fine.

Juries still out whether the servowave levers are any better than the old levers.

Buy mine:

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-led-lightset-cree-r2-bflex-1#post-234181

🙂

You might me lucky asking at your friendly local madison dealer: is a well known issue so Madison may replace them despite being out of warranty.

As has been said, newer ones supposedly stronger but £100 a pair: WTF?

Dave

Had a sit on an Truk EX9 and couldn’t drop the saddle far at all: seat-tube pivot seemed to stop the seat dropiing more than a couple of inches: would totally rule it out for me.

If anyone is after a fully built unit I have a custom housing (one of Troutie’s designs) with triple R2 LEDs and Bflex driver for sale. Only selling ‘cos upgrading to a 6 LED version.

Mail me if interested

davewoods33@hotmail.com

I had a Meta 4X as a general do-everything bike. Felt very short-travelled (doh!) – could have been the compression tune on the shock. Low BB (I felt too low for rocky riding). Great on fun on smoothish swoopy stuff. I’m 5’9″ and could get the saddle up high enough with a 410 thomson.

I put a big dent in the top-tube on a fairly minor crash. Swapped it for a Meta 5 which was a better all-rounder for me. I broke my Meta 5 (and don’t think I’m alone in this): I’d only get another Commencal if I bought new with full warranty.

That’s what I thought, but both battery packs listed as 14.8V: some mistake in listing??

I’m 5’9″ and rode a medium: I found it quite short in the top-tube (with a 50mm stem), would not want anything any smaller.

160mm

To confirm:

You can convert the Pro2 to take either a 10mm bolt thru, or a bolt-on (two bolts screw in from each side).

For the bolt thru option you can use either a 10mm DT RWS (which comes with the axle and a nut for the drive side, or a Hope 10mm Saint axle an old Saint mech, or Hope 10mm Saint axle and nut from the hardware store for the end.

10mm axle fits thru standard QR dropouts.

davewoods33@hotmail.com if interested

I’ve got a black Nomad for sale new style: with the side pockets. Only used a couple of times: decided it was too big for me.

£40 posted without bladder.