I've used both types of hoses and rotors extensively.

Braided hoses do give better lever feel.

Floating rotors are lighter, cope with getting hot better and are more resistant to warping.

If you want to save money then fine, no problem, but don't try to justify it by making out there aren't performance benefits, because there are. Just accept that you're happy to save money and put up with perfectly adequate performance.

It's not a competition.

No. Just no!

It's just wrong, and it's weird. And wrong. Don't do it, you people make me uncomfortable, and you're not coming riding with me.

Weirdos naming their bikes, and it's almost always women's names too. Weird. Don't you know any real women or something?

Did I mention it's weird? Stop doing it now. And if you haven't started, well don't, that's all.

Why do you want to cut it down? You shouldn't have a problem dropping it fully out of the way on a Five, and an Orange Five is a strange bike to have if you're a weight weenie, not that you're going to save much off a seatpost.

They're not lighter, they're not stiffer, they're harder to get serviced and get spares for, you need special hubs for them and you have to service them more often. Why would you want to buy your way into all that hassle and those compaibility problems, especially at that price?

No brainer.

I bought a pair of Oakley Radars just over two years ago with three different 'Path' lenses. Okay, I paid a few quid for them, but I have used them in all sorts of conditions from the worst rain and muck in Scotland to the brightest sunshine in Africa and they are awesome. 100% clear, and importantly the right lenses in the right conditions really do give you much clearer trail definition. In low light I can see much more with the yellow lenses in than without, it's like switching the lights on.

Yes, they are expensive, the frame plus three lenses came in at around £260, but they really are that good and after lots and lots of use are still like new. One piece of MTB kit I wouldn't be without.

8 for me (and counting)

Santacruz Superlight
Santacruz Heckler
Santacruz Chameleon
Santacruz Driver 8
Giant Rapid Road Bike
Kona Stinky for messin' about on, make me an offer, I'll probably sell you it.
2 x Pub Bikes (1 SS, 1 Geared)

DMR Ex[alt] Work in Progress, just for fun

http://www.snowcard.co.uk

Used them lots, small company, personal service, like you actually get to speak to a person, not even a call centre. Recommended.

Marins just creak, and the swing-arm amplifies the creaking.

Best bet, buy a new bike. Three to four grand should fix it nicely. Just think… Nice silence as you ride…

Do it! You know you want to.

It has to be http://www.spokeshirts.co.uk

Had some physio on my knee a few years ago and the therapist went to great lengths to tell me how bad the breast-stroke kick was for the knee joints.

Humax recommended.

Whatever you do, don't ever, under any circumstances, no matter how cheap it might be, buy a Samsung. Just don't. Utter, utter rubbish. I had thought the days of consumer products being so badly designed were over. Apparently not.

I wouldn't buy anything made by Samsung after that.

A top swing front mech is the small, compact version which swings just above the pivot. Useful for some full-sus frames where clearance might be an issue. They should work on most full-suss and hardtail frames though. I think they look nice and neat.

A bottom-swing front mech is the longer one, where the clamp is above the mech. more common on hardtails. Some people think these collect less mud than top-swing mechs.

They're both supposed to swing through the same range.

Rear derailleurs usually come in GS – Med Cage (Grand Sport) and SGS – Long Cage (Super Grand Sport) although Saint Mechs for example come in super-short cage too.

Most full-suss and hardtail frames will work fine with a medium cage. Long cage mechs deal better with chain growth as full-suss frames compress and extend, and more specificlly with cack-handed gear combinations like big-ring to big-sprocket gear selections, which obviously you won't be making anyway. They hang lower though so theoretically are easier to catch on stuff.

If you've got a twin-ring set up at the front then a med cage rear mech will probably be right.

If you're running a small block (like a road cassette) out back such as on a DH bike then you'll want to short-cage mech.

Best bet, pop into your local bike shop and chat it over with them and buy what you decide between you is best, from them. If you do spend a couple of quid more than buying on-line you may well save that in not buying stuff that isn't right in the long-run. And it will definitely be money well spent in the long run when you end up with a great relationship with your LBS who will help you out with all sorts of problems in the future.

Mountain Kings bring a certain excitement to your riding, like you just don't know which way your bike is going to go next.

A little vague to say the least.

I've got a new pair of Fox 40 RC2 FIT forks on my DH bike, and the performance is simply jaw dropping. Easily worth £1200 of my money.

My riding will never be good enough to take them anywhere near their limits of course, but every time I ride down a hill I'm amazed just how good they are.

If you're going to buy a £2.5K frame, you're not going to hang £300 forks off it are you?

DTFU, now that's funny.

Seriously though, that's a seriously long way for a dog, particularly on multiple days. Hopefully she's up to it and hopefully it won't be too hot. You're going to have to think seriously about hydration, nutrition and a training regime for the dog.

Just remember, your dog will follow you everywhere, literally until it dies. I know this will be a fun family holiday, just have a think whether it's the best thing for your dog.

Also, dog, with bikes, on the road, it's difficult to do safely.

Maybe talk it over with your vet / vet nurse to make sure you're doing the best thing.

TF Tuned.

Do you really rinse all traces of it away from all the crevices etc?

Like I said, you spend four grand on a bike, then will only send 59p on cleaning it.

Each to their own.

Washing up liquid contains loads of salt, as a water softner, not good at all for your bike.

Car Shampoo, the wash and wax variety, will leave a residue that will affect the performance of your disc brakes.

You paid hundreds, or more likely thousands of pounds for your bike, why on earth would you scrimp on looking after it?

I find Fenwicks FS1, diluted 1:10 works great, and is safe on anodized frames, brakes, shocks etc. Spray on, brush to loosen the dirt, hose down. I find one of those brushes that fits onto the end of the hose really useful.

FS1 is also great for cleaning/degreasing the chain/cassette etc if used neat, so you only have to buy one product, not two.

I bought them for her and got her usual shoe size (Size 5.5 / 39) and they fitted spot-on.

I guess they'll be going up in price with everyone buying alps stuff for the summer. One other tip, if you want to get them clean just throw them in the washing machine, they come out like new.

They were £80 when I bought them, and they were easily worth the money. Six months on and they still look brand new.

My GF rides them with her DH bike and raves about them. Lots of grip on your pedals, lots of cushioning and support with nice padding in the inside to protect your ankle. I use similar 5.10 Impact shoes.

The grippiest sole for flat pedals, bar none. The stealth rubber is as good as everyone says.

What BB are you running? I'd say there should be a 2.5mm spacer or two in the driver side.

Are there any spacers on the non-drive side?

If you're getting the angle grinder out you could probably do without most of the seat tube too, sure, it'll be fine, just ride it nice and light, and stand up on the pedals as much as possible. It's probably just a redundant bit of metal that the frame designers threw in there for no reason. Probably!

Seriously, I think your efforts might be spent elsewhere. You'll weaken the whole rear end.

At this price, better equipment = cheaper frame.

Bike companies only have a certain amount to spend on bikes at any price point, so for £1K you either get a decent frame with entry level kit or a cheap frame with decent kit hanging off it to entice people to buy. If a £1K new full-suss bike has great kit on it, you've got to ask why the frame was so cheap.

I'd always say buy the best frame you can, you'll only want to upgrade the other bits over time anyway, either when they wear out, or the shiny bug bites you.

I'd still say a grand will get you a much better hardtail than full-suss.

I'm an Accountant. I'm pretty sure your employment status would fail the self-employment test. The problem is that lots of prospective 'employers' don't know the rules either and often offer people arrangements which don't have the legal status they think they have. You could point this out to them but then they probably wouldn't employ you. It doesn't matter if you set up a limited company or not, it's not relevant to the test.

Personally I would avoid 'Unbrealla' companies. They're going to take a chunk of your income from you to administer your situation and HMRC really don't like them at all, in fact they're doing their best to outlaw them all together. You'd be better off paying money to a good tax advisor.

I can't advise you what to do. It's work and you need the money. You could take it, keep all your paperwork and go see a qualified tax advisor asap to see if it's worth your while.

Have a look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employment-status/index.htm#1 for more info. Call your local tax office, you'll be surprised how helpful they are.

You need a chan guide on your commuter?

Might be better to sort your chainline out. Unless you have a particularly bumpy commute.

I assume you mean an E2 Head Tube, like on a Trek.

You're going to need a Cane Creek ZS XXC or a Cane Creek Frustrum with a reducing crown race. They're hard to get hold of and they're expensive, around £90. There aren't many options at all.

If it is an E2 head tube, don't make the mistake of thinking you can fit a regular 1.5" headset in the bottom, the Internal Diamter is bigger. A regular 1 1/8" integral headset should fit in the top. There's a useful sheet on the Hope website that shows all of the head tube standards and measurements.

Hope are allegedly bringing one out but I don't think it's available yet.

Good luck with finding one, it took me ages just to get the reducing crown race for the XXC Headset on the Session 88 I've just built, and I had to pay £30 to get one from the States.

I was wondering that.

You must ride REALLY fast down hill!

I've driven to the Alps loads of times (France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, from Yorkshire) and will be doing again this summer. It's not as far as you think. Better with a mate or two to share the road trip but you can do it on your own, I know quite a few people who have.

A hundred and one things could happen, don't worry about it.

Road trips rule! And you can take as much kit as you like.

Having said that, I've flown quite a few times with the bike and had no problems at all.

Lose the Mountain Kings, they have about as much grip as a freshly caught trout!

The Minion DHF you've got on there might be a bit draggy for XC, but should give you some grip.

Get some High Roller 2.35s on there, don't pump 'em up too hard and make sure your shock and fork pressures and rebound damping are set correctly, refer to the info you got with your bike, or take it into the shop you got it from and get them to do it, that's one of the reasons you threw a wad of cash at them.

And enjoy the Five.

Great, we can't have too many uplift services.

More power to them, I'll have some of that.

Superstar list a whole array of hub spares so shouldn't be a problem with them hopefully.

I can give Superstar a thumbs up for speed of delivery and price, I got a set of wheels from them last week. They look great, run smooth and seem to have good quality freehubs (faster engagement than cheaper Mavic hubs I have on my hardtail) and rims etc. You get a full choice of hub adaptors too, all at the same price.

I can't tell how long they'll last yet, but first impressions are really good.

I been usin a set of Mavic Crossrides for the past couple of years which are lasting well. You should be able to pick some up for around £125 but as mentioned before, the engagement could be better and the hubs have a little flex in them too.

Nice pic Alpin, I assume that's you riding.

Oh, and while I'm on, I can recommend http://www.powerkiteshop.com based in the West Midlands, I've had good service and competitive prices from them always.

The Buzz is good fun but is really a beginners kite and being a two-line kite can be a bit limiting in the long-run.

A four-line kite like the Flexifoil Sting might be a better bet. They range from 1.2m to 3.3m, I have a 2.4m (along with quite a few other kites) and it's great in lots of wind conditions.

I take it pretty much everywhere, and I always throw it in my suitcase when I'm going on holiday, it's a great kite to let people have a go with if they haven't flown before, and I even use it as my buggy kite when the wind is strong. They handle really brilliantly and are just great fun to fly.

Worth the extra cash over the Buzz, and for me Flexifoil are worth the extra cash over lots of the cheaper makes. Brilliant quality and great back-up service from Flexifoil.

I thought it was about time they started that scheme up again.

You know, the one where drivers of less than average intelligence have to display a white flag with a red cross on their vehicle, and the thicker they are the more flags they have to display.

Works a treat, you can spot the intellectually challenged from miles away and keep out of their way.

Go to your Local Bike Shop and get them to use their really long pedal spanner on it.

Then buy something, or take them some cake.

Support your LBS.

It's not about travel it's about axle to crown length. Lots of forks these days have longer travel but aren't much longer axle to crown.

I have my home insurance with Halifax and while they only cover bikes up to £500 as standard I've found it pretty cost-effective to add them as named items.

Cover for a £3.5K bike with away-from-home cover added about £50 to my premium.

Worth it I'd say.

I've got a Kona Stinky that I'm thinking of selling now I've got my new bike built. I bought it new in 2007 and it's pretty immaculate.

It's probably worth about £650 I think.

That might fit the bill.

This might be a stupid question, I'm not being patronising, honest (I know, difficult to believe on here) but are you using it properly? I've seen quite a few riders out on the trail who think the lever end is some sort of spanner they use to tighten the QR.

Just in case…

Open the lever, completely back on its self, tighten the nut on the other end lightly, close the lever past 180 degrees (flush with the frame or fork leg so it doesn't catch on rocks etc) It should require enough force to leave an imprint on the palm of your hand.

I have ridden for years and years and have used Hope, Shimano, Bontrager, Salsa, Brand-X and who knows how many other QRs, and not one single time has one ever, ever come lose. Not one. I'm sure people must be doing something wrong sometimes.