Yes. Try it in all the chainrings, you’ll probably find it’s worse in the middle ring (assuming that’s the one you normally use the most). To test, ride slowly with the brakes on and sat down, and you’ll probably be able to see it happening.

Other possibility is a stiff link in the new chain from fitting.

They’re an oddly personal choice, panniers, I reckon. It’s easy to get the impression online that Ortlieb are the only choice and many people swear by them, but there are people who swear at them just as strongly.

I’ve only done a few fairly short tours and a bit of commuting with my Ortliebs and I like them a lot but can see why they’re not for everyone. I mostly like them because they’re fairly light (the roller plus ones anyway) and simple. If I was to need to buy another set (not likely anytime soon) I would seriously consider Carradice, it’s cool kit and I like the fact they’re made here (see also: PHD bags and down jackets).

The most regular criticisms of Ortlieb panniers are the faff of the roll-top (it doesn’t take long once you get used to it) the lack of internal organisation (there’s only one divider and a small mesh pocket but you can always put things in stuff sacs) the lack of external pockets (you can add them, but I don’t miss them) and the dampness thing (I don’t believe damp kit would dry out or not affect dry kit in any other panniers either, I just put wet stuff in a mesh bag and strap it on top of the rack, or stick it in a drybag). All that said, I don’t think that the thing most people love about them, the total waterproofness, is that important, although it’s easy to take for granted. Other designs are waterproof enough most of the time, and you can always use drybags (I do anyway for down kit).

Oh yes, and don’t forget a bar bag with map case. So handy, especially for your camera. I use an Ortlieb one of these too with no complaints.

Old Orange Five with Pikes, Mountain Kings the first year, Advantages last year. Clipped in. It was fine. Would be taking the same bike this year if I wasn’t out with an injury. Only change I’d make would be some kind of dropper post which would be nice for the XC.

But really, it’s not the bike, it’s the rider, innit… People usually just seemed to ride a bike to flatter their strengths. One of the cool things about the event is the endless debate about air vs coil and travel and angles and tyres and then Ali Clarkson comes along and take the win in the downhill on a hardtail…

+1 for Tom Ravenscroft’s Friday 6music show, essential listening.

John Peel’s still a hero; reading his autobiography certainly didn’t lower my opinion of him. He just tells stories of achievements to be proud of and achievements to be ashamed of in the same matter of fact way. I got the impression that regret and pride were not feelings he really liked to indulge in, and I think that’s a fine way to be. Never thought of it as smugness before but I can understand why it could come across like that though.

DezB, MAH will be back on the radio on Xfm from July.

I’ve done a few touring trips in France over the last few years with various combinations of trains (including Eurostar, TGV, and night trains) and ferries. Mostly done with the bikes as they are rather than bagged or boxed (riding between stations across Paris was ace fun). Some journeys booked in advance, some not. Plenty of experiences but too many to list… What tips I’d give would depend what kind of holiday was planned at the other end. I’d say the biggest decision to be made (once you’ve decided to take the train) is to bag or not to bag (or use one of those cover things). For touring I prefer the freedom of taking the bike as it is, but for a resort based mtb holiday bagging up would have more advantages.

I have 28mm Conti ultragatorduraskins or whatever they’re called on mine with full SKS mudguards. A719 rims. They’ve coped with plenty of unmade towpaths and sustrans tracks, not to mention a fair few Peak District bridleways… All good so far. My preference when things get rough is for more pressure rather than less, so as to prevent rim damage and pinch flats. As there’s no tread to speak of there’s never going to be much grip in mud anyway, and they grip fine on the rocks round here no matter what the pressure.

It has to be said though that if clearance is top of your list of requirements then the equivalent Surly is probably the way to go (better cable routing too). The Kaffenback’s chainstays were a bit tight when I did a cross race with a pair of borrowed 32mm twisters, luckily it wasn’t a muddy one though.

One less fixie

I knew there was a reason for going touring. Turns out it’s this thread :-)

It looks like it’s got -BL at the end of the part code, which would suggest it’s a Bulb. Other thing is the 20mm top hat spacer things are identical on Pro IIs but on Bulbs one is longer than the other, obviously not possible to tell from the photo.

Thank you for putting these up. Some nice ones of a few us there (Fig Rolls Racing / Sheffield). All that dust seems like a very long time ago…

Not all models need to be built into a wheel. I had an old Sport (which became the XC) and BULB done last year and they both went in hub only. I presume they bolt the disc mounts to something. Brilliant service as ever, fast and very cheap. Call them up to find out for sure whether it needs to be built up, if it’s not in a wheel which is otherwise ok.

Edited, cheers. It was page 82…

Issue 43 was the one with the big grouptest feature thing; I was meaning to dig that out. I’m sure I remember a podcast as well but I can’t find that anywhere.

Assuming the swingarm clearance is similiar to other Oranges, you'll need top swing. With conventional ones the clamp goes higher up the seat tube and it can interfere with the swingarm.

Obviously you need top pull, not bottom pull, as well. This is purely determined by where the cable is coming from. A lot of mechs these days have a universal design anyway where the cable can come from either direction and just goes round a little cam thing.

I received this advice years ago and it's always worked for me: if you would happily throw the packaged bike out of a first floor window, it's sufficiently protected. If you would then jump out of the window on to it, so much the better.

You can find figures for most years with web archive, eg. sub5 here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20001120131500/www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/sub5.shtm

Fluffy velcro on the Five's swingarm, inner tube on the Kaffenback. The inner tube looks very neat I think, you take a strip of it and apply it like handlebar tape, pulled nice and tight so there are no wrinkles. You have to cut each end of the strip at an angle and stick down with insulation tape.

Depends if you want to cut noise or paint damage. If it's just the latter, the inner tube method is overkill and you may as well just use tape.

This chap makes a pretty good job of it I reckon:

http://vimeo.com/3866327

Very useful stuff indeed, thank you.

'Doable' is a word that always signals excitement and adventure just around the corner…

An excellent weekend, very clear and useful instruction and Nigel's riding was inspirational. Had me doing things I wouldn't have done otherwise, and you can't ask for much more than that.

If SimonM was part of the wider FE, Wharncliffe would be like Glentress, Gawton and Trail-X all rolled in to one by now ;-)

Just to add to what Si@18 said, the facebook group has had it's name changed to Ride Sheffield (the link still works though). Also just in case anyone reading this doesn't do facebook, here's the contents of the last message sent round by Henry:

– ridesheffield@googlemail.com is address for now or until impeding web stuff.

– It would be great if you can all email the address so i can start building the contacts that way. Just say hey and if you've got anymore to tell me, let me know

– Those who put their hands up wanting to be more closely involved, please can you let me know who you are (did'nt think that one through eh!)

Finally the point of Ride Sheffield is the power of the collective weight of sheffield's mountain bikers, regardless of area, type of riding, experience etc – So a bit like Jamie Oliver – pass it on, spread the word (no need to cook tho)

This has got to be worth another bump, seeing as it's this Monday night. See you all there.

The HG80 comes in 11-28, as do some SRAM ones. No problems sticking one of these on a road bike as the spacing is identical. Plenty of DHers out there with 12-25 road cassettes as well obviously. Only thing that matters is the capacity of your mech(s).

If they're the same group responsible for works on some of the other bridleways in Blacka, or indeed if they had anything to do with the recent 'improvements' to Fox Hagg (which is an SWT reserve according to their website) then I'm voting for the bumblebees. I don't like the swamp at the bottom either, which is why I'll ride a more suitable trail instead when it's wet.

£2500 will get you a lot of second hand DH bike and no mistake.

To answer the question of the thread title, I'd say second hand every time, unless you can't afford to spend the time shopping around for 2nd hand, which can be considerable.

I have 32h A719s on Hope Monos on my Kaffenback, with 28c Conti ultra gator duraskins, and have had no problems with them except punctures which arguably might not have happened with sturdier rubber. I wouldn't want to go much lighter on the wheel build for touring. Also I carry the minimum amount of stuff I can get away with for camping (rear panniers and bar bag only, maybe 10kg all in) and if you're a four-panniers kitchen sink style dude you'd probably want to go 36h.

I've bought quite a bit from that seller both via ebay and direct from his site. Always super quick and no problems.

Generally I've always got SKF (not much price difference for 6001s and the like) but having recently had quite a few different sizes to get including some bigger ones for HTII bbs etc., I went for the super cheap unbranded ones (£25 for the whole order vs £125 for the SKF equivalents). It will be interesting to see how that goes…

Not all of those homemade options need welding, although the ones that look easiest to make are not the prettiest. This one looks interesting though: http://www.hoogie.co.nz/info/hypercracker.htm

The other option is just to reduce the diameter of your drive-side spacer. That also is going to be difficult to do and leave it looking nice, but not impossible. Obviously being aluminium it's going to be easier to file down than the steel your hypercracker's made of.

I haven't done it but have ridden in a couple of the areas this year's route passes through. I can safely say that your average BC trail is more technically challenging than your average UK trail centre trail…

A couple of friends did the race – http://www.figrollsracing.co.uk/2008/08/bc-bike-race-whole-gory-story.html – and by the sound of it the technical bits are not the whole story, you'll spend a lot of time on fireroads between interesting sections. Also you get a very wide range of riders doing it as they come from all over the world, so you'd hope the organisers would bear that in mind.

This is the way to go if you don't have the proper tool:

http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk/fettling/hollowtech2bb.htm

I also came across this with some interesting stuff about MAX bearings:

http://www.peterverdonedesigns.com/bikebottombrackets.htm

http://www.quidco.com/wiggle-online-cycle-shop/%5B/url%5D

they do evans as well. Haven't bought anything through it yet.

34:17 here. A decent rule of thumb I've found is that any climb you usually do middle ring will go without too much trouble on an SS.

They're ace. Assos do one that you can pick up pretty easily, or there's this place for some real style: http://www.prendas.co.uk/list.asp?typ=typ&ID=39

Poke it through from the front. Rotate it while looking through the hole at the back, you’ll see it flapping around, and stop when it it’s level with the hole. Pull it back and flap it about some more and you can usually get the end to pop out. Hooking it out with the bent end of an old spoke makes it a load easier.