Interesting…

A proper link close/split tool is only about £5 anyway. Definitely worth buying one.

Yes, that picture looks like the short path that runs straight down the contours from the doubletrack to the bridge at the end of the dam wall, here:
streetmap

Looks like an old picture as its eroded a big since then and the roots are more exposed now.
That’s more of an “interesting feature” than a route though. Just follow your nose around the reservoirs and link it up with Darwen Tower and Tockholes area.
We ride that area fairly regularly as a Wednesday night outing from Abbey Village. email in profile if you want a guided tour.

Used often. Very quick delivery and usually the cheapest supplier. Recommended.

Bought the Aldi one last Summer. Tried it on hols. It kept freezing and quality of recording was poor. Took it back and got a full refund.

Their softshell “ski trousers” are excellent. Much prefer wearing these to my salopettes in all but the worst of conditions.

2×9 speed plus bash guard

That could even turn out to be a triple crankset anyway…

I’ve moved both our current accounts this year, to those mike p and ste t recommend:

+1 for Santander, the rise in fee is frustrating but it’s more than covered by the cashback. Interest is a nice brucie bonus on top.

Or look at Nationwide FlexPlus which gives travel/breakdown/mobile cover + other benefits and 3% interest for £10 a month (and usually cashback via TCB or Quidco)

I generally avoid fee-paying accounts, but these two are winners.

Her account is Nationwide Flexplus, for the bundled travel insurance (inc Winter sports) phone cover and full European breakdown cover. Also made it a joint account so both cars covered :)

Mine is Santander 123, for the 3% interest on up to £20k and the reward for utility DD payments.

Quidco payment from both for switching too.

re 601 MK2 to 601 MK3 changes

I’m pretty sure the main difference is that they’ve put some welded bump stops on the headtube for running TC forks.

Close, it was a corrugated strengthener welded into the top of the downtube (near the headtube)

re chainstay mounted chainguide
yes – an optional extra, yes – expensive but very effective, yes – the glide-plate bush is a consumable.
I’d say they make most difference on a 2x chainset. (My 301 is 2×10, I have one fitted, it works)
Possibly not as necessary on a N/W 1x (My 601 is 1×11 – I haven’t fitted it and haven’t thrown the chain yet)
May consider a minimalist top guide instead if I start dropping chains as it wears.

Not familiar with that rim but can’t understand why tape wouldn’t conform to it’s shape. You need a LOT of tension to get Stans/TESA tape to conform to the shape of some rims.
I seriously doubt that individual patches over each spoke hole will stay in place for long.

what chakaping said.
No-one is going to buy much of that as components.
Flog it whole in a local FB group or on Gumtree.
£100 maybe.

Since getting a Ford with a heated screen, I now get to freeze to death scraping HER windscreen instead!

The only way to upstage a pic of a 301 in the mountains is probably a pic of two 301s in the mountains :)

Mine’s the XL on the right in this shot. Taken on the first big day out with the new toy, last year.

Mk11 XL with 160 rear
160 Pike RCT3
Syntace W35 MX wheelset, Tubeless
XT Brakes and XT 2×10 drivetrain
150mm Stealth Reverb
SQ Labs saddle
Syntace No9 Titan pedals
Syntace mech guard and Syntace chain device
Syntace Megaforce2 30mm stem
Syntace Vector carbon 760mm bars

Nah, it was Scuba Doo

Must have missed the one-way signs…

OK, I admit I haven’t ridden Hope Brink as a descent. I can’t see it working well that way in current conditions.

SRAM shifters but shimano mechs … a bastardisation too far

in the past, yes the cable pull on the shifter and the pull ratio on the mech would not support mixing SRAM with Shimano.
With 11 spd though, the two are very close and MIGHT be close enough to be inter-operable. (Huge caveat: only theory based on the numbers, I haven’t tried it)

Hope Brink is a climb and not a very enjoyable one at that.
Jaggers Clough is OK as a descent. What are you trying to connect before/after though?

yep, that’s the config with which I plan to restore operation, come the inevitable day when the mech on my X01 group takes that big rock impact.
I’ll ditch the SRAM mech/shifter and go XT.

SRAM chain seams OK so far. N/W oval chainring working fine.

You know a clutch is a wear item, don’t you?

Yep, I’d expect it to wear out some time after 200k miles

Just taken out a home policy through Pedalcover (AXA policy).
Previously had one with Direct Line Select.
Both cover bikes without itemising.

Apparently the locals say…
You take your wife to Lech
You take your mistress to Zurs
and you take your skis to St Anton

This is where “Right of Way” and “Trail Etiquette” diverge.

Right of Way might give priority to anyone coming up… (They have a right to stand their ground.)
but…
Trail Etiquette would in my view always lead me as a rider to get right out of the way of another rider coming down, so as to avoid spoiling their fun.

Very different things.

Yep, well articulated. That’s been my position for quite a few years. Ride wherever you want, just be nice to the folk you meet along the way.

The ultra-militant red-socks will never be happy about it, but they are all of a certain age now. Soon they’ll be dead and gone, but we’ll still be riding.

That widens the scope massively.
Sankt Johann (Tyrol)
Sankt Johann (Pongau)
Kirchberg
Lech
Zurs
Flachau
Zell am Ziller

Not Mayrhofen unless you like to be with lots of rowdy Brits on tour.

TESA 4289 25mm is the same as Stans

Skier here rather than boarder.
My first recommendations for Austrian resorts would be Ischgl and St Anton.
Depends when you’re going though, as there are loads more good resorts that are maybe a bit low for early/late season.

301 is quite a long bike. I run a 30mm stem on mine, with 760mm bars
Suggest you start at 50mm if you’re not sure.

Combinations that I’ve ridden and like:

Pricey end: Syntace Vector Carbon bars and Syntace Megaforce 2 stem.

Mid market: Renthal fatbar (still with the cheap option of a Sunline V1 stem probably)

Cheap but very good: Sunline V1 stem and bars

Oh, and that photo on the ebay ad is a MK10, not a MK11.
The giveaway is the ISCG tabs that are clearly visible in the pic.
MK11 does not have ISCG tabs.

Item description and photo differ. That should be sufficient for a full refund if that’s what you decide you want.

100% indisputable fact that the Mk11 has a dropper cable entry point just above the BB. (Mine has).
If yours has not, then it’s NOT a MK11.

Standard fit shock on MK11s is the CTD. (I hardly ever use it at all. It sits in either the middle position or full open all day)

use a triple crank and just take off the outer ring to give you 2x.

That’s what I did on my 301 for 2×10, and replaced the big ring with a bashring. Works perfectly.
If/when I decide to change it to 1xn, I’ll simply fit a N/W ring on the middle position and lose the granny and bash.

Whilst scruff may be right for initial installation (single pass over the spokeholes), I’ve found that if you do this on a wide rim then the edges of the tape tend to get caught when mounting/demounting tyres and lift over time eventually compromising the seal at the spoke holes.

I’ve done my 35mm and 40mm rims with 3 passes of 25mm Tesa, spoke bed; then tight to one bead hook; then tight to the other.

Formula 35s are proving to be very good. Very Pike-esque in fact.
Only slight criticism is that they are a bit noisy… you can really hear the damping circuit doing its thing. Plenty stiff enough. Well thought out & well put together.

I’m lucky enough to have a 301 and a 601 at the moment.
The 301 is 2×10 XT, 160 Pike @ 31.2lb
The 601 is 1×11 X01, 180 Formula 35 @ 31.8lb
Both with stealth reverbs, supergravities on the rear and snakeskins on the front, all tubeless.

There is only 0.6lb of difference between them. Plan was to run both back-to-back then decide in slow time if I can manage with just the 601 (plus a hardtail).
In practice, I’ve hardly touched the 301 since I got the 601 though. Yes, I know the 601 has still got the new and shiny appeal, but I’m not finding it significantly harder to drag up Calderdale/Lakes climbs.

One thing that’s worrying me atm is all this chainline buisness

What crankset are you fitting? All the Shimano standard 68/73 HT2 stuff just needs a single spacer on the drive side for 1x (or if you go 2x on the front then the e-type plate has the same effect as a single spacer)

so the question is will a 160 fork make it into a chopper?

No, it’ll be fine.

Standard reverb will fit, yes, you will just need a different shim to get from the 34.9 seattube id to the 30.9 reverb (size assumes it’s from the Five)
[edit] If it’s from your Five then this is the 30.9 seatpost shim, rather than the 31.6 version that stevied linked to [/edit]

I agree completely with chickenman, 650B front and 26″ rear is the way to go.
I’m running that combination on both my 301 and 601, only the rim widths vary (35mm on the 301 & 40mm on the 601).
If you run a 26″ rear, you can get a true 2.5 tyre on a 40mm rim in there. :-)

Never mind the 4g weight penalty ;)
The Syntace Megaforce 2 stems are faultless.

Oh, and welcome to the club.

More thoughs:
Get a stealth reverb. The frame is designed for one, with a cable routing hole just above the BB.
You’ll be better with a 31.6mm one and a Syntace shim for 34.9mm to 31.6mm

Special triple cable clamps are available from LV to accommodate the third cable running up the top of the downtube.

I think it was your facebook post that I saw & commented on yesterday Andy.
I’d strongly recommend you get a 160mm Pike in 27.5, even if you’re planning on running a 26″ wheel in the front for a while. (Up-size just the wheel later, rather than wheel and fork)
160mm Pike is perfect for this bike. It’s certainly not “too much”. Whilst I’ve only ever run the 160 plates, your 140 plates shouldn’t change the geometry much (only the leverage ratio changes).

I’ve tried both 26″ and 27.5″ wheels on the back. I prefer 26″ as it provides better clearance.

1×11 XT build with a N/W ring will offer enough security. The SCS chain device is good but probably overkill with N/W.

They’re a nice long frame, so you can get away with a shorter stem than on a Five. (I went from a 20″ Five to an XL 301). Had 50mm stem on Five, now 30mm stem on 301.

The Syntace rockguard mech protector is worth fitting. It offers good impact protection.

301 downtube is thin. A rockguardz might be a good investment. Haven’t yet bought one and I have a few small dents down there.

Re the fork not compressing as air released. Is this where they let the air out and tell you to compress the fork? If so, ignore it. You don’t need to compress it at all. In fact it’s a bad idea and has caused some people problems where a vacuum has been created in the lowers, which counteracts the airspring and makes the fork ride low in its travel.

Sorry, can’t offer any usefull advise re the spinning foot nut.

Possibly “No Social” or “Wolf of Wall Street” at Golfie.
Maybe there’s even better stuff in there but I’m still finding my way around and they’re certainly the best so far.