Unlucky that a gash as small as that only temporarily sealed.
Stick a patch on the inside of the tube, replace the gunk and you’ll be fine.
Remember too that the gunk needs checking and either replacing or at least topping up, as it can go off/dry up.
Every 3 months is a good rule of thumb for an interval to check at.

From memory, I think most ski schools in Austria and Italy teach kids from 3 years upwards. Up to that age it’ll be more of a snow crèche.

But that was admittedly quite a few years ago now.

The only times I’ve found the single pivot bikes lacking is where you’re on the brakes.
Couple of examples:
#1. I took both my Patriot and my Liteville 301 out to the Mega this year. The intention was to use the Patriot on the Quali where 180mm coils at both ends should have been ideal… but, with all the rain and attrocious conditions this year there was noticably less control under breaking on the Patriot than on the 301. On back-to-back runs I was much quicker on the 301.
#2. Fort William DH track, riding the Patriot and chasing a mate on a full-on DH bike. If I was good enough to ride Fort Bill off-the-brakes all the way, then I’d be happy… meanwhile, back on planet Earth, it was noticable that my rear was locking and skipping much more than the 4-bar DH bike. Similar riders/similar tyres/similar style, but he was getting much more grip and control on the rear than I was.

OK, now we know what sort of stuff you’re riding and your style, I’d say you are looking at two very suitable bikes there.
If you’re not a habitual brake dragger on the rough stuff, then there is nowt better than a single pivot.
Try both and see what you think.

Another thing to think about if you go down that route…The best upgrade I put on my Five was a CCDB coil shock. Turns a very good bike into a stupidly capabale descender.

I’ll be surprised if all the detail around relative anti-squat characteristics is actually helping the OP though!!! 😯

Hi Rob,
Rivington is my local too.

I ride a 29er XC bike, but it’s getting pushed on everything but the single track stuff

Hmm, got to say that this is not likely to be the bike that’s holding you back, as there’s nothing steep or technical enough around here to make an XC 29er feel out of its depth.
I’m not trying to be a smartass, just wouldn’t want you to jump into a new bike purchase on this basis.
I’d suggest going out with a group/club for a bit first, for two reasons:
1. I’m sure you’ll pick up loads of tips and build confidence from riding with other folk who’ll maybe be riding the stuff that you’re walking at the moment, maybe on bikes probably no different to yours.
2. If you’re convinced you need a new bike, you’ll probably get the chance to try a whole range of other folks bikes for a bit if you tell ’em you’re thinking about a new one.

Bogtrotters is a very active club in our area. (Just google for website/rideslist). Easier rides every Saturday & tougher rides on Sundays generally. Nightrides every Wednesday too.

So all I may need to do when the time comes is swap the shocks, any recommendations?

CCDB coil. Made a huge difference.

Good article on same “upgrade” here:
http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/news/view/cane_creek_double_barrel/%5B/url%5D

Dunno, has it still got my front mech on it? 😆

ISTP when I last did a questionairre years ago. Think I’ll try it again and see if it still comes out the same.

I have XT on three bikes.

For usual UK slop and grinding paste, superstar sintered.

For Alps trips on a big bike or something like Fort Bill DH, I haven’t found anything to better original Shimano organics (with or without fins).

Just got back from a week in Finale and also had XT on a big bike there, this time with Ashima semi-metalics. Very impressed with those and will give them a try back home now.

He just descended on us from the top of Two Lads on his Patriot and mooched along with us for a bit before disappearing into the night…

…and then he received a short sharp reminder as to why it’s generally not a fantastic idea to throw big bikes down San Marino in the dark, on your own, with Strava running.
Just a few minor bruises this time. 😆

I no longer have a Five but mine was quite happy being thrown down a few Alps:
Megavalanche
Les 2 Alpes bike park
Garda

It was a lot more at-home with a CCDB coil on it. Very capable in that guise. (I still have the CCDB coil sat on the shelf at home if you’re after one 😉 )

Yep

The “art of complaining” is… IMHO of course, something like this approach:

1. Key fact (The “battering ram” indisputable fact that you keep going back to if they interupt you or present a counter argument. Something like for example “I feel like you’ve let me down”).
2. Build your case (How much is this hurting? What exactly do you want the other party to do about it? Never, ever leave it as an open question like “so what are you going to do about it?”)
3. Consequences (Spell out what will happen if you can’t resolve the issue to your satisfaction)
4. Closed question (This is how we can resolve this … so will you do this for me?)
5. Keep it personalised throughout. Build the relationship, so that they’ve got emotional involvement and maybe empathy… then make it feel like that relationship is under threat)

What you describe is not very effective complaining at all.
emailing a long list of “cc”s is just plain unhelpful and undermines your ability to leverage the relationship.
Some folk need to learn to complain more effectively 😈

I’ve gone for the XT40 and box that kevin1911 linked above, so no longer in the group-buy for boxes.
Still interested in 8 off 18650 batteries though.
Any news on pricing for these TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR?

No regrets at all re purchasing my 456EVO Ti.
Taper headset; 30.9 seatpost; 26″ wheels but that’s absolutely fine. Can’t see any reason to change it for a good few years yet…. but “bike for life” is an ambitious claim indeed.

Last house I sold, we didn’t bother with one. Just stuck a sign in the window.
Can’t really understand how they get away with it in these days of t’interweb n’all.
I would have thought a reasonable fee for advertising a house would be something like £200 but yes I know that’s not what they charge. Just seems like no-one wants to adopt a low margin/high throughput business model.

Lakes, Calderdale, Rivington, list as long as your arm.

Am I taking a massive back step if I was to get a really good second hand 26inch??

Not at all. You’ll get a lot more for your money that way.

My previous 140mm trail/everyday bike was 35lbs.
My current equivalent is 160mm and 29lbs.

I can’t believe how light it is!

That’s a long route but looks like lots of road just to keep it legal.
Yes, it includes Blue Pig and Pecket Well descents but the rest is mainly just moorland milage.
Is it worth going past the Peak for?…. Depends what you enjoy doing in the Peak. If your idea of a day in the Peak is Parkin Clough, Cavedale, Rushup Edge, etc., then NO, that route ain’t going to float your boat but there’s plenty around there that would. You 100% need a guide if you want to do Hebden tech though.
If you’re after more XC with some nice open moorland views and a couple of not-so-technical, but “how fast dare I ride this?” sections, then you should enjoy most of it.

I don’t know about the older 456 like Euro’s SS, but in 456 EVO2 Ti sizing, at 6’2′” I’m very happy riding the 20″ frame.
140mm 44RC3Ti fork, 50mm stem and 745mm bar. Often use it for big mountain days in the Lakes and find it very competent over technical stuff.

I avoid that road climb and go up the footpath by the Belmont Bull in preference.
Was up that way on Saturday heading towards Leadmines Clough and there were a few lunatic TT wannabees on the road then.
As always, thoughts are with the family of the cyclist.

Go a bit further South, try Garda.
Done it twice with very mixed groups and always found plenty to keep everyone happy.
It’s an easy(and cheaper) drive because you’re on the German autobahns for most of it. We typically get off the Calais end of the tunnel late evening and are on our first uplift by noon the following day.

My default tubeless tyre is wire beaded but not really comparable to your specific example. Dual ply minnions have always served me well when used tubeless on Flows.

For the Mega this year we stayed in a self-catering appartment with
http://www.pierreetvacances.com/gb-en

They have a couple of big appartment blocks in AdH. L’Ours Blanc is the nearer to the DMC lift.
They were the cheapest accomodation I could find in AdH itself and they will happily allow you to take bikes up to your room in the lift and store them on your balcony.

Three passes but leave out the descent from Gategarth to Haweswater. It’s a waste of altitude. Go up and over Harter Fell (cheeky) instead to get to Nan Bield 😉

I bought a couple of the on-one 250g long sleeves about 3 years ago and they’ve been great.
Have just bought a couple of current 200g ones too. They are nowhere near as dense/close knit as the old ones and I’ve ripped one on the first outing (snagged on a pedal pin whilst carrying). Not as good as they were IMHO.

Whilst I’m very much a fan of the Stans Flow EX (with them on two of my bikes), I’ve now found a new favourite: Syntace W35.

They run tubeless in the same was as Stans do but the 35mm width has a noticable effect on the profile of tyres.

I sold my ’11 Five frame earlier this year and transplanted all the kit from it onto a 456Ti. The ONLY thing that I had to buy was a different sized lower headset cup, everything else fits.

I don’t feel much slower except on the really fast rocky stuff, and I’ve got a bigger FS for those sort of days anyway. The only real drawback with the 456Ti over the Five is an increased frequency of wheel truing and spoke replacement.

I’d be looking more closely at the contributory factors to the 3 trips to A&E, before changing the bike.

eg. Too fast (slow down a bit)/ Too slow (speed up a bit)/ got it wrong (practice getting it right)/ just bad luck (it happens)

Gisburn’s main difficulties are uphill, not downhill.

I’d agree with that.
The bits that are likely to make you dab are on the climbs, eg that very top loop at Whelpstone Crag as it climbs to the slab, where there are just a few big lumps of rock dropped into a bog. Keeping momentum and holding a ridable line up and over them is not easy.
The downhills are all easy rollable stuff though, so I don’t think it could ever be graded anything other than “red”.

Not familiar with this one but is it too late to get a Halifax Clarity card as a back-up? They seem to be the default “best way to spend overseas” card for both purchases and cash withdrawls.

Yes, plenty of hike-a-bike up but, once you’re up, the summit ridge is all ridable.
The descent to Scales Tarn from the South, then following Scales Beck is better imho. Initial section from tarn down is v.tech steps but after first steep bit it’s all nice singletrack
(done both)

… a fertile soil of clay and sand containing humus.

does it taste of chickpeas?

Not tried those paths but worth a recce I’m sure.
Personally, if you want to do an extended tour, I’d recommend throwing in Blencathra; up from Blencathra centre and down via Scales Tarn.

Mainly dual ply minnions for me but also got a dual ply Larsen TT on the back of one bike atm, all running tubeless with Stans.

Still manage to slash the sidewalls all too often but Maxxis DP are holding up better than most. The sidewalls on all of them are soon quite baddly frayed though, long before the tread wears low.

Keen to try a SG snakeskin Schwalbe of some description next.

When I’ve slashed Maxxis DP beyond the power of Stans, I’ve just stuck a couple of layers of large repair patch over the inside. Been fine despite the outer gaping a bit.

I’d also be up for a group buy of 4×18650 boxes. Put me down for 2 pls.

8 of the 18650 cells too, pls.

dragon…there’s only one way to get to the top of the vast majority of big-old lakeland descents. Sometimes you can push, but more often than not it’s a carry.

[edit] same again last Sunday (Harter Fell/Nan Bield) and no doubt more of the same this weekend 🙂 [/edit]

^^^ yes that’s the Styhead to Stockley Bridge descent Nick.
Up Rosset Gill is not fun… but down is a fair old challenge (No I didn’t clean it all)

Scarey, we did Grains Gill last time as an alternative to avoid the unridable traversey section at the top of Styhead. I gotta agree with you, it’s a better descent. There’s one nasty exposed section at the top with a big drop into the Gill that had me walking/scrambling, but the rest is fantastic, all the way down to Stockley Bridge.