So what’s the tyre for steep wet slippy rocks (cavedale) in 2014?

Honest answer; Cavedale is neither steep nor slippy but it’s certainly rocky. Follow the water! It’s slimy limestone that’s slippy. Stick to the main watercourse and it’s plenty grippy. Holding a line and avoiding being deflected off the rocks is the difficult bit, and here a bit of momentum is helpful.
Tyre choice not that critical. Pinchflats probably a bigger threat than lack of grip.

Correct tyre for a wet cavedale is the arse end of your shorts, or your helmet

To avoid this, I think the best advice is to look further ahead and pick your braking points (as someone said earlier^^). That was my learning point taken away after a Garda trip last year. We did 601 trail in the p!$$ing rain (zero grip, mega slippy limestone that goes on forever). It forced you to pick your braking points a good 10 M or so ahead and then to get off the brakes over any nasty stuff between.

Rebound Suspension (Jason) charge £65.

http://www.reboundsuspension.co.uk/index.php/pricing

A warranty is in addition to your statutory rights, not instead of them

Yep. People do tend to confuse the two.

I had an example only last week of a store manager attempting to avoid refunding me for an item I’d bought 3 months before, because “it’s outside the store’s returns policy”.
He was a bit more helpful once I’d pointed out that I wasn’t returning it under “the store’s returns policy”, I was returning it under my statutory rights (SOGA).

Stick to your guns. Don’t be fobbed off!

Lowers-off and oil change was also the solution when my 44RC3Ti developed a slight creek a while ago.

If I go with finance I’ll not be able to ask for any discounts/extras?

I’d say exactly the opposite. I’d be expecting more discount if I was taking their finance, as they’ll make money on that.

Last car I bought, I negotiated another £500 off for taking their finance (which I then promptly cancelled 😈 )

Sounds great.
What did “Not Enduro” mean though? A bit more technical?
It sounds like its basically big days out in big mountains with part uplift/part pedal.
If so I’m interested. Just how quickly did it sell out?

As such, many riders I know are going back to the sneaky, technical footpaths and trails that the Lakes was always famous for, and the erosion/red sock issues begin again.

I don’t think there has ever been any move away from those sneaky technical footpaths, so I can’t see how it’s now a case of “going back to”.
We’ve all been riding them just as often as ever. It’s probably been on a steady increase if anything.

The “erosion/red-sock issues” just don’t seem to be the issues that the vocal minority once thought they were IMHO.
I suspect it’s a case of the old-guard dieing off or at least being no longer fell-fit. The current mountain-user community are possibly more accepting of each other’s desire to be in the hills (be that walk/climb/run/bike) and maybe even participate on occassion. 🙂

Syntace X12, 142×12

Yes, correct.

edit: thinking about it, isn’t Liteville owned by or a brand of Syntace? or vice versa? or owned/run by the same guy?

Yes, this is why.

[edit] Ooops, too late, thankyou honourablegeorge [/edit]

I’d have been out with closetroadie on that Red Pike ride if I hadn’t been away camping in Wales with family & friends.

Very seldom you get any serious red-sock confrontation in the high places, away from the tea-rooms. Most of the proper walkers that you find in the higher places these days seem to be quite accepting and chatty. There’s plenty of space out there, just be nice to everyone that you meet along the way and we’ll all be fine.

Oh and I’ll be back this weekend poaching some high mountain lakeland tech somewhere TBD.

I’d stand them upside down for 24 hours to give the seals a good soak.

Which is all very well assuming there is some oil in there.
I’d drop the lowers and do an oil change just to be sure.

We were up there last night mudpackerdan, from about 7pm. It’s still riding well.

Oh and Birdy Brow is the soul-destroying road climb from the Eastern end.

I’ve recently serviced my 44RC3ti again.
This time I removed all the shrinkwrap as it was in tatters (3 year old fork, ridden hard)
I haven’t had any problem with knocking. They’re still just as quiet as they were with the wrap on. So I’d say try it without and worry about fitting some replacement wrap only if yours has suddenly turned noisy.
It’s only a 2 minute job to remove the spring cap and pull the spring out if it turns out you do need the wrap.

A few thoughts on sizing:
Re the pics of the two bikes that I posted up there^
Mine is and XL – I’m somewhere between 6’2″ and 6’3″ with long legs.
The other is a Large – The owner is virtually identical height to me.

… so I guess either would suit you Andytherocketeer, just depends how you like your bikes.
My previous bike was a 20″ Five
His previous bike was a L Mk2 Nomad

Very short stem (30mm Syntace) with 780 bars works really well for both of us.
Both are 26″ rear and 27.5″ front, with 160 plates and 160 Pikes.

Try the Pikes with less pressure in them.
I’m running <70psi and I’m 13.5 st.
Stick a couple of those “bottomless token” air spacer jobbies in there too if you have them, then you’ll possibly be able to drop pressure even further without bottoming out, as they make it ramp up more towards the end of the travel.

Sounds like you found most of the nice stuff.

There’s a track that goes from the trig down to the west, initially skirting the woods then down to the road that goes over Jeffrey Hill which is pretty good singletrack too. Or you can stay within the woods and follow it round the western end of the woods to rejoin a fireroad and climb back to the trig again.
A couple of options from the end of that rocky track you describe too.
There are a few nice little sections along the river from the suspension bridge back to Ribchester as well.
We’ll probably be up on the Fell for a Wednesday nightride in the next week or two. Happy to show you around.

Glad to hear it’s still riding well and hasn’t yet deteriorated into a boggy mess (which it will again soon enough)

Ewan,
The locals’ saying is that you take your wife to Lech, your mistress to Zurs and your skis to St Anton

Lots of places fit your description.
You won’t need glaciers at that time of the year either.
We usually do either Austria or Italy, flying into Munich and hiring car from there and booking hotels independently. These are my thoughts on some of the places I’ve been to:
– Ischgl is brilliant but maybe a bit lively and a bit pricey
– St Anton is also brilliant but pricier and livelier.
– Mayrhofen town is busy and full of Brits but there are other smaller resorts accessing the pistes by quieter lifts. (Lanersback and Finkenberg are good examples, quieter, cheaper, less queuing)

– Sankt Johann in Tirol is very good, not a massive resort but close to many other good ones on the same liftpass. We often stay at Kirchberg (very quiet) and do an assortment of nearby resorts.
– Kitzbuhel is also accessible from there. (Town itself is expensive but pistes good).
– Waidring (Steinplatte) is also accessible from Kirchberg by car and worth skiing.

Also consider going over the Brenner pass to Kronplatz in Italy. Quiet village resorts that require car or bus access to pistes but loads of ultra-modern lift capacity and perfectly managed pistes. Never queued more than a couple of minutes at any lift in peak season! We’ve been back about 10 times now.

Places to eat – I think Tirolean food is about as good as it gets. You won’t struggle to find good food anywhere.

Just like London buses, you wait all day for one and then two come along together, photos from their first proper full day out pass-storming …

Not tried 650B in the back but did ask for some picks of it on here before I made a decision.
I decided on 26″ in the back in the end. 650B would not have given enough mud clearance for my liking.
So I went 26″ rear and 650B front.

My build (remarkably similar to vonplatz’s) :
301 MK11 XL in black with 160 plates
160mm 27.5″ Pike RCT3
Syntace W35 wheelset, 26″ rear & 27.5″ front (These are brilliant & make my FlowEXs look puny thin in comparrison)
Dual-ply Larsen TT on the rear & Magic Mary on the front, tubeless.
Syntace Vector Carbon 780 bar
Syntace Megaforce 2 30mm stem
2×10 XT throughout
Syntace bash
LV integrated chain device
150mm reverb stealth
SQ labs Ti railed saddle
Syntace No9 Titan pedals
~29lbs all up

Very happy at 29lbs with pedals on my XL Liteville.
That’s with 2×10, reverb and a dual-ply on the back.
Feels ridiculously light.

You gotta be kiddin’!!!
That really is pointless beurocracy at its best.
In fact I’d go so far as to say that it really sucks, or maybe not 🙄

No, sazter you don’t convert it. You just pay in euros and your credit card provider does the exchange rate calc and it appears on your statement converted to pounds.

it would be awsumz, that is if the 4G symbol on the display lit a little more often!

190×50 CCDB coil with mounting hardware for Five going spare now that I’ve sold my Five frame. 550lb spring. Email in profile.

Also second the comment about middle chainring size. Some run a 36 happily and some don’t.
I suspect you can make it work on most Fives if you offset the swingarm alignment by a mm or so when tightening the bearings (but I never tried it)

acetone (edit: pure, certainly NOT nail varnish remover)would be fine but a bit too aggressive maybe if you get it on paintwork

thanks Superficial,
a Robinson > Hindscarth > Scope End route is now on the to-do list 🙂

2 scoops in a Magic Mary 27.5 for me, so I’d suggest the same.

yep wl, that’s a fair summary . Not really much exposure tbh, just steep.

[edit] I seem to remember less rubble and more steps than Lowey’s pics suggest, but yep, that’s the one [/edit]

That’s the one WL.
Sorry only ridden Fleetwith by the usual Warnscale BW route.

Not many other options to Buttermere, but if you’re route after Buttermere was up and over Scarth Gap, then one alternative would be to ride from Honister over Grey Knotts and descend Loft Beck to Black Sail Hut.
A bit techier and steeper than Scarth Gap (which is a bit meh)

It’s fine. So long as there is anything at all for the top spacer to engage on, you’ve nothing to worry about IMHO.

Freester, We just climbed the gates and rode the dam wall 😉

Devils Staircase to Kinlochleven.
Extend to include Ciaran Path down from Blackwater dam if you can.

Just got to 165k on my 54 plate Mundaneo TDCI 130 and starting to think about replacing it now.
Shortlist at the moment is basically ….. another Mundaneo I think.
Probably the 163ps version this time. I’ll be scouring Autotrader for the 2-3 yo trade-ins in the next month or so.

That’s pretty much the standard Jacobs loop, usually done from Hayfield
A good extension is to drop off Hollins X into Castleton; up Pindale; down Cavedale; up the broken road and back to Hollins X & Mam Tor.

Hebden Bridge (Yorkshire Alps)
Any dotted line on the map is fair game and probably worth a go. Just be prepared for some climbing.

+1 for using Halifax Clarity card whereever possible, for both purchases and for ATM withdrawls.

For a few hundred Euros in hand (just in case), I just look up the best rate on MSE money and phone the nearest Thomson/First Choice/ASDA/Sainsbury/etc to match that. They usually will if you phone first.

I can’t give any comparisons as I’ve only got XT….
….but….

I’ve got XT on the 456ti with 180 rotors & sintered pads
I’ve got XT on the Liteville 301 with 180 rotors and sintered pads
I’ve got XT on the Patriot with 203 rotors and organic/kevlar pads

So I guess I can comment on XT at least

Can’t fault them for the money. Plenty light enough for the XC bike and plenty powerful enough for Fort Bill or the Alps on the Patriot.

Functionaly, there’s no difference between Deore/SLX/XT though, just more things to twiddle with.

What Lowey said!

Best bit of the Lakes.
Ullock, Whitless, Blencathra, take your pick.