So is the descent down Stake Pass via Black Crags worth doing ?

Yes, that’s the only option really for returning to Langdale but it’s not a bad descent.

NB, Grains Gill option from Sprinkling Tarn to Stockley Bridge is also worth doing as a change from the usual Sty Head Tarn descent.

I used to have m785 xt on three bikes.
All were warrantied at approaching 2 years old, due to seal degradation resulting in unpredictable lever pull.
Sold the warranty replacements.
Now have tech3 E4 on all bikes.
Yes, I prefer the feel of Hope sintered pads to the stock organics too.

To be honest, I never had a problem with the feel/power of XT whilst they were new & working well, but all of them ultimately failed.
The decision point came when my front brake pulled to the bars on a particularly steep and narrow set of Calderdale steps!

…and I don’t want to have a week in the Alps or some remote corner of Scotland ruined because of a dodgy brake.

Neither air pressure nor remote bleed are likely to fix this in my experience. I’ve warrantied 4 (or 5 maybe, I forget) so far.
It’s a failure mode that is covered by the warranty. If under 2 years old, send it back and they’ll probably just send you a brand new one.

God knows what happens to all of reverbs that have been sent back.
Based on sample of mates’ failure rates, I’d estimate that there are between 1 & 2 warranty returns to every purchase. Where do they all go?
It would be a nice little business opportunity refurb’ing those and reselling ’em.

We’ve done “Bash”, then up Rigg Head quarries (Tongue Beck?) to Dale Head (or direct from Honister to Dale Head, both Brutal carries up though), then over Hindscarth and Scope End, and finish back over the col South of Catbells to re-join “Bash”.
That’s a good route. Hindscarth/Scope End is a nice tech descent, as is the East descent off Catbells to “Bash”.

direct mount chainrings for SRAM cranks are pretty costly

I’ve found SRAM direct mount chainrings to be the cheapest option.
SRAM do a 28t steel one for about £14.
Broadest range of aftermarket options from other manufacturers too.

Left hand option at fork on way out, climb back up the other.

It’s a pretty short route anyway as an out-and-back, so I’d continue rather than turn back at the split.

That South descent is just steep and grassy as far as the woods, and not all that great after you reach the treeline. Not really worth it IMHO.
Been exploring in there last time I was up there. Came away disappointed.

Procore working well for me too.
I think it makes a big difference on the front too, not just the rear.
On the front I can go much lower pressure that ever before. Was previously burping tyres when I got below about 20psi.

On the rear, I found out last week that I’d let my sealant run dry and was slowly deflating over the course of a ride. I’m guessing I was down to about 10 psi towards the end of the ride and could easily feel the procore inner by hand.
Partly out of laziness, partly as a test, but mainly because the pub was calling, I decided to ride the final rocky descent on it anyway.
No problems at all, no burping, no rim damage. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Also agree that it makes getting tyres to mount much easier than “normal” tubeless.

for me… Waterboys – “Spirit” and maybe “Whole of the Moon”

for her… “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead”

I know that you can reduce the travel by fitting an air shaft assy, but can anybody confirm if the 29er 120 can be extended to 160?
Are they all a common uppers assy and only the airshaft varies?
Or are some of the uppers specific to the shorter travel and can’t be extended to 160?
Ta

Well this is a first. An STW thread that’s unanimous.

I’ll give a slightly different perspective but the same conclusion.
Both my kids started 4 A levels inc psychology.
Both dropped psychology at the end of the first year.
As well as the realisation that it wasn’t going to do them as much good as “proper” sciences and maths, they also both rapidly fell out of love with the nature of the course. Presenting arguments for and against just wasn’t “their thing”. They both rapidly became frustrated with it.

They’re the only saddles that I’ve not bent or broken the rails on.
I wish they did reverbs in I-beam.

I’ve no experience of any of the other places you’ve used for comparison but I have ridden with http://www.ezefreeride.com/%5B/url%5D a year or so ago.
Would recommend them for Finale.

Kaiser,
I’ve not heard of anyone trying an expander on a 9sp. The spacing between it and the largest cog of the cassette would be too narrow, in theory… but you’d possibly be OK in reality as the only real risk would be of overshifting the expander and into the spokes.
You’d be able to prevent that with the limit screw though.

I’ve got a Works Components 40t expander going spare if you want to try it. Used only a couple of rides, so almost new. (I decided I needed 42t instead).
£15
Can send a pic later if you’re interested.

The golden combination of current accounts and credit cards for us is currently:

Santander 123 for interest on up to 20K and cashback on the DDs.
Set up all DDs from this a/c

Nationwide FlexPlus for the package account benefits (Breakdown, phone & travel insurance for £120 per year). Make it a joint a/c so that you’re both covered.

Barclaycard VISA & Amex CC for cashback on all spend. All UK spending except the DDs goes on this.
(Under review as they’ve dropped the cashback to 0.5% on both cards so will be looking for a better one)

Halifax Clarity CC for all overseas spend and overseas cash withdrawals.

Bunch of four of us been caught by this.
Were booked on Trans Savoie trip mid July. Only minimal deposits paid anyway (thankfully) but also got sleazyjet flights to GVA booked and paid for. Insurance won’t cover that, so we’ll be looking for other options.
What can STW mob recommend within range of GVA?
Whiteroom
Inside Line
Any others?

Any contacts for guides ex-TA who might be interested in guiding Trans Savoie route independently?

Damn. We’ve paid deposits (and flights separately) for Trans Savoie guided version.

Had a good look at some of these last year but didn’t end up pulling the trigger in the end.
The best ones we saw were probably Outdoor Revolution:
http://www.winfieldsoutdoors.co.uk/outdoor-revolution-airedale-5-air-tent/%5B/url%5D

I’m actually with the OP on this one, mostly.

Slack is good. Long is good, up to a point… but a low BB is not a good feature for me personally.
It’s the only thing that’s putting me off buying a P7 at the moment.

The Litevilles are fairly high in the BB which is one of the main reasons I like them. I crunch my chainring into far too many steps and obstacles already. I certainly don’t want it any nearer the ground than it already is.

I’m XL but my height is mainly in the legs, so I’m not sure I want frames to get much longer either.

“dark” oil has usually been indicative of seal degradation in my experience.
Probably easiest flushed bottom-to-top but it may only provide brief respite from the “all over the place” performance. If they’re still under warranty (2 years) I’d be tempted to warranty them.

Hi Alison,
Take a look at the Formula 35 fork too.
It’s a 35mm station (not surprisingly) with a small coil negative spring.
Way better in the early part of the stroke than the Pike that I have on my other bike, IMHO.

Is this just for them to learn to drive in or do you want them to run it after they’ve passed? It makes a big difference.

Cheapest way for both of our two to learn was to buy a separate learner cover policy that applied only whilst they were supervised in an already insured vehicle and lapsed as soon as they passed. It allowed them to learn in our cars, which were, coincidentally,
(elder one) a Mondeo diesel estate
(younger one) an Auris petrol

I would have taught both in the Mondeo but for the fact that learner policy would not cover it for the younger one. They said 163 ps was too powerful for a learner, so beware of some exclusions if you follow this route.
Within limits though, most cars cost the same under these learner policies.

If however the car also needs to be driven by them after they pass, then none of the options listed so far are going to be cheap once the test is passed.

P8 lite that Voda retentions offered us last week is quite a nice phone tbh.

Insurance cost is the biggest factor.
For my daughter who passed last year at 17, we found the cheapest commonly available option was the C1 models from 62 plate onwards (the date after which they became zero tax). We paid about £3,400 for a low miles VTR model.
Multi car with Admiral was about £1000 for the first year based on 6k miles and no requirement for any black box.
*** Key though with the multi car policies is that they renew all vehicles at same date, which means that your new addition will fall due for renewal at something less than a year if you already have a policy running. This means you only pay the hefty premium pro-rata for that period, then benefit from early renewal with a year’s NCB (so long as the policy has been running for >3 months).
Renewal was about £700 for the second year.

Andy,
I’ve got E4s on both the 301 and the 601.
I’ve run the hoses through all three clips on the chainstay, as per the wwaswas setup.
On the 301, I have standard black hose. It moves longitudinally through the chainstay clips under suspension compression. When the suspension compresses, the hose moves backwards and the gap between hose and rotor remains pretty constant. As the suspension then returns, the hose pulls forward through the clips and away from the rotor.
After about 6 months of riding through Winter slop, some signs of abrasion are starting to show on the hose at the rearmost clip.

I have braided hose on the 601 and the clips hold this firm, but the flex of the hose material seems to keep it away from the rotor better.

Both work, but both need to be checked by cycling the suspension without pressure in the shock.

just booked a break in Dolomites for early March
Flights Man to Burgamo = £40 return
Car Hire (Focus, 6 days) = £50
Hotel next to ski lift just outside Madonna di Campiglio (B&B for 5 nights) = Euro400/2
Just add lift pass, rental, fuel & meals
Think that’s as cheap as I’ve ever had TBH.

The problem with all “waterproof” gloves and socks is the big hole where you stick your hand/foot.

Gloves are easy for this, you just put the cuff inside your jacket.

Oh Northwind, if only that were possible. That would be heaven. I’d be absolutely ecstatic if I could find a jacket with arms long enough to reach the tops of my gloves. (Gibbon arms here)

I found 3 series estate and A4 estates to be way too small for what you describe.
My family estate shortlist came down to Mondeo, A6, E class, Passat, Superb.

Hard to look past the Mondeo for value.

The problem with all “waterproof” gloves and socks is the big hole where you stick your hand/foot.

Related, if I do hire a car do I need to add on snowchains? Or will the winter tyres suffice?

Winter tyres are what makes the difference. You won’t need chains too.
And Obergurgl ain’t making money if the roads aren’t passable. (So you can bet they will be!)

I’ve been running it on the Liteville 601 for at least 6 months now.
Still can’t bring myself to go to any lighter carcass on the back though than a Super Gravity HD, as the failure mode has usually been a tear in the sidewall. Nothing that Procore would make any difference to.

Counter-intuitively perhaps, the real performance difference is more evident on the front for me. You can go very low for grip without burping or destroying the rim.
Had a few initial problems with inner core deflating but just nipping the valve core up seams to have sorted that.
Overall – Yes, I’m a big fan.

I run procore on those Syntace W40 rims on my Liteville 601.
They’re fantastic. You won’t have any issue on a 35mm internal rim.

I find the 3 PAYG deals work out cheapest for me
3p per minute, 2p per text and 1p per MB
I only really use data and a £5 top-up seems to last a few months.
Guess I’m not really that communicative.

I’ve no idea who most of these are!!!
Are the presenters of Blue Peter not still John Noakes, Peter Purves, Lesley Judd and Val Singleton, plus Shep and Petra?

My son went in Dec with his GF.
Their recommendations were:
1. Accommodation – Lodges seemed best option, hotels very expensive.
2. Food – horrendously expensive to eat out. Soup @ £20 per head was their only meal out! Mostly self catering through necessity.
3. Attractions – Thermal springs, guided walks on glaciers.
Hire big 4×4 and drive around island

@dallas95, I’m also leaning towards the Bird AM. Shame there’s none due in stock in my size (XL) until March :(
My shortlist isn’t constrained to UK though, so I’m down to:
– Zero AM
– Orange P7
– Last Fastforward (29-er)
– Liteville H3 (but you can’t get one for love nor money)

Medium cage 10spd xt clutch working fine on my 301 with a 40t T-rex.
Haven’t tried 42t yet but I’d be very confident that it will be fine, as there’s still plenty of capacity for growth.

I’m in a similar quandary at the moment.
Thanks for pointing out the under-the-downtube cables on the Pace. That would make it a non-starter for me too.

@newrobdob – they just get smashed to f*** by flying rocks.

Not sure what you mean by “the pivot on the other side of the clutch” Andy.
I’ve seen the same “lazy” return of the cage on an XT 10sp clutch a couple of times. It was the clutch mechanism in my case too. Strip and clean sorted it the first time. Second time it wasn’t going to play and I had to swap the clutch assy with one from a broken “parts-bin” mech.

That back story is a cover for puppy farming. Don’t do it.

Also I echo the comments about not buying a pug, at all. RSPCA view here.
That’s a whole lot of problems bred into a dog for the sake of looking weird.