Fair dos, but I don’t want to get my LBS to do them (largely because what was my LBS is now 200 miles away!).

The BB7s stop me well enough – I just want to see if I can get the XTs to work so that I can find one single advantage over the BB7s, and good pad clearance would be a start.

Corratec Super Bow Titan or Retrotec Twin

Probably prefer the Retrotec with PMW sliders & huge clearances for proper clay / mud.

NN USTs hold air fine, but they’re very delicate IME. I’ve trashed 3 with punctures – by the time I’d stopped, the tyres were flat and had torn small holes just above the bead. All had sealant in them which sealed other tyres (incl. the much more robust Schwalbe Alberts), but strangely not the NNs.

3 Shimano XT BBs now all with BETD Enduro bearings. Shimano ones went west rapidly as winter approached – and yes, all BB shells were faced before the BBs were fitted. BETD ones last 3 winters on my SS before needing to be replaced, but did get looked at every 3 months; sorry, but I get an urge to take bikes apart & put them back together again quite regularly, so I never “fit & forget”. So, maintenance isn’t a chore. At least with the BETD ones you can get at the bearings & reassemble the whole thing easily. IME those tophats just hide the problems.

Now then, Denis.

I got on fine with the SP41s for th winter I had the Rohloff. I did use Nokons on my old Turner and can say that they are the work of the devil. If you want cables that creak, go for it. Otherwise, avoid like the plague.

Started with Hope Minis. Then went to Magura Louise FRs, but got a SS fitted with BB7s. Liked them so much I ditched the Maguras.

Got tempted by XT 08s, so removed one set of BB7s. Will soon have both sets of XTs up for sale & being replaced by BB7s.

They’re powerful, they do have feel & modulation (well, enough for me) and easy to fettle. Hydraulics need less ongoing faffing (if a couple of minutes before each ride is that bad) but more when the seals go or need bleeding.

I’ve now got 5 sets of BB7s on the go. Best brakes ever IMHO.

You can get a tool to dissemble the whole BB7 unit to make it as good as new. Mind you, the exploded diagram does suggest there’s a good risk of having a spare part left over when it’s all done!

the only downside is that the pad adjustors do get a bit difficult to turn after a while. But I’ve got a set on the SS that will be 5 years old this year and still going strong.

Best brake ever IMHO.

Yes, I can run either 160 or 203 as the rotors are the same size, but not 185. I can try using the Shimano 180mm caliper adaptor with the Avids I guess?

Yes. On my SS and on my kids bikes. Periodically I go to hydros (currently XT but previously Magura Louise FR and Hope Minis) from BB7s, but always go back to BB7s. Presently migrating back to them on my other 2 bikes as they still beat any hydro I’ve tried for ease of use / set-up.

I had a look at my BB7s this morning. Sadly mine are the earlier (grey) design, and the cable clamp couldn’t reach the caliper unless the brake arm was shorter. So it seems like this will be specific to the 08 design?

All I can suggest is that the cable looks from the photo to be too close to the bolt. Is there a groove in the clamp for the cable to sit under which would allow the clamp to sit more flush to the side of the brake arm. If the cable is pushing the clamp up, it might be that the bolt feels tight but the clamp is being lifted by the cable. It looks to be like the cable should be exiting further inboard. Worth a try?

Nope. I run sealant in my USTs so rarely get a puncture that can’t cope with. If I do get one, I use the Panaracer tubeless repair kit which seems to work even with sealant in the tyre.

Anything that the above can’t cope with would require a tube anyway, so a simple pump will do you.

Sealant seals better when on the move, esp. the latex-based ones. Pump the tyre up & pedal a bit – that usually does the trick, but sitting around watching sealant leak out won’t get you very far. Personally I use Ultraseal now, but Stans & JRAs work fine like this.

I had my 5 Spot done by Argos in a fantastic green. They did all the decals too, and it really was a lovely job. It was them or Bob Jackson. They protected all the pivots & faced everything properly too. But…they did leave a burr in the seat tube which has scored my Thomson post very badly.

And…the finish is lovely but a tad fragile for proper use – I’ve already managed to chip it without much effort. So lots of copter tape required too.

W

Thanks all – keep ’em coming.

What’s the midget story with Scotland, then?

Another vote for a PUSH’d RP23. Before that my 05 Spot ran a DHX Air, and as someone on the old forum once said “it rode like a dog wiping its arse”.

You can still get Schwalbe Albert 2.25 UST – they’ve just re-named it with the Fat Albert which now comes in 2.25 & 2.4 flavours – see here. Great tyres – far better than NNs for general riding & best I’ve had in 6 years of tubeless.

I did exactly what you’re thinking about on my 04 Explosif. Hacksaw, then many hours of patient filing. Left the tubes nice & smooth, but now all covered in insulating tape until it gets a respray in a few years. Nothing to be afraid of if you’re patient!

Oh, the frames covered a good 5,000 miles since I did this, so no damage done.

I’ve been tubeless for 6 years and wouldn’t go back to tubes. Main reason though is large number of thorn punctures I got – with UST & sealant I can just pull the thorns out when I can be bothered. Beyond that, no real benefit as far as I can tell, and much more trouble if you’re a frequent tyre changer.

http://www.lhthomson.com/docs/updated_pdfs/08_X4_Stem_revA.pdf