King are good, but overpriced IMHO for what you get. And they do need plenty of TLC, but at that price you’re minded to give them it anyway.

Next set of wheels will have Goldtec hubs, probably Dracos. Fancy a change and they seem well thought out with decent user experience.

What trail_rat says is the truth. Lift the red knob off with a screwdriver, screw the adjuster out, clean & copperslip then reassemble. Do this to mine when new & while inboard remains stiff they’ll move.

I’ve 5 sets on the go, and any hydros I’ve tried end up getting sold as they’re just not as good IMHO.

Same pondering here.

Not CK – had ’em for 4 years but just too much hassle.

Torn between Hope Pro II and some Goldtecs. Think I’ll go for the Goldtecs myself. Both Hope and BETD have offered good support in the past too, so aftersales should be OK if needed.

I tried, and failed, to get a Curtis on the Bike to Work scheme – got a Ti456 instead. Every time I go to their site I dream of selling the Ti456…

Still hanker after a Reynolds XC with PMW dropouts as seen on their site. There’s something just *right* about them. Big mud clearance, and in the raw finish they are pure class.

I’m running Vredestein Killer Bees, all 2.4″ of them. Fast as you like, plenty comfy and happily tackle steps or other obstacles of interest to the commuter.

Must look around at those places, dobo. Grafham (Rutland) was my LBS, but having moved to the middle of nowhere I don’t really have one now.

Right, decision (for tonight anyway) is to go for Hopes.

Shimano only dead when the races and pitted, not the bearings which can be replaced? So, with a bit of TLC I’m struggling to see why any of them can’t last.

Winter riding is point mind as these will be used all year, about 100 miles a week most of the time.

Had CK before – overrated IMHO.

Leaning towards Hopes, I suppose, but I’d prefer the steel freehub so I can SS it without worrying about knackering it.

There’s always Mavics, I guess!

Hmmm.

Just as I thought, divided opinions.

Was thinking of going to Roger at Wheelpro – I’ve had 5 handbuilt from him in the past – but Hope Hoops only come on 355s / Flows – one is more than I need, the other maybe a bit less? Hence I wanted the Arch.

OK Dobo – where else does 29er size on Stan’s rims?

Mmmm. I put Pikes on with the 5.5 rockers, PUSH’d the Pikes and a new PUSH’d RP23 and it’s way better than before (Manitou Minute 3’s which were good, but DHX Air was not). But most of that is down to the rear shock. Best improvement was a respray!

It’s a quick job to whip the whole inboard side out of the caliper. I did this, cleaned it up & put a touch of copper slip on the thread before reassembly. Never given me a problem since in 3 years of winter abuse. and never contaminated a pad.

I’ve got the tool to do the outboard side but haven’t plucked up courage to attack it yet, not that it needs it.

Catching up here…

Thanks for all the info. Despite no wanting to get sucked into more geekiness, I am now the proud owner of a set of EU Super fi.5s. They seem to fit, stay in nicely and are rather better than the Bose things I had before. Crap case they come with, mind.

Cheers Chela. I’ll see what I can find out from On One & Turner.

In reality, no difference probably. In the rider’s head, night & day difference. It’s an upgrade, it scratches an itch.

0.2″ at a guess.

Argos did a good job on my 5 Spot, but cheap they ain’t.

Mail me, tops 5 – I have a set of 5.3 rockers lying around as I put the 5.5s on instead (to my 05 Spot).

There’s something going on … I, too, have a HL 5 Spot and a (Ti)456. Mind you, the 456 is now a commuter, tackling the challenges of London’s towpaths.

Farticus, could you really tell the difference between the DHX air and RP23?

Yes – absolutely night & day different. With the DHX it always felt soggy, whenever I stood in the pedals it felt dreadfully soft & energy-sapping. I had it for 3 years and tried all sorts of adjustments, but none gave a ride that was anywhere as near as good as my old XCE (which ran a PUSH’d Vanilla RC).

The RP23 gives a much tauter feel (esp. as I have full pro-pedal on it) – I can stand on the pedals and it doesn’t move much at all. Much more stable and still soaks up the bumps nicely. Whether any of that is due to having it PUSH’d I don’t know. What I do know is that it now rides as well as the old XCE.

Try it, and try to decide when the fires of consumerism have burnt out a bit. I’m forever buying stuff I don’t need and regretting it … Jones H bars, Rohloff hubs, Eriksen seatposts, Forge shifters to name a few have all come and gone (through Classifieds).

My 5 Spot nearly got sold, but I’m so glad I didn’t. An Argos paint job (beautiful green, it is), 5.5 rockers, RP23 & Pikes have made it a fantastic ride (that DHX Air fitted to the 05 vintage was a disaster). Couldn’t resist PUSHing the forks and the shock, though.

Lastly, take you beer goggles off. That Rize is like lusting after a fat lass* after 10 pints – won’t seem such a smart move in the morning, when you’ve already got a jaw-dropping beauty at home.

*Obviously, you may go in for the fuller-figure but that’s up to you. No insult intended to any plus-sized lady readers of this thread, but if you are one and are reading this then GET SOME BLOODY EXERCISE.

A whole world of geekiness I hadn’t appreciated 🙂

I think I’m going to try to Sennheiser CX400s – I’m don’t use them enough to justify a huge cost, but if they don’t fit I might have to take the plunge and get custom ones.

Cheers for the advice.

Useful, Steve – thanks. Nice to know there’s a solution if the standard things don’t fit.

Ay up. Yareet?

… and advice handed down through the generations: If tha eva dus aht fur naht, allus do it fur thi sen.

Voice of dissent here…

I’ve shredded 3 NN UST (2.25″) sidewalls on 5 rides at Dalby, which is not the rockiest place going. Meanwhile, my Albert USTs (also 2.25) have survived many trips there.

If ridden with finesse and skill you’ll be fine, but as I have neither of these things I won’t touch them again.

OK.

Saint is larger, all the others are the same – 20mm included. Centrelock to 6 bolt adaptors work on all non-Saint hubs, including 20mm (you just use the lockring that comes with the 20mm hub).

So, you’ve got Saint ones but need standard. In my garage I have a selection in different sizes, gathered before I worked out what was going on!

Thanks thomthumb – that’s good enough. Time to plough on with project 69er then.

Singlespeedstu – what’s the radius of the 29 x 2.4″ Racing Ralph? That’s my tyre of choice for my DIY 69er, but I need to make sure it’ll fit in my 440mm Pace RC31s.

Cheers

Damn.

I’m about to try to get my son a trials bike on the scheme… second thoughts, I like the wheels idea so just need to find a helpful shop.

A bit, but I had some of the Schwalbe Marathon puncture proof jobs on before. They weighed >1kg each and were so thick it was like having wooden wheels. Plus zero grip from the front. So, I switched to the Killer Bee which is pretty quick, and I can still do any steps etc. I meet.

WCA – yes, I’ve even considered seeing if I could squeeze a smaller tyred 29er rear wheel in & making it a 29er! But I do like running fat tyres (2.4″ Vredestein Killer Bees).

Right, time to stop prevaricating. Time to get a wheel sorted.

Thanks all.

Thanks TJ.

No idea how head angle, trail and rake interact, mind. Anyone out there care to explain & offer an opinion on RC31s doing the job?

Hmmm.

My first brakes were Hope Minis, then switched to Magura Louise FRs. Got BB7s on the SS, and wondered why I needed hydros – BB7s just as powerful, feel is fine with me, single finger braking not a problem.

Put BB7s on my Turner – nice. The got the itch for hydros again, so got XTs. Work just about as well as the BB7s but more major faffing required – bleeding, leaking pistons etc. BB7s, on the other hand, need more minor faffing like pad adjustment.

Overall, BB7s perform as well as any hydro I’ve tried. Personally I’m giving the XTs a summer before decide whether to ditch them or not & move the whole fleet back over to BB7s.

No rattle here…

If you click on your username (top right) you get a list of all threads you’ve created & posted on, so you can monitor what’s going on if you want…

…but it is more effort than simply looking on the forum when bumping happened. That said, quite a lot of Classifieds threads descend into chats between mates, and bumping was irritating when all it did was keep conversations on top at the expense of the other stuff.

Define “rich”. Why is earning >£150k now “rich”? What about someone with several million in assets but a lower income? I know as many in each category…so why not have a property tax on any property worth >£1m when sold? After all, it’s the fetish we, as a nation, have with property that really is the root cause of many problems (it’s why we borrow to excess).

Chats I’ve had with the >£150k income earners suggest 4 strategies:
1. Accept it – that’s life.
2. Go part-time & thank the government for making you realise the value of leisure time. This way you’ll take home less, but at least you won’t be putting in an hour for the government for every extra hour you work.
3. Move abroad – impractical for all but the extremely rich who will already have plenty of schemes in place for this not to hit them anyway.
4. For those hit for the first time, start getting good tax advice.

Most will simply accept it in muttering English style, other than the non-UK nationals who will do 3.

Can Creek’s reply states “The inner angle of the CK bearings are different, the crown race is not making the proper contact with the inner race of the bearing. You must use the 110 crown race with the 110.”

That clears that up, then.

What I need is the exact spec of both races but can’t find that sort of detail. Emailed Cane Creek to see what they say (expecting a “don’t do it”) – will post back here when I get an answer.

Bodging is good, whatever the cost!

Hmmm. As confused as ever.

Motivation is idleness, and not wanting to have to get the CK race off and the CC one on as neither are split race designs.

Probably right that I should use the right race – I suppose the question should have been more about how you could assess properly whether they are interchangeable. Anyone any idea where the detailed tech specs would be? Like precise details of crown race dimensions, angles and so on?

My Cyclescheme bike…bizarrely I do now use it as my commuter even though I never intended to. Will become a SS 69er for the winter, mind.