@cheers_drive – Strada Cycles has a large 514 for demo (and a medium 314)

The washing up liquid thing is more to help get the initial seal and to show up leaks so omitting it doesn’t sound the problem as you got it inflated (albeit now losing pressure). Worth inflating them though and covering in soapy water to show up where the leak is.
As others have said it’s also important to swill the sealant around (once tyre is inflated) so it covers the entire inner circumference (inc. rim area), I forgot to do this on my rear last time and it lost a lot of pressure overnight, swilling it around the next day and it’s held the same pressure for 3 weeks now.
I also had a tiny leak around the valve on both mine which needed a bit more shaking about the sealant in that area until it stopped.

Yep, points will only be used if two drivers share the same number of wins. It’s a pretty retarded change IMO – the fundamental problem with F1 is lack of overtaking due to the highly developed aerodynamics + reduced grip from grooved tyres. I thought they were changing back to slicks this year but not sure (which would help) but IMO they’d also do better to leave the points system in place and address the aerodynamic aids etc.

I stopped buying SSC pads after my third set fell apart, I did however chance getting a HT2 ceramic BB from them and so far it’s lasted well (around a year although inc. a winter). They may just have QC issues (plenty of people seem to have no trouble with their pads). Unless I win the lottery (and get a CK one) the next BB I buy will be from them.

Yeah it’s a shame, although I’m more than happy with my Ay-Ups I wouldn’t have bought them if I’d had to order from Oz

Of the various baggies I have the Specialized Enduro ones are my favourite (fit, comfort and function). Endura are a close second.
I find with baggies over bib shorts that the baggies slip right down and I’m forever pulling them back up so prefer just to wear the liner they come with, I guess some baggies might have silicon grippers on the waist.

Unless he has a job though you’ll probably get 15p a week in compensation for the next however many years.

Still plenty of room in Australia to ship people off to :p

It does suck there’s virtually nothing you can do apart from beef up security but even then the scrotes can still cause a lot of damage even if they don’t get the bikes (and the damage is probably less than your excess). On the security camera side I doubt it would actually help much (in terms of getting a conviction, might help as a deterrent but then it would need to be visible and would probably get nicked :p ).

http://www.ecyclingstore.com/cycling_jerseys-2.php

I have one of these from CRC, wouldn’t really class it as cool though :p

They work well IME, the powerlink is also way easier to get on and off than the SRAM one. There’s a thread about the 10sp ones snapping on BikeRadar though, not had any issues with the 9sp ones though

My parents bought my 5 year old nephew a second hand shockwave full-sus monstrosity (for £20), it weighs more than my bike (which is around 26lbs). Amazingly he still manages to ride it for a few miles off-road (including rocky and rooty stuff). I shut my eyes everytime I see him going downhill though with the dodgy brakes and trying to use his feet to slow himself down. To be fair it’s only for when he visits them and will get a decent bike for at home but still I could see it putting less enthusiastic kids off cycling all together. Only hassle I see with Islabikes is you can’t easily try them for size first.

10-15 minutes I’d say (especially first time doing it), it’s all downhill or flat so mostly just about navigating the roads

If you have the money to burn and fancy XTR then go for it, if you’re just trail riding though I don’t think you’d lose any sleep if you settled for XT (or even SLX for that matter). As someone else mentioned, make sure you can afford the replacement stuff as well not just the initial purchase cost ;)

This looks cheaper :p http://www.klamp-it.co.uk/Pages/garage.htm

Cycling Weekly often have a few decent ones in the back pages

So what can you get away with in terms of booby traps in garages?

Dunno about the shorts sizing but the top I bought was massive (usually wear XL jerseys so bought an XL one, had to send it back as it was ridiculously big, exchanged with an L size and even that was comically big and it was more a trail top rather than something designed to go over a stormtrooper outfit). Couldn’t be arsed to send it back again so it’s just gathering dust :(

I was looking at the DA 7850 carbon laminates but tempted now by the RS80’s, same rim just with an Ultegra level hub for a decent cost saving.

Maple syrup and squirty cream :p

What pressure are you running your tyres at? I’m about the same weight but not had them roll off or burp yet, running about 35psi in each, bit worried now :p

Got mine for £350 from certini.co.uk but just checked and they seem to have replaced them with the 2009 version @ £499 :(

What did confuse me about the wheels was converting the front to 20mm as it wasn’t really obvious (as no instructions) which of the plastic bits in the bag you were supposed to use and which way around they went. Seemed to go together OK on the second attempt though and I’m hoping if I’d done it wrong it would be immediately obvious…

Yes worked fine for me (was my first attempt at tubeless to). Wheels came with the blue tubeless compatible strip fitted and the valve so I used those along with Stans sealant.
Used a High Roller 2.35 LUST on the front (bugger to get on) and a Mud-X TR 2.0 on the back (went on easy).
Just followed a few tips I’d read…
1). Stuck the tyre on and soaped it up without using sealant
2). Suspended wheel via workstand to make it easier to work on
3). Inflated tyre to see if it sealed OK without wasting sealant (it did with only a small leak at the valve), on the High Roller I had to pull the tyre up/away from the rim (at the valve) to get it to catch enough to start inflating. On the Mud-X I just pumped quickly and it made a seal straight away.
4). Left for 10 mins
5). Deflated tyre, unseated a section from the rim and poured in a couple of scoops of sealant
6). Re-inflated tyre (after re-soaping) and shook the sealant around then rotated it slowly sloshing the sealant so it completely coated the inside of the tyre

Noticed a slight leak (small bubbles of sealant) on one of the tyres around the valve the following day but just shook the sealant around the area for a minute and it’s not leaked since.

Only ridden them a couple of times but they seem fine, although still getting used to the hollow sound the tyres occasionally make which sounds weird and keeps making me think they’ve gone flat ;p

Also surprised by the amount of grip from the Mud-X at Cwm Carn and Afan (expected it to be a bit pants over rocky sections, it’s a bit odd on the chicken wire on White’s though as the knobs jsut fit in the gaps and catch a bit) but I only fitted it as it was the only half-decent tubeless ready tyre I could get hold of quickly at the time, since bought a Maxxis Advantage to replace it with (although in no particular hurry to)

I doubt it would instantly rip the front end off and kill you but you’re obviously putting more stress through the head tube than the frame was designed for. I’d check with Giant what the frame is warrantied up to, if it’s shorter then 130 then you’re taking a gamble. Might last for years might last until your first high speed drop off, personally I wouldn’t risk it.

That XTR shifter seems pretty vertical but I digress :p

Cwmcarn descents are more just fast/flowy rather than technical apart from the rocky section where you can go slow if worried.
At Afan I’ve only done White’s and Penhydd but both have small drop-off sections which are fine if you just roll them at a reasonable speed but could cause problems if the rider is nervous/over-cautious as it becomes harder if you go too slow.

Tubeless is great for thorn type punctures not just pinch flats/snakebites, just look at the Stan’s video riding over the nail board :p You can’t just use any old tyre though (even with ghetto tubeless) as some have too weak beads or too porous sidewalls and will burp or just not seal.

Yeah Comet/Currys etc should get their asses kicked for trying to sell £70+ HDMI cables (with the staff claiming they give a much better picture), it doesn’t matter a jot given they only carry digital data.

If it’s just small leaks I’d keep swishing the sealant about inside so it gets into the valve and around the spokes (although leaking from the spokes probably does mean the tape is damaged or not central). I used a couple of full sealant scoops to rather than go for the 1 recommended on the bottle.

I enjoy my long travel HT right up to the point I’m knackered at which point all I want to do is sit down on a 5-6″ FS and float through rough stuff rather than have to stand up on cramping legs :p So for me for up to a couple of hours I’d rather go with the long travel HT, over that and I’d prefer a FS

Gore fit is normal IME, although be careful if something says close fitting or race cut as it won’t be flattering if you have a gut :p

The Mud-X TR nearly went on with just my thumbs but my hands were shot after getting the High Roller on so used the levers for a bit of extra help. Your mate must have been going at it some to rip the tape, make sure the hook of the lever is pointing up into the tyre (opposite to normal way you’d use them) which stops the end of the lever catching on the tape (obviously also make sure there’s enough of the lever end inside the tyre so the lever doesn’t just pop off the rim). What tyres is he trying to fit?

I’d start off by checking what the frame is warrantied for. Have the 09 Rev u-turn maxle-lites myself though and it’s a nice fork (bike originally spec’d with 120’s though so not as big a difference as you’re thinking about). I do wind them down to 100mm though for technical climbs as at 140mm the front end is very light.

Bought some a couple of weeks ago and went tubeless with them for the first time. Using a High Roller 2.35 LUST on the front and a 2.0 Mud-X TR on the rear. Only problem I had was the High Roller was a pig to get on the rim, sealed fine with a track pump though, used one hand to pull the tyre up at the valve and pumped with the other – used soapy water all around the rim to (this is sounding fruity…). I noticed a bit of leak at the valves but after some shaking the sealant around it stopped and they’ve been fine since.
Mine came with the blue rim tape on (and the tubeless valves which inconveniently don’t have removable cores – although just unseating the tyre and pouring in sealant worked OK – just a hassle on the High Roller due to it being so tight). I also did the “inflate without sealant thing” thing first just to make sure they sealed without wasting sealant – didn’t bother inflating the tyres with tubes overnight to get any kinks out though (both are folders I took straight from the packaging).

Always wanted to try those type of extreme designs just to see if they do make a difference but given the usual price of them it’s not something I can afford to experiment with :p

I have both types (from Park) and tend to use the normal (no plastic moulding) ones the most as I find them generally a bit more convenient. Key thing is really just to buy high quality ones of either type.

I originally had specialist bike insurance but it is a complete rip-off and there are so many clauses I had no confidence I’d be able to get them to pay out should the worst happen. I ended up switching to M&S (couldn’t use my previous contents insurer, Tesco, because they only cover up to £750).

I made the mistake of buying a Crank Brothers one – I think I could inflate a tyre better using my mouth. I’ve just switched to a mountain morph but it’s not exactly small (I would have got the Lezyne version but the shop didn’t have any in). Some of the smaller Lezyne pumps look well made to but not used one.

My Stealth is fine in the wet, water beads off it. I do use Grangers on it every 3 or 4 washes but it was at least as waterproof from new. You will sweat a lot in it though if it’s fairly warm out or you’re doing something strenuous but that applies to all breathable waterproofs.