I know what you mean. It took me nigh on 4 hours on Saturday to get an Stealth Dropper post set-up correctly.  Cable length being my main problem. I suppose the 30 minutes scouring the garage floor trying to find a tiny grub screw that ejected itself didn’t help.  In the end I did a hack – another screw ended up having an altercation with my dremel so it would fit..

Have you tried this?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zqm3a1imy97u83n/2014%20-%202015%20Cobalt-Iodine%20Rear%20Hub%20Service.pdf?dl=0

It’s from the Crank Brothers website support section.  Presumably being IODINE 3 they’re the same hubs……

Is your FS low geared? If you increased the chainring size could you still winch yourself up the hills?

One of my mates is on a light XC bike and when it’s just the two of us I just couldn’t keep up on the flat and uphill sections – this was when using 32 x 11/42 XT. Basically, I just couldn’t find a comfortable cadence.

I moved to 34 x 10/50 and that spread of gears really helped. I’m still not as quick but it definitely helped close the gap. Might be in my mind though!

I can report back that I’m an idiot (nothing new).

As Brainflex said I hadn’t routed the cable correctly through the mech.

Once correctly positioned it all worked like a dream.

I’m slightly annoyed at the SRAM instructions though which are not great. The video they point you at doesn’t specifically mention the exact route. It just says make sure it’s correctly routed. The amateur guys on Youtube had better more informative instructions specifically calling out the route it should take.

Thanks for your help anyway chaps! Much appreciated.

Cheers for the reponse – very much appreciated.

Yes I did all those things multiple times. It must be cable tension and/or chain length.

The vids online tend to show one taken off and put back on in the guise of new setup. That’s what the SRAM video looks like to me. There’s just a quarter of a turn on the barrel after installation.

I’ll recheck it all again and report back. Very frustrating.

I paid an eye watering amount for a Mondraker Foxy Carbon without a demo. No regrets. Love it.

I do change the contact points on my bikes so they’re all the same so they all have the same bars, saddles, grips and brake levers. Spendy but that helps me.

I’ve got 160mm pikes on the Bird Zero AM I built up as my winter steed. I highly recommend that combo. It just feels right.

I live and work in North/East Manchester and have good and bad LBS close to me. Here are my reviews.

I like Ride-On in Rawtenstall which is a bit of a trek out for me but it’s close enough to Lee Quarry. Craig, Jan and the chaps are really good guys and I get competitive prices from them whenever I buy. The workshop quality is always top notch. The shop has a good vibe and is welcoming. They’re moving to bigger premises next year so they’re obviously doing something right. If they can’t get anything immediately they also have good processes so you don’t have to chase. I like that a lot.

Leisure Lakes Bury I’m ambivalent about – again it’s taken on more space in the last 6 months so it’s another store that’s doing something right. It does seem to be full retail prices. It doesn’t feel right bartering with a young kid behind the counter….. When I go in I generally hear that it’s a week before you could get your bike in to be looked at. Not a problem for me as I tend to do most myself and Ride-on the rest.

Evans Deansgate – 2 mins from work. More a road bike / commuter shop, with the odd bit of MTB stuff. I buy small basics from them if they have the stock. Don’t think I would buy big from them.

I don’t consider Halfords as a bike shop.

Cookson’s I’m really really really disappointed with. They sold a 29er Medium Trek to a 5ft 1in lady who weighs less than the bike and can barely walk. It’s bl00dy obvious she struggles to walk too. For reference, she broke her back and was in traction for 9 months which curtailed her running career so cycling is her key exercise. They didn’t even do a basic fit for her to make they best of it. They didn’t even tell her she could move the seat forward. Basically, any idiot can see the bike is way to big for her. I know you have to make money but that bike was not right for her….. Ordering her a small couldn’t have been that hard. I’ve had to make the best of it for her, shortest possible stem, moving the seat forward etc etc.

I support LBS 90% of the time with only the odd obscure web purchases. I really want to support them all but some don’t do themselves any favours in the long run.

Always been pretty good for me. I ordered the Eagle GX groupset on Thursday and it arrived today and that was with standard post.

Could be the chainring…… I had to ditch my hope one. I could never get it to work correctly – I always assumed that would be the straightforward bit with Hope quality etc. I bought a Raceface N/W in desperation and it sorted it all out straight away. Do you have a spare chainring to put on to check?

I can happily lose hours fettling my bikes. There’s something appealing to me about it, especially in the dark winter months. In the Garage with my fleece, beanie and heater on for a bit of warmth, bike in the stand and nobody mithering me. A quick cycle up the lane to make sure that job is good and then onto the next task. Often been in there until midnight! Bliss…..

That said if my pro-active maintenance goes Pete Tong it really irritates me, especially if I need a part/component that I can’t get hold of right now…..

HAnds up everyone who wants a weaker back wheel than the front

Northwind that’s brilliant – my fave comment of the day.

Very sad. I remember seeing him do a gig in Manchester in the early 90s and it was the funniest 20 mins of comedy I’d seen at the time.

“I used to play football, nothing professional I played for Leeds!”

Abbreviated surname which was my nickname from school.

I refer to the Klingon Programmers Manual which is very short.

Documentation is for the weak and timid.

I’d be tempted to ask him if he was “Covered in p1ss!”

Every episode. Mint!

I’d keep my FS trail bike Foxy Carbon XR. The Road bike and Hardtail would go – the latter reluctantly. I’ve come to the conclusion an MTB can do what a road bike does, keep me relatively fit….
It’s grins for me and the Trail bike gives me the most.

I have the upmost sympathy with the OP.

I have the same engine (35i) but in a Z4. BMW Williams “look after” my car. Absolute cartel in Greater Manchester so they can basically do what they want.

Every single time I go into Williams Manchester I come out raging, 30 minutes is normal just to take the key off you and the same to get them back and pay. I have never seen incompetence like it. They actually think you want to sit there for 30 minutes having a cappucino! GET SOME F*CKING WORK DONE!

I tell them exactly what I think of them every time I sit down in front of them. Sign and stamp the book that’s all I’m here for as I do NOT trust you to do the work and I will check. I tell them the parts have been marked – that’s how much I hate them.

Looking at craigxxl’s https://www.bmw-service.co.uk my next service is £361 booked through the site – which I recall Williams telling me will be £500ish + vat so go figure!!!!

The prices reflect the fact that 6 or 8 bays have to pay for about 30 staff in the servicing team. What are they all doing!!!!

Local RRG Toyota have 3 staff keeping 6 technicians going and your keys are taken instantly and you get them back instantly.

BMW Williams are really putting me off buying another bimmer. If I recall correctly Mercedes had dealer problems 10 years ago and they took it all in house. BMW need to do something similar. Won’t be getting my custom in future.

Rant over!

Hillman Superminx in blue – This was our family car when I was born until my dad moved it on when I was 7 years old. It took 2 adults and four kids to Skegness with all the luggage etc. That trip would probably account for most of the 7 years….

27.5 Minion DHF 3C EXO TR 2.3 front and rear

I did something similar a couple of months back with my older brother when he came over from Paris (also took him to Philips Park). I let him use my FS bike because he’s a noob whilst I scuttled up and down on my jump bike. I’ve never seen anyone buzzing as much as he was at the end of the north loop (his first run).

He never shuts up about it now.

Could she run with a go pro or smaller equivalent from a chest mount (someone must do a camera for runners). At least then she’ll have recorded evidence that can be put to the authorities.

If the dog owner sees her with a camera and there is a confrontation, the dog owner might change their behaviour in future. Just a thought……

Most of the presenters and not just CB bug me, I get the feeling that the excitement they convey isn’t coming from the sport, it’s coming from them being on a well paid and fully expensed jolly……

The Giant Reign Advance in Orange looks a very nice steed.

Bummer. I’m not close but I’ll keep my eye out. Manchester, Tameside and Bury frequenter.