I loved mine, it ended up cracking around the seattube/seatstay area and it was replaced with a Piglet 2 before some other bikes came along. The Piglet 2 was similar, but didn’t descend quite like the BPX. In my head I could tell that it was made of nicer steel than the 4130/Reynolds 525 steel frames I’d ridden before it. Whether or not the TrueTemper Platinum Ox contributes to the ride is probably beyond my sensing but it’s a fantastic frame.

It was on a 150/130 Revelation with XT, 12mm Maxle in the back. Bars were 760 on a 60 stem and it was ridden in the South East before properly getting to know it in the Peak. The travel adjust fork helped compensate for the climbing.

If you need spare QR or Maxle dropouts, cable guides or the weird seatclamp shim let me know as I’ve held onto the spares for some reason. I’ve also got a Nukeproof headset that will fit.

Seeing as the one you’ve spotted has lasted this long, it should be outside the batch with the bad reputation. You’ll love it :D

Cheers for the info :-)

That’s a relief, looks like there’s lots to go at. Thanks for your input.

The RRD page looks quite good, that calendar’s well booked.

Now then, I do still have an axle and end caps to go with the Maxle. Just had a look down mine and it doesn’t have the score/shear at the same place.

£25 posted or collect from Sheffield for less.

My email’s shameer AT gmx DOT co.uk

Hope this helps :D

I have a pie-proof older 12mm Maxle (12×135) with a solid lever like one on the right here:

Yours for £15 posted. Was relevant on my last 2 frames, but not for my Bandit.

HOLD THE PHONE.

I may have the axle and caps to go with it… I’ll be back with an answer, but I definitely have a Maxle.

Matching should be a subtle compliment, in the right tone not just a similar shade and used sparingly. Black always wins, stanchions (dropper, fork, shock) should be the same anodise. None of this Kashima fork, TiNi shock, black ano dropper thankyouverymuch.

My grips match my soul, my bars match my stem (pro FRS with a subtle pattern resembling gritstone). Polished alloy can be a nice compliment to a build, again used sparingly and spread out.

Less is more, or clash the thing to death. Or black.

Helitape, hairdryer and patience.

I’ve been back on flats for a while now having been clipped in for a few years. Skate shoes and V8s sufficed, 5tens and Vaults are in another league and I’d say it’s worth the investment.

As mentioned the new V12 looks like the wise buy at the moment as it’s got a very similar shape to the Vault but half the price. Nanos/WahWahs etc are great as they’re thin but the bite is more of a nibble compared. I may even say that Vans waffle sole on a Vault feel more grippy than 5ten rubber on a Nano.

Going back to flats set my riding back for a while as I had to learn to weight the bike correctly, I think it encourages you to ride less passively as you have to make use of the chances to weight the the bike for traction/preloading/cornering/unweighting/pumping etc. There are a number of variables involved but I’m more capable now on a steel HT with flats than I was on FS clipped in. I put this down in part to the weighting issue which changing pedals forced me to learn. I also find it easier to commit as consequences are a bit more manageable should it go wrong!

Great bike, keep it and plan an mtb trip to somewhere new.

Road is good fun and very convenient, but it will never scratch the same itch as mtb.

I suggest a CX bike to lure you back to the filth :idea:

I’m down to 3.14 bikes.

Transition Bandit 26″ brand new second hand walloper
Pinnacle Dolomite stealthy road bike
Pinnacle Sentinal daily workhorse/beaterbike
and a Piglet 2 frame.

OP there’s no-one to impress by walloping down the side of said hill and ending up in a ditch. However, maybe there are things you can do to increase your sense of control on the bike (1 finger braking, footwork, looking further down the trail, using the front brake as the dominant/rear brake only when appropriate, not staring at things to avoid, not hanging off the back like it’s the 90s etc)?

There’s always someone faster who will think you’re slow, and someone slower who will think you’re fast. There’s a speed at which you feel you can respond to things and control the bike and beyond that you will be beyond your perceived range of control.

I now aim to ride smoother than faster, which happens to mean I ride faster than I used to be but ride more calmly. It’s amazing what a difference staying loose on the bike can do and it can only be done if you’re relaxed.

Get another bike, perhaps not a Boardman but each to their own. Surrey Hills/Swinley suits HT well as suggested by T1.

If it has to be a BM, get a HT and transplant the parts onto a nicer HT frame (preferably made of something that rhymes with ‘real’).

Awesome finish on the frame, looks…. howyousay? Flippin’ mint!

I find the Sight quite bob-proof in ‘descend’ mode, let alone trail or climb. They’re good versatile bikes, give it a tweak before you replace it. You mention you’re “a tad heavy” and your compression damping needs to reflect this. A shock tune or something like a Cane Creek with independent adjustment would be a worthwhile addition.

Travel adjustment on the front end can help distribute your weight a bit if you’ve got a fixed length fork. Slack 140-150 bikes are good fun down, but climbing is always compromised for the fun stuff.

Folding IME, more rubber available around the bead. I’ve got wire to seal but it took a few days and needing topping up more than other tyres. New tyres seal up better as things are sticky and fresh. Tubeless ready is becoming quite a common feature for Spesh and Bonty (I’ve the easiest tubeless setup with Bonty). Maxxis folding tubeless easily too.

The jury’s out on Schwalbe as there’s something about them not being recommended due to delamination, but obviously lots of people use them. I’ve not had Schwalbe since I went tubeless as a coincidence and I don’t fancy finding out!

Not mine, or what you’re specifically after but a Dialled Alpine (fantastic burly 853 frame) going cheap as a whole build:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-dialled-bikes-alpine

TransAM frame going not so cheap:

http://flatoutcycles.co.uk/transition-transam-hardtail-singlespeed-mountain-bike-frame-30777?fee=5&fep=5025&gclid=Cj0KEQjw3vyeBRDt673h5ZTYrdQBEiQAzhkf8j42BfigX3QBBUDEFl1ejnNPHDCFmjqQcI8QD-K8_z8aAhkG8P8HAQ

Ah, kiwijohn had it. Dual now refers to dual position only therefore there is only one air valve.

The only main choice therefore is fixed length (solo air) or dual position air which gives you that 30mm drop. KJ points out that the fixed length is more tuneable, I would personally struggle on my hardtail without the dual position but it’s down to the rider and usage.

Solo air is a single valved chamber which internally divides into negative and positive but remains balanced at a sensible level. Dual air has separate chambers and increases the amount you can tune your fork. Many people end up with a similar setting to the solo default but you can bias the fork behaviour to either small bump compliance or more pert but able to deal with wallops without diving as much.

Then you have dual position, which as it sounds lets you drop the front end by flicking a switch on the crown and bouncing, to reduce the front by 30mm. This is great for climbing/milder terrain.

One argument is that more adjustment is more to go wrong, another is fettle, fettle and fettle some more!

I’ve had positive experiences of dual air Revs and Pikes but settled on about 10psi more in the negative spring after much trial and error, which is fairly common. I now use a solo air, dual position Rev and it’s great.

So, it depends on how much you fiddle with your front end or how diverse your riding is. Dual gives you more options, but it’s much of a muchness if you’re unlikely to take the time/effort to explore these.

1.5 crown race with a 44mm lower cup? The 1.5 cup is bigger than the 44, so the seal fits as such.

LBS should have loads of spares from completes, take biscuits.

Plusgas, a couple of mates and a very large spanner got my stuck dropper out (steel frame).

Partial drop is great for pedally tech as mentioned, it’s nice not having to twerq the saddle into the mid-pin location.

A mate’s RF cranks kept loosening, he’s on XT now and had no issues since. Have you been pressure washing the bike or tightening the bearing compression nut thingy beyond finger tight? Both commonly done and a surefire way to kill your cups.

I figured my whippetiness would go in my favour for head tube stress, I’m waiting on a seatpost shim so haven’t thrashed it yet. It’s an 18″ rather a 17″ so longer with a bigger front triangle. I’ve embraced the wide open spaces of the Peak and stuck some bigger bars and a shorter stem on so it should be a whole load of differences to decipher. What FS did you get in the end Al?

Cheers for the responses guys.

I have a 2003 (so pardon me if the following is useless!), the rocker gasket is a common issue as is the rear axle being a bit weak and the exhaust being made of tin foil. The comms unit fatigues results in a floppy indicator too which is cheap enough to source as it’s uced in Citroens too.

Generally fine day to day. Sheffield to Brighton and back is about £45 in diesel.

45650b

Steel, shimano, available in raw. What’s not to like? The Whyte looks ok but the SRAM and aluminium would put me off.

Use the money you save to buy a dropper post :idea:

As said it works well but I find is a bit softer once short (can be divey). You flick the adjuster and bounce the forks, it returns -30mm or whatever the variant is specified at. With RCT3 you can use the middle threshold setting to firm things up which is pretty handy for climbing/flatter flowing singletrack.

A lot easier in use than U-turn but the character of the fork changes a bit once in diddy mode. It took a while for me to embrace it but I really like it now. Recommended!

Take out insurance for your bikes, learn to shrug off the marketing slagging match.

Despite how seriously it can be taken it’s ultimately just riding bicycles and trying to feel like you’re 7 again :D

Vaults. Now in an even awesomer Mg platform with ti bling bits at 290g!?

So much grip with normal skate shoes, let alone 5tens which are even better.

Just remember to Loctite yer pins when new.

http://reynoldstechnology.biz/assets/pdf/rtl_steel_alloys_extract.pdf

There’s real, then there’s 953 real.

Hi Rob, sure. Do you want the matching Smorg 2.25 (sub 800g)?

My email’s shameer AT gmx.co.uk

Microteet spanner.

999g after some use and with a little sealant residue.

If you’re near Sheffield you can have mine for cheap.

Those screws can be replaced with shiny new ones, but if you’re going to go to that trouble why not just punch yourself in the balls since you’re probably a dickless lizard who doesn’t like to look intimidating.

:lol:

Shame about the barends.

Gears are there for grinding, no?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ghetto-tubeless-inflator-total-cost-9p

The 9p ghetto compressor is easy to make and works like a charm. A little blu-tak around the holes helps it seal better if necessary. Removing the valve cores also makes it more effective. Mine seats tyres at 40psi with the cores out.

I use schraeder valves on duct tape converted 719s, the cores are easily removed/replaced and fluid top up can be done through them without disturbing the precious bead seal. Loosening the valves to let the bead sit around, rather than on the rubber really helps, as does building up the rim with a few extra wraps of tape. Not only will this help inflate, it reduces burping due to snugness.

I’ve seen a fence sprayer pump thing used as a compressor but it didn’t seem as good as the 9p wonder due to the flimsy, built in handle.

Guaranteed for a decade, silicone handle and works like a charm. Wesco make some lovely, solid things and these can be recycled easily should it somehow come to an early demise.