I had a recurring pain in my left knee which has come and gone over the years, but particularly associated with cleats (on a fixed, road and mtb). My feet are slightly different sizes like most people, since moving my left cleat forwards to be under the ball of my foot rather than matched to the right shoe (pretty much central) it’s balanced out.

Stand with your back and heals against a wall, are the balls of your feet in the same place?

Saddle height may vary based on your pedalling style; lower for heel droppers, middle for level footed pedalling and a tad higher for toes down. A saddle too high will make you pedal toes down so experiment, it will also make your hips rock as you try to reach the bottom of the pedal stroke; lower back pain being the give away.

In terms of saddle fore/aft, use the top of your shin rather than your knee cap as the reference to be over the spindle (again, a starting point not a rule).

If you get lateral pressure from the pedal when pedalling you may need to tweak the angle rather than position of the cleat as you should be in the middle of the float.

When tired my knees widen when pedalling as my form gets sloppy. Consciously pedalling with knees above ankles seems odd but again maintains alignment.

Finally stretching regularly to loosen/strengthen glutes, hamstrings, core and back provide your body with more support for itself.

Finally part 2; as you can pull up on the pedals when clipped in doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Use it to initiate your pedal stroke earlier at 12-1 and hold longer to about 7-8, studies show trying to pull a full circle can fight the opposite foot, waste energy and increase knee injury potential.

I don’t currently have a bike that would be suitable to use on a turbo trainer.

Buy/build a road bike and plonk it on some adjustable resistance rollers. Rollers keep your form sharp as you’re involved in maintaining posture, use a little computer with it and you can keep track of your output. When the weather’s good you can take it outside, unlike the spin ‘bike’.

I finally got some Koolstop salmons t’other day and they really are as good as folk say, particularly in the wet.

Wiggle seemed the best bet, just remember not to toe them in as normal as they have a cleaning fin on the rear edge. Good modulation, but a lot more bite than any pads I’ve used before.

Wiggly salmon

The Soul is probably the best choice for climbing, the Piglet for a bit of everything and the BP for more of a descending bias.

I have a BPX with a dual position 120/150mm Rev which climbs better than its descending suggests it should (if that makes sense?). Given how things have changed with the Piglet and BP I’d personally go for a Piglet if choosing now. Again with a dual position/TALAS/U-turn fork as slack bikes aren’t the best climbers. I mainly ride rocky XC in the Peak where the descents are quite involved but you have to work back up to ride between them.

My BPX is a little over 28lbs with a dropper (planning to drop a little weight in future via the wheels and seatpost). The slackness and give in the rear triangle compliment the sturdy front end so it’s comfy but manages to see me getting through rock gardens faster than I’d expected. CRC has Piglets pretty cheap at the moment.

Evans does ’em for £30 each inc Sapim DB spokes.

Looks great but

official opening is 1st April

Really?

Looking forward to popping back there later in the year. The mud in the South certainly is tenacious and any trail surfacing helps with the mud wrestling and erosion, especially somewhere as popular and protected as LH.

Maybe direct triple front mech or perhaps an E-type BB fitting one?

Not gold, it’s the bike equivalent of this:

Go blue, but only if you’re prepared to do your clamp, rotors & chainring.

Raw/silver would look good too. Only go purple if you’re willing to go for ironic flat bars and stubby endz.

Avoid CO2 if you’re using Stans as it can react with the fluid.

If you’ve got removable valve cores that can help with the initial pump, or make one of these tyre bongs for 9p and you’ll be seated reet:

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

I use the bong with the core removed and only need to get it up to 40psi. When it’s up, finger over the valve, then core back in, reattach pump and inflate to 40psi. Then do the hokey cokey to get the sealant coverage.

My ghetto tubeless (schraeder valves + duct tape) always need sealant to seal around the valve but a good shake does the job. Make sure you shake the bottle well before use and invert it to get those lovely particles out. When I used rubber rim strips they held ‘dry’.

Oh, and once things are inflated I tighten the valves a touch more as they’re pushed out a little.

I use a 27.2 carbon Profile layback post (STW classified bargin!) on my road bike and it’s a hell of a lot more comfy than any aluminium alternatives I’ve perched on. I think the layback adds a bit of leverage, a riding buddy said he’s seen it flex when I’ve been unleashing the weasel on the flat 8O

Make sure you don’t get a ‘carbon wrapped’ if you go carbon rather than ti.

Blue Pig, you’ll like it at 150 so will probably leave it there most of the time. A little extra compression damping in short mode adds to the versatility of my 120/150 Revs on the Blue Pig X.

I run Hope pick n mix cups with an XT BB and it’s dealing fine with regular mud, grit and washing.

10-20ml rides

You should drink more pal :wink:

Terns are an affordable way to pass the folding bike rule for commuters but they’re bulky, awkward to carry and not finished to the same standards as the Brompton. If you just have to handle it on the platform then they’re not bad but it sounds like you’d be folding the thing more often.

Moulton’s are iconic (broke a record donchaknow) but they don’t seem to shrink down so well.

So, flat bar single speed ti seatpost yeah?

The front hub thing is a guide, don’t get hung up on it. There is also such a variance in flats-to-hood reach on bars that stem is only a piece of the puzzle. I find I spend a lot more time in the drops now I’ve got quite compact bars with close hoods and a shallow bend.

Saddle relative to frame is independent of eyes, bar and stem as it’s about aligning the lower body. Work from the feet up. Apparently my femur length is proportionally long so I tend to need more layback than stock. Medium frames with this tweak fit me better than large stock bikes without, I’m about 5’10” so span both sizes.

As mentioned, frame size is more of a relative thing to the model rather than the olden measure of having a size for your height given compact geo, variance in measuring, brand size bias (Cannondale being big for their size) etc etc.

Get some cheap parts and swap ’em about, measure your performance and compare your results.

Some people are dyslexic and can have a pretty frustrating time dealing with pedants. I’m not, but I recall the difficulty some of my friends had while studying and discussions rants like this don’t help.

There are bigger deals to wince about, such as the lack of punctuation in the original post :wink:

If you’re a medium Rutland’s got Blue Pig X frames at 199.99 H E R E !

I ride the swap-out BPX and it’s great, with 120/150mm Revs. It had a U-Turn Pike at first which was very similar as you’d expect. Some people hate a long forked hardtail, it takes a bit of suspension tweaking to get your compression right so you’re not diving and a different approach to riding as you’re pretty much on the front end through the rough. It doesn’t reward shyness, but you also don’t need mad skills to make it work. This is where the slackness comes in handy, but a travel adjust fork will compensate for the way back up hill.

I’ve had a pair of Dialled PAs, a mk1 and 2 (Pike again or rigid with a 29er front wheel) and they’re great but a bit less compliant than the BPX, less mud room and the head/seat tube restriction of being traditionally sized. The whole PA is consistently stiff with a bit of buzz removed from larger hits whereas the BPX has a stiff front and fairly compliant rear even with a Maxle. Comfy, not sloppy.

IIRC the BFe is slacker than the PA and general feedback is that they’re pretty good but a little harsh based on their intended use. I found the summer season 456 to feel ok but not as twangy, as if the steel feel was damped relative to the PA I was riding at the time. Maybe due to the build or perhaps the cheaper steel? New 456 has the bigger seat but smaller head tube so fine for your Pike or 1 1/8″ Sektor.

Souls have a huge fanbase but are suited to gentler riding than the above, hence the BFe. But may be worth a look if you’re not looking for a walloper, but would be 2nd hand and again have the tube size restriction.

Whatever you get, get that seatpost nice and slippery and don’t forget to remove it once in a while. My dropper is stuck. It’ll come out one way or another but I may be looking at a new post.

Homophobia: The fear that another man will treat you like you treat women.

We could do with giving the kids a break from the “hetero” portrayal of the genders come to think of it. As Spinal Tap said; “There’s a fine line between sexist and sexy”.

Take a tent.

CO2 can make the sealant ‘go off’ I’d be reluctant to use that!

Get a substantial pump, I use one of these:

CHEAP!

I carry a choob and a tubeless repair kit CLICKY.

It doesn’t look great, but neither does pushing your bike all the way back to the car!

Tyre choice is a little different with tubeless, ultralite racing tyres are not such a great idea due to carcass/sidewalls. Many more tyres are tubeless ready now and often have a little sidewall protection (Bonty TLR, Spesh 2Bliss).

Oh, and make sure you invert the sealant bottle when filling your tyres to get the particles in there.

I use jetblack alloy rollers and have tried a number of turbos ranging from cheap to expensive. I much prefer the sensation of riding the bike on rollers and the way it keeps you engaged. When I’ve slipped off the tyre just buzzes to a stop on the frame.

The key is to turn (gently nudge!) the bars to move across the rollers if necessary, leaning will get you nowhere as you’re not moving. It’s counter intuitive but becomes natural quite soon. You can also coast so can relax if things get a bit weird at high cadence. I have a computer fitted so I can train at different paces for set amounts of time and adjust my gearing to add another variable. Purposely spinning an easy gear smoothly takes some skill and seems to help with power in climbs. Instability shows itself on the rollers so you can see quite obviously whether you are riding smoothly or not.

Rollers with resistance seem like the best of both worlds!

So there you have it. You’re non the wiser now.

:lol:

Now then! I reached saturation point but stuck to my guns:

1. Sidewall protection.
2. More shoulder, but faster rolling centre.
3. TLR if poss.
4. Not Schwalbe due to de-lamination from sealant.
5. Under 700g if poss.
6. 719 rim friendly so probably <2.3.

I went for XR4 Team in 2.2 both ends. Advertised 685g, 706g actual and sealed up dead easily like the Mud XRs I had on for a long time back in the South.

Al, you definitely win post-of-the-thread for your RQ jubilee. Alas I’m being a weenie and they seem too heavy as well as being quite pricey. I may be back with my tail between my legs in a few months for a taste of the black chilli.

I was very closely considering; ADvantage/Ardent, ADvantage x2 (had this, was alright), Ground Control x2 (lack of shoulder put me off), GC & Purg (probably 2nd option), Onza Canis & Ibex (like a Ralph 7 HR), XR4 & XR3.

Thanks all, it’s been educational :D

RQ have a strong reputation but are on the heavy side for my trail/XC/mincecore.

I loved Mud Xs when I was in the South but they seem a bit small/vulnerable for round here. I kept them on well into Summer in Brighton as it’s so claggy there.

ADvantages were good in the past, considering these again but in 60 rather than 70a. I’ll look into the Baron and HD.

Thanks for the replies so far, anyone using anything else?

I prefer stem down, no tape and no cheat strips. Less is more. I like that gel tape often lacks a sticky backing but holds in place well. Cutting the end about 2″ from the end to the corner gives a more useful starting shape.

Sticky tape the cables in place considerately and symmetrically. Also try to get an even lap so you have the same number of winds on each portion of the bar.

:wink:

Frottage dans le cottage FTW.

It works out as 10mm as you’ve got 5mm difference in each crank arm. If you moved your cleats 10mm back or forward it would feel hugely different.

I’m 5’10” with 175 on the HT and beater road bike, 172.5 on the nice road bike. I find it more stable a base to have a wider stance for landings/pumping etc. For spinning I find it feels better to have a tighter circle as your upper knee is less bent when pedalling at the top of the stroke. I briefly tried out track with 165mm cranks and it felt odd but good when flat out.

I reckon more XC style riding would suit a shorter crank for spinning and hill climbing, more trailsy/jumpy/DH riding would suit longer for stability.

I quite fancy a 29er trail bike. And use my 26er for just xc jaunts. What 130mm 29ers are out there for £1500

I think the wheel sizes suit the reverse; bigger for XC, normal for trail/gnar/winning. Or stick with 26 if you want a bike you can push a bit harder, given the steering difference between the 2. If you’re quite tall I guess this may not be the case.

With that budget I’d get a frame n fork bundle, SLX groupset, a nice set of wheels and a dropper (pro2 evo/arch EX or something along those lines). Tyres etc are pretty personal:

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/ZXOO456EVO2/on_one_456_evo_2_frame__fork_bundle

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/mtb-parts/transmission-gears/groupsets-mtb/shimano-slx-m670-2-x-10-disc-brake-groupset.html

The brakes and fork aren’t great on the Lurcher you linked to. I’m sure there will be some 29″ fans along to counter my advice, getting a dropper in budget may take a bit of shopping around or 2nd hand. The Wanted section is surprisingly good!

EDIT: Or go for half second hand, half new. Depends on whether you’re confident selecting and building parts.

I currently have a BluePigX with a 150/130 Rev, previously had a few 140mm FS and HT bikes but find I’m enjoying the versatility and simplicity if the BPX. Slack bikes are great fun but don’t climb too well so I recommend some adjust-ability if you go for longer than your stated 130.

FS maintenance, weight & riding laziness (easiness?) made me miss HT, owning the FS bikes I have allowed me to attempt things outside of my comfort zone. OP, for what you’ve described a 130mm HT or even 140 sounds ideal. There’s always a good deal on a 456 build or bundle which is an affordable way to upgrade.

I’m not anti FS, I’d quite like a Heckler for single pivot easiness. Then again, aluminium doesn’t rhyme with real.

I reckon SP suits road better (it’s nice and clean for radial or half radial wheels) and J for MTB. SP for marginal gains, J for ease of inevitable repair.

Are you blasting pretty fast as soon as you start? Given the low resistance it’s easily done which puts strain on the joints before your synovial fluid is released.

In short, build up to pace. Also stretch afterwards to maintain mobility in your hip flexors, lower back & hamstrings.

Saddle too high will make your hips rock and strain your lower back, too low and you get a burning in the top of your thighs (quads). Heel to the pedal at 6 o’clock is a starting point, based on whether you pedal heel up, level or dropped this needs tweaking further.

Saddle fore/aft is addressed after height, from the top of your shin bone ensure the ball of your foot and axle are aligned. You’ve got about 10mm to play with.

Cleat location affects this too, stay central unless you have an injury or knee pressure. My slightly larger left foot means my left cleat is a touch further forward (3-5mm ish) so it’s in the right place for the foot, not the shoe. This has reduced a recurring knee pain problem.

I find using a little cycle computer to keep track of intervals helps focus on the rollers, I can alternate techniques (high cadence for a mile, more power for the next, low cadence etc etc) which is more engaging than just spinning continuously. It’s important to try and ensure good form/posture with anything on the rollers. It’s a good place to improve your pedalling and posture in each bar position which may result in minor adjustments on the saddle to fit on the bike better.

There’s a lot to it, get someone else to take photos or video of your form while on the rollers before adjusting anything and again afterwards. This showed me that my lower back was kinked, which was due to the nose of the saddle being a little high and preventing me from rolling my hips forwards. Dropping the nose by a few mm has drastically changed how I feel after a ride.

Good luck with it, feed back as others will probably have the same issue!

My BPX after the slog up Mam Tor, back in the heatwave.

EDIT: Grease your seatpost & remove it periodically. For realz, mine’s stuck like a duck in’t muck.

*facechrist*

Another “what tyres?” :-)

2.25 (generous 2.25) ADvantages are great but need to be leaned a little to make use of the shoulder, but not as much as a High Roller. A 2.1 on the back would keep weight down a little and cut through the slop.

Maxxis folding tend to tubeless well, just do a bit of research into getting the fit right if you are modifying a normal rim. A 120mm travel bike may not have the clearance for something as fat as a 2.4 with mud room, given Smart Sams are more summery I doubt you’d need anything approaching that wide. A grippier tread should be fine.

There are tons of other options, but these are a good all rounder. You didn’t mention where local is so I went for something neutral. Go for tougher sidewalls if you have rocks locally.

If you’ve got no rocks and lots of mud, Bonty Mud XR are amazing. I had a pair of 2.0 on well into early Summer as they work so well. They tubeless very easily too.

Shermer, the LBS should have loads knocking about. You get them with some wheelsets and people don’t always want them.

As for the original question, current 105 is excellent and borrows from above so is in many ways an upgrade from your decade ago 105. Go for the whole group, not a partial as it will be compromised if you get slick new parts running with old.

As said, the Merlin group deal is stonking. Oh, and don’t use cheap cables as you route them under the bar tape. My bike came with Jagwire, just swapped these for Shimano pre-lubed and the shifting is transformed. It also seems a little smoother to go for the outer cable route (not the middle one in the photo, top is brake) and direct the cable around the outside and under the bar.

So, black or silver?

OP, this needs thought. A lot of thought. In answer to your Q:

Tastes change, a tattoo for the sake of a tattoo is a daft idea and sure to result in regret. Symbolism and meaning in subtle form rather than overt text/imagery has a much longer lifespan. The novelty wears off pretty fast, but the tat doesn’t!

I love the piece on my arm, lots of time and thought went into it and it was hand-done by a friend. I have something small on my calf in memory of a friend which is significant to me but feels too prominent now. I wouldn’t be without it, but would have had it put elsewhere with hindsight.

I’ll leave you with this gem:

It helped me on my Allez, but make sure you don’t get a crabon wrap post as there are many about. Also, it’s worth getting some carbon assembly paste. I’ve found mine to slip a little after longer, rougher rides.

No spare on my road bike, despite the ‘rules’. I need the lift.

10mm spare on my MTB as I recently dropped 5mm and don’t want to revisit “what stem for a steerer tube that’s too short?”

Gumwall tyres, white tyres are wrong.

Oops, mine aren’t cruds; they’re Cycra guards.

Cycra fronts don’t care about cables which is pretty handy, they have little rubber wedges which lift them out of the way. The rubber fixing straps don’t look great, but they do the job well.

Yep, been there, done that. To the point I’ve had to take one contact out because I’ve got grit behind it and ride home effectively one-eyed.

Yikes!

Sensible faux pas. I use a Bender fender (Muckynutz) for the stanchions, crud guards f+r when it’s claggy for me. Keeps the dollops off my face, dropper and backside. I’ve had (pre mudguards) mud fly up onto the lens on the inside of my riding glasses!? 8O

Regular riding in winter calls for lots of kit washing, the rear flap really reduces the amount of faffing with shorts.

I’d rather be comfortable and be able to see than have a soggy @rse with the hope of not offending someone! Rear mudguards tend not to get on well with full bouncers, which is fine as I’m on a HT.

An external lower cup would extend things a little if you haven’t got one in there yet, Hope are nice as you’d expect.