Hmmm, did you waggle the wheels around after inflating and leave them to rest on their sides a bit? I’ve heard that you may need to roughen the spoke bed before applying the yellow tape. Then again the rubber rimstrips are recommended instead of the yellow tape for non UST tyres as they give a nice rubbery seal.

It may be worth putting the wheels in water and squeezing the tyre to see if you can make it leak.

Then again they may just be in the early still sealing up period?

I can only vouch for the Planet X stuff:

The cut varies, I spend a lot of time riding in my Planet X long sleeve but only use the short sleeve as an under layer as it’s got weird arms. Long body, slim fit, and fairly long but again slim sleeves mean the short sleeve is rarely seen by others. It does the job very well as a thermal, it seems like an under jersey cut (I know, I should expect this).

Ah sorry, I see it’s unclear. I wrap mine from the stem down, I hate the sticker or use of electrical tape that seals the tape by the stem.

Stem down, no nasty electrical tape or stickers needed. But uneven controls is not cool, however you don’t need to move them to tape.

They may have been squiffy to start, he could have thought you have a short arm and felt too awkward to correct it?!

The PA29er seems a heavy handed answer to moving toward something a bit mincier. I really liked my PA, and the other one I had but it’s a burly frame. The bigger version will be quite similar and there and more comfortable frames out there. My Blue Pig X is nicer in many ways to the PAs I had; more comfy, more clearance, routing options, 44mm headtube, bigger seat-tube, slackness etc. I would be very keen to check out the BigWig on this basis.

However you’ve got a lovely frame, I would get some lighter weight XC wheels like some Hope/Crests. Cheap atm:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/hope-hoops-pro2-evo-mtb-wheelset/

Best of both mince & gnarr, swap your hoops aboot as needed and keep hold of that ti beauty.

Aren’t 29ers dead now with this 650bee27.5er business?

I saw a chap with a piece of tyre zip tied to his frame around there, it actually looked pretty cool. From halfway down the downtube to under the BB shell.

Mine are spot on, CRC do free refunds with the postage covered too so you can always send them back pain free.

I’d just order the same as your regular shoes. 5ten climbing shoes on the other hand are a puzzling minefield!

Preload your bike like a hadouken. Body weight presses down (your fork will compress a bit), move your body rearward over the back axle and push the bars out forward. There is no pulling involved, only push.

Dropping your heels can help a bit to shove the bike out but it’s easy to over-shove. A shorter, smaller bike is easier to do this on but it’s the weight shift backward that does it.

HADOUKEN!

It’s not particularly ‘hardcore’ to ask. Frankly I’m offended.

My Blue Pig X only weighs *that much*, but it looks like it should weight *that much*. The Revelation makes a big difference, but I’m still a bit envious of the OP’s Shivers.

KMC make Shimano chains, they’re pretty good and come with a missing link. 25 quid for the X10 light chain:

I can’t stand gold bits but the ti nitride coating is meant to be pretty good: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CHKMX10L/kmc_x10_l_chain

Or the ‘normal’ equivalent: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=25417&_$ja=tsid:46412|cgn:Chains|cn:Chain+Reaction-UK-PLA-PLA-Eng-DT-SE|kw:384592UK_X10+Light+10+Speed+Chain&gclid=CIf82dDE27cCFc3HtAodS0oAMA

The bike is ok apart from a small scuff on the lock ring for the lock on grips.

You and the people behind are pretty lucky!

I read in a few places that KMC manufacture Shimano chains, but they come with a missing link instead of the daft pin and cost less. That JE James deal is a corker!

XT. Lighter than the 990 and Shimanoer than it too. I recommend a KMC chain (they make Shimano chains) which are well priced and come with a quick link.

KMC chain, XT cassette, probably Deore chainring but whatever Shimano comes up new/hardly used and under budget.

If you can have it open to the air for a bit then do. Antiseptic (germolene/savlon etc) and fresh air will be more comfortable and healthy in the short term.

Savlon has a mild anaesthetic, I can’t remember of germolene does or not.

As bigG says, let it dry if possible while keeping it clean. The puss is hopefully just your leg pushing some of the road back out.

That’s made my day :mrgreen:

Aristotle, it depends on how matte we’re talking. You want something that absorbs itself forwards through space and time. Kind of like a black hole on wheels.

EDIT: when I say compressor I am referring to the 9p wonder.

I’d say go dual compound folding, but stick a Monkey on the front. The Smorg doesn’t have a lot of shoulder and rides in a fast n’ loose sort of way, some of the knobs have thin profiled raised edges to roll faster but they can let go easily because of this; which is fine once you know!

Went up tubeless very easily, no compressor needed. If they work in the mud I’ll buy another pair while they’re still cheap.

I’ve snapped a spoke before due to a bit of dry tweaking, the chap in the LBS explained I would have been riding it twisted which sounds obvious once someone explains it.

The ping test is fine for a new build, but once things are out of alignment the spokes need to be specifically adjusted to maintain the trueness (truth?). Each should be adjusted in small increments and the effect of a quarter turn here leads to an affect which can span 4 spokes, so the others may need to be adjusted to compensate. A ding will need tighter spokes to re-align, but added tension elsewhere will exaggerate any other wonkiness.

Once the nipples all get a drop of lube (wipe away excess) the adjustments can be done in a half turn forward, quarter back which is gradual and will let you see the change of alignment in little steps. After you’ve adjusted spokes grab parralel pairs and give them a squeeze so they ‘settle’ into a comfortable position. I mark the wonky bits with tape so I keep track of the bit I’m working on.

I can adjust left to right wobbliness, but in and out egginess is somewhat harder!

ps. What colour paint is fastest?

Black, it doesn’t slow you down with reflections (visual drag). Then again red automatically reduces rolling resistance by 1% so it depends on the whole colourway :wink:

OP, just keep wrapping cut up inner tubes around your 26″ rims until you reach the desired girth. A couple of winds of wire should see it stay put.

Airless, tubeless, faultless. It’s the future.

ADvantages are great, the 2.25 is quite large and they cope well with all sorts. Available in various versions from wire 70a up to fancy pants whistles and bells.

I managed to seal up a basic wire bead as duct tape tubeless on my 719 :D

I’m currently on the Chunky Monkey/Smorgasbord combo but haven’t used them in mud yet. Time will tell.

Lots of people seem to like Nobby Nics and those Black Chilli Rubber Queens.

I like the commitment of the pedals, it’s quite a beast!

Are your threads dry? Are you backing off after turns to let the spoke relax?

New Shimano brakes take a narrower hose with slightly different barbs/olives (silver instead of brass coloured). The interior liner is a bit stiffer making it a bit spirally for want of a better term.

It’ll probably work, but make sure you’re using the right fittings for the hose rather than the brake…. I think. Mismatching barbs is doable but awkward, the brass ones definitely feel too tight in the new hose.

I would rather go with parts from the same era and keep my eyes peeled for XT/XTR from back then. Or sell the bits to a retro lover and update (I would be more likely to do this, contemporary XT are amazing!).

I was seriously considering one, but the next set of tyres I got (folding Maxxis; On-One Smorgasbord & Chunky Monkey) went up with the trackpump alone. I had built up the rim cavity with some duct tape and this snugged the bead down. This combined with schraeder valves cut from old tubes worked better than rubber rim strips (they need to have the threaded stem and lock nut like a presta). The bead didn’t sit properly due to the lump at the valve on the strips but it can with the separate valve.

That aside, have you tried with the valve core removed?

BB and fork are easy to do, headset cups require patience so maybe go LBS for that. I see 200mm as a regular benchmark for steerer amount, pretty much go with enough to have some spacers either side of the stem. I have 20mm beneath and 10mm above and it happens to be just right, but I’m fine with the excess. Hacksaw to chop (tape a marker first), file to tidy up. I prefer Hope Head Doctors to star nuts which are easy to fit and more reliable IME. The crown race if not split already can be cut with a hacksaw which makes them soooooooo much easier to fit and remove.

Assuming you’ve got external BB cups, give the shell a measure to see whether you need spacers (yes if 68mm, 2 on the drive side). Grease the threads, don’t force it. Double check which cup is which and the direction which is probably printed on the cup.

The mechs and cables may give you the most headache :wink:

There’s an abundance of old threads on here for all sorts and a fair amount on youtube. You can always ask on here as you go, you’ll have lots of help offered.

Chainline matters with singlespeed, if it has 135mm (normal) rear spacing an adapted cassette or singlespeed wheel will position the sprocket inline with the middle ring up front. Or should do. Some SS parts are specifically tweakable for this. Square taper BBs come in different widths which will affect this, ISIS and Octalink may also. Some wonk is ok, but you want it straight for stealth.

Stick up a wanted request for a Pro 2 wheel, which is likely to come with QR+ either 15 or 20mm caps.

Hold out for a Maxle, if you can get a 15mm it’s great for trail. If you do beefier stuff aim for 20mm.

You should be able to get a decent fork and wheel 2nd hand for under £240. I got a Pike from here for £125 and a pair of Pro 2 wheels for £120 from generous STWers :D

I really recommend a Revelation if you can get your hands on one, feel very similar to the Pike but less lardy. I dropped about 500g by changing from Pike to Rev and got 10mm more sticking out the front end. Older Pikes are reassuringly stout none the less but are limited to 140. You mention Sektors which are worth a peak too, but I’m not 100% sure about the damping. That TK business isn’t as nice as Motion Control and I imagine Blackbox is probably even nicerer.

I used to aim for as fast as possible as the old guidance used to recommend, which was about halfway + 2. Now I set it to fully open and add from there which tends to be about 4-5/12. As said above it’s relative to the other settings, terrain and style of the rider. I’m a skinny bloke on a 150mm HT and the softer approach allows me to make better use of the fork. Suspension units are designed to take some big biffers on board, I don’t need the spring rate/damping/rebound of a heavier rider so my settings tend to be within the bottom 1/4 of the range for each. I also find Rockshox’ spring rates to be quite keen, so I often run a smidge softer.

It takes me a couple of rides and twiddles before I leave the knobs alone, I wouldn’t trust a quick snappy way to adjust as there are lots of variables. As you’re talking about FS bikes too the rear linkage is going to change the way the same shock behaves in frame X or Y so the same setting may not be relevant despite being the same model, rider and trail. However, the info gives you a staring point.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/To-The-Point-Rebound-Damping-2013.html

Oh, and I went round the bead with a bit of extra Stan’s on the second wheel and it definitely sealed up faster than the front. It only dropped a few psi in 24hrs and didn’t weep like the front (which sealed properly after 48hrs and a ride).

That weed sprayer thing is a great idea!

I got around it with some duct tape :wink: I cut some valves from tubes and built up the bead cavity and the inflator did the job.

Half “gorilla tape tubeless” and half 9p bong saw me seal up a wire bead ADvantage on a 719. Just did the rear the other day and found my sidewall cut in 2 places… Time for a new tyre!

Complete Merlin Malt 2 for £499 from the Wizard:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/bikes/mountain-bikes/merlin-bikes/merlin-malt-2-bike.html

Think of it as buying everything but the fork and pedals in one go. Upgrade the fork and tweak bar and stem (unless you like the stock setup) and pop over to Superstar for some pedals. It could come in comfortably under budget, especially if you stick the XC30 up for sale. You’d have more than enough cash (fork sale + remaining budget) to get a new Recon/Reba which would be guaranteed and should come with the seals etc for your first service. The XC30 is going to be relatively heavy with little adjustment, but also perfectly functional for the tamer end of XC. The bike comes with full Deore, Shimano wheels, and as a complete will have all of the bits like cables etc done.

Merlin are great, you’d have most of the thing assembled and just need to turn the bars and check fork settings and tyre pressure. By the way consider the bar width/stem length. 100mm of stem wouldn’t work well with bars over 685mm, Gravity parts lean towards the wider/burlier end and would better suit 50-70mm stem. I use a 711mm bar with a 60mm stem, I think the Gravity bar is 710.

Merlin have some of the best prices at a glance for Recon Gold forks, chat to them about building the bike with a Recon instead of the XC30 and they may well save you the faff of selling/fitting. Go for solo air if you can but I wouldn’t bother with remote lockout. You could have it arrive sorted and well under budget :D

Hi Paladin, I think it’s worth considering a build.

If you’re happy to go part new/part 2nd hand you could put something great together. The wanted & classified section have really helped me out, just make sure you don’t pay with ‘gift’.

Shimano is repeatedly superior to SRAM, the new Deore stuff is brilliant, with the SLX and XT being even better. Merlin do a Deore group for £249 and SLX for £385, I built a winter bike with one of their Deore groups and was really impressed. The current brakes are excellent and despite the shifters not having XT crispness, everything shifted beautifully and felt ‘right’.

If you prefer the more XC end of things and are med-large in height then 29″ may be worth a peek. I also think well designed steel is suited to a hardtail as it takes out the harshness and feels good.

For your budget I would recommend a new groupset as above with most of the rest of the bike 2nd hand. I personally love my BluePig X and would go for a Piglet if I wanted a shorter travel bike, you could probably find a 2nd hand piglet frame and a pair of Hope hubbed wheels for the money with cash left over to finish it nicely. Other than the bling factor, as you probably know Hope hubs can be adapted to fit into whichever upgrades you find yourself making. CRC always have parts like bars, stems etc on sale so you can go new for the more personal touches or keep your eyes peeled for used parts in good nick. Rose bikes has some good prices for new components too.

Equally you could get something like I’ve described in one wallop 2nd hand for less, but there is the associated risk in punting in one go.

I guarantee that you will upgrade the bike if you get a complete, why not make it yours from the off?

It doesn’t matter what we’d do, smashing your face in is far more embarrassing/painful/etc than wearing a FF. Round these parts the more advanced riders wear a FF, don’t worry about it.

Maybe pop your Garmin in the rucksack before having a bash though!

I bet the rider has a road bike, flipping the stem puts the bar in a slightly different position to removing a spacer (unless it’s a 0 degree). It’s only subtle but there is a difference…but yes it looks wrong!

Yes, 9 speed so compatible. Also compatible with SRAM and KMC.

I’d get (and currently use) a KMC chain as they manufacture for Shimano and come with a handy quick link (Shimano use those silly pins). As long as it’s 9 speed it fits. If you’ve got a Hope back wheel an XT cassette will be worth the extra £10ish as it won’t chew into the freehub body. They’re easier to blast mud out of too! They also weigh very little and last pretty well.

£14.85:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kmc-x9-73-9-speed-chain/

£18.89:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kmc-x9-93-9-speed-chain/

£39.99:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-xt-m770-9-speed-cassette/

It is, but it’s also a mini floor pump. There’s only so small it can reasonably be. I think the Lezyne teeny weeny pumps or those airbone ones Charlie the Mike Bonger sells are more jersey friendly.

I wouldn’t have one waggling about on my back (I’d use the frame mount), but then I only use my road bike for getting about and not ‘proper’ roadie use.

Roughly it’s 30x4x2.5cm

Sounds massive but is fine in real life as the plastic hose tube and alloy barrel aren’t particularly fat.

Phaart Rumbler is teh win-awesumz. Does the job with much less faffage and isn’t that much bigger in the bag than my Blackburn Pump. Although it clips to a bottle mount, it’s big (by mini standards) so will probably go missing if left on the frame. It’s great though, just take it off when you lock up.

You can unhelpfully wash the chain oil onto the back brake if you use some kind of spray washer sideways :oops:

Have a go with MucOff disc brake cleaner (spray rotor & pads, sand pads, spray pads again) and sanding the top layer off the pads off with a little chamfer front and back to reduce judder.

Worked for me (same brakes, horrible squeal appeared out back and now is gone). I also gave the calliper a squirt when the pads were out in case anything got in behind the pads. As mentioned, a central calliper is important for it all to work optimally.

Do you ride where it’s sandy? Possible debris embedded in the pads?