We tipped over a contents value threshold between last year and this year and the PedalCover premium jumped significantly at renewal time. Had a good look around, and had similar to Blazin-Saddles – couldn’t find anything the same level of cover for similar or less than PedalCover.

Worth considering forks that are the wrong length – obviously this involves a bit of additional effort, but the parts aren’t expensive and it’s not a difficult job to do. My SolarisMax ended up with a set of the 150mm Yari’s Merlin had cheap at the time, updated with a 130mm air shaft. Note that this also means you can upgrade an older fork to the latest spec air spring.

The geometry chart recommends a 30mm to 50mm stem for current model SolarisMax. They ride fine with a 50mm stem – I’ve been riding mine like that for over a year and haven’t died or burst into flames yet (5’11”, 33″ inside leg, riding a medium)

If you want to avoid Halfords, it’s worth checking the detail of the C2W scheme – we use the Halfords C2W scheme at work and I was able to transfer the voucher to an independent dealer last year.

Use what you’ve got to practice slow speed bike handling and manoeuvers, use the steps for step ups, step downs, etc… Maybe mix in some of the neighbours joists for some skinny action?

Got ABBA’d to within an inch of my life on car journeys as a child. Having revisited as an adult, with the benefit of reasonable audio quality (as opposed to 70’s car audio), whilst I wouldn’t class myself as a fan, I certainly appreciate the quality of the songs, the arrangements and the production of the recordings. Bass lines are particularly noteworthy IMHO.

Not if you wait for the sales. I’d written off the idea of a SC due to cost but last year picked up a rather blingy hightower (not the new model) for 35% off from Stiff. Patience is key.

Now that Santa Cruz change the colours every year, you don’t even need to be that patient. Also depends if you’re prepared to put a bit of effort in, and/or how finicky you are about component choices, as there are often deals to be had on frames. I’m also on a last years’ Hightower, bought as a frame and swapped most of the (admittedly reasonably new) components off a frame I’d bought and didn’t really get on with…

I guess in theory you could swap the bearings and freehub from a 135mm hub shell into a 170mm hub shell with the appropriate replacement axle. Tho I don’t know if Hope supply hub shells as spares.

Corduroy – Very Yeah

https://youtu.be/s8FNLtv8xNg
edit gave up trying to embed video…

Three pages in and no-one’s mentioned the first bar of Wichita Linesman?

i was just looking at a very nice 2020 hightower lt cc frame yesterday

Hightower LT is a discontinued model – superseded by the Megatower – and has been since before Santa Cruz launched their 2020 range, so there’s no such thing as a 2020 Hightower LT – it simply doesn’t exist. You’ve either been looking at a 2019 (or older) Hightower LT, or a Megatower.

What colour was it? 2019’s came in either light blue (Skye Blue) with brown/bronze decals, or brown (Clay) with black decals. 2018’s came in a blue/grey (Slate) with cream decals, or a greeny-yellow (Wicklow Green) with black decals.

2018 Giant? Is the original fork (and headset) Overdrive 2 with a 1 1/2″ to 1 1/4″ tapered steerer – if so, this would explain why you’d need an external cup in a 44mm headtube. If new fork uses a standard 1 1/2″ to 1 1/8″ tapered steerer, then should be able to go ZS in a 44mm headtube.

Perhaps OP currently has a slack set with EC44/28.6 top headset and a short fork, plans to achieve same geometry by switching to a non-slack set with ZS44/28.6 top headset and a longer *edit* travel */edit* fork (albeit with shorter steerer)?

Top or bottom half of the headset? Noted that everyone seems to be assuming that you want to change the lower cup, but noted that the OP finishes with “I.e. swap a EC44/28.6 for a ZS44/28.6” – the “28.6” bit is the metric version of 1 1/8″, and suggests top half of a headset. Even with a straight 1 1/8″ steerer, there’s a (slight) flare at the base of the steerer – otherwise the crown race would just flop about on the steerer.

I’m 5’11” so, on paper, I’m similarly between medium and large on a current model SolarisMax. I demo-ed both sizes and found I struggled to load the front end properly on the large – might have adapted to it in time, but then again might not have, so I plumped for the medium which is built up with a 50mm stem (top end of intended range, but still within, and not excessively long), 760mm low rise (10mm?) Race Face bars and a set of Yari’s set at 130mm. Some spacers, I wouldn’t want to swear to this, but 15mm under the stem and a 5mm on top of the stem sounds about right – whatever, it’s more than none but less than loads. I find it’s a really comfortable all-day bike, including a couple of weekend-away loaded-up rides on it last year.

*edit* didn’t think of this until submitted, but it strikes me as odd that you’re running the shortest recommended stem when you’re at the top end of the height range for a given frame size

Most of the difference between Deore, SLX and XT is at the lever end – either more adjustment, or no need to use a separate tool for adjustment.

Not sure about the latest M7100 SLX and M8100 XT versions, but there were some subtle differences at the caliper end in the earlier generations. IIRC, Deore don’t get the heat resistant pistons, so more potential to cook the fluid on long descents. Deore use a threaded hose connection which goes to the inboard side of the caliper vs a banjo connection to the outboard end of the caliper in SLX and XT. SLX and XT get a pad retaining screw as opposed to the split pin you get with Deore (though the hole in the Deore calipers is threaded, so the screw is an easy retrofit).

…you want a 3″ cross cut handsaw…

Do you live anywhere near Stonehenge?

I was at their Hathersage store a week ago last Thursday talking to Miles the store manager. He mentioned that they had just had a delivery of Ti frames so maybe the price from the supplier had dropped.

If it’s a recent shipment just landed, could the “reduction” be the result of currency fluctuations?

Also depends how fat a tyre you’re intending to mount on said rim

Am far from a guitar god, but…

Modern clip on tuners are pretty decent, decent ones start from around a tenner. A Boss TU-2 (or TU-3, or similar) is easy to use with an electric, and has a nice easy to read display.

Would the new buyer would have any comeback on the surveyor if it turned out that they’d missed something? I appreciate that this is unlikely as most house surveys tend to be worrying worst-case scenario arse-covering documents that tell us that the place wasn’t built to the latest standards and regulations… Anyway, could there be some issues around liability if you sell the survey on?

Another thing to note – if the the new buyer is taking out a mortgage secured against the house, their lender will probably insist on at least a basic survey being carried out by their trusted surveyor – in which case, perhaps the new buyer is only interested in the difference between a basic survey and a full structural survey…?

Whatever you do with Schwalbe tyres, make sure they’re proper “Evo” versions and not the rubbish “Performance” versions

I dislike it when a good song/tune with a long middle instrumental is edited to fit a three minute radio slot. I suppose its single vs album track.

Plenty of examples of this, but also plenty of examples where songs get needlessly extended. IMHO, the 7″ single version of Elephant Stone by the Stone Roses is a great example of less is more – a proper pop song with a proper ending that doesn’t outstay it’s welcome

@dc1988 What length fork were you running on your BFe? I had one of the 853/631 models with the straight small headtube (I think that’s a MK2…?) and ran it a few ways round. It was a pretty decent all-rounder with a 140mm travel Revelation – had a lot of great days out on that bike. The later iteration with a 160mm travel Lyrik was kinda fun, but not great going up (thanks to slackening the seat tube) and jacked up the bottom bracket made for a few nervous moments (for both of us)!

@Clink I’m 5’11” on a medium with 50mm stem – tried medium & large back to back on the demo loop from the Cotic unit. Both felt good going up and going along, but found I really struggled to weight the front when descending on the large.

I’d highly recommend trying both (and possibly also seeing if you can get them to try some stem lengths) before you commit.

Not the OP returning to put your all out of your misery, but I’ve been enjoying mine for around 10 months now. Yari’s with a 130 DebonAir airshaft, M8000 XT, Flow Mk3’s on Pro4’s… It’s done a couple of lightweight bikepacking trips, some big days out, a fair few smaller days out, a day at Bike Park Wales and a relatively XC kind of week in the Pyrenees. Concur with the “wants to go fast” comments.

TBH, buying an ex-display model – whether over the counter from a bricks and mortar shop or eBay – means there’s a good chance that the item is likely to be missing some or all small parts, accessories, cables, manuals, etc. and should have been priced accordingly. The time to ask the question about what is included and what has been lost/misplaced/binned/scavenged for spares is before you pay, which gives you the opportunity to accept the deal, haggle, or walk away, and gives the seller the opportunity to either find replacements or knock a bit more off the price.

Had some Shimano A530’s on my touring bike – actually not too bad. Ride clipped for the long distance side of touring, and surprisingly good flat side for the sightseeing/bimbling/going out for food/drinks in civvies side of touring. I say “had” as they’ve migrated to one of my girlfriend’s bikes whilst she gives spd’s a go (she can ride with one foot clipped in, other foot unclipped).

Touring bike therefore is currently running as set of M520’s with PD22 clip-in reflectors/flats on one side. Not fantastic as flats, but better than trying to pedal on spds in non-spd shoes

Hartshead Pike?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartshead_Pike

M7120/M8120 seem pretty limited on availability at the minute – a couple of places saying they’re expecting stock in July, which isn’t sounding too hopeful given that we’re a couple of days into August

I’d always thought of the diagram as being obvious, but:
A) I guess when I first fitted an external BB, an E-type front mech was a reasonable possibility and there was a note detailing which spacer the front mech mount would take the place of. Made it a little clearer I guess. This was back in the dim and distant past before I had a workstand, so bikes usually did get

bodged upside down on the floor

B) I have an engineering background, and am reasonably familiar with looking at technical drawings and diagrams. Which leads us nicely to…

It’s not an assumption, the drawing is an elevation, ie from above. Have you ever seen house plans, or any other plans for that matter…

I don’t look at house plans all that often, but I believe they follow similar conventions to engineering drawings. For a typical engineering general arrangement drawing, an elevation would be a side view – e.g. showing levels in a pumping station, pipe routes on a skid mounted plant, or an external view of an equipment chamber sticking out of the ground. A view of something from above would usually be referred to as a plan view.

@Clink 5’11”, tried medium, large, medium again. Ended up buying medium, and am running a 50mm stem. The large felt fine going up and along, but I felt like a bit of a passenger when things started pointing downhill.

Is this a recent thing? Thought mine had died recently, seemed totally unresponsive to normal button presses, didn’t seem to be taking charge, didn’t seem to want to talk down the data cable when connected to a laptop. Extended press on the power button (around 10s) and it’s back to normal

Where does the bit about the shot being a ricochet come from taxi25? Haven’t read a lot about the case, but the coverage in the Guardian last week mentions the pregnant woman having been shot several times:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/27/alabama-pregnant-woman-shot-manslaughter-charge-marshae-jones

Sconn or scoan…?

Scon obviously, or the joke about the fastest food in the world wouldn’t work

Some presta tubes have removable valve cores – I’ve certainly seen this on (some) Schwalbe and (some) Continental tubes. Suspect it probably isn’t the case for all Schwalbe or Continental tubes tho

Having previously owned an On One Fatty with the steel fork, I’d be looking at a lighter fork before suspension. As much fun as smashing through stuff is (and most grown men have an inner 8 year old that thinks monster trucks are cool), it’s tough on the arms and shoulders. Having upgraded to a fatbike with a much lighter carbon fork, the ability to pop the front wheel over stuff has a massive impact on how fatigued you’ll be feeling by the end of a days riding.

W H Smiths?

Dunno where you’re located but if you have a Whittards reasonably close, they usually have the filters (and aeropresses, for that matter). Unlikely to be the cheapest, but if you need filter papers today…

Aside from tool-free adjustment at the lever, there is the tiny matter of hose routing into the caliper. Banjo bolt on higher models. Tool-free reach adjustment I can take or leave, but tidy hose routing matters