Yes, though quite a lot of years ago. Err, 2004. Yep, lots of years ago, so things have probably changed in the meantime… Back then, you booked your ticket and then had to drop customer service a line to tell them about the bike (which they carried at no extra cost, and so long as it was pre-booked didn’t count towards your regular luggage allowance). For whatever reason, customer services had noted it all down correctly for the outbound leg, but not for the return leg. We found this out at check in on the way back. Fortunately about half the group had hired bikes, so we were able to repack and redistribute at check-in so everyone just about scraped through within standard luggage allowance.

As an aside, isn’t Chapter 11 bankruptcy the flavour of bankruptcy that Niner filed for late last year?

Quick query for yourguitarhero – am looking at these frame bags at the minute and trying to decide on small or large size. Helpfully, weights are widely published. Unhelpfully, useful dimensions such as overall length don’t seem to be. Any chance you could measure yours up and let us know? Trying to figure out which size is likely to work best in my frame.

Thanks in advance…

+1 for Pedalcover. Nice folk to deal with and the cover looks decent. Fortunately haven’t had to try it out yet – unfortunately, you’ll only ever find out how good any insurance policy is when you come to claim.

Cross Boss is a pretty good all-rounder, rolls quickly, comes up a bit bigger than the 700×35 sizing might suggest. Think the tread is a bit taller than either Riddler or Gravelking though

Having been caught out a couple of times, and given that published data from different sources can differ, I would suggest that it’s wise to take your own measurements. It’s the only way to be sure you’ve got the right measurement – or if you’ve got the wrong measurement, you’ve no-one else to blame

170mm rear spacing awkward? Depends – plenty of frames about running 170mm QR rear spacing. Yes, it is likely to limit you to 4″ tyres, That’s still plenty big enough for big fun.

I’m assuming that Not compatible with hubs for rear offset (Surly) refers to the fork requiring a hub with front disc spacing – again, this isn’t exactly a rarity

http://www.jungleproducts.co.uk/shop/tag/chameleon-10-to-30-2001-2007/15

From link above, looks like the LHS dropout comes as either the type with the disc hanger or not. Not sure which RHS dropout you need for your frame to run a rear mech, but I’ve used the “Chameleon 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0 RH Dropout on a late (circa 2005) v3

You’ll need some form of tape to to create an airtight seal over the spoke holes – Stans Yellow, Tesa 4289, Gorilla tape, insulating tape… Depending on how snug your tyres fit on the rims, the tape may also help build up the rim diameter so the tyre is a tighter fit

Chunky Monkey 2.4 up front, Smorgasbord 2.25 out back on a Scandal

No.

Booking in advance required on most trains

Depends on the train, train operator and time of day. Transpennine, Northern Rail and Arriva Trains Wales are generally pretty relaxed about carrying bikes without reservation outside peak commuter periods

Whenever the opportunity arises. As others have commented, there may be more suitable (or equally unsuitable) bikes for typical UK snow conditions, but I don’t really care because silly big tyres make me smile. I put this down to a double whammy of ridiculous monster-truck-ness and general Mint Sauce imagery. Probably in roughly equal measures

Haven’t checked the details of this turntable, but worth bearing in mind that the audio out from most turntables isn’t at line level, so may need an additional preamp stage. Most hifi amps used to have the additional preamp stage built in and a dedicated “phono” input with an earth strap, but plenty of amps came without when turntables fell out of favour. Not sure whether this is getting reintroduced these days…

That said, given that this has a bunch of electronics built in to handle bluetooth and whatnot, it may already be outputting at line level, so this may be a non-issue. Worth checking tho.

I’d go for single ring bolts (and nuts). IIRC, Raceface tabs have a slight curve to the edge that buts up to the crank that may or may not play nice with non-Raceface cranks.

It’s been a couple of years since my last set, but I’ve previously found Merlin custom builds to be good value and a well-built wheel. I know they’ve built wheels around customer supplied hubs. Whether they’d do a build around a customer supplied rim is another matter – it’s not uncommon for wheel builders to get a bit sniffy about customer supplied rims, especially ones that have previously been used. Starting with a new rim which is at least nominally circular and straight generally makes for an easier build…

Had my ’64 plate Yeti (2.0 TDI, 110 bhp) done when it got serviced just before Christmas. Only issue noted was a slight drop in mpg – less than 10% drop – over the first couple of tanks of diesel, which I put down to the ECU going through the adaption cycle again. Fuel consumption back to where it was previously within a couple of tanks of diesel, and it’s racked up another 12,000 miles without issue in the meantime.

I’ve also recently been getting friendly with a Brooks Cambium C17 – having fiddled with position, it seems to offer most of the Brooks comfort from day one without needing an extended period of use to shape itself to suit you. Presumably it’ll never quite have the same “moulded by your bum to suit your bum and your bum alone” specific fit, but I’m liking it so far…

As others have suggested tho, if this is imminent and your current setup isn’t painful, I’d stick with what you know.

You’ll need an allen key to nip up the pinch bolts on the NDS crank too. Actually, “nip up” is possibly misleading – from memory, they’re supposed to be 12Nm to 15Nm or so which is surprisingly tight. The plastic cap thing that screws through the NDS crank and appears to fix the crank to the axle is only supposed to take up the slack so you don’t get side loading on the BB bearings – it’s the pinch bolts that actually hold the crank onto the axle (which is why they need to be done up nice and tight).

Dropper routing – your BB should have come with a plastic tube that fits between the BB cups so the rotating axle shouldn’t chew through the cable if you route it via the BB shell. However, you’d probably need to make a pretty tight turn to go that way which isn’t ideal…

…The only thing I’ve changed recently was my gloves (because the old ones have worn out) but they’re just a pair of SealSkinz DragonEye a fairly common glove I don’t see why that should cause the problem?…

Just out of interest, what kind of gloves were you riding in previously?

My suggestion is that a Pike set at 130mm needs no tokens. When you run a fork at a relatively short travel, you’ve already reduced the air chamber volume. Now, broadly speaking, the smaller the air chamber, the quicker (and further) the spring rate will rise, whereas a bigger air chamber will give a more linear response. Think about it – there’s a reason why so many air shocks have started being offered with big air can options. If you want the spring rate to ramp quickly, then fine, keep the tokens, maybe even add some more. If you want it a bit more linear, then think about taking one (or more) out.

I’m similar weight and height, running an RCT3 Pike on a Santa Cruz 5010 v1. No tokens, 65psi, rebound is set somewhere around the middle, it’s a couple of clicks one way or the other but I forget whether faster or slower. This works just fine for me, and I rarely get the travel o-ring to the top of the stanchion – but I do generally tend to be a wheels on the ground kinda guy.

p.s. this setup is the product of riding and tweaking (rinse and repeat) based on what i like the feel of, how the bike rides and for the kind of riding I generally do. I haven’t validated it with a shockwiz, but it works for me :)

I’ve TWICE cut outers with the gear inner cable still inside.
Both times brands new inners.
Both times had to go to the shop for more

Not just me then… :oops:

There are still tours (I think? there were a couple of years ago anyway) given through the Institute of Civil Engineers and similar institutes, that would be your best bet.

When I was working on the Thames Barrier (quite a few years ago), you needed to have security clearance to go any further than the first pier from the Control Tower (or be in a *very* small group – like two guests per guide kind of size). Partly this is for (understandable) security reasons, but partly it’s because of the risk of losing people. It’s surprisingly easy to lose your bearings once you’re properly onto/into the structure, and each stairwell looks pretty much like any other – and believe me, there’s a lot of stairwells.

…Surely if he has been prosecuted for a road traffic offence in relation to the incident then it must be being judged as a non-fault accident with regards to any claims?…

I understand that most insurers will count it as a fault claim if they have paid out and not managed to reclaim the full cost of the claim from the third party.

…my measurement would suggest i need the PF46, not PF41…I measure 46mm using vernier calipers on the outside of the bottom bracket “cups”…

41mm refers to the internal diameter of the shell with the bearing cups out of the way. The bit of the bearing cup that fits inside the shell is the same diameter (give or take enough to give a decent interference fit), though you won’t see this or be able to measure it if the bearing cup is still installed in the frame (I mention this as it’s not clear whether you’ve knocked the bearing cups out yet). The part of the cup that sits outside the shell has a bit of a step to a section with larger diameter to stop you pressing the cup too far into the shell. Have you measured the larger diameter that sits outside the shell, or the diameter that actually fits inside the shell?

This may be of some assistance:
http://www.hopetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/HUB-CONVERSION-KITS-CHART.pdf

This is because you shouldn’t use a torque wrench as a ratchet. The nut or bolt etc should be first tightened and finished off with your torque wrench

…though of course, if you get a clunk from the torque wrench straight away when you start finishing off, it’s only confirming that you’ve already overtightened and potentially trashed something – which isn’t exactly helpful. I’ve given up trying to explain this one to the helpful tyre fitters that use the air gun and then stick the torque wrench on to prove that they’ve just overtightened all the wheel bolts.

That had the potential to go very wrong

:lol:

What other costs are there in a non fault claim if no hire/courtesy car?

Well, quite often there *is* the hire car (whether wanted or not), costs from claim handlers, assuming the vehicle ended up unroadworthy/undriveable then there’s towing and storage charges. Sometimes you’ll get personal injury claims too…

Are you insured fully comprehensive? If so, the costs are usually met by your insurance and then those costs plus your excess claimed back from the at fault party. This *should* help you get back on the road in your own car as quick as possible, and the insurance companies can pick up the pieces and argue about the money in their own sweet time. On the one hand, this can be a good thing – especially in cases of disputed liability, it means you either get a payout or a repaired car back an awful lot quicker than might otherwise be the case. On the other hand, the claim won’t be recorded as “non-fault” until every last penny has been reclaimed, and that all takes time and can cost money. Especially if the at fault driver is a foreign HGV driver that sideswiped a stationary vehicle whilst going through a red light, and the claim handler decides that it’s too much hassle to even contact the haulage company using the contact details provided. Go on, ask me how I know this…

Do you know what the proportion was, online seems to say 50 – 80% depending on where i look?

I think they suggested repair costs ~65% was the tipping point. Of course, in most cases the cost of the repairs is only one element of the total cost of the claim.

Yes – but only because it was a relatively uncommon car that was reasonably in demand, so market value/replacement cost was a fair bit over their assumed “book” value. After I provided details of similar cars for sale at ~20% over their valuation, they accepted that they’d undervalued it and upped their offer. Repair costs were then a lower proportion of car’s value which tipped the balance from write off to economically repairable.

Remove saddle before jumping then put it back on.

What could possibly go wrong? 8O

What quantifiable costs have you incurred as a result of his shonky work? I note you mention having had to take unpaid time off work, so if you can put a figure on the loss of earnings and any additional out of pocket expenses (e.g. cost of hiring in additional heatersafter the job was supposed to have been complete), then that would be a reasonable place to start negotiations

Bear in mind that whilst there is the obvious (?) flood risk of rivers and streams bursting their banks, there is the slightly less obvious risk of flooding arising from surface water making its way off the hills and/or down the sides of the valley en route to the river or stream at the bottom of the valley.

https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk

Thanks hooja – I’ve been eyeing up the Camino Ti and getting dangerously close to pulling the trigger on a frameset. You’ve now highlighted another couple of options that I’ll need to investigate, which should push any important decisions back until sometime in the new year :D

5.10 Freerider Elements and wool socks. They’re basically a weather resistant version of the Freerider with regular panels where a non-Elements Freerider would have mesh. This helps keep the wet out, and minimises wind chill. They’re not fully proofed but once the water goes over the top of any shoe or boot, the proofing will have been defeated anyway. This is where the wool socks come in – yes, they get wet, but being wool, they’ll keep a bit of insulation.

I’ve tried sealskinz but always struggled with fit – they’re either too tight (which results in circulation problems and getting cold), or too bulky meaning my existing shoes are now too tight (leading to circulation problems and getting cold).

Warm but wet beats dry but cold any day of the week.

Ah, OK – thanks for clarifying P-Jay

In Fox speak Pikes are 34’s, Lyriks are 36’s.

Not quite sure I quite get your point. In terms of travel, there might be some rough equivalence, but Pikes (and Yari’s) and Lyriks all use 35mm stanchions so should be pretty much of a muchness in terms of stiffness. If anything, using a longer but same diameter stanchion ought to make the Lyriks a wee bit flexier?

…or look for one with the top mounts to the seat stays…

Axiom rack should come with those too – at least my Axiom Fatliner did. They’re the black rods in the bottom of the pic in Mowgli’s post.

fanatic278 – keep on with the suspension fettling. It’s worth it.

My first fatty…

Replaced by…

And now supplemented by…

p.s. Happy birthday!