On the shortening of the cranks, are you not better at fitting a threaded insert?

You can get a crimped type which pretty good.

Not a croix de fer! Well not a 2015 croix de fer 10. Mine although is a good commuter and light tourer. On the road it is a lifeless lump compared to my Ritchey Logic Road bike.

I like wider bars because of the way it makes the bike feel like it now has power steering also when riding slow technical trails (this been relative to my meagre talent) as I feel I have better balance. I think it’s like a tight rope walker with their wide balancing pole.

Ive always liked specislized for their fit, support and toughness.

We went for our honeymoon and stayed in 4 star hotels. I’m glad we hired a car as the roads are windy and tight and I would not want to be a driver nor passinger in a bus/camper. We met another couple on their honeymoon who hired the biggest camper they could which they regretted as it took them forever to get anywhere and they also had to empty their chemical toilet. Romantic I think not.

Best things we did were:
– climb up St Josef Glacier
– stay in a lodge in the Abel Tazmin
National park which was only accessible by boat.
– and my absolute favourite was flying in a Cesner 6 seater airplane from Queenstown over mountains into Milford Sound. The boat we went on had Dolphins playing in the wake of the boat.

Oh and the beer and wine is pretty darn good too!

I have stans grail rims which seem very good,is £62 cheap? That’s the best price I could see with a quick Google.

What’s black and sails round the world?
Bin bag the sailor!

Looks like a great design, wish I’d known about them when I worked in London, especially at £180, a decent fold up bike ain’t cheap even second hand.
Yeah they look a bit different but it would brighten an other wise grim commute.

Haha! No! It’s just how I think it feels, I had a shot my Soul last night and it just felt all wrong, the steering felt like it flopped from side to side, the stooge feels so nice when I corner that I find myself weaving left to right when even riding along a fire road. It has so much feel that it was encouraging me to push hard in the corners so it drifts a little bit knowing I can catch it before drifting too much.

It’s just fun, simple no nonsense fun.

Thanks for the advice. I’ll be buying a set of B+ wheels and tyres and Stooge motobars next year and I’ll have a look at the Alpkit wheels although I might just rebuild my hope hubs off the Soul into new rims. I’ve currently settled on the following setup for my Stooge and think it rides fantastically.

29er front and rear (maxxis 2.30 high roller front and 2.25 ardent rear).
Singlespeed 34/19
170mm Middle burn cranks
40mm stem
30mm spacers
760mm mid rise riser bars
SDG saddle and seatpost
EBB rotated down and back (having a half link chain has helped to achieve this) keeping my weight low and back for better balance and weight off the bars.

I’ve tried lots of different bars and stem combinations and the current ones fitted are in my opinion the best so far, the steering feels fast almost telepathic yet the riding position is quite relaxed a little bit like my old 2010 Orange 5 but without the squish or should that be squash (sorry).

My Cotic Soul now feels too low at the front and really twitchy compared to the Stooge, my Soul has 760mm bars, 70mm stem and 120mm forks and I’ve ridden all sorts on it as it was my sole mountain bike (I did have a single speed mountain bike, I don’t count that though as it’s had a child seat on it for the last few years), I never found my Soul lacking before owning the Stooge.

I’m really enjoying the Stooge at the moment especially in singlespeed mode and has helped me recapturer my love my mountain biking, every ride I want to see what else I can ride on it – the steep drop off here the tricky muddy climb with a double step there. I’m pleasantly surprised what I can ride on it, it’s also my 1st 29er which I was quite negative towards previously.

Top job Stooge.

I have one on my croix de fer and it’s been faultless, I use busch and muller lights, can’t remember the models but the front comes with a remote button and USB cable to charge your phone or GPS.

Cheers bonesetter, I’ll scour eBay to find a cheap 50mm stem and start dropping hints about the Motobars to the wife.
Longterm I’d like to try 650B+ wheels and tyres but they’d be a bit spendy at the moment.

Took delivery of my new stooge mark 2 in blue last week, used my shonky 26″ singlespeed as the donor along with a spare pair of wheels from my croix de fer (19mm internal width so should be OK).
The things I needed to buy were the tyres and a bigger rear cog – a two one ratio is a touch too tall for me. I even managed to get an old pair of 26″ stans tubeless rim strips to fit and got the new maxxis high roller/ardent combo setup tubeless first time. I’ve ridden it twice on my local trails and really like it (apart from the EBB coming loose on my first ride at the furthest part of the woods from my house and me not taking Allen keys with me).
Just a few queries about bars and stem setup as I’ve tried 2 different setups on my 2 rides and neither allow the front wheel to be lifted particularly easily whilst riding, it is manageable but compared to by 26″ Soul the Stooges front end is considerably heavier and I would like to lighten it without ruining the geometry plus I don’t have the funds to keep buying bars and stems in the pursuit of the ideal setup.
I’m 5’11” with long arms and a 33″ in seam.
Tyres are 2.25″ ardent at the rear and 2.3″ at the front.
Setup 1. 685mm EA70 low rise monkey bars with a 70mm stem and 25mm of spacers. Too narrow for cranking up hills singlespeed and the front feels glued to the ground.
Setup 2. 760mm Gusset low rise bars with a 60mm stem and 25mm of spacers. This was better for climbing and feels a touch lighter to steer but also a touch more vague in feel when riding single-track. I’m thinking of using the Gusset bars trimmed a touch and ordering a cheap 50mm stem but has anyone tried a 40mm stem with risers?
The stooge motobars look awesome so might put them on the Christmas list, again what size stem have people used with them?

I’m just wanting to know what people who are a similar height to me are using and what they found didn’t work.

Although I’m enjoying experimenting with my new toy I’d like to find the best setup sooner rather than later.

Ian

Sorry for bringing this one back to life.

I was just jesting when I was talking about placebo wheels but it seems even knowing it’s a placebo it can still have an effect.

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2015/07July/Pages/The-placebo-effect-can-still-work-even-if-people-know-its-a-placebo.aspx

I did this with a pal earlier this year, ’twas good!

I too did it on 25mm tyres (Planet X gutter snipes), the Berwick bit was a touch sketchy but I quite enjoyed it, my pal less so.

There’s another muddy bit later on but I can’t quite remember where exactly, the weaving in and out of coast heading between Berwick and Newcastle is a bit demoralising and I think a more inland route would be better as it would be more direct. There was some steep little climbs up and around a cottage or two then back down hill to only have to repeat it again a few miles down the road.

We bivvied on the beach at bamburgh after about 125miles, 5 pints of Guinness, 2 single malts and a steak & ale pie in the local in bamburgh.

2nd day was a scoosh, awesome tail wind, glorious sun (made up for the previous wet day), we booked a suite at the Marriott in Newcastle so spent time in spa when we got to Newcastle.

Enjoy.

What tyres for placebo wheels?

Seriously though, why upgrade the stock wheels on a bike then if it’s all in the mind? A new set of decals should in theory be enough.

I need to get me set of them placebo wheels!

I’ve fancied a 5010 since they were still called solo but after checking the geometry of one I’m surprised to find that a 2016 5010 is pretty close to my 2010 orange 5 that I sold as it was too dull unless I was riding at near lightspeed.
I’ll have to test ride one to see what they’re like.

In what world do people ride where they are not decelerating or accelerating frequently?
What about junctions, round abouts, traffic lights, traffic, headwind (when the wind and road change direction), road surface change, gradient change etc?
True a couple of hundred grammes here or there aren’t going to make much difference but when I went from a cheap heavy wheelset, steel band tyres and tubes to a light tubeless setup on my road bike my average speed went up a good bit plus they felt great too.
I know it’s not all about the weight but I’d rather ride around where I live on my new wheels and tyres than my old setup and I think that’s what’s important.

Is the wavy washer not a spring washer to keep the nut under tension?

Only singletrack could have a PSA for a documentary on map making. I’m only miffed that I was beaten to it! Ha!

Like mine but seem to have worn them as a general trainer more than a mtb specific one. Nit as grippy as I thought they be, excellent for walking in (grippy tread at the front and rear of the sole), stiff but not too stiff with decent feel, look good, well made, comfy, love the lace bunny and they look like they’ll last a while.
I’m a size 9 and bought a size 9, they fit well, i still prefer my old ruined Sombrio though, Shane they’re not made anymore.

Maybe owning any animal as a pet is wrong? It would be virtually impossible to police correct pet ownership so maybe we should ban all pets?

I quite like cats (and dogs too), I’d have one if I owned a large country house. I think people who own them in an urban area are really quite antisocial, cats will sh@@ on your neighbours gardens (their sh@@ is full of nasty stuff which children are very likely to come into contact with). I’ve heard folk say that their cats only sh@@ in their own garden, well that’s because their territory does not extend beyond it.

So yeah, it’s got to be humans.

I love quantum mechanics, it’s like when Einstein worked out how the universe works, the human race unlocked level 2. Where the rules are totally different and not logical, if there is a god he/she/it has a sense of humour.

Could the simulation itself be powering the simulation? Like if you built a machine to adapt to its environment and be self sufficient. Like a chain reaction from a few base materials? Isn’t the whole periodic table essentially made from the most basic of element hydrogen?

I think it’s a little naive to think that we could build a single computer (no matter how vast) that could generate a simulation as complex as what we experience especially when we don’t know what the universes small componant parts are nor what the majority of the universe is actually made of (dark matter & dark energy).

I’ve bought 2 pre registered cars from them, they were both good deals and I was treated ok by the staff. I can’t be bothered with the hard sell, if I see something at a good price that I can afford then I don’t generally haggle.

A few years ago my wife and I were invited to a friends birthday meal in a sushi restaurant, one of the others there ordered the dearest items off the menu, drank lots of cocktails and then announced it would be best to split the bill, I was driving (and dropping off a few of the people there) so didn’t drink, and as I don’t like fish so only ordered a salad. I was a bit miffed at this so I encouraged everyone to not only split the bill but we should also pay for the birthday girls meal between us. Strangely the girl that suggested splitting the bill didn’t think this was fair! What a free loading cow!

Will split the bill and buy rounds with close friends and family or if the group is small but insist on paying only for what I’ve ordered when I’m in a large group or with acquaintances/colleagues.

Maybe I’m tight or maybe I just like fairness and don’t like being taken for a ride.

When I was younger and used to regularly drink within a group of about 8 pals, there was on guy who always dodged a round, after this I made sure he paid first.

My 3 1/2 year old is at the max saddle height on his Ridgeback Scoot (which he loves and is in the process of learning to ride a Islabike CNOC 14) but Ridgeback make an XL version too that should be ideal.

HD ready tellies you won’t notice much difference anyway also if you have knackered eyes then I’m afraid HD isn’t really noticeable.

I’ve always found it odd that the first programmes to adopt the new technology in tellies is the soaps.

Have blue hope on my mountain and road bike, never have come loose, look nice but my pal bought some planet x ti ones that weigh a gnat’s fart, bit of a Tune rip off but much cheaper.

I built a set of grails on XT hubs for my Croix de fer. Have used them for a few hundred miles and deliberately didn’t tension them very high as the rims are so stiff and I wanted a comfy ride, Still true though.
I wonder if your wheels being disc have highlighted a poor build that much sooner?

Where on the hotness scale was she?

I’ve just fitted a Shimano XTdynamo and Busch & Muller lights to my Croix de fer and find it to be fab. The front light has an internal battery which can either power the lights (front and rear) when stationary or is used as a buffer/regulator/battery for when you plug into the supplied USB socket that hangs out of the bar mounted switch. It’s like a mini UPS! Loving it so far but understand that this setup isn’t ideal for a mountain bike.

Always thought something like this might happen, the schools were only built to last 25 years as it’s cheaper to knockdown a building and rebuild than it is to renovate it. Even if they had built the schools to last 100 years the full heating system, electric installation, fixtures and fittings would be at the end of their life after 25 years.

I think it all stems from when labour came to power under Blair, they inherited a badly neglected and underfunded school infrastructure (not to mention all the other neglected underfunded state ran facilities but that’s for another moan).
I left school in 94 and we were being taught in cold damp cabins which were meant to only be a stop gap for a couple years but were 10 – 15 years old and it seems other schools were in the same state at the time.

Schools round where I live that were built under the pfi scheme are fantastically equipped with top sports facilites (swimming pools, indoor sports halls etc), drama facilities with beautiful stages and even recording studios.

I worked in a few a couple of years ago and was impressed with the setup kids now have.

The affected schools will be patched up and made safe and after the 25 year lease is up (which some schools will only be in about 15 years) they will be replaced with another new one.
But I agree that if they are not safe then heads should roll, alas I feel this won’t happen as its been a while since some were built and some contracting companies involved have gone bump, plus staff retiring/leaving the industry and it takes quite a few people to design, approve and build a modern school so lots of wriggle room for all involved.

I have a 120 Reba qr15 on my soul and I like it, it’s almost invisible in its function, I don’t use the lockout as the fork doesn’t bob much.

The sad thing about wheels at that price is they are disposable because new rims are so expensive. I know they’re over budget but I’d go for these

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/road-wheel-set-28700c-mavic-open-pro–shimano-105-5800/aid:401809

They’ll match your groupset too.

501’s are 11 speed, the 500’s are 10. I liked my set.
I’m currently running planet x guttersnipe on my croix de fer for commuting, they are £7.50 at the mo. I rode 205km on the guttersnipe the other Saturday and they were great with the muddy wet roads and had zero punctures.