This month I am mostly trying a 2.0 larsen tt on the back with a 2.1 dtc nevegal on the front. My plan was to carry a bit more speed on the dry trails that have now turned to muddy sh!t. Oh well keeps it interesting!

No harness or helmet round the Nurburgring. This guy is nuts!

Short stem feels better for me, with 120mm marzocchi fork that’s long anyway and slack angles it keeps the steering sharp. To try and maintain the cockpit length (I’m long in the back bit like an APE!) I am using the layback post. Its not perfect more like a work in progress. Feels very stable and planted on the descents. Have to move around a bit on the climbs and try and shift the weight forward to stop front end skipping up. I’d rather do this than feel like i’m going to go over the bars every time I go downhill.

I’m 6ft 4′ and ride a 20’Inbred 456 so the cockpit is quite long. I run a shorter stem to throw the bulk back slightly and have the seat height slightly down not much 3/4′ so I can hook my arse over the back of the seat when needed, it doesn’t take much. I am not after ultimate efficiency when pedaling I’d rather have a bit of leeway on the rough stuff. The front can be prone to lifting slightly on really steep bits but the seat angle helps a lot. Try a layback post to shift the bulk back but make sure its not stopping you from dropping over the back. I got a FSA carbon post with 20mm of offset for £22 from on-one.

Could you please tell all the English white settlers up here how nice it is down there so they might go back?

Who would run all the B&B’s?

All joking aside if you are caught with pepper spray by plod your likely under the new terror laws to be sent to guantanamo! If you dont like being hassled by dogs the best bet is to ignore them, dont stop and dont engage them, eye contact etc. If you must use something get a small compressed air horn. That will scare the shit out of any dog and not physically hurt it. I walk my dog on many of the trails I ride so I come at this from both sides. Bikes can come up on you faster than you can get the dog on the lead sometimes. I always slow down and will stop if I think the dog is going to get under my wheels. If any MTB kicked or used pepper spray on my dog because it was in the way things would get pretty nasty. Its just a bit of give and take on both sides.

Try this http://www.thesitebox.com/Category/4183/tile-drills.aspx

They also do core drills.

Agree with Grunty but would probably use a mix 4 parts water to 1 part PVA, then the floor paint of your choice. As is usually the case the preparation is more important than the final paint you use on floor. Gray seems to cover concrete best and when it chips it tends to be less noticeable.

“Someone told me eating marmite helps but that might be bollocks”
Apparently if you build up the levels of vitamin B complex in your system this is supposed to make your blood taste like sh!t and the midge’s can tell and leave you alone. You need to do this for approx 2 weeks before you go to the west coast of Scotland. Personally Its like Dirty Harry saying “did I eat 5 jars or 6.” “Go on mountain biker make my day!”

Friend of mine at work had a young bull terrier that was really soft as a soft thing. Took it for a walk where it clocked some sheep at lambing time, of it went. It got 200yrds Boom, farmer shot it, no warning no nothing. Farmer then went up to dog in front of my friend and finished it off! I presume to save it from any suffering. My mate was shell shocked. He said he was going to report it to the police, he was going to sue etc etc. Farmer told him he was a plonker, said that if he could not control his dog then he shouldn’t have one. He then produced a card with his solicitors details. Needless to say my mate got nowhere with the police and the solicitor told him he was wasting his time. He now keeps his dog on a lead passing farms etc. A harsh lesson indeed.

Does anybody know if the later 2000 to 2007 mondeo’s have that subframe in? Thinking of buying a 2.0l petrol estate and having to shell out big bucks for a clutch change would possibly put me off.

Like I said in a previous post you can now get standard clutch kits to replace the dual mass clutch. Its a hell of a lot cheaper.

Mondeo clutches are expensive because you have to use a special jig to lift the engine out to get at the clutch, petrol or diesel. Its the labour cost and not just the cost of the clutch parts. My mate who owned a garage hated doing mondeo clutches. It has been known in the trade for people to cut out the footwell and get at the clutch that way and then weld a plate back over!

Facelifted Toyota Corolla GT Coupe rear wheel drive. What a car. Sold it to some numpty’s from Leeds and they put it on it’s roof. I Still shed a tear now and again thinking about that car. :cry:

6ft4″ in the morning and 6ft3″ at night. 20″ inbred perfect for me.

Most modern diesels have a dual mass flywheel clutch assembly that will set you back at least a grand to change. I believe that audi’s can now get a standard clutch kit for the 4 pot when the Dual-Mass lets go. Mundano is much bigger than a A4 and just as reliable. My next car will be a 2.0L petrol mondeo, just have to go steady on the gas pedal!

Will try it with 4 to 5mm like Stoner suggests and try it tomorrow night, see if I have any joy! There is no top cover on this type of headset, the spacers sit on the compression washer. The bottom race on The PIG is huge so can’t mix up. It’s meant for bmx and downhill so its quite strong. :?

Quite fancy a carbon fibre stem with built in led lights and a GPS receiver or a headset, I’m not fussy!

I wonder if the top cap is being deformed when its nipped and pulling down and touching the steerer tube. I normally measure the clearance and try to leave 2 to 3mm plus. Maybe with this type of headset/cap I need a bit more. I will play around with the spacers and report back.

Thanks for all your suggestions and help!

The compression ring on THE PIG is on the top it has no cover like the Orbit, The spacer washers fit straight on top of the compression washer.
What clearance do you guys allow between the top of the steerer tube and the top of the spacer washer for the cap to preload the headset?

Its the top edge you can see move maybe half a mm. It gets that slack that quickly especially over rocky tracks.

When the rock test is done with front brake you can see the split taper washer moving against the spacer washers above. Will investigate what paule suggests about headset cups splitting. Never thought of that. Oh by the way this fault is new and has just happened, just built the inbred up, it happened first ride. Headset is brand new FSA Pig. The Steerer is fine not pulling up, Having said that it would only take a few thou of movement to make the headset bearings go slack. I don’t think its moving.

Top bolt gets a fair nip to set the preload then stem is tightened.
Yes its an On-One Stem. I will take it off and check for burs and see if I can see any distortion probs. Will take some pics. Have built several bikes never had this happen before just nipped up top bolt, tighten stem and away we go.

No not at all, I’m open to all suggestions etc, I don’t want to buy another stem if I don’t have to. The stem holds the pre-load on the headset bearing, not the top bolt. The headset is fine for several miles. It cant wear enough to cause play in the bearings that quickly. What I was fishing for is if anybody has had experience of this and any solutions etc. If the bolts are stretching for example I would replace the bolts with some high tensile steel ones. The bolts that are in are stainless ones I think so they are softer, so maybe more prone to stretching.

Can’t rotate stem on steerer and the stem bolts are not loose. There is plenty of clearance between the top washer and the top of the steerer. I am tending to think that the stem is creeping up on the steerer causing the headset to slacken. The steerer is alloy not steel. Its a marzocchi mx pro ETA. It has a slightly rough finish like its been sand blasted so there should be plenty of grip for the Stem.

Star nut is lightly nipped to apply preload, the stem is tightened and there is no play in headset and everything is fine for a we bit. Then a slight knocking in headset area can be felt. Stem appears tight but there is play in headset. Steering is fine, apart from knocking in headset. It has to be the stem loosing some of its tension allowing play in headset. That is why I think its the bolts. Have stripped everything down, headset appears fine. It looks like a good quality stem, Its light and well finished and was a reasonable price. If it can’t maintain the tension around the steerer then it has design issues and is no good. Stem bolts were tightened gradually etc. Has any body had this problem and diagnosed this fault?

As in the Hamsterly post check out this book, its a Gem!
http://www.bikemaps.co.uk/north_yorkshire_moors.htm

Have lived in the North East all my life. The FC trails are great for families with kids But that is about it. If you want good trails etc in this area this book is a must. Great trails with some of the best single track in the area. Dolby Forest is great but its always heaving with people. You can often ride these trails and not see another person all day. http://www.bikemaps.co.uk/north_yorkshire_moors.htm

A friend of mine who is an electrician says that the B@stards are using these now so just be aware and try to secure things accordingly if Poss!
http://www.dewalt.co.uk/powertools/productdetails/catno/DC410KA/

Better version by far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&hl=en-GB&v=fpDNxA7v9EM&gl=GB

Can’t go wrong with Old Empire a great session beer, deuchars is a good one as well.

How about using some big capacitors wired to a grid under the felt, something like a camera flash charging circuit, works a bit like a taser but not as powerful. Can give a nasty belt but not usually dangerous! Should put them off (the roof, that is!) B@stards.

Get a SEBO,that’s what the majority of prof carpet cleaners use. They have two motors, one for the brush bar and one for the vac. Mine was 22yrs old when the case finally cracked when I dropped it. Went out bought another for about 220 quid. Check the forums nobody has a bad word to say about them. We have a Lab and two cats. It’s the only thing that has been able to cope with muddy footprints and pet hair.

Try this, a small clip from the best racing film of all time! Oh my lord the sound of that porsche.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoQKJXYA7d8

My Focus estate 1.8 petrol has done 80k and is onto its third set of disc’s. When quizzing dealer about crappy wear rates etc was told that because they cant use asbestos anymore the pad material is a lot harder but also they make the discs softer to give good braking from cold. Was told that after a period of sustained hard braking not to sit with foot on break when stopped as this was the major cause of warping ie use handbrake! Auto’s are the worst culprits.

Could be the crankshaft pulley. Some have an inbuilt damper that de laminates causing an imbalance thus vibration. The one on my scudo van let go. Has been known to take the end of the crankshaft with it. Worth having a luck even just to check that the crankshaft pulley nut is still tight.

Electric Shower 10kw at least £120plus. You would need a 60000 btu combi at least to keep up with a power shower maybe more. A girl will empty a hot water cylinder in minutes.