I’ve got a 210 mm and it does move back and forth a bit as well as some rotation. Last ride I noticed that the seal part on the top of the outer tube had come loose, as someone reported in that MTBR thread linked above. Twisted it finger tight, but it’s time to buy a strap wrench I guess.

Apart from that works fine, goes down, goes up, stays there.

Edit: Thanks to fathomer for linking the thread, I’ve been meaning to contact OneUp about the loose seal, but hadn’t gotten around to it.

I usually just put my cleats as far back as they go and then adjust for angle if I feel I’m bumping into the end of the float. Works for me.

I can vouch for Lakes too. Sidi Megas are way too narrow, but the MX237 Wides I have are pretty much the best fitting shoes that I’ve ever worn outside of bike shoes too. Bit slippery though, in form and in practice, as they are fairly horrible to walk on anything that isn’t flat.

I’ve been eyeing the MX168 Enduros recently, which look like they would correct the issue on both fronts.

MX 168 Enduro Wide

It’s what scotroutes said, AR is an OEM cheapo version of the ARC.

Haven’t tried, but these exist…

BLUEMELS 75 U

Then get one these:

https://problemsolversbike.com/products/accessory-mounts/fender_flute_-_32803

And some p-clamps.

The Squarewave XL’s are really thick. I’m in the upper reaches of XL in glove size, and they were too much for “technical” riding for me. Good on the tourer, though.

Edit: Like many others, I have the Odi Elite Pro’s on the mountain bike too, and they are very good.

Not an answer to the actual question, but Milkit valve stems have a rubber thingy in the rim end that keeps air inside even though the core comes off.

We have a Belter 16 for our 4-year old, who is currently around 112cm and it fits well. Came straight from a balance bike around 104 cm, and she could just comfortably reach the ground with the saddle as low as it went. Still plenty of adjustmen left on the seatpost, but I need to start looking for higher rise bars.

I’ll post mine here too. Will probably get it built up tomorrow.

View post on imgur.com

XL in Zink Orange

Hi, I’m brewing up an one:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wwuojcebj0egtd0/_8060642.JPG?dl=0

Edit: Dropbox public link not cutting it I see…

View post on imgur.com

XL in Zink Orange, Fox 34 Rhythm 130 mm, wheels are Pro4 to Newmen Evolution SLA 30’s, OneUp 210 mm dropper.

I’ve had similar problems in a bit larger size (64 cm). I rode Giro XL:s for a long time, they are too wide for me, but there aren’t that many options in my size to choose from. I tried on a MET last year and it was perfect, so it might be worth a try.

I have 3 years old Mavic Crossmax Thermo winter shoes and they are still in good shape apart from the Boa copies they use. Three snapped laces and two broken dials so far. A dials+lace kit is only 10 euros a pair from Mavic, so it’s not terrible. Soles are very good for walking in snow or mud.

In my limited experience (Gravelking slicks and GP5000TL) thin road tyres get a lot of holes that are too small to puncture a tube, but will slowly leak air (and sealant) out. I imagine that without a tube or sealant they would mean that the tyre would deflate quite quickly. This might be related to me being fat, however, as I wear out tyres really fast without any extra damage.

But when you stop pedaling, you are actually braking with your legs as well as your brakes. Getting a foot out is a bit more tricky.

I ride mine everywhere. I have a hard time understanding why it would be more dangerous than a freewheeled bike (I have a front brake). It might even be the contrary, as I feel braking is a kind of failure and tend to modulate my speed much more carefully when on the fixed.

Pedal strikes are of course nastier, but I’ve never had one, again maybe more careful because of the unpleasant consequences.

edit: keir wins the typing race.

The washers reduce the chance of the spoke hole cracking on non-eyeleted rims, which probably won’t be a big problem with your weight and spoke count. Some rims are more prone to it however, I know several Velocity Blunt SSs that have cracked under light riders, for example, so it depends. If using washres the spokes will need to be longer by their thickness.

Thicker spokes are cheaper and easier to build, as they dont twist as much when tightening. Bladed spokes are easiest, since you can keep them straight with a tool, but they are also the most expensive. Straight gauge to moderately butted would probably be the best bet.

edit2: Not really common, but I built up a set of wheels with Newmen rims recently, and their warranty is only effective if the wheels are built with their own washers.

I built my first fixed bike about two years ago and was amazed how much I had thought about being on the right gear. That gone, I can just zone out and listen to the tyres hum and feel my legs turning.

Also, I’ve never been much of a speed biker, and riding a triple-equipped touring bike I had gotten used to just slowing down and spinning up everything. Few months of fixed riding thickened my thighs considerably and made me climb things much faster.

I got Leatt 3DF 5.0’s, they are sweaty as they are made of neoprene or something similar. Never had them chafe or pinch, which is lucky since they were the only locally available ones that would fit my thighs.

Also available with plastic caps, I think the model name was Fusion or something like that.

And if the SolarisMax feels too small, the Pole Taival is quite close geometry wise, just one size bigger (L Taival with a 140mm fork is similar to a XL Solaris with 120mm). Biggest difference apart from the fork is the several degrees steeper seat tube angle.

I just bough a Dakine Drafter second hand for 25 euros. Rode with it a few times and it seems good so far. No loose threads or any other signs of use, apart from mud stains. It has a mesh back that keeps it raised slightly off your back and is consequently fairly airy. Current models seem to have an optional back protector too.

I’ve got a pair of Leatt DBX 1.0 GripR’s. Lycra-like on the knuckle side, thin suedeish on the palm with mesh between the fingers. Fit my hands very well and quite breezy.

I used to have a RS 30 silver with the TK damper, is the rebound adjuster flat, sort of keyhandle shaped? Mine had four clicks of adjustment, so two extremes and two detents in between, so the clicking part might be the range where it adjusts?

I’d agree with jameso above about trying to move the saddle back. When I started riding drop barred bikes more, I also felt too stretched and tried to compensate shortening the distance between saddle and bars, which didn’t really help, as it would only make my neck and upper back sore. The answer for me was moving the saddle back, which puts more weight on the bum as it moves further back from the BB and conversely lightens the upper body, which can then be more comfortably stretched into a lower position making the bar feel closer.

I’ve got 45×19 on my Pompino, fixed though. It gives a nice cruising cadence at around 26-28 km/h with the 32 mm tyres that it currently has. I do have a 22-teeth freewheel for the times I’m going to be mostly riding in the woods with, and I’m okay with spinning it on the roads in between too.

It’ obviously heavily dependent on fitness, of which I severely lack, but if any steep ups are involved, I’d definitely be starting closer to a ratio of 2 than 2,5.

I’ve had a Power for about 18 months now and it’s the best saddle I’ve had. It seems to me that the ‘for aggressive positions’ -thing is relative. Basically it allows me to ride with my pelvis rotated further forward without causing pressure in sensitive bits. Which is great for inflexible people like me, or in the tail part of a longer ride where my core is too tired to keep me in good position anymore.

Vittoria Terreno dry or zero, come in 35 and 38 mm.

Edit: Oops, no 35mm, apparently. I was quite sure I’d seen them at the LBS.

I’d be careful with high pressures on the (Marathon) Winters. Once I was JRA to work and noticed a wobble on my front tire. Stopped to take a look and saw about 20 cm of inner tube bulging from between the rim and bead, same thing in the rear. I’d just pumped them up to around max recommended in order to make them roll faster as there wasn’t much need for the spikes that day. Something had happened to the beads, and they wouldn’t stay on the rim anymore, even on low pressures.

The casings are pretty stiff and the ride extremely uncomfortable at high pressures anyway, so I’d advise to go low.

About rubber compunds and freezing temperatures, here in Finland there’s a sort of mountain biker folklore that says that anything softer than 50a is going to go plasticky in freezing temperatures. So folk ride Maxxis dual compounds instead of 3C and Schwalbe Pacestar instead on Trailstar. When the Addix compunds first came out I did see one news site advertise them keeping their properties down until -4 °C, but haven’t seen anything since.

The point is that not many road tyres have compounds that soft to keep wear in check, and I’ve never heard anyone having problems with road, CX or XC tyres in the winter. I currently have Hillbilly/Butcher on my MTB, that I commute on when I know there’s going to be a lot of snow, and Hutchinson Toro CX’s on my fixed everyday commuter and they’ve all been ok down to about -25 °C. Earlier winters I’ve ridden Gravelking SK’s, Ritchey Megabites, Schwalbe G-Ones and Schwalbe Smart Sams in addition to Marathon Winters without rubber related problems.

I have a Topeak Race Rocket, which is small, quite handsome and can be color coordinated as well if you’re into it, although currently seems to be only available in black at CRC. Moves surprisingly lot of air for the size, but will screw off loose valve cores.

And as for saddle bags, I have one of these:
https://www.ortlieb.com/us/micro-two
Should be okay with Ass Savers, as it hangs below the saddle rails, but it does limit the amount you can push your saddle forward, as the mount takes some space on the rails. Haven’t used it long enough to comment on durability, but it’s an Ortlieb, so I’m expecting it to last.

I’ve found that the Lizard Skins stuff doesn’t last that long, maybe 3-4000 km for me. The rubbery surface is really thin, and once it wears out on one spot it starts peeling off the (grey) fibrous backing, which looks horrible and doesn’t feel very nice.

I don’t really care what I have wrapped on, since if I wear gloves, the only discernible thing is the thickness of the padding, as any tape will have sufficient grip with a decent pair.

M647’s here too. Six years without maintenance and running as smooth as new. They have been taking on some salt spray on winter commutes in addition to off-road use. And I weigh well into triple figures too.

Not pretty, though, so I’ve been waiting for them to die to get something nicer looking, but I think it’ll be some time still.

When I moved to 29er and 29er spikes were rare and pricy I used winter marathons for 2 strathpuffers. They surprised me with how well they handled snow mud and in particular rock slabs.

I’ve never ridden them offroad, and the widest I’ve tried are the 40 mm versions, so that might be the difference. The wider ones seem to have more of a gap between the center and edge tread, so they might deal with soft things better.

Marathon winters are good when there’s something hard for the studs to take hold of, but they are really bad in soft snow. Cornering traction is low and unpredictable, and your front wheel tends to spend a lot of time sideways, or at least mine does.

45 North has some reportedly really good ones (Xerxes at 30 mm and Gravdal at 38), but they cost around 100 euros a piece, so I haven’t tried them. Reliable Reports say they roll much better and are generally smoother.

The Pros are indeed fitted to seatstays and fork with rubber bands.

In case someone else is wondering about the Pro XL:s tyre clearance, I’m running them with Panaracer Gravelking 40’s (actual width 37 mm with 19 mm ID rims) which just about fit with a couple of mm’s on both sides.