As the problem is only under significant load, how would I check if the ring drive is the problem?

If your chainrings start to look anything like that:

Or your cassette resembling anything like that:

That means it is worn out and chain will be sliding under loads.

It do not need to be that dramatic as on the pics but might be significant enough to cause sliding…

Cheers!
I.

Go single speed or Pinion :)

Cheers!
I.

could try and put into words the difference in feel between a low pressure “plus” tyre and a low pressure “normal” tyre.

Low pressure on standard 29 inch tyre for me is anything around 12-17PSI.
And that is standard I was running on my 29-er HT with 2.4 and 2.3 tyres on 21mm internal width rims. 10.5 stones, not very aggressive rider, not jumpy.

On 29+ my low pressure was around 6-8PSI set up tubeless on 45mm internal width rims. Extra low, just for the sake of testing was around 4PSI to explore tubeless set up.

That one gave me feeling of run-on-flat standard tyre. Sidewalls were bending and washing out, whole experience of riding was very, very unpleasant.

With 6-8PSI in my case I had perfect balance between cushioning and support. No unwanted bending, rolling or washing-out of the tyre. And still bucketloads of comfort.
Especially visible on the cobbled or small bumps uneven surface.

Sure thing as soon as it is going choppy you can feel that there is not enough suspension to aid you but that is beauty of riding fully rigid.

You either suffer or apply you body-English and pick you lines carefully and deliberately.

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

Having one, universal but quite niche bike is making you accept all the pross and cons it is bringing into the game.

Personally if I’ll be completely and utterly down to ONE bike and not bothered about weight I would go with 29+ ready fattie. Next step would be 2 or even 3 wheels sets (full on fatty, 29+ and standard 29) shortly followed by Bluto.

If you are at least part weight-conscious I would go custom Ti to accommodate all my needs. Pact by Brant Richards for example, as it is not requiring to sell kids, kidney, liver and start prostituting yourself :D

Cheers!
I.

5’10.5″

172.5 on my do-it-all-bike
165 on my fixie.

I’m not very sensitive to component changes and how it is affecting my riding but every time going to 165 or back to 175 is a MASSIVE difference.

In my opinion (and feel) short arms cranks fore more cadence based peddling, longer promote more physical action.

Cheers!
I.

Ta!

Cassette wise I’ll be buying one that would be the easiest to convert into my intended 4 gears cluster.
Will probably end up with road/CX cassette modification as I want to keep alloy spider carrier and MTB cassettes got more than 4 sprockets attached.
Roadies tend to have 3-4 sprockets on the carrier spider…

Cheers!
I.

Okidoki…

So can you please enlighten me if I go Shimano, that I gather is Dyna -Sys, do I need to go also Dyna – Sys cassette parts and chain? Or it will work OK with any 10 speed cassette/chain combo?

Cheers!
I.

Sorry, still 9 speed era on my T129. X9 medium cage, happy as Larry :D

Cheers!
I.

Cheers!

Considering that at the moment I do not have any spare mech I might invest in clutched one regardless. Also not sure how good is this prototype NW ring and 7T gear jumps can be problematic in chain retention.

Thanks for input!

Any one else?

Cheers!
I.

Me to…

Unfortunately that is not mine. Just dug out of the internet and in private pics collection.

Inspiration for the future :)

Cheers!
I.

And if they are not wide enough for you split them in half and rivet some plastic to fatten them.

Not the same mudguard but you can catch the idea…

Cheers!
I.

Not used SRAM 10 speed ones yet?

Nope and do not intend to, as they are designed to be single usage only.

You can split them by pliers and force, but I’m too lazy to use anything else than my fingers :)

Cheers!
I.

Haven’t seen too many catastrophically failing crankset pics in the Web.

Especially that I’m still riding FC-M730 square tapered cranks from around 1990 on my single speed.

No problems whatsoever…

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

If you really MUST change into 10 speed change only chainrings.

Octalink BB will outlast any given external BB by miles and miles…

I’m using 105 octalink BB on my do-it-all bike (commuter, roadie, CX, gnarmac) and it is spinning buttery-fluid 3rd season, approaching 25k…

Cheers!
I.

Obviously I must be some sore of The Chosen One as for last 11 years, since I started using links never had a need to use pliers for undoing them :)

Cheers!
I.

Pliers? Tools?

Never-ever used anything like this. Always quick job with bare fingers.

KMC, Wippermann 8-9-10 speed and SRAM 8-9 speed. Whole trick is to squeeze plates to allow pins to jump into groves on them. Splitting lings with that is a breeze.

Truth to be told, never tried it with SRAM 10 speed links but they are supposed to be single use only…

Cheers!
I.

Maybe it is fad, maybe it is B.S. but that is type of riding I’m doing the most and always did no matter what was it name.

My personal expression for that? Crossploration or Cycloration :p

Cheers!
I.

All year long commuting with first gen Magic Shine. Listed as 900 lumen but realistically it is probably about 500…

Plenty enough for back roads of South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

Cheers!
I.

It is a good excuse to go out and ride.

Cheers!
I.

Cheeky at the back of Cote de Oughtibridge

My bars of choice would be Genetic Digest.

Because of ergo counter-drop both comfortable on the hoods and on the drops.

A bit too deep to be perfect one, but none other available on the market offering ergo counter-drop.

Cheers!
I.

Friend of mine Kaza somevhere between Rushup Edge and Hayfield

Me and Kaza at the bottom of Jacob’s Ladder.

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

Try any of Dartmoor Bikes headsets…

Plenty of options and all of them offering silver.

http://dartmoor-bikes.com/hardware/headsets

Not sure about split crown race, but you can split it by hack saw :)

Cheers!
I.

40mm.

Not overly long but not too short either…

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

MagicShine with OpenLight 8800mAh battery keeps me going on full blast in commuting mode (15-18 mph) of back roads of South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire for about 14 hours.

True, Openlight batteries are expensive in comparison to standard MS but they do the job admirably.

Also keeping standard MS battery as a back-up. It holds 2.5-3h on full beam. Just enough to bring me back home from work 2 times.

Cheers!
I.

Won’t say, as Missus might dig it out :)

And then it would be fast divorce fulfillment :D

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

Interesting…

Got same bad experience with Avids… That’s why I’m avoiding any Big A stoppers like a plague… Maybe apart from BB7s…

On the other hand can’t prize enough both BR-M666 and BR-M785. Triple sixes on my bike for the third season, without any problems, XT-s clocking end of second season…

Truth to be told, if you have faulty unit they are next to impossible to fix. Would replace them under warranty if possible…

Cheers!
I.

Sudocrem works just as well as any

+1 for Sudocrem. Cheap as chips, working very fine.

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

I would personally organize steel sleeve with proper pedal thread and set it into the crank arm by pressing and/or liquid metal gluing.

Cheers!
I.

Isn’t axle length dependent on frame rather than crank?

No and yes :)

Producer should suggest what BB axle length is suggested to get on with particular chain line.

After that you should either check or measure chain line in the frame and that should solve the problem.

Never had any problems with UN55 and they were giving me proper chain line as declared with various cranks (RF, Sugino, Middleburn RS1, RS3 and RS7).

I would say probably your tapers are going a bit tired…

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

You will be fine.

Just recently I downgraded my 9 speed big chainring to allegedly 8 speed, married it with 10 speed chain, working as good as before.

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

Vittoria Randonneur 28c for road duties and WTB Nano 40c front and Bontrager LT3 38c rear for off-roading on my Plug.

Cheers!
I.

Ivan, thanks for the condescension, but I’m aware of how my brakes work in bad weather (which is actually pretty well).

haha… Always ready to serve Sir ;)

BB7s road are not bad. Providing you can accept occasional rubbing of the pads on the rotors or not bothered by long lever movement they are good as gold.

Regular BB7, the MTB version is fit-and-forget stopper. No problems, no rubbing, nice and short lever action, decent modulation…

Road version unfortunately is not in par with MTB… That is quite surprising given fact that apart of torqu arm travel it is same brake…

That’s why I recommended Renders. A bit like poor relative of Avids but much shorter lever travel, similar stopping power and modulation even with organic pads – that are same like BB5s – and so far good reliability…

Also was reading good things about Juni Tech, but only on the tinterweb…

Apparently, improved version of TRP Spyre is Rever mcx1. Also only a word from others but claiming that they are much nicer than original…

Cheers!
I.

Oh, and stopping power is roughly on a par with the ultegra rim brakes on my roadie

Providing it is dry :p

On the first sign of rain, mud, sleet, snow, ice all rim stoppers are as useful as a nipple on the breastplate…

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

If by “cross” bike you meant CX bike with STI or any other drop bars, road pull levers I would avoid BB7s.

Setting to achieve reasonable lever travel is a pain in rectum as already mentioned.

You can do it, but you rotors must be perfectly straight.

I’m trying Promax Renders for last month and a half. They are definitely more agricultural built and look wise than any Avids, TRPs or Hayeses but setting them with 105 5600 series STIs proved to be much easier and lever travel is much more acceptable.

Also heard from bike mechanic friend of mine that Hayes CX is also easy to set-up, but can’t say from my own experience.

Alternatively if you are not using STIs you can match MTB pull levers like Tektro RL520 with BB7s. Had it before with quite nice result…

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

Peugeot died in commuting crash a month ago (Rust in Peace)

So I’m sporting now slightly upgraded Plug 3.

Here on the way to Meadowhall and then to Whancliffe.

Cheers!
I.

Thanks chaps!

Other good calls.

Cheers!
I.

Thanks again!

Bot quite convenient just a frog leap over the hill from Rotherham.

Cheers!
I.

Cheers Chaps!

And any recommendations for brakes and forks?

Cheers!
I.

Hi,

Got them with SLXs as well. 180/180.

No problems whatsoever…

Just bear in mind that they are slightly thicker than standard rotors.

So if you have very tall pads or narrow space for rotor it might rub a bit…

Cheers!
I.