The tool to fit?
hammer+screwdriver+carefully..

The one I got (from JeJames) a few years ago didnt come with SFN/top cap, but everything else. I would have liked a specialized top cap

You say s-works and spesh site says integrated so Ill assume you have the carbon 07 Sworks SJer FSR frame (Alloy uses normal h/set cups)
Ive got the number off mine which is a cane creek VP-A10ACS and looks like this:

Both cups go completely inside the headtube, ie it doesnt sit on the top edge of the headtube at all like a semi-integrated h/set would, but instead on a sort of shelf/lip inside the headtube
Google seems to be throwing up they were used on epic frames at one point too

EDIT: reread you post (properly), which 07 Sworks Full suss frame?
Stumpjumper FSR, Epic, Enduro?

’07 S-works SJer FSR?
Aluminium or carbon front triangle frame?
I know there was an aluminium S-works FSR frameset (as well as carbon) available for 2006, but not 100% there was only the carbon S-works frameset for 2007. I thought there was only carbon for ’07 when I bought one

Also, maybe not an issue, but from a full specialized build or the frameset? (what colour scheme?) I know at least the carbon grade (9m vs. 10m) differs so not impossible for the headset to change?

If the carbon S-works (frameset) from 2007, then a standard h/set as pictured above will NOT fit, but I suspect that will already be obvious
When I got a replacement I went to my local specialized dealer and asked them to find out what fits/to order one. Cost about £25 in I think 2009
I could try to find the old cups if Ive still got them, but thinking about it, is there no cane creek number on the top cap washer thing that sits just above the headtube?

If you put pics up I can say what it doesnt look like?

“dont have to run a shorter stem just cos you’ve got wider bars”
No but it might help to attempt to maintain a similar steering response and cockpit position
As in if you’re putting a wider bar on, its going to steer slower (so a shorter one will steer quicker) and drag your weight further forward (so a shorter one will shove you back). The exact relationship to maintain some kind balance I dont know
If the head angle is particularly steep then a short stem might make it too twitchy. duuno

With 780mm Id think 50mm would be the longest youd want to go
though if you’re frame is particularly short on you then it might be too cramped

yes
Id say soemthing like 55mm and under short, 60-90 medium and 95 and longer long.
Though nowadays 90mm is probably considered long

When you say 700+mm though, are we talking 710mm? 810mm? (915mm?)

(currenly on 50/711 on ‘play’ hardtail, 70/710 on full suss, 90/685 on XC hardtail, 115/600 on rigid commuter/rollers bike, though thinking wanting to go wider on all of them, shorter on at least the FS)

” Much easier. The very top of Jacobs is the only technical bit and it’s not that bad. The rest of it is a not very technical at all descent “
Okay if thats your viewpoint (I think there a load of other techy bits to it, though maybe they can be avoided and I cant remember), but if so, how is hagg farm not easier?
Jacobs has more technical going on than Hagg?
And is steeper, and longer, and a bit narrower

Jacobs is alright on a hardtail. Its not going to be easy on your calves but it can be done. Can be done with your saddle all the way up, but you’re not likely to be going as fast if you do.

If you wanted to add in more on the hayfield side, since they levelled chapel gate, thats now a rideable up, so you can cut out mam tor/rushop edge

“all the usual adjustments “
May not be related to your troubles but:
Have you tried specialized SPD BG shoes with the ‘off camber’ footbed, supposed to (So goes their theory) straighten your leg out better so your knee isnt strained as a flat soled shoe would do?
something like this is their claim:

Have you tried Time SPD pedals? They’re supposed to have loads of float?

“Flat pedals are always a good idea. Clips are for kooks”
I like my shins without holes in them
I also like to be able to pedal manically over rough stuff without fear my feet will fall off the pedals. Other than that I ‘learnt’ to use them and now Im sort of stuck with them

“2.25 advantage too squirmy on the back, not sure if it was the height or the relatively thin nobbles squirming”
What rims have you got them on? They can be temperamental if you dont have wideish rims IME

Id check the state of the bushings (upper and lower
A worn bushing (down to the metal) is what caused stantion wear on my Revs
Whats a real PITA is since power buldge the lower bushings aren’t replacable. Rockshox have effectively made lowers a wear/replace item, Guessing they’ll be £200+?

But yes, so long as both are the same maximum (unspacered) travel, if not you could have issues with rebound/-ve air lower shafts reaching the base of the lowers and having enogh stantion/bushing overlap?

Id probably go with the solo air setup. imbalanced air pressures can be nice but too compromised IME, either plush but too divey and sucks travel down, or feel a bit too firm if you’re not on it going down the hill. ie up the hill it might not track the same? I dunno. Depends how much dive is a problem for you
Plus both sets of dual-air forks Ive had have leaked in some way such that the air pressure ratio changes (either sucking down or leaking there way to too firm)
Id rather any leak was constantly balanced between the 2 as solo air does when it leaks

Not sure Id sell them as Rev Races though
Double check the specs exacltly
IIRC Revs have floodgate adjust in the MoCo unit. Do sectors have that?
Not sure how an RL sector would differ in the MoCo unit to a Rev
Also, what crown/uppers will it end up with. Not a steel steerer or not slim crown
Im not sure where the weight difference is, but I think sectors are typically 150g or more than revs, might be steel steerer, might be somewhere else. I dont know

“left wondering what size is a 2.4 rubber queen, compared to say a 2.5 high roller”
Ill go with a LOT bigger, the 2.2″ RQ (new conti) will be a fair bit bigger as 2.5″ maxxis are pretty weedy for a 2.5″

Ive only got a switch evo front hub, not a superstar full build

Span pretty well from new (not like the proII draggy bearings stories)
Only issue when new was that the 20mm adapters seem quite wide. My Maxle axle lever side sits maybe ~1.5mm from the fork lowers. Ive tried a different hub in my fork and the maxle screws up tight

I quite like how the adapters attach, just pop on my hand, no tools required. Though I can see it might be possible to knock them on sometghing and lose one.

about 5months in (may-october, eastern england), not my main bike the bearings developed play and roughness. Was hoping they’d have lasted a bit longer
Once I sussed out how to bodge getting out the adapter base pieces stopping the bearings from coming out they weren’t difficult to replace. Will see how long my £2 ebay bearings last ..

re: superstar build quality. If you’re happy with the rim and spoke options available, you could always budget in sending them to a good shop/wheelbuilder to get them checked over/retrued and see if they’re still they right price?

“surprisingly little difference”
Well they appear quite different. The rounded profile certainly appears quite different
The difference between a 2.35″ High Roller on an XC717 (or even on a higher walled XM719) and an EX5.1D at least appears quite a lot

IIRC a 2.35″ HR/Minion is smaller than a 2.25″ RR/NN/Albert, which is about smaller again than a 2.25″ which is about the same as a 2.5″ HR/Minion overall (tread+carcass volume), though advantage has lower tread height.

“When cups wear out its only use is for recycling”
You’re supposed to check, adjust, regrease and periodically replace the ball bearings (and maybe cone nuts) before you wear the hub cups out
Like you might drop and change oil in the lowers/air can on your fork/shock before the stantion/shaft anodising wears out

It could be worse, at least it looks like you might be able to use normal spanners on that. I think shimano cup/cone 15/20mm hubs require some bigger ££ shimano only? cone spanners

“never ever, ever, ever being able to get the adjustment exactly right”
The hubs cups are probably already pitted/worn. Worn ball bearings and/or cone nuts may also be playing a part
If everything is new or unworn they’re a doddle

“who adore squirting grease and adjusting”
With my pitted rear (I didnt open it for about 18months) XT C/C hub. I probably open it every 6months to put new ball bearings in. regrease, adjusting is okay, but made slightly fiddly because of the pitting, then crank up the nuts nice and tight and they dont undo themselves

100mm sids AND 140mm Fox forks to work?
Are these fixed travel Fox’s or Talas?
Might give a better compromise if you dropped the travel on them? and/or upped travel on the SIDs? eg 110 and 130mm? Or use one at 120mm for both racing and ‘trail bashing’

Seems like its going to be compromised at both ends unless it has two sets of rocker links or shocks or different bolt holes to change BB height ttying to compensate for the fork length change?
Like a Nicolai as above

Maybe you might get someting to work alright around the 110-120mm travel mark
Any of the 135/140mm (fixed) rear sus options (FTM,2010onward SJer FSR) aren’t going to ride right with a 100mm fork plugged in.
The FTM in particular is already about the steepest out there with a 140mm fork
Id have thought (most?) 100mm/100mm sus bikes are going to be a bit propped up with a 140mm up front?

Im going to guess no, because accurate dimentions will all vary depending on what rim they are mounted on, and can differ quite a lot with the same tyre

Even between same manufacturer rim height can differ (eg XC717 vs. XM719) and clincher type can differ (newer stans vs. older stan

Any particular tyres you’re wanting to get an idea how they compare to one another?

Agree with mboy and GW

Id be tempted to wear things out first. Though that might take ‘too’ long plus then stuff wouldnt be worth as much to sell on later
If you went down that route Id guess it’d be gears that go first, and then Id be tempted to try to stick to SLX/X7 level tops (some bits are barely heavier at deore/X5 level), XT/X9 is a touch lighter on the whole but the extra ££(£) is going to eat into any budget for things that are going to make bigger difference like wheels/maybe forks

Maybe try ‘ghetto’ tubeless, either with the stock (maxxis ignitors?) or try finding something lighter that suits the kind of riding you do (ie something with at least semi-knobbly tread)

“he’s getting confused with UST 819 rims”
Probably
I seem to remember somebody on here saying XM719s (claimed at 455g) weigh in at over 500g in the flesh, so was pushing that assuming EN521s and others would be similar
The eyelets are part of the rim, at least my XM719s seem to be, they didnt fall out or anything when I rehubbed my wheel, not that I tried to push the eyelets out or anything

“Well Action Tec make one so it must work somehow”
Goes off to look. An extra half a gear sounds good for pedal spinning up really steep stuff on that last climb of the day

EDIT: found a steel one on there in 58mm BCD. Am thinking thats 5 bolt? 64mm being 4bolt. Cant rmemeber
EDIT 2: found 20T 64m 4botl in titianium. Cant stomach $60/$86 though

Agree with a lot of whats been said. It makes for interesting reading

Am currently on a 150/155mm FS (with 32mm/maxle fork .. ), 100 or 120mm XC Hardtail with longTT/slack angles (+100mm ‘play’ hardtail)

My brother has a 120/120mm FS and a 180/170mm single ring coil/coil FS

I keep pondering whether to rebuild by old 120mm FS frame with bits from my XC hardtail. Likely a bit too squishy for XC, wouldnt be Singlspeeding it like I have the hardtail before now

Ooh and a 180mm+ coil FS appeals. A single ring heavy/slack bike would limit it to pusing up/uplifts/flattish ‘commute’ to DH/FR trails so would limit its use for me
Opting for double/bash, the slack/heavy is still going to limit uphill on anything reeeeally steep or technical where my 6″ FS does quite well (with lots of effort and Uturn) and likely overlap the 6″ FS to the point I wouldnt use it, taking the 180mm bike out instead just for that bit more for that one bit of a ride where I think I ‘need’ it. Plus end up spending ££££ on it and still not clean the difficlt climbs I can just about make myslef do now

There does seem to have been a lot of price rise since mid 2008 when you could (briefly) get XT shadow mechs for £30, SLX cranks for £65, XT for ~£88 from CRC/merlin

I suspect ‘quantitive easing’/printing money has something to do with price rises amongst other factors

“seem to be an influx of 5 and 6k bikes of late”
I seem to think there were £4/5k bikes 4/5 years ago too though? Its the £8/9k+ top end race bikes that look pricey
you could get Fox/fox/LX level FS bikes for £1500 then from Spesh/Trek/etc. Now its what £2300ish?
Granted Canyon/others are cheaper but you’re not able to get them through your LBS?

I thought it was 9am-5pm May 1st-September 30th on all 3 bridleways that go to the top, so ‘telegraph valley’ bridleway (ranger station to llanberis, not via snowdon) is not covered by ban
As above going up could take you 2.5-3 hours, but depending could take 1.5-2hours also
Either go up and down before 9am (or 10am whichever the ban start time is) or Ive been tempted to push/carry up to get to the summit mid afternoon and descend once the clock strikes 5pm. Though I guess the Llanberis path will likely be covered in tourists. Ranger path might not be so busy

EDIT: Found a link with some info:
http://www.cyclingnorthwales.co.uk/pages/snowdn_volunt.htm
Looks like there are 5 bridleways that are affected by the ban. Telegraph valley/bottom of the rangers is fair game so if you were 3/4 way (to the telegraph valley turn off) down the rangers by 9am you’d be within the rules
And its 10am to 5pm

Does Drumlanrig sort of fit this ‘model’? Do/Can they ‘only’ charge for parking?

Didnt know there were 11-36T 9spd casettes as hinted above

A (deore/HG61?) 12-36 9spd does exist, but would have less range between ratios than a 11-34 9spd casette (36/34 < 12/11)
If you didnt mind the (2 gearish) jump from a 14T to an 11T you could not use the smallest 12T end sprocket of an 12-36T and source an 11T end sprocket and use that?
Would be easier than trying to find a 36T sprocket that you could swap onto an 11-34T casette, though I cant see how you could do so with a ‘carrier’ (SLX/XT/XTR/PG980/PG990) type casette, only with a normal block that has a 1.5mm allen key headed bolt (though some are all rivets)
Even then you stillh ave about a 1.5gear jump from the 30T sprocket to your 36T youve swapped onto it

“You can also get a 20t 4- bolt granny ring to make for some interesting climbs”
Where from? Id guessed the 64?mm granny BCD meant you couldnt?
I know theres a 20T middleburn, but thats not a 4bolt? Nor for an external BB crankset?

Singletrack magazine reviewed the original coilair one in 2008 (issue 44ish?) and the abra cadabra, maybe in 2010/11? Cant remember when. The reviews were pretty good, but theyve not kept them on on long termers or anything?
I cant remmeber seeing much on this forum about them either
They seem like a great idea but Im curious as to why they dont appear very popular
Do they steepen up if you try pedalling downhill? Is there a lot of chain pull as you try pedalling as it hits stuff?

I almost bought an abra cadabra frame off CRC in that sale, but I dithered too long and they sold out of sizes I was after

I think it depends on how much you drop the saddle a bit, and how much you ride/do so when its wet/rainy out
If you’re a set and forget rider (or at least for that bike) then you’re likely getting getting the benefit of the slimmer, likely flexier post with only the possible frame stress worry

If you take your saddle out the frame for storage or transport then Ive found a better than without as the shim tends to stay put where it was, so the shim keeps your ideally pedalling height or whatever for reinserting the post

If you grease the post (carbon friendly grease, eg pace for carbon post) then it helps with putting the post up/down, and as you raise the saddle with one hand hold the shim in the frame with the other it helps with saddle height setting

Ive tried gluing the shim into the frame too to stop it coming out with the seatpost if you’d rather

I remember one particularly wet/rainy ride, where Id dropped the ungreased/crudded up seatpost, but I couldnt pull the shim back down the post to raise the post, as my hands were wet. Since kept on top of any crud/lack of grease on the post

“puts the stress all at the top of the tube”
It does, but they’re mostly around 100mm long, which is normally within the minimum seatpost insertion for most posts and frames

Longer would probably be better though as it’s spread the load futther for frames that would fit a 200+mm shim

Looks good

If theres one thing Id alter, it’d be the angle of the saddle. Angled back (nose up) itll help feel more out the way when going downhill and maybe help stop you sliding forward on the bike. Im guessing you’re not planning to ride it up hill much?

If you intend to use in a fairly flat area then yes I think I would

Ive got 34T, 11-32T (were cheap at the time) on my XC Hardtail which gets used in flatter local to not ‘national park’* steep/high hills terrain, though rarely for more than 3hours
It takes a fairly steep, long, or loose/techy up for it to become unrideable, though some determination is required

If you’ve not really got a lot of steep/long climbing to do, then a 34,36 or bigger chainring would give better road gearing, and spread yhou typical 5 gears of wear higher up the block onto higher tooth number sprockets, hopefully making it last longer.
If its really gloopy/muddy out (depends on your local mud?) then you might want a spinnier gear?

Bigger chainring will weigh a little more though

“Kashima coating ends up inside & out – hence the rear shocks having it on the outside of the can”
Am I being daft, but whats the air can got to do with the Kashima coating? I assumed the outside colour was just for looks, as theyve no need to coat the inside of the air can as thats where the seals sit?

Between your current bike and the yeti, Im not seeing masses of difference, maybe the head angle on the yeti is a touch slacker, though I think you should be able to get an angle adjust headset for the spesh from works components for one
I think one of the 2009 (same shape) SJers came with 140mm forks, so if you’re wanting the ASR5 for 140mm forks then it may be your 08 SJer will take them too (though youd have to check the handbook isnt 120mm max)

As above the stumpy evo is quite different to an ASR5, more downhilly than a 575 I guess

Looking past all the mountain biking vocab that nobody’s ever heard of whats the dig against riding up the hills about?

“Bonty Mud-X they said. I’ve left them on for a year now as I’m so happy – great here in the Surrey mud, but I used them on Snowdon and they were fine, as was two laps at Coed-Y-Brenin. Even did a two day skills course on the things and they were fine”
As a not too draggy mud tyre and all condition tyre I quite like them. I use them in the wetter months on my XC hardtail as I normally like something a bit bigger volume. The 2.0″ MudX’s are probably the smallest knobbly tyre Ive used

“Maxxis Advantage, can’t go wrong with them”
Apart from if you have narrow rims and go with the 2.25″ or massive 2.4″ as theyll sit too round IME. Using low pressures to get them to grip they wont be overly stable in turns/landings and they’ll pinchflat, especially if you use normal size tubes theyll have to stretch a lot to fit
2.25″ on XM719s are a touch big I reckon
IME of other treads 70a isn’t brilliant if its wet/muddy out

“Has anyone tried Michelin XC Dry 2?, look fine for HARD PACKED conditions, I suspect terrible in Muddy conditions”
Yes, great in the dry, hardpacked or not too deep sand/loose. Not bad if its loamy, but its wet and muddy then no they’re not brilliant but Ive ridden worse tyres (70a crossmarks for one)
2.0″ come up pretty big, not as big as new continental, but a lot bigger than mudX’s. Similar to 2.35″ maxxis
2.15″ come up pretty big too, about the same as 2.25″/2.5″ maxxis

“find myself coming back to Kenda Nevegals. Not the fastest or the grippyest but I’ve always found them really predictable”
Id like to, but the sidewall/bead failing too often well before the tread is worn has put me off. The 2.1″ DTC I liked, predictable but maybe a touch slow rolling, Id have liked bigger and if I were going to the 2.35″ Id maybe want bigger side tread?

“maxxis high rollers 2.35 front and rear. Not perfect, but good at almost everything. Heavy, yes”
The 2.35″ 60a folding isnt too heavy, but not very big volume, slightly bigger than 2.1″ maxxis/kenda
Suprisingly not all that bad in mud/slop up front, on the rear the ramps make it bad for pedalling traction. though if its awful out then you’ll not want to pedal them too far through slop

“a huge, fat, knobbly Conti Vert on the front”
What size is that?
I thought verticals were only 2.3″? And the old continental 2.3″ which aren’t tiny, but not all that massive

On my main/FS bike the last year or two Ive used a 2.25″ Schwalbe Albert (the dual compound one) up front with a dry2 2.15″ rear when its dryish or another 2.25″ albert if its wettish for most riding (else a 2.0″ spesh storm for winter)

“RD-cups can be replaced”
Which cup is this?
The driveside (in freehub) or non-driveside in the hub body?

“Pikes have been replaced by the newer 20mm axle Revs”
Well, the air ones were. The coil pikes carried on for a bit, until being dropped,
I think the lowers (and steerer/crown?) carrying on to the Argyle solo air 140mm

There were a few others that would appear to use at least pike 20mm lowers, they being 2009 Revelation Dual-Air and Dual-Air U-turn (110-140mm) and a few OE Recon 140mm 20mm’s from at least Felt and Commencal hardtails

If there are ‘official’ public footpaths then you could walk with the bike, until he cant see/get you and get back on again?
Pretend you dont speak english, wear headphones but have nothing playing pretending you cant hear etc ..

” XT M785? would thet be ok with a 9 speed rear mech short cage sram + a XT 3 speed front mech? with sram shifters?”
Assuming 9spd casette/chain I think so*. But 9spd chainrings (over narrower 10spd** ones) ought to last longer?
*So long as a 9spd chain will shift properly on 10spd chainrings
**IIRC XT M785 is 10spd only?
Also, thought not sure, are there 10spd only front mechs? Or are front shifters all still 1:1 and front mechs will work with (almost?) any shifter/shifter speed?

If it were me Id probably take the 3g ‘penalty’ and save the £difference and get an SLX front mech

“cranks are only about 50g heavier than XT”
I think the SLX crankarms without steel pedal threads that come with the triple chainrings (M660?) are something like 3g heavier than XT (M770) crankarms

” despite Nukeproof saying it’s designed for 34/36 I could get away with a 32 with few consequences”
Id guess that’ll be to do with how much room there is for the chainring against the chainstay. ie a 38t probably wont fit, but a 32 is smaller. Maybe a 32 could change the chainline slightly from where they designed it around but its not a massive difference
Not like the chainline difference to a 22/24T hammerschmidt

I think the hammerschmidt chainline thing is do with most full suss bikes being desinged around certain chainring sizes (at least used to often be 32 and/or bigger, depending) So the 22/24T granny might be left (or partly deliberately) with undesirable pedalling characteristics for all your riding due to pivot placement, a hammerschmidt being stuck with it
I believe an Orange 5 for eg shouldnt be run with the new style 2ring chainsets with small/medium and medium/large rings as the pivot placement was never desinged to run with eg 40/28 chainrings

Best what? What spec/detail is most important to you?
Fastest freehub pickup speed, servicable freehub, weight, not cup/cone, least rolling resistance, quiet, loud, able to run singlespeed sprokets (not paying for widebody ones), axle compatibility/type (5mm QR, 10mm bolt up/nutted, 10mm thru QR, 12mm 135/142), ease of axle type changing, colour, logo garishness, warranty, reliability, brand name?

A Superstar Switch Evo is very similar to a hope pro II, same freehub pickup speed (24points/revolution), similar 300gish weight, cartridge bearings, mutliple axle type and ability to take different axles, as loud freewheel noise, if not louder, multiple colour choice
Differences are probably warranty, name, logo garishness and unknown reliability? Not sure if switch evos will take a SS sprocket
for reliability all Ive got to go on is a few threads on here on old pro II (not evo) bodys cracking around spoke holes

Shimano SLX have a 32point pickup speed with traditional/proper cup/cone setup for ~£35. you could put a 10mm solid (threaded) axle with nuts on if you wanted to stiffen up a bit from the 5mm QR
Something like 380g or so though and centre lock only

Shimano XT has a 36point pickup speed with a different cup/cone assembly that Ive read can undo itself more than the normal cup/cone type used on SLX (tighten normal ones up plenty and IME they dont undo). I reckon Id be adding a bit of threadlock ought to cure any issue?
Still ~330/340g, cant remember. around £50
With the odd cup/cone arrangement unless you can CNC/mill something up, you’re stuck with 5mm QR. No option of going 10mm thru bolt/QR
There is a 12mm/142mm thru axle version available but you’d be stuck with that too and I guess will be like the shimano 15/20mm front hubs which need special (££) sized cone spanners to service
Also centrelock only, at least in 5mmQR, not sure

OnOne has (had?) a hub for £40 which comes standard with a 10mm thru bolt QR (they fit in QR frames). It looks as if it must be cartridge bearing. Weight is claimed as 305g. When I asked them what the pickup speed was and how loud it was, they said it was loud, but didnt know what the pickup speed was

Must be more to choose fro out there

“ordering an ugly (ish) bike”
I quite like it, off to canyon site I go

“use a good socket spanner on the big hexes at the tops of the crowns”
I may have used an adjustable spanner before when I couldnt find a 24mm socket ..

First off, which U-turn? Coil or Air?

Ive done 2010 Dual-Air U-turns at home, should be virtually the same if yours are air. Appears complex when youve opened it up but follow the instructions and its alright
Its basically open up, drain oil, clean everything, remove O-rings and replace, put back together with new oil

Have a look on the service bit of Rockshox’s website
If you cant find ’06, then I think revelations were unchanged for 2007 and 2008 model years, for 2009 the internals should be similar (went upto 140mm), apart from coil U-turn which was only available on pikes for 2009