“You can fit an 11T sprocket onto the 12-36 with minimum effort apparently”
You’d end up with a bit more of jump between 8 and 9 is all
You’d end up with 11-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36T IIRC

“What exactly is the benefit of 36t front versus say 32t or 34t?”
If you can keep an 11T on the casette, you get a faster gear
More teeth on the chainring will wear less quickly
I bought a 34T for mine because it was cheaper than a 32T, and 32-11T was too spinny on the road too often for me

It looks nice enough, though a linkage driven single pivot (without ABP or DOPE). The 1 year warranty puts me off most though

“SS is overkill”
Are you sure you mean that?

To not be overkill surely you’d need less gears?

Whoops, only 170mm SLX triples 9spd are £100 on CRC. 175mm’s are £128 9spd, £110 10spd

Don’t think so

XT triple cranks (inc. BB) are 853g
SLX triple cranks (inc. same BB?) are 889g

Given the XT gains an alloy inner ring over a steel one, a carbon/steel middle over a composite/steel middle and the outer is most likely slightly lighter too, you’d think there wasn’t loads in weight between SLX and XT crankarms? less than 36g anyway
SLX triple is £100 from CRC atm

You say you bought in april, was it new (and shop bought)?

If so you it ought to still be covered by warranty?

They ought to be alright, they work okay in other brakes. Okay so they’re missing some feedack to tell you they’re actually biting the rotor, they can squeal and will build up a bit of heat, but they do last (or mine do) in (mostly peak grit) slop, and especially for the money, they’re very good just for that

They will void you Magura warranty though, being sintered I believe

No Hemlock, its a four bar/FSR/horst link. Specialized owns the US(/North America?) patent, cotic doesn’t pay to use it (just as many european brands dont’)

“You should change bars every 3 years as a rule”
even if they’re warrantied for 5 years? (ie easton, bontrager .. )

Making sure your stem/brake levers/shifters/grips aren’t overtightened ought to decrease the stresses on them i should imagine too

Value wise no

Just as one eg:

Cotic Soul (4.4lbs?) = 853 front triangle (631 headtube?) = £470 inc. seat clamp, chainstay protector & delivery
Cotic BFe (~5.5lbs?)= 853 DT/631 ST/TT/HT = £370 inc. seat clamp, chainstay protector & delivery
Orange P7 (~6lbs?)(was £600 last year) = 631 front triangle = £500

Though if you love the P7 to ride and don’t get the cotics then it’s probably worth the extra for you

I used to, then I bought some middleburn cable oilers and haven’t had to replace either since, just push out the muck as you ‘relube’ every so often

“This will knock nearly 1kg off the bike “
Erm, how?

“SLX brakes”
Around 430(+)g each (160mm rotor), I think post mount
‘standard’ (2011) Magura Martas are around 325(ish)g I think
Even Elixir R’s (£160 pair on merlin) are 367g each

“SLX shifters, mechs”
About 1g (per pair) between XT and SLX shifters, but almost 30 between SLX and XT shadow rear mechs. (XTR will be lighter of course, quite how much I don’t know)

Not much in the way of weight but just a couple of things that sprung to mind

” I want to have another crack at Cristalp next summer”
Thats ages away, you can always put the gears back on beforehand?

“Looking for a 60A folder , can’t decide between 2.1 or 2.25”
You’ll struggle, neither of those exist

A quick look I could only find 2.1″ 62a for £25.19 (wiggle) and 2.35″ 60a for £27 (CRC). Just Riding Along had had 2.35″ 60a for £22, but no longer

No steel pedal inserts (or steel axle). The middle (32T) ring is steel teeth on composite ring for longevity whilst keeping weight down (SLX double/bash is alloy 36T ring)

“I’m pretty sure its 510 and 520mm for the 140 & 150mm floats”
AFAIK its 511mm for Fox 32 140mm QR/9mm open dropout
(150mm only available in QR15 bolt-thru)

If you (or non S-works bikes) don’t have the (bike specific) manual, it ought to be on the website somewhere, just might take a bit of finding it

“Please tell me a better way to get to the top”
Helicopter?

Yes, but worlds apart ..

Theres a V graphics guide book for the north yorkshire moors?

If it is a 150mm Fox 32, then it will be closer in height to a 140mm Fox 32 than a 160mm Fox 36.

I believe axle-crown heights are:
Fox 32 QR15 @ 140mm = 515mm
Fox 32 QR15 @ 150mm = 525mm
Fox 36 20mm @ 160mm = 545mm

2.1″ is big for a 2.1″ (very almost as big as a 2.35″ High Roller/Minion)
2.25″ is very big for a 2.25″ (I reckon ever so slightly bigger than a 2.5″ High Roller/Minion, lower tread/inner volume is slightly bigger anyway)
Because they’re so big ‘normal’ tubes aren’t anywhere big enough IME. The first 20psi pumping up is stretching the tube to fit the tyre, I found I needed 50psi + to stop them pinchflatting all the time
Maxxis 1.2mm freeride tubes work well with them.
Because of the round profile and ‘not as big as high roller’ side tread they don’t seem to corner well up front without running at noticably (while ridig) low pressures

70a – hardest compound, cheaper, longer lasting, fastest rolling, least grip
62a eXception – claimed to roll (nearly?) as well as 70a, and grip (nearly?) as well as 60a, quite expensive, lighter, only available in 120tpi. I’m not sure on lifespan
60a MaxxPro – medium rolling/grip/lifespan/cost. though can be a bit draggy for ‘XC’.

2.1″ Kevlar 70a 60tpi – 640g for kevlar/folding
2.1″ Kevlar 62a 120tpi eXCeption – 595g
2.25″ Kevlar 60a 60tpi – 660/700g depending on source (of claimed weight, though it may be newer versions are beefed up a little, as original ones were pretty thin)

How have you measured them?
Many forks have ‘extra’ stantion showing, ie when the fork bottoms out the lowers don’t come into contact with the crown assembly

It may well be worth letting all the air out of the fork, compressing them, marking it somehow (not some kind of dent), eg a tie-wrap/zip-tie, pump them back up again making sure they are extended all the way out, and measure the difference?

leisure lakes might have then for £180, I think they did last time I looked

Around Baslow Edge, Pilsley, Rowland, Eyam, Stoney Middleton sort of stuff* rode alright today. Ok some mud and wet limestone, but generally okay, pretty good given the recent rain

*by which I mean bits and bobs out of routes the V graphics book uses to make up various loops

Armed with new knoledge, maybe he’s gone to see if a ’02-’04 enduro will actually ride down steps?

There was this bloke off of here on a STW peak pootle ride last winter on a fixed rigid 26″er
At the top of jacobs ladder:

“Its worth noting that most remote cables on seatposts form a U bend. So once the water gets in it can’t get”
“I have a feeling that the remote cable’s, whilst nice, do add to the problems”
You need to a middleburn cable oiler or two into the cable, if it gets sticky you sI have a feeling that the remote cable’s, whilst nice, do add to the problemsimply push the dirt back out with WD40/GT85 etc. Plus if you position them along the cable outer just right, then the rubber O-ring on them acts can help stop cable rub too

I went for a KS i900R as I wanted to be able to set it anywhere along its height (not just set drop points decided by the manufacturer), and as I was after a dropper post to increase the amount of saddle drop on my frame (around 80mm drop) where the shock interupts the seattube I wanted more than 4″ of drop to partially warrant the outlay

There is quite a lot of play in it now, though as above you don’t notice it whilst riding and if anything must help when the bike pings its way through rocks seated climbing or moving weight into corners
The ‘patented no slop’ guides inside are worn
Theres some quite deep scratching in the inner shaft too and probably connected there is some play fore-aft (ie when you sit on it, it must move) though again its not noticable when riding and still works fine

The older lever on i900Rs although a bit easier to use (when positioned below the bar rather than above)I reckon than the new style was a bit flimsy, I broke 2
The new style ODI lock ring compatible one is a bit pointless though as if you were to mount it on the inner edge of your grip replacing a grip lock ring then you have reposition your whole hand to use the lever which is effectively much further back. I’ve got mine inboard of the brake and shifter though because its ODI lock ring compatible you need to have something under the clamp (I’ve got the ‘clip’ ends of an old locking grip middle sawn off) else it will score your bars as its only clamping around half of the way round the bar

Servicing its pretty simple, basically remove the lower nut and threaded cap, degrease/clean out and bung suspension grease back in

Probably the worst thing about i900’s though is the (single bolt) clamp. To get it tight enough so the saddle won’t move I need a ball ended style (6mm) allen key with an extension. More of a problem though are the notches in ‘splines’ of the clamp which means that my saddle has to point slightly too back (freeride) or slightly too forward (uphill). I could get it pretty much flat with my last saddle though I think it had slightly bent rails
i950’s look like they have similar ‘splined’ type notches to grip with too

ODI rogues are big (not as big as large size sunlines) but they’re just too soft, or at least the outer edge/tread is. Wrap your hand around it and twist and the outer edge/tread just seems to twist round along with your hand. I can’t say I’ve actually noticed it while riding but it can’t be a good thing?

“are those 3V pictures from on/near Saulire “
The First ridge is from La Saulire heading north to Col du fruit
(from where there are 2 really good exposed descents, one into either valley)
The second ridge is from Le Verdet* south (between Meribel and St Martin de Belleville) past Roc de Fer to Le Grand Lac (Again another descent back into Meribel which is great)

*theres another ridgeline descent (which looked awesome, for some reason I chose to go south) from Le Verdet north back to Pas de Cherferie, from Pas de Cherferie:

You can see the fireroad climb leftish uphill, look closer and you might just be able to see some more of the ridgeline path

Courchevel/3vallees area (solo riding though):

one particular ridge descent:

another:

Not amazing at showing the ridge, but I quite like Rushop

“LBS quoted £108 for new rim and rebuild”
Merlin cycles handbuilt XC717 black disc with deore hub is £60 btw

I’ve seen worse jumped on straightened to get to spin through the fork (to get home) and then LBS trued it up. Still going over 1.5yrs on despite 3’+ drops etc

Is the rim actually broken or just bent? You could try loosening all the spokes right off and see what shape the rim wants to be?

Have you read any magazine reviews? SC Blur LT vs. Yeti 575 was in issue 44? (I think I saw it on the cover whilst trying to find something in a back issue the other day)
Orange 5 was in quite recently, maybe 58?

"Post of the day…"
+1

"There are systems that let you extend pedals out to so your heels don't foul the cranks"
At least specialized do some pedal axle extenders if thats something you want to try

'all mountain' in its truest sense, it'd have to be a bionicon, as it'll steepen up sufficiently to climb stupid ups, and then be able to slacken it back toward 'on trend' angles?

Yes but druidh, 2.1" Advantages are very almost as big as (small for their size) 2.35" High Rollers, unlike (small for their 2.1" size) fire XC's

Yes, but I think I've thought it was better (whether it actually was I don't know). Its gotten heavier and more sluggish, damn progressing skills and riding ambition

Kingtut +1

The layback posts (with saddles pushed right back) ruin them most I reckon. I thought the point of the mmmbop etc was to have steep SAs for climbing well and then getting the saddle right down out the way for proper descending. Though I could well have lots of things muddled up here

The forks look too big and bulky IMO especially at full travel as well as making the SA look too slack and BB height too tall

2.1" Fire XC Pro's? Surely 2.35" Maxxis or bigger for a ragley?

Brants looks best:

@ RDL-82, do you not like your nads or something? On a saddle down DJ bike maybe, but a trail/AM bike with the saddle fully up I don't really get the saddle angle?

"What time do I go to ChezVegas BMX track so as to avoid there being anyone else there? I'd prefer to fall off with as few onlookers as possible"
When its raining