Whenever I get an oily chainring mark on my legs (when wearing shorts) its from standing over the bike, as per the guy in the picture
44T, 42T, 34T and 32T btw (on different bikes)

"Have you ever met a guy who rolls his jeans up to his knees?"
Its so he does't miss out on the oily chainring mark on his leg I assume?

What is that stem doing on a soul?! Its horrendous
It looks like its got a Brand X seastpost too. Dear oh dear

Maybe the jeans are something to do with it ..

Definetly stick to the main gulley line
I've got some pics if you want me to put them up, but from 1.5-2 years ago? Wow, I thought I would've been down there more recently than that!
At a guess (and thats all it is) it'll be full of (hard) snow in the gullys if the Kinder Scout/Jacobs Ladder Loop was anything to go by 2 weeks ago

EDIT: From Monkeyspoon.com theres a set of chapelgate (the pic in the below post is from it too) from January 21st apparantly (click the pic)

"High Rollers. Changing them every season seems nuts to me"
The 2.35" ones will cope with sloppy mud, but they're so much harder work to pedal through than a mud tyre because of the extra width. The ramps don't help them out much for pedalling

I reckon If I had to have just one, It'd be Bontrager ACX TR (55/62a) 2.2"s. A touch small volume, but cope with mud almost as well as mud X's (but bigger), roll pretty well, grip pretty well and 55a corner knobbles corner okay
Theres one big drawback though, Bontrager has pulled them from their lineup! Barstewards

I like to change tyres though so my current 'schedule' is something like:
FS Winter slop: Bontrager ACX (55/62a) 2.2"
HT Winter slop: Bontrager Mud X (55/62a) 2.0"

FS 'Summer': Kenda Nevegal (50/60a)2.1"
HT 'Summer': Maxxis Crossmark 70a 2.1"

FS Alps: Maxxis High Roller 60a (single ply wire) 2.5"
FS Beefier than normal: Maxxis Advantage 60a 2.25"
FS Autumnal/Spring Transitional Conditions, but slighly beefy: Maxxis High Roller 60a 2.35"

I'd like to try some 2.35" (folding) 60a Minions in place of the folding HRs, and some lower profile tyres for drier 'summer' conditions, maybe some Michelin Dry2 XC 2.15", and 2.5" 60a single ply wire Minions in place of the 2.5" HRs, or maybe Specialized 2.3" Clutch SX (45/50a) up front, or a 2.35" 50a Kenda Nevegal or Blue Groove. Ooh I could try 2.3" (55/65a) Specialized Eskars in place of the single compound Advantages too ..
Theres just so many to try ..

"the best fell runner only really comes close to an MTBer on the flat – I think they do 5 mile runs in about 35-40 minutes. That's a pretty poor average for an MTB offroad"
He's not on about on a towpath/fireroad/road though is he?
On something with some gradient changes and lots of rocks/roots/tight corners and lots of changing direction and drops etc I fell runner compared to someone on a saddle up XC bike could easily be faster I reckon. Try running down a techy DH course, ankle twist risk aside you can 'absorb' the drops by letting your legs come up into you so much more. At least this is my conclusion after running down part of Dunkeld DH track once (don't ask)

5miles over 35-40 minutes, so about 8mph? Maybe on smooth flowing singletrack or fireroads that would be slow on an MTB, but on techy singletrack ups/downs you may well not achieve that

"Why do cricketers wear helmets"
How fast is a cricket ball typically bowled at at professional level? 100+mph? Cricket balls are pretty hard ..

Loving the pic Pook

"except the price! "
and the sidewall thickness and ..

"long travel
big tyres
dinner plate brake rotors
wide bars/short stem
chain device"

So a DH (specific/focussed) bike then?

Eh?

A Rig is/was made by Gary Fisher

29" wheels
80mm? Fork
SS gearing (though will accept hub gears)

one of these:

Theres some £1300 Dorado's. Wierd, I thought they were £2500 when they first* came out?

*The recent rerelease

Theres a £3500 Rocky Mountain Full Suspension Frame on there?

No, but wierldy am listening to it on the myspace page right now

I can't work out if I like it or not, the theatricality of it can make or break some of it. I like the track Obsessions most

YGM

Steerer, Crown + Stantions. Oh I see, CSU, stantions being uppers

Erm maybe yes, I don't need to get the fork off of my brother, just that if rideable would be better than the MX pro on my HT
Its just that the costs could be a bit preventative, though I'd be prepared to swap at home with the help of the rockshox manual
A complete 'CSU/SCU' assembly would put my mind at ease

Whats a CSU?
I'm not thinking of riding it (anymore), mostly interested in the detail

The fork hasn't split, just bent lots. The pic is after the steerer tube has been forced out of the crown

Marin do make Quad-link bikes, but they're not the only one ..

The most annoying thing about the whole thing, is that had the bike not had a handbuilt front wheel and some poorly tensioned with some miles under its belt factory built front wheel, the front wheel would probably have pringled and left the frame and fork completely unaffected. Thanks merlin!

"Just throw it away "
Its not my bike to throw away, its my brothers, I don't think he wants to have to drop £1200ish on a new frame when he 'can' still ride this one. Plus you can't get a QUAD-link frame frame-only

"but you could ream the crown hole and go up a size on the new steerer"
As new, the part of the steerer tube that press fits into the crown is the same outer diameter as the part where the headset crown bearing race sits, (presumably 30mm as per that RST one, so that all crown races fit all forks), then tapering back to 1 1/8" for the rest of the fork? (the bend is above this transition point, probably about 40-50mm higher

" its obvioulsy how its been designed in the first place"
I realise that having read further down the thread. I didn't think to retype what I'd written relating to what had been posted before the bottomed out shock catching the frame as new, if that makes nay sense. Basically mostly ignore that entire post

I'm pretty suprised it phycially bottoms out on the frame from new though

About 15mm, with a wider bit at the bottom edge

If you think about a stem clamped upto a steerer tube, you're only meant to do the bolts upto about 5-10Nm?

"but would you trust your life to it"
Not at the moment, but am interested in trying to determine how (un)safe it could be made, even if I don't ride it

I could always buy a full face helmet ..

How does a crack test work then? ie, will it break the crown (if its not already)? Like testing to (or near to) destruction?

Hmm, At least if the outcome of a crack test was favourable enough to ride I could have a unique* silver RS fork crown?

*I assume

"240g isn't light though"
I know its not, but its an 'entry' level carbon seatpost at £60? Its a 400mm one too so should require some extra beef for the extra extension plus some for the extra internal aluminium
I'm happy enough with it for the £30 i got it for

A 350mm £60 FSA one weighs about 260g I think

"New Ultimate which are <130g for a 30.9×350!"
Whats the RRP on that then? 2, 3 (or 4) times the RRP of the 400mm Bontry ACC?

"impact that breaks the fork, bends the frame and breaks the headset"
The fork isn't actually broken, the steerer tube is 'only' bent at a stress riser* where the steerer tube changes from a much thicker thickness to a narrower thickness relatively suddenly

Only the lower end of the headtube (the unsupported/ungussetted) where the headset sits was slightly ovalised. The headset cup has been refitted into the 'normal' position with some liquid metal filling the little gap behind the headset cup (which isn't as deep as the headset cup)

The headset cup is fine

*I think this is correct?

"if you are really concerned just crack test the crown too to be on the safe side. (you will have to lose the paint on it to do that though"
So if it had been near to breaking point then there should/ought to be signs of flakey paint/stressed paint?

"asses how much damage the odd bottom out would be likely to cause"
That sounds like a recipe for a cracked frame (though it might not). I somehow doubt specialized would warranty a frame with a shock not meeting the shock 'specification' for the frame (what does the frame manual say? – have you got 190mm/45mm from the manual or measured it by hand?)

"shouldnt really ever bottom out REALLY hard"
But if you start trying to learn to do drops, or let someone a bit heavier try then theres a decent chance it could
Given the reason that they redesigned the '08 SJer (and '09 FSRXC) (or so Bikescene told me) to reduce the load on the top tube to get it lighter, theres a decent chance those parts of the frame aren't upto a hard bottoming out of the frame. I assume a shock will have some sort of hard ramp up at the very end of its stroke to help reduce sudden hard bottoming out forces too?

"I reconnected the shock, let all the air out it and compressed the suspension and even with then it's the rocker arm that stopped it moving any further"
Thats worrying!

My Bontrager one is holding out

Bontrager ACC (Alumimium core construction) have an aluminium core to give them a little backbone, I think so they'e more likely to bend than snap straight away. a 27.2 400mm one is 240grams I think (£60 RRP) so not weighty as a consequence

If you use the Pace Carbon Grease (reapply every so often, when it gets a bit sticky) then it stops/reduces the surface from peeling away a bit. Makes it much smoother to drop/raise the saddle too.

"useful to be able to run a tandem around solo"
With a front brake and front shifter surely it wouldn't be toooo bad would it? It'd be pretty difficult to do an endo and go over the bars with the front brake and so long as the rear shifter is left in the middle it'd be a chainring either side of SS? Unless you need to go up some kind of big hill ..

"pedal technical sections while dragging the brakes"
I already do that on (narrow) north shore on a normal bike ..

The old bashed out easily enough with some good whacks with a hammer, I'd assume it'd bash back in again as easily? Though steerer tube in the freezer beforehand and towel around the crown and pour boiling water on would help to get it in more smoothly?

Open side (where the bolt is) should be the same side as the open side of the seat tube. Else it ca't tighten as well and the seatpost slips

A (new) SFN for each fork. The cost of a head doctor has always put me off getting one
I quite like the challenge that is trying to force a SFN in with just a hammer and a screwdriver. I've been bought a proper SFN setting tool now though

Hmm altough the thickness should be the same as for the crown race, so the RST steerer tube should fit, I can't help doubt the tolerances would be out (despite it suppoed to be exactly 30mm) to run an RST part in a Rockshox Fork

No it wasn't a drag brake, It was definetly 2 hydraulic disc brakes and 2 hydraulic (magura) rim brakes. The bike was for alpine DHing. Can't remember where it was now. It might have a been a post on here some time ago

The pic isn't overly clear, but the visual bend in the steerer tube is about 50-60mm up from the base of the steerer tube, ie not where the crown is, it looks as if its bent where the steerer tube jumps to a thinner thickness
I realise the steerer tube could still have bent/slipped within the crown as well

Okay, so if the crown is/was damaged/stressed/strained beyond/near to its limits, would the more brittle paintwork show signs of this, eg flaking/stretching etc..
I know theres an awful lot of assumptions in asking that, many of which I believe to be false, but I'm interested in the whys

No no, I (was) thinking of how plausible/safe it would be to make the fork ridable again. The crown is probably not worth the risk

I just had 2 thread ideas to put up, so while I was putting one up, I thought I'd put up the other is all

If I was able to get the bent recon from a friend, I might be able to use the complete steerer/crown stantions assembly, though due to the way the fork is bent I think the stantions will no longer be parallel

I do realise there are several potential issues with the general idea, many more than than any advantages to this way around. It would require both riders not to be numpties, and it would help if both liked to pedal at the same pedal cadence and had a good idea of when to brake

Unlike a car it surely can't go thaaat wrong, unless as mentioned above the 'stoker' decides to slam the rear brake on under leant over cornering, but a half clued up person (hopefully) wouldn't do that

I'm not trying to say why on earth would you set all the controls to the front, just entertaining the idea of doing it a bit differently by asking why it just won't work

Thought I should help start a thread on here once in a while. Sometimes it gets a bit samey

"I'll give control of my car brakes and throttle to my passenger"
At least they'd be able to see where they were going ..

Both tandem riders would be pedalling anyway, just in this instance both riders would have 'a' brake

I read somewhere of a tandem with a set of hydraulic disc brakes controlled by the front rider and a set of hydraulic rim brakes controlled by the rear rider?

"Ok I give up "
No no! Don't do that. (I think) you're the one that knows what you're talking about ..

"i bet your the kind of person who leaves the shed open or bike unlocked and wonders why its stolen! "
Nope

I hadn't really thought about it that much though, the crown potentially being a 'timebomb' waiting to snap. Hmm

So new steerer/crown/stantions would be fine? (depsite being what, £100-150?)

"Or grab a big handfull half way round a corner causing all kinds of problems…."
Or that ..

As an eg, I was thinking (without any real depth) front brake for the front rider, rear brake for the rear, front shifter for the front rider, rear shifter for the rear. Mostly from being able use non tandem specific gear/brake cables/hoses

It'd probably not be ridden over anything 'big' just going onto the XC bike, so no hucks/drops or anything really rocky. Probably some tabletops and some stairs though. Theres always a chance it could end up on the FS if/when the Revelation goes back to the menders again so couldn't really guarantee 'less than big' riding only