Put the skewer around the casette removal tool (with some room for it to undo)
Position the adjustable spanner/moldgrips and chain whip so that you can stand on them (put the wheel next to a workbench or something so you can gain balance with your hands (or are you using a socket?)

If jumping on them doesn't work, retry with some pipe over each handle to lengthen them. Try by hand, then retry standing and then jumping on them

*I've only had to get to standing on just the tools. I've no idea if going beyond that will break something

"Reckon if someone is willing to cough up that sort of money they wouldn't mind paying me a fiver for a more "agricultural" version !"

I dunno, the RRP ones have velcro attachments so you ca take them off pretty quickly and easily. You can switch them between bikes if you want

The £8-10 for a DH tube I don't have a 'spare' one to cut up seems a waste

The shimano one could be bent? Will it go in a little or not at all?

A (large) frame with extra standover clearance doesn't help things much either
'Disguised' a little:

'Exposed'

Its cut down to 380mm as well

A friends (15" SC Chameleon):

"685mm EA70 flats"
Are you sure they aren't the low rise 1" ones? (They don't look to have much rise visually). I thought EA70 flats were 580mm wide?

Shimano are very good (The internal cam is the key)

If you want some more clamping force, the (very pricey) DT swiss RWS is an option. I've heard of people haveing issues with the mechanism skipping, but mines been fine (front only). I was getting paranoid after reading up too much on the Pinder vs. Fox Case
With normal QR hubs/axles you'd need the non thru-bolt ones. The 9mm thru bolt (10mm rear) will only fit hubs deisgned for it (Its the same size as a conventional QR axle)

some other options I'd imagine you wouldn't want to touvh most of them on a group ride. The climb up the back (North side) of Win Hill is in the VG graphics book (OS map is simply a path (not a footpath) so maybe you could use that one

*I can't get the link to work. Bikehike said the url of my saved loop is: http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=27382
I don't know what I'm doing wrong

Also, as per my last post, if you track where that other landrover track is on a satelite picture, it lines up nowhere near the footpath on the OS map running parallel to it

I'm not going to say I can attend this as I dropped out of the last one, but (transport issues aside) I can't see why not just yet

If its the same landrover track as mentioned many times above, the VG graphics book uses it if that helps you make your mind up on using it?

How long is the warranty on a commencal? 1 year? 2 years? 5 years? lifetime?

New:
Pipedream Totero FS140 (140mm rear travel), 4-bar, £700 (singletrackmag seemed to love it)
Cotic Hemlock (130-160mm forks, 120 and/or 150mm rear travel), 4-bar £1080 (inc. Fox RP23 + few other things)
Santa Cruz Heckler (140-170mm forks, 150mm rear travel), single pivot, £1200 (2010 could be more)
Orange 5 (130-160mm forks, 140mm rear travel), single pivot, £1275 (RP23)

Else buy a complete bike, but a low specced good frame, sell the bits, keep the frame. For eg:
Giant Trance X_ ~ £1k, Reign ~ £1300-1400, Trek Fuel EX7 ~ £1400, Specialized Pitch £1400-1600 etc etc ..

Can't think what else off the top of my head, but there'll be more

messiah, has that nicolai got 2 chains?

44lbs? How?! No, really?

Can you not just use an adjustable spanner?
Or is there not room?

"run my mini's like this for them to feel comfy with one finger braking"
Even running the shifter (window removed) just outside of the brake lever (coincidentally also blue LX and hope mono mini) I found the shifter got in the way of my thumb. I've compromised by running brake lever outside, but only running it about 35mm away from the grip instead of 50mm away

"I don't see how it affects control"
On really rough/longer rough descents I found that my little finger plus the next finger simply wansn't enough to hold on. Having my strongest fingers covering the brake lever just doesn't make sense. Having 3 on the bar to hold on and the index finger to cover the brake is far better. You can modulate and pull the brake on/off far easier with just one free finger. With 2 I found they were trying to hold on as well control the braking

"If your minis aren't powerful enough they aren't working properly. "
I've suspected this for a long time. I've just never bothered trying to sort them

What didmatt said

Also, ditch the spring/retention clip on the back to make it easy. Put it back on afterward if you want, but unless you've snapped a raised 'knobble' on the pistons off and you haven't killed the spring then you don't need it

If its still a pain, loosen the bolts holding the caliper and adapter together to give you a bit more room. You ought to loosen them off to recentre the caliper after changing the pads anyway (loose claiper bolts, hold lever, retighten caliper bolts, let go of lever, try a few times until its not rubbing)

I'm confused? Where does it say any of them are 500gs?

This is as per their website:
Part No. MSRP* Bead FT/RR/PR Sidewall/Tread Size TPI Type Weight
260880 46.99 Aramid Dual Black / Black 26 x 2.0 120 Tubeless/Clincher 605g
268970 46.99 Aramid Dual Black / Black 26 x 1.8 ARC 120 Tubeless/Clincher 620g
403689 46.99 Aramid Dual Black / Black 26 x 1.8 120 Tubeless/Clincher 520g

If you've got 2.0" ones, then to quote 605g and you weigh them at 605g you can't complain can you?

I remember them being to quoted at 550g for the 2.0" about 2 years ago when I got mine. Either they've 'reweighed' them or perhaps they've changed the exact spec. a little?

"regular model not acx or tr "
The regular model is a TR (Tubeless ready)
ACX is a completely seperate tyre. The look similar, but are bigger (agonst other things)?

1 finger on avid juicys. Because of the slightly longer stroke than most brakes I don't think you could use middle finger and be able to get full power. It may be worth considered how long the brake levers are. Avids are comparitively quite short, so I can get away with leaving the shifters (complete with windows) inside of the brake levers?

1 finger on the hope mono minis for XC riding. Need 2 to get any power out of them for 'big hill' riding though

2 fingers on the low-end V-brakes on the commuter

Kirroughtree: Probably just for the McMoab. The random techy rock bits that come out of nowhere on the singletrack are good fun. A lot of the singletrack is very good and flows well. Short on drops/jumps though

Ae (before deforestation): The old (2 years ago) bits flowed really quite well I thought. A little more jumpy/bermy than most centres I think

Innerliethen (now): I didn't ride the old minch moor, but enjoyed the new version a lot though. The optional black bit was good. You'd really need a few runs to get to know Caddon Bank enough to ride at full speed and know which downramps/rocky bits are 'safe' to try jump off

Dalbeattie: I can't remember all of it, but lots of rocky/techy bits are good fun. A little flat (like K-tree) but still some good bits of singletrack

Newcastleton: Only 5 miles, the gravel was very loose in the corners and some of the ups were harder as they tried to diguise them in an up-up/down/up-up/down way but the mown grass verges I liked. Not massively involving but nice. Plus theres the north shore to muck about on

Glentress: I've never really got on with it before. I reckon I could learn to like Spooky woods and the rest of the red now I can jump a bit. The black I just found rough (end of the middle sections) though was on a poor forked/narrow tyred HT. The 2nd section (goats trail?) I like. I'd liek to return on a FS

Ae (since deforestation): All the sections that have been felled, the replacement singletrack is rough as, rarely flowing. Just painful to ride
The untouched bits are still great (but few), except maybe the opening climb

Mabie (Red): From what I remember it was (mostly) quite generic dull XC singletrack. Maybe I've improved enough since to find its flow If I went back

Glentrool: Not ridden it and don't think I need to, to decide I think I'll find it the worst of them as a trail centre

XC bike, casette sprocket, unramped '9spd' front chainring, 9spd chain, Deore mech as a tensioner. I had no problems (though made sure I used the least worn of my sprockets (from several casettes) when using to see how I got on SSing

You'll need about 3 casettes to get enough of the plastic spacers

Yes they are narrow, but if you have casettes that have 3 rivetted pins running through to hold them together you can reuse them. Grind them off at one end (To get the casette apart) and by threading the 3 pins through most of the plastic spacers (retrieved from the casettes) and the sprocket you can distribute the load a fair bit across the freehub body minimising the risk of the sprocket guaging its own run to spin freely around the freehub body

Also, if you've a few casettes, find a pair of same sized sprockets (other than aesthetics you can use differing sized ones). A pair of 21T will cover anything upto about an 18T. Hold them with some moldgrips/locking pliers and set to work griding all the teeth off with an electric bench griding stone thing. Slide on one-but-next to the sprocket either side (seperated by a plastic spacer) and you have a rear 'chainguide' to stop the sprocket dropping the chain

I've not took any pictures yet

Also bear in mind that no matter how slack/tall the fork makes it an 0mm travel, that at full travel, you'll be at the same steep/nervous position
Okay so you may gain 55-65mm fork height (unsagged) for a 50mm travel increase (130->180mm), but that will roughly only gain you 2-2.5(perhaps 3) degrees in head angle. So 69/70 to 66/67/68, which for a typical 180mm fork setup is still steep. With a 180mm fork diving all over the place, the nervous/steep/twitchy issues should be more apparant
A Marin 140mm FS (the 2009-8 Pike 140mm forked ones) were 66 degrees I think
66-67 degrees is roughly typical for a 160mm forked trail/AM full suss

Some so called XC/trail 100mm HTs have HAs as slack as 68 degrees (kona kula/caldera)

You aren't going to shed that much really are you?

By all means try to justify* them by needing a shorter/longer/higher rise stem, inline/layback post, wider/higher/lower rise bars to tune/play about with ride position, but really unless you are building from new or broke the last set you aren't really going to get much of a difference out of swapping them
*This tends to be my approach anyway

It may be that you can loose the most grams/£, but none of them will have a dramatic effect on your bikes handling as they're all 'static' weight. They don't do a lot

Wheels are probably the best place to ditch weight as weight ditched in rotating wheels multiplied by 3 is equivalent to weight lost elsewhere (apparantly?)
£200 probably isn't going to ditch the most weight from your current wheels compared to spending £3-500+ and get something lighter still.
Though you could get something pretty good for £200 though. Something handbuilt using eg Mavic XC717 Discs or One of the Stans Tubeless rims going for light rims, not worrying about heavier hubs (have less effect, being in the middle)

Look at your tyres and tubes and consider if you could loose some weight there. Tubeless should loose the most. You can make most 'conventional' tyres/rims tubeless with the correct conversion kit, but will weigh more than dedicated tubeless tyres/rims

Or better still, ride into/over all the rocks (the ones in the middle) of the Whinstone Lee Tor Descent (to cutthroat bridge) ..

175 on all bikes (I think) (rigid commuter/MTB, HT, FS, Play(Jump/4X) bike) but simply because that was what they came with or that was cheapest/seemed like the one to go for)

I'd like to try some others though. 180s on the FS sounds appealing for the corner dropping and most of the pedalling tends to be lower revs uphill or the odd couple of strokes on a DH anyway. Would lose 5mm of clearance though ..
I'd also get to drop the saddle by 5mm as well. Hmm

Maybe I need 170s to help me spinning properly as I seem to have lost the ability to do so ..

According to this online optimum crank length calculator I need a 173mm crank (for 34" inside leg). I'm not sure what type of riding this 'optimum' is based around though

Oddly this one says I need 181mm cranks[/url]

"If you have XL glovesd handy, you can stuff them with buuble wrap and wear them over the top of your normal gloves"

What if you have XXL sized hands? (or rather XXL size gloves are the only ones that fit)

I know someone who rides with them if its rainy, as a make-do waterproof glove. No idea how sweaty they are though

From the look of the picture, I reckon its standing water with a few waves on it, not a torrent of moving water?

here you go

I'm going to have to say no to this now

Theres some interesting route variations/ideas. Not sure chapel gate makes the best uphill. I tried it once, never again ..

"3k carbon full susser with TF-tuned shocks and cobalt wheelsets??? Joplin seatposts?"

That sounds like a bargain frankly for that, or secondhand

Also (different person), £20k for a car? You make it sound like a lot for a car?
Make it a decentish sized estate with a decentish sized engine to keep your ecomony up on the motorway and I thought most brands would easily tip £20k?

anna banana
Just ditch the retention clip/spring on the back of the caliper. The spring/spider between the pads will hold the pads onto the raised section of the piston just fine
They are a doddle to change pads then

For me, probably certain types of suspension design put me off (depending what I wanted the bike for), something with santa cruz down the side
Carbon bikes without aluminium reinforced/insert dropouts (eg Ibis Mojo SL)
Lack of seperate rear mech hanger worries me too. I'm struggling to find a reason not to buy a soul now though

The white bits make it worse. The fork could be forgiven, but the saddle and especially the grips you could have done something about ..

I think I know the one, just next to the railway tunnel entrance?

"9.15am, Barber Booth layby then"
Won't that take all of about 3 cars? (next to the bus stop near the bridge just before the uphill to mam tor)

I may be able to attend this, I'll have to see nearer the time yet though

"You're assuming that everyone who owns a cycle is a cyclists. I own a dishwasher, I'm not a **** dishwasherist "

Does that mean you don't use your dishwasher? In the same way you don't use your bike?

"its the holy grail of steerer cutting"

I still prefer one of these:

It does the cutting for you!

"shock and fork the same way up"
position wise, but only one is the 'best' way around
The shock is upsidedown on the ellsworth, reducing the unsprung weight, but the fork is the 'wrong' way around, as if it were the other way around it would have less unsprung weight (eg like a maverick, dorados, shivers ..)

I'd imagine that the shock simply doesn't 'work' the other way around. Either physically won't fit (probably the dials) or more likely the rider wouldn't be able to reach the open-propedal-lockout lever without getting off the bike and fidling with a well hidden away lever?

Those potholes want patching up ..

"Is it just me or does the MRP 1.x device seem bizarrely expensive at £40?"
Yes, me too, but what else are you going to buy? They'll charge what they think they can get
CRC have them for £37
A Rohloff guide is £43 (+P&P)

Whinlatter (North Loop/Loop 1)

It was great before they built rocks upto all the barkless wet roots 😉

Way too much in the peak too

"Why the Marin Mount Vision 5.7? That's a more XC bike"
2010 ones have a 68.5 degree head angle. No its not silly slack like the wolf ridges, but slacker than many of the others on the list
A Wolf Ridge is also a mile off of 28lbs too

I don't know what the weights are like, but perhaps consider an alu. scott genious. (140/150mm I think)

Yes loads wider
A 2.1" Kenda Nevegal is only slightly smaller than a 2.35" High Roller
I like mine, a good all round tyre. Not overly expensive either, especially when you consider they're dual compound too. Not the best tyre in slop, but you can still get by okay in the worst of it

"trousers and shorts! "

Are they not very badly fitting tights?