They are very tight when new and get very hard work to get them to lock home.
A rachet and with an M8 hex socket helps, as does some grease and tightening and backing them out again a few times.

If your having problems getting the splines lined up, slighty rotate the arm back and forth whilst slowly tightening the M8 bolt until the arm lock into the spline on the spindle.

Oil leaks – my oldest one needs a seal change but it must be over 7 years old. (Is this still a back to Germany job or can Ison do it in the UK?).

Simon, I purchased the tool and seals from SJS cycle and did it myself.
Sprocket removal tool also required.
If your Midlands based I would be happy to do the seal change for you.

Yes, got suckered in to an internet forum’s HT love PR :)
Tried every material going all a pain in the a*** after more than an hours riding.
Finally got a short travel carbon fs frame in a sale last year, in a word brilliant.

avdave2 +1

First one’s over 10 years old now, xc, dh, two trips to the Alps, in a word bombproof.
Changed oil every year, new set of seals after 7 years and new cables when changing over to a new frame.
Drag ….. new laser engraved shell version feels good out of the box, old sticker versions feels draggy compared to a cassette setup but the reality is that a grippy tyre will cause more actual drag.

Got 3 x Rohloff, an Alfine 11 & 8 and I can’t see a reason other than cost or weight why I would wish to go back to a standard setup.

Desperate to try a pinion 18, may just be the perfect solution.:)

Only ever broke two frames

GT LTS back in the day lasted about 9 months, small crack in the upper pivot mounting on the seat tube.
Kindly replaced under warranty.

Pro Star BMX frame back …..back in the day, 3 months, bike started to feel a bit weird pedalling into bowl, popped out of the back side and landed with a loud crack, snapped the top and down tube at the seat tube and BB welds.
Real pain to get it replaced under warranty with the LBS as it apparently wasn’t designed for “doing tricks” …… Rad :)

I wanted a naked carbon one a couple of years ago and there was nothing in the country at the time, so ordered from Jenson USA.
With import duty it worked out about £320.

Nice, Graham do you know if these trails be accessible when there aren’t any events on?
May be a nice loop to this from Bewdley if there is an off road rout from the Severn Valley Park.

I once had

1 x wife and 1 x bike

I now have

0 x wife and 9 x bikes

No implied connection just stating the facts :)

£994.49 with the discount :)

Nice, thanks for the heads up.

+1 Contigo

Contigo Travel Mug – I use one of these for everyday use, keeps my coffee at a perfect temperature for hours and reasonably leak proof with the lock feature if you keep the lid clean of gunk.

Great question, hope somebody knows the answer.

evoc

+1 Mobymemory

Nice, you will be happy, as good fitting as a Fox Flux but not as good air flow.

Done.
Short spin along the banks of a slightly swollen River Severn :)

24″ its the future :)
After a long search, I’ve finally got a new curtis sx24 frame in the colour I wanted and at a reasonable price.
Just need to finish the build to see how it rides.

Presentley running 32t chainring with a 22t sprocket and 26″ rims.

A few miles outside Worcester is ok and I rode Stoke Prior to Tarbigge yesterday which was fine just a bit sticky on the unsurfaced bits.
I suspect the just after Hanbury Warf will poor as it was in the summer, looks as though they had dropped silt from canal along a section of the tow path.

Also watched it at the cinema, I came away feeling …….slightly nauseous and violated.
You’ve got to be wrong in the head to think that kind of crap up, definitely not entertaining and I’ve not really watched a horror since.

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Range of stuff here.
But generally just run a full length of outer cable via top/dowm tube and seat/chainstay to the cassette joint arm depending how your frame has its cable run set up.
Swap the blue and green torque washers to get the best alignment for the cassette arm.
There are two types of Alfine tentioner depending if you have a HT or FS frame.

I went with a Sony Xperia Z for the folowing reasons
10″ screen
Very thin with a clean design
Waterproof
IR remote
Links well with my phone, tv and other gadgets.
Micro sd card slot (runs a 64gb card)

Down sides are
Price
Plastic coat over glass screen which can scratch and shows finger marks.

Other than the points above delighted with it so far.

XXL £79.99 here

Just got a pair at the weekend, no rides with them yet, fit is tight compared to the venturi event waterproof shorts.
If you intend on riding whilst it’s raining the venturi may be better for an extra £20 or so, if you want to ride after it’s rained, on wet trails then I think the MT500 will great and they do feel a bit more robust, but only the seat/gusset area appears to made of event material.

Resisted getting one for a while but finally got the Xperia Z, not cheap but had a couple of features I liked such as waterproof and IR remote.

Nope.

Not using this setup but using floor pump is always going create a challenge.
If a new tyre trying inflating with a tube first and leave for a few days to get it to seat and hold it’s shape.
Remove tube and use the soapy water on the open side used to remove the tube.
I’ve found rotating the wheel and bouncing the tyre against the floor whilst inflating (easier with a compressor) can help seat the bead.
Good luck.

Recced the canal route a couple of days ago from Stourton,to Waste Hill.
The dog leg bits incurred by following the canal do make it a bit longer but the real deal breaker besides feeling like riding the underground bits of Half Life and the section under the M5 was the Netherton Tunnel, it’s quite ……quite …….quite dark, long and damp.
Quite interesting when your light fails half way through :)

As a sugar source I guess no different to eating jelly babies or other sweet snacks but without the chewing.
Lots of water would probably be required to wash it down.

Running 140 mm Velvet DLA on a HT, much plusher than a 36 Talas, fairly stiff for a 32 mm fork and surprisingly capable, I would rate them over a pair of U-turn Lyriks I ran on a previous HT.
Function of the height adjustment works on the operation of the lever unlike Talas which require a pump of the forks, use it quite a bit.
Don’t use the lockout that much, but a mentioned above they are quite solid.
Awesome fork for the money.

+1 for the Bell Super.

Fox Flux was a previous favourite.

Thanks you for posting rob Jackson.
Got some service oil for the Alfine and Rohloff’s, code seems to work on items that already had reduced price.

I run 160 and 180 mm 36 Talas, like the height adjustment and stiffness a great versatile fork, bit stiff on the smaller stuff at the higher pressures I need to run and non sale items are very expensive, but love them.
Also just got the Velvets for a HT and I am super impressed for the price, work great out of the box, very supple, reasonable stiffness for a 32mm fork and I like that the travel adjustment alters the height when the lever is moved (on the talas a bounce of the forks are required).
For a FS frame I would probably look at the 34 mm Slant.

All three of my Easton Monkylites have slight clamp marks, assumed it was the orange graphic material applied across the centre of the bars.
I also have a pair of Havoc’s but haven’t removed those from the stem to have a look.

I had some from new talas 180s that made a weird noise under compression at the low travel setting.
A bit of research indicated they were shipping with low oil levels in the lower legs.
So removed lower legs and measured the oil volume that came out, which was about 10% Of the recommended volume.
Reassembled with the correct amount Of oil and the noise stopped.
So check oil levels in the lower leg, fairly simple process to do.

DP

Recently purchased some HT pedals from Taiwan via eBay, quick delivery, well packaged, no tax or import duty.
Never get hit for duty on stuff from the Far East,Japan, but anything from the USA get you every time, however the D3 I ordered from Jenson still worked out £30 cheaper than CRC (full price not sale prices) at the time.

Had some X-fusion Velvets on the HT for a few months now, rate them over the RS stuff I’ve run.

True plus it leaves the cable quite open to the elements, but I was thinking of using the KS/ODI lever if you can still get them anywhere.