Years upon years ago I saw a device in MBA that was a small plastic tube that attached to an inner-tube valve. The idea was that by undoing a screw you would take some air out of the tyre into this additional device, then by tightening up the screw you would push the air back into the tyre.

The device was still at the prototype stage so I don't know if it worked, or if it was ever sold.

Top tube length is a hopelessly imprecise way of judging "cockpit size" becasue its dependant on seat tube angle and length and head tube angle and length.

The horizontal distance from the bottom bracket axle to the centre of the bottom of the headtube would give an accurate way of comparing frame lengths?

This idea really gets on my goat as it is blatantly wrong for xc/trail bikes which MBR test. The idea of sizing up bikes on their front-centre and wheelbase dimensions only is fine for DH bikes as those are the measurements that will give you some indication as to how the bike will handle, they don't take into account seat tube angle but that wont matter as you don't sit down on a DH bike. That's why Dirt measure the bikes that they test that way.

When sizing up a trail bike though you have to take into account how comfortable the bike will be seated as you'll be spending a good 50% of your ride in that position. The only measurement that gives you any indication of this is the virtual/horizontal top tube length. This figure is derived from the actual length of the top tube and the seat tube angle.

Through the years there have been massive differences between some OEM/after-market forks. Steel instead of alu steerers often get fitted to OEM forks to reduce costs, but add nearly a lb to the fork weight. In the case of Manitou the OEM forks are manufactured in Taiwan where as the after-market forks are made in the US. Last year Manitou had a lot of problems with their OEM forks where as the after-market ones were great and received glowing reviews.

It wouldn't kill a retailer to state that a product is OEM and then let their customers decide whether it's a bargain or not.

why would taking a picture at the Royal Horticultural Show make any difference.

Surely any horticultrual show or village fete would do.

I'm with you jam bo I thought it was a reference to Shaun 'Naplam' Palmer tearing the arse out of an Intense frame again.

But apparently it's to do with the fact that Intense were nearly incinerated in a forest fire.

I really feel for you psychle. It seems to me that you'll be spending the next few weeks living like Will Smith in 'I Am Legend'.

These price hikes only shaft the LBS who has to buy stuff through official channels.

At the beginning of the year you couldn’t buy a 20mm U-Turn Rev for less than £600 (I think the RRP is £699), I know as I tried to get hold of one. It appears that they couldn’t sell them at those stupid prices and they are now being offered to the internet big boys at a massive discount.

An LBS who buys their stock of Rock Shox through Fishers will have to pay at least £420 for a Rev with a RRP of £699.

You can buy them online for £450.

Ratty – If you get a chance could you email me the inbred jpegs/gifs to jim.the.saint@gmail.com

Cheers.

I’ve just been on the site and they have neither any of the jackets or socks left in stock.

It may well be a stupid idea but you’re not the first to think of it

You can buy this weird stuff here

819 comes in 28 hole

charliemort – I’m afraid that the grease on the seatpost, the lube on the chain, the longer length hoses needed on your bike and the gear cables weigh exactly 1.67lbs :wink:

I do believe the bicycle in question is a humourous pastiche of a CATerpillar heavy loader/mover, hence the yellow paint job and ‘kitten’ name.

Either way it’s a complete waste of time, money and resources just so some prat can build a ‘wacky’ bike to impress his friends.

Who is the best wheel builder in Edinburgh?

Me, when I’m in Edinburgh :wink:

If you’re going to use a 100mm fork and you’re not a fat biffer, you’d be better off with a standard Inbred rather than a 456.

Looks like Spesh are loving the singlespeed/fixed bikes. Obviously they’ve got all their horizontal drop-outs road stuff, but it looks like even entry level bikes like Rockhoppers will come with slidy, single-speedable drop-outs.

Are the pictures and description you used in your advert your own work, or did you copy them from the internet or another ebay advert?

They’ll withhold payments if you copy descriptions or rip pictures from somewhere else, it’s incase you haven’t actually got the item to sell and are just looking to con someone.

To be fair the issuing of the Air Ambulance has nothing to do with the person making the call, it’s the operator on the other end who makes that decision.

But,

on two occasions on my rides in the Clwydians I’ve come across Mountain Rescue Teams looking for people who have a suspected broken/sprained ankle. The first time I’d just past the person a bit further down the trail and the second time I helped the MR locate them. On both occasions though the person in question was with at least two other people; they were no more then 20mins from a road (even taking into account them hobbling and being helped by the other members of the party), the person was concious and was exhibiting nothing else wrong with them but the turned ankle.

So as I wasn’t on Leith Hill, and only know what happened by what I’ve read on here, it’s not really fair to comment. But as for the two fat bitches I saw sitting on their arses waiting to be rescued M . T . F . U

Oh just remembered something. I went into the Halfords store in Rhyl to buy a spoke to fix a wheel on my father-in-laws hybrid. I was told by the guys in the workshop that “we don’t stock spokes we have to order them in”.

We sold over 1m bikes last year, 1 in 3 sold in UK.

LBS’s still kicking your arse by selling twice as many bikes as you do :wink:

Bonty Revolt, XDX or XR1

azzyp – you’re far too generous. if somebody brought to my shop a £600 pair of forks that they had bought somewhere else and expected me to fit a sfn for free I’d tell them to get it done where they bought the fork from. or obviously fit it for £5, or sell them the proper tool.

bent tubes = 110% of WRONG, Fine on sussers, not on HT’s.

Bent stays make for a more forgiving/shock absorbing frame, ala Scapin. It looks to me like that fork is one of the reduced rake jobbies developed by Fisher so the bend in the down tube may be there so the fork doesn’t smash into it. The bends on that frame look like they will serve some purpose. Unlike the bends on an old frame by a certain wooden plank company that obviously served no purpose as the newer version is far less swoopy.

Looks like any other HT.

So what if it does? Joe invented/developed/built some of the first rigid mtb frames, so if it looks like anything else available it’s because they have been copying him.

Vagabond by name, vagabond by …………

I’m afraid guys that this is a scam pulled quite often in cafes, especially in places popular with tourists. Staff on the tills over-charge people, then when they count up their till at the end of their shift they pocket what ever is over, quite often telling the boss that it’s ‘tips’.

I work for Lavazza Coffee and here about this sort of malarky all the time on the North Wales coast.

rocketdog’s a pedigree he don’t ride no mongrel like a rockhopper.

alu and rigid? You’re a tougher f@cker then me.

anyhow, a maxlight or a scandal would seem to fit the bill.

headfirst – Ahhh, setting up front mechs.

Setting up a rear mech is an exact science, line things up appropriately and off you go. In comparison setting up a front mech to work in all gears with no rubbing is a dark art only to be performed by those who have sold their souls to the evil god of bicycle mechanics.

The problem is the amount of variables that can come into play with a front mech. Chainstay length, chain angle, bb width, chainset dimensions, chainring sizes, seat-tube angle, etc, all effect the initial set-up. Then once you think you have everything set-up you take it out of the stand and take it for a ride. It’s then you quickly realise that you hadn’t taken into account the flex in the bb area so everything is rubbing and your back to the beginning.

All bike mechanics will tell you that setting up a front mech is an exercise in compromise and trial and error.

When I fitted Crossmarks to a pair of 317’s with a Stans kit I had to use more yellow tape under the rubber thingy than with any other tyre. They were so baggy round the rim that it’s no surprise that they burp under cornering.

Personally I never got on with them. My first local descent is through a woods with loamy soil and they didn’t seem to give me any cornering grip at all. In fairness though they were one of the fastest tyres I’ve ridden on the hard stuff.

When are you fitting the clips and straps to the pedals?

Stendec are based in Holywell so if you spend time in Flint take them round and have a chat with Dave about how you want them to perform.

I don’t live far from Stendec and when Dave’s done forks and shocks for me before I’ve gone round with my bike and rode down a series of steps, etc while Dave watches how the shocks behave. After that we have a chat about how I’d like the shocks to perform and I leave the bike with him. When I go back the next day the servicing and tuning work is done and the shocks are installed on the bike ready to roll.

He offers this level of service for an extra price of £0. Can’t say fairer than that can you.

Penmachno can be intimidating for ‘first-timers’. The singletrack in places is just that, there is only enough width to the trail for a tyre. Also the wooden bits on loop 2 are really slippy if it’s wet.

The Marin is generally a wider trail and is technically easier for first-timers but the distance and climbs can be a bit much if your not in great shape or your suffering with a hangover.

Personally if was taking a group of blokes on a stag do out on bikes I’d drive an extra 30mins and go to Llandegla. It’s not technical at all (but fun for first-timers) and if somebody is not coping they can stay in the cafe until you’ve finished.

He’s done it again in Andorra!!!!!!

He’s now won more World Cups than anyone else. MisterGnar probably still thinks he’s been lucky though.

Fisher is owned by Trek so the build quality between the two bikes will be identical so just pick which one you prefer.

Who’s selling Pitch Pro’s for less than £1200?

Just had a look at your pictures and it’s quite apparent that the reason that the frame failed is because the drop-out is welded to the thin plate capping the chain stay rather than the chain stay itself.

I wouldn’t have thought that Brant would have specified that in the design of the 456 so I’d put it down to a mistake by Lynskey.

If CRC haven’t got any then chances are that nobody has as CRC and Hotlines are the same company.

It seems that some on here think that Peat only won because of the top ‘pedally’ section.

As fastest qualifier, Steve Peat was last man down, and he put in a classic run. The speedtrap near the top of the course had him 17th fastest, but at the first split time he was at second-place pace, at the second split time he was in the lead by a full second and he crossed the line in 2:07.14 to take the win by 1.27s over Hill.

Taken from Bikemagic.

So for everybody who thinks that Peat just out pedalled everyone else, your wrong diddly wrong wrong. Peat won the race by having the balls and the skill to carry more speed through the more technical bottom section.

How you doing rocketdog? I need you and matt to sign my copy of singletrack.

I should hire you to come and take some pictures of me as I’ve never seen matt look so slim :wink:

Halfords as a company should have a demo fleet of their high end bikes that they can send round their stores for customers to have a go on.
They seem to have done alright without one so far

Halfords have always struggled to sell bikes from a grand upwards. They have and still do stock good bikes eg; Airborne, GT, Kona, Voodoo and obviously their own Boardman stuff, yet a survey in 2007 on bikebiz said that over 90% of £800+ are bought from IBD’s and small chain stores, eg; Evans, Cycle Surgery, et al.

So with regards to bikes in the Boardman price brackets they haven’t done alright without one so far. :lol: