The Float is a good shock. I suspect that it is not properly tuned to match the suspension characteristics of your bike though . While you can adjust the air pressure and turn the rebound dial on the Float R, there are a number of ways that the shock manufacturers optimize their shocks to work with various suspension designs.

For instance, I believe that Fox makes 3 different sizes of air sleeves for their Float shock. If the Fox shock on your bike has the small air canister, but the Swinger shock had a large one, the bike would ride much differently. If the air can is too large, you can reduce your shock’s air volume with this kit as explained on Pinkbike.

But there’s more. My Float R shock has a sticker that says “Propedal Tune” and mine indicated one (shortest) bar out of three, like a cell phone signal indicator. I believe that this means that my shock is tuned for minimal low speed compression, which Fox and the bike manufacturer felt worked best with the rear suspension design of my bike. Other suspensions designs would be better with mediun (2 bars) or maximum (3 bars) of low speed compression. There are other things that can be tuned as well; the shock in the Pinkbike article has stickers for boost valve and rebound tune, each with a number (instead of the bar graphic like my shock) next to them.

The bottom line is that without knowing how the Radium shock is tuned, it would be a crapshoot on whether it works better or worse than the Fox. If you went to someone who is knowlegable on suspension tuning, they could probably make your shock work better or tell you which one you should buy if they can’t.

Buying a dropper seatpost really opened my eyes to some of my bad habits. For instance, I realized that I had my butt on the saddle 99% of the time; I almost never stood up! Well, if you drop the saddle, then you have to stand, and it is really tiring when you’re used to being in the saddle all of the time.

I would go see Jedi if I lived in the UK. I’m in the US though, and MTB coaching does not seem to be as popular here. After some searching, I found Lee but he’s 1500 miles away!

In the interim, I bought Lee’s book which just arrived yesterday from Amazon. It really does a good job of breaking down basic riding skills. I’m thinking about seeing if there is interest from others in running our own skills course where we read the book and help coach each other on maybe one new skill a week. That way, I’d have others there to look at my riding since you can’t see yourself ride unless you make a video or something. No doubt that this is not as good as having an experienced coach, but it is probably better than trying to fix my riding on my own.

I also just bought this book which goes much more in depth and covers more advanced riding than the NICA one. At this point, it is too much material for me to wrap my arms around though.

Ok, now I gotta go ride and practice that attack position…

I have IXS assault; they have 3 straps: lower thigh, upper calf, and ankle.

I also tried the Fox Launch that had straps as well. I found the Fox pads too restrictive when pedaling.

I installed the barrel adjuster in the middle of the remote cable. Mine is located under the top tube; I don’t have braze ons for the remote cable, so I just zip tied it to the rear brake line which runs under the top tube.

Squirt +1.

IXS Assault have straps 3 places; lower thigh, upper calf, lower calf. 5 sixes available IIRC. Don’t know about pressure on the knee though, you’d have to try them on.

9mm skraxle for front hub. Stiffer than a 9mm QR. Would be enough of an upgrade in stiffness for most trail riders instead of the newer 15mm standard.

I’d go for 15mm if buying a new bike at his point, though.

Have transitions lenses in my regular prescription glasses as well as a pair of prescription riding glasses. Love them. I have no issues when night riding with lights.

Probably the only negative is that they do take time to change. Whether going indoors from bright sun or riding into the woods after being out in the open, the lenses do take time to change. But your pupils adjust, too…

No reaction to wind, but they do darken more when cold, which is good in the snow if the sun is out..

Halo headband FTW. Used one for years, works way better than everything else that I have tried. They have lots of different versions here

Latest issue made it to my mailbox on Monday, and I’m in the USA!

Maybe add a beer can shim?

Without a picture, I have no idea what the clamp looks like, so its hard to suggest anything…

Didn’t the boss in Office Space (Movie) do that?

Bike – Kind Shock Lev dropper seatpost!

Non bike – New brake drums/shoes/rotors/pads for my truck…stops so much better now!

Try this thread

rwc – I’m in the US; I ordered it from Bike Bling.

There is a Lev thread here

I have a KS Lev, with the cable entering the post at a fixed point above the seatpost clamp, so no issues on the seatpost end.

The bar mounted lever is well made, and functions smoothly. The split clamp makes installation easy. There is no sealing whatsoever; so dirt can enter the cable or pivot. However, all of the other remote levers that I have seen (except for the hydraulic Reverb) are the same. It is easy to remove the lever from the bar mount if it needed cleaning or lube or whatever. It uses a standard shift cable and housing, so replacement would not be expensive.

The dropper post is the best upgrade that I ever made to the bike, and the remote makes it easy to use. Having tried the remote version, I can’t imagine using it with a lever under the saddle.

Edit: Oh, and KS do a mud boot, too boot[/url]

My bike is now set up like what the OP’s question.

Last year, I went to a Works Components 1 degree, 1-1/8″ headset. The stack height was greater than the original headset, so the steerer only goes to the middle of the upper pinch bolt. Fork is a Fox w/ Aluminum steerer, Stem is Ritchey 4 Axis WCS.

No issues so far…

I have a KS Lev, though its a 31.6. The KS website says that they do a 27.2 version with 100mm drop.

Dropper seatpost is the best upgrade that I have ever made to a bike.

No experience with the i7, but recently bought a KS Lev. I’m real happy with it so far. The Lev has a fixed cable routing which enters the post just above the seat collar, a big plus IMO.

The Lev is available in a 27.2 100mm drop version that the KS web site says is 400 mm long.

Recent Lev thread here.

As a last resort, try something like one of these:

PS Double Clamp[/url]

Felt Double Clamp

I think that they’re mainly intended for carbon seatposts, but don’t see why they wouldn’t work with an aluminum one.

Did another ride on the Lev today. I’m getting used to the remote lever, and I am starting to like it more than I thought I would.

So far, so good!

I believe that the KindShock Lev is also available in 27.2; at least in the 100mm drop. I can’t hit the KindShock website right now, though.

I’m sure that the Lev internals are very similar to their other posts, and the remote lever is exactly the same. The Lev has fixed cable routing just above the seatpost clamp; a big advantage IMO over their other posts.

I just got a Lev last week, and there is a thread on them here Lev Thread So far, I’m real happy with it.

Wiggle lists them; 0 in stock but “ships in 2-7 days” or something like that.

I typically add 1 oz to each tire about once a month. The sealant does dry out, and if there is no liquid sealant in the tire it won’t seal a puncture. The sealant dries faster in hot weather, or if regularly kept inside a car warmed by the sun or similar.

The Stan’s injector syringe and core remover tool aren’t necessary, but make the job very quick and easy.

I’m in the US and got it from Bike Bling. I wanted to get it through the LBS, but they were not available from their distributor and they didn’t know when they would be available. I definitely wanted it for this summer, so bought from Bike Bling as they had a few in stock.

Edit: Mine was $329 + shipping IIRC, so 200 GBP is about the same.

I got one last week and have 3 or 4 rides on it so far. I got the 125mm x 31.6 version. This is my first dropper post. I was liking the Kronolog, but decided to go with the Lev once I read about the many issues with the Kronolog. The fixed cable was why I picked the Lev over the others on the market.

No problems at all; works as advertised. Note that they say NOT to use grease when installing the post in the seat tube, but to used carbon paste or anti-sieze compound instead.

While the remote lever is nicely made and works well, I’m not sure that I like it as I feel that I have to lift my thumb too far from the bar to activate it. I think that I like the position of the new Crank Bros lever better, but have only seen pictures of it; never got to try it for real. Or I may like the remote lever better with more time to get used to it.

The biggest issue is that I have to learn to ride all over again! The Lev made me realize just how lazy I have been when riding, butt on the saddle 99.9% of the time. So I gotta learn to ride standing up as the bike handles much differently than when seated.

Do you have any specific questions regarding the Lev?

I have a Stihl FS 90. It’s great for trail clearing with either line or the brush knife. I have the saw blade, but have never needed it. It is a 4 stroke, but still uses 50:1 fuel:oil mix like 2 cycle Stihl equipment.

However, I know someone that has something like this and it is much faster than any handheld trimmer. It does a fantastic job of maintaining trails!

Gform?

http://g-form.com/products/shin-pads/

Lots of good feedback on the elbow and knee pads on the STW forum.

Look at SigmaSport. The mount attaches to the bar with rubber o rings. The computer attaches to the mount with a 1/4 turn. Haven’t lost one in many years of using them.

OP – to maximize your return, you need to bring something into the US that we can’t get easily over here, like Kinder Eggs. Don’t get caught, though. article

I have 2 sets of disc wheels, and use the main set 95% of the time. I did not try to shim the rotors to make both sets align perfectly because as the rotor wears on the main wheel set, it won’t matter. When I do swap wheels, I just push the pistons back a bit, usually by just wiggling the wheel in the dropout once the qr is undone. Pump the brake levers a few times an good to go.

From the master, Sheldon Brown

14 Ways To Unstick a Seatpost

I’ve been sent three since adding a year to my subscription prior to the price increase. The first arrived within a week or two of my renewal. Fine. But on Saturday, two cards arrived in the mail at the same time in different envelopes.

I’m in the US, so the card is basically useless for me as far as discounts from bike shops and such. I just hate to see Singletrack waste money like this; each cost 1.28 GBP for postage alone, and obviously there are further costs for the card, time spent, etc. If its a tiny fraction of the subscribers, then its no big deal and I understand how it could actually cost more to meticulously sort through the list to weed out a few that have a card already. But if lots of folks are getting multiple cards…

This is what we have to look forward to at Aldi this week in the US Aldi Ad

No bike stuff. Ever. :cry: And we don’t have Lidl…

So fixies are good for something then; free dental work for thieving scrotes! :D

Both the spray adhesive and contact cement that I plan to use are solvent (not water) based, so I’m not expecting any problems.

The US Aldis never has bike stuff! :(

Too bad MBUK didn’t put a certain sheep on it…

Ordered some leather from ebay for $7.50 which should be enough to do 2 saddles. Went a huge craft store (an extremely scary, very female oriented environment) and got a tube of contact adhesive.

I plan to use a spray adhesive on most of the saddle, and the contact adhesive to secure the edges.

What tires for steel doubletrack?