I had something similar on XO1 11 speed. LBs could get it set up but it wouldn’t last long. Found out just before I sold the bike that one of the jockey wheels was back to front. Took it out, swapped it round and it was perfect. It was like that from new.

My XO1 eagle on current bike has now done 900 miles and doesn’t even need a chain yet. Had the gear cable replaced last week as I was having the bike serviced anyway but the chain and cassette are still way within tolerances, and shifting still as crisp as new.

@bullheart I was the woman next to you trying to get someone to sort my buckled fulcrum wheel but they didn’t have a campag nipple hex key so had to stick with the buckled wheel and loose front brake.

That mechanic was well impressed at you having a spare shoe to put on.

I’m no roadie, and yesterday did not convert me. The ride itself wasn’t hard and I couldn’t believe that people were walking up those ‘hills’. The only one that was any kind of challenge was Leith Hill and that was really due to the mass of people more than anything else. I absolutely loved those fast descents and the organisation and support around the course was excellent.

Well done to everyone that completed it.

Personally find the cable actuated droppers so much more reliable and easier over the longer term than reverbs, Especially on bikes with internal routing, reverbs are just a pain in the a$$. Easton havoc dropper is excellent value for money at the moment and only so heavily discounted because Easton and Raceface are now the same company so they’re only releasing the Raceface one going forward. It’s the same internals as the 9point8 fall line which is an excellent piece of kit.

@bullheart were you the guy at the 75 mile hub mechanics area who had on one trainer and one bike shoe asking the mechanic if he had any spare cleats?

Ive got one and it works fine. Had no issues whatsoever with the actual unit. Only things that bug me are the difficulty in uploading courses if you don’t have a laptop and I’ve no idea how to turn off the nav once you’ve started it.

+1 for SRAM Guides. I thought Hopes were the absolute best for modulation until I tried Guides. It seems you can have decent stopping power and bags of modulation in the same product.

I’m never going back to Shimano. It’s the most inconsistent experience ever and requires far too much fettling. Current SRAM brakes came with the bike. It’s done 900 miles so far and the brakes haven’t needed any love whatsoever other than new pads.

Hard to believe you lot have gotten yourself so worked up about this.

I entered the event and it’s one of the best days I’ve had on my bike. I couldn’t give a flying duck what the category names were, and nobody was bothered on the day. In fact it was all quite funny. I’ve also entered TweedLove enduros in the past and they were nowhere near the fun that this was. I doubt I’ll enter another tweedlove Enduro because of the experience of racing it as a woman and their lack of considering how to get more women into it or make it a better experience.

Air maiden does so much to help get women riding stuff they normally wouldn’t ride and really enjoying every minute on the bike. Lynne really gets what women are about and how they work differently from men. I think she’s got a degree in psychology, so approaches things a bit differently from your normal coach.

It’s definitely not aimed at the mumsnet crowd and anyone who knew Lynne would think it’s hilarious to even mention the two in the same category.

The event is very much aimed at getting women racing who wouldn’t normally whilst also providing a race for more experienced people to enjoy as a majority rather than the extreme minority that you get at normal enduro races. Hence, the wide range that the categories provide.

Please take your mock feminist outrage somewhere else and leave this event alone.

Alpine bikes in Inners have a 19.5 too for similar price.

Alpinebikes in Innerleithen have a Fuel EX 9.8 in a 18.5 for £2900, with an extra 5% off wit’h an OE Card. Stealth black with Fox 34s.

Someone please buy this, as I’m very sorely tempted having just sold a bike.

As someone said above, move the bead into the very middle part of the rim. It’s slightly less diameter and therefore makes the tyre slightly looser to get over the rim.

This makes a massive difference. We’ve a set of Carbon wheels that are bloody impossible to get some tyres on without losing some fingers in the process, however using that method makes it quite a bit less painful.

How old is it? I’ve had three warranties in last 7 months.

If you can get to Torbole (about half hour ride along the lake from Malcesine) you could pick up Lucas bike shuttle, 20euro I think but sometimes does closer/cheaper routes. Alternative might be to contact adrenaline rehab who are based in Malcesine for part of the year and see if they have space although I don’t know how much they charge.

The Easton one is pretty decent for the money. It’s basically the fall line one licensed to Easton/ raceface.

The bontrager one clamps at the lever. Works well too.

The MIPS one is slighter smaller. There is now a super 3r. It pinches less at the sides so might be worth a try.

Great helmet, no issues with overheating or sweat dripping into eyes. Works well with small heads too.

I’m a 7.20 start time but I’m in Team Pru so ironically can start whenever I want from the velodrome. Having not done it before (nor any sportives as I’m not a roadie) I’m thinking start as early as possible. Would that be the sensible approach?
I’ve spoken to some colleagues who’ve done it and all give the same advice….don’t stop at the hubs.

A decent technical t shit will do the same thing.

Last week I had a castelli mesh sleeveless base layer on with a trail jersey on top. One great thing about it was that I did not feel the sweat at all. Even when it got later in the evening and we’d stopped riding I still didn’t get cold despite OH starting to feel the cold. So maybe they are worth it.

Today, it was hot, I just wore a short sleeve fox tech t shirt. Felt great all day.

I’m sure Rapha use the same chamois in the core shorts as the classic shorts.

Personally I find Rapha the comfiest stuff around, especially their shorts but, in general, all their stuff is just really well made. Plus the sizing actually makes sense.

Definitely get it invisiframed from brand new. It’s pretty easy to do yourself if you take your time. My slash is 6 months old, done over 700 miles (90% tweed valley) and I still regularly get comments like ‘is it brand new?’ ‘Do you never ride this thing?’ It still looks great. Well worth the money IMO. Really helps in resale too.

They’ve got the intense factory pro build at the tweedlove mega demo this weekend. Mate demoed it yesterday, he was raving about it. It’s a lot of dosh for a bike though.

I ride a slash 9.9. If the shock is set up correctly it can be very playful. However, I’ve only just got mine to that point.

I’ve done quite a bit of riding on a Hightower recently and it’s very very good indeed. If you’re not restricted by budget I’ve definitely have a look at them and maybe try to get a good ride on one. There are some on hire fleets in the tweed valley.

Got a 9.9 2017 bike in this house which has done about 800 miles in 6 months. No creaks whatsoever. The bike is fantastic, rides very well, travel feels bottomless. Gears are still perfect and haven’t been adjusted once. It’s my OHs bike and he ended up preferring it over his previous Nomad. I’ve got the 2017 slash and the Remedy rides some stuff even better than that and is more fun in places. No creaking from my bikes either which is similar age and mileage.

I was always sceptical about treks having come from SCs and Ibis but they are really fantastic bikes. Get a ride on one.

Dunno where you’re based but Alpine Bikes in GT have 2017 Remedys in their hire fleet.

The north of lake Garda might be an option for you. It has pretty much every kind of biking you can imagine from XC, natural enduro type stuff, downhill, road etc. There are over 500km of trails in that area, you can even buy a map from the tourist info in Riva.

Plenty of bikes shops hiring decent bikes at decent prices too, uplift available at Lucas Bike Shuttle every day and it’s not an expensive place to visit.

We’re going back for the fourth time this year, just absolutely love the place.

The bikes in our house have gone through several iterations of Shimano old and new XTR and XT. All have have the same inconsistency problem, constantly needing bleeding. Eventually got a set of Hope E4 which are awesome. Newest bike though came with SRAM guides. These have to be the best brakes I’ve ever had, lots of modulation but stopping power too. Consistent every time you pull the lever. Never had to be bled yet. Only downside is they eat brake pads. The matchmaker X kit ties in nicely with the XO1 set up too.

One things for sure, I will never buy shimano brakes again.

+1 for rock n roll blue. When cleaning the bikes, I use a degreaser wipe just to take the last of any old stuff off. Chains look brand new without any of that black gunk that tends to build up with other lubes.

I’ve had a couple of pairs of bliss ones. Find them very good but not much protection for bigger offs. Recently got some of those lest airflex ones though. Wow I’m really impressed with them. Great lightweight pads with plenty of side protection too. They don’t move at all as they have silicone inside the knee cap part. You’ll still get some impact on big hits (as I found out a couple of weeks ago at Inners) but they’re great lightweight pads. Don’t go by the CRC size chart though, go to the least website and check that one.

Apparently you have to log in first before you put the code in otherwise it removes the code. They do sort it though if you contact them.

Dunno if it’s too big but we had a fiat thing on holiday, basically the car version of a doblo. With the back seats down we could get two bikes in the backs with both wheels on no problem.

The shop that had the pale blue trek stolen reckoned it was people from Dalkeith that stole it, so that may well be their bike. It was I-cycles.

I agree that Eagle is silly money if you’re just buying it as a groupset but if the OP has the funds why not just answer the questions that he’s asking.

Is your race face next crank direct mount ? If so, you might be able to put a sram eagle chain ring on it. There are some after market options but the eagle chainrings are very good. That’s really your only saving though.

In terms of what it’s like ….. smooth, precise and seems to just work. It feels like you can apply power more consistently. There is a definite lack of chainsuck, even in extreme muck, which is something that really puts me off the shimano eleven speed stuff.

For the record, I got eagle on a full bike rather than buying as an upgrade but having ridden it for three months now, I’ve definitely consider upgrading other bikes when prices are more reasonable.

It’s also not the case that you need to replace the chain and cassette every year. My bike does plenty of climbing and miles and I’ve not had to change a cassette in two years. It has had a new chain, but I’m not even sure it needed it.

@hebdenbiker presumably you’re in a DC arrangement not DB/final salary since you’re talking about costs. They are a lot easier to move without advice. Check out Hargreaves lansdowne if you really don’t want to take advice, although the charges will be much lower than a DB transfer would cost.

However, if there are high exit charges you may be better to wait until after March as the new FSA rules in capped exit charges comes into being and will reduce exit charges to a max of 1% I think, unless you are with st James place who seem to think it doesn’t apply to them, not sure of the background to that one.

I’ve always used an eyeliner pencil to mark up reference points on the fork lower. Wipes right off afterwards.

Most accountants deal with tax and cannot provide financial advice on investments since it’s a criminal offence to give financial advice if you’re not qualified and do not have the appropriate authority from the FCA, punishable by jail term.

IFAs no longer get commissions for investment advice and have to disclose fees before any advice takes place. These can be negotiated.

ISAs are not the be all and end all for older people as they are not IHT exempt, therefore any value will be included in the estate for tax purposes on death.

There are plenty of investments, lower risk, which will pay out roughly 3-4% pa. A trust could be bolted around them for protection purposes. These are the types of things that a GOOD IFA will be able to provide advice on. Don’t go to a bank or a restricted adviser as that’s where you might pay higher fees for a lesser service. Unbiased.com will give you decent advisers in your area. You could also purchase a guaranteed income option.

BTW I am not a IFA but do deal with them daily

We were over in elviria in November and did some road biking. TBH we struggled with routes due to the A7 but got my folks (who live there) to drop us places and pick us up later. We did istan a few times. Also did a nice route from the big shopping centre up to monda and coin and then over to alhaurin, towards Mijas and then down to calahonda. Great route, lots of climbing, some very fast descents (fastest I saw was 45mph, fast for me, since only started road bikes last summer due to broken leg recovery).

if you can get the train into Malaga, there are some cracking routes around there.

I feel as if this is the first winter that I’ve actually cracked the staying warm thing. Not had one single day where I’ve been freezing. So, here’s what I wear:
– roadie robaix bib tights under baggies (waterproof bum preferred)
– pearl izumi thermal merino socks (have made a massive difference)
– decent merino base layer (usually pearl Izumi transfer or castelli grey wool one)
– riding jersey
– a rab very lightly padded gilet (cost about £40 from go outdoors)
– endura strike 2 gloves
No buff or hat etc. I keep a light waterproof in my bag just in case. I ride in Scotland so we’ve had some real cold stuff and snow the last three weekends.

I’ve had various shimano XT and XTR (both old and newest versions) and will not be rushing to have shimano in the near future unless something drastically changes with them. Constant bleeding, fade and gernerally too on/off for me.

On one bike I have hope E4s and they are excellent – loads of feel and modulation and plenty of stopping power, just not as instantly biting as others but you adjust to that.

Newest bike came with SRAM ultimes and these are seriously fantastic brakes. Plenty of modulation and power. I though GUIDE RSCs were decent but these are way better.

I was a bit baffled by this too. It’s in the settings. Something to do with screen timeout. I think you touch the top part of the screen and it takes you straight to settings.

Yep I got one from Diego Moran within 10 mins of finishing a ride at the weekend. Profile set to private….very weird indeed. The guy is in Madrid.

Katy Winton is “a midget” in her words and rides a normal “mans” bike without issue. Woman’s MTB bikes are generally not that much different to men’s bikes, with some notable exceptions. I can see how it can make a difference on road bikes due to be more stretched out, women having typically shorter torso/longer leg ratios than men but for off road, it’s generally just around contact points. It’s really more around who makes small enough frames.

@northerntom are you getting a 150 in place of the 125 under the warranty?

That’s one downside of the slash. I’m 5’7.5″ so ride the 17.5 as the 19.5 would be too big and my height is mostly legs (33″ inside leg). However I’ve got 4 inches or more of seatpost protruding from the bike. I prefer a 150 dropper for this reason but it sure I’d get it stuck in the frame far enough.