I did think a bit back that it was to do with the top bearing cover, it is a ITM headset. I switched it to a different bearing cover (Ritchey WCS) and it did move more freely and felt better.
I did notice for the 1 1/8 version of this headset which I also have for a road bike, a shim was included, do you sometimes need to use a shim on an integrated headset, on the other FSA C40 I fitted there was no issue but this sounds worth a try, it will go on top of the compression ring I take it and then place the bearing cover over that right?

Yes, i know what you mean. I have had another look tonight and the steering just feels slightly stiff with resistance. I had blamed the crown race as I had repeatedly tampered with the top half and could find no problems but I am now thinking the headset is maybe the issue? Both upper and lower bearings feel fine but when it’s assembled, even before tensioning it does not feel slick and smooth when turning the bars. I have a C40 fsa headset and may try installing that complete unit or even sourcing an alternative. Very strange as I have had a lot of these all fine for many years on my 1 1/8 straight steerer bikes but this does not feel good.

Thanks for the advice, Yes it is the race that fits onto the fork steerer tube. I have always used non spilt crowns before and had to work hard to fit them on sometimes with pvc tubing. In this case I am struggling to remember how tightly the race fitted onto the steerer. Now it is clear that there is an issue there with the loose fit yes, it will need a new race at the very least. I have a complete brand new FSA Orbit c-40 Integrated headset. Ideally I wanted to fit it right away. The stumbling block is the crown race for that is going to need pressing on and that means stripping the bike forks off and getting it done somewhere. I was looking at trying another split race but want to make sure it will work. I have read a lot cut the race themselves and it is now issue if done properly but having had this issue with the split one on this itm headset it ha put me me off them slightly.

I have had a look around at other hybrid models (trek & boardman) since I posted this and it seems they all have very long virtual top tube lengths compared to road bikes and mountain bikes as my road bike ideal virtual top tube is around the 565 mark but that is on a drop bar set up. I know there is room on a hybrid to change stem height and length but I guess the geometry has to work and feel comfortable. I have an old 26 diamond back that is almost a road bike geometry but that is on the large side. I was looking for a more compact fit?

Thanks for the suggestion regarding checking the stores. I live pretty close to where the HQ is in Nottingham but I think that is more of a warehouse than a retail outlet right? As I had looked at ebay and saw the address was in Nottingham.

Just come across this thread, would the sonder camino be something that I could swap over frame wise with a hardtail mtb. I have a 27.5 bike but am after a gravel bike really as the suspension forks are overkill for the riding I am doing. How much were the sonder frames, I have seen them online for £349

I have recently fitted some of the older version vittoria rubino pro 3 tyres in a 28mm on the same size shimano rims and they just seem to seat better and hold shape better. I have used vittoria corsa in a 25c and they seemed to feel better. By perform just the comfort level with the narrower rim. I understand the 28 allows to be run at run at lower pressures with the same sort of efficiency but I don’t find the comfort as good as I had hoped considering the lower pressure as I have a pretty stiff race frame which can feel harsh.
I have considered looking at alternative clincher wheels but I heard the RS500 are a decent offering as solid training wheels. Having used some newer shimano wheels with a 17c internal I think the tyres seat better with a wider and lower profile, its fine margins but the 28 corsa in my 15c sit higher and narrower as you would expect but they do bulge out a lot at the side. The tread is almost glued over, its a pretty unusual tyre compared to many of the one piece type offerings in that regard which is why I was looking at going back to Conti or other alternatives for this set up.

Beware on the altus as I lot I have seen sub £15 are not genuine. I have seen a lot for that price and it seems that version is widely copied unfortunately. I was after one a while ago but luckily managed to get a different version but yes they can be expensive even second hand nowadays.

Hi, what type of riding are you after. I did a nice coastal ride from corralejo to el catillo taking in some great scenery, a dramatic coastline, a nice section with all the surfers in. I do remember on the way out the headwind made it hard work and the terrain was gravel mainly so very dry and dusty. It’s about 18 miles via the coastline, i did it there and back so was about 36. I borrowed a very basic mtb off someone but there was several hire places to get a better mtb.

I am using the flexible style which is where the issue is, the flex section is about 8cm long and under tension when fitted it’s coiling round slightly folding in and causing tension to be lost and inconsistent. I am thinking the solid type noodles, the first version in the links from sjs would be more suitable.

I have set my front brake up with a tektro 926AL mini v brake. I have put some better compund low profile pads on. Having a bit of issue getting the cable tension just right, I have just about got it but could possibly do with an adjuster as it is a bit fiddly to get just right, the wheel has a very slight buckle but this means I have to run the pads an extra mm or so away from the rim. Has anyone tried the noodle with inbuilt adjuster?

Yes, I have some sets of 72mm pads ready with decent compound as the ones that for instance the tektro come with are not a good compound sometimes. I also just adjust v brakes at the cable rather than use barrels. I am initially only probably running 28s but will probably get something more 32-33 when I see a decent deal around. I only have narrowish rims so with current wheels 32 would be too much I think.

Thanks for the your detailed thoughts on the mini v brakes. Interestingly the version I was looking at are 80mm length which as I understand are slightly smaller than the ones you had (Tektro RX6) but no doubt very similar in perfomance. I see you have gone to some older 84mm mini v brakes. I have used v brakes for many years on my mtb bike with satisfactory perfomance, in heavy wet conditions they can be reduced of course and in mud as is expected with the rim brake system but its low maintenance generally speaking with just occasional pad replacement dependent on usage. The main concern with canti was how much power I was going to get from the lever, and how far I was going to have to pull the lever down to engage the pads, obviously this depends on set up but I have never used them with a drop bar shifter/lever.Do you use the longer pads 72mm as I find sometimes the better compound cartidge pads also help with braking, I see the standard fitted on the mini v brakes is a 63mm but I assume this can be changed over as they are a bolt on fit.

Thanks for the replies, I am tempted to give the mini v brakes a try as I use v brakes on my mountain bike and am pretty used to them. I know the canti have the classic look which is nice and better with regards mud clearance hmmmm.The last time I set some cantis up for someone it was a bit of a pain I thought but it was an old style single speed bike. I am sure both types will run well with the right set up and cabling.

Ok, thanks I will go for the tektro style triangle version I think then with the cable & yoke. As I want to adjsut them the best I can for on road use initially.

This is the best image I can get where it appears to show the two levels of damage, am I right in thinking it has took the outer coat and then the actual carbon outer surface away slightly in what looks like chips from this image, the word crack strikes fear that it is indeed broken?

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Thanks for the suggestion and advice so far on this. I have pressed the area and it still reacts firmly with no extra flex, the photo I attached is double zoomed in, I have out another up taken with flash from the side. When there is a lot of light on it via flash or bright torch it appears almost translucent (is the a clear coat type pain over the carbon, the chips seem to have taken some sort of coating off it seems and then gone maybe a mm or so further in but not what I would say a crack, just a jagged scrape I think?

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Thanks for the help, so I will need to measure between the cable guide under bottom bracket and get a complete piece to make that jouney to run from the shifter, down into the headtube out the bottom grommet and then into the cable guide? I can see from a picture of the bike on a website the last part going to the rear mech is external. Its a bit annoying as I have the shimano sp41 cables but they are only going to run into the frame and then not get out of the frame of course, so buy two new complete outer lenghts as I am running 2 X 10 speed.

Yes, on the video for the bleed kit it starts with letting fresh fluid gravity bleed down to get the oil out via the caliper end and then goes on to show it being syringed in via the caliper and out through the funnel. When adding oil through the funnel side is it needed to press the brake lever or just let the oil flow through. I noticed at the end on the video they press the lever in with a full funnel which is like a mini bleed right?

Thanks for the advice, yes I have just had a skim through a few old posts on here and seen a lot of conversation about being careful when pushing the pistons back. I think these are a pretty low end set of brakes, but I heard they work pretty well when set up right so hopefully that is the case. Is there any difference between starting by pouring oil into the funnel at top and letting the oil out through the bottom from the caliper valve or injecting the oil via the syringe into the caliper and going upwards and out into the funnel? As its a new brake system I am assuming the oil will be clean as it has just been left since it left the factory. I guess the key is to not let any air bubbles remain in the system and to get the fresh oil in and the older oil flushed out.

The brakes are a few years old but still new and were sealed but is it best to bleed by putting the funnel in the brake lever and pouring mineral oil in to drain down and get rid of the oil in the system first before disconnecting the hose and fitting the new hose. I was thinking just switch the hose over first and then drain the system from brake lever down to caliper into waste bottle, then syringe new fluid in via the caliper and wait till emerges in the funnel then finish the bleed off. Does this sound right, I think its just the fact that I have gotta install a new hose that is causing me some doubt in how I go about the bleed, in which I order I do it.

Thanks for the link, yes I can see from that listing it does indeed appear to have an inner collar in there. Not sure how best to get it secured yet but I will have to try and figure it out, maybe a rubber type thing like on a bike/gps mount.

After a good go at getting the olive off first (which I had to hacksaw off) it was a no go for re inserting a new olive back over meaning its going to have to be cut off and new barb/olive installed. I was trying to avoid this as there is very little cable (its only a 1500 length piece) It would have been just ok as is but with another 2cm off I think its a no go most likely which means getting a new hose, I had hoped to take it out this week with a few days off but now its going to be on hold for a bit now.

Yes, its all a bit uncertain at the moment. Good shout on the hose length too, that could really make an even bigger job and more to buy. I have done my best to calcualte it as it is a 1500 length but if it does run short then its a no go no matter how the switching and routing goes until a new hose is fitted which means doing the job in full right away.
Its the top part of the frame that looks on the tight side I guess to give a good fit with the cable running into but to send it through I am sure I will need to remove the olive as mentioned before. Thanks a lot for the help, I would have rather got some better brakes but the rotors I have also only run resin pads so in the future depending on how it runs and performs I may look at an upgragde but just want to get it up and running.

Ok thanks for the info, I will try and remove the olive then for the rear one, will I be able to use the existing barb still on that though still? Until I try I am not sure whether I will need to bleed, I guess I can try it and then just get a bleed kit off ebay and then if need be I can do a bleed? With the oil (say a 50ml bottle) is there any issue with the brand of this as I assume on a factory fitted Shimano brake lever and caliper it is going to be the Shimano Mineral Oil, the stuff I have seen in the kits is Fast Freddy :) but some of the kits do use Shimano, I guess you gonna send a sufficient amount anyway throught the brake hose to flush the existing oil through and out anyway and replace with the oil you are injecting in right?

Ok, thanks for the advice. I am more confident that the swapping part will be ok and I have the park tool which i`m hoping will make it smooth ish taking it up through the frame. Can i just slide the olive off before routing it through the frame then reattach when I fit it back into the lever? I am going to try and fit the lever and caliper tomorrow, I guess if it does need bleeding I will need to get a kit sooner than later to get the job done though. I have seen the mineral oil is available on ebay but is different branded? Do I need matching oil ideally if say doing a mini bleed for instance?

Yes, on bikes of this vintage the rigid fork is far less hassle and a much safer bet for sure.
The suspension is a living thing that does die and need replacing or service work for sure.

Thanks for the advice, I have the fork oil and sram butter at the ready but am going to give this attempt a miss then.
I may end up getting rid of the frame and parts, I still need chain, mechs cassette and a couple of bits. Getting the forks may be a bridge too far. I am about to build a 27.5 hardtail bike but just wanted this as a run around to be honest.

Thanks for the replies. Yes I did try one which had really long tabs but I had borrowed that one so gave it back, as mentioned I could have filed it down as I am using it with the Hollowtech 2 BB which needs clearance so the tabs are an issue without treatment. I did notice this SLX m675 ring has a weird shape to it around the bolts but I guess as long as its 64BCD then it should still do the trick. I could run without it but the 22 is a big jump off from 36 and its an older 9 speed set up as I know many newer set ups are mostly single ring now.

No I have not completely removed it, I think it will need replacing though due to the nature of the looseness in that it is side to side. The wheels have only been used for around 3 months. It seems poor to me that this should occur so soon after what has been light use so far and 500 miles. Warranty can be difficult I hear on wheels but they are only 8 months old.

Thanks for the suggestion, yes is is definitely the freehub body. With no cassette on you can feel the play by holding the freehub body. I put the cassette on another wheel and it appeared to be fine so the issue appears to be with the freehub body.

I`ve finally got the bolt axle ready and have gone to check the lowers out after I noticed the seal was uneven as pictured earlier. Now I have gone to put the spring type circles over the seals before reassembling them but unfortunately one of the circles has snapped? Are these critical before reassembly, really disappointed as I thought I had all this sorted out but not sure whether I now need to buy another one?

Thanks for the reply. I had a go at reseating the wonky seal earlier this evening but it seems a super tight fit and half of it is out so its not going back in like that it seems. As you suggest greeny30 the seals might be dry so it makes sense to get them in the right shape again otherwise they will more than likely need more work in the near future and I would rather get them running nice than just make do. The seal was like this when I got the forks so I am thinking that once the seal is set up properly they should be ok. The guy I got them off hardly did any off road but they still would have had his weight on them and I think they are off a 2017 highish end Decathlon XC bike so will be OEM jobs.
Do you need specific grease also for this service then? I have seen sram and a few others do that. They also mention cleaning everything is isopropyl alcohol which I may also get.

I am thinking I will have one more attempt at putting the seal in with the forks still assembled but I do not want to damage the seals as they still look decent overall so would rather not have to replace them. I have had a look at the lower leg removal and if I get hold of some suspension oil (I see CRC do the rock suspension oil) is that a decent option? I see the rockshox stuff is not that easy to buy locally and only comes in at a similar cost for a mini bottle though I only need a very small amount it seems. Then I can remove the lower legs which would give me the chance to check the o rings and that the seals are ok further down.
The reason I am a bit more concerned now is I have read that leaking air pressure can force the seal off, it does seem unlikely that these seals can just come away in use from the fork lower passing through but I guess it is a possibility it occured that way also? I want the forks to be safe to use of course also most importantly. I did put some air in them when I get them (110 psi) three months ago and it is at around 100psi now, not sure if a bit has leaked?)

I am a bit concerned now there may be an issue with them. It does seem strange that it has partially come out on one side. Will I need to drain the oil on them also when taking them out to check things out. I will have to do some more research.

Thanks for the advice euain, I will give that a go with some lube as they feel like they are performing well at the moment as they had not seen much off road action, they were just used in the dry majority of the time on tarmac. If it doesn`t pop back in easily then as you suggest it may require removing the stanchions but I would rather not have to resort to doing that just yet. I know you can buy service kits you as I did this with some older style marzocchi forks I had and as you say it would be good to be sure nothing odd is going on. It is a little strange how it has come away in this manner?

Thanks for the replies regarding my axle options. I am tempted to go for the Brand X two piece option. The price sounds reasonable and if the build is solid then it sounds good to me.
Regarding the fork leg, I have put an image up showing the seal. It seems like it is going to take some serious force and effort to reseat it? I see the comment about using something like a tyre lever, it just seems very tough to do as is?

https://ibb.co/6nC749S
https://ibb.co/TBRdZNn

Its almost comical now that i`ve got UPS visiting two days in a row to ask for these fees.
Its a mess. I have emailed the German retailer and they have been very unhelpful so its not looking good right now. I was after some explanation/detail and got a very simple email just with a link forwarding me to my UPS tracking details saying I am responsible for them once imported. Very poor but they won`t be hearing the last of it or from me thats for sure.
I rang UPS and explained that I had paid 20% VAT at point of purchase, they have asked me for the UK VAT registration details for the German retailer and said it may be possible to chase it up that way. In the short term the fees are going to have to be paid I think, as another poster mentioned once they are imported it is the importers responsibility. But regarding the money paid at point of purchase then that needs to be sorted out. I will have to contact the German retailer again. I think usually say when someone purchases from the US there is usually tax charged and no doubt they just say its not their problem. The problem in this case is they have a pull down option for NON EU countries and that puts the item in cart without adding the tax.
To me it seems currently like they are not recognising the fact that all UK transactions are going to be subject to a further 20% VAT charge upon import so im not sure where it leaves them charging it upfront initially still. It will take some further sorting out im sure yet.

I noticed there is a commercial invoice on the reciept saying:
Commercial Invoice
The products of this shipment are of preferential European origins.
The amount of tax charged is exactly 20% so I heard discussed the German rate for VAT is 19% so it does not match up with that. It just states Sales Tax and the amount paid at point of purchase is the exact amount UPS have invoiced me for