I’d avoid South Coast Suspension after unsatisfactory servicing on 2 x posts. I now use Jungle, who are also cheaper for a basic strip & clean service.

Soak it in oil for a while, heat with a hairdryer and hit it with a hammer.

I have Alfine 8 & Versa shifters on my commuter and would replace it with the same if it ever dies.

IIRC the Alfine 8 uses straight cut gears but the 11 Has helical cut gears. Thus gives you smoother running but at the expense of increased wear and drag.

yeah, Jon’s got no skillz at all.

Don’t flatter me old man, I’m guilty of a bit of brake dragging, sure! I just wanted to steer the discussion away from improving my technique for longer pad/rotor life and towards finding the optimum value rotors 🙂

Good spot on the Lifeline ones teethgrinder – they would be ideal if they did a 200-203 mm model for the front!

Think I’ll do some eBay’ing for some mid-price rotors that aren’t counterfeit ‘Avid’!

If you’re wearing out a set of rotors and getting through 6 sets of pads a year, something is not right!

That’s pretty much the only time I actually wore out rotors before I bent them and replaced them. That year I was riding 2 x per week with approx 1000 m vert per ride. Then a month road trip in NZ. Then 3 weeks in Canada (mostly skiing, some biking) and 3 months in Nepal. Kevlar compound pads and 6 sets is an estimate, I’m not anal enough to log mileage. 😛

At the moment I’m bending rotors too frequently but anyway, the reason is moot. I’m curious to what people think is decent VFM on rotors. I’m not convinced £30 per end on Hope is what I’m after!

Uberbike only seem to do floating or vented rotors now anyway?

How many sets of pads do you go through??

If I manage to make a rotor last without getting big dings or buckles in it, maybe 6 sets? At the moment I end up taking the bike apart and stacking it in the car most times I get out so I’m bashing the rotors more frequently.

I am trialling some ‘Avid’ rotors off eBay on my commuter. They’ve gone a little rusty and I’m not keen on putting something that I have any doubts about on my mountain bike, which get worked a lot harder.

They’ll get to the root of it, I’m sure.

Cut it out!

Does anyone make what is effectively an eccentric BB for press-fit bottom bracket shells?

Why, why why did I have to click on this post?

Guilty conscience? the fear of being caught?

local facebook groups.

We bought a two year old ex-lease LWB Transporter then gave it to Vanguard Conversions in Fort William to transform.. couldn’t be more delighted with it.

which’ll be over 2x the OP’s budget surely!

I use a bodged XT shifter..

On my first tubeless attempt, the stans valves had a very flat rubber bung that wouldn’t seal the deep, narrow rim well. Some blu-tac did the job of filling the gap nicely. (silicone seal would work too, if allowed to dry).

Have you considered installing a covert camera and then confronting her with the evidence?

Sunday morning “you should be riding” bump.

95% there only $5000 to go! 😀

Like it. Good writing, you budget conscious Buddha 😆

It’s actually blue and gold. Only looks black and white when your white balance is off.

Erm isn’t merino supposed to be one of the better materials to keep you warm even when it gets wet?

IME merino holds a lot of water. I’m normally much happier with a synthetic base layer, which will dry out quicker.

I use what is I guess a maountaineering shell – Gore Tex Pro Shell, pit zips, powder skirt and harness friendly pockets. In cold weather layer it with a base layer and fleece. In warmer weather just a base layer. I do run warm, because I ski so badly. Because I fall over so much (chasing the gnar off piste, obvs 😉 ) I’m glad of the powder skirt and decent waterproofness of the GoreTex!

I’ve had some Vigilantes with thin sidewalls that bubble a tiny wee (when worn) bit but not like that and not when new.

I’d be sending that back.

I replaced mine with stainless bolts, but just make sure you get 1.5x to 2x the nominal diameter in thread engagement and you’ll be sweet.

You sometime have to be towards the lower end of that range on post mount holes because there’s not enough depth to the thread (IME).

c’mon guys, poor show. give us some context.

T5’s and T6’s attract lots of attentions form the haterz who couldn’t afford one and convince themselves that a Traffic or Vivaro is just as good, drives better in fact and is waay better value for money.

They just can’t accept that they can’t pull up next to a chrome finished T4 at the next meet-up and get a free tin of Stella from someone else who’s on the scene 8)

same weekend as PMBA’s champs at Graythwaite/Grizedale. Why not doing something closer to home, Rich?

I see myself in that awesome skillz one… when the gradient is nice and steep and you don’t land anywhere near the bike….

are the results up anywhere yet? the website was still advertising entries when I checked earlier today.

Terrahawk… found it

Is there nothing that man can’t do?

without getting too nerdy on materials, look out for 7075 Aluminium – it’s about as good as it gets.

Having fancy coatings might mean the first 0.25 mm of the tooth takes longer to wear away, or it doesn’t chainsuck as much when bedding in (or chainsucks worse), but once you’ve worn that off they’ll all wear at much the same rate.

I’m currently using a £10 On-One – does the job. Previously has a One-Up and a Revolution Components one – which cracked as it was machined away too heavily. the on-one is comparatively heavy with less machining – but I’ll never notice that extra 20g 😆

😆 @ NW, you can add Dreamcrusher to your list of titles

Glad you got your keys back, it’s quite the sinking feeling in your stomach when that sort of thing happens isn’t it?

Happy days, the world needs more boys named Jon

On a clearly related note – how do I get rid of 15 square metres of paving slabs?

We could just leave them in our back lane and some pikey will have them away before the end of the week 😀

Also works for momentarily unattended rhubarb plants during the middle of the day while you have a tea break 👿

When you see the price of the grass you may also reconsider getting rid of all 15 m2 of slabs! you might need some to fill gaps and create a rectangular space to better correspond with the 2m or 4m wide rolls it comes on.

Alternatively a couple of trips a week to the dump wouldn’t cause the guys at the dump to give you hassle.

You might also want some padded underlay stuff to give it a softness and bounce for a play area.

I can recommend these guys, good stuff and reviewed well in Which?

http://www.lazylawn.co.uk/ are the same people as
http://www.evergreensuk.com/

The good stuff is pricey (if you have a large/awkward shape) but in our situation we’re adding fake grass to an otherwise concrete back yard.

I have a DHF 2.5 (think that’s WT) on 29 mm internal and a DHF 2.3 on 25 internal mounted at home, email me tomorrow evening and I might be able to answer.

But simply, they’re a nice amount wider. the 2.5 WI is similar to a Magic Mary 2.35 but wider on the carcass and narrower on the shoulders than the MM. That is partly down the the wider rims used between the two tyres so not a perfect comparison.

change agent

Seriously it’s explains itself

I’m not being deliberately stupid, just asking for a clarification ins a stupid, flippant way.

The thing is, change is a word people understand. Agent is a word that people understand. But a change agent? They’re a catalyst? A chemical compound? or a business consultant? the nasty people a company gets in when they need to lay off a swathe of people, costing as much as the company has saved by laying them off? Does one improve the current systems and processes?

Many people, myself included, don’t have enough experience in all the walks of business talk to imagine the endless possibilities of how such a title is self-explanatory or could be interpreted in several different ways. I’ll go an read the link from earlier on now and edjucate myself!

edit for the lazy

A change agent is a person from inside or outside the organization who helps an organization transform itself by focusing on such matters as organizational effectiveness, improvement, and development. A change agent usually focuses his efforts on the effect of changing technologies, structures, and tasks on interpersonal and group relationships in the organization. The focus is on the people in the organization and their interactions.

Ferrying across the Atlantic? That’s like being stuck inside a crappy, smelly, cold and unstable hotel with *shudder* other people.

change agent

Which word was it that you didn’t understand?

Har har, very funny. Must be another B-Ark occupant.

I was going to mention Flaine, not the prettiest of places but some nice skiing. Good links over to Les Carroz and Samoens.

My first ski holiday ever was at Flaine, lots of wide easy blues.

What wasn’t good then and even worse for a snowboarder is the Cascades route over to Salvagny. The top was flat and a lot of work with the ski-poles. The bottom was narrow icy cat-track through the forest.

I’d lost the will to live by the end.

While you’re all here, has anyone seen my Kindle? 😕

Now for vases.

Vases? Vases are useful. you can put flower in them. Or the ashes if you already have a patio.

Now for candles….

It’s all down to your attitude to risk and injury.

If you spend a weekend pushing yourself on DHuro tracks then do a more xc or pedally ride, will you be riding any differently?

IME I didn’t so have a bunch more scars and got some Dainese Trailskins pads, which I use almost all the time I don’t want my bigger pads (which rub after 3 hours or 2 days consecutively).

I’d get one for the singlespeed (no cables!) but that’s 27.2 mm 😆