Chute,
Why hydroforming? Why would it improve things? I thought hydroforming tubes gave inconsistent wall thickness and therefor more prone to failure (lapierre).

Genuine question btw

Those rotors look terrible!

Get some shimano ones and your brakes will improve massively!

I can see that argument ahwiles but then again I have seen plenty coaches who are barely even competent on bikes let alone good enough to coach.
I had a session with Ben Cathro from http://www.sickskills.co.uk and learnt more in a day than I could have in a month of the Alps.
Perhaps it’s just me but I would take the advise from a w.c. Racer any day over an enthusiast.

Granted I accept there are plenty great coaches who are not from a racing background but some of the ones I have seen did not strike me as a capable enough rider to be a teacher.

Ebola

Sweet Jesus look at the chainstay length of that thing!

FYI producing bikes in Taiwan etc. is not usually cheaper just faster and better quality.
Certainly when Santacruz moved production to Taiwan it was to increase production rate and improve QC as opposed to cheap labour as many think.

Interesting….
I’m thinking about this at the moment. I currently get free BUPA care at work but that’s about to change (was free for 12 months)It will now cost me £14 a month which is not massive amount.
Is this a good price? Never really looked into it before.

Haggis,
I cant really say why your mate is telling porkies as I don’t know him but let me give you some options.

1.He is not telling lies, he is simply telling you what he thinks is the case. Perhaps he visited orange and misheard something they said.

2.He is a cold,heartless sales man. He told you anything he thought would make you purchase a bike he wanted to sell.

3. He did not say it all and somehow you miss heard him.

4. You are a troll?

As I said who knows how or why you got this misinformation but as everyone has pointed out the hardtails are made/welded outside of the uk.
The full sus bikes are made in the UK.

The “my mate says so” argument doesn’t really have much weight to it – why not phone orange and ask them?

http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/alpine-160-rs

“Why the Alpine 160 RS?
•Frame Handbuilt in Halifax
”

Haggis what would the “how many teams and riders do they sponsor” question prove?

I only really follow DH racing but to answer your question I know they sponsor the dirt team and the riders include Ben Reid, Harry Heath and Jacob Dickson

I guess they sponsor others but I don’t see what it proves? (other than your mate being a filthy dirty liar)

Orange full sus are made in Halifax not far east.
Its easy to tell by looking at the welding on the frames
Far east produced frames have neat and tidy welds with good penetration.
Halifax welded frames look like oranges 😀

Why not use the berm?

In my experience if you fit winter tyres then you can be assured of a mild dry winter.

Pretty sure the point was to make cyclists speak about E-13 products on forums…

I was in the café yesterday and bought some carrot cake.
It was a bit stale…I would still rather eat stale cake from a place that was clean and tidy rather than filthy and condensation running down the walls.
The old café was minging and was like a giant petri dish.

Im sure its run by a local and nothing to do with JD Sports!

Anyone got a link to this?

2 years experience as a mechanic is nothing.
I worked in a bike shop for longer than I care to remember (recently moved on) and have met a large volume of mechanics and I can count on one hand the number that are “good” in comparison the number that think they are good!

Good mechanics can service suspension, build boxed bikes to a high standard in 40 minutes, chat with customers, sell bikes/products, deal with pissed off customers, deal with suppliers, explain to customers why the mech that has been smashed by a rock is not a warranty item, go without lunch and survive on an out of date cliff bar on occasion etc.etc, service bikes that look like they were stored in the north sea, I could go on…

I can also say with confidence that being cytech qualified counts for more or less nothing other than a tick box arse covering exercise.

If you are worth more than min wage look elsewhere and get it. When you hand in your notice you might get a counter offer for more cash.

IME good mechanics can earn 18k to 20k + perks which is not a bad salary for working in a bike shop.

I’m confused a bit by the wide rim thing being so much better.
the mavic enduro wheels run a 19mm wide rear rim as per testing with Nico and Fabien.
When I raced DH I always ran 721 rims as opposed to 729s as the square tyre profile from a wider rim made leaning the bike over in corners harder.
The narrow rim gave a rounder tyre profile and made off-camber and cornering more predictable.

Has this changed somehow with new tyres?

To those running these rims – have you ever damaged alloy rims in the past?
Im tempted to get the LB rims but my current alloy ones have a few dings in them. I don’t run low pressures (30psi + or so tubeless)

If I “ding” a carbon rim is it for the bin?

Push do kits for the DRCV fork to make it stand up a bit better and make it less wallowy.

Its cheap kit IIRC.

DRCV works ok in the rear shock IMO but its pish in forks.

Having done a few martial arts my opinion is… it doesn’t matter what you pick. Some people are good at scrapping some are not so good. A person great at judo will give a good fight to a person good at MMA/Karate/Kung fu.
Essentially if you do regular sparring then you will become better at it.

Go to a few classes of each and see which is the most fun.

Any one who thinks that style X is the best is probably currently practicing it and will be like a new 650b owner stating that it brings the trails alive.

Bump for the day crowd

Thanks that sounds like what Im after. Hoping for a recommendation from someone?

http://www.wickeduncle.co.uk

That’s a great site for kids gifts. I think I got walkie talkies for my 5yr old nephew.

Neck braces can potentially increase brain trauma in head impacts.
No I independant tests have ever been done on neck braces to suggest which one work well and which don’t etc.

Probably still a good idea but that’s the negative

I ran belt drive bike on my commuter for about a year. It creaked a bit under heavy load – I also snapped two belts within a year (covered by warranty but still)

It required constant tensioning despite the bike being a complete with belt drive and not a bodge.

I sold it and went back to a chain. No problems in 3 years…

Is it a fox evo fork? If so suck it up they are pish ime.

The idea that orange cant sell DH bikes due to lack of sponsorship is silly. They are not making them due to demand.

Im sure orange can afford to sponsor as many DHers as they like. Whats the average salary of a pro DH rider these days? Last time I checked it was about 1 bike and race entry fees!

So I assume you only dress in clothes purchased from Asda? The George suit is no worse than a Gucci one?
What about your walking shoes? Are they nike or are they Velcro up numbers from c&a?

When I was at school I was never once taught about the holocaust. Im mid 30s more or less and I find it odd that I was never taught about it. For me history lessons focused on the jacobites and Victorian period. 1st and 2nd world war was covered and I knew that the Nazis were bad but I cant remember in what way this was taught.

It was not until I went to the imperial war museum in London that I learned what and how shocking the holocaust was. Since then I spend a fair bit of my time reading about the 2nd WW.

I have to say it annoys me that I was never taught something so important and perhaps its not so much a sign of your friends stupidity but more of a failing of our education system.

Perhaps if my dad hadn’t taken me to the London war museum I still wouldn’t have known about the atrocities that the Nazi party carried out or how utterly stunning a spitfire and P51 mustang are!

I don’t get this thrill about buying shit from Aldi. To those who purchase riding gear from Aldi where do you purchase your work suits from? I notice that Asda sell a suit with shirt and tie less than £20.00. What about casual wear? do you purchase the finest “George” elasticated waist jeans from thrift shops?
Saving a penny on a can of GT85? Seems bizarre. Perhaps Im just not that hard up.

As a Scotsman I like a bargain as much as the next man but to me it just seems like buying your food from Lidl because you are too pikey to shop at Iceland.

Trail rat – I mailed most of the clubs to warn them. We were out the door at work with commuters getting punctures repaired. All had carpet tacks stuck in them. I called the council who were going to drive a sweeper machine up to clear it.

I didn’t think it was worth bothering the police about it but if its happening again im not so sure. I cant see what they could/would do though.

For all the dogs that get walked there it seems a pretty horrible thing to do though.

I have heard of some commuters riding strava style along it which is probably what caused this to happen though.

http://divshare.com/download/15141295-3f9

that does it

I can stream it but cant download it. Any tips?

I used the topeak super tourist to clear the disc caliper.

5:10 shoes

The remedy 9 came with the ratio you are discussing (I think) so should be golden

I can sell you a used once xt for £20 if you like?
Came on my new remedy but I went 1 x 10

If I can’t find it cheaper online I simply “shoplift” the desired item.

He has donated his winnings to a cancer charity.

http://inagist.com/all/353956050740850688/

It will be lighter. The weight of the spring will determine feel. A 350 Ti spring will feel exactly like a 350 steel spring