And I would love to be able to justify the airshot, but I’m too penny pinching and my lemonade bottle works!

I did try with the track pump but got nowhere fast. Which Superstar valves did you use ads678? The only ones I can see are £10.99 (their £6.99 pair are out of stock), which isn’t much cheaper than the Stans ones from CRC. £6.99 would be much more palatable though!

Update – getting carried away, I then moved onto doing one wheel on son’s bike with well used tyres – again, went up OK, with plenty of oozing from the holes in the tyre already. Let’s see how long that stays up.

And finally, decided to go full DIY and cut out a valve from an old inner tube to do the rear on my 29er. Not a wise decision, as it turns out. First I cut it too large, so the bead wouldn’t seat (I think). THen I trimmed it too small so that when it did seat and I brought it back up to pressure with the valve core re-inserted the valve pulled through the tape and practically out of the rim. Ah well, time to spend some more money on getting more “proper” stans valves.

It was great value at £300 in all sizes, so at that price its a steal, despite the peculiar wheel sizes for the 51cm frame.

@pipiom – “a bit” harder? :D

I can see the value in the spreadsheets or the websites in seeing what the spread of a particular setup is and comparing those, but if you’re talking extremes and you are comformtable with your current 30/42 then I suppose only you know if you feel its worth spending money on something which makes life slightly easier or slightly harder (obviously the trade off for the slightly harder option is a higher top end speed in 32/10 vs 30/10. Again, how noticeable it all is surely you can only really tell in practice.

Do you need a spreadsheet? 30/42 =0.71 (current), 30/44 = 0.68 (easier), 32/44 = 0.72 (harder)

Successful quicklink strategies that have worked for me:-
– rest one end of link on chain ring, light “tap” with a hammer on the opposite end of the link
– tie a strong shoe lace around the link from roller to roller, tie in a loop and insert a tool handle in the loop. Twist and twist until the lace pulls very very tightly on both ends of the link (perhaps squeeze links together with pliers too) until they pop off
– in rare and isolated cases, they just pop off using just my fingers (but you’ve already tried that one!)

Too much pressure in the car tyre though? Otherwise, that was actually my first thought!

Cheers – it might come down to £££, so any recommendations or tyres to avoid which meet the 650b / dual ply criteria (assuming everyone agrees that a fortnight in the Alps requires dual ply tyres).

Planning on trying to run them tubeless too, but that’s a weekend project!

Of course, if the photo doesn’t show, that’s not much help is it.

On the left, “proper” nano-x kit. On the right the stock nano kit.

Link to google photo of replacement service kit

I promised I’d share a photo of the dedicated Nano-X service kit vs the stock one from the Superstar website. As expected, the only difference is the thin o=ring seals as the big seals don’t fit.

I took it apart last night, cleaned, regreased, used new seal and tightened up (perhaps a little too much actually, might need to re-do the preloading of the bearings) and all is now well.

I use my Vivoactive with one of these http://www.decathlon.co.uk/sv-300-handlebar-watch-holder-cycle-computer-accessory-id_3341513.html to mount it on the bars. Perfectly visible, even displays SMS text messages while I’m riding if I have my phone with me in a pocket too.

There is also an app availabe for route following (not brilliant, but if you’re likely to get lost on a planned route, it keeps you on the straight and narrow).

The old model (the one I have) is about £160 at the moment, but likely to be coming down. I got mine for a steal at £99 on a black friday deal last year, love it for running and cycling. Not used it for swimming at all.

When paired with your phone (and if your phone is with you) you can also use it to let someone follow your route on their computer, again helpful if SWMBO wants to know where you are!

I’ve gone for a compromise – gorilla tape, stans fluid and new tubeless valves.

Let’s see how this pans out…

Cheers – think if I was a seasoned tubeless kind of guy I might give that a go, but I’m a little cautious! But in principle, which ever kit / equipment I use, it is feasible then?

Might experiment on my crap Rockrider bike first if theoretically “any” set of wheels can be done.

I’ll be getting my original order plus the updated set. I’ll post here the difference between the two sets which I suspect will just be the seals.

Credit due to superstar, I emailed them to ask about this and they replied to let me know that the website details were wrong, and have immediately put a complimentary service pack in the post for me. On reflection, perhaps should have asked first and bought second, but thought I’d post about their customer service anyway!

Interesting, I’ve bought the repair kit (http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/service-kit-for-nano-pedal.htm) which says that it is for the Nano-X as well as others, but I did wonder whether the picture of a largish seal matched the small o-ring that I discovered when I stripped the pedal at the weekend.

Perhaps the kit will come with an either / or for the new design Nano-X, if not I’ve ordered a kit which will be neither use nor ornament unless I do some more damage!!

Thanks, might take you up on that, but the nano rebuild kit that’s coming apparently comes with instructions too! I did managed to disassemble properly (excluding bushings and bearings) without too much fuss once I’d realised I’d knacked the o-ring / seal. How hard can it be?!

Found the reach adjustment last night, trying that as a first port of call. Though he did look bemused when i told him I’d posted it here and reeled off the potential suggestions. For some reason he thinks the cure for this might be something else completely (though he’s no idea what that might be!).

Teenagers and their independent minds, eh!?!

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I’ll make sure we try out a variety of things and potentially report back with answers!

(Final note – discovered that he does use single finger braking, didn’t know that previously).

That actually was his point yesterday. We’re off to the Alps in the summer (mainly family holiday, but he’ll get some MTB fix for sure out there) and he was concerned that if he got that bad after degla he’d be in agony in Les Gets!

Though yesterday I experienced degla in the dry for the first time ever, and it was definitely harder on my arms than I’ve had before!

A previous work colleague was seriously injured a few years ago when he sold his car in cash at the door on a weekend – a few hours later he was “visited” by some people who knew that he had the cash and that it hadn’t been able to get to the bank as it was the weekend. He was not-so-politely relieved of the cash and hospitalised (first hand story, not one of those internet urban myths).

As such I’d never take cash at the door on a weekend, just in case. Bank transfer, as OP suggests, much the most sensible route.

Ignore you, never!

He’s certainly not heavy, so I do take your points about bikes being made for adults rather than kids seriously in terms of his suspension setup. But he’s definitely more on the adult side than the kids side now, and whilst he’s got some bulking out still do to, he’s definitely no less adult in his physical build now than many other adults are.

I think he compenstates for being a “light” adult by riding his short travel bike a little harder than a 15st rider would be able to do on the same machine.

Confidence not an issue. Experience / time on bike on those trails maybe, but not confidence.

(Though I accept that a more subliminal aspect of confidence might be in play, i.e. having the balls to do something, but perhaps not the 100% confidence that it’ll all turn out OK).

Thanks – when you say move the brakes along, I presume you mean towards the stem, rather than outwards? I’m not totally sure there is a reach adjustment on the stock brakes fitted (Shimano M395 – acera I think), so perhaps its time for an upgrade there. That might be an overdue upgrade anyway.

No, I mean my 16 year old, 6ft (but scrawny) lad who ragged it down the black at Llandegla on his own because the rest of us are far too slow for him! He weighs about 70kg currently I believe.

He managed to persuade me to do the b-line on his second run around ‘degla yesterday, complaining all the while about how slow I was…

He’s riding a Canyon Nerve Al 6.0 with Reba up front, and he rides quite hard – he definitely makes good use of the suspension.

He definitely isn’t scared by anything I’m suggesting he does – he rides on his own at his own pace (miles faster than me) usually with a big smile on his face tail whipping down the bumps and humps of Llandegla (he scares the life out of me to be honest!). But I do think he is likely hanging onto the bars too hard rather than being relaxed in his arms etc – but I’m just a dad riding a decathlon £300 hard tail so I know little enough about these things, other than to know there is “something” he’s not doing right (or not got the right kit) which needs addressing.

(I got some admiring (?) looks off some of the guys on the black bits of Llandegla yesterday for braving it on the crap bike I ride!)

I did it on a heavy Rockrider 29er with a rubbish Suntour XCR fork. And I’m a rubbish rider.

But the most important thing I think was my lack of any riding ability, way more important than the bike itself!

Delamere is our home stomping ground, I think its one of those places where if you know where to look, there’s some good stuff. And great for a generalised family round around with no stress.

But if you just turn up at the main car park you could end up missing the decent bits. I’ve not been to Clayton Vale, but I’d imagine that CV would be better than Delamere as a trail centre for a youngster.

My 9yo I wouldn’t take near Llandegla red, but he’s not a confident rider. Its just that bit too long and too steep in places unless they are reasonably confident and enthusiastic. Definitely recommend riding knowing where the shortcuts are, but from experience when my chain broke and I had to push / coast back, you’re never quite as near to the cafe as you thought you were!

He manages the drag up well enough and really enjoys the blue. It’s a shame really that the 3 mile drag up is necessary for both the blue and the red so there isn’t a really easy option for tired young legs.

TBH all my gang (4 boys, 7 – 16) enjoy the skills area and pump track for a good period of time whenever we go up, so make sure you allow time for that too. Plus the cafe is superb!

Here’s a hint – go to strava.ml and then tell me if it asks for your credentials and tells you you’ve been selected to win an Xbox One or similar…

£49 would be an outstanding bargain, which Tesco was that smurfly13?

I picked up a Vivoactive back end of last year for just under £100, has multisport facilities and overall a nice watch. Bluetooth sync to mobile, message notifications (aka smart phone features etc). New model is coming on the market at the moment, so possibly some bargains to be had.

I love mine.

Did anyone buy the “multipass” thing for your family? It’d either be two euros per day (if we’re lucky with the way our accommodation pans out) or 65 euros max each if we buy the seasonal pass (effectively nearly 5 euros per day) (or we could just buy it on a daily basis at 8 euros).

Cheers guys, yes – we’ve got a car so expect to be heading out and about. Booked for 14 nights so (weather dependent) should get plenty of time to do different things.

Yes, but went there in the winter this year so didn’t want to go back so not concerned about that. Les Gets is a done deal for this year, so its about making the most of that. It’s hardly a barren industrial estate location anyway!

SPD or flats? All I can offer is “beetroot juice” as a mildly helpful suggestion for addressing the altitude sickness potential.

Another satisfied vivoactive user here. Though tbh I don’t really see the value in the activity monitoring, but its a nice GPS watch with a long battery life, some nice notification features when paired with a smartphone and a perfectly fine watch too. Nice and light.

Got mine for £99 on a Black Friday deal, very happy with it for general wearing, running, a bit of cycling, and some mildly diverting activity stats.

I’ve used an old Garmin eTrex 10 through a window, and a smartphone with all of the transmitty stuff turned off (but GPS turned on) just to show the kids how fast / where we were flying over at the time. Worked fine, but the devices needed to be right up against the window. Nice to know where you are over-flying and what you might be legitimately able to see out of the window.

What strikes me as odd is that if these motors are a real “thing” and if they are so beneficial, then the engineering companies making them stand to make substantially more money by actually putting them in consumer versions of the bikes rather than in just a handful (??) of pro bikes.

Given how f-ugly most bikes with an electric motor are, surely there’d be a massive market for tidy little motors hidden in the seattube which are so powerful that they can provide enough W to propel one elite cyclist away from another?

Battery tech etc is so limited in most other forms that I’m simply impressed that some niche engineering company has come up with a way of delivering power boosts in a compact and light form.

I have this:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CooSpo-Bluetooth-Wireless-Monitor-Fitness/dp/B00UADFP16/ref=sr_1_2?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1453827410&sr=1-2&keywords=coospo

Bluetooth and Ant+, chest strap nice and soft, replaceable battery. Cheap option for a trial definitely.

I wouldn’t even walk most of those ledges.