I had some and never had any success. I was pairing them with SRAM 10spd brifters.

I tried compressionless outer, different cable clamp to change the mechanical advantage, different pads, experiments with slack or tight cables (so the engagement is at a different part of the lever throw) etc. Since lots of people say they work fine, I came to the conclusion it was the pairing with the brake levers that was an issue. In the end I went to Shimano hydraulics. If I was going to have to buy new calipers OR levers, I thought in for a penny, in for a pound…

I guess the difference racing is that you don’t always get to choose the perfect line, and sometimes you’re trying to squeeze around people.

well I’ve ridden them round the course, so I know they fit through everything. I’ve still got some narrow little 710mm bars somewhere, which might make sense for twistier courses…

those all sound like very good reasons :-) Thanks Ben

Probably worth owning up – I’m expecting to pair it with a zero, probably an AM

Interesting Ben – what is it about the HLR that makes it better suited to a hard tail do you think?

That would have been perfect, if a little short. I’ll get in touch. Hopefully there will be a reschedule

Barrie Clarke did do it on an MTB. To give you an idea of how much quicker a CX bike is. I rode around with him on mine :-)

I had to lol at CX being the traditional choice. I remember going with you nemesis. You had your Scott, I had my CX bike, and people kept coming up to me confused about what sort of bike it was. I suppose that was 15 years ago now…

My rebas went back once, and have been fine since. My reverb has been back twice.

slightly the wrong way round, but anyone running “normal” tyres on “plus” rims?

Thinking of getting a Norco Torrent, but from what I’ve heard, narrower tyres might be better for the real winter filth (by narrower, I mean 2.25 Magic Marys, or 2.5 Minion!)

+1 for Dr. Sue at uwe. I went there as a punter, and the orthotics basically solved my issues that I’d been fighting with for 10 years!

+1 for Dr. Sue at uwe. I went there as a punter, and the orthotics basically solved my issues that I’d been fighting with for 10 years!

Just spotted an mx8 11spd. Looks like a good alternative to xt. Same price but much lighter.

If you’d consider aluminium, take a look at Ventana. Handbiilt aluminium. 3 SS 29er models. I have an el Toro (26″ ) gathering dust, but it still is one of the nicest bikes I’ve ever known. You can have custom geo and paint for a little extra

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I contacted DT at the time and apparently I couldn’t upgrade the ratchet. That would have been cheaper than replacing the wheel…oh well, live and learn

!

I had a 350 rear, and I’ve also got a 240s, and I found the pickup was much slower on the 350, to the extent I got rid of it. That was 2011 350, and a ~2008 240s. Might have changed.

How are the trails at the moment? Thinking of heading over Sunday.ade was really hacked up last month, apparently…

Smart lunar. 500 lumens, USB chargable. I bought front and rear set for 25 or 30 I think.

Really impressed. Only bought for commuting, but good enough for a backup for off road (not my first choice though!)

love that the fork uppers are fatter than the downtube!

i’ve submitted a request to Pedalcover, let’s see what happens.

Why cheap when you’re hanging a few hundred pounds of tech off it?

because on something so simple, cheap doesn’t necessarily mean dysfunctional, and I want 6 mounts for various bikes.

I was looking at the multitude of sub tenner ones on eBay and amazon

My turbo bike was an old Raleigh fished out of the river. Stripped down, and half decent second hand cranks and back wheel, junk front wheel, new ish cassette, chain and chainrings. New bar tape and old saddle. Good to go. Not rideable as a bike, but great for turbo.I suppose it depends if you’ve got a load of serviceable crap lying around (I did).

Downside of this is only single purpose. Good thing is no faff, as always set up, not flicking dirt all over my bedroom, and a nice bit of recycling

It’s not a long reach. Is shorter than my large Scott scale
Is fugly, but I can look past that as I know they make great frames, but it just looks too short in the tt

I dno’t know. I’m sure lots of b+ tyres will appear, but will 29+ get the same traction (sorry…).

Leon

As mentioned in a few posts back, I fitted a Maxxis Chronicle to the front of my Stache 9, and put the front tyre on the rear for a little more winter grip.

Just come back from a very wet and windy ride around the Blade and Wall at Afan.

The Chronicle did feel much better, the squarer profile of the tyre did give more grip , it also felt a little more supple. Ran the front tyre at my usual 10psi.

Chronicle is a heavier tyre though, but I didn’t notice any difference in drag etc.

felt better, but did it feel good? I had originally started looking at plus bikes as I was thinking a fully rigid plus bike would be a great winter bike, but I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve got it all wrong.

Where was that handy table? I didn’t find it

There was an MBUK article in the 90s where they stripped an old bike and made it extremely mud proof! Sand blast and powder coated frame, holes sealed up and other stuff I forget. Might be worth going down this avenue and making things a bit more carefree if it does get entirely caked in mud?

That was a Brant article. The bike was christened “BUM UK”, using some cut up mbuk stickers.

Nemesis – shwalbe are doing b+ nobby nice now…

Anyone any idea how b+ wheels affect the Stache? Little concerned that as good as this bike may be, 29+ could be a bit of an evolutionary dead end…I know trek says you can use b+ wheels, but that will drop the bb, reduce the trail, probably have other effects…

I used to use latex tubes in my Mtb. Very similar effect on the ride as tubeless- seem to improve the grip and it feels a few pai softer than it is, compared to a butyl tube. Tubeless is better though, and you can still puncture latex tubes (although they are a bit more resistant than butyl, as they stretch around foreign bodies to some extent

I carry some sort of super lightweight maxxis tube. I like it because I often ride without a bag of any sort, so it takes up less space in my pocket. More important than the weight. Never had to use it, but sure it will be fine, plus in Bristol, I’m never that far from homw

I built a rear wheel for my commuter/ winter road bike from heir £35ish rear hub, and it’s still spinning like new two years later, and weighs about the same as the DT 240s it replaced!

I’ve got a pair of 7series disc hubs for my cyclo cross race wheels, as relatively cheap and light, and supporting a road 11spd cassette. Again, can’t fault.

They do a very wide range, and even the same level of hub comes in different options (different bearings, some have a steel strip on the freehub body), but I think they are great value for money, and wouldn’t hesitate to use them in whatever wheels I build next.

Regarding mashing freehub bodies – the trick is to do the lockring up really tight. Since I’ve been doing that, I no longer get mashed freehub bodies.

I had a soul 275…but I can’t figure out what your question is!!!

Is the carbon fork 110mm “boost”?

Nice thing about my scale is that geometry wise, especially with the 120 fork, its a modern trail bike. 68ish head angle, long front centre, short rear centre. Combined with decent tyres, the dropper, wide bars and flats, it’s as good going down as my old soul 275. But, it fly’s up, and with a couple of small changes, turns into an xc race machine.

I’ve got a rigid single speed too. That comes in at sub 19, but it’s really only fun on singletrack, not on the steeps or the gnarr

I wanted to build a lightweight “trail” bike, as an ex weight weenie xc type who’s started riding gnarlier stuff.

I’ve ended up with a Scott scale 720 frame, with rebas at 120mm, hope hoops with Stans arch rims. Zee rear mech, xt shifter xtr m985. 1×10. Heavy slx cassette. Xt brakes, 180/160. Renthal 740 alloy bars , and charge lockons

For more xc rides, I put on SPD’s, Thomson post, and maybe switch tyres to crossmarks. For more gnar, it has flats, a reverb, and a Hans dampf/ardent tyre combo. It’s about 22.5lb in light mode, 23 in “heavy”.

Biggest compromise is the fork. It’s just a bit rubbish. More weight won’t fix that though – more money will!

I ride a 60cm with a 120mm stem on the road, and it looks just right :-)