I’m still hankering for a 5. My Paypal balance is up to £1100 now from selling everything that isn’t screwed to the floor.

Wondering if you’ve taken it down anything proper steep and switchbacky (Leigh Woods in Bristol, if that means anything to you)? I am riding a lot of that stuff these days, and obviously the turns can be very tight.

Finish line ceramic is now used as a general purpose oil, as it left every chain I tried it on covered in black. It just seems too runny, and no matter how much I wipe the chain, it goes oiley again

I was thinking of a Stache 5, but was wondering what happens if you decide you need suss forks? Can you buy funny g2 geometry forks aftermarket? Does the bike catch fire, or dissolve if you use normal forks?

it needs to be with an actual charity to qualify (my company has a policy for allowing charity volunteering).

I’m not really sure what amazing advice I’m expecting. I think I just want to moan.

Thanks for being there guys :-)

:-)

I’ve tried apple flavored washing up liquid. Fresh out of K-Y.

there do seem to be a lot more frames designed for 120mm forks.

I was looking at that XTC. She’s 5’10”, so I think Medium is about right. Worried it might be a bit racey and low slung.

Agree about harshness and weight though. Ideally looking for a reasonably light weight frame.

that’s the big joke – no budget or anything in mind yet. Just been made redundant, and I’ve seen a job I fancy in Maidenhead, so trying to evaluate if I could really live around there!

There’s a lot of factors though – I need good schools, good transport links….and I hate commuting! Ideally, I want to build a mansion (west wing can be the workshop), move Afan over trail be trail to my garden (you’re all welcome to visit), and have that about 25 minutes of flowing singletrack from the office (where I get my dream job).

In real life though…

Couple of hours local sounds OK. I just don’t want to end up someplace where mountain biking equates to driving

Hadn’t really thought too much about the commute. Want to get the balance right. No more than 40 mins travelling each way widely, and mtbing ideally from my doorstep (at the moment I cycle 15 mins to the trailhead, which is doorstep as far as I am concerned).

Train commute sounds sensible to be honest. I hate driving. Cycling is an option if it’s not simply lethal

Replaced the valve core, that fixed it thanks.

thanks both. I guess i’m off shopping then… sloppy work from the service centre though…

are they just standard valve cores then? might give that a go

Trickydisco – you’re in Bristol, aren’t you? Any chance we could meet and I could take a look at yours?

yeah, me too. I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t work, but there could be odd geometry on a road mech or something…

I think quantocks are too far. I’m in bristol and need to get home for 1 :-( mendips is other option from here, but that will probably be awful too

Filthy I can cope with. I don’t know the trails though, and want to avoid going on one of those rides where you push through a bog for 3 hours

jobless – how were the brakes?

Mine lasted about one ride before back to being rubbish. I think it’s down to the cable pull – It really is similar to when cantilevers are set up badly with the straddle wire too high.

I just think they are optimised for more cable pull than I can get out of the SRAM shifter, which means that when everything is 100% perfect, I can get them working, but they are very intolerant to any changes in setup.

I’ve just bought another BB7, as it worked fine and was only the heel rub causing me issues, so I’m going to BB7 on the front, and keep the spyre on the back, at least until I’ve got some cash for hydros

original thread here[/url].

oh…that guy.

funnily, I had an avid on, and I just tried switching for the trp, as I wasn’t getting much power! I’ll try that though. Might have a shimano somewhere too

Hi Jobless,

So it’s just us and the tumbleweed… :-)

Out of interest, could you forward me the email from TRP? Just curious. My email is in my profile.

The compressionless cable will help slightly in the power, simply because less of the power you put into pulling the cable is lost in squashing the cable up. I’m not sure if it’s significant, but it’s the idea. Can’t say it made much different with my BB7’s (worked fine with and without), and hasn’t made a lot of difference on the TRP’s (don’t work either way!).

Problem with compressionless is that it’s not very bendy, so I had loads of friction on my frame, as the cable exits the frame and needs a fairly tight bend to get to the caliper. If compressionless fixes the problem on the front (doesn’t seem to have), then I’ll put some on the rear, and get a bit creative with the cable routing to fix the problem (or even use a cable oiler to join a bit of flexy for the last 20cm or so.

I think the best cable solution is something like nokon, which I have used in the past on mtbs, and really does improve the feel of brakes, as it is both very flexible, and rock-solidly-copmressionless, but it is pricey, and I don’t want to just throw money at these brakes, which I should be tucking away to pay for some fancy CX1 hydros.

update, if anyone is still watching this thread.

Put compressionless outer on the front. Definitely improved the feel of the brake, but not the power.

Only thing left that might save it is a more significant bedding in (this is not 100% bedded in yet, I expect, as I’ve been too ill to ride properly, and only be trying to do it on the flat roads near my house), and possible another rotor change if I can find a good one to borrow.

nemesis – are you suggesting that that link from boblo is fake jagwire?

I bought some of the cheaper stuff for a fiver for a hack bike, and it seemed fine, but wasn’t supposed to be the posh jagwire. It’s just different levels. I can’t imagine jagwire is a hot enough brand to be worth printing the cable logos, end caps, etc…

How about this for Jagwire?

that’s the stuff, but in the “non-XL” guise, you need to buy two packs if you need continuous cable outer.

would be good to be able to just buy lengths of the outer. I’m building up a collection of the gear outer here from having done two bikes.

spangelsaregreat – just found the post – that’s great.

tehtehtehteh – I’ve never really had problems with that in the past on mtbs. Key is to tighten the bolts alternately, and gently. If you just wang one up, then the other it will twist

nemesis – maybe I should get over. I remember crankslave insisting his froglegs were brilliant, until he tried my cantis. He replaced them next ride.

These are definitely not as good as my cantis used to be, nor my bb7’s.

If they are so picky about alignment, and pad spacing, they don’t sound like the right thing for cross racing, especially as I have different wheels for racing (with slightly different rotor spacing). I was sort of relying on being able to loosen the caliper, squeeze, and re-tighten when swapping wheels before a race.

bah. I will perservere, but I will not spend any more money. If I can’t get them to work, I’ll cash in and buy something else.

Shame really, I was fine with th BB7’s, but my new frame has a chainstay mounted caliper bracket, and I kept hitting my heels on them.

cable under the pinc bolt (i.e. closest to the wheel axle).

I was using Jagwire compressionless outer. It’s good value, and seems nicely made (and you can probably get it in purple).

It’s not very flexible though (although I understand that’s a problem with all the compressionless outer, due to how they are constructed), and that was causing me friction issues before, due to the cable routing on my frame.

I have noticed the caliper feels very gritty inside. I guess that will be the next thing though (if nothing else to flog them!)

well, I’ve already done about 200km off road on them, including a race. Pretty terrifying on the descents especially, but also difficult when trying to go quickly into corners.

The new pads are the last throw of the dice. Maybe they’ll bed in better, maybe not. If they are not better by the end of the first real ride though, they are on eBay (at least the front)

I’d really like to hear from anyone using SRAM brifters. I’ve got some spare compressionless housing, I’m just not sure I can be bothered to switch it out now, as I don’t think it’s really the issue.

It’s not as if when I squeeze, it feels like everything is flexing. It’s just as if there is no power, and the rother just keeps turning. IN fact, best way to describe is that it’s like having contaminated pads/rotors.

I just put new superstar kevlar pads on the front, and a new rotor (the trp one, which I never tried before), and have been out bedding it in. It got slightly better, but still not great.

I use the same pads on other bikes, and really like the feel, so although I’m sure there will be people who say SS pads are crap or something, again, I don’t think it’s the issue

oh, I should mention, I don’t have compressionless housing anymore, but I didn’t on the BB7’s before either, and they worked just fine. I did have it briefly on the rear, but it got so gunked up that I had to bin them, and I just bought normal outer for a quick replacement, and it really wasn’t that much worse.

as an aside, I had same problem with loose ball joint on the lezyne helmet mount. simple solution – carbon friction paste on the ball. works a treat

JimJam- I think you’re spot on. The lights I’ve described I’ve always had to use a compromised position with the light.

I’ve decided to go for a Diablo & a spare battery pack. I almost went for the Axis, but decided that the tight beam limited it’s use a bit, and when I ride nighttime CX I only use a bar light. I think the diablo will make a good bar light too.

20g = 20% ish of the total weight though.

To put some background on this, I’m not being a weight weenie! Over the years, I’ve tried a few attempts at helmet lights, and I always wned up with a wobbly helmet which I don’t like.

I suspect a lot of this is to do with the helmet mount, and I understand exposure have got it right. Keeping the weight closer to the helmet should stop it pulling on the helmet so much.

Having said that, the Lezyne macrodrive I used (too heavy, and not bright enough) weighed about 98g, and the deal extreme torch was definuitely too heavy, at about 124g.

more weight though

A firm tap with a rubber mallet, and in twyve gone. Much better fit than shimano I’ve had in the past.

Wonder I’d they’ll creak…

Lock one, because normal ones end up twisting as my daughter anchors her hand on them to change gear. I didn’t think you could trim lockons, but I’ve never has real ones.

Mintimperial- I’ll be in touch :-)

Mashiehood – are you saying there’s a compatibility issue? Wheels suggest they are compatible…

All, sounds like a tap with a mallet could be in order.

BTW, I did google it, but not very effectively (especially on my phone). Ta for the responses

Problem is not sticky bearings, trouble is it’s as if the spindle is to big for the bearings. It seems unlikely.

I wondered about putting the cranks in the freezer first, but I will have to get them off one day…