Plenty to ride in July & August.  Hire a guide to make the most it otherwise you’ll be guessing at what’s worth riding and spending a lot of time navigating.

The Oozy Trail 295 rim weight went up a lot in 2016 or 2017.  DT Swiss are probably listing the old weights.

The Trail Boss is the only tyre I have ever tried which I removed before wearing it out.  It rolls pretty well and it’s tough but I thought that the small side-knobs are rubbish under hard cornering in all conditions.

More like 25-30% of all websites are built on WordPress these days.

Fairly ugly design/execution of a WordPress theme: singletrackworld.com
OK design/execution of a WordPress theme: dirtmountainbike.com
Pretty nice design/execution of a WordPress theme: hopetech.com

The clear repair tape?

Yep.

Buy the 2 inch Gorilla Tape and cut the whole roll to whatever with you want if you’re worried about it.

The last time I retaped my old 25mm rims the Gorilla Tape wouldn’t stick so I used one layer of 19mm electrical tape and one layer of 19mm Gorilla Tape; worked fine. On new 30mm rims I used two layers of clear Gorilla Tape full width of the rim bed which was about 20g per rim vs. normal Gorilla Tape about 25-30g for a single layer, and should peel off cleaner than the normal stuff when needed.

I use half a Reverb threaded syringe at the lever instead of the bucket/funnel and a syringe and tubing at the caliper that was a couple of quid off eBay.

Edit: great minds think alike lyrikal.

I remounted an old Snakeskin Magic Mary this week, pretty loose indeed. I normally use a petrol station compressor or a friend’s homemade bottle inflator but got it up fine this time with a track pump and valve core removed after wrapping a 26″ tube around the outer circumference of the tyre and pulling the bead into place.

Freezer for 24 hours.

A friend just told me that his DT Swiss wheelset came built interlaced, so that’s what I’ll do. Thanks everyone.

Anyone have experience with the GoatLink on a Zee/Saint mech on a full suspension frame?

I’m still happy sticking with 10 speed for cheapness (broke/repaired two mechs last summer so I have three working Zee/Saints now), but whenever my cassette needs replaced the next one might be a Sunrace 11-40t or an XT/XTR plus 40t expander.

From the online spiel the RadR cage should do a better job than the GoatLink especially because of the slightly extended cage length, but it’s more expensive and it’s the cages that I seem to break occasionally. Just wondering if a Zee/Saint with 11-40t will work or if chain tension will be compromised in the top and/or bottom cogs because on an 11-36 it seems just barely OK on my last three 150mm-ish travel frames.

Newertech from Megamac.com, yep that’s the one. Had mine in for over a year and it’s performing well.

Just finished chopping off the Connectamajig, installing the post-end hose barb and sleeve from the link above and finished off with a rock-solid bleed; a huge weight off my mind ahead of my holiday :D .

Big thanks to @BoardinBob for the Reverb syringe and Stevie at Sprocket Cycles (Kilmarnock) for talking me through the process on the phone. No big deal losing the Connectamajig as the connector doesn’t fit through my Transition’s internal routing anyway.

Aha. The “hose barb sleeve” I believe. That’s on its way with the barb itself: https://www.merlincycles.com/rockshox-reverb-hose-barb-for-post-end-58226.html.

I read through the hose replacement & bleed manual, seems pretty straightforward. A little worried that there will be air trapped deep in the line but we’ll see how it goes and will take it to a workshop if I can’t get a good bleed myself.

Cheers.

Now now, behave boys. Google Maps says 28 minutes from Giffnock (G46) to Sprocket.

Got a Reverb syringe to pick up from Mr BordinBob tomorrow and will head down to Sprocket if I can’t get a good bleed. Turns out I damaged the hose at the seatpost end after sitting on the bike with the seatpost collar loose so am also waiting for a replacement seatpost end barb to arrive tomorrow or Monday.

Thanks everyone for the help. :)

No luck at Dale’s or Sprocket for hoses or post-end barbs, but spoke to very helpful mechanics especially Stevie at Sprocket who talked me through the procedure to fit the new barb I just ordered from Merlin.

Will grab that syringe from you over the weekend Bob (PM coming), should be fine to fit & bleed myself but can always pay Sprocket a visit if I mess it up.

Thanks all. :)

It’s fiddlier to fit than the lever end just because of the stress reliever (which you definitely want to fit, it’s very weak without it)

“Stress reliever”, eh? What’s that? :?

Yeah I know the hose will be a bit shorter, but it’ll be useable for this trip at least. May replace the hose in the future if it bothers me.

Sounds like this isn’t a commonly stocked part. A Mechanic at Sprocket Cycles (Stevie, incredibly helpful guy) talked me through the process and it sounds a pretty straightforward procedure for my experience level. So ordered the part from Merlin, should arrive tomorrow/Monday to fix it up myself and can always head to Sprocket if I somehow mess it up.

Well it sounds like I can replace the whole Connectamajig with Rockshox part number R5022010 (“Hose barb” + “Hose barb sleeve” in the service manual), so trying to track those parts down at short notice now.

Dale’s in Glasgow couldn’t help but the very cheery mechanic let me know the part number above. Waiting on a call back from Sprocket in Kilmarnock but might come back as a negative. Looks like Merlin have the part but would have to order today for Monday/Tuesday delivery then fit it up and bleed (hopefully OK myself).

If anyone happens to have these parts spare themselves, please do let me know.

Its a crimped connection, so nope, new hose time.

Makes it a lot more hassle to fix :cry: . Thanks for the quick answer though.

Thanks boys. Will give the above a shout.

The hose is damaged at the seatpost end (just before the Connectamajig), I’m sure caused by stupidly sitting on the bike during some pre-disassembly sevicing while the seatpost collar was a bit loose which caused the seatpost to slip down. So I’m wondering if it’s possible to shorten a Reverb hose at the seatpost end, which would do as a quicker & easier fix. Going to start a new thread now to ask.

May well still give you a shout about that syringe Bob, thanks.

Would have been perfect Bob, but just pulled the post out for a look and realised that the problem is down to a damaged hose :(.

So any recommendations for a shop in Glasgow that would have a replacement hose? Not sure if it’s specific Reverb hose or just normal hydraulic line I could swap the fittings onto.

Actually, if I can get a hose I might grab your syringe to complete the job Bob.

I had a nightmare getting Stan’s or Gorilla Tape to stick to my rear Spank rim’s weird shaped profile the last time I retaped it (yes, scrubbed well with isopropyl first). I ended up using one layer of electrical tape and then a layer of Gorilla Tape on top, all good.

Transition XL with a Works +5mm reach headset.

I put an off-brand battery from megamac.com into my mid-2012 Macbook Pro about a year ago. A little over £100 I think, easy installation and works well.

Thanks boys, I’ll go for some plain steel max bearings all round. Been looking at Wych and Aire bearing shops online – both have what I need at fair prices.

Newspaper works OK. Better though, buy 500g of silica gel (pellets) for about £5 on eBay. Split this between two tights and tie them shut, then stuff into shoes to dry. The pellets can be recharged in the oven once they’ve been saturated from a few dryings. Excellent for ski boots too.

Also looking for a cheeky CRC discount code. If anyone with a spare could send to the email address in my profile it would me much appreciated. :D

How about this, I need one chainstay pivot axle (small thing) can’t buy them individually so looks like I need to buy the whole frame kit for 100+:(

Try emailing Transition directly – they were very helpful with some technical questions I had.

I have a BNIP one – had it as a spare for my Patrol. You can have it for £17.50 posted if you want.

Very kind of you sir. Email coming to you now. :-)

* Bump for the evening crowd *

I’m the opposite. XL-XXL length, L width (long and skinny, like the rest of me :wink: ). Anyone else the same as me feel free to add suggestions here, especially for thin/minimal gloves.

The old 661 Rev XXL was an excellent fit on me; wish I had stocked up with a few pairs. The current 661 Comp XXL is massive but the XL is a good length on me and width just a little big.

Massive logos and clashing colours.

Torque spec on the Bronson V1 was revised to 80/50 inch-pounds (9/5.5Nm) for the big/small linkage bolts around 2015.

Weird. I’ve used Uberbike’s Race Matrix in Zee brakes for the past three years and I like them. An average summer ride is 3000-5000m vertical of steep lift-accessed alpine terrain and they last me 15-20 rides. Tried Superstar Kevlars once out of curiosity – felt a little nicer but they were down to the metal midway through the third ride.

After dealing with a very hard-to-seal tyre a few years ago this is what I always do now. Probably unnecessary for most tyres, but I know it’ll be totally sealed doing this.

– Sealant in
– Inflate until bead sits properly
– Reduce to 35psi
– Hold wheel vertically and shake, rotate a little, repeat until you’ve gone all the way around the wheel
– Sit flat for 15 minutes on a bucket or big saucepan
– Repeat shake & rotate
– Sit flat on other side for 15 minutes

The extra steps:

– Shake & rotate again
– Sit wheel on the ground with a small weight at the valve stem so that the wheel is at a slight angle
– Set repeat timer for 5 minutes
– Move weight 1/8 of the way around the rim (4 spokes)
– Wait another 5 minutes
– Repeat all the way around the rim
– Shake & rotate again
– Repeat with the wheel the other side up

As the weight moves around the sealant pools over the entire sidewall which is the tricky part to seal on some tyres. Overkill a lot of the time and it takes 1.5 hours, but it’s what it took to get one pesky tyre sorted for me in the past and it’s easy to have this process going on while working at my desk and just move the weight every 5 minutes when the timer goes off. A little soapy water on the side of the tyre that’s facing up is good check for leaks on that side while the downward facing side is getting the sealant treatment.

Any other 170mm Reverb reliability reports?

I’ve had good luck with two 125mm versions in the past, a little bit of sag eventually but nothing to whine about. Looking to get a 150mm or 170mm version now. 150mm maybe more reliable?

It’ll be a 30.9mm diameter one, and I know that the 30.9 150mm versions were scrapped two years ago when I was shopping for my previous one because of reported reliability problems in that diameter.

Ta.

Dunno about your Bronson V1 but can confirm that fabric cageless bottle won’t fit on 5010 V2 as you cant push the bottle far enough towards seat post tube to locate the bottle on the fixing points

Looking at the 5010 v2 I can see how the cage mounts would lead to that problem. On my frame there is a good 60mm of space behind the rear mount before the frame starts curving so I don’t think that would be an issue.

The cables are what will be problematic really. Any SC owners care to say how they routed their cables for any brand of bottle cage?

Kind of related to this topic, so I’m replying here instead of starting a new one…

I’m looking to put a bottle cage onto my Bronson v1 for the first time. Maybe Fabric cageless bottle, maybe not. Regardless, I’m not sure how a cage will fit in there with the cables. Do I need to run the cables straight from the last downtube mounts to the rear triangle or am I OK with them crossing there like I currently do? I cut my current ones short because I haven’t used a bottle in years but want to go back to it. Getting new brakes soon and due a gear cable change so I can make them longer no problem. So can I have them long and crossing under the bottle cage or will I need to cross them further up the downtube?

Any bottle-cage-on-Santa-Cruz advice or photos would be appreciated.

Windproof or breathable. Pick one; you can’t have both. Sounds like breathability is more important to you, and unless you’re out in very strong winds you don’t need something totally windproof anyway, so check out the Outdoor Research Ferrosi Hoody – one of the most minimalist softshells out there, breathes better than most softshells and packs small.