I have been looking for a replacement valve for my old Dakine pack, the same system as Hydrapak, but in the older 5/16″ tube fitment (current Dakine replacement valve from CRC didn’t fit). So their Surge Classic valve seems the one to go for. I can’t find these for sale anywhere though – anyone know of a source?

Good timing. As I feared but kind of predicted, one set of bearings in my upper link and one set in my lower link were seized when I was united with my new (used) frame so I ordered this eBay blind bearing puller for £16.50, doesn’t seem the most quality bit of kit but probably identical to a lot of more expensive ones on eBay and it’s very heavy and worked fine.

I couldn’t get the bearings started with the tool alone though. Maybe clamping the linkage well and using both hands on the slide hammer would have worked, but I tapped each bearing out from the opposite side a tiny bit with a bolt held against the inner race, carefully at a few points (like bodging a headset removal with a screwdriver & hammer). I could have probably just done this carefully and gotten them out all the way without the puller, but the puller after this point did a fine job of getting them out straight with no fear of damaging the linkage body.

I took the other larger pair of “good” bearings out too and replaced the lot with new ones from rullabearings.com[/url] (great service, great bearings) but the tool wouldn’t work on the smaller pair in the top link, not a big deal. Then to press the new ones in I dismantled one of the old bearings (ie. smacked it to pieces) and used an outer race to press the new ones in with a friend’s eBay headset press.

Job done for £16.50 worth of tools, and the bike is riding nicely.

Washing and (only if the label says it’s safe) tumble trying is good for the waterproof coating and for the garment’s performance generally, despite what many people will tell you. Try that first. An extra rinse cycle doesn’t hurt.

If it needs it, reproofing spray immediately after washing is what all high-end manufacturers and GORE-TEX themselves recommend, not wash-in. Just buy whatever brand you can get your hands on. It’ll never be as good as a new or regularly-washed jacket but you’ll get some performance back for a while.

Arc’teryx’s website has a good video about waterproof garment care.

I ordered some new bearings from http://rullabearings.com (well, his eBay shop actually) last Monday and they arrived on Wednesday. Seem like quality bearings (same supplier as some big name bike brands use according to their literature), £4.20 apiece and a nice guy. Would use again.

I’ve been using a 27.5 160mm Pike on my Mega with 26″ wheels for the past year for exactly the same reasons. No issues and it has paid off now with a transplant to my new 27.5″ frame.

And your fork length difference is minimal. Old 170mm Fox is 555mm, 160mm Pike is 552mm.

I have used my current SRAM Powerlock link for three summers, on 4 different chains, and take it on and off at least once a month to clean the chain.

Lots of nonsense spoken above. Just set it up right. Extra B-tension if you need to; not ideal but it works. Zee with an 11-36 on my Mega needs the B-tension almost maxed-out to give tension in the smallest cog.

3:1 or just slightly bigger. My last one was 46:15 (81″). I have no idea how you could ride a smaller gear unless you only ride in very built-up areas and obey traffic lights. Top speed on some of the gears mentioned above must be about 15mph regardless of how fast you can spin.

In the interest of saving money then are you 100% sure the bearings actually need replacing?

Fair point. I’m not with the frame at the moment so will have a better look to be sure before proceeding. It’s a second hand frame which I will probably ride for 2-3 years so if it’s a “maybe” at the moment then I want to sort them out then they should last the length of my use. Fathomer’s post above is what I want to avoid!

…or just ride it until something fails catastrophically and deal with it then :wink: .

Thanks for the help/discussion anyway everyone.

To be fair, I’d sooner buy new complete links for £79 (assuming those include bearings) than £88 on full Santa Cruz tools plus whatever bearings cost, should get 4 summers out of a set of bearings if I’m more careful with things than the previous owner was. Might end up just doing that instead of cheap tools anyway. Always nice to have options :-) .

Why not spend £68 on Santa Cruz’s puller tools? Because I’m a tight bastard. Deal with it guys. The reason I can afford nice things is by being tight. Most people think I earn about double what I actually do; £68 is a lot of money to me if I can avoid spending it.

Anyway, I’ll try the cheap puller option first and probably just spend the £20 on the Santa Cruz pusher.

SC offer all the tools for doing it properly.

Indeed. At £32 & £36 for the two removal tools. I’m looking for cheap alternatives.

Slide hammer like the eBay link above not likely to work?

Borrow a friend’s to learn how to feel it. 1Nm = 1kg per 10cm.

Should the sealant be cleaned off the old tyre, or does it matter?

Leave the old sealant residue on the tyre when you remove it – this is what seals the tyre and will make the setup pretty quick next time. If you remove it you’ll need to go through the whole shake/rotate/wait/check routine again when you reinstall it.

The XT Trail’s platform only barely touches my Tevas’ soles while clipped in so it really doesn’t offer much advantage at all while riding. Kind of useful if riding unclipped breifly but that’s about it.

If you want more contact from the cage go for DX style (M647 is the current model, M424 the one) and deal with the extra weight. I much prefer the feel of my friend’s M424s.

I had the Zee shifter; it’s massive and feels cheap & nasty, worse than my previous SLX, can’t be paired to Shimano brake levers either. I have the Saint shifter now, much nicer feel and shifts better. XT is comparable to Saint I believe.

I had some of my sites hacked recently. Chrome was affected more for some reason and two had redirects to spam sites only when visiting the site via a search engine results page. Sounds a similar story.

Pour out the old sealant but don’t scrape anything off – this makes sealing it quicker whenever you put that tyre back on.

http://blistergearreview.com/gear-reviews/mid-layers-review-patagonia-vs-north-face-vs-rab

Masking tape and a biro.

2.35 and 2.5 are the old sizes which measure small. The new 2.3 and 2.4 are more true to size, similar to other brands. Minion sizing from narrowest to widest goes:

2.35
2.3
2.5
2.4

Two summers ago I had 2.5 DHFs front & rear. This summer 2.5 DHF front, 2.4 DHR II rear. Next summer will be 2.5 DHF front, 2.3 DHR II rear.

The ones that come with current Revelations are really poor and bend at the notch where the handle sits while tightening hard. The ones that come with Pikes are much better; that’s the type you should look for.

If you don’t need to shorten the hoses then don’t bother cutting them and trying to remove the barb; they’re pretty tricky to cut out anyway, I’ve tried. Just leave the barb in, slide the old olive off and the new one on. A friend reused olives recently on Zees and had no problems so don’t worry too much about them if you don’t have new ones.

And cable cutters work fine if that’s all you’ve got – I used some very blunt ones on mine the first time and re-squashed the hoses fine. Stanley blade the second time was a bit neater but both did the job fine in the end.

Do people really spend £400 for a 4 year old second-hand laptop with a small screen, no warranty, and then spend £100-£200 upgrading it?

Yep. I sold my old 5-year-old 13″ for £375 last year. Laptops are meant to be small; plug your monitor into it when you’re working from home. And stuff doesn’t break if you treat it right, so forget “warranties”. Further upgrades are optional, but beneficial and can be done at any time. I dislike most Apple products but am a big fan of their laptops and OS. Consider it.

2nd hand macbook. Will last you three times more than any cheap windows laptop.

This. You could get a 13″ 2010 Macbook 2.2 or thereabouts for about £400. Throw a solid state drive in it, max out the memory and it’ll run sweet for another 5 years.

Fairly black…

So is it most likely to just the pawl springs or could it be the pawls themselves? Just figuring out what to order.

I’ll probably leave it until autumn though, as mine only slips when I’m trying to push up a steep section in too high a gear. I’m not going to damage the ratchet if I’m careless in the meantime and get into this situation now and again, am I?

What? Trail Addiction aren’t certified? Silly.

Like it or not, French law is French law and Trail Addiction has surely known fine well they have been operating outwith the law. Brits are completely entitled to follow the French guiding or instructing scheme for many sports in order to operate legally in France, and many do.

I’ve had 65 days in Chamonix last summer and about 40 this summer with two sets non-tubeless Minion EXOs on old Flows. No issues at all, except a few cuts to the rear tyre between the knobs last summer when the sealant got me home carefully and then took a patch repair on the inside each time with no further problems. DH dual ply are about 350g heavier per tyre, not worth it for me.

As short as possible with the chain at maximum growth (fully bottomed-out or halfway, depending on your frame).

It allegedly breaks down into water and solid lumps eventually. I only ride 6 months per year in hot temperatures and my front tyre is fine for that period.

I get cuts in the rear tyre so need to reapply sealant there after repairs. Just empty the old stuff but don’t scrub or clean the tyre, as the stuff that’s stuck to it is what seals it. Put your new stuff in and you only need a quick shake to seal it all up.

My rear Pro 2 seems to be slipping this week under high torque (pushing up a quick climb in the wrong gear). I was guessing it was the freehub or pawls too (cassette has done 9 months, new chain 3 months ago).

Is it easy enough to do a full hub service as shown in Hope’s video without their specific tools? Any essential tools I should try to borrow (vs ones that just make it a bit easier)?

Mostly struggle climbing hills.

What would you do with these 2 weeks to try and make a difference.

Climb lots of hills.

“Following 510, followers 314”. AKA an internet nobody. Don’t give her any attention.

Oil migration was common in old Floats/etc. The next time you take them apart remove the foam ring from the air piston. Even better, replace it with the specific rubber scraper seal (available from Mojo).

Fox 10wt is more like other brands’ 15wt. Find cst tables online to check for suitable alternatives. I used 15wt Motorex in my old Fox 36 O/B R.

Zee FR needs its B-tension screw set “too tight” on my Mega with a 11-36, and even then the chain is always a little slack in the 11t cog. I’d probably get a medium cage if I needed to replace it.

Only 70% but probably ok still

Must depend on the model. All of the pieces I have had from them are 100%. Check the details first if you care.

One of Hope’s is your best bet to use with a bashguard. Otherwise get a cheap top guide from any company and modify it to fit with your bash (tak off the outer plate). Otherwise an MRP AMG which is a top guide and taco bash, or modify a G2, G3, LG1+, etc to remove the lower roller.

Quechua TechWOOL. 100% merino, well made, cheap.