See http://www.notubes.com/help_center_rim_strips.aspx

I live in Chamonix (very rocky) and ride Minion EXOs on Flows. After about 40 days on the hill so far this summer the front has been perfect and rear has had a 3 cuts between side knobs for which the sealant did its job fine to get me home then I patched inside and super glued outside just to be sure.

I’ll be sticking with the same tyres in the future; the low weight is worth it for me.

You won’t fine eVent for £100. Either go for something like a Montane Minimus in that budget, or spend £150-200 on a Rab eVent shell.

Tyre off, clean inside, dry completely, superglue on the outside sparingly (Gorilla Superglue is slightly flexible, but whatever you have to hand), turn inside-out to force together while glue dries, normal repair patch with vulcanising solution on the inside, flexible glue over the top of the patch (Evo Serious Glue, Seamgrip, etc or just vulcanising solution).

I’ve done three repairs like this to my current rear tyre and they’ve been fine. Rema sell a specific type of “Special Cement” for gluing patches to tyres, but normal vulcanising solution has done me fine.

Maxxis single ply EXO. Light and they work.

Prevents over-tightening of the lever clamp, according to the manual, and makes it look cleaner.

Bagstard: Thanks LoCo, I will stick with 10wt then

See the two links above regarding oil viscocities before buying. Fox 10wt is more like most (but not all) companies’ 15wt; it’s not a standardised scale.

Loco: With the float, you can compensate for dive by adding a little float fluid 5ml to the air chamber to get the air spring to ramp up a bit more mid and end of stroke

This makes sense to cut down on brake dive at the top of the stroke, but surely with the whole stroke ramped up the overall travel will be limited. I was thinking of trying the exact opposite by increasing the air chamber volume (shortening the air rod myself) for less overall ramping-up but running higher pressure which might give the same characteristics at the top of the stroke but allow more use of the mid-bottom stroke. Am I thinking about this totally wrong?

I’ve just changed the oil in my 2011 Float R for the exact same reason. I had 7.5 wt Rock Oil in them previously, which turned out to be way lighter than Fox’s recommended 10 wt green. Now with 15wt Motorex the compression is just little slower but not a whole lot, and I only had to dial back the rebound a couple of clicks. So it’s still a case of either running them too firm to minimise dive but not use full travel, or running them soft for correct sag and good use of available travel but lots of dive. I’m currently running them soft and just dealing with it, but will likely switch to the new Pikes next spring.

See these two links for oil viscosities:

http://www.peterverdone.com/wiki/index.php?title=Suspension_Fluid
http://www.transmoto.com.au/fmx/products/7799233/

I’m also considering shortening the air piston rod to increase the volume in the air chamber (there’s a big MTBR thread about this), with a hope that would allow increased use of the available travel at higher psi, but not sure how that might affect the diving issue so I’m holding off for now.

Could you measure the axle-to-crown height on those please Loco? Also the 26″ version if you have them too. Cheers.

I’ve got a Saint supershort 10sp on the dh bike and an 11-34 cassette (yeah, I know) and the cage isn’t long enough- it can shift through all the gears, mechanically it’s fine, but it can’t cope with the range of chain lengths, so it’s either really loose in the highest gears, or too tight in the lowest gears.

I had a similar issue with the Zee on an 11-36 on my 150mm frame. If the B-tension is set up as you normally would then the range is only suitable for 11-32 at a push. Tighten it more so that the top jockey wheel sits a little further away from the big cog and it’s all good. No issues with mine, love it.

The shifter is pretty nasty though (chunky design and feels cheap), definitely worth spending a little extra on XT or Saint if you’ve got the cash. Still, it works fine.

2-3mm flexible plastic sheeting under your insoles stiffen up shoes a treat and also make them a bit snugger. If snugger is no good then get some Sidas/Conformable ski boot footbeds made to replace your current insoles.

http://www.savevideo.me

Tyre off, clean inside, dry completely, superglue on the outside (sparingly), turn inside-out to force together while glue dries, normal repair patch on the inside, flexible glue over the top of the patch.

I’ve done three repairs like this to my current rear tyre and they’ve been fine. Rema sell a specific type of “special cement” for gluing patches to tyres, but normal vulcanising solution has done me fine.

Take the wheel off and give it a shake side-to-side and listen for any liquid remaining. If not, top up. Scrape out the old stuff if you can be bothered, if only to get rid of the rattle and a tiny bit of weight.

Fox green 10wt was pretty cheap at Evans at the last time I looked.

I’ve just been through the same thing as you anyway (as Evans won’t ship fluid to France). See the two links below – Fox green 10wt is actually pretty heavy, comparable to most other 15wt fluids. Suitable alternatives look to be Silkolene Pro RSF 10wt, Maxima Racing Fork Fluid 15wt, Motorex Racing Fork Oil 15wt, Rock Oil SVI 15wt, etc. The Rock Oil is cheap at Chain Reaction. I’ll be putting Motorex 15wt in mine this week as that was what I could get hold of easiest.

http://www.peterverdone.com/wiki/index.php?title=Suspension_Fluid
http://www.transmoto.com.au/fmx/products/7799233/

I was in the exact same position a month ago; had my heart set on a Lev for the same reasons but none available for at least a month from German shops so I just got a Reverb. It goes up and down as it should, I shortened the hose easily and the hose loop really isn’t a big deal.

600g without BB or chainring. SLX weighs the same.

Yep. I don’t like lots of logos.

I emailed Hope and they sent me a bolt to convert my QR to bolt-on; excellent service. Just tighten it until the seat doesn’t rise smoothly then back it off a little.

I fixed a 5mm cut on the top surface of my tyre (not sidewall). Normal tube patch on the inside, then Seam Grip over the edges of the patch, then Gorilla super glue in the cut on the outside of the tyre. No issues since.

I have a Zee on my Mega … Setting it up for the big sprocket and accommodates chain growth means there is slack on the 11t so I could do with dropping a link.

I had the exact same issue setting up a Zee mech + 11-36 cassette on my Mega but got it tensioned nicely in all gears by setting the B-tension screw so that the upper jockey wheel runs a little further away from the 36t than it’s supposed to. No issues, love it.

The alternative is to drop a link like you say, but if I did that then bottoming out the travel while in the 36t (and possibly the 34t) would definitely break something so I’m taking no chances.

Zee crank arms weight 750g (the same as Saints), XT 600g. Strength between them is debatable. I went for the Zees on price; £80 including BB and chainring is hard to pass up. Be aware that Zees can’t take a granny ring if you decide to go back to 2×10.

Vans Gravels, because they don’t look like bike shoes.

Ghetto tubeless saved me 270g per wheel (Flows with Minion EXOs vs DH tubes). Go for it.

the best camera is the one you have in your hand

So true. S90/95/100/110 and don’t look back.

http://www.nanglevideography.com – give Will a shout if you have a budget (based in Morzine).

One of mine failed after resetting a stuck piston (I pushed it in crooked); I ended up just buying a new complete brake second hand cheap. They used to sell the calipers as spares on Chain Reaction but it’s an old model now so I don’t think you can any more.

Best to just buy a new style SLX caliper to replace it, or a new complete brake to swap your lever onto.

Superstar AMX for £130. Did me a whole summer in Chamonix (rocky) riding a hardtail at 80kg with minimal truing required.

Actually, if you’re keen for Rogues I could sell you mine for £7.50 (without lock-on clamps, used half of last summer so plenty of life left) – just a bit too big and squishy for me. Email lornecameron@hotmail.com.

Try ODI Cross Trainers if you find Ruffians too thin and Rogues/Oury too fat. I made the switch recently and they feel perfect.

I picked up a Montane Minimus last year for £85 when it was on sale at Chain Reaction. Good waterproofing, very light, packs incredibly small, and a nice slim fit (XL fits me very well at a skinny 6ft4/80kg). Not the most durable fabric if you take a fall, but durable and packable are pretty much mutually exclusive.

http://www.montane.co.uk/range/men/shell/minimus-jacket

Try it first, the worst that’ll happen is you have to put your chain back on a few times on your first day.

I just had the first ride on my Mega here in Chamonix (very rocky) without my guide because it hasn’t arrived yet (MRP AMG), using a Zee clutch mech. No problems whatsoever, but I’ll be putting the guide on for bash protection and a little extra security for when I’m hitting the rough stuff fast.

Any more input on this issue? I’m setting up a Zee mech 1×10 with an 11-36 cassette and would like a little more tension on the chain in the smallest cog if possible. The chain is currently being tensioned in the smallest cog without the suspension compressed but only very slightly (grub screw only about 2mm away from the stop). In the biggest cog with the suspension bottomed-out I don’t think there would be any scope to remove one more link, although I’m considering doing it anyway as with a 32t chainring I’ll only ever use the two biggest cogs for climbing, so realistically the suspension will never bottom-out. What do you think?

Tightening the cage spring itself does sound like a solution (as found by some posters in this thread), but I can’t see this option on the Zee so must be only on the XT version. Could anyone confirm this?

Needs to be as compact as possible.

S90/S95/S100/S110, no question, just buy one and enjoy.

Canon S90/S95/S100/S110 (you can probably get the older models cheap on eBay). Fiddly controls but full manual and shoots raw. Truely ultra-compact, put it in any pocket any time. G13/14 etc and LX5/LX7 are too bulky to fit in many pockets. The “best” camera is the one you have on you all the time and will use.

I’ll be doing something similar this summer (1×10 with Zee clutch mech and wanting to run a bashguard). Your options are either to run a full guide with the lower part removed if you don’t want it (SRS+ unbolts, LG1+ or G2 needs to be filed off), or Hope’s guide (using their integrated bashguard/chainring as shown above if you want the slickest solution).

I have an SRS+ already which I’ll probably use but if I have a bit of cash to spend then I might splash out on the Hope.

Lansgter Steel, sold it a few years ago when I moved to the mountains but I liked it in the city.

Thanks for the confirmation Rusty. Pretty sure I’ll go for the Hope cups.

Could anyone confirm if the top cup comes with a top cap and/or star nut & bolt?

Sorry to drag up an old post, but better than making a whole new one, eh?

I need a headset to fit a 160mm tapered fork to a 2012 Mega. Options look like the Nukeproof 44IETS (which has very mixed reviews), or a little extra for Hope Pick ‘n Mix. So I’d just like to check these would be the right Hope cups to go for before ordering:

Top: Type 2 (SHIS ZS44/28.6)
Bottom: Type H – (SHIS EC44/40)
Full spec & PDF link: http://www.hopetech.com/page.aspx?itemid=SPG240&tab=description

Also, there is no mention of an included top cap/bolt/starnut – I assume I would need to order these separately?

Looks like this Superstar one would be another cheaper alternative. Opinions? http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=539

Cheers.