The office wont be next to the shelves stacked with chainsets. so to go out of their way to find the chainset,open the box,measure the bolt up and get back to you is going to be a bit of a job.

Like someone said above.. if you have a prob,go to where you bought it from.If you have a ford car,i dont think you would get much joy asking for a door hinge fixing bolt thread type or length from ford uk,would you? Kinda like asking the lad in Macdonalds where the meat was sourced from in BigMacs.He wont know but he will be darn good at the job hes paid to do!

yeah ok,chit example!

Back to back on a test drive – the saxo vts was a dog next to the 106.I tried about 4 106s after that,and the vts made me cringe after the test drive.same engine but never quite got it right like pug did.Its not as nice looking as the pug either.Just take a glance at the wheel arches and the front on view.No leather interior in it either.. although a slight change inside the gearbox will see the vts reach 60mph without going into 3rd gear.. apparently.

A 1.4xsi gearbox in the 106gti can be fun.

Ive had one for about 5 years now.Just not long in from a wee spin!

Torsion bars arent the problem,its the trailing arms.I bought mine and had a reconditioned rear beam fitted.It cost about 400 quid parts/labour.That beam has been fine for over 60 thousand miles now with one pair of wheel bearings fitted at the rear in that time. If you look at the angle the wheels sit at (tilted in towards the car at the top) then you want to ask the owner if you can jack it up and check for play.
Dont just grab the wheel and check for play at 12&6 oclock / 9&3oclock.. try it at all different points.I am fairly sure my old beam felt fine in some positions,bad in others.Have a good waggle! Wheels over the standard 14 inch will obviously help everything wear out quicker so ive stuck with 14s.Steer clear of cars fitted with 17s.If the car has been dropped 50mm+ it wont be fun as standard ride height.I had it -60mm at the front years ago and its a waste of time.I would be worried about driveshafts etc if the car has been dropped 60mm at the front.If you know its had new shafts recently with other known stuff around those areas replaced.. then no probs.Same goes with the rear beam.It will cost around 100-150 to get it raised back to standard if its been dropped too far.30-40mm drop front and rear is fine with quality springs and dampers. I have eibach and bilsteins.So planted.

The engine is tough.I dont hammer mine into the redline but with oil changes around 8k its been good upto 140k.The gearbox doesnt get hammered either and it too has done over 60k with me.

when you get in the car,press the clutch pedal down.If it feels notchy and a bit sticky,the release bearing could be a bit knacked.A new clutch (inc the release bearing) will cost about £100 for a valeo.£150 labour.

Brakes.. check discs all round.(both sides) as the rears could have a problem.One side might show as having no wear due to a problem(rusty on one side,fine on the other)

The boot.. open it and check at the bottom of the trunk lining for dampness.I would dab it with some kitchen roll to see if any rust shows up.My boot has a fair bit of rust around there so beware of any work carried out around the seams either side above the wheels.Also check for crumples in the floor.Its fairly thin so any probs should show up easily under the sound deadening mat.

Airbag warning light.. very common fault.Its not a big issue.you can alter the connection under the driver seat if it bugs you.They often flash then stop flashing all on their own.Worrying at first as you are expecting a mouthful of airbag! Dont worry about it failing an MOT if it starts flashing,it wont.

Test drive.. I would ask to drive it easy for around 5-10 miles to get it warmed up so the oil and water temps are around the mid way points.Then give it a bit of stick.Dont be shy upto and over 6k revs.If the owner drives it before you and he rags it from the off,walk away.

Exterior.. The trailing edges of the front bumper often drops down.Usually due to an accident.They should butt up nice and tight to the wing.Easily noticable in pictures on autotrader etc. Same goes for the rear bumper.The front problem isnt too hard a fix.Open both doors fully,if theres loud cracking noises then the checkstraps have reached the end of their life.I think they are about 20 each and a bit of a pain to fit.door linings off etc.check side skirts and all 4 arch trims to see if they are still firmly fixed.They often have a bit of a gap at the tops but not too much of a tricky prob to fix.The cost of new arches could easily cost 400 quid but can be found easily 2nd hand.

Exhaust/manifold.. listen for them blowing.If the standard manifold with heat shield is still on there,it could be rusted through in some areas.

Alarm/immob.. ask to see it working in all modes.Theres a red light on the dash.Ask if theres been any probs with it going off in the middle of the night or not.You wont be a happy bunny waking up at 3am the night after you buy it!

If it has an aftermarket ram air filter or something similar,ask when the foam filter was last replaced inside it,if at all.

Oil filters £6
Fuel filters £8
air filters £10

14inch tyres are cheap as chips even for quality stuff.Its a light car and easy to work on DIY in the garden.

*if you buy cheap,expect to maybe spend a bit on it.They can be money pits but because of the drive of them,you might get attatched and never let them go..

Find a sleeve similar diameter/thickness and fettle that first.I just picture you drilling it out and finding that to get around the bends on those bars,you will have to take more and more out.. leaving something you didnt expect! The first crash could see all your hard work end in tears.Maybe even the tightening of the clamp onto the bars could pop it before the first ride,who knows.

I would find an old lever and take it from there.be safe!

Blue anodised shimano dx.

Best pedal,best colour.

You didnt ask if you can still get them or not,though!

I have the cobra & cougar sitting here. I dont think they feel thin.Compared to tubeless racing ralphs they seem similar.

Pour cola over the computer and dont buy a new one until after october.

Hey,laugh all ye want. You know the benefits!

Pity fotopic is screwed,i could have shown you another Loch Maree route with an epic descent down a gulley into Loch Maree.

Fot mtb:

9 spd left hand shifters work with 10spd chainsets/front mechs.
9 spd right hand shifters dont work with 10spd rear mechs.

I run 9 speed shifters & cassette,9 spd rear mech,10spd chain,10spd chainset,10spd front mech.All runs very well.

:::walks past dishing out free tubes of autosol (to be used only as toothpaste):::

Tight fit – the lion sleeps tonight.

Theres a mixture out there.I have done shimano-style but also king-style too.Ive seen mostly shimano style elsewhere to be honest.

From King..

“The front ISO should be laced 3-or-more-cross with the rotor (left) side pulling spokes (relative to braking direction) heads out/elbows in (when laced 3-cross). The final cross of the pulling spoke must be on the outside so that, as braking force is applied, increased pulling spoke tension will pull the crossed spokes towards the center of the hub and away from the caliper. Lace the wheel symmetrically.”

Just ride it! Ive never seen any king flange fail.If you look around the pro dh bikes at world cups,you often see the same bikes built with lacing all differing from one bike to the next. They are probably building wheels as well as possible regardless of lacing pattern as they know the rim could be hammered after a few runs anyway!

ive got rx1s for sale in classys.search and they will crop up.still for sale.

mamadirts rancid nails. ;o)

If i had the choice,i would have built them like this too! King want it their way though.Ive done it the opposite to what King have said in the past but never rectified the mistake for obvious reasons.Their way is deffo the way i would lace a king hub now though.. as if anything went pear shaped,you wont have the lacing issue haunting you in the future over something about the hub that might crop up. (maybe even something that has naff all to do with the lacing but also something they might use to get out of a warranty claim)

It would be good to hear what King has been doing warranty-wise Re: internal problems/spoke lacing.

Seriously though, this looks like my dream hardtail! I would love this to not only ride,but to look at.for hours!

walleater,the instruction manual that comes with the hub explains why they should be laced a certain way.

Lovely.The hubs have been laced wrong according to King,though.

stepped over your lactic threshold and got the heebeegeebees?!

Its the dura ace chain around the wrist you have to worry about if you break yer hand.

The doctors go nuts.

Banga,dannymac showed me that vid clip of ruben a while back and i was speechless.when you pause it just as he is half way through the flyover wall ride and try and put yourself in his shoes.. it puts a chill down your spine!

aye,but it was the same fit as the unit itself before it was fitted.

Even clean adapter cups will grasp the tool from time to time once fully fitted. Its not going to make the fitting or removal impossible in the future,though.

I`ll agree with Tj on the coppaslip.

copper slip is a bit of cop dodging,innit?

Try removing a bb unit from a steel frame 15 years from now after a lick of basic grease.anti seize will probably save you a lot of graft.

Yep,some might state their clamp as 34.9mm and others,like salsa,35mm.

Remember,dont go for something that looks like it might do the job if its +/- 0.3mm or more and you know its not the exact size you are looking for.If its undersized,you might find that with a little opening of it by hand it will squeeze over the seat tube.The clamp will be stressed and ive seen them pop into pieces before the bike has been ridden..like minutes after its been fitted.If its a 2009/10 rocky ridge its deffo 35mm in salsa sizing.32mm & 36.4mm are the other options from salsa.. so take yer pick!

35mm

Jeez,the squablin seagulls of the forum are enough to make you want to break the other collarbone.Steering clear of stw when you are in this physical and mental state could be the best thing you could be doing.Hope it works out well.

Thanks folks.I noticed it at the bottom of a shop in Aberdeen.Ive never read “make sure your ssl is switched on” before. I dont think i`ll be buying but i fancied to check it out before doing anything i would regret.

thanks again.

Well then,Frank..

whudda ya say? Do you wanna be a part of it or not?

The only problem right now.. is waiting for one to return from the distributors.Its been away for approx 42 days.

Is the 36t the same age as the chain?

This forum really is the pits at times.

I quite like the BR but i would expect to be looking down at perfection.Just like the other watch thread from months ago, i wouldnt buy something that is probably considered perfection by the company.. when its not even symmetrical to look at.

Screw heads that dont all nip up equally would piss me off. Surely theres watchmakers out there that see it like i do? Or do we have to spend 5k+ to get perfection?

Oh jeeez.The first two pics with the use of that dog.Scarred for life here!

fire a deore rear mech on with xtr shifters if you can.Dont fit an xtr rear mech with deore shifters.If you can afford to go to xt rear with xtr shifting,great.If you feel rich then you wont ever regret buying xtr/xtr.

If the budget has to include the choice of front mech,i would have to go for xtr up front due to the shift/longevity of them.Once you go there,you wont want to go back down.You might find deore feeling similar in shift from new and ask “why?!” but its the length of use you will get from the high end xtr that makes the buy worth while.Its not exactly bank breaking either.

I would die of pain commuting at slow speeds on the zx9! Its only when i`m up over 50mph-ish that i feel comfy on it.I suppose it would feel similar with any sports bike in town after an hour or so.Having said that,the size and position of that gsxr600 k8 i tried felt so right.
I`m five foot eight.

With the right clothes,even the coldest sub zero temps arent that bad.Ive felt a lot worse on cycle rides due to the sweating so ive never felt colder on a motorbike.
I have this stormrider heated bodywarmer http://www.exo2.co.uk/exo2.html#stormrider and have wired it in so that the socket is just next to my left thigh.I also bought the battery pack to go with it although i dont use it as much.Its not cheap but when you unplug it while you are out,you soon realize just how cold it is and the tensing up and lack of concentration kicks in.Once plugged back in it relaxes you and you get on with what you should be doing.. providing you have heated grips,and a good windproof neck arrangement!
Oxford heated sport grips too.. usually always on the hottest setting!

The car pic is great,Will.

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..and i hate aka gilo for having a tuono! Ive been eyeing the 2006/07 models for a while now.Still havent tried one,only sat on the 2006 model in the local shop.

Prise the o-ring out of the spacer once its removed and clean the groove for it.Fit a new o-ring if you have one or clean up the old one before giving it a dab of grease.I rolled the old o-ring so that the damaged areas of the o-ring were now inside the groove.It seemed to pop on and off easier.It was a bit chewed up.

Maybe try two large flat bladed screwdrivers with a bit of gaffer tape around each tip opposite each other and prise it out of the freehub body as gently as poss.Try and keep even leverage on both sides to get it out easier.I did an old ti-glide yesterday and the driveside was tight as well. The vice will damage it more than the screwdrivers.Marking it wont be as bad as ovalizing it.I tried a Park axle clamp on it first,but it wasnt gripping it enough.The two protected blades did the job with ease.