A guy I know (who may be visiting this thread at any point) did his with duct tape and managed to get it to seal, another guy in the club (again may also be visiting this thread) did it with stans tape I runs it at ~40 psi. Not sure on tyre/rim combos though.

Try running 80psi, it worked for me when descending like I was on an MTB.

I know that there is a young female rider (like 13?) who rides on them in CX races and her father swears by them (bike mechanic and frame designer).

The only other experience is the guy I saw at the 3 peaks who had his land cruisers blow clean off his rims on the first gravel section, was unnerving, most likely a human error, not a stans one!

I remember seeing here[/url] the cross section of the 340, 400 and the iron cross. Might help you make a decision.

I love running, I am a slow runner though. Smidge over 2 hours for a half on relatively flat offroad stuff. Really don’t like running on the roads and my favourite was is probably skiddaw in keswick.

If I am going to be running it may as well be off-road right?

+1 Loughborough students CC

Around where I live (not where I study) I don’t belong to a club but there is Treads MTB club (northants)[/url] and then there is CATS mountain bike club (Market Harborough)[/url]. Tempted to join CATS as they seem like nice guys from the people I’ve seen at races and talked to the shop owner.

A guy in the cycling club used to have a lovely raleigh ti bike but it was lugged unlike this. Lovely blue anodised parts everywhere.

Looked lovely it really did, he now has a carbon frame he built himself.

This bike is also fantastic, love the colour scheme.

Steel inbred indeed. I want to be able to swap wheels across from the cross bike so I don’t need even more wheels. Problem with bending it in and cold setting seems to be potential for snapped axles which would be less than ideal.

I have tried bending it back using leverage from allen keys, pliers, files etc. Also some percussive maintenance. It’s good and proper stuck. Just going to get a new cassette, no need for me to get smacking it anymore than I have.

Isnt the joy of cross that it doesnt matter what level you are, and the races are so short on such short courses that there will be just as tight of a race for 50th as there will for 1st?

Why not get some skinny 29er tyres as well then you can also race cross? If you are not fit enough to compete on a cross bike, you are going to be at more no more of an disadvantage that you were previously.

Spacer was a no, it is on the spider the gear that I was skipping.

Large was size, lowest by ratio.

Just had a look and I have bent the second largest/lowest sprocket outwards just near the pick up on the cassette, hence it was jumping into that gear then back down again. New cassette for me!

Forme

Clement PDX from high on bikes? pretty well built up centre, very good mud tyre.

Northwind, you can get magnetic bottles to fit into the magnetic cages, don’t fit into normal cages as far as I am aware, but I may be wrong!

I wouldn’t be using electronic shifting any time soon due to bike radars review of campags elec shifting and how the connections kept shorting in wet conditions, would not work well on a MTB. Then again when have Italians been good at electrics?

Shimano would be better I imagine.

I would love hydraulic shifting just for the unique factor, same reason I really want a 36er, just for the lulz. It seems a fantastic idea to me, shame about the price or I would be tempted to pay a reasonable price for a rear mech and shifter combo.

Also it seems that things from cars trickle into the bike industry, I am unaware (being an automotive engineering student) of any hydraulic gear selection being used, electronic yes, mechanical yes but not hydraulic, seems like a stretch for it to ever come down in price really.

My CX bike on unsuitable terrain like technical XC, my CX bike on the road, my CX bike on bridleways etc.

120 XC HT on XC races, technical XC bridleways, everything that it will take!

I was told by my LBS that radial was the strongest way to build a front wheel (for whatever reason, 3cross seams strong to me) and they use it on some rear wheels for CX bikes but only non-driveside. The hub just has to have a thicker flange to make up for it.

I have exactly the same wheels from merlin and they are cracking, I have ridden them around dalby (red route) and around cannock (FTD) along with some questionably suitable terrain in and around loughborough. They are fine, still in true and are no more harsh than my R500 wheels that I may have accidentally ridden offroad once or twice 🙄

I am thinking against things like FSA **** retarded 386 bolt pattern where I had to file the cranks and laser cut some steel plate to get some normal 104 chainrings to fit.

with the spacers would the axle not be sitting in the frame though? My kind of riding has been called ‘unsympathetic’ by some due to my IDGAF attitude towards what I am riding on at a variety of speeds. I would rather not be snapping axles on the hubs, the QR skewers (as far as I am aware so correct me if I am wrong) only pull the frame onto the hub but the hub itself sits into the frame.

TL;DR would the spacers not then stress the hub?

First time here, going to be using LCs, seems like everyone I speak to, including in shops where they actually talk about it rather than call me bonkers, says these are the tyres to use.

I am using kool stop salmon pads, they work pretty well and seem to keep the water off of the rim.

I don’t wear womens clothes either (well, only on the weekends), but I think its refreshing to see womens cycling clothing not worn by a topless woman.

My personal favourite riding film. CX ftw.

My 1993 rockhopper comp, all original parts bar the mud guards, one of the tubes, saddle and seat post because they were stolen one night (yes including the brake blocks, tyres and still one of the tubes). It may get built into a period build after my university but it is far too small for me so may end up being cleaned up and retired on the wall.

My forme hiver cx will also be ridden to death until the frame disintegrates and then it will end up on a wall with all of the achievements it has managed around it. (The fred, soon to be the 3pcx, HONC when I can manage it)

My Forme hiver cx is fantastic, bought that for £500 (plus 50 for shipping) and I have ridden that around dalby, whinlatter and the fred whitton, I think it can handle pretty much anything really!

Really it is just to be hardcore. Riding trails with 35c knobblies on, I have my heart set on steel for whatever reason, want something that could be upgraded to discs but that I can use all my current road spaced wheelsets on.

The rat would do all that I ask of it and have the potential to become a commuter, tourer, 1×10 hack bike, the lot.

The llama farms were thoroughly disappointing.

I would be max, jed would be my mate, I have no idea who chapman is. Our third rider ended up blowing up a ultemo aqua tyre 40/50 miles in.

Camel back was the way forward without a doubt, couldnt carry enough water otherwise, only had to stop once for food and water. The other times were because our triathlete friend crashed on a corner, the other was because he shredded a tyre and we patched it up with empty energy gel packets and spare tubes.

Looking at leaving by 8 really to make sure we get the light on our side.

I do not have a saddle bag, it wouldnt fit with my bottle mounts. Between us we have tools though.

Crazy legs – sound advice, especially the time we intend to be riding along it!

ned, they have supreme grip, not exactly the lightest of things to lug up a hill, lots of rotational mass!

I don’t know many people that ride steel HT bikes, most people I know ride alu and carbon HT bikes. They can often keep up with the FS riders mainly because the terrain is a bit.. uneventful.

For example there is a guy in the club that is a big ‘DH’ nut and rides a very expensive downhill bike, I can keep up with him on descents around Leicester on my cross bike. ERGO its the rider, not the wheels.

If a fat bike rider can ride the **** up the hill, they are more than welcome to the comfort down it.

My dream wheelsize would be 700c I think with discs, more options for 29er rims, wheel rims etc. Loads of tyre choices!

What you can do is take a scan of the rudder (depending how big it is) on an A3 scanner, then load that image into CAD software and trace around the image. Then you can save it as a drawing file and then to a DXF. It is pretty simple and I have done it a few times, not with a rudder but with pictures and the like.

Do tell us about all the aluminium frames you’ve had repaired…

Infact I have repaired a trek 4300 frame that cracked on the drive side of the chain stay which was 6061 aluminium frame by tig welding. and has been ridden by a pretty heavy bloke (>250lbs) around FTD. For proper riding it would require some heat treatment though (thankfully the guy who bought it was happy about it anyway).

maximus, take a breath and have a look at that link. Yes, carbon is easily repairable, but not in the way you’re thinking.

I can not see where they explain how they repair them, I can also not see and before/after photos of bikes (the racing bike was filler so no damage to carbon). I am assuming they are adding more and more layers, how do they know how many were there in the first place, the orientation of the layers and then the bonding of the old to new carbon is going to be sketchy and a source of stress concentration.

You really think carbon is easier to repair than steel or ally? It will always be weak, if the fibres have broken unless you can wrap more sheets than are currently there onto the frame then you are always going to have a weakness in the frame.

Why do you think bike companies throw out frames with internal defects instead of ‘repairing’ them?

Edit: also possible a lot more shock loading in bike frames than in sailing masts, even with gusts of winds I imagine it is a lot easier to repair something that large than a seat tube.

Don’t repair carbon fibre. Get a new frame under warranty/just buy a new one. It is completely inadvisable to try to repair carbon fibre in the slightest, it is always going to be weak.

Perhaps turn it into a wall lamp?

I am also a first timer, my real aim is to finish with merit. My target is to finish with 3rd cat. Really I just don’t want to die.

I bought these from amazon because there were stupidly cheap. I bought 2 actually, both work fine, attach to my bike well and have a head torch attachment come with them. Cheap as chips, not overly resistant to water but a bit of gaffa tape sorted that out. I also use it for running, people definitely know I am there.

At £20 can you really complain?

I bought a cycleops mag trainers and I love it, got it for ~£130 including tyre and wheel block from wiggle. I love it, it is quite noisy but for the money I can not fault it. The end caps have fallen off but that has just revealed the snap rings and bearings which I now know which ones to buy when I need to replace them!

I am surprised schmiken hasnt been here yet.

He is one of two I know using ESI grips and he raves about them, the other is my housemate and he loves them as well. No throttling, loads of grip and the chunky ones look like they get rid of loads of trail buzz.

put the new piston in, one old pad and hold it in with some mole grips/pliers/tool makers clamp? That should do it, I am unsure how it is meant to be done but avid have some fantastic technical documents on their website.

Also make sure you don’t pinch the seal else you will continue to have problems. Lots of dot friendly grease.