OP I’ve been looking to change my Sektors (GOLD RL Dual Position Coil) to something shorter and lighter for a retro ish SS project. PM if you’re ever in mind for a trade

Thanks for the offer of a trade: I’ve actually just bought some Revelations from the classifieds. I’m guessing I won’t be needing these forks so I’m you’re interested pm me

Finally had chance to remove the air spring on my forks- here’s what we have

There don’t seem to be any spacers so I’m guessing I’m not going to get the 130mm travel I was hoping for!

After a cursory check on line I decided to investigate. Removed the top of the air spring: no tokens or spacers there. Looking at the guide for solo air forks the only travel change I can see involves changing the air spring.

docrobster, where did the spacers go on your Tora?

Have you removed any spacers to increase the travel. I had a sticker like that on a 2006 tora solo air. Was 130 travel but you could add spacers to take it down to 80

I’ve not had them apart to be honest!

No real experience of Rock Shox previously. Do the spacers ‘wind the fork down’ or just prevent the final travel?

At present there is about 105mm from the wiper seal to the crown, so unless they’re wound down there isn’t going to be much more travel I guess….

Travel is 100mm. Looking at the fork lowers the casting on the back of the bridge looks like Reba Solo Air U-Turn images I’ve seen. The pressure guide sticker the two travel options mean it should be a U-Turn fork I guess?

Looks like crown and stanchions don’t match the lowers. Stanchions certainly aren’t long enough for the 130mm travel suggested.

I paid £80 for them (I knew it was a bit of a punt). They’re in pretty good shape so probably not the end of the world. Just not the 120-140mm travel range and wanted for my Cotic Soul project…

You need to get a duster around that rad inflow.

😂

In the end I used Cyclone in Cheadle. £50 and really pleased with the quality of finish for the money.

After all the advice (and overthinking it I’m sure!) I had a last minute change of plan, seeing ‘candy apple green’: a non-RAL paint colour the powder coaters offered.

Really pleased with the final result- I think it’s a two layer finish: silver with slightly translucent green over the top.

Saddle and bars are parts bin specials: just to work out sizing. Bracing myself for the comments on tyre alignment and home decor 😬😂!

What a complete numpty!

I actually unscrewed that bit to see how I might attach a new valve head!

I’ve had the pump for donkey’s years and having always used presta valves had never investigated.

STW to the rescue yet again!

Thanks all, and especially for the photo uploads!

What Silca pump do you have?

Mine has the brass bell shaped presta adapter that screws on to the end of the hose. The screw on part of the hose is a schrader fitting.

This one. The rubber valve seal is shot (and about £10 to replace). A new valve attachment might not be a bad idea…

Thanks for all the advice. I think I’d rather stick to a recommended powder coater rather than going further afield so going to decide between available colours.

This is the short list:

RAL 6018 Yellow Green (Kawasaki)
RAL 2005 Luminous Orange
RAL 5012 Light Blue
RAL 5015 Sky Blue
RAL 2000 Sulphur Yellow
RAL 2000 Orange Yellow

I’d anyone has powder coated a gram in these (or other good colours) could you post a pic to help with our decision?

Thanks!

Popped over to Stockport Powder Coating with the frame today. They were really helpful but unfortunately don’t stock RAL 6038 and can’t get hold of it. I’m struggling to find anywhere that will sell it online in small amounts so it starts making it a bit of an expensive job on top of the £70 prep and coating.

They do Kawasaki Green (RAL 6018) but it doesn’t look quite as bright as the original Cotic colour.

Punk green looks close:

https://www.signaturefinishpowder.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=168

But difficult to make a call from a screen.

Plan B is the blue colour (Pantone Process Cyan according to a previous thread). RAL 5015 looks close…

What to do…?!

Thanks for the replies.Stockport isn’t too far so sounds like a good option.

Looked on their colour chart and they don’t seem to have RAL 6038 listed (which looks like the best match for Cotic green). I’m hoping it will still be an option: otherwise I’ll have to look elsewhere…

Looked like these (although I certainly didn’t pay that kind of money for them):
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203736222829?hash=item2f6fa00c6d:g:FKAAAOSwcw5hAdOf

I saw these as well but I think things are moving away from obsolete bargains towards the retro bike premium market!

That’s for all the advice. Sounds like the 100mm forks I have way be worth a try initially, but I’ll keep an eye out for 26” bargains. hardtailtony, your 27.5 Revelations look a lot of fork for the money but aren’t an option unfortunately because of the tapered steerer.

bsims and asbrooks ygm.

I bought my Love/Hate about 12 years ago. It came with Marzocchi Bombers (not sure what travel), but as it was used mainly for trailer pulling (initially) I fitted Pace RC31 rigid forks. It’s still mainly used for family rides. The kids are 13 and 11 now and running bikes with decent suspension forks, but I love it with the rigid forks, it’s pretty light, nimble and direct and is a good ability leveller, making sure I don’t take everyone down a route they’ll find too challenging and not enjoy.

Thanks for the tips.
I managed to decode all the different variables and have ordered a Brand X replacement (15mm diameter, non-boost, Rockshox specific) so I’m hoping that’ll do the trick!

I see condor do rims:

https://www.condorcycles.com/products/condor-24-mtb-rim

32H at 460g each for £20.

im guessing I could get Deore hubs for £30 which with spokes and wheel building may get wheels for around £100, which is probably more in proportion with the value of the bike than the swish Superstar ones at nearer £300.

I’d already emailed Islabikes who confirmed they don’t sell components. That’s a bit of a shame.

Do Trek, Specialized and Scott also limit spares to existing owners?

I’m guessing converting to discs is going to open up more options. Are there any half decent lightweight 24” disc wheels available off the peg? I assume Islabikes must sell replacement wheelsets, although I can’t see any on their website.

do Specialized, Trek or Scott have any decent wheels on their 24” bikes?

Great looking bike BearBack! He’s not far off 26” but the 24” will go to his 9 year old brother so still worth investigating.

I’m not against discs as I’m sure I can pick some up cheaply.  The wheels are the main issue.  Most 24” rims appear to be heavy bomb-proof jobs.  I don’t know if the existing rims warrant the expense of building up with new hubs.

Are there any decent 24” rim options?

Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately CRC now only have that bike left in huge sizes so I’ll need to go back to the drawing board!

Just having a look at some of the offers available on CRC: extra 10% sweetens the deal…

Corratec X-Vert 650B Expert Mountain Bike 2014 £535 from £800 with extra 10%

Ghost SE 4000 Hardtail Bike – Cosmetic Damage 2014 £500 from £820 extra 10%

Ghost MISS 1800 Womens Hardtail Bike £385 from £550 with extra 10%

Ghost SE 2930 Hardtail Bike 2014 29er £545 from £780 with extra 10%

Ghost MISS 3000 Womens Hardtail Bike 2014 £504 from £720 with extra 10%

I’ve no previous experience of Ghost bikes but these bikes are in budget and with the added discount look excellent value for money. The SE 2930 29er and MISS 3000 women’s look particularly good. My only concern would be that a bike with an RRP of £800 might be a little more racy and uncompromising for a ‘leisure’ bike.

Thoughts on the Ghost brand?

Thanks for the suggestions chaps. I certainly agree that going for rigid forks would give a much better value bike. My family bike is 9 speed with rigid forks but they are carbon: I have always wondered how harsh aluminium rigid forks would be, especially straight. I’ve ridden Project 2s before which I loved, but on a rather more agressive bike.

The Isla bikes option is interesting. Our boys have always had Islabikes- we have a boxed Beinn 20 upstairs ready for my son’s birthday next week. I’ve never really looked closely at their adult bikes. The Pinnacle looks good value although maybe a little racing commuter? I wonder what it would be like with 29er suspension forks?

I’ve been watching the developments on Rushup Edge over the past week and like everyone else am horrified at the ‘improvements that have been proposed and started.

I first rode the route in the late 80’s when I first started Mountain Biking with my brothers. It’s always been one of my favourite routes: providing a really technical but rideable descent on a great natural surface (summer and winter). In the early days you didn’t see any bikes up there but I don’t recall a dramatic deterioration of the surface since then. I could understand DCC wanting to do some work on the grassy rutted sections of the Edale loop where erosion must be more of a problem. Some of those sections can be pretty unrideable in winter mud and the deep ruts can cause issues with inexperienced cyclists. The stone sections in my view manage themselves to a great extent.

As walker and mountain biker, I know more routes are walkable than rideable. Not only will a sanitised surface increase speeds as riders will have fewer technical areas to slow them down, but surely it will encourage poorly equipped leisure walkers to head up to an area where the weather can change quickly and be quite inhospitable in the winter.

My limited experience of dealing with local government is that unfortunately, even with a strong united voice talking common sense,the council will nod and ‘listen’ to everyone and the eventually do what they planned to do all along- interpreting the opinions and data in a way which uniquely suits their requirements.

Keep up the good work everyone. I really hope this can be stopped before it’s too late…

Thanks for the tips- there are a few bits I’ve found on the Decathlon cycling website- although appear more Lycra ‘Racing Snake’ than casual trail-based. Can’t find a dedicated kids clothing section on the website. I will try to pop into the Stockport store. I know with ski gear- you have to get in early before they sell out- is it the same with cycling fear or is it more of an all-year activity?

MX gloves sound like a good plan. Our 6 year old’s Fox gloves are like this and have been great.

Just to update: further investigation of the SD card installed in my Dakota. It appears to be the full UK Garmin 1:50k maps. On removing it and plugging it into the card reader of my PC, all the 1:50k maps appeared on Basecamp. It did say that map printing is disabled so still need to find a way around that.

I also tried to copy the copy of the SD card to my PC to enable me to access the maps without having to remove the card (or to enable me to copy it onto a bigger card to allow more free memory space): the map files do not appear as a drag and drop or copiable file).

Would like to get some 1.25k- Lakes, Peaks and some local NW stuff, ideally that is printable.

Thanks for all the info guys! Much better to hear first hand experiences than read the sales blurb!

If you pretty much know that you’re going to be carrying 4 bikes in the future you’d be a bit daft to buy any rack that couldn’t accommodate 4 bikes, wouldn’t you?

I agree it would be better to have a 4 bike capacity, but it may be 3 years until we need to carry 4 bikes- if we change the car again roof bars may be an option again, it if we need to use a roofbox, a combination of towbar carrier and roof mounted.

If it was a choice between Euroclassic and Atera (if price was not an issue) it would be a trick choice: I think I’ll give Volvo a call. Was their rack Volvo branded or Thule?

I forgot about the Atera Strada. I know roofbox give it an excellent review and the price it comes in cheaper that the Euroclassic at about £400. Not many come up on eBay so either they’re not too common or people keep hold of them!

I don’t think the weight of bikes and racks should be too much of a problem: the car weighs 2800kg and has a pretty big towing and load capacity. Certainly something to bear in mind though.

Problem solved: CRC are off the hook!

Our Postie arrived this morning with a Special Delivery parcel I was expecting. I told him about the other parcel I was waiting for- he mentioned there was a trolley of bigger parcels at the local sorting office which had been sitting there in a bit of a backlog. He told me to go to the sorting office with some ID and they’d be able to look and see if the parcel was in there.

I drove to Altrincham Sorting Office, queued up at the hatch and when it was my turn I explained about the parcel and how my parcel was delayed and I that our postman had suggested I come down.

The incredibly rude and unhelpful guy interrupted me, suggesting in a sarcastic manner that I wait for my postman to return from his round so he could look for my parcel as he didn’t have time! He then asked me for my address and added “I know who your postman is. I’ll be pulling him into the office when he gets back!”

It was only when he realised I wasn’t going anywhere without him looking and I began to politely explain to him (in front of the other customers) that the large ‘Customer Code of Conduct’ sign about treating staff with respect should also apply the other way that he reluctantly asked me for my address again. He disappeared into the back and hey presto was back 2 minutes later with my parcel. No apology for delay/attitude/my hassle. Unbelievable!

Now I’ve got his back up that’s probably my post sabotaged for the next 6 months. I just hope our postman doesn’t get into bother from his grumpy jobs worth manager. The way I see it our postman was aware of the backlog, my situation and offered a solution. Good on him!

As its Royal Mail First Class it’s not tracked. On the website it says “Order Status- Dispatched” but no reference or other details.

I’ll have to cross my fingers that Postie arrives this morning with my goodies- otherwise it’s a Saturday afternoon trolley dash!

It’s a few years since I replaced it but the sealed bearings on the bottom jockey wheel of my SRAM X9 rear mech were shocking. After a pretty short period of time they repeatedly seized after any mildly wet or muddy ride, requiring a full strip. Replacement options were pretty expensive with no obvious third party products (unlike X0). Ended up upgrading to X0. I wished I’d bought XTR and saved money!

Job done now. Thanks to Altrincham Bike Shak who removed and replaced the bore caps for me.

It’s amazing the difference it’s made to the modulation of the brake. It’s made me realise that the other brake will need similar treatment.

I managed to remove in inboard pistons with a blast of air from a track pump. Mode me think it should be possible to replace seals and service without removing the bore caps.

Radical, I know, but why not use brake cleaner?

I was aware of disc brake cleaner and it’s use for removing contaminants from rotors (which the use it appears to be marketed for). I wasn’t sure if using it to clean internals would leave any residue or cause any problem with the brake fluid. My thought were if I can use a product I have already it’ll save buying a more specific product which I’ll have less frequent use for.

I’ll get some Isopropyl alcohol (although my patient cotton budding seems to done a pretty good job!)

I think the job is on hold for tonight: can’t get the bore caps off and when refitting the dust cover clip it pinged off the end of my cir lip pliers into a bookcase. Not a chance of finding it. Looks like I’ll need to get a replacement when I buy the bore cap tools!

Just realised that neither of the bore caps are the same size as my Minis- so I’ll need 3 tools (unless someone wants to swap a set of hope mono M4s for a set of minis!

Just received my white/violet Jawbones courtesy of vision3k.com: very good price and excellent service. After a week of chasing emails and calls it was nice to have a company return my call first thing and deliver next day. Very pleased with the glasses btw.

I did call Oakley regarding possible repair. As they’re and old model straight jacket the frame amt be replaced, although they did offer a 40% discount off new glasses.

As well as getting a new pair I’d also consider getting the frame on your old ones replaced. Oakley do an excellent repair/replace service on broken eye wear for a very reasonable price.

I’d heard lots of good thinks about Oakley’s repair service. When I checked online it seemed to indicate that rather than repairing they would offer a small discount from RRP on new glasses. I assume that this process take more than a week.

I’ve got 2 pairs of original Frogskins with broken frames/arms. I’m guessing they can do nothing with those!

Thanks for all the replies and Houns- thanks for the explaination- it all makes sense now.

Looking at the image of the new racing jacket/jawbone it does look pretty similar. I’m not too fussed about the option to add the eye gasket bits. I think I’ll go ahead and order the ones that are available now.

I’m opting for the white frame with violet iridium/light grey lenses. It’s a shame that they come with the light grey- can’t really see when I’ll use those. I may get some clear to dark transitions for winter/night riding.

Looking at the Fast Jackets, they seem to be slightly different, with a gasket around the lenses to stop airflow over the eye at high speed and a retaining strap around the back of the head. Designed for motorcyclists.

Pretty sure they’re just re-naming it

That would explain it. Like the Mumbo to M-frame change.

I wonder if there will be any design ‘tweaks’? And will we see any bargain Jawbone-branded glasses in the coming weeks? I’m after sourcing some white frames with the violet iridium/light grey lenses. Has anyone seen a bargain?

Go Outdoors is where I’ve seen the Dare2B stuff before. From the comments I may hang fire getting the ski clothing but for thermals, soft shells and pack able waterproofs for the boys to have when we’re camping I dont think we could go wrong- especially with the extra 30%

The Dare2B kit looks great VFM. I thought i’d seen it in-store somewhere, or is it just mail order.

Big fans of Go Outdoors for camping kit, but last few times we’ve popped in it’s been good for older children but not so good for those as young as our two.

I’d forgotten, we did buy a snow suit for our 2 year old from Decathlon early in the season. At £35 it seems really good value but is waterproof and not breathable.

Even though Decathlon is always good value I’d guess the big discount on the Dare2B kit would give more bang for my buck.

I know plenty on the forum have bought Dare2B kit. Is it well put together?

After being out with the boys in The Peaks today I realised we need to get better mitts as well. Both boys have a selection of well insulated mitts with wrist loops, but I really need to get some long waterproof, insulated mitts with a draw cord around the cuff that can tighten over the jacket sleeve to give a snow-proof seal and stop our youngest constantly pulling his gloves off!

TK Maxx had been one of our ideas. I know friends who’ve got some really good ski kit from there. I suppose it just depends what stock they have and when: I know it can be a little hit and miss!