i am on the wagon at the moment

chillidave ygm about the RC2 cart.

I’d have a word with Loco about if its worth doing though :|

My Mmmbop which is a little small for me :oops:

I’ve replaced the bearings in a RaceFace HT bottom bracket with little more than a punch and hammer. Carefull with the top hats but otherwise easy. The cartridge bearings are standard but quality does vary by price.

Bagstard and chillidave – I’d be happy enough to sell the RC2 cartridge as when I removed it there were no problems with it. But that was a six months ago (it’s been sitting protected in a box since)… but if I was you guys I’d try faffing with the oil weight first as it might get you nearer what you want. My cartridge will probably want a service as it’s been over a year since it last had one… and Loco says above spares are getting thin on the ground.

One of the reasons I went to the Avalanche cartridge was user sericeability – the RC2 is not something I want to try and open myself… at least with the R version you can mess with the oil weight!

I’ve got an RC2 cartridge sitting in my parts box after fitting an Avalanche cartridge to my 2009 36 Float RC2.

I found the RC2 did the brake dive thing hence partly the change to Avalanche. If I used the HSC/LSC to try and limit brake dive there were consequences elsewhere on how the fork felt. I could never get a setting where I felt I had the sag I wanted without suffering excessive brake dive and/or the fork “choking” on repetative hits… when running these forks I just learned to live with 20% sag and a slightly stiffer sprung fork than I wanted.

The Avalanche cartridge was/is better and I could/did run lower pressures but it still suffers a bit from the same feeling… perhaps this is just something you get with the Float air spring? The Marzocchi 55 RC3 Ti fork I replaced the Float with is much plusher feeling and the Avalanche cartridge in here is amazing and controls the brake dive brilliantly.

I’m now running the Float at 130mm travel on my hardtail and it feels awesome… perhaps the smaller air volume with it running shorter helps… or maybe with the back end of the bike being solid I just can’t feel the forks shortcomings so easily :wink:

By the power of Strava… one of my favourites is 2200ft (670m) of vertical height loss in 2.9 miles which takes about 20 mins, and another recent big one was 1700ft (520m) in 1.7 miles which was over in 12 mins.

Duh… top of Ben Nevis to the sea.

Oh no, wait… that would be most vertical height lost. Duh indeed!

Aye Sanny; I did think about your comments as I carried up it and I think bits of descending Corrie Fee would be fun, but some of those steps are crazy steep and an OTB on them would mean a long drop!

The Kilbo descent though is a classic… 12 mins of oh-my-god-no-way-oooof-phew on repeat. Awesomes :mrgreen:

I’ve enjoyed their FB posting over the last week… its helping build my excitement level.

I’ve not tried a DHX RC4 but I liked my CCDB up to a point. They have a huge range of adjustment but they always feel like a CCDB (I fiddled plenty but generaly came back to nearly the same settings as everything else caused compromises). I loved the feeling of plushness at high speed but it’s low speed and techy riding characteristics lead to pedal strikes; add the general lack of “pop/playfulness” and I looked elsewhere for its replacement rather than trying to get someone to custom tune it.

I’m sure they suit a certain type of rider and conditions but just because they have all the adjustments under the sun doesn’t mean they can be set up to feel like different shocks… and other shocks can feel better.

I’m currently loving its replacement… the often derided Fox DHX Air… tuned by Avalanche Downhill Racing :wink: .

Trans-Savoie[/url] in less than four weeks… YIKES!

650b 2Souls 8O

1997? Lemond ive owned from new. Been loaned to a few folk over the years but I’ve recently started using it again for commuting… and it’s brilliant. 853 frame and original 8spd 105. It’s turning me into a Strava junkie as I’m hitting the local top tens with my old bike with mudguards… :twisted:

Singular Osprey?[/url] looks nice.

I linked two massive hill rides into an epic which I doubt will ever be repeated… especially not of an evening (more info on the Sanny mountain thread).

New website is up and running with loads of new info… although no Carbon Brigante…

http://www.kingdombike.com/

I’ve had reply’s to emails recently and I like what they are doing.

Also active on Facebook.

If your posting pictures of bikes… here’s my three year old 31lb Helius AM on top of a Munro yesterday evening :wink:

I changed the bearings on my three year old Helius AM this year. Only one of them really needed changing and had I done a little more maintenance I doubt it would have needed done.

I can’t comment on the liteville but my next FS will probably be another Nicolai…

Your never going to build a super light Nic… but weights on a scale and riding a bike are differnt things.

I get that with flatties after two+ hours.

I keep the flatties for shorter messing about rides and use my SPD’s for the long epics.

Probably been like that for a while… I’d ride it one last time to make sure its properly broken :twisted:

Epic evening ride. Set out from Loch Muick at 5.10 with the plan of seeing how the legs felt and how quick progess was across the Capel Mounth to Clova. I had a couple of possible options with one stupid huge idea if I thought I could do it… conditions were beyond awesome and my legs felt good when I was above Clova in just over 35 mins so it was game on for the epic.

First time I’ve done the switchbacks to Glen Clova in years and they did not disappoint… although I wished I had lowered my seat a little more as it was very rough and rocky in places hence I wasn’t riding as confident and fast as I could have been. Top to bottom with no stops riding as smooth as I can “on-sight” as practice for the Trans Savoie race in four weeks.
Having got to Clova in well under an hour I knew from STRAVA that someone I know had done the Clova-Mayar-Kilbo loop I fancied in about two hours. If I managed the same I would have 1hr and 45 minutes of daylight to get to get back to Loch Muick from Clova… I know I can do the Muick to Clova circuit in a little over two hours so I figured I would need 1-1/2 hrs maximum; and 15 mins round the Loch could be done in the gloom if need be; half an hour to spare and an extra quarter hour of contingency available… game on!
From Clova I headed up Corrie Fee to the top of Mayar. Corrie Fee is stunningly beautiful but once your at the back of the bowl it’s a carry up rock steps to the top.

It’s a big walk, but the view are awesome (did I say big walk… I meant sweet-mother-of-jesus-hell-carry-big-walk).

Topping out on Mayar was a relief but Lochnagar/Loch Muick and the van are a long way away.

Driesh was tempting me but I didn’t have the time for the short carry to the saddle and top so it was Kilbo time!

Kilbo was more mental than I remembered. Huge ruts and holes in the trail with loose boulders and dodgy looking grass banks with a massive drop off to the right if you get it wrong. Riding fast but cautious had me stop a few times but only for long enough to suss out the route and go for it. Again I took it top to bottom and by the by the end my hands were like claws… but it was brilliant fun.
Cruise up to Bachnagairn waterfall which was easier riding than I remembered, and then my water ran out as I carried up and out to the pony hut above Loch Muick for the final descent of the day. The Streak of Pants was better fun than I remembered it being and I really enjoyed myself working out how best to tackle the water bars and other features.
The moon was up when I got back to Loch Muick with half an hour of daylight left.

A true mountain epic… or perhaps that should be two true mountain epics? 5100ft of climbing in under 25 miles… in just over four hours!
Back at the car at 9.20 so 30 mins of daylight left. I caught the shop in Ballater for water on the way home which I really needed. Puggled but very happy with my evening mountain epic.

Is anyone here talking about the bikes? (Another thread gets lost to PedantTrackWorldForum? :roll: )

I think they look quite good but my friends experience of those bizzare Trek shocks and shocking dry-parts-of-the-USA-only-cable-routing will have me looking elsewhere.

*ring ring*

-Hullo, can you fix my son’s Giant bike?

Certainly madam, but only if it fits through the door!

:D

I’m not convinced it’s 650b that is giving the “benefit”.

I do wonder when I see comments of how fantastic 650b is how much of the supposed performance gain people are feeling/reporting are simply the benefits of new wheels and tyres?

If your used to running wheels and tyres which are maybe a few years old and have seen some action and you swap to new lighter wheels with new tyres of course they are going to feel better :roll:

In the AM/Enduro arena a few years ago your choice was XC tyres and rims which shredded and dented at the first sight of rocks, or DH tyres and big wide rims which weighed a ton but hardly broke. Swap them for modern AM/Enduro wheels and tyres of either 650b or 26″ on modern wider rims and you will experience a huge benefit in performance.

I wouldn’t get overly hung up on the wheel size thing; IMHO modern AM/Enduro wheels with wider rims and some of the new 26″ AM/Enduro tyres feel great on this type of bike.

Having said that… if someone gave me some stuff to test I’d be happy to report back my findings; but I’m not buying into it with my own money :wink:

I’ve got an epic ride planned this afternoon/evening as the weather is spot-on for a little adventure… watching the stage will have to wait.

I’m sure it will be worth watching the highlights later… but not worth missing an epic ride for.

Riding Retro bikes – the fun was in sourcing the parts and building the bike to look perfect… riding it was an unpleasant and expensive experience.

I’m much happier now I’m riding breaking modern bikes :wink:

Magnetic hubs from Italy on Bike Rumour[/url]

Riding

Beware the pirates.

I’ve seen a few old steel frames rust through usually on the seat tube where the front mech is (including a Yeti ultimate :( ), or on the chainstay.

But it takes some serious neglect to make it happen IMHO.

My 16 year old Kona Explosif has had much of the paint rubbed off during it’s hard life but there is little sign of corrosion and certainly nothing structural.

What I always had trouble with Shimano XT and XTR is the freehub mechanism not working when it was freezing out. No amount of GT85/grease/oil etc seemed to make any difference and although pissing on it works you eventually run out of piss on long rides. I know Hope are not considered bling and have their issues but I find mine reliable and so easy to work on that I’ll forgive the few issues I’ve had.

I consider DT/King a step up from Hope but I will stick with Hope so I can have two hubs/wheels for the price of one… having a spare set of near identical wheel (used on another bike) is a bigger boon than having one pair of ultra bling wheels IMHO.

I’d love to try the Kappius hub if money truly was no object.

Great posting… I was going to buy one of these but I found my Hex which I thought I’d lost… bang went my excuse :(

Nothing new from me but I’ve been ticking off a few favourites I try to bag every year.

First time up this Corbet in a few years (the most easterly).

Singular?[/url]

I’d love to be shopping for a new road/CX bike :(

http://www.basquemtb.com/sram-rise-60-29-carbon-wheelset/

Doug posts on here…

XX1, Carbon wheels/bar/saddle, and avalanche tuned suspension… its very super to me.

Recently been getting up at 5am to ride in two or three days a week to maximise riding time on lovely quiet back roads. 28miles with 1700ft of climbing in about 1.5hours. Feel brilliant all day and get the train home to play with the kids. I also have off road routes which take over 2 hours. I’m not interested in riding home as if I have time for that I can do something more interesting… like ride better places as on the other days of the week.

Not sure how this will hold up through the winter as the route I do is very exposed.

Lusso are my favourite.

Last owners of my house did for seventeen years (they were proud of it). They were clearly of the hack’n-burn type as the ground is rock solid and and all the bushes are woody and nasty. It’s going to take a power of work to remove the neglect of the previous “gardener”.