21lbs of skinny steel.

They do just look right don’t they.

To wash that burger down have some…

wl – I just go by here (I’m no expert but at 12 stone normal 7.5 weight oil should be fine for you).

Marzocchi Oil Volumes

My LBS had the right oil but if your’s dousn’t they could order for you, or try a motorbike shop… or order online etc. Loads of places have the stuff (even Halfords probably).

If you think RX are on/off powerfull you wouldn’t want to try THE-ONE’s 😯

How have you got the lever set up? I’ve found with Formula RX/TH1/R1/etc they only really work for me with one finger braking. I have the lever set up almost as close to the bar as it will go, and brake with my finger right on the hooky bit at the end; powerful and comfortable.

After bleeding mine (hose shortening) and fitting new pads I did once find mine a bit more on/off than they used to be. Easy fixed by leaking a little fluid out from the bleed nipple so the lever bite point was back where I wanted it. May or may not help you.

I love having a crazy hardtail for blasting about on.

wl – I meant after a week as advised. Then yearly is probably enough. For oil I would not go super cheap or expensive.

Location x 3 tonight is Aberdeen…

Usual summer stuff+

Winter gloves (spare)
Winter hat (spare)
Buff (spare)
Windproof jacket (or big waterproof if it looks like rain).
Down-a-like gillet (for when stopped, and/or cruising back to the house/car)

Seat mounted solution = top only guide… which didn’t work for me on a 1×9. It might do on a 1×10 with a clutch rear mech but I’ve not tried it.

Anything with a big petrol engine… especially without a turbo.

Wouldnt a cheap chainguide be a better solution to keeping the chain on than an xx1 crank, chainring, chain etc setup?

£400+ VS £15 – £50?

An upper only guide like superstar, mrp, e13 etc

Not with a 28t ring it won’t…

FWIW. I’m with groundskeeperwilly in that I’d rather lose a couple of gears off the end I rarely use anywhere other than the road to gain the spinny climbing gear I use more often in the MOUNTAINS near where I live.

For the local forests 32 up front is fine and it’s what I have on my hardtail… but for my big bike and the MOUNTAINS I want a lower gear. I currently run a Hammerschmidt which does give me a huge range of gears, but I would like to lose the weight and the complication. A front mech is not for me… and my big bike doesn’t have a cable stop for one 😉 .

There were some 28t XX1 rings on eBay USA yesterday when I was looking… pricey mind!

Bump for the evening crowd.

For a light dinner with good beer and many whiskys to sit and discuss I would go to Musa… best to book a table as it can be busy.

http://www.musaaberdeen.com/.

The Grill does have amazing whiskys but it’s a very old school pub – one to visit after you’ve eaten.

Unfortunately Blackfriers, The Prince of Wales and many other pubs are now owned by a company that thinks it’s acceptable to churn out the same bland food in all its establishments while peppering the tables with assorted special offer cheap drink leaflets… sad times.

If this is your beer of choice I can see the outcome being unpleasant.

As if I needed an excuse to look down my nose at that stuff.

Mashed banana, grated apple and some cinnamon through the batter (plain flour, eggs, milk and salt). I saw Jamie Oliver do it once and tried it… there is nothing not to like (apart from his face).

Serve with crispy bacon (american style) and maple syrup… my kids LOVE Sunday mornings.

News?

When the u-turn on my revs was broken I rode mine for weeks with it at 120mm before noticing… I seriously think 120mm will be fine and you’ll still get the Mmmbop experience… 100mm on the other hand would be horrible, and I think 140mm is the upper limit.

I love mine best at 130mm… 10mm either side will make sfa difference IMHO. Brilliant frames. Enjoy!

Ask Mojo – they are refreshingly honest about what is worth upgrading and what isn’t.

Oil and gas industy?

When I graduated with a Beng 20 years ago we were told the oil industry was on it’s knees and there was no future in it… it’s still here and still crying out for good engineers.

Consider Petroleum Engineering and if you like travel and hands-on problem solving consider Drilling and Completions rather than the boffining that is Geologist/Reservoir/Petroleum Technologist.

Drilling/Completions is crying out for real engineers. Look at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) website for ideas.

Is there one for the old XTR spline type cranks? The 33 Jericho Suffering on mine has very pointy teeth and is beginning to scare me… I wee ride on Taz’s ring is temping me.

Brant, can you make sure a few of the new 456 EVO Ti frames are messed up so I can get a bargain 😉

I bought these forks off Andy and can report he’s a top bloke to deal with.

Lunch was half’s of Cromarty Rogue Wave IPA, an Evil Twin Soft Dookie, and a Brew Dog Hardcore IPA.

I enjoyed the Cromarty so much I took home two pints in my Growler; which I shall consume tonight, probably.

They say a regular mech will work and there are a couple of reviews out there which support that statement.

A white Mazda Miyata named “Dave” (after my wife’s gay hairdresser friend) is my guilty secret of fun driving.

I’d love a “Dave” with room in the back to bung to a bike… could the GT86 be the answer?

Website was very out of date so maybe it’s gone for that reason – I do hope they are still going.

Sod re-inventing smoking… lets get back to how smoking should be done.

Wife in kitchen…

Beer

Bunch of slack-jawed faggots around here. This stuff will make you a god damned sexual Tyrannosaurus, just like me.

I love the lever position and the hook at the end. For my hands the comfort and ergonomics are near perfection and nothing else I’ve tried has come close. Power on the RX is good and I’ve had no maintenance issues in the two+ years I’ve run them (I’m very hard on kit). I have had some rubbing disc issues as the clerances are tight, but not much worse than other brakes and if your discs are straight they are fine.

The TH1 is better for outright power which is why I’ve subsequently upgraded to them on my big bike… but the RX was in no way dissapointing and have been great with 160/180 on the little hardtail I hammer most of the time.

If you don’t change the oil the performance deteriorates considerably… thankfully changing the oil is piece of piss (which reminds me mine are rather overdue 🙄 ).

For the ultimate performance fork how about the Avalanche racing 55 RC3 Ti EVO kit

At speed and in the gnar the 55 is devine but at low speed in techy manouvers and under braking it is a little prone to dive through the travel… you get used to how it behaves but a little more hold-up would be good (IMHO/IMHE tweaking the adjusters to fix this does little other than ruin the high speed performance… and my Fox RC2 is no different in this regard). The Avy kit could make a good fork awesome… and since I paid £340 for mine as they are the unloved 1.5″ steerer model even with the kit they would still be a bargain 8)

Frame – Ragley Mmmbop
Brakes – Formula RX
Fork – 36 Float RC2 (130mm)
Gears – XT 1×9.
Wheels – Hope Flow Hoops.

Frame – Nicolai Helius AM
Brakes – Formula TH1
Fork – Marz 55 RC3 Ti (160mm)
Gears – Hammerschmidt x9.
Wheels – Hope Flow Hoops.

Frame – Kona Explosiv (94)
Brakes – XTR Avid
Fork – Project 2
Gears – One
Wheels – Yes

My 55 RC3 Ti is 250g heavier than my 36 Float RC2. Performance wise I prefer the supple feel of the 55. My fork is 2010 so any relevance to 2013 models is almost pointless.

Of course, at the first hint of powder, I would ditch the torture contraptions and get my board beard out.

I started tele’ing when my feet became too knackered for proper ski and snowboard boots. Few things in this world better than Telemarking through deep powder… especially in leather boots and old skool skinny planks. You don’t surf on the top; you sink into the snow… so when you assume the stance the snow peels off your forward shin and hits you straight in the face beard. Face-shot-freshies on every turn

Worst thing about Telemarking is that it’s addictive… you may as well sell your other gear now if your going to try it.

Tasty.

I’d like to try a an Avalanche tuned DHX Air.