Might be a burr* on one of the middle chainring teeth – have a look and if there is file it smooth.

* Sometimes the chain wears a flat spot on the edge of the chainring teeth where it connects with the chain, and sometimes this flat spot (burr) grows/squishes outwards and becomes wide enough to catch on the side plates of the chain causing a “ping”. Soft chainrings are very susceptible and if ignored this can lead to chainsuck. Solution is to file off the burr.

This is really bad, but if it’s just on a couple of teeth a quick file will fix it.

I’ve managed to fix a couple of badly damaged Flow rims. Straighten out the ding as best you can but don’t be too finicky/brutal or you’ll crack the bead and then your ****. One of my dents didn’t quite seal after working it so I took a file and emery paper to the area where it was leaking to make it smooth and get a seal. Next one was worse and rather than risking bending it out more and cracking the rim I smoothed it and built up the area with liquid metal to make it smooth and get a seal.
The worst I have done was where the bead was cracked – again I built it up with liquid metal and made it smooth. I rode it like this for a couple of weeks until I got round to changing out the rim.

what oil is the best to use then

I’ve no idea whats “best”… I use Pedros Synlube as I have a little bottle of it and no longer use it on my chains.

I worked my way down to oil, started with normal grease which makes the hub quieter but can stop the pawls working if you put too much in, and also makes the freehub mechanism a bit sticky and hence less willing to freewheel (especially when in very cold “freezing” temperatures), next up was Manitou M-prep which being a very light grease I thought would work well but it sort of turns to liquid and tended to freeze worse than normal grease (High water/liquid content???). Next up was the Synlube oil which I’ve been very happy with, makes the hub much quieter and freewheels much better… and importantly doesn’t freeze or get sticky when taken out in very cold conditions. After a few months it gets noiser and needs a top up, which is piss easy.

Thae Baron’s I’ve seen look to have a more leathery upper which could shed the mud better… is this the case???

Use oil instead of grease. You’ll know when to add more oil as it well get noisier, but it’s not as often as you would think, plus it makes the hub freewheel better.

A couple of weeks of dry weather and you would never know it had been so wet and there was a race; about 10 years ago the same happened… the course recovered.

This wet weather can be depressing, all the trails are the same muddy mess, if your going to cry every time you go out in the mud I suggest moving somewhere dryer or taking up an indoor activity.

As strike says. I asked Formula last year if they had any plans to do Shimano shifter mixmasters and I was informed that they had no plans.

But… I have seen a Hope Matchmaker clamp used on a RX brake.

Here you are,

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/avid-matchmakershimano-adapter

Ouch… *makes mental note about pressfit bottom brackets*

I’m with Bristolbiker… probably impossible to prove either way.

XTR – used to last me a year before getting gritty.

Gore – were about 3 years

Cheap full cable runs – 3 years plus

If you can bare to do it drilling out the cable stops and running full outers is best and cheapest. But Gore’s a pretty good if expensive alternative.

Also cheack out Transfil Mudlovers which are like the Gore’s in that they run a liner but without the fancy coatings – so much cheaper.

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/Mudlovers-Gear-Cable-Set/TRASCABG150000000000?utm_campaign=Googlebase&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=Googlebase

My Courierware bag is nearly twenty years old.

http://courierbags.com

Yeah, don’t bother with the SS hub and run a normal rear hub with a fat bottomed SS sprocket – that way you can an Evo hub with a 12mm rear axle (Maxle etc). Also better for swapping with other bikes and selling when your done with it.

Er… if it’s an Evo then I’m pretty sure that to swap axle types it’s just the end caps that change?

Edit – unless you have the 10mm bolt in axle?

It takes 2 minutes to quieten down a hope hub considerably by adding grease into the freewheel…

This^^^

Even quieter and freewheels smoother if you use oil… which I’ve been doing with Hope hubs for years

Hope hub, wipe out most of the thick grease in the bit where the pawls are and replace with a glug of oil (I use Pedros Synlube as I have a big bottle of it and I no longer use it on my chain). Makes it much quieter (and stops them from freezing in winter) and when it gets noisy in a few months pull it apart and stick some more oil in it.

Next question please 😉

http://www.light-bicycle.com/wider-mtb-26er-carbon-bike-rim-26-inch-rims.html

I’d like to try these…

Width of the Flow, weight of the 355

I’m paranoid now – how heavy are you Paul? Ditto for Messiah? Was it squirming on both front and back?

I’m under 14 stone. Flow rims with the flow rimstrip with my 2.2 non UST Rubber Queens on my hardtail. There is some squirm in the back but I don’t find it a problem unless I let the pressures drop below 28psi (and 25psi front)… I’ll live with a bit of squirm for the grip they give at these pressures. My hardtail is predominantly used for a very muddy local forest so grip is everything.

I had the 2.4 RQ’s on these wheels before and as I mentioned the front was fine but I destroyed the rear… so UST for the rear if I’m running 2.4 RQ’s (big bike).

The Baron’s I’m currently running are on the big bike and are on Flow’s with yellow tape… I prefer the rim strip although the tape is lighter.

I absolutely think a wide rim like a Flow is important for running these tyres tubeless at low enough pressures to feel the benefits.

I rode the first Macavalanche two weeks after mine 😕

To get the non UST conti’s to seal give the inside of the tyre a quick scrub and degrease – Meths works well. Makes a big difference.

chiefgrooveguru – unless your some kind of animal on your bike I wouldn’t bother with a UST on the front. I managed fine with a non UST 2.4 at last years Macavalanche and chasing storm troopers in Cactusville Arizona.

Captain, if your not destroying single ply minions you’ll be fine with the 2.2RQ… 😉

Pressure wise I can’t go below 25psi as they get squirmy and burpy… but don’t all tyres?

As above, go for the 2.2 RQ’s and enjoy. Carrying some kind of tyre boot patch thing would be a good idea.

Paul’s suggestion of the 2.4 is good if your expecting dry rubble… mine were brilliant in Arizona last year 8)

I’m seeing little difference between summer and winter so far this year, perhaps winter was dryer?

Rubber Queens are not bad in the mud but the Baron does clear better but there is not much in it. The Black Chilli compound is not “amazing” so don’t expect miracles but they feel better than most other tyres I’ve tried when on wet rocks and roots… but that could be as I’m running 25-28psi which also helps???

The 2.2 Rubber Queens make for a noticably lighter wheelset which does feel good on the bike… but as I mentioned I have found the sidewalls a little lacking in strength for the way I ride so the extra weight of the Baron is cheap insurance against trailside bodges and long walk outs. I guess I could get away with the 2.2 RQ if I minced a bit more… but where would be the fun in that? 😈

Hi Captain, I’m running 2.2 BC RQ on my hardtail and 2.4 BC Baron’s on my Nic… they are non UST but I run them tubeless. Bit of a faff to seal but degrease them inside and it works much better. I like them both despite a few issues with my RQ’s over the last two years. Considering the packaging says they are different sizes the tyres are almost identical with the RQ looking marginally larger. For trail feel, rolling resistance and lite-weight (650g) the RQ takes the medal, but for outright grip, mud shedding, and bombing trail the Baron is a bit ahead (850g).

I’ve not tried the 2.2 RQ on the back of the Nic yet but I destroyed a 2.4 on it last summer (you were there). I’ve managed to tear 2.2 and 2.4 RQ sidewalls on the front and rear doing silly things and being unlucky… but I really like RQ’s (especially in the dry) so I bought a UST for running on the rear in the big mountains (1050g for UST vs 850g). The UST is a much heavier tyre and does dull the great feel you get from the tyres, but better that than fixing torn sidewalls.

I can get away with running the lighter 2.2 non UST RQ’s front and back on my hardtail as I mostly use it for the local forestry stuff, in the mud they are not a bad tyre but not brilliant, for my hardtail I really like them, a good lightweight all rounder IMHO. The Baron is better in the mud and more confident in the gnar due to a thicker sidewall which means I’m more comfortable using them on the Nic for the mountains… no problems yet anyway.

I suggest… go for the Baron’s f&r, or maybe go Baron on the back and stick a 2.2 RQ on the front to save a bit of weight? I think the 2.2 RQ is a bit delicate on the back for some of the gnarlier stuff I like to ride (and the way I ride it obviously 🙄 ).

Apart from the BTR Belter!

Wow! First time I’ve seen that and it looks very interesting 8)

Brant, even if nobody else understands the Bagger and Troof frames I’m very glad you designed them and got them built 8)

Niche!

Ragley Bagger or Troof.

A hardtail frame that’s actually designed to have a big fork on it instead of being able to take a big fork… what this means is that with a big fork the angles work and the bottom bracket remains reasonably low.

I like mine rather a lot… 63deg headangle slack enough for you???

(and yes I know from bitter experience it needs a proper chain guide 😉 )

I-Beam – I liked this until I discovered the Reverb.

1.5″ Steerer Stuff – I like having my tough frames with 1.5″ headtubes as I’ve managed to buy the following cheap:
Forks: Manitou Travis, Fox 36 Float RC2, Marz 55 RC3 Ti
Stems: Thompson Stems x 2, Gravity Lite, Truvativ Holzfeller
Headsets: Chris King x2

Hammerschmidt is another unpopular “standard” I like 8)

Mine did that and it was warrantied. I kept riding it for a good few months after the cracks appeared as I figured they were just in the paint, but when the paint started to flake I could see the cracks in the steel.

Lightest wheels I ever built used alloy nipples and DT revolution spokes. After three years of abuse a couple of nipples sheared and then the spokes started breaking. In the grand scheme of things for a lightweight race weight wheel that was pretty good going… unfortunately I was skint when it started breaking so at the time I was a bit pissed off.

There is a bit with more rubber on it which I always try to put under my palms so the really grippy bit gets my fingers.

It’s just on this picture over to the far left… yes… over there if you look far enough over to the LEFT

It’s nice to be able to read the Yeti logo while pulling huge rad no-handers off massive gnarly jumps.

I usually have to mimic an inline post by having the seat forward on the rails; if the seat slides backwards on the rails I’ll end up riding badly/uncomfy and not realise why until I get home and notice.

I’m just under 6ft and this is a 17″ frame (the 18″ Mmmbop I had before was a little too big).

Note the seat all the way forward on the rails which is required because the seat angle is 71 deg with the 36 forks on it… seat forward on the rails makes it more like a 72/73 and hence I can get this comfy.

Have you gone from an inline normal post to a layback dropper post (not that anything will tell you that other measuring saddle position on the posts in question… )?

As I said before – try sliding the saddle forward on the rails as I think your arching your back and feeling cramped because the saddle is too far behind the bottom bracket. Feeling cramped is the symptom not the problem.

As cynic-al says it’s your seat angle…

Five or Five AM?

Also… instead of pushing the saddle back on the rails bring it forward… feeling “cramped” and having to arch your back to get comfy might mean that your saddle is too far behind the bottom bracket and hence your pushing the pedals forward which is making you arch/cramped.

gear trains always absorb some energy

That’s my experience of Alfine and Rholoff… going back to normal drivetrains on lighter bikes was a revelation 😆

Boringly… I was dumped three weeks before my 3rd year B-eng exams… after two weeks of self pity (Bat tattoo girl included) and total inability to concentrate it dawned on me that I had less than one day left per exam to study. I somehow scraped a pass and when my course leader advised not staying on for honours I was happy to inform him that I could do much better without the recent distractions… and the following years exams went much better.

I saw this being built up on Saturday morning and it looked rather tasty 😉

And so was my ice cream from the shop across the road

That is all 8)

I wonder if this hub will be able to take a modified XX1 cassette?

Kappius Components

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/sea-otter-2012-kappius-components-show-evolution-hubs-33835/

Or perhaps these guys will get together and redesign the rear hub and cassette to suit the 21st century???

Instant engagement, light weight, and robust design… promises promises.

Freaking ace!

I had 2.25’s on mine tubeless and on anything below 30psi they became squirm-tastic and very prone to burping. I really like 25-30psi so sold them to get another set of wheels with Flow rims which I like much better.

What is the daftest thing heartbreak has caused you to do?

A rather robust girl with a batman tattoo 😕

Old roady trick was mix in some cornflour as it’s a more complex carb than glucose so you don’t get the energy high/low… just a long slow burn.

Just don’t make it too thick or you’ll get stomach cramps…

Or make it really thick so you can ride over it…