A few quid to the persons charity of choice is way better than this kind of littering landfill tossfest…

I started with Canti brakes and you needed as many fingers as you get on the levers to work those bu**ers.

After twenty years of two or more fingers I decided two years ago to retrain myself to one finger braking… I moved my levers so I could only use one finger, and I had it sorted on that first ride. One finger is all I need now and I love it.

@ chiefgrooveguru

I like this quote from Lee

These days I focus on driving the net force—gravity, braking, impact, whatever—directly into the pedal spindle. (Remember, it’s all about heavy feet and light hands.) That’s working way better.

There are two problems with the DH angled short travel option idea that I can see, one is finding a suitably stiff fork to take that kind of riding, and two is that a decently set up 160mm travel rear end is no hinderance.

So… you would need a 160mm fork like a Fox 36 but pegged back internally to 120mm and a similar travel out back, it’s not going to be much lighter and probably won’t ride as well on the doonhalls as a full 160mm of travel so why bother? While dicking about with my Nicolai Helius AM I spent a while with the rear end on short travel (127mm) in an effort to tame a crap shock. While it made the shock much better to the point where it actually felt good, on the 160mm setting with a better shock the bike is better-er-er… I don’t understand why people would want a mismatched travel option as if I’m lugging the Helius about it’s because I’m planning to enjoy the doonhalls I’ve earned. Shortening the rear end and running an air shock had no benefits on the climbs and flatter stuff but made the bike not as good on the really enjoyable stuff.
I still have an air shock and air fork which I can throw on it to drop the weight by about 2-3lbs, and if I throw on my other wheels with lighter tyres and go 1×9 instead of HammerSchmidt I can get it to sub 30lbs… but then I can’t climb the super techy climbs I love riding as I’m overgeared, and I can’t bomb the doonhalls in the way I love to do as I’m under tyred (the coil shocks make the bike feel better but the air options are good enough).

Maybe change your DH bike for modern AM bike can which do the DH stuff but can be pushed into more than just uplift days?

I’m in the “no one bike” will work for me camp. I love my AM bike but it is a bit big for some xc stuff, where I like a headtail anyway. I tried a light XC/trail hardtail but I broke it, so I built a heavier duty one, which lead me to riding it where I take the big bike, and it scared me, so I over built it some more… and now it’s ace but I have no XC type bike again. Oh FFS… bikes are ace… build, ride, repeat.

So I have the two bikes, but I’ve made it so that as much as possible all the wheels and forks etc can swap from my hardtail to my AM bike… which is brilliant in concept but something I have yet to bother my bottom to actually do. If I want the big bike I take it and if I want the hardtail I take that… but I could build some funky hybrids of the two… if I feel the need… as I said above… bikes are ace… build, ride, repeat.

I went from huge disced V2’s to 160/180 Formula The One. If you like your other Formula brakes why not?

RHS MMX Reverb lever – on the LHS, on it’s own clamp, upside down, next to the grip, with shifter and brake lever.

Well… from my completely uneducated viewpoint, and from looking at the pictures, I can see that they have increased the length as well as the girth of the bulged centre centre section of the bar. Which kind of makes sense as this will improve the stiffness and fatigue resistance of this area; which means they can make it thinner… hence make the whole thing lighter. We are talking 15g or something so it aint going to change the world, but if it’s bettererererer then why not? Just because it annoy’s some folk who think standards MUST be adhered too is actually enough reason for me to agree. Standards have a purpose in that they simplify some things, but if they are holding back advances in technology then BURN THE STANDARDS… er… no… but as I said before… buy them or don’t… the choice is yours. 😉

Still 6 in stock here with 1.5″ steerer if you can handle the GIRTH

http://www.hucknroll.com/marzocchi-55-rc3-ti-fork-mrz0009

By total freak this is pretty much bang on what I use…

Try double your weight in stone, -1 for the front, +2 at the back, as a starting point

So for me on 2.2″ and 2.5″ Rubber Queens, and 2.4″ Baron’s I tend to go with 28psi out back and 25 up front.

It’s very difficult to find a stem or a decent bar in 25.4 diameter.

My calendar is for 2012… not 1993… which was when the Syncros stem on my Kona was made and 23″ bars were wide 😆

So…

In 1993 23″(580mm) wide bars were W-I-D-E and 25.4mm was fine

Come 2002(?) 27″(685mm) bars were W–I–D–E and carbon was becoming popular which made a move to 31.6mm desirable/sensible

Now in 2012 bars are becomming really W—-I—–D—-E at 32″(800mm), it’s hardly surprising that a move to a size above 31.6mm is desirable for strength. Why whinge when stuff gets better*

* Better… assumes people want lighter and stronger stuff???

BMX bars tend to be made of STEEL.

I’m all for progress, nobody is forcing anyone to buy it, only buy it if you want a lighter stronger product… 🙄

What no Reverb?

That is lush 😉

Always happy to watch a bit of his stuff.

Here is my Blackspire as it was in my Balfa Minuteman… surprisingly the frame died before the seatpost did

Acros from Balfa is light. Bearings are stainless… and from experience can be replaced if needed. I had an early one many years ago which was not stainless and when the bearings rusted Jamie at Balfa sorted me out.

http://www.balfa.co.uk/parts/headsets/ahead-headsets/acros-ah-07-deep-cup-headset

Edit… great minds geetee 8)

Whatever happened to the Ragley designs with the 160 front and 100/120 rear… could be what your looking for?

Any Nicolai can be run in short travel mode at the rear. I tried it on my Helius AM and it did pedal better when I had a crap shock on it, but it pedals so well with a decent shock that I don’t see any benefit now… from the MTBR forum there are a few folk who have adjusted their Nicolai AM/AFR’s with shorter shocks and/or different mountings to lower the bottom brackets and run shorter forks etc. Might be worth a squize over there or dig about for geetee1972 on here who has done this to his Helius AM.

This is his AM with a different front shock mount to lower the BB and allow him to run a shorter fork.

There are probably a few other AM type bikes about which you could short-shock/fork and get similar results???

I’d be looking at Shand as they are local to me.

http://www.shandcycles.com/frames/custom/

Couple of interesting Nicolai Ion 14 builds

Nicolai Ion 14 – The AttitudeBikes Build

Nicolai Ion 14 – Trail Build.

Genius

I’ve seen a few Thomsons bend and break, they are not unbreakable.

Similar dilema here… should I store or sell my original Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp Face and buy something modern to damage as I play with the kids?

I do this with an old RaceFace Diabolus bottom bracket… and I get’s me bearings from Keasae because they last well. Works a treat.

I’ve seen a few MRP’s in which the lower roller part is a bit weak and prone to cracking/exploding from impacts. I also don’t like a roller down there (as on the Plasma) since they clog and make noise… which is why I’m waiting for the new Blackspire Der guide which has a gliding plate like the Staitline Silent Guide instead of the roller.

My Explosif, owned by me since new and still in regular use offroad as SS or fixed.

Dropouts replaced by local framebuilder Charlie Ralph at Alves after the chainstay snapped, I also got him to do a rear V-brake cable stop… the paint, dents, and all the other cable stops I left as evidence our time together (and coz I was skint at the time).

Tubeless for sure.

2nd the Blackspire.

The Tontine is brilliant.

What makes Flows good is the shape they give big tyres, the actual build and material of them is a bit pants compared to Mavic… but until the French company start making wider rims Flows win for me. But if a thud gets past the tyre the rim is usually toast as they really are not strong. Tempted to try Spank oozi or others which can be found cheap sometimes.

Do you think you’ll notice much difference between materials with 130mm+ of fork up front and 2.3 to 2.5 inch rubber beneath?

I was a steel fan but now I ride alloy for my LTHT.

My rigid ss with 1.8″ tyres is steel and will always be real.

You measure BB height sagged? May I ask why?

When I ride my bike the fork is sagged 😆

I’ve measured it both ways but since I was trying to understand how the geometry (BB height) changes with travel I’ve found it makes more sense to go by the sagged measurements. I’ve also found that using a very soft fork to “over-sag” a frame makes it ride like shite so giving the sag figure as 25% (or 30% whatever) makes sense (to me anyway).

It helped me understand what I liked about a frame I had but broke, what I didn’t like about it’s replacement, what I wanted and liked in the next one, and what I really wanted and like in the one I replaced that one with (this could go on a bit).

scott_mcavennie2 : They must have changed the definition of “low bottom bracket” because last time I looked a BFe had 12.25″ BB height.

What fork length Scott?

I can only go from what I’ve measured… the BFe I borrowed had a 160mm Wotan fork it and the bottom backet was at the same height as the wheel axles with 25% sag, which with big tyres on was 330mm (13″).

My LTHT with 160mm forks sagged 20% has the bottom bracket 25mm lower which is 12″.

I quite liked the BFe but the fork at 160mm was simply too long for the geometry of the frame (IMHO etc etc).

One mans long travel hardtail is another mans trail hardtail… what constitutes long travel on a hardtail these days anyhow?

Is a bike designed for a 100mm fork a long travel hardtail just because someone has banged a 150mm fork on the front?

What does any of this have to do with 29ers????

IMHO… there is a HUGE difference between a hardtail frame to which you can INSTALL a long travel fork, and a hardtail frame which is DESIGNED for a long travel fork.

Head angle is just one part of a puzzle involving other variables such as seat angle and bottom bracket height… shove a long fork on a frame such as a BFe/456 and you get…
1. slack head angle which can feel like good fun
2. slack seat angle which means you’ll be falling off the back on the techy climbs.
3. high bottom bracket which mans flip/flop steering and a general feeling of tottering about at low and high speed in the gnar

Don’t mention travel adjust forks… a poor crutch for a crap design 😉

My long travel hardtails has 160mm of travel, a 63deg head angle, a 72 degree seat angle and a low bottom bracket… it’s ace.

I’m looking forward to trying a long travel 29er hardtail.

Not killed mine yet 😈

I’ve got 36mm stantioned 160mm forks on my new hardtail as I was frightening the crap out of myself with the skinny flexy 32mm x 130mm forks on my last one (The forks eventually broke inside). I’ve used all of that 160mm travel according to the O-ring of truth 😈

As pointed out above it’s got little to do with jumps, and far more to do with how fast your willing to hit rock gardens and the really rough stuff, and if you want to control where the bike is going. I disliked having my forks dictate how fast I could go or where I was going when the going got gnar, with the big forks on I’m back in control of my destiny

This was one of those big mountain rides where it never stopped raining.

As you can see it didn’t ruin anybody’s day… and check out the differing kit levels worn by the riders from full waterproofs to a gillet (ffs).

I took a brake of a Revelation fork and tried to fit it to a Fox 36 recently… and I couldn’t get it to work and got really annoyed as the adapter required should have been the same.

The adapter was the same and I was trying to install it all upside and back to front etc. When I looked at it the following morning I figured it out. Might not be the case here but worth having a cup of tea and going back to 😉

All the best kit in the world only increases your comfort by a little bit when the conditions your out in are horrendous. A good waterproof jacket can be important, and some of the cheaper ones will be fine. Make sure it packs reasonably small… I carry either a very light showerproof or a full on Gore-Phantom. Both of which I carry far more often than I actually wear… if you don’t actually need to be wearing it then it’s better in the backpack (or at home)… nothing worse than ripping a £200 jacket on a tree or rock when you bail!!!

If it’s truly minging out the best glove solution is two pairs. Wear the big clumping ski gloves for where you don’t really need the “feel”, and then bung on thinner gloves for in the tree’s and doonhall bits. Same with hats and buffs, once they are wet they do little for you and bunging on a few items of dry kit can make you feel so much better.

You would have to spend silly money to get rotors lighter than the Formula lightweight rotors which come with RX brakes.

Formula lightweight 160mm = 87g.
Ashima Airotor’s 160mm = 85g

It’s only when you look at Carbon Ti’s rotors you get a weight saving

http://www.carbon-ti.com/index.php?p1=prodotti&MCat=BD

Far more entertaining than deliverance.

I love my two 745mm x 19mm Sunline bars… and at CRC price they are kind of hard to resist…

Edit – good call Jeffus