Just a thought – I weighed mine after ghetto tubelessing the tyres so it was probably nearer 28-1/2lb in stock form. As is often preached… reducing the wheel weight is the best way to improve performance… as long as the tyres can withstand the riding being done.

I liked my 19 steel but the astronomically high bottom bracket pissed me off in the techy gnar riding I really enjoy. I broke it… and sold the warranty replacement.

My 2010 version weighed 27-1/2#… and I could never quite work out where all the weight was. Some of the Truvativ Stylo stuff on it was a bit lardy, as was the FSA Afterburner BB30 crank, then add the wheels and tyres etc and it all added up to more than I would have expected.

This is of no use to you though… I’d say the catalogue/internet weight is a lie 😉

Another top tip is to stay off the punter line and go where the speed is.

Take spooky wood at Glentress for example (I know… trail centre and all that but bear with me), through all the fast berms and stuff there is a smooth line right down the middle… this is the punter line. The fast line is up high on the berms where all the rocks and rubbish make it look unsmooth, but it’s actually grippy up there and the banking on the corner allows you to carry more speed through. Take this to other terrain and start looking past the punter line and see where the speed can be held, but as above, you have to be looking and thinking ahead to spot these lines because if your looking at your front wheel you’ll miss them.

Always look where you want to go and not where your scared to go… target fixation… see that big rock/tree… if you stare it you will hit it.

Above courtesy of Dirt School skills course 😉

If I had the cash I would be all over the Deville and a VIPr combo… but I’m not so I’ll keep going with what I have.

Use normal patches and normal rubber glue (vulcanising solution). If it’s a big rip you can even stack a few patches or glue on a piece of inner tube. Use sandpaper to roughen the area and once glued clamp it to let it all dry for a few hours before inflating. I’ve patched a few Rubber Queen sidewall’s this way and they are still working under me three months later.

Superglue (and most other glues) will be too brittle – the vulcanising solution/glue lets stuff move.

It’s acceptable to get the back wheel down first if your pulling “scrubs”

Riding with the likes of Chris Ball and Tom Braithwaite has shown me that a really good rider will find a way past without too much problem.

It’s better if the slower riders do slow a little to give the faster riders room to pass. The problems come when a fast rider doesn’t want to let an even faster rider past… when that happens the gloves come off and it’s wacky-races time

Hi GiantJaunt. I bought the Troof from CRC, it was on offer and before I realised what had happened I had to start grovelling to the wife. Been worth it though. I’d rather have gone through an LBS but I had an Mmmbop before so knew what size I wanted etc.

No QC issues with my Troof… it’s an awesome frame and it build up really easily.

Chap I was riding with at the weekend has broken 3 bottom rollers from his MRP guide in as many weeks… it would seem the form of cheese this is made from is prone to shattering/crumbling?

I’m thinking the soon to be released Blackspire Der guide will be good since the top is like an MRP and the lower is like a silent guide.

edd… Cane Creek steel springs are the same price… some of the cheapest steel spring around.

http://www.tftunedshox.com/Catalogue/Shop-Cane-Creek/Cane-Creek-Double-Barrel-2/Cane-Creek-Steel-Springs

I have one of Loco’s DSP springs I picked up secondhand off here… works a treat on my CCDB.

Cheap bleed kit from here if you need it, but I’ve shortened a couple and not needed to bleed after.

Bleed Kit for RockShox Reverb Seat Post & 2.5wt Fluid

*Drool* I like the look of this *Drool*

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/limited-edition-production-prive-shan-hardtail.html

For riding a 29er there really is only one option…

I found the 120-150mm travel 32mm stantioned forks (Rev Team Maxle) too flexy for the way I rode my Ragley Mmmbop. I decided to buy a Ragley Troof which is designed to take a 36mm fork at 160mm of travel… and I’m happy to report that it is rather good. Although perhaps tending a little more towards the DH and jumps/drops than you have described.

Not much I would change on this…

Not mine by the way 🙁

I just don’t get on with air shocks

I find this interesting and I kind of agree, I’d always used coils and I thought the same until I bought my current Fox Float 36 RC2 fork and Float rear shock. The fork was/is fine but I struggled with the rear shock until I reduced the volume on it and had it tuned (and Pushed) by TFT (I sent it back within 14 days for further fettling as I was still not happy, but now it’s nearly as good as the VIPr I tried, but not as good as a coil).

What I’m trying to say is that writing off air shocks because you don’t get on with the one you have is possibly short sighted when they are quite easy to get tuned… and “hopefully” vastly improved.

When I watch clips of scary awesome riders with air shocks on their bikes the air shocks don’t seem to be holding them back.

I’m probably just as quick with the air shocks on my Nicolai as I am with the coils… but I prefer the feel of the coils and since I’m riding for fun I’ll put up with the extra weight. If I was racing I might be tempted to bung the air’s on and save over a lb… but I’m not kidding myself that running the coils is any performance advantage on the downs… I just prefer the feel of the steel Ti 😆

PS… I’m keeping both fork and shock options. Float fork currently on hardtail and Float rear shock in baggy ready for when I want or need it. I like having options as I tend to break stuff 😈

I’ve had a quick shottie on one of them top end Canyon’s and it felt very good. Chap who bought it was not expecting it to be as good as it is; he was half expecting to be stripping it for bits but has ended up using it in preference to some of his other more exotic options. For a 180mm travel bike it does pedal well… and on the dowonhalls it was certainly not causing him any problems.

A lot depends on how you want your shocks to feel. If you search back I did a forum thread on a Bos vs Fox air shock ride off and what I thought at the time. Summary; the Bos forks are much more controlled but give up their travel when they need to wheras Fox tend to feel supple and give up the travel a little too easily, and this leads to a (IMHO) tendency to “choke on their oil” and get uncontrolled and spikey when the going gets gnar (even with a Pushed rear shock which is otherwise very good).

I’m now running Marzocchi RC3 Ti forks and a coil CCDB which like the fox gives up it’s travel easily but never gets spikey like the Fox – I really like this set up as it keeps the bottom bracket low on my Helius and is a hell of a lot of fun in the way it rewards hard riding. I’d like to try this back to back with a Bos set up as I think they will be different but similarly great fun. I just don’t get what Fox are up too with the way they tune their shocks and forks… I suspect they are tuned for the shop floor and general riding as in my experience when you ride them hard the damping fails to keep up with the terrain. A custom tune is required (if it works), but even then I’ve found other options feel better… all in my humble experience and unqualified opinion of course.

I’m not laughing – on my big bike with the HammerSchmidt I spend very little time in the overdrive (34 equivalent) which means I spend most of my time riding my granny (which is a 22)…

This is one of my old bikes… ideas deserve to be tried.

Homebrewed components but do a check on here as to recent delivery times… not good… But if your not in a hurry and the guy gets his s&£@ together they are good.

I have a Jericho Suffering and have had Forge rings in the past, both not available now… but I can show off 😛

It’s a great loop. The weather was a bit more challenging last year when Louis Spence rode it.

Decision point at the col… the forecast was for showers so we chose to continue… the shower lasted all day 🙄

Cheers for the +ve comments, the more I ride it the more I like it.

Needs a proper chain guide to mount to the ISCG as the BB mounted one keeps moving… off to the garage to see what i can do 😉

The bearings are probably fine and it’s just the cover plate thing that needs some grease or oil.
If is the bearings then its easy to get those cranks off if your handy with a hammer, removing the bearings was a bit more effort. With the cranks off it would be easy enough to pop the covers off the bearings and add some grease.

My bottom bracket outlasted the frame.

I didn’t get the bfe I borrowed. With a big fork the bottom bracket was too high and the seat angle too slack, with a shorter fork it was just a solid feeling xc/trail hardtail. I don’t see an adjustable fork fixing those flaws… for the doonhalls when you want the big fork and slack head angle you get a flip/flop high bottom bracket.
I’m now running a hardtail designed for a 160mm fork and it’s awesome…

Give it a few rides ugly and if you like it chop it.

HammerSchmidt is great after nearly two years of abuse… still on the original bottom bracket which is a novelty for me. I’ve cleaned it inside a few times and I use oil instead of grease as I do with Hope hubs to keep it freewheeling easy; very important in winter up here. I love it, no more front mechs for me on the bikes I ride hard.

No variables involved here other than this bike loves a good ragging so much it needs a proper chain device 😆

The ‘Forge’ top only guide on it was fine on more normal bikes but this thing really does bring out the loon in me… loving it

I’ll add mine to this Nicolai lovin…

I love this bike 8)

^^^ this.

On my Mmmbop I was fine with a top guide only, but my Troof needs a full guide as I keep losing the chain because I can, and am, ragging it harder.

Back in the early days when 3×7 was the norm your lowest gear was 24 x 28 on our 30lb rigid bikes, and we used to ride much the same forests and mountains as now. 24 x 28 is only a bahair less than 32×34… And if you go 32×36 10speed it’s even closer.

Is 1×9 possible without a chain guide?

Just don’t change gear at the front… easy

because its cool.

… and because it makes people ask me why I’m riding a bike like that which means I can explain to them in detail about it in the car park at the trail centre instead of being up on the hill riding my bike (with 3×9 obviously… ) 😆 .

Will this push more people towards other substances like smack?

I’ve never broken a Ti frame but I’ve bust a few Al, steel and carbon 😈

This could have something to do with me never having owned a Ti frame 🙄

I’ve ridden a few and liked them well enough but I see little point in splashing out heaps of cash on a frame if all I can afford to dangle off it is worthless scrap… and then there is the likelyhood of me breaking it anyway 8)

IMHE the wheels and other stuff can have a larger bearing on a how a frame rides than what material the frame is made of, blah blah blah etc etc.

None of this stops me wanting a Ti frame any less though 😐

I’ve never had a problem with a front mech out on the trail in over 20 years

I was having issues last night with a simple top 1×9 guide. It’s been fine all through the winter but the ground was solid last night and I was riding really hard so the chain bounced off a few times… time for a full top and bottom chain guide.

For the riding I like to do most a front mech is a liability… with a bit more effort and grunting I can make the 1×9(10) drivetrain do all I need, except for the really big stuff where I use a Hammerschmidt to get me a low winching gear.

If 1×9(10) works for where and how you ride then it’s brilliant. My local forest is a bike wrecker and having strong kit with as little to go wrong as possible is sensible. Losing the front mech makes a huge difference as it really is a frequent cause of problems.

For me singlespeed is the ideal drivetrain as there is little to get damaged and bounce off; but it doesn’t work well where I ride unless I am in the condition of my life, it’s dry, the bike is 20lbs for the climbs… but still built for the descents. So for me singlespeed is too much of a compromise to be my main use bike.

I’ve tried a Rohloff in Gearbox and hub options but they were not the answer for me.

Next logical step is 1×9(10) since you get a good enough spread of gears for most riding. Yes, you no longer have the winching gear for huge climbs and the big gear for the road home but I’m happy to pay that price on my hardtail (which I mainly use in the local forests).

For a 1×9(10) type chain security but with a bigger spread (i.e. the low winching gear) for the big days in the hills I have a HammerSchmidt on my big bike… it’s not as weighty as people think and it works brilliantly, I’ve never lost the chain off the front (despite losing the funky plastic guide ages ago).