Blackspire Shore post is both long and strong. I found the finish on mine to be very hard wearing.

Enjoyable as ever, and great to see.

Shiney things and chairlifts 😛

My Floar R rear shock blew through the travel and I had to increase the pressure and run less sag to compensate. It is a high volume shock so I packed out the second chamber with some plastic which improved things. I then sent it to TFT who listened to my comments and tuned it for me, they suggested I go for the Push gubbins due to my description of my riding.
My custom Push Float R is now good… but not as good as the VIPr I demo’d… but there was not much in it.

I planned to run the Float R and only bung the CCDB on if I am doing silly stuff… but the CCDB has now been on for 6 months as the weight doesn’t bother me and I’m enjoying tweaking it.

Just go push’d van RC (big hit specific bottom out bumper) if you want awesome or custom tuned van RC and spend the change on a ti spring.

This is good advice, but I’d get the air shock sorted first as it might be all you need.

I believe all Rev’s can be shortened with the spacers included.

Loads of opinion on this site about CCDB’s.

Here is something I wrote a few months back…

I run either a CCDB or a TFT tuned and Pushed Float R. The Float was hopeless when I first fitted it but now it’s tuned it is a great shock. I used to have a coil DHX4 which I ran almost all the time rather than the poorly performing Float. I fiddled plenty with the Float and DHX before sending the Float to TFT, it took two goes to get the Float how I wanted it and rather then do the same with the DHX I decided to try the CCDB so I can have a right good fiddle myself.

Mostly I run the tuned Float now which I think is amazing and out-performs the non tuned DHX4 Coil… seriously… it is that good!

The CCDB is better again. I’m still setting it up and trying different things but there are times with the CCDB when it feels absolutely amazing like it’s giving you speed on the pedal strokes on climbs, or when riding the back wheel (manualling) at speed through rough stuff it’s like it’s supporting the whole bike holding it up with a big plush hand.
As I mentioned before there are also times when it feels a little dead like it needs a thump to get the oil flowing and work it’s magic… as a general rule the harder I’m working it the better it feels. When going from a flat path to a little rock off the trail to get a little “pop jump” the CCDB feels lethargic and won’t play… it’s like its saying “what the F*&^ is that???”… a similar rock on a rough path at speed the CCDB will lap up and give me all the pop I want in a super controlled way.

But… back out the adjusters too far or get silly with them and bike is nigh on unrideable… shows you just how good most shocks are… very very amusing.

If you want fit and forget great performance get a tuned shock. If you want to take it to another level and are happy to fiddle and consider playing with your suspension part of the fun then the CCDB is a great toy.

I like the CCDB but it needs gnar to really shine. My main reason for buying it was to fiddle so I can work out what LSC/HSC/LSR/HSR are and what they feel like… it is a very user customisable shock which is either a good thing or a bad thing? It’s possible to make a right pigs ear of it and small changes can have a surprisingly large effect. One friend who has tried mine prefered the tuned Float. I’ve since tweaked the CCDB settings a bit and I’m happier with it but he might not like it. Weight wise it’s a lump… there is a whole thread dedicated to the Ti spring debate… but if your concerned about weight I would buy an air shock or get your one tuned… seriously, tuning your air shock will probably make a huge difference, and it’s cheaper and lighter!
You can try tuning it yourself with the air spacer kits… or pick up the phone and speak to one of the tuning professionals about what you dislike about what you have, they are all very helpful.

I’ve tried a few of the travel adjust systems over the years as the idea sounds great – shorten it for the climbs and lengthen it for the downhills = best of both… in reality what I found was that climbing is always a chaff amd descending is always fun… climbing with a shorter fork makes either no difference or on really techy fun climbs you get more pedal strike, and on the descents lengthening the fork raises the bottom bracket and leads to flip/flop handling issues.

My thoughts – get the right length fork, something like the U-turn on a Rev/Lyrik lets you figure out what that lenght is best (for you) much easier than putting spacers into Floats/etc (or being stuck at one length Like Vans/Deville etc), but as long as your not trying to fit a 160mm fork on a 120/140mm frame 10-20mm is probably not worth worrying about.

Hardtail = Left hand side, upside down. I have no shifter on that side so it makes sence.

Full Suss = Right hand side above the bar as it’s the only place it will fit due to shifters/brakes.

Both work brilliantly and I have no issues with flip/floping between the two… but both on the LHS would be better.

Awesome scoot in the local forest, I had planned to head up a local hill but the windchill was vicious so I chose to keep low. The frost had not lifted all day so even the trails in the trees were rock hard and running fast like a summers day… but -1 and at night 😕

I love it when you get the trails like this. I had my full suss which I don’t usually bother with for this forest but due to the speed the trails were running at it was the perfect choice… I love my local trails.

That first picture is a cracker 8)

I use a Rab Generator vest with either a very light windproof jacket or my full waterproof gore-tex job depending on the likely weather.

I liked the Rab so much I bought another for the walk to work bag.

A full custom Nicolai Helius AM to tweak a couple of the things on mine which I think could be improved.

A titanium framed AM hardtail like the Kingdom Brigante

Not sold on the whole wagon wheel idea yet but I could be tempted.

Any 32 or Rev can be set at 120/130/140 with internal spacers.

Unless I add too much LSC, they dive a lot though which irritates the hell out of me, pitching forwards in corners and under braking really unsettles the bike

This is my experience of my Floats. I can use the RC2 to improve it a little but it’s a very on/off adjustment and too much makes the fork dreadfull.

The Deville was much more controlled… the more I think about it and re-read what I wrote the more i think I probably will. Now… what was Richard at Gravity Sports phone number?

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/forks-suspension/product/review-rockshox-revelation-xx-world-cup-11-44655

Set your fork at 130mm and use it for everything? But if you really want more travel adjusting the travel on Revs or 32’s is not very difficult so probably worth experimenting with anyway. However; IMHO longer travel is not the be-all-and-end-all for the mountains… I’ve found all the my bikes to ride best with one fork length – changing the fork length even by 10-20mm can mess up the feel of the bike too much (IMHO).

Nice bike!

Looking at the options I would ask why your considering Talas or XX? A Talas fork never performs as well as Float due to the travel adjust gubbins getting in the way of smooth stroke, and the XX fork’s Lockout feature also means that the XX fork does not have the same great performing damper as the normal WC or RC3 Rev… so both of these options give up ultimate suspension performance for questionable gimickry (IMHO), and extra cost.

A Float 32 RLC or Revelation WC would be the perfect fork for this bike as I can see little need for either lockout or travel adjust – IMHO lockout & travel adjust let people you have set their bike up badly fiddle with it and use it as an crutch/excuse for their poor riding. Better off having the right length fork and learning to ride the bike with it set up like that.

Revelation RC at 140mm (or 120) for the win by the way 8)

A few older threads with good discusions.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bos-vs-fox-there-is-only-one-way-to-find-out-fight

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bos-deville-forks

My 2p – What do you like in a shock/fork and what rear shock are you going to run are relevant questions – the Bos stuff does feel slighly different so sticking with them would probably be best, in much the same way as Marzocchi tend to feel super supple Bos tend to feel more taut/composed.

Later this year if/when I scape the cash together I’ll be having the same debate with myself… not sure which I will chose either 🙄 , but none of the options would be the wrong one as all the kit these days is good

I have no complaints with my 745 Sunline V1’s on FS and HT, if I’m using grips that are comfy… I had some thin Superstars and got sore crampy hands but now I’m running Troy Lee or Sunline and am much happier.

I’ve got a King headset with all the bits so I can swap between 1.5″ and 1-1/8″ steerers in my frame, and it works a treat.

It was -1 in the forest yesterday and my Answer Fall Line XC Gloves where all I needed. When I hit the road for the 20 min downhill back to the house I threw on some big warm Gore jobs but the Answers are warm enough when in the woods – I really like them but I suspect they might be too roasty-toasty come the summer, for now they are ace.

TandemJeremy
spotify is not bad but there is stuff missing – ask me for a something obscure and I can see if its there for you.

It was a few months ago I was searching. I’ll have a look and see if I can remember what it was.

Which is best for obscure music?

itunes boils my piss as much of what I want is not available.

Above link is for the old Pro2 not the EVO – for the evo it is just the end caps

These are the options… for EVO ONLY!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=68578

The pictures confuse as you don’t get the axle bit except with the 10mm bolt in – for most of the kits you just the end caps!

I’m not sure what shape you would have to be to fit those… very short top tubes 😕

With the EVO it’s just the end caps you change between QR/10mm/12mm. I’ve been running them for a few months now and not snapped an axle which could not be said for the old Pro2.

To run a bolt up yes you would need an axle as the hub comes without, but there are plenty of options.

Nice… Worth it for the Reverb, changes how you ride trails.

No, mud is a protective coating. Only time I jet wash is if I’m selling stuff

Lusso are great and very cheap at Ribble

As above, they are Mk1 RaceFace Turbines – be aware you will need a HUGELY LONG bottom bracket for them as they are not low profile.

I’d like to try these Goldtec hubs

http://www.mountainbikecomponents.co.uk/items.asp?CategoryID=300&Name=Goldtec+Pro+Competition+Rear+Hub

I don’t like funcy factory special wheelsets as I break stuff. I destroyed a Flow rim on a two week old Hoop wheelset with a stupid mistake… was easy for me to fix as it was simply a rim swap. Had I been using Crossmax or some other exotic wheelset I would have had to send it away for god knows how long. Spend on a good hub, Hope are OK but not great due to internal friction… I always clean out the grease in the freehub and replace with oil so the freewheel spins better and doesn’t make the chain slack and prone to jamming between chainstay and tyre. I’d like to try Goldtec but currently I have two pairs of Hope so I can swap them about – one with big tyres for crazy stuff and one with a more xc bent – works for me, ymmv etc.

Bottom bracket is already stupid high with a 120mm fork… IMHO.

Normal, but it does make changing the spring a bit of a pain.

I had a sample of stuff called “Zooke” many years ago and it worked very well.

Still around http://www.zooke.com/

I love the feel and grip form the Black Chilli (BC) Conti’s I have. Currently running 2.2 BC RQ on the hardtail and 2.3 BC Baron’s on the FS – both were a bitch to get to seal as none of them are UST. Over the summer I ran 2.4 BC RQ’s on the FS until I tore through the rear tyre sidewall, after which I fitted a UST. On all of them the sidewalls seemed to have a tough life with threads showing and some deformation, which means I doubt I would get much more than 6-12 months from any of them (the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long?). The 2.4 UST tyre on the back removed some of the feel which I liked from them but it stood up to some very hard riding.

The Baron is a lot better in the gloop than the 2.4 RQ but only a bit better than the 2.2… not a full on mud reccomendation from me but still a good compromise all rounder. For summer I suspect I’ll go back to 2.4 RQ’s on the FS for better driftyness and rock gripping.

Interested in the Hans Damff reports – but the last Schwalbe’s I tried were Big Bettie 3C which were great in the dry but near lethal on wet roots and rocks. The tread hardly wore in six months but one sidewall went through and one of the beads deformed.

Options seem to be… run 1.5kg triple compound DH tyres and get 1-2 years of rather “solid feeling” life, or run expensive 700-900g tyres and get 6-12 months of “better feeling” life… for feel and grip on the type of riding I do I can see me spending lots on tyres unfortunately 😐

The engineer in me likes to see all the little bitties exploded out on a table like that 😳

I like Lusso bib shorts and 3/4.

Messiah – are you peaslake based?

No, N.E Scotland… near where some big mountains are 😉

Hi Chris, count me in for a test 😈

Yup… transformed… and I am neither fat nor unfit 🙄

What I am is a rider who lives for the gnarlier and fun side of riding; and as such my uppy/downy posts allow me to play more on all the descendy bits without having to stop and fiddle before the next climby bit. What this means is more fun since I can climb better on the fun techy climbs I love as I’m able to roll straight on into them after the doonhall without having to stop to fiddle with my saddle height.

In my local forest (which is very techy) I either had to stop lots to adjust the saddle height or compromise either the climbing or the descending by leaving it up or down. It’s much better now; not easier but better as my “flow” is no longer interupted by QR faffage.

I expected not to use it for the trail centres (i.e. GT) and big hill days where it’s all up, then all down… but what I’ve found with the Reverb is that the infinitely adjustable height can be used to increase the fun by dropping the saddle a bit for even the smallest little downs; which improves flickablility and hence makes little rocks etc at the side of the trail into little fun things to go and play with on descents you normally wouldn’t bother with. The same can be said for climbs and flat bits where you can see things and think, “oh, drop the saddle a bit and that would be fun”… and it is.

If you’ve got the terrain and like to play they are ace. For where and how I ride I love my adjustable seatposts… which is why I have one on my HT and FS.

I’d even like one for my rigid singlespeed since I tend to ride the same trails with it sometimes 😆

Inspirational, I love that nadgery stuff.