Oh well, looking forward to tomorrows necrophilia.

Mmmbop, and I am rad to the max gnar

I run an old Forge thing which is like the superstar. With a non ramped single speed type chainring I’ve never lost the chain.

Revelation 150mm fork is light and surprisingly capable for a lighter rider. Interesting idea to build a light dh capable bike for lighter rider instead of buying the usual xc/trail bike and finding it limited on the doonhalls.

Lighter riders can get away with xc kit for some mental riding. Us heavier riders are need a bit more, er, material.

Good luck and enjoy.

Unless your rad to the max gnar on a hardtail the Superstar is all you need.

Are you tempted? It’s a bit small for me. Not totally convinced that it isn’t just a badged-up off the shelf jobbie either. Would be good to see some less arty shots of it.

Agree. I think Kingdom need to do a bit more to show what they are selling. Could be a £200 eBay special or could be something far better, can’t tell from the information they show. Also needs rider reports or reviews.

I was just looking at the Kingdom bike project 29er in the sale… Last few hours.

I’ve no experience on a Zesty but I’ve tried a few options on a similar horsty-linky Nicolai Helius AM.
The bog standard Float R I had was pretty poorly controlled and would blow through it’s travel unless I ran a higher pressure than I should have which meant about 20% sag. Blow through was improved by reducing the volume of the air chamber which is a cheap fix and allowed me to run 25-30% sag. When I had the Float R tuned and Pushed (at TFT’s recomendation for my usage… I had the Float R very hot on a few big descents) the performance was much improved and I can run 35% sag, but it took them two goes as I was not happy first time round as the rebound was too slow and it felt bad.

The VIPr/Deville combo I tried felt better than my tuned Float R/36RC2 combo, and the VIPr was in many ways as good if not better than my CCDB (better for climbing… the CCDB is better for the doonhall).

What I feel the VIPr does better than my Float R or CCDB is maintain it’s sag/position relative to what angle the bike is at, thus reducing the wallow and the dreaded blow through on techy climbs which upsets the balance of the bike – in much the same way as I found the Deville reduced brake/weight-shift dive when compared to my 36 Float RC2’s. By tweaking my RC2’s and increasing the rebound on my Float R (Rebound and HS Compression on my CCDB/36RC2) I have got a similar performance to the VIPr/Deville I tested.

I’m quite torn myself where I go from here… do I tune the Float R/36RC2 again or bite the bullet for a VIPr/Deville (EXPENSIVE). I like the CCDB and by fiddling with it I’ve been able to work out what improvements I would like on my Float R next time (more HS compression is the main thing…). This would make it feel more the like the VIPr which I really liked… so perhaps I should save up and buy the VIPr and Deville’s later this year?

The one thing putting me off spending the cash on the VIPr/Deville is that I didn’t get a chance to try them on the really big terrain I love… and a good friend of mine hated his Deville’s on it and went back to 36 Floats. Tough decision ahead if I get the pennies together.

So… if you like/love the Deville I would say the VIPr would be a good decision, but as mentioned a tuned Float would get you most of the way there… but it could take a few go’s, and would you be happy with it knowing it’s not the VIPr… which is what you probably want

Vortex and Amos.

Custom carbon from here

Ebay Linky

Which is these guys.
http://ledonracing.com/about.html

I’d be interested to see what they could do – or try fibre-lyte

http://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk/
Let us know if you do it and how it goes 8)

I wish… http://www.cyrusaudio.com/products/streaming-music-players

I spent two hours last night stitching up some torn winter tights, two tops and a glove. Time well spent.

Nice vids, now I want a cross bike 🙄

We got ours from Matalan who had a good choice at cheap.

Flagstaff, Sedona and Grand Canyon? Or head to Phoenix.

I’m tempted to try goldtec.

Fleecy thermal stuff is what I wear if it’s cold. I have gore-tex waterproofs as a last resort but I find I get wet inside them anyway so avoid them as much as possible. Preparation and awareness of conditions and bail outs is important. Don’t rush as its very easy to make a silly navigation error.

I’ve only ever been in that position once after being caught in a thunderstorm at the top of a munro and heading into the wrong valley. Once I realised where i was i knew it was five hours plus to the car. Only option was to MTFU; from the question there is no other option. FWIW, if it’s cold I carry dry gloves and hat, and a belay gillet. Keeping the core and the extremities warm is imortant as the limbs are working to keep warm.

Flipped seal in the damper, can be an easy fix if your willing to have a look.

Gordon & McPhail Arran, lovely… sadly now finished.

With some very canny purchasing I built up my Nicolai Helius AM. Love it.

Nice, bet she rides better now she’s lost a few pounds too…

Currently liking the look of the Devinci Dixon.

I hope it rides well coz it ain’t no looker 😛

Should have made it more like this eye candy…

Add another £25 for new bearings and they still are’nt expensive.

Agree… I sat looking at them and the 29er version for five minutes and the only reason I could think of not to press the buy-it-now button was that I don’t need them.

Bargain all mountain – if your willing to “risk” ringle hubs in uk conditions… better bearings required when they fail should fix them.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=63320

Retro is more of a mindset than an actual age. If your trying to keep the bike as it was when it was new, or to upgrade with age relevant parts then your definetely retro…

It’s a fun rabbit hole to stick your head into; but I ultimately found riding round the handling issues and breaking old bike parts less rewarding than ragging modern bikes. Each to there own, I love looking at retrobikes and I still find many are more atractive than modern machines… but then I remember what they are like to ride *shudders*.

I’ve still got a 1994/5 Kona Explosif that I just can’t kill.

I’d love a set, but not at the price quoted (well… actually “I” might but the wife would go nuts; something about stealing the food out of the childrens mouths probably).

I’ve picked up a set and had a very quick scoot on some Havens and they felt okay. Not as light as I would have expected but they did have Maxxis Doonhall tyres on them so not unsurprisingly un-light. I think my Hoops with Rubber Queens were lighter… but I ripped the sidewall open that ride so light is not always right. Anyway, enough digression, about these Haven Carbon wheels then… my mate ragged them for about two months before the rear rim split (he’s owned them for six months but he broke himself so didn’t ride for a few months, I did ask to borrow them but with my reputation with carbon he laughed in my face). He returned them to the UK folks who replaced the rim under warranty, and they replaced the bearings because they were rough too. He’s got the wheels back now and plans to continue riding them in the same way he was before. The wheel did not explode so he is not worried about catastrophic failure but sending off ubber expensive parts far warranty work is a pain in the hoop. Not a great story so far… but I still want some of them there ENVE carbon rims 😳

tada!

http://www.ekmpowershop18.com/ekmps/shops/kingdombike/kingdom-lunar-760-ti-bar-171-p.asp

No idea what they feels like but they are available.

FWIW – I went from a Pushed Pike Coil to a 36 Float and the Floats are lighter and work much better… Pike’s are very overated.

If your running a Lyrik at 130/140 on the Blue Pig just now a Revelation at 150 will be about the same length – Lyrik/36/Deville are all about 10mm longer for a given travel than Rev/32/Reba forks. I think a 120mm Reba will be too short – I’ve found my Rev Team U-turn to be best at 135mm on my Mmmbop for all my hardtail needs 😉

I’ve tried a Deville and I liked it but you would be needing a 140mm travel version which is a rare beast. I liked it, but not enough to change the 36 for one.

For the Rev fork I would get the “Black-Box” or equivalent as the lower end versions of the Reba/Rev I have tried have “choked” when the going gets fun (Like a Pike – the damper can be set for big stuff or little stuff… not both – the Push fix improved it but not enough).

On-one had Rev RLT-Ti 150 Maxle forks for £400 recently…

Wizbit?

The sintered I recently fitted to my RX are from disco brakes

http://www.discobrakes.com

No report on longevity yet but they fitted fine.

Mine are 2010/11 – RX and TH1. Pads are the same and the levers etc look similar.

I’m running Maxle Revelation Team U-turn’s at 135mm on my Mmmbop. Not as stiff as the Fox 36 Float’s on my big bike but over 1lb lighter and stiff enough… good enough infact to tempt me to try the Revs on the big bike (on the to-do list).

I stayed clear of air forks until recently but the Floats and Revs have been a *cough* revelation…

The standard of driving in Saudi is shocking, as is the HSE of many workplaces… your less likely to be “attacked” but more likely to be “injured”. Life is cheap… unless it’s a Saudi or western-ex-pat life!!! Racism, class’ism, slavery etc roled into a medieval society with heaps of cash in the pockets of the few… very unpleasant.

Fourbanger – yes they are there for the money, but the system as it is takes advantage of them and they have no way to complain. If they complain then the work permit is cancelled and they have to pay to get home… without recieving the payment bonus which made it worth turning up… they have few rights… much like Mexican’s in the USA then

Mine are lasting well in the filth where I live.

On my RX the stock pads I had lasted lasted six months and I’m now running sintered on them which seem just as good.

On my TH1 I’m about 4 months in with no problems so far.

As for bedding in pads – I instal my pads and then go out and give a dozen good stops from speed on a local hill to heat the pads up before I take them near the filth. Seems to work okay.

Chicken vs. egg? Are all ex-pat types shallow greedy soul-less feckers before they suck the money-mans-c*ck? JOKE! I’ve met some nice ex-pats but I’ve also met many scary shallow keeping-up-with-the-jones’s types – as with everything it’s all about the people, and all the people out there are in it for one thing only so that is what they talk about… MONEY.

Seriously though. Living in a country like that with only ex-pats to talk to would be my idea of hell. As a very short term option, with huge rewards, and if your life is shit, then consider it… but if you have a good standard of living and enjoy your life now why would you gamble on giving it up for the possibility of a better future? Things can change greatly in a few years, currency fluctuations and house price rises can wipe out your savings, and loss of career options or promotional chances can also destroy the benefits – be aware of what you could lose and be vary clear about what you expect to gain.

If you stayed here and made the same lifestyle choices as will be forced on you living out there you would save cash quickly. Stop drinking, eat cheap crap food, stop going out (i.e. have no friends), stop buying stuff, rent/share a house. If you go out there and try to keep a “lifestyle” by going out, rewarding yourself with holidays and stuff then you will not save enough to make a difference (unless your on HUGE money), hence you will either stay out there to earn more or return bitter and twisted (see ex-pats).

P.S. I worked there about 10 years ago, but would not consider staying. I met a few nice Saudi’s but your mostly limited to ex-pats or TCN’s. Third Country Nationals – If I talked about this it would become a rant but basically it’s slave labour and some of the conditions these people work in and what they have to put up with is a disgrace. But we all turn a blind eye and carry on because the money is good 😕

Crap year for biking at home so the highlight has to be my work trip to Phoenix Arizona.

Worth getting up at 4am to catch the shuttle runs on South Mountain and chase the GnarGnar trails locals (brilliant folks and fantastic trails).

Or solo biking through the Sonoma desert at sunrise.

Speaking of Sunrise… sunrise trail at Flagstaff was awesome.

and lastly some sunset action in Sedona,

Next year will be better.

Er?

Here is some older grrrr – before the forks failed and the frame cracked 😯

Photo taken in winch up mode obviously…

Smooth!

Not trendy but indestructable

http://www.courierwareusa.com/