Fords of Avon up to Glen Derry saddle is a hoot heading Braemar to Aviemore, I imagine it’s a ball ache the other way… which is why I would not do it that way.

1993 Rocky Mountain Blizzard – bottom bracket stretched – warranty
1993 Rocky Mountain Blizzard – Rear brake boss bent from factory – warranty
1995 Rocky Mountain Blizzard – seatstays cracked – warranty
1995 Trek 9900 OCLV Team Issue – brake boss snapped off – warranty
1995 Trek 9900 OCLV Team Issue – bottom bracket fell out – warranty
1997 Kona Explosif – dropout cracked after 11 years – welded up as my singlespeed
1999 Intense Uzzi SL. Seatmast snapped, 2 x chainstay cracked, 2 x seatstays cracked – I ran this for 6 years
2004 Balfa Minuteman – seat-tube cracked
2010 Whyte 19 steel – cracked dropout – warranty

I tend to keep my bikes for a few years… I’ve only owned two frames that I’ve not broken. The Nicolai Nucleon I just sold and the Nicolai Helius AM which I’ve only had for a year. There is one other frame I didn’t break which is a Trek 8900 from 2002 but I wore it out – the threads in the bottom bracket seemed fine but bottom brackets always got loose in it even with PTFE tape or threadlock etc.

I’m on the lookout for a new hardtail… certain Ti frames are off my list :o)

From the look of that it’s been built wrong – the whole dropout looks squint.

My 40th birthday present 😳

Gets used at lunchtime at the local skate park 😀

I went through a period of braking frames in the mid nineties – five frames in eighteen months IIRC.

What “kind-of” cured my problems was ending up with a bike/frame I didn’t particularly like which I bought as a stop gap (1995 Kona Explosif). I dented it after two weeks and hence could not sell it on and have been stuck with it ever since… I did break it eventually… and got it welded so that I can continue to try and break it properly and permanently… it’s my singlespeed now… the device of torture.

I can’t offer advice. I still break frames… found a crack on one of my frames on Friday… so that’s two in a year… so I’m on the lookout for something new as well.

Happy hunting.

Try it with the 160mm Van’s, YOU might like it.

Try the Pike’s without the push, YOU might not benefit from the push.

I was underwhelmed at the start but mine have got better with use, I guess they take a while to bed in. I had 203mm Hope V2’s before and I prefer the 203/180 RX’s. I don’t miss the adjustments on the levers as I simply don’t need to fiddle with them, wheras I struggled to get the V2’s comfortable and ended up twiddling on most rides. Power wise the RX’s are perhaps not quite as strong as the V2’s but this makes them less grabby which I like. Pad clearance is mentioned as an issue but it’s no worse than other brakes I’ve used. I’m still on the original pads despite some serous hammering (Macavalanche included)… pads still look good. Perhaps those reviews which state lack of power were not bedded in yet? Or possibly not bedded in properly with glazed pads. Mine stank for a few big descents but once the smell went away the performance improved and I am now chuffed to bits with them… I love the levers, so much better than the Hope’s or the Elixir’s on my other bike.

Actually… I hate them… don’t buy them, especially not when they are really cheap on the classifieds or ebay… as I’d like some more to replace the Elixir’s 😉

Don’t believe what Whyte say on their website as the 19 Steel is 27.2mm not 30.9mm 🙄

Got one on my bigger bike but not on my hardtail… yet 🙂

Only had it a month and am very impressed (Reverb). I wasn’t planning to buy just yet but entry for the Macavalanche twisted my arm. My local forest is very up and down, if I ride like a mincer I can get away with saddle at full height for everything but don’t expect to manage or enjoy the gnarly bits. Drop the saddle an inch and it becomes rideable but the gnar can still be difficult and the climbs are an extra biatch… or stop at least 10 times to mess with saddle height to enjoy the gnar and power the climbs. You can imagine the joys of the “Reverb” for this… it works, saddle glides up to full height for the climbs and drops for the gnar… awesome. I really missed it last night when I had my hardtail out. I dropped the saddle completely for one section of gnar and rode the rest with my saddle dropped an inch… had I had the Reverb on I would have used it plenty (damn the 27.2 on my hardtail).

Big days in the hills it’s not so important as they tend to be big climbs followed by big descents… but it’s nice to raise the saddle on the flatter smooth parts of the big descents to get a wee rest before the next section of gnar… so I think they are still useful here.

For trail centre riding with your buddies or enduro racing they are ace, brilliant for keeping momentum up and maximising pedalling efficiency when you can.

Raising and lowering with a quick release feels so much more random now… did I get the height right, is my saddle squint, will my post slide down because I didn’t get the QR quite tight enough?

I wouldn’t say transformed my riding, but I think they do improve the experience and are worth the weight if they suit where and how you ride.

Rear tyre is a 2.35 on a wide rim and still enough room for mud.

Phew… I can (wet) dream again.

http://www.tftunedshox.com/Catalogue/Manitou/Manitou/Manitou-Rear-Shock-Springs

25 front 30 rear is about as low as I can go before I get the dreaded squirm and hiss.

Manitou. 2010 Van is the same size as Fox DHX and Manitou fit them.

Fixed it for Che – ‘It is not just a simple game bike, it is a weapon of the revolution.’

Short top tube and fork travel show the Kobe as an old-skool-frame… take your lovin over to retrobike

I wonder if my Nicolai Nucleon will sell for enough for me to get one of these (see ebay).

I’m sure it’s just the way the pic was taken but clearance for those tyres looks a little tight?

Also frustrated by the box size. Watched the movie on here the other week about why they do it and processing 5 orders per minute etc; but I my big box squashed flat was for something that would have fitted in a very small envelope or jiffy bag.

Psalm 29. The niche shall inherit the earth.

“what red light”

“my helmet is in your mum”

It’s me or the bike… consider the divorce papers are in the post dear.

I’ve not tried them but like the look of O’Neal Sinners with the soft/hard on impact stuff.

I know I’m going to regret this but it’s currently on the evil-of-bay.

[/url]
Nucleon RHS[/url] by thepimpmessiah[/url], on Flickr

I’d rather not go that route so if anyone is interested from here let me know.

Do you need a bashguard?

Now do it on a singlespeed 🙄

Curtis did a custom with a full 1.5″ headset a few years ago so know how to do it… but will they do a 30.9 or 31.6 seattube for a dropper post? The only way to find out what they will do is ask.

18bikes will also probably do a custom to suit, as would Hammoon… or get a Nicolai Argon FR… but getting a custom to suit your 1.5″ forks seems daft and it’s probably more sensible to flog/swap the forks and start again.

I’ve just done something funny with my two shocks on Nicolai Helius AM. I had a Float R and a DHX4 coil which I picked up cheap last year. I ran them both for a year and prefered the coil as the air blew through it’s travel and was generally a bit poor if the sag was set at 20-30%. I did a modification to reduce the air can volume and that improved it, but it still only worked well if a ran less than ideal sag.

After getting the Float R custom tuned and Pushed at TFT the Float R almost out performed the stock DHX for much of my riding, only when the going gets really daft does the Float lose it’s composure now – a huge improvement. The stock DHX loses it’s composure a little later and I’ve never been 100% happy with it, especially when I run the correct 30+% sag. After a chat with TFT I decided to ditch the DHX and get a CCDB. I could have had the DHX tuned to my requirements but it took a couple of goes to get the Float right and TFT were not hugely confident that what I was asking for would be easy… I’ve got the Float for XC/AM stuff so I wanted the coil for much bigger stuff; softly sprung but ramp up for big hits etc… hence the CCDB which gives me the chance to play with all the settings myself. I’ve started to enjoy tinkering with my shocks… slippery slope to nerdness I fear. Early days with the CCDB but so far none of the bad habits I disliked from the DHX, the CCDB is a very smooth and composed performer.

So… before going down the coil route I would strongly suggest getting your air shock tuned as it may be possible to get one to work well enough for 90+% of the time. If you do go down the coil route speak to a suspension tuner and buy it from them to get one set up for the bike and your style of riding. Off the shelf shocks are best left on the shelf .

I saved cash buying second hand and very cheap which I needed to at the time. I’ve learned loads through tinkering with these shocks and it’s been a lot fun… but it would almost certainly have been better to get shocks set for my bike, weight and style at the start… it may have saved me the eventual cost of the CCDB and improved my riding over the last year as I got frustrated with shocks I was not happy with 😆

A 400# 2.5″ steel spring weighs 500-450g

A 400# Ti spring weighs 300-330g

If you can track down a Progressive Suspension Ti spring like the 350# 2.5″ I just sold it weighed 180g!!!

Weight savings can be substantial, but normally it’s better to lose the weight elsewhere first… and if your really a weight weenie at heart you would be running an air shock anyway 🙄

Sinister Ridge? If Sinister are still on the go?

Custom Curtis? Although the wait will probably be about the sameas for the troof… but it will be custom and niche enough to score points if thats your thing.

Buy an mmmbop (if you can find one) to use until the Troofs arrive, then flog the mmmbop for what you paid… seem to hold their price rather well!

Check out the BMX vid “Anthem 2” or search for BONEDETH for more absurd stupidity.

Awesome nutjob… mucho respecto.

Well spotted cubemeup – same size calipers on the RX as to the R1 😮 R1 probably is all the brake mere mortals will ever need unless doing daft things in the Alps.

I’ve given my RX (203/180) a severe beasting in the two months they have been on. I had expected to be taking them off before racing the Macavalanche but saw no need to go back to the V2’s (203/203)… I’ve just sold the V2’s.

Summary – I’ve found my RX’s to be better than the Hope tech V2’s I ran before… and over 150g lighter at each end… considering F1’s are the same design and yet lighter again… I’d love some.

Time will tell if the Formula’s are as robust as the Hope’s, or if I miss the tech support I have enjoyed over the years… but I never found the Hope levers that comfy and struggled to get them in a position I was happy with… constanty fiddling with the adjustments but never being happy (my RX’s levers are spot on comfy)… and then I made the mistake of weighing the V2’s 🙄

I’m sounding like a “fan” or “salesman”… I’ll go and take a shower… I feel dirty 😐

I have RX’s and love them. They took a bit of time to bed in and it made me wonder what I hade done moving from Hope V2’s… but no regrets now and I am a Formula believer. I think the RX is better than my V2’s were!

I bought the RX’s as a possible stepping stone towards THE ONE or F1’s – I would have little doubt that F1’s with 180 discs are good enough for almost anything, and then you have the 205 discs and THE One’s.

If I can scrape together the funds I’ll be buying The Ones with 180 discs for my AM and F1’s with 160/180 for my hardtail.

Sometimes things just happen. I bent my front Flow on it’s third outing, neatly bent on a heavy handed poorly angled landing off a 6ft high wallride. Jumped on it to get it straight and carried on… A heavier duty rim would probably have survived better.

I was looking at my two year old Flows the other day – they are well battle scared but are holding up. I’m planning to replace them this summer to be on the safe side.

I’ll get a reputation for repeating myself… I don’t think Flow rims are actually that strong a rim. What they are good at though is making big tyres even bigger which protects the rim. If the impact gets past the tyre the lack of metal in the rim does mean they tend to get damaged easier than heavier rims. Hourses for courses of course and for me I’ll take the risk since the benefits of the light wide Flow rim makes for a lively playful feeling bike – but don’t expect full on doonhall strength from them and be sure to use big tyres.

I’ve got some nasty corrosion going on in my one year old Acros. It’s just press fit industial bearings so I can easily replace them but since it came with a two year guarantee I’m a bit miffed. The new version has stainless bearings and is five year but mine had only a 2 year guarantee and judging by the state of the bearings they are non stainless.

My Hope was okay after 2 years – the sealing is not great but since the bearings are stainless the just needed a clean and regrease.

I had a King which was good for five years but scored my steerer tube.

FSA MX Pro was good for two years, and Orbit Extreme was good for five (but only just).

All of the above was with regular clean and grease – every 6-12 months.

Removed your vasectomy stitches 😯

Takes a change in gear usage to get the best from it to avoid the drag, which is not that bad but noticeable. When riding my HS equiped bike I very avoid using the overdrive and work across the rear sprockets much more, but as soon as you hit a doonhall drop the hammer and go – calling it an overdrive is a great way to think about it – then as soon as you lose speed or stall flick the HS back to normal mode and your good to go… For techy riding I think it’s brilliant and it really suits where and how I ride.

I wouldn’t put one on an XC bike where I spend most of the time in the middle/big sproeckets but for a 30+lbs AM bike and where I ride it’s worth the weight and drag.

There are indeed plenty of other super light wheel sets out there but if they don’t have an internal rim measurement of 26-28mm they will not handle a big 2.5″ Tyre without suffering tyre roll.

I don’t think the Flow rim is that strong a rim (*cough* personal experience *cough*) – but because it’s wide and hence supports a large tyre very well you can get away with some epic stupidity with it.

All IMHO and YEMV

I’m sad I weighed my Flow on Pro2 wheels when I first fitted them.

Front was 900g – 20mm bolt through
Rear was 950g – 12×135 bolt through

So 1850g for the wheelset, and very impresively strong they have proven to be over the last two years – apart from the front rim and the four rear axles 😈

I should say – the bearings are still excellent but the rims are looking a bit third hand.

I’m running the Flow rims and it’s the width of them that makes them work for AM – I’m not sure that Crest/Arch have the width to happily hold a 2.5″ tyre for the riding I do??? I guess I could MTFU and try them as it’s a damn sight cheaper than buying the Haven’s

PS – I’ve bent a Flow 😆