I asked what hub as I’ve now broken three Hope Pro2 axles running 12mm on my Nicolai. Two with maxle lite in a couple of rides and one in three months with a BETD bolt.
With a pro2 go 10mm is my advice.

What hub?

Funny reading through all the above… if you have ever used them you will know how good they are and therefore are happy to pay the cash and reap the benefits.

Those who have not used them tend to think they are not worth it because they can’t make that much difference… but they really do.

My 2p… I have used winter/snow tyres for the last 20 years because I drive up to the mountains most weekends in the winter. There was one year when I ran an Audi quattro when I thought I would not need them… but I was wrong and even with the quattro advantage a FWD car with snow tyres is better than a 4WD with lo-pro’s (I now run a FWD car). If you’ve bought a car for the long haul and don’t change cars frequently getting two sets of wheels makes sense, but I’ve also done it by changing the tyres over on one set of wheels as it’s not that expensive.

My 2010 Reba SL 120mm with 20mm maxle lite could really do with a better damper – they feel crap in the rough stuff like the damper has given up and locked out or packed down.

My Older Pike teams were the same until I had them Pushed… black box or push if your a hard rider – for pootling the motion control is good enough.

I wonder how the 135 x 12 would hold up to my level of abuse?

Perhaps I should just buy a DT Swiss 440 Freeride?

Current favourite = Tryst Raj

Home

Ugly

But it works

This is a six year old bike and I’ve not managed to kill it.

I’ve commented on my Whyte 19 Steel on here a few times so it’s worth a search.

Summary – I like it. I’ve fiddled with the dropouts; in the summer I can get away with them long and it makes the bike more stable for going fast, but in the mud they are better off in the middle to get more feel and help limit tyre slippage.

I ran it SS for the euro SS championships after my other bike died – worked really well and was a great bike to race.

I like the feel of steel and I prefer it to my last alloy bike, but I may have liked the Alloy… who knows… I never tried it as I couldn’t afford it.

Downside – I think the bottom bracket would be nice a little lower. The BB30 on all the steel frames I have seen have been a little tight. The seatpost on the steel is 27.2mm, and mine has become very scratched = badly finished frame? Seat tube bottle bosses limit how low you can drop the saddle.

I had a problem with my frame but Whyte were excellent to deal with so thumbs up for support.

Overall – it’s a great bike. Rides well for almost all terrain and is a great mile muncher. Drop the seatpost for the doonhalls and the slack headangle makes it ride like a little 4cross bike that tempts you into daft jumps and serious hooning into berms etc… but watch your skinny XC forks and wheels as it’s easy to get carried away.

Gobi is too flat and weak – think they should rename the wingflex as wingsnap(tm).

Bel Air much better (IMHO)

Coire Chash is the better descent unless you suffer bad vertigo – big drop to the left… but its mostly heather. The lightening strike is a big landy track and is my route up to do the white mounth circuit – also called the horseshoe. Lightening strike can be ridden up, and the biggest carry is Broad Cairn. All the tops are worth a visit if the weather is good, or go quick and stick to the paths. Glas Allt is an amazing descent for the brave and good… only one corner I have not ridden. I would not bother with the carry up the boulder field near Meikle Pap, leave that to the walkers.

You will think an air is okay until you try a coil… if you want plush coil is the way to go.

I struggled through many winters with all sorts of combinations of overshoes, fancy socks and breadbags. Buying proper winter boots 10 years back was for me a revelation. Warm feet in the winter and the bonus is my summer shoes now last many years as well. Size 44 for the summer and 45 for the winter to fit bigger socks.
Changing to the winter boots this weekend actually.

My last bulb hub had to go to Hope every two years for a new ratchet.

Next.

Okay… so…. with a solid BETD axle my hope hub lasted three months before the axle is once again in two parts.

Axles as consumables or a new hub?

I’ve used bar mounted lights for nearly twenty years, BLT, Nightsun and for the last eight years a set of Lumicycles. Last year I bought a 4fours helmet mount LED and the difference has blown me away. Helmet mount is the way ahead, much better for riding as you can see where your going in singletrack better, especially when it gets muddy or fast and the handlebars are pointing in a different direction from where you want to go – LED’s a brilliant, both super light and super lite :)

Quite a common topic over on Retrobike – I did it many years ago with some upholstery leather I got from a sofa repair place glued on with araldite. Key is to get the old leather off without damaging the padding.

I used loads of big bulldog clips to hold the leather tight while the glue dried – worked brilliantly for six months but the rails bent so it went in the bin.

Thanks Kamina. I’ve been running a pushed van for five years and its been great, always good to hear others experience, and as you say… turning the knobs does little, and a boy does like to play with his knobs sometimes. Although I also appreciate the fit and forget which at least means I can’t mess it up too much.

Kamina – I’m interested that you prefer the Elka to Pushed Van R and a DHX5. Were these custom tuned with the same spring weight etc or completely different bike?
Would you care to elaborate? I’m planning to push and custom tune a DHX so I am after opinions.
Many thanks.

Two.

One – slight modifications to my Nicolai Helius AM – almost the same but slightly longer top tube and uppy downy post mounts… that is all (although in reality probably not worth doing).

Two – New hardtail. To suit a 160mm 36 Float fork and big brakes. 1.5 headtube, 73 x 65 angles and a nice long top tube. Low top tube for standover and ISCG for HammerSchmidt. Lower bottom bracket than a few bikes I have tried. Full outer for all the cables and an uppy downy post. Adjustable dropouts and BIG tyres.
Make it from Ti… it’s a dream bike after all.

For performance per £ a Ti spring scores really low – so many better places to waste the money on almost any bike. I’ve promised myself a Ti spring many times but have not gotten that far down the list of upgrades yet.

I picked up a cheap DHX4.0 shock – feels okay on the bike but I know it can be better… next stop is a custom tune ?

Great option and plenty of old coils about – as mentioned you may struggle for Ti though. Custom tuning is a great way to go.

Fox DHX3 or 4, nice and cheap. Ride it for a few weeks with a couple of springs and then get a custom tune and then the ti spring. If ccdb and elka are like having a custom tune… why not get a custom tune?

This is what I did in the past and am doing again… currently awaiting tft delivery of push bits.

I’m staying at Rothiemurchas that weekend… but with the family so don’t expect to have much free time.

My AM frame came with no front mech cable stop… so I use a Hammerschmidt which is ace… but partly why mine weights 33lbs.
There was a new order system when mine was ordered and somehow between shop and Nicolai it got missed… an arrangement was came too and I am very happy.
I went for the 1.5 and with a deep acros headset I have a 65deg head angle. Did I say how much I love mine? Just be sure to get the shop to check your order as there is so much to choose…. but that’s the thing about options.

I love my AM. Best bike I have had yet… its as capable doonhall as my last 43+lb monster, yet it can cut it in the local forests. My head angle with 160 36 forks is 65 degree so not steep, and the bb is high. With 30% sag its mental but does feel a little sluggish. 20% sag is more xc friendly but less fun when giving it beans. I loved it at first, and with tweaking over six months it simply gets better all the time… next is a custom tune for the shock as I now know what I want… and I have the local rides to do it justice :)

It’s a lot of bike… especially for a first full suss!!!

If you deliver on your promises in lala land you’ve just done yourself out of a job… to keep the gravy train running they have to organise more conferences… with more vague outcomes…

I thought I might be the only cynic…

It’s not possible for me to name one favorite. I love some of the big mountain stuff I do but they take major commitment and you have to do them on the right day. In contrast the local forest stuff which I’ve been riding for 20 years can be anything I want it to be and changes every time I visit due to the latest weather – I really like the variation – so many route options and so many bike options – one hour blast on a singlespeed – two hour nadgery techy jumpy riding on my 6inch AM bike – or three plus hours playing loops on a hardtail. Even then there are three different local forests which I ride and they all differ as well – nope… I simply could not choose a favorite… I love them all.

Thank Charlie Brooker for that one :)

The conference cost is £45 inc VAT.

I mean to be rude here… but what are you getting for this £45? Seems to me that the conferance is now being run for profit by someone… which is no surprise really!

I went to the first one of these conferences hoping to put something back into the sport and maybe get something out of it. As a regular member of the mountain biking public who really just wants places to ride I was sorely dissapointed. The jargon filled “paper” that came out it was hardly fit for wiping and flushing.

For the most part it was full of people with a vested interest in making a living out of mountain biking trying to score points and get noticed rather than pulling together for the interest of the sport.

Grass roots out on the trails is where the action is… not w@nking for coins at a conferance.

*steps down off soapbox*

What he did is probably not ideal but please try and develop a teensy little sense of perspective.

… and don’t post about it on t’interweb :roll:

Flow.

Love the width, the light weight and the ease of running tubeless.

Quite impressed with the strength – bent the front a bit easy but it’s holding up.

I would not rate them as DH but fine for *cough* all mountain *cough*. Absolutely need dual ply for where I ride as a single ply tyre is a ticking time bomb for damaged bead and rim.

FWIW – I used to always use Mavic having tried and been unhappy with others. But Mavics fatter rims are simply too heavy compared with the Flow. Mavic need to catch up with the wide light rim thing.

It will be sad day when I put form instead of function… by that does look a tad sexy!

I must be getting old.

Had Marzocchi with eta, Sherman with travel adjust and u-turn pikes… but the best forks I have used are Floats… no travel adjustment is the best.

My experience. Great idea on paper and might work for steep flat climbs but add in rocks and waterbars and its pedal strikes ahoy. Add in forgetting to turn it off or catching the eta or lock out lever on undergrowth… lots of swaeing.. so for me less is certainly more when it comes to this stuff. Fit and forget is the best.

Forgot about that – pre jumping the back wheel round and pedal induced skidding to adjust the crank positions etc – pure joy when you get it right… quick visit to the undergrowth when you get it wrong… 8)

I do. Try it. It’s nowhere near as daft or difficult as you might think even for pretty tricky terrain. Leave the brakes on but try not to use them :-)

At little over a year we discovered my eldest liked mussels. Went out for brunch one day and the cafe had mussels on the lunch menu, so we asked and yes they would do them now. The result was one very happy little chap tucking into a huge bowl of mussels and an amazed restaurant. We have some photo’s somewhere and for a few years the cafe had a picture on the wall.

The resultant nappies were not such a high point of my parenting experience.

Now four he still likes mussles but prefers squid, especially if he helps gut and prepare them… but his absolute favourite is Lobster, especially the claw meat which he likes to get himself. Won’t touch oysters…

All are available as frame only.

I’ve posted thoughts about my 19 steel elsewhere on this site – worth a read.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/whyte-19-steel

AJ – Using an HammerSchmidt on a singlespeed would be daft – you would be in the draggy overdrive the whole time and it would do your head in :evil:

Ben at Kinetics has a really great program for figuring out what effect a change in gear ratios has (K-Gear) – you can have a couple of windows open and compare the options. It’s amazing how much duplication you have and if you figure out which gears you use most of the time you can work out what options will be best for you. Not sure if he has updated it to 10 speed but you can tweak it easy enough.

http://www.kinetics.org.uk/html/k_gear.shtml

Major advantage of the HS over a 1 x 9 (or 10) is the ability to make a big jump in the gears without having to skip across the whole block at the back – especially important for stall and grunt moves in techy terrain. As has been mentioned, it takes a little thought and figuring to make the most of the HS but I like it. I’ve not had it through a winter yet but I stripped it after a horrendous wet summer week and all was fine inside.
I might yet go to 1 x 9 for the worst of the winter so as to now wreck it.

I have a theory. Light bikes need big chainrings, heavy bikes do not. If your running big DH tyres and your bike weighs over 30 lbs there is not much point having a chainring larger than 36 – hence double and bash or HS.

Blackspire seatposts are mega long, add a high rail wtb saddle and you may get away with it.