not all mine obviously – the 69er gathering at the Dales Bike Centre[/url]

did the WHW last month too (here)[/url]

what an arse that Loch KLomond section is, eh? very frustrating!

cheers!!

I must be thick – how do I download from utube?

there’s a place in Macclesfield I’ve seen good results from, do a google search. That may be too far south for you tho’

Surly chainrings are reasonably priced considering how long they last.

42:19 or 59.6″ here gets me up most South Pennines stuff and it’ll stay that way for next Sunday in Yorkshire.

White Ind all the way for something durable and used hard or ACS for occasional use.

cheers.

not showing you mine til the new Bonty carbon forks arrive and the mudguards come off for the 3Peaks, whoop!

Ridden by people who are simply desperate to buy yet another bike because they're more interested in owning things than riding

cheers :evil:

thebikechain – spoke to Pat yesterday. They won't be £1500 tho', more like two and a bit. Still will be decent value though as it'll have nice bits on it. Looking at the Salsa full builds and they're doing them with good kit, not basic at all. Allegedly.

except Ison have decided not to release it here in the UK

wrong! they'll be here March-ish…

Though a tad more expensive I would recommend a Surly Cross Check, I've managed to use mine for racing, commuting and touring round Morrocco, very versatile….

took us weeks to get them to respond to mails. not a company we'll be dealing with again.

Cane Creek do the mix and match headset thing but when I phoned the importers ExtraUK the other week they had some coming but had absolutely no idea when!

I think Problem Solvers or another brand that ID distribute do reducer/adapter things for £25. I think that's pretty reasonable.

1.5 marathons?

John Rawnsley probably knows…

looks fun. Bet it'll ride FAB.

20th September for the 11 speed at the moment. Don't know which version of the Madison trade website your LBS uses!!

Good effort lads.

Was fun.

hurrah!

you could just put v brake cartridges in there or maybe some cool stops?

I used DRC ST19s with no trouble for fully loaded off road touring. Double eyeletted and strong, not too heavy either. Only £28 too.

you looked at something like a Panasonic GF1? almost compact…

ooh, good work fella, I'll try that one.

cheers.

Hmm tried that- 3 weeks is quite a long time tho even if it is race season….

Bontrager Race X Lite hardcase, very puncture resistant and roll well enough.

29 x 1.8" Bontrager dry x's fit just.

I think they do a 700 x 40 Schwalbe Land Cruiser, pretty good all round tyre.

Doubt anything knobbly will fit so you're limited to semi slick 1.8s or fat cross tyres i think?

Two inch tyres fit. With guards.

No, you can't run a km fork. It's far too long. See the surly site for fork lengths, even a 1×1 fork is too long!

Trek have a lifetime warranty.

Ah, thought it was concieved as a purist thang! It's all clear now

I'd wait for the 11 speed alfine – it'll be lighter won't it?

Yeah can't help but think a pair ofgeared sliding dropouts would have given it more appeal/usefulness.

Thinking while I was out riding. I think I've got it now. Lower racier front end. Slacker head tube angle to make it ride like an mtb and not like a cross bike. I think?

36:19 will be better.

Yeah. Cheers for that. So they're just bikes for riding then?

;-)

talking of which maybe I should go ride one…

The trek dealer site only tells a dealer if there are any left at trek, not where all the ones trek had have gone to. Good luck.

2011 ones are probably not far away by now.

So is that a no then? or a yes? nice looker either way….

Forgive my ignorance of geometry but is there a great difference between this and a fat tyred cross bike? I'm intrigued.

It ain't s'posed to be an xc whippet. 30 is about right. My dialled Alpine feels fantastic at that weight.

To answer the original question, no you don't need two hardtails with 10 mm difference in fork travel. The 456 will surely do it all?

Though need and want are different…

Could a local machine shop fabricate a replacent dropout?

Er, which voodoo is it that's broken and is it the slidey bit or the frame that's goosed?