What direction are you planning to head off in Dan? I’m still coming but having just picked poorly wee-man up from school early, he looks like one of those pathetic emo-zombies from that daft BBC3 program my missus loves so much (in the Flesh or something) who are all angst ridden about how undead and misunderstood they are. The whiny yellow eyed sissies. When I was a lad we had *proper* murderous brain-eating zombies on the telly with blood-lust and rancid faces, none of this ‘ooo isn’t life hard for the poor undead’ shite.

Er, now what was my point? Ah yes, this evening. I may be a little on the tardy side, so if that’s the case and I know vaguely where you’re headed I might be able to catch up with my super awesome fat bike skillz. As you, Bob and Andy are coming I’ll be guided by the dulcit tones of vomiting, squeaking, and chains chewing up spokes.

That’s OK bob, tonight I’m bringing a big hammer and will use it to fix your squeaks

You mean a ruler?

Don’t see why not – the more the merrier and all that. You’ll need proper lights though as even with the longer evenings it’s pretty dark when we finish.

Are far as suitable bikes go, there’s nothing round here that needs a fancy dream-bike so don’t worry about it. Some of the stuff we ride has a few steep bits that can be a little daunting if you’re not used to it, but there’s not much of that and there’s always an alternative route round them.

The pace is pretty leisurely, with ample time given over to milling around discussing how rad we are, exchanging abuse, talking rubbish, etc.

Tonights adventures start at 7pm from the Woodhouse Eaves Village Hall carpark. I should be around if my poorly kids go to bed without screaming the house down. I’m still in the bastard-book from last week’s turning-phone-off gaffe. I’ll be on the Fatty I think so I apologise in advance for being sssllllooooowwwww

How can a knackered BB result in no resistance? Not sure I understand that – surely the cranks are either turning and pulling the chain round, or they’re not. No amount of BB knackeredness is going to allow the crank to turn without pulling the chain round.

It’s got to be the freehub or the chain slipping

No idea what the little black thing is – maybe it’s the perspective of the photo, but it looks like some kind of spacer.

On my Hope freehub the biggest sprocket doesn’t sit all the way on because of the curved ends on the hub splines. I assumed it was normal

I get it occasionally when I go out on the road bike. I’ve been biking (road and mtb) for 30 years and I can’t shake the feeling that the roads are far more dangerous than they’ve ever been. The number of near-misses & fag-paper width passes I’ve had over the last year or two is just **** ridiculous

The seals on the air springs are just o-rings. They are easy to change once the air spring’s been taken out – they just sit in little grooves and can be picked out with a pin / pick / tweezers / whatever.

I find that my seals start to leak a bit if the bike’s not been used for a while – I guess they dry out. A quick n dirty fix that might help is to remove the valve cores and bung a couple of ml of fork oil into the air chamber, then pump it up to pressure and ride / bounce on it for a bit.

But TBH removing the air spring and replacing the o-rings when the lowers are off is pretty simple.

I’m running a NW ring with a non-clutch X5 mech on my Fatty and it’s not dropped the chain once

I’ll be there i think. Sounds interesting. Lower leg services on rock shox are a doddle. The hardest bit is whacking the nut on the spring side hard enough to break the push fit seal without flattening the stupid Cheesium nut

Flat blade screwdriver, turn pedals, caked crap scrapes off

Best thing for thorns is, in my experience, a slime liner. They’re hard enough to stop them reaching the tube but a ball ache to fit

Nice ride fellas. Shame about the gates, the bad shoes and the vomit 🙂

Righty, I’m still alive and so I’ll be there with all my thingies intact and firmly attached

Yeah, my cranks are fine and so is my thingy

I’ll ask the missus now. If you don’t hear from me again I’ve been killed

Homer – Don’t worry Lisa, being eaten by an alligator is just like going to sleep. In a giant blender

I’m up for it. Whether I’m actually allowed out is a completely different question – will do me best

Hand pain’s not normal – fiddle with the saddle position and the angle of the bars

The other stuff just sounds like the cable tension / limit screws aren’t quite right – nothing a 5 minute fiddle won’t cure

Enough with the puns and the double entendre already.

I’m OK, only minor damage to my knee a hole in my precious tights – a bit of MTFU and sewing (are they compatible?) will sort it.

I got the kids on Monday so there’ll be no Peaks adventures for me 🙁

Smashing evening’s riding, thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks gents.

On the way back home from t’pub I managed to run over a badger in the woods near my house. Daft thing shot out the bushes right in front of me. Tough little buggers – sent me flying, ripping my tights and filling the skin on my knee with gravel. He just ran off like nowt had happened. Grrr

Just had the OK from the gaffer so I’ll be there at 7 all ready to ride 🙂

yeah, that made me wince too

Sounds like the chain is catching on something on the chainset or chainring – maybe massive chainsuck, a bent tooth on the granny ring, or something else snagging the chain so it doesn’t release from the chainring at the bottom.

Or it’s jamming in the mech’s cage somehow – you sure there’s no bent or stiff links in the chain

Posting your location might be handy 🙂

I’ll try to make it, with beer money this time. 7pm Woodhouse Eaves village hall carpark innit?

That sounds like bliss but buying something, screwing it on and just using it is soooo 2009. They’re now shipped completely dry (not a drop of grease) so you can enjoy completing the work the factory couldn’t be arsed to do. This also means they don’t have to check the bearings are smooth because the buyer is now responsible for their smooth running. The bearings in mine are *shit* and it’s clearly my fault.

I got the 23mm version on my carbon Ribble and 25mm on my 80s steel Claud Butler and they’ve been very good. No punctures, seem to grip well enough, nothing to complain about. But I’m not exactly an expert and don’t have much experience of road tyres.

Baggies that won’t button up at the front because your beer belly has grown too big over winter. Perhaps manufacturers could invent some kind of dual position spring / autumn button arrangement to save users the embarrassment of having to by “XL” shorts

Interesting… thanks chaps, I’ll have a closer look

Don’t wait for me either lads, it doesn’t look like my missus will be back in time for me to play out 🙁

Will the £700 offer include giving you your old broken bike back?

iff means “if, and only if” doesn’t it?

Fatty. It’s the only sensible solution to your unfortunate dilema. Mine has cured me of n+1 entirely. Perhaps. Well, the fatty and that s-works Enduro I’ve been promising myself for the last 3 years will be the cure

Weaknesses – committing to drop-offs & jumps, staying relaxed in the air
Actions to overcome – taking time to plan approaches and landings, working on technique, building up to larger jumps / drops

The best thing about being a self employed contractor is not having to deal with this bullshit any more

Forecast looks OK. I’ll try and make it if all is well with the nippers

The amount of dog shit on the paths and trails round Swithy is, frankly, disgusting. In fact all the paths in Charnwood forest are covered in the stuff. Bloody infuriating.

You fellas riding on Wednesday? I still owe pints

Another vote for “stop for a bit”. Maybe a week or two, it’s not long enough to de-rail your training and turn you into a useless lardy lump, but might give you the chance to shake off whatever’s dragging you down

Thread hijack… Twoniner, which FSA one did you fit to your (now mine) fatty? It appears to have gone the same way as the on-one – don’t suppose you know the angles and sizing do you?

Bah, I’m supposed to be on the sauce on Wednesday :(. Will see if it’s been cancelled 🙂