Hi Docrobster, thanks for the reply.

Can’t remember noticing any flex, might go for a quick test ride in the street to find out!

How would I know whether the flex was from the wheel or the frame? Did you get your bearings replaced by Marin as part of the lifetime warranty?

Back in a bit!

Not got an SMax but have a couple of MPV’s that I use a Thule Euroclassic G6 3 bike carrier with, it’s not a light carrier and they aren’t cheap. However, it feels like it will outlast me so actually isn’t very expensive per year/use over its lifetime.

It’s been rock solid carrying bikes over hundreds of miles when on holiday and the ability to tilt it with 3 bikes mounted is joy when the car is fully loaded and you’ve forgotten to pack something or need something that isn’t easily reachable from inside the car.

I dithered for ages over whether to buy the G6 or the 9403 given the huge price difference, but I’m glad I spent the extra. Hope that helps.

Indeed, a costly lesson in not putting off maintenance. I had the service kit before the Alps but just didn’t get round to getting it done, and the result is a lot of leaking oil, knackered stanchions and a squashed spring.

Hopefully, they’ll hold out for this years trip as well!

Cheers LoCo, thought that was what you meant but wanted to be sure.

Was confused as there was wear on the outside bottom (oh ere!) of the cup and none on the inside.

Pretty sure that’s the way round that I fitted it…which means I’m still not sure why I’m not getting full extension on rebound.

Thanks LoCo, is that as in the image on the right?

[/url]
Fork Leg[/url] by mrsbotticelli[/url], on Flickr

I think I’ve had a eureka moment! 😮

Which way is the cup meant to be fitted, cup facing up into the upper stanchion, or cup facing down?

I can’t remember which way I fitted it, but have a feeling I had it with the cup facing up the stanchion, which would make the stop for the spring to push down against about 1cm longer than if the cup is facing down. That would explain the fork not completely extending on rebound.

Does that make sense? Will have to strip it and check 😡

theroadwarrior, that’s good to hear!

Do you have details of the buyer you used, assuming it was a retailer?

Cheers

Well, removing the top cap on the damper side and giving the fork a little pump achieved nothing 🙁

Guess the spring is just a bit shorter than it really needs to be? Perhaps it always has been, perhaps running out of oil in the Alps caused me to squash the spring an excessive amount?

But the big question is, are they alright to keep riding on?

Just been thinking about this problem. Looking at the fox rebuild instructions here[/url] I notice that they fit the spring side first then the damper side.

I fitted them the other way round, damper then spring 😳 I remember having to push the fork down so that I could get the top cap on above the spring which was a bit of pain.

Is it possible this is the cause of the problem? Perhaps because the damper wasn’t fully extended when the spring was fitted?

Can I just undo the damper side top cap, extend the forks and refit or would this see me spraying oil all over the place?

Wow! Isn’t that a lot of question marks? 😉

Rorschach, thanks the quick reply.

Had a play around with the preload and it seems to make no difference to the problem 🙁

All other suggestions gratefully received!

Thanks for all the help with this (and a big thank you to Loco for the help he gave me on the phone) forks are rebuilt complete with the missing bits!

However, it couldn’t be that simple and have another question 🙂

If I compress the forks, then let them rebound everything seems fine, but if I then lift the bars the forks extend by about 5mm. Any idea why?

Theroadwarrior, I’ve looked at those and come close to buying. What has always put me off is that every buyer has always told me they will be supplied without serial numbers and with no Gopro backup as they are effectively grey imports, on the plus side you should get a years warranty from the seller if they stay in business.

The advantage, I think, of the US purchase is that it is cheaper, approx £260 including a chest mount, and will have serial numbers and Gopro support in the US. The downside, no UK based warranty.

I think that covers my dilemma. 😕

Good to hear positive news about REI

Tempted to click the buy button and take my chances!

Meant to report back and say a big thanks to those who recommended the Filling Station, we managed to park right outside and all four adults and three children squeezed into one of the booths/tables inside.

Lovely breakfast and great service.

For anyone else considering the Filling Station Cafe then it is worth mentioning that at the time we visited they didn’t take card payments which almost caught us out as I rarely carry any cash.

And, if you happened to be the local couple sitting outside enjoying your drinks (Sat 6th Apr, about 11ish) with your two border collies (Ben and ?) who got accosted by my three children and wife, then hello. My boys have only just stopped talking about how lovely Ben was!

Thanks for the replies.

Anyone actually got an opinion on the problems with the Hero 3 Black, international warranty issues and ordering from REI?

Cheers 🙂

So, hesitated to long and missed this opportunity last time round, but it has come around again.

REI have a deal on the Hero 3 Black which gets a chest strap included for $399 which looks like a good deal.

Will I regret buying one, have the problems been addressed? I’m assuming any warranty will mean a return to the US?

Has anyone brought from REI before, I will be trying to have it delivered to a US address if that makes a difference?

Drac, you want to change that coin for a note will be quite a weight saving 😉

Bren, feared a full strip was going to be he answer…hope I can tell where the two ‘spare parts’ go once I have the fork apart.

Retro, I assume you saw the strange two tone formatting on my post where it looked like I had quoted the first paragraph and then added the rest. All looks normal now, although the bullet points on my list don’t appear.

Will try and sort the forks during the week, spent all day riding with the family, eating ce cream and drinking beer! 😀

Interesting how that previous post formatted, didn’t look like that in the preview 😕

Drac, definitely OEM and im guessing yours aren’t Kashima ones as they come with a £2 😉

Can I get away with
Inverting the forks
Undoing the nuts on the bottom of the lowers
Lift of the lowers
Fit the two parts
Slide back on the lowers
Refit nuts

Or will this result in oil everywhere?

Does any have a picture of where this parts should be?

Thank for the help, will attempt a fix when I’m back from a ride through the bluebells with he family.

Thanks Bren, you confirmed what I feared…guess I’ll just have to sort it tomorrow, hopefully in the sun with a beer.

What’s my best option; Turn the forks upside down, undo the bottom nuts and lift of the lowers fit the missing bis and rebuild? Or, just pull the spring section from the top with the forks the right way up?

Deveron, looking forward to seeing some footage, especially since John Lewis have the Sony for £199 with 2 years warranty.

Be interested to see how it looks chest mounted as well.

Get the cat an email address and away you go! 😉

Signed by the entire household so five closer!

Number of signatures:
33,005

Congratulations, they look really good and some of the stabilised footage seems nice and smooth. Interested in how you get on with mounting options.

Anyway, well done! I’m still struggling with indecision and this hasn’t helped 😉

Look forward to seeing some footage.

Picked up one of these Tog24 softshells in the Keswick shop for £20 the Saturday before last.

Nice and warm in the snow on top of Causey Pike last Thursday, and in the pub back home tonight 🙂

With regards tax, duty etc.

This link suggests that as long as its for your own use or is a gift then you have a limit of £390

Very tempted, I could get a black with chest harness for the same price as a silver in the UK.

Trying to pretend its a future proof investment that won’t need replacing or upgrading for years and therefore makes more sense than a cheaper camera. 😉

My understanding is no tax, duty or other charges and therefore more attractive than having it posted which seems pointless.

Unlike the myriad of Gopro’s on eBay it will have a serial number attached, will have been purchased by me, in a the correct market at the correct selling price from an official reseller. Although it will obvious not remain in the market in which it was purchased.

It will have a serial number unlike those on eBay, but it, won’t have any UK backup. But I’m not convinced by how valuable some of the UK warranties offered by eBay sellers are given the ease with which I imagine you could probably create/shutdown a business.

Used PF Jones recently to supply and fit a towbar in Herts.

They UPS the towbar kit to you and you organise their mobile fitter to come and fit it.

Was pretty much the best price I could find.

Might be some useful information in this thread from a few days back.

Sketchup would be good for general big picture type stuff, but I struggled to use it when submitting plans for approval and ended up using SolidWorks which is free, although I see that the latest release has no Win XP support anymore.

Have fun and good luck finding that farm!

The Drift looks nice and gets some good reviews, there is a comparison of the 7dayshop option and a Drift on a motorbike site and the rider favoured the Drift.

Found the link, it’s here

Snow and Rock have the Swann Freestyle on offer for £125 and are showing stock local to me…tempting.

My concern with all these cheap cameras is that low light performance is often stated as being poor, and that the GP2 and the GP3 are better. Quite a bit of my normal riding is in tree cover so I wonder whether a cheaper camera would be any good?

The clasohlson and the Decathlon both appear to be the AEE20 where as the Swann is based on the AEE21, the difference appears to be that one is 5mb and one is 8mb, could be wrong.

Have seen the Swann for £150.

Also, forgot to throw the Veho Muvi HD into the mix which is a variant of another AEE product.

And, finally tis weekend I have learnt that you really need to post process the video for image stabilisation. Examples make it look like it makes a big difference.

What did you go with Jam bo?

So, has anyone actually taken the plunge and purchased one of the many options presented above?

I’m in a constant state of indecision and swing wildly between the ‘cheap’ 7dayshop option at £99 (chest mount out of stock and it would be nice for my weekend away next week), the more expensive Sony AS10 at £149 which doesn’t have any viewing or playback option but would be a quality product/image, and thinking stuff it and just going nuts and getting a Go-Pro.

Argh, I’m so useless with choice!

Sketch up is a great piece of software but I struggled with getting the results I needed when going through a planning application. I ended up using Solid Edge 2D from Siemens which is free from here, this allowed me to produce all the scale drawings I needed to get through the planning application.

I’m just starting to work on some ideas for an extension and will be using Solid Edge to create some rough ideas of possible layouts and as outlines to discuss with the planning department.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the recommendations, plenty I have never heard of!

I’ll check them out this evening when I’m next able to get web access.

The filling station cafe looks interesting, would never have gone looking for that.

The other place, do you mean down past the Skiddaw, opposite Rathbones, on the corner of the side street?

No Beer, do you mean down behind the Moot Hall? Isn’t there a chippy behind there, opposite the Tog24? Or do you mean somewhere else?

Thanks, handy for pointless outdoor clobber shopping afterwards 🙂

Both the Decathlon and clasohlson do indeed look like the Swann Freestyle HD/AEE SD21, there’s a good review and comparison video of the Freestyle and GoPro 1 and 2 posted on this website[/url] all can be had for about £129.

I am after a cheapish reasonable quality camera and as much as I know the quality of a GoPro 2 or 3 would be best I can’t justify the cost for what will be a little used novelty. But, it would be nice to video the odd ride in the Lakes, Alps and with the kids as start to ride more.

The Swann is a contender, as is the 7DayShop Extreme HD Action Camera option which appears to be the same as Delkin Wingman HD and good value at £99.

I’ve come so, so close to buying the 7DayShop camera but would rather see some MTB related videos or reviews before doing so.

Be interested to know if anyone has seen used any of the above.

[Edit] Beaten to the 7dayshop post! 🙂

Not sure whether you managed to get your pistons out.

If you haven’t yet, then this is what I did with my Hayes 9’s last night to sort a stuck piston.

Removed the pads.
Pulled the lever until the non-sticking piston came out.
Split the calliper.

To remove the stuck piston, I did the following;

Cut a one inch section of inner tube with the valve in the middle, so effectively I had a one inch wide rubber band with a valve in.
Removed the o-ring from the calliper that lets fluid pass from one half to the other.
Attached the inner tune value/loop to a track pump.
Wrap the piston in a cloth, to stop it flying across the room.
Held the valve/loop down onto the hole.
Got wife to press down on the track pump.

The pump should be hard to press down, but the piston will hopefully ‘pop’ out into the cloth.

Hopefully the above makes sense and is useful, and is less likely to damage the piston.

Got to do the rear this evening.

Any hog found out during the day is in a bad way, contact your local rescue centre.

We found one tangled in a football net in our back garden last year, took it to a rescue centre and was told the outlook was bleak due to its ticks and general poor health. Anyway, we gave it a name and several months later we released it and another rescued hog back into the garden.

One of them nested in the house that we built from an old pallet and we are hopeful of getting another one nesting this year.

The thing I found most shocking was the decling rate of hedgehog numbers, I seem to recall that they are likely to be extinct by 2020 based on current figures (figures from memory so could be wrong) I found it quite shocking as extinction is something that happens to exotict animals in far away places, not in my back garden.