I just bought a set of Hope Hubs on Arch EX and they seem fine. Lighter than my flows on other bikes (obviously) and i got them for £225 which i was more than happy with (buddy who does trail maintenance up north where Hope give them trade prices).

My first foray into Hope Hubs as i’m not really a fan of noisy hubs. Hopefully the hubs will last far better than the Sun Ringle Chargers i have on two other bikes that both died within a few hundred miles and needed LBS help to fix them.

I have the 3.0l V6 which is the less sporty version and it’s been a lovely car. I do have the heat shield rattle but i barely notice it and seems pointless to fix it.

Fuel is obviously a problem but i tend to get 29-30mpg but it’d be a lot less if urban miles are his driving (sub 25mpg). My front spring did snap in half last month while in a 75mph bend which led to an interesting moment but that’s about the only problem i’ve had (as well as a dodgy bonnet latch which is a well documented problem – Ford wanted £370!! local garage did it for £96).

It’s a heavy car so tyres get worn reasonably quickly but aren’t hugely expensive to replace (£75 a corner last week). I considered a ST220 but found my V6 at a bargain price so went for that instead (saloon).

Edit – Don’t forget the £430 Road Tax which is a bit of a sickener! :-(

I had to pay around £11 flat fee to get Canyon to send me a spare gear hanger which i thought was disgusting. Especially as only people who have bought one of their bikes would be buying a hanger anyway. Even from Germany the postage wouldn’t be any more than a fiver, the thing only weighed about 30g ffs! The hanger itself was about £15.

They’re all skinny really. I have a Beaver and Mud X and there’s not a great deal between the two (beaver has very thin sidewalls).

I use them in the proper winter gloop but generally use a 2.2 Spesh Purgatory instead (on the front) which is pretty good in the mud and has far more volume.

Really nice to finally see a 36er that isnt a ‘one size fits all’ 17″ frame.
That looks nicely in proportion like i always thought it would although i’m not a fan of truss forks but i’m sure they work well.

Problem is, i see 36ers as a bit of fun for a bike, not a serious offroad contender but builders only ever seem to want to use titanium (purely for less weight on bigger frames?) which is stupidly expensive and puts it way outside the price i’d be willing to pay for a ‘shits and giggles’ type of bike.
Maybe if the lottery numbers roll in…….

Reba 29ers used to come in a U-turn version so you may be able to track some down 2nd hand. Although they’re probably like rocking horse poo.

Had the option of these when i built my FS in 2009 and always regretted not paying the extra $50 it would have cost for them.

I would be very happy to see a return of a 90-130mm U-Turn 29er fork.

Like the name says…..

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/53736/Kenda_Happy_Medium_DTC_29Inch_Folding_Tyre

A Nose for Foes
Rent-a-nose
Sniff ’em out
Dogs ‘n Bods

Potentially?

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/53736/Kenda_Happy_Medium_DTC_29Inch_Folding_Tyre

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/sks-stainless-steel-rear-mudguard-bridge-each-prod4388/

I’ve just built up a Dirty Harry and it seems pretty nice (can’t ride it in anger yet as the forks on it need to be reduced)

I went for it over the Lurcher as it was lighter, cheaper and uses a normal bb rather than all this press fit nonsense.

Built up 2×10 it comes in at 25lbs on the nose (inc pedals) which is around 5lbs lighter than my other HT bikes. My 21″ frame weighed 2.75lbs. I paid £399.99 but I think they bumped up £50 the next week.

My old man has a 2007 (i think?) Trek EX7 that has about 200 road/canal miles on it so everything is mechanically spot on with loads of life left. It’s a large with Recon 130’s up front, Fox RPL at the back. Mixture of Bonty and Shimano kit.

I shouldn’t think he’d want more than £400 for it by now as it just takes up space in his garage. Hasn’t been ridden at all for around 2 years apart from when i bimble around the drive on it to check it’s all still working. Would be a great starter bike for someone.

Is that a zero degree Thomson? The 10 degree rise one may help a little?

I want to drop my 29er Reba’s from 120mm to 100mm so the guide above is useful but even with step by step instructions, I just wouldn’t have the confidence to try it unguided. Must tap my mate up to show me.

A mint 2nd hand Raceface Turbine stem off ebay for £37 less than Merlin sell them for :-)

I’ve got a set of the Trigons on my old commute bike (the only 26″ bike I still own) and they’ve been very good. Stupidly light (c.500g) and faultless to date. I think they look good as well even in the v-brake/disc version I run.

I seem to recall they were exactly the same as the Ritchey ones that retailed for around 3 times more.

I just swapped out a 120mm Reba Team for a 130mm Rev RL on my Honzo.

Much prefer the Rev although i can’t say if one is stiffer than the other as i have not noticed to be honest. I would say that the Rev feels like a nicer fork though and the added space to fit slightly bigger tyres (or extra space to fit a fender bender in the winter) is a bonus.

Both forks are 20mm Maxle though so if you’re comparing a QR Reba then the Maxle Rev should be lots stiffer.

One passed me very low on my commute home last night.

Just like Ben, i could tell what it was from the sound before i saw it.

I went Sunday afternoon and noticed a few fallen trees. I moved one that I could over the far side but others were just too big. I’ll take my small folding saw next time and do a bit of trail maintenance.

The tree on Camber was a problem though, the little ramp had mostly fallen apart.

All in all though the forest was riding far better than I expected.

I bought some offcut carpet on the cheap for my garage and it’s ace.

Means i can wander around barefoot without freezing feet and soaks up any spills etc no problem. When i had the lounge re-carpeted i put the old underlay down and then the old carpet and then the lounge one on top so 3 layers in there now so very comfy and warmer :-)

It’s obviously very stained now (you get over this after the first few marks) but an added bonus is that you can just vacuum it after you’ve cleaned all the dried crap off your bikes so no sweeping up and no dust everywhere. Happy days.

I’ve always used LizardSkin North Shores but have just put a set of Superstar Excels on my latest build as they are the same size (chunky for shovel hands).

The way i look at it is that even if they wear quicker (they feel similar quality to my existing grips), they were only £8.99 and i can replace just the grip section for £5.99 so worth a punt.

I won’t be spending £15+ for one set of ‘branded’ grips again any time soon unless these really are useless.

Could be an Endomondo problem as well though. Mines been terrible lately and it’s really doing my head in (iphone 4).

Seems fine for gps in the morning but just won’t find a reliable signal for my homeward commute and goes from OK to ‘searching’ and then my route home is random straight lines through fields, lakes and buildings so the mileage is way off.

To be fair Strava is not fairing much better either as neither will work when Endo is borked. Yet my maps apps etc all show my gps location spot on. I can’t work it out and there appear to be no gps strengthening apps on itunes whereas i’m told there are for android.

The really annoying thing is Endo has been pretty much spot on for me for over 2 years but is suddenly woeful. :-(

I just got some new SLX’s to go on a new build (Tweeks cycles cheapest i could find at £71 an end including the posh finned pads) and they look very nice. As i have older SLX and older and newer XT’s on other bikes i decided to go the cheapest option as i can’t tell much difference between them all (they’re all great).

I have a set sat next to me in the office that just arrived today.

At 15st (without kit) i opted for the Arch EX rather than the flows i have on other bikes as this build is a bit more XC. The crests are appealing but i’d rather have a bit of extra strength over a small weight saving.

I have a mate with a 4s with exactly the same problem although it seems to be just his phone that drops signals. Everyone else i call on an iphone (various versions from my iphone 4) is fine but with him we rarely make it though a call without his phone dropping the signal 1 or 2 times.

He’s in London so the signal should be fine but he’s struggled with every iphone he’s had and it’s always the same. Doesn’t seem to be an explanation for it unless it’s something to do with him? It’s very annoying though.

Just been out up the Lickeys and Romsley and it’s still snow covered and very muddy. Enjoyed it but don’t think anything local is riding well at the moment.
Hoping to get back over to the Wyre soon if it ever dries up again.
Clent is probably the best bet at the moment as it tends to dry better and is a bit more exposed to dry out.
Tad chilly out though……

Si, Have you checked that a Hans Dampf will fit on the front?

The Reba’s are not the most spacious fork and the Hans tyres are meant to be ma-hoosive?

A 2.4 Ardent wouldn’t fit on my Reba teams. The new Revs have a few mm’s extra clearance so everything fits a bit better.

I’m looking at a set of these at the moment and i think Rose are slightly cheaper but out of stock for around 6 weeks.

Merlin are £75 an end and 3% off with Quidco.

Forme from Rutland cycling?

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/42014/Forme-Brute-Men-s-Hybrid-Bike-Sale.html

Good value at £180 and basic cable discs as well. No cheapy suspension forks so should be light(ish) for the money.

These Hayes ones are good and very cheap at the moment on CRC

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=87328

I had a set on a jump bike i built up for a brief period and they were far, far better than i expected. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again in the future.

I’ve just changed from a 120 Reba to a 130 Rev on my Honzo and its made far more of a difference than I thought it would. Lots more fun now.

New Honzos have a bolt thou rear but 1st generation ones are available pretty cheap as a full build now. I built mine up from frame only and I like it a lot but its a pretty heavy beast if that sort of thing bothers you.

Morning.
I’ve got the headset now and was going to pop to the LBS this morning to get it fitted.
I just tried it against the frame and both top and bottom cups fit straight into the frame by hand? Do headsets fit differently into carbon frames rather than needing to be ‘properly’ fitted like a traditional steel/alu frame or is something wrong with either the frame/headset? At the moment it looks as if the headset will just be held in place by the tension of the top cap rather than being tightly fitted into the frame? Cheers.

Happened to me as well. Bumper was hanging off so not a slight nudge but they drove off to leave me with the bill.

Did a 100+ thread on it at the time and there were quite a few people on here who admitted they’d just drive off if they did it.

Not a nice thing to do to people but that’s human nature.

My best mate has had all the side skirts and wheel centres stolen off his Audi from outside his house. There are just some scummy people out there. It won’t change anytime soon either.

I tend not to use my Fargo offroad (although some of the back roads have been more ‘trail’ than road recently!) but I did try it a few times when I first got it and it coped fine.
My Fargo is around 10lbs heavier than my road bike but I still love riding it, it’s far more comfortable (2.35″ tyres help!) and great for plowing through any road conditions. It’s my go to bike if the weather is anything but 100% dry.
It’s no MTB but its fine offroad and probably a bit more capable than CX bikes due to the fact it has discs and the ability to run proper offroad tyres.

Cheers guys. Much appreciated.

Think i may go for the 15mm version as i tend to have to run a few spacers to get the bars high enough.

£52 still isn’t exactly cheap but i’d hate to have had to pay £80 for a headset. I’m suprised On One don’t do some form of deal combo with the frame.

Cheers, missed that when i looked on CRC earlier. I guess it fits if it’s the same one? Price is a far more reasonable as well. Is that what you use?

Is the 9mm/15mm just the size of the spacer on top? Bit confused on that bit?

I’m looking at getting some carbon bars soon for the first time. Is carbon paste recommended for carbon/carbon or for carbon/alu or both?

I’ll have a carbon frame with an aluminium seatpost and carbon bars with an alu stem. Happy to buy some paste if it’s what’s required?

I’ve just ordered the wheels with std j bend spokes. Cheers for all the info chaps.

I have a Kona Honzo with super short stays, and at the other extreme i have a Salsa Big Mama with stays around 2″ longer. Can’t say i notice any difference (have a Rockhopper 29er somewhere inbetween as well).

They’re all bikes to me………

Think i may go for the j bend. I probably won’t notice the difference and it’s £25 cheaper as well which can be put to good use elsewhere in the build.

Thanks for the responses chaps.

Bugger. Was set on the SP ones but now i’m thinking j pull after the above comments.

I pulled a SP spoke out of my Road wheels so maybe i should play safe with the j pull cheaper version as i don’t tend to be overly abusive to my wheels.

Both wheels are 32h front and rear.