I think I got a Topeak screw on ‘threadlock’ head for my old Blackburn. It is quite excellent and was very easy to fit. Should cost less than £15

How about a dachsund…..

ok, try again:

and the escape video……(hope I did it correctly)…..

Thanks Bonesetter, thought it might be. I like to wrap the chainstays with old inner tube for protection which reduces clearance too, so a slightly narrower rim for the back it is then.

Bonesetter – Build looks great. Assume the XT kit you fitted is 11speed with a non-boost chainset, what is clearance like between chain and tyre in the lowest gear? My Speedball arrived today (thanks Andy) and I ride in lots of mud over the winter so am torn between Halo 35 or 50 rims for the rear.

Last weekend wasn’t it ‘yellow vests’ in favour of hard Brexit?

I think more kids protested and actually marched today than ‘yellow vests’ did last weekend……

Parent’s evening cancelled on Thursday night so brought a crate of work home ‘just in case’. Alfined Pugsley with Nate’s & dynamo ready to go so headed up onto the Ridgeway at 7:00pm hunting for the promised snow. Started snowing at 8:45pm as I was on the return leg. Dusting on roads and paths by the time I got home at ten.

Up early on Friday to allow extra time to get to work, but 3 inches on the ground by 6:30am and heavier to come meant we were told not to go in. Two walks, lots of coffee & pastries with my wife, then a night time local loop via Croft Woods (I salute you both who laid tracks there before me) in the evening. Snow was fantastic and around 6 inches deep. Awesome. I love Nates.

A bit tired today, but lovely and sunny so two long walks with the wife, cleared some snow, checked the bike over for tomorrow, considered building another Pugs and watched the ISS go over just now. Pizza is almost ready and bottle of Tribute by the cooker. Minus nine forecast for sunny Swindon overnight.

This might be of interest…..

Complete List of 29” Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes

Fan of the lbs cardboard box here.

I’ve tried those and also 29, and all have been great. Prefer the Smorg. in all sizes as it comes up nice and round on wider rims. I run mine with tubes.

🙂

Had a look, but it’s too limited. Anyone asking for a bit of help with a small/obscure part that someone may have had tucked away has just lost a resource. Sad. Wonder how many users the site will lose as a result of the changes?  I miss the Fat Bike UK Forum……

Have had the ‘wobble’ on my Pugsley – twas the tyre bead not seated properly within the rim. Pumping up a bit harder helped it pop in place.

I route my Alfine cable under the chainstay and it works fine. I removed the plastic guard from my sprocket and have it dished outwards.

I’ve fitted two sets, and moved them between bikes. Each time I’ve also followed the SRAM fitting instructions online, which has been great. And essential. Have never experieced any issues once fitted. Look at the SRAM info as cable location, mech b screw adjustment, chain length etc seem critical.

You need a Stooge, would be perfect.

I’ve tried 26 fat (Surly & Ritchey), 29+ (Stooge), 27.5+ (Stooge) and 26+ (Surly 1×1), plus all the non plus options (I’m a fettler and like building wheels for relaxation).

For all 3 plus sizes I have preferred to run a narrower rear tyre and wider front (3″ front and between 2.2 and 2.8 rear).

For dry/moist offroad 29 + front is hands down the best. BUT for wet Wiltshire mud clearance rules in winter, so 2.6 front and 2.2 rear is how I’ll run. 26+ Dirt Wizards are awesome in all conditions but don’t fit well in the rear of a newer 1×1 frame on wider rims, best to go to the older 1×1 that epi has.

Mr T

p.s. my favourite is fat 4″ tyres, but don’t tell anyone.

p.p.s Smorgasboard on a 35mm internal rim are great in 26 and 29 flavours for a cheap intro.

Pugsley, no question for me. 135 hubs are easy to find and Alfine works nicely. Other width hubs look to be harder to find now (I don’t like Hope hubs). I also have a bike with 170 rear spacing but the hub was way more expensive and harder to find.

A charge? Not if you are a National Trust member there isn’t. Maybe you need to join voodoo….

Search ”’Wild About Argyle’ . Did half in about 5 days and is exactly what you describe. I had perfect weather at the end of May. You may do less mileage per day as you soak up the views etc.

I use my normal Fiamma rack and attach two wheel straps together to make one big strap. Tyre sit on rail, rather than in, but works brilliantly with 4″ tyres – you’ve probably got what you need already.

What wheel size? Look at some of the setups on Bikepacking.com especially the Divide riders in the US.

Cheers folks

I bought one of the Halo ready built wheels for my Stooge. Vapour 50 with a Chronicle on is great. Tight fit mind, but went up with a track pump. Also tried a Knard on a Vapour 35 rim but that didn’t feel anywhere near as invincible so I’d definitely not compromise and go with the wider rims. Still wonder if I should have gone the Rabbit Hole route, but they cost for a rim as much as my built wheel did.

Have not used them, but won’t Strada build something for you?.

p.s. I run Nobby Nic 2.6 on the 35 rim and that is perfect for winter as there is better mud clearance (for winter clay)

I have a MK1 Instigator.

On the rear the best tyres for width, that fit with space for mud, are either a Chunky Monkey or an Extra Terrestrial BUT these just fit using rims 29mm internal (33 external)or less.

I prefer the Smogasboard out back as it rolls very nicely with plenty of mud space and will work nicely with a good shape on a wider rim.

Up front a Knard on a 35mm internal (40 external) rim fits nicely in either an Instigator or  Troll fork. Dirt Wizard works even better up front.

Step 1. Two bits of sticky velcro on the sides of the top tube, just wide enough apart so they have a gap the width of the webbing between them. The straps lock onto the velcro so it cannot move.

Step 2. Add a loop of cord/old shoe lace that fits tightly from the top of the bag’s webbing  and loop it around any spacers that sit above the stem. I leave my steerers cut long enough to allow the extra spacers.

Revelate Tangle frame bag fits great and still allows you to use a water bottle.

Get some Surly Krampus forks (the ones with the anything cage mounts) for the front and you can use low rider panniers or cages on the forks.

Wildcat Designs make 2 sizes of seatpost mounted holster so you should find the smaller one fits.

Alpkit make nice bags called Stem Cells which work really well and are a good price.

Have a look at Bikepacking.com for more ideas

Have fun!

I have the last generation BFe, the 650b with the stealth dropper routing. It built up easily from a frame and is exactly what you describe. Plus tyres will not fit the rear though on i29 rims. Running mine with 2.4 rear tyre and 1×11. I’ve tried the slacker etc trend and this is as slack as I’d want to go for a bike I’d want to ride as an all rounder.

Surly Sunrise handlebars = 83mm rise and 820mm wide

🙂

Trails round here are pretty good at the moment. Lots of choices for routes and plenty of places nearby to visit if you’d rather do something other than cycling. Unlike more ‘trendy’ areas you’ll find plenty to do to keep you busy so ignore the negative comments. What other things are you into?

Our lab travels in a folding bike trailer (for dogs) behind the front passenger seat. A metal cage also works well. This is secured to a lashing eye just behind the front seat using a carabiner. Second carabiner secures behind the drivers seat frame, van is a T4. Using a harness does restrict the dog from being able to get comfy & ours like to create a good ‘nest’ to rest in. I’m sure that T5s will have similar lashing eye locations.
We also use the lashing eye and a rope to keep the dog secure on site which means she can hop in and out at will and not get into trouble.

Bump

the Ritchey was £425 for frame & forks 🙂

Pugsley and a Ritchey Commando here – the Ritchey is like a zingier, lighter, faster Pugsley. Sizing wise the large Ritchey was almost identical to the 18″ Pugsley. The finish and level of detail on the Ritchey is incredible but it isn’t one of your ‘fast trail’ geometry frames. Love them both.

I’ve gone back to Marge Lite from the previous 80mm rims – lost a lot of the playfulness on the wider rims for me and too much self steer. Prefer a rounder tyre profile on the front and get better mud clearance for 11 speed at the back. Also found mud clearance issues on the wider rims using 11 speed even with 4 inch tyres. Running 120 tpi Nate up front and Endomorph out back for summer ‘speed’ on my bimbly rides.

Tyre shape would be better on 29 internal rim than on the MTXs, but they are about as cheap as you go and still get away with it and are rather borderline. Remember that narrower rims will make the tyre narrower which may help if clearances are tight.

No pads for me, baggies + synthetic boxers (Rohan) with no seams against the cheeks! Wash self and boxers every day. Ride this setup all year round. SDG Bell Air saddle. Keep germaline for emergencies but don’t usually need it.

Hiya – I’ve tried various combinations on a recent Surly 1×1 and on Instigators 1 and 2.

26 inch Sun MTX33 rims work fine with 2.7 Dirt Wizards, but Spank Stiffee rims felt much better at 40mm (external). MTXs are available at Chain Reaction.

The MTXs were too narrow for a 26″ 3.0 inch Knard.

The 1×1 was fine with either combo on the front, but there is lots of mud around here and clearance with the Dirt Wizard wasn’t really adequate at the rear so I used a 2.4 Chunky Monkey out back. This came up pretty large on the 40mm rim, but not too large. This combination wouldn’t fit on the original Instigator, but fits with masses of room on Instigator 2.

A 650b 2.8 WTB Ranger on i29 rim doesn’t fit in an On-One 29er slot dropout frame, but does fit the rear on Insigator 2.

A 26″ Dirt Wizard on a Stiffee rim doesn’t fit with sufficient clearance in the rear of a Cotic BFe 650b frame.

Tyres much over 2.5 on wide rims don’t play well with older (non-boost) chainsets & rear hubs (chain runs too close to the tyre on low gears). For 1×11 run a narrower tyre, like a 2.4″.

Chain reaction do seem to be bringing in WTB 26+ rims and tyres. The tyres are way cheaper than the Surly ones, but the Surlys have lasted me really well and are great in my local mud.

Hope this all helps.

David

Rich – what length stem are you running with the Jones bars, and would you run the same length with conventional bars?

Cheers

David

The old (2004) Fiat Panda comes out really well for reliability on HonestJohn website. Not trendy. Insurance is very cheap. The car is really cheap to buy. Loads on autotrader. The one I’ve just bought for my daughter looks almost unused inside and out and drives brilliantly.
Cambelt will need replacing every 7 years I think.
I had a 2002 polo, it was not good. All the faults Honest John mentioned seemed to manifest themselves.
Original Yaris was a great car. Fun, ecoconmical, cheap.
Aygo etc are ok, but ours never stopped leaking (which is common) despite numerous attempts to fix the leak (9 years). Had lots of niggling design issues which found really annoying.