I was hoping I could replace the bearings but to say they've 'only' lasted about a year, I was wondering if CK or similar was worth the outlay for fit and forget happiness (the answer seems yes)….thanks guys

Use either Dot 4 or Dot 5.1.

Don't use Dot 5 as that's different stuff to 5.1 and will wreck the seals.

Which model? I looked at one for about £6-£700 and lifting it in the shop it felt like it was filled with lead compared to similarly priced Trek and Specialized. They do get good reviews though, reportedly much better than the OCR's they replaced.

What paint did you use and what preparation did you do to the frame?

I fancy having a go myself but don't want to make a worse job than the existing tatty paint

I think it depends what bike you're using. As Jim says water in the BB shell plays a big part, every time I take out a seized BB, there is water in the bb shell, and after a muddy wet ride if I take out the seatpost and tip the bike up, water comes out.

Maybe this partly relates to forward or rear facing seat clamps. Mine is rear facing in the firing line of water spray….

Can't be rocket science to design a system that works – there are bearing systems engineered to work in much more adverse conditions that on a push bike??!?

What kind of riding do you do?

Where do you ride?

My boy is 15 months and hated it to begin with. Play games with it, lots of silly noises putting it on and off his head.

Presumably you're wearing your helmet too? Let him see you put that on and off. Let him put it on and off you if he will, or let him play with it.

Its about making it all a game and before you know it he'll be happy enough to set off wearing his.

Thats exactly what I was just going to ask….

Something like this then:-

SRAM PG990

I've got an even longer bar for undoing ;-)

Making sure it is tight as it can be will surely lessen the chances of the sprockets moving on the freehub each time there is power through the pedals. So less likely to gouge.

Its about an hour per loop. The North loop is better than the south from what I remember.

If you appreciate its cheap for a reason then there's nothing wrong with it. For commuting or light use the shoes will be fine. Yeah if you're mashing and pulling on the pedals on a singlespeed, I bet thet limits the lifespan of any shoe, not just these!

I've been using Squirt for a month or so, off and on road.

Found that whilst purple extreme, rock n roll extreme and what ever else leaves funky blue or purple colours on my carpet but washes off my chain at the sight of the nearest puddle, this Squirt stuff is very very good.

Doesn't go black like Finish Line XC and doesn't need applying after every single wet ride like the others.

Its a dry wax but it doesn't separate in the bottle. Got a good review in Singletrack and I'm inclined to agree.

I'm going to try just dry brushing my chain to clean it like they suggest, rather than bother with degreaser etc, and see how it goes. Doesn't look like my chain will need degreasing any time soon.

I always wondered about soaking my chain in lube also. Lube prices are extortionate if people are honest, so as rr says less waste?

Didn't someone like rohloff use to make a tin of wax lube that was melted on the stove before you dunked your chain in it?

It was a hypothetical "if I didn't ride for 3 months". I was probably riding once or twice a week and there was still some liquid when I went to top it up, along with a 'lump of coral' like stoney. But riding more still sounds like a plan :-)

I did buy a bottle of JRA wheel milk but it solidified in the bottle before I'd even opened it.

I suppose stuff that doesn't dry out won't seal a puncture hole so well because it won't solidify when it comes into the air as it squirts out the puncture hole?

Simple reliable forks. Cheaper than Fox and RS.

No problems with mine.

The glue sets and thereby holds the tyre on? Be no good if stayed 'sticky' would it?

Tesco does bike hooks in the bike spares and rucsacs section that hang from the ceiling. Either £1.50 for two or £3 for two, I can't remember.

Looks good, but the one I have has some layback and I'm not sure if my saddle can go too much further back….

A mate of mine had some Crossrides and one of the spoke slots on the front hub sheared irrepairably over a bump.

Another mate had the same thing happen on rear hub of the road version of the wheels.

They look nice but I wouldn't go near them.

Its probably similar to any other generic carbon frame, can’t believe its too drastically different or better or worse to any of the other ‘value’ brands. It’ll break just like any other carbon frame if you crash it, huck it off kerbs or whatever.

Get it bought!?

Truvativ Firex or Stylo are mainly black?

Shimano Deore in black?

FSA Moto look like they come in quite a smart gloss black?

Aren’t the Atlas more all mountain and the Noir more xc??

If you’ve felt the weight then what does it matter what the figures on the scales say? Quoted weights are normally without pedals.

Have you test ridden it? Does it feel heavy? Its not an xc race bike so does it matter?

Foam grips…

500g(ish) fast rolling tyres like Bonty ACX’s, Kenda Small Block8s, Conti Explorers etc??

Why would you want to chop them down?

You’d end up with cranks over 25mm shorter….

Why?

What little wedge thingy?

My mate said they use Atrixo hand cream on leather horse saddles so thats what I used on my leather wtb.

Seemed alright but needed regular application once it started to go.

Either that or some decent black shoe polish wax?

You get less heat build up in resin and organic pads than sintered – I don’t think it was superstar sintered that was the problen, it was just the fact they were sintered. The downside for resin/organic pads is that they generally don’t last as long in wet gritty uk conditions.

I’ve used SS sintered in the alps and in Italy with no problems but it probably depends what brakes you’re using as to whether the heat generated becomes a problem.

Agree with GlenP, buy official, pay quadruple and I don’t think you get any more miles out of the official ones.

Took me about a week to get my voucher from inputting the details in cyclescheme’s website, and its been a couple of weeks the time before that using Cyclescheme, so I don’t think its all bad

Its not being a snob zippy, but if you save 25g on ten components then thats half a pound!? And if I go the other way…..I won’t get anywhere near making my mtb lighter than my road bike ;-)

I’ll have a look at Middleburn or Blackspire, cheers… or maybe I will have that Deore steel ring after all…

Its a 25lb full sus, would just feel wrong putting a full steel ring on it….

More money than sense maybe??…

Unfortunately you need the bleed kit I think.

You can generally let a little fluid out of the system to bring the bite point to the bars but if they don’t need bleeding and they’re full of fluid already (likely if you had them from new) then there is probably little you can do to reduce the lever throw.

Agree with Jimbo

Thanks Adam, will try Highpath. Was wondering why roadie chainsets are generally 5 bolt….is it a stiffness thing to do with larger rings or is it just no more than a different ‘standard’??

Do you need to pump like crazy or is a track pump a reliable enough fix if I fudge an adaptor?

I’ve found the technical manual and it mentions compressed air….

Its pretty miserable but then borrowing a shock pump to you is pretty minor but if people started asking to borrow spanners, allen keys, then it doesn’t stop does it, they’re a business not a free tool hire service.

Not really but £15 extra isn’t bad.

Never had ti rails snap on me.

+1 for Trailaddiction, there is stuff you can both enjoy, and probably on the same ride!?

They will taylor it to the groups ability and invariably can satisfy the full range of ability in the group. They mainly use the ski lifts and van uplifts – just because there’s minimal climbing doesn’t mean it has to be a crazy hard core DH fest that you won’t cope with!

Its actually pretty much identical to the baby orion

I don’t see how it will be any lower than the one I’ve got? Do I need to get a super high rise stem or do they only work if you’re 6ft + so you can tower over them?

He’s only 13 months, I wouldn’t trust him to hang on himself!?