As Jambo says, There isn’t the room between the seatpost and the rear of the swingarm shock mount area.

Less than 10mm for sure, i just measured my 2007 frame.

Yep i have. Although mine were 07 Vanilla R. Coil forks are probably easier i imagine.

The forks concerned were second-hand and upon dis-assembly i discovered very badly worn stantions, due to no manintenance by the previous owner.

I bought new white 15QR lowers, new uppers and oil (for £270) and just transferred fork internals into new parts. The only tricky part was swapping a little stantion end cap locating in the bottom of the coil side leg. That is held in with a strange circlip kind of thing, did it using a metal pick.

I didn’t rush it and it was very straight forward, Mojo were great with advice and the new forks are fantastic. So much stiffer than 9mm QR, not to mention around £130 cheaper than buying new 15QR forks (Vanilla RLC 15QR).

I now have the forks i wanted: Rebound only and in white. Doubt i will see many like that out on the trails.

Enduro fork seals website has an excellant guide that will help alot and Mojo have a very handy PDF also, that will help with taking the lowers off.

I would say the conversion is well worth it as long as you have a convertible hub (PRO 2 or similar) and your stantion/upper leg assembly is in good condition if you are on a tight budget.

You just have to way up the costs i suppose. In regards to your warranty, i wouldn’t bother as if there was something to go wrong it would have by now. I would save myself the £90 and do it myself. There is very little to go wrong as long as you follow the instructions to the letter.

Anyone using Rape alarms on the stored bikes? Thats what we use, The theory being that the thieves will be working pretty quickly and may not notice it until they move the bikes.

Luckily we live somewhere thats pretty difficult to observe discreetly, has neighbours in all day on both sides. Our neighbours were broken into last year (in the middle of the day) and it looks like they may have snooped around ours (a gate was left open thats always closed). They probably saw the dog toys in the garden and thought better of it!

The Clevedon area has seen a number of high profile thefts also. A friend has had his garage broken into 3 times! The last time they took everything except the frame!!

Someome knows what to look for. We’ve taken to putting the bikes in the car when possible as a nice shiny bike on a roof rack is a big advert really.

In my experience it didn’t work. Tried it on my 5, it wouldn’t stick because the underside edge of the swingarm has a weld running long it making too much of an uneven surface for it to stick too.

Weirdly, i find my 5 ALOT quieter than the Marin Wolf Ridge it replaced! I run a 36/24 chainset to perhaps the reduced chain length contributes to less noise??

I do have a strip of frame protector film which might help also. Running a shadow mech may help also as it only has the one pivot so doesn’t swing around too much.

Thanks chaps, just what i wanted. Hope it works!!!

Unfortuantly we weren’t blessed with good weather the week we were there. We didn’t fancy attempting any rides on routes we didn’t know. I seem to remember it pissed it down every day! So we stuck to the trail centres.

Since we got back i have seen alot of photos on here of what natural riding the Lakes has to offer. Next time we’ll try some proper routes i reckon.

Willard – I’m with you on that one. My life was sh1t until i met her.

Getting married in two months time so pretty excited to be honest although more excited by the 2 week honeymoon in Zermatt, Switzerland which hopefully involve biking assuming the snow has melted enough!!

The good news is that she is as obsessed with biking as i am. Has a better bike too!…My 2007 Orange 5 v’s her Yeti 575 (new a month ago!).

Preferred as in we felt NFT was a much more successful trail. They did well with what they had whereas at Whinlatter i don’t think they have.

I know NFT gets alot of stick, not sure why. Any trail is better than none at all. I would ride there again if staying in the Lakes again but not sure i would drive a couple of hours to ride there, as many do.

If i were local to Whinlatter i would be going to nearest 7 Stanes i reckon. Having said that i did do a night ride using some “special” trails in Whinlatter and that was great fun, especially the old bridleway descent into Thornthwaite. Mind you a night ride turns almost all trails into something fun.

I agree. We stayed in Thornthwaite for a week last September and so rode there alot. We too felt it was lacking somewhat!

My regular trail centres are Cwmcarn, Brechfa and Afan so i suppose i’m possibly spoiled somewhat. I feel alot more could be made of the elevation, on a fine day the views of Skiddaw are awesome though. The South side wasn’t complete when we were there but that does look better than the altura trail, more like Brechfa from what i can see.

In contrast we much prefered the North Face Trail at Grizedale. Probably because it was designed by the same team behind many of Afans trails and Cwmcarn also i think.

A chat in Keswick Mountain Bikes did reveal that funding has been agreed on more trails in the near future, i believe.

The long fire road section towards the top was a drag, perhaps they could add more singletrack to get rid of that section. I thought it could be better if done backwards!!! The final descent was crap. But, i think the Skyline final descent at afan is the best i’ve ridden at a trail centre.

Thats terrible news. My mother adopted a baby before i was born. He died aged just 2 years old, he had the same problems as Ivan Cameron. I don’t think about it much but this news brings it back.

It’s not something she talks about much but when she does she smiles and laughs about the time they had with him.

What else can i say?!

I think Singletrack is not that great! This forum is great but i think the layout of the mag is terrible.

I have a subscription to Dirt, as it best sums up what biking is about for me, each to their own i guess.

Other mags have their pro’s and cons though. Although i look forward to reading the upcoming review of the new Orange ST4 in Singletrack. I do buy MBR regularly also as i find WMB too Whatcar-like and MBUK is a joke read by teenagers, the fashion pages with Doddy and that Ric beardface are hilarious!!!

I think they’re cute! I’ve encountered many on night rides around my way as there are alot of Badger sets in the woods here.

They run pretty bloody quick too as i’ve chased a few down bridleways.

I have to say that they also seem to enjoy sleeping beside busy roads, often on their backs! They are asleep right???!

Shadow mechs are quieter in my experience (due to having one pivot now), although not immortal!

Replaced my 2007 XT on my Orange 5 with the new shadow but that lasted 6 months before a stick destroyed it and the cage exploded. Now replaced it with new SLX which seems abit sturdier and ALOT cheaper!

Shifting seems snappier too.

You’re bored after a day? Try two months!

Been using the time to make the garden immaculate, clean the house, sort through boxes of crap we keep moving from house to house, riding my road bike (alot) and clearing a deer track in my local woods that just so happens to have the kind of flow you find at trail centres.

Now i’m starting to get abit bored!

vinnyeh – Member
It’s your best bet, cos when you realise that you would rather use some other forks you don’t need to sell the wheel

Care to elaborate? Have you ridden a pair?

Anyway, Pro 2 is the best option and future proofs them (apart from needing the relevant adaptors.

I think you mean Blackdown? If so then conditions are pretty good. Usual spots are muddy but most is good.

Did a long walk around Blackdown yesterday. Path up to Trig point isn’t great but bearable, Singletrack round the edge (through the two gullies) is actually pretty good. Its the fastest its been in months i reckon. Looking forward to going up there Wednesday night.

Parts of Roberrow Woods are appalling due to logging though.

You’re not too bright are you? You post a thread on a forum that Andy@CRC regular uses!! Do the right thing and make the most of feeling you did so!!!!!

You can ride a bike on the ground too you know :D

Yes Lazy it works with Pro2. Thats what i use. Hope make adaptors to suit 9mm QR / 15mmQR / 20mm etc etc.

:D Thats exactly how i dress!

661 Mini Downhill race at FOD this weekend so will be pretty busy around Pedalaway bikes place.

It’s been pretty dry this week here(Bristol Airport). Some drizzle/very light rain yesterday but i reckon it’s okay up there.

What a great debate! I’m going to wade in with the following statement…..I think lycra looks ****. There, i said it. The fact is i don’t want to look like a nob when out on my bike. Fine if you like it, i don’t.

I see no advantage to wearing lycra on its own. I care what i look like walking down the street and the same goes for when i’m cycling.

Jesus! I cycled into Bristol yesterday on my GT Legato hybrid with barends, rear mud guard AND Gears (and i was wearing actual cycle gear!)

I must have looked a total plank?!!! I just saw that new Charge video, WTF!!!

Now i know why i live in the countryside.

My partners 08 575 comes with Medium.

I quess we’ll never know why Fox/Shimano chose 15mm over 20mm. Besides the point now though surely? It’s not as though they’ll change their mind!

There will be many people wanting either 20mm or 15mm and will have to get a new hub as many out there are not adaptable anyway.

I suppose it comes down to if you want Fox or Rock Shox/Others. Converting my Fox Vanilla’s was way cheaper then buying Rock Shox or any other bolt-thru fork. I could have gone with 20mm forks as i had the adaptors for the hubs anyway. BUT there was nothing wrong with my Fox internals so i stayed with them.

Not sure it’s marketing. I believe the intention of Fox was to try and replace 9mm QR and come up with a suitable alternative. I love my 15QR forks, way stiffer than 9mm QR and so much quicker to undo/tighten.

Perhaps you could argue its marketing if you then decide you have to have it, resulting in spending money on new forks/whell/hub. I just rebuilt my old Vanillas into new lowers and had Pro 2 hubs so only needed the adaptors. I would say it’s clearly what bike manufacturers wanted, look how many bikes are coming with them now.

A quick Google search suggests they’re spec’d with Vanilla’s. All Vanillas are coil, Float and Talas are air.

My local shop has one on display but i can’t remember what it has?!!!

Only found snow on the far end of Skyline on Sunday. There was still very slushy snow on the fire road sections up to Handy Andy. That section and Grand Canyon had a few snowy bits but that must have melted by now.

Most of it was really dry, a few wet bits too. Especially the very end of Joyrider, that was horrendous. It’s always been wet but now it’s a sludge-fest!

2005 for me. Got a Trek hardtail (£300!) but that was fecked after a year. Sold that and bought a Marin Wolf Ridge. Now on a Orange 5.

I have never even heard of most the bikes mentioned above!!

I had the opposite experience recently. I’ve always used flats but decided to try a ride with SPD’s.

It was awful, my legs were killing me, felt unstable and i had no confidence on the descents.

Flats may not be quite as efficient on the climbs but it just requires time to get the right method.

warton – Member
Blacks offer nothing than your normal natural trail in my opinion (apart from the odd bit of timber), If you’ve been riding in the peaks I can’t see you finding it that tricky[/b]

You obviously havn’t ridden at Brechfa then! Unless bridleways have suddenly sprouted Doubles, Step-ups and massive berms.

richc – Member
you will be fine, most black routes are at the easier end of riding, and you will have ridden much more difficult stuff on normal routes in the Peaks.

I think UK black routes are graded that way to make the accountants and IT workers feel good about there riding rather than actually be hard.

I went to Canada last year, and some of there blue routes were significantly harder than our black (and some double black) routes in the UK

I would have though grading is done to reflect what else is available elsewhere to ride. What use is it grading UK runs as per Whistler bike park if the majority have never ridden there?!

I get where you’re coming from Stumpy. I don’t really see it but thats probably because i’m half Swiss! At least half of me is also efficient! The Swiss do efficiency as well as the Germans but in more friendly manner!!!

It’s a shame people get so hung up on phrases etc. We’re all guilty of it. What happended to just riding a bike?

If you are running a 2 ring and bash guard set-up you could fit a 2-ring specific SLX front mech. The mech cage is alot (so not likely to hit the chain stay)shorter as the biggest ring it is designed for is 38 or something like that.

Not sure what those Kona’s come with though?!

Hawkeshead Croft is great. We have stayed there a few times over the last ten years. Good facilites, COOP in the village and a good couple of pubs. I recommend the Sun Inn (i think thats correct!).

Can be full of grannies though during the day!

….and very close to the North Face Trail also.

Nice if you get a spot next to the river on the far side of the site.

stumpy01 – Member
Am I allowed to say that it does indeed look very, erm, German?!

Looks vey German? What the funk are you on about! Looks like people riding bikes and having fun to me. Using obvious bike skills to make the most of the terrain. Aggresive is such a bad term as they could have ridden alot slower, Agressive XC is how i could describe how i ride.

As for no rocks, perhaps there aren’t any!!!!!!

Much better than 9mmQR IMO. Just switched from 9mm and the difference is huge. Obviously not as stiff as 20mm but i don’t recall Fox ever saying it was. As a means of doing away with QR it’s done the job.So much quicker to do up also.

I found my old 20mm Pike’s too stiff, some flex is a good thing despite what most say.

Pretty damn wet i’d say. Last sunday i walked the dog up to Blackdown, waist high drifts across the ridge top path. Cycled up Burrington Coombe and over to Cheddar gorge on wednesday on the road bike and still alot of snow around.

Really wouldn’t recommend it if you have the choice.

Never had a problem with them either. Nearly always turned up next day. Ordered socks yesterday afternoon and i’m wearing them now! Perhaps it’s more to do with delevery address. Some RM sorting offices are surely better than others.

Delivery to wrong address when using PayPal is not Chainreactions fault. Address confirmation in on the PayPal apge isn’t it. I always have to change mine from one i had 3 years ago.

Any good? compared to my Orange 5 or my partners 575 , then i’d say no. I got rid of my 2007 Wolf Ridge in July last year as it just didn’t fell right! Not a very scientific explanation i know.

Too flexy in the swingarm, didn’t pedal well on flatter rough trails and heavy. Did descend pretty well but no more so than my 5.

My partner had a 2006 Rock Springs but also found it the same as mine really. She’s loving the 575 though. Thats a hell of alot lighter too.

Relatively complex and heavy linkage design is no better than the single pivot/linkage actuated single pivots on our bikes IMO.