interesting. I think camping is a nice option but I prefer events that run in one day, better chance of getting the time off from family life.

all of the above tips are good but basically just use a compressor. Ive managed to seat even very flappy, tyres, on bent rims with no sealant. I find that it helps if you can hang the wheel up somewhere as it stops the bottom of the tyre being squashed. you may need to kind of pull the bead towards the rim with your thumbs if the air is really gushing out, if that is the case a second person to hold the airgun will help

luxury in mid wales

http://www.lakecountryhouse.co.uk/

I just went here with my wife. I left her in the spa for the day and did the uplift at cwmcarn but there is much nearer riding than that

I have started wearing a lot more protection. I prefer to wear the full face any time I can stand how hot it makes me.

the reason? scared of crashing. pure and simple

I saw a thing in one of the magazines where someone attached 2 bits of chain to the jaws of some molegrips by drilling little holes in the jaws and then putting the chain pieces on using a chain tool. not sure if I could be bothered with that level of bodge though

the pedro vise thing is great, I got one for about £25. it is worth it for all of the knuckle skin I have saved. would I pay £45 for one? not sure

my velcro ones are great and stay put fine, which is why my shins look like a pizza but my knees are fine after the weekend

Pook – I was on the crags path at the far end of wharnecliffe, not sure if you know it, a rocky path that the climbers use. I had lost a bit of speed and let my front wheel fall into a front wheel size hole. stings a bit across the belly this morning.

I’ve not used my face as a brake for a while though. After the last incident I bought one of those Met parachute things. next time i faceplant I will put on post on here to let you all know if it works or not!

merlin. still £50 though. why not just get an x7 for £30 and spend the rest on beer. both rubbish mechs

carefully!

where were you pal ? (I think from memory you are a sheffield man?)

I fell at wharnecliffe today, I have a raw line from naval to tit caused by landing on the bars

not a days worth. and too boring to even nip there for a couple of hours

i went there about 2 weeks ago, its a real shame because that Twrch trail is pretty featureless without the airstream bits. definitely one of the more boring red loops in the UK

agreed, I used a spesh pitch, it was fine. It was definitely lack of skill stopping me going faster rather than being under biked

I did my first uplift session there last week. It was excellent, hope you have a great time.

Personally I would take at least a full face lid though if you can get your hands on one

cheers pal, nerves settled. back to the booking site

dude I’ve got my credit card out ready, help me out!

I was literally just about to book the uplift thing when I saw this. How much does it cut out ?

wonderful place, both Phnom Pen and Siam Reap. You would be insane to take a bike there though. the standards of road safety left a lot to be desired. I didn’t feel safe in a car

I’ve got a king one, and a hope one. I wish I had 2 hope and the £30 difference now

2.5 super tacky tyre run at 27 psi

some people will tell you that you can just put yellow tape in your existing rims, but I never made it work.

IME non tubeless rims require a rubber rim strip, this effectively puts the bead of the tyre in contact with the rubber and the sealant sticks it together

A proper tubeless rim is shaped so that the bead sits tight against the rim and will seal with just yellow tape.

proper tubeless rims seal much more easily and also much easier to get tyres on and off. the only question is can you afford to re-rim your wheels?

edit – just to add – yellow tape needs push in valve, rubber rim strip has valve attached

I rode the dark and white winter series last season for the first time. Overall very enjoyable.

The thing that would put me off doing it again is the quality of the riding, it seems to be often around places with not much off road riding. And then, crucially for me, you seem to be able to win by staying on the road as much as possible and riding a bike with drop bars and then running the last few metres to a checkpoint. If there was a way to make the riding more technically challenging, and the points system to reward more technical riding, it would definitely improve it for me.

I am having exactly the same dilemma with my spesh pitch. Bought for general hammering but the planet fear epic in the lakes felt like hard work at points, especially when I needed to carry.

I might try the light wheels route for the next one, stans flow with 2.3 tyres probably wasn’t the smartest move for a 120k ride

never had any problem with tyres not sitting properly, only had mine a few months though.

looks nice. I agree with the comment about the fork. I bought a Tora fork and it was basically a rigid fork for about 200 miles before it started working.

How much does the whole bike weigh?

Ive got a pair of flow, and what is left of a pair of Arch.

They both have the same internal brace but the flow is a much deeper rim, rather than wider. Unless you regularly trash wheels it is probably overkill.

If you are riding drops like that I would go with Arch rather than crest if you can find and afford them. They lasted me 3 years and got through various crashes and badly landed drops. The rear didn’t totally die until I put it on my hardtail. My set custom built were about 1700 – 1750 grams I think, more than light enough for trail use

I had the same with the left hand side shifter. starting to get pretty fed up with SRAM. Costs more than shimano, doesn’t work as well

the route from Ryadhar (check my spelling!) into the Elan valley down that steep steep track and up and down a big hill to make a loop.

OK, it is a bit of a vague description and I dont have any maps but it was about 10 years ago! The best natural ride I have ever done in the UK. Maybe a local bod could add some detail for us ?

do you get 10 minutes to smack the crap out of him in a boxing ring if you give up the £60? surely that would be natural justice

its a bit hard to tell without looking at it but your guess could be right, perhaps you haven’t pushed the drive side crank on far enough.

little tap with a plastic faced hammer or mallet and see if it moves?

is it a 2 piece crank? if you fitted a new bottom bracket maybe you put the wrong number of spacers in and it is all shifted a bit further to the right than it should be

chris king has been fine on mine, 30 months now and still smoooth

Ive literally just come in from the garage having taken one of these apart for the first time. It is a bit simpler inside than I thought though it looks like you need a few long thin things to tap bearings out (I use a socket extender from a quarter inch socket set)

do have a look before sending to a shop though as mine is 4 years old and the only ruined bearing is the one at the end of the freehub, you might find the same. And if you are lucky (i.e not me) the freehub just pulls off.

LBS – £15 – £25 labour + £6 per bearing

after what I did to the freehub in the vice there is no question of taking bearings out. It was looking pretty mangled anyway but now its just a big squished alloy block

definitely stainless for the replacement. which I will obviously service more often than once every 3 years.

I stayed in a tent in the lakes last weekend for the planet fear epic. the tent got flattened by wind along with about 10 others in the field.

insanity. stay away

ok thanks. soaking in wd40 overnight now. wish i had an old lockring, do you think there is a chance I could mangle the light alloy one off my sram cassette if its really stuck?

no worries! I was just in the garage looking for a spare lockring!

3 – 4 days last time for me

cheers both! must ask before frustration sets in next time

nice, wish I had asked you before I taco’d my wheel!

users who join just to sell stuff. always suspicious