It’s a dart 3 apparently.

Rotor was and has always been 160mm.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I’ll start by writing to cube and rockshox and see if I can get a replacement.

In response to how I did it… Well I don’t really know. I did some easy downhill stuff at antur stiniog on Saturday, which was fine, then took it out cross country (landrover track with a rocky descent) on Sunday, which was also fine. Then I got to a road section and stopped before a give way line and it just went. I’ve had a look at some photos from the day before and there’s nothing obviously wrong at that point so I don’t really know. Curiously, a similar thing happened with the front wheel on this bike, which just randomly buckled when I was on a fire road at a trail centre a few years ago.

Assuming you didn’t do anything traumatic (i.e. sprain it / break something) Sounds like it might be peroneal tendonitis or something similar. Either way, if it keeps bothering you go and see a physio – either ask your GP to refer you, or some places you can “self refer” – i.e. book directly with a physio on the NHS – or go private. They should be able to give you a proper diagnosis and some exercises, etc. to help.

Well that was all good fun – we went up over Stanage and down the bridleway, then across and down the moss road and back home. Back hurts a bit now… wonder why. Thanks for the advice everyone.

for £800 I have a Ti framed bike that weighs 8KG…

Would.

The first time I ever replaced brake cables on my own (probably in about 1999) the brakes failed going down a hill. Whatever nearly kills you makes you stronger, or something, which is why I now do every bit of maintenance myself.

OP here: Is that because 2.5k is a relatively large amount for a hardtail?

Also – does anyone have any book recommendations for building from the ground up?

I have a 2013 edition and I think it’s excellent. The worst thing about the bike is the verso shifter, which I gather they’ve changed for the newer editions, so that won’t be a problem. Zero maintenance once the cables have settled it, lovely to ride and actually I think that once you get the hang of it the rear wheel is *easier* to remove than on a derailleur system, even if you have to carry around a spanner. It is heavy, as people will tell you constantly, but if that doesn’t matter to you (as it doesn’t to me – I enjoy the extra workout and it make it feel more stable at speed) then it’s grand.

With the alfine hub, I’ve read a couple stories on the net about people having big problems with it, which ended with shimano replacing theirs under warranty, but to me it’s been no bother at all. According to a bike mechanic friend, Shimano have an alfine hub in one of their testing labs that has done 80 million miles and still not failed, so they are generally pretty robust. Allegedly they’re less efficient than derailleur systems, but that relies on you having a perfectly maintained derailleur drivetrain which is kind of difficult in the northern winter.

PS – part of the reason that I said “my current forks are shot” originally is that I’ve been advised by the LBC that the reason my bike is pulling slightly to the right is an irreparable problem with the forks, but I’ve forgotten the details of that conversation I’m afraid.

Thanks for all the replies. To respond to the qs above:

What do I want to improve? I guess better handling/tracking and to not bottom out so easily and so jarringly. I was under the impression that this meant I needed more travel but I guess potentially it means that I actually want an stiffer/more adjustable fork. I was talking to another MTBer the other day and he brought up the point about stressing the frame with increased travel so I may stick with 100mm.

Budget? about £250-300.

Riding style? I guess cross-country, e.g. pennine bridleways, Hope cross, etc., and the less technical side of trail-centre stuff, e.g. Marin/Coed-y-brenin in North Wales.

awesome, thanks. If anyone has a front gear shifter going spare….