Ok. Started reading up on the ESIs

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

What I’m hearing from the consensus is either:

1) avoid the craters
or
2) equipment makes a difference and I’m expecting too much from the DPA Pike

Tom, thanks for the link to your FAST upgrade experiences. Makes interesting reading. Probably not something I can execute in a matter of days.

Thisisnotaspoon, thanks for the levers suggestion. I think I’m at a good middle ground at the moment. I’ll maybe give them a nudge just to confirm.

Chrishc77, thanks for the suggestion on the rebound. With the drop in pressure I did speed it up and it felt good in lots of places… until the bumps combined with a bit of steepness. It feels like I’m hunting for the narrowest of sweet spots.

Researching fork options at the moment. Lyrik is in contention. I’ve had good experiences with Bos before, tuning out brake bumps, but find it hard to believe a design from 2010 is still in the peer group with the latest options. Fox is more money. My wheels can do 15mm or 20mm.

I’ve been sold on the promise that Enduro bikes are just like mini DH bikes. Whaddya mean the marketing men lied?

My days added to the spreadsheet. Bit sporadic and looking like I’ll miss the 15th on current plans… which could change. I’m based in central Morzine for weekends and the back end of the month.

But what do you when “you believe fervently” someone has conviction politics of mass destruction?

Two points, ah, two flats, and a packet of gravel.

Did mine Christmas 2014. It *is* possible to blend mince pies.

The swelling (of your face) gets truly impressive over the next day or two. Make sure you get photos.

Weird outcome still true to this day is I feel slightly separated from my face. Rather than being an intrinsic part of my personality it now feels like a bolt on appendage (which, technically, it is).

Flats wont be faster than clips.
The bike will make a difference to time.

Pretty much convinced that a “pro” on flat pedals and a [gasp] non-aero fandango will still be faster than you, mechanical doping notwithstanding.

I am not sure how that is actually controversial , STW arguing aside.

Those pro road/track cyclist really should take note of this

Oh wow. You are hellbent … on a thread about whether it is ok to use flat pedals on a 13 mile commute.

tl;dr: it is

Those pro road/track cyclists really should take note of this !

To the limits of accuracy of Strava (yeah, uh-huh, that accurate)… for my commute I’ve swapped and changed between flats and clips, between a 20 year old junker training frame with downtube shifters and “relaxed” bearings and a modern day carbon Di2 loveliness.

Conclusion… the difference, if any, is a small number of seconds, usually not relevant compared to how the engine is operating on the day. It is not about the bike. Surprisingly, it isn’t about the pedals either.

Humble brag… scope of research includes top 10 placings on heavily contended segments between 19s and ~4 minutes.

Does the clutch get hot? A damper gets hot from dissipating all that bump energy so the clutch temp should tell you if it’s significant.

I’ve not checked it myself, but that’s how I’d go about it if I had any concerns.

Try this. Instead of using the syringe as a syringe, remove the plunger and just use it as a fluid reservoir. Cycle the plunger and it should pretty quickly clear all the bubbles.

I did a full rebuild on my Reverb Stealth last night and finished the bleed using this exact method.

I love mine. Sweet running and no problems. I think advised to use a non corrosive tubeless sealant rather than stans. I’ve used Caffe Latex.

21mm internal is a bit wimpy these days but was the same as Crossmax SX. Axles are non adjustable so your choice is 15mm front and either QR rear or 142×12 specs.

Two great suggestions there. She’s been on a Phenom on the old bike, so nothing to gain there but in setting up the new bike I shortened the cranks down to a more suitable 170mm where she has been on standard 175s, so inadvertently I’ve given myself an extra 5mm to play with.

I’m hopeful that although its been tight, the sizing is going to work out. No cutting tools involved.

Problem solved in the pub after work. Apparently I need a GF with longer legs.

Done some more measuring and it looks like a de-connectamajigged Reverb Stealth will just fit without an upgrade to GF… and the KS would be close but also an option with an external cable.

New information on this subject today. Looks like my Reba is bottoming out at about 75mm rather than 120. Fork action is very good until the the sudden bottom out. Suspect oil has exited the damper into the lower legs.

Sudden bottom out is causing the Panaracer to pop? I may give them another shot after fixing the fork because the High Roller experience is sapping. Grippy but sapping. Interesting though how the tyre provides confidence equal to an inch and a half of extra travel. There is something absolutely confidence inspiring about the High Roller experience, even with a duff fork.

You will have some sort of AC (Acromio Clavicular) joint damage. If you have a lump on top of your shoulder and the arm hangs lower then you likely have a grade two or three, meaning that the collarbone has detached from the shoulder blade – that sort of damage won’t mend but generally you can get full motion back and 80-90% strength. The options for surgery usually have worse long term outcomes. You usually get this injury from falling on an outstretched arm or your elbow.

The other area where damage can lurk is in the ligaments that attach beneath the collarbone. These can take a while to stablilise if they have been partially ruptured. The difference between a grade 2 and a grade 3 AC rupture is if these ligaments have also been damaged.

I know this having had both types of damage in independent accidents affecting each shoulder.

My grade 2 AC joint rupture (from biking) took me off biking completely for one month but has come back to 90% strength and 100% mobility in about 5 months but the AC joint is completely ruptured and won’t be coming back. The ligament damage on the other shoulder (skiing) took about 2 years to be pain free and has recovered totally.

Refuse to turn my back on tubeless technology as a whole. It is modern and therefore must work. ;-)

Pretty confident I’d be pinch flatting 2.1 Fire XC with tubes.

Trying to think of a non-rude way to refute the pressures accusation. Pretty sure I know my onions when it comes to pressures. Tyres are just too small for what I am asking them to do.

Just got back in from Count’s evening ride. We had a few members of the group only available to ride at varying times through the evening but Count and myself put in an epic from 4pm to half past 8. The trails seemed to be riding really well, better for the little bit of rain we had today.

I’d fallen out with Swinley a bit but that ride has got me right back into it. Awesome fun.

MidLifeCyclist,

I’m 6’2″, so don’t normally go anywhere near mediums. The LBS guys suggested I’d get on with a medium for a more aggressive “fun” bike. Took one out on a night ride and it was awesome. Much smoother riding than I imagined possible for an ally hardtail and really rewarded being aggressive in the corners. The reach was fine too. I was seriously impressed.

Nah, not even close, its the Surrey Hills.

I know that bench. Has on separate occasions had my Whyte 46, E5 and E120 leaning against it.

I’ve been test riding the 19 and seem to be heading in that direction.

Dibbs,

Is the top tube length significantly different between the ’07 race and the ’09 Ti? The website seems to show the ’09 bikes are longer. I’ve ridden the ’09 Trail in a medium and it was just right, but if an ’07 frame came up I’d be worried it would be too short.

[double post]

I’ve done Pro III with mavic 819s using 256mm straight pulls, IIRC. Flow are 2mm less ERD than Mavic, so allowing for the special 16mm spoke nipple that you need with the 819s, the Flows will build up nicely with 257/258 and standard length 12mm nipples (and that is correct that there is only 2mm allowed for a 4mm difference in nipple dimensions). Allegedly. I’d need to find the spoke box to confirm the size I used.

I did all the calculations from first principles at the time. ERD is the diameter of the rim from the seat where the spoke nipple rests on one side to the opposite spoke hole seat.

I have seen certain pads where the entire friction material detaches from the back plate. Normally, this would just be perceived as “my brakes wore out in one ride” but I caught them in the act one time so have seen with my own eyes the friction material falling off the pad in a block.

The brake pads that I have seen fall apart are ssc normal ones, although I am sure they are not the only ones that suffer in this way. Most of the guys I ride with who use Superstar accept that they are cheap pads and assess whether or not they are four/five times worse than expensive pads.

I’ve gone round that loop and settled for using the manufacturer’s sintered pads in my brakes.

Built some 819s last weekend. Have worked with them for ages and love them as a rim. Easy to build and easy to use. I even have a set running straight pull on some Hope Pro III hubs.

r6ymy,

There is no reason you can’t do the same with 819s. I’ve run Conti vapors on my 819s tubeless. The thing is… that 819s are heavy. With all the extra mounting hardware they are a 500g rim. If you’re a weight weenie this won’t be nearly as good a solution as the Stans offerings. If you want a fuss-free tubeless experience then the 819 is a brilliant solution.

Agree broadly with TJ and Olly. The process with sintered pads is mostly in the category of work-hardening and doesn’t need the hot brakes to be quenched. Olly, the science says that drenching the hot brakes with water achieves nothing for bedding in. If you are achieving good results with your method I won’t argue against you continuing with it.

Don’t worry. This is just a temporary aberration and you will be back to faffing in no time.

I had this happen once with my 09 Rebas. Make sure the foam seals are fully lubed up and it is unlikely to happen again. Inevitably air is displaced in the lower leg when the fork compresses, but I think this is mostly caused by dry seals sticking to the stanchions.

DezB,

As assistant assembler and wheel builder… I like the Yeti best. It is a bit small for me to ride and conversely I find the S-Works is a bit big. Having had a quick roll around on a medium Enduro SL a couple of weeks ago, that struck me as being a better fit for the sort of riding I’d hope to get out of an Enduro, although more time with the large frame/short stem combo might convince me otherwise.

Performance on the trail doesn’t have much to do with my opinions. I like the look of the Yeti and it definitely has personality.

Scott,

Spotted and admired the PA when you arrived with it.

Gizzardman,

These forks are dual airs and not u-turns so we don’t have any markings on the stanchions although the internal workings are similar. I get to work on a few dual air forks and I expect them to have the top out position change when negative air is added. Usually the “suck down” that people first see is the top out bumper unsquishing as the preload is relaxed – once you get negative above a certain point it will definitely pull the fork down to lower levels.

Try emptying the positive and seeing how the fork sucks down. If it doesn’t suck down at all, listen out for a harsh top out in which case it may be the fork was misassembled without a top out bumper. It may need looking at.

The forks on the Yeti are the 2009 Revelation 426 Dual Air. They’re QR but still pretty tough and there are some bargains around on them.

You could tell the two new builds by the squeal of Avid brakes all over the hillside. I presume we got spotted giving the fork on the Yeti a quick set up outside Peaslake Village Stores although we managed to silence the Elixirs after a faffage stop somewhere off Holmbury Hill.

AFAIK, nothing fell off either bikes which is more than I can say for myself.

Proof that some of the technology was working has finally arrived:

Build time lapse video on YouTube

We’re going to be riding the bikes in 5 hours time so I’d better get some sleep.

Tech trouble with the wifi update. I’m just putting together the timelapse photos into a vid. Will post a link as soon as it is up.

Both bikes are built…