The word is that the Evo ones are not good for rocks/pinch flats, not tried them though. You can get versions with reinforcement though, I believe.

Why is everyone so bitchy? 😯

Ok, done a bit more research – I have narrowed it down to either a Small Block 8 or Racing Ralph for the rear I think. Maybe i’ll toss a coin… Anyone got an idea how RR’s size up compared to, e.g. Nevegals?

Whoever wrote that seemed almost bitter enough to be a STWer.

What tools do you need to service a HTII BB, and where can you get the bearings from? I tried searching the forum but couldn’t find the info … 😕

Sounds interesting… tried and failed to get an image via Google. 😥

Cheers for that – seems the cheapest option wins!

Lovely stuff.

Yeah, in reality I want between Nevegal and Nanoraptor, but seeing as most STW’ers are more familiar with Maxxis offerings I thought I would rephrase it! Larsen/SB8 were indeed my initial thought.

Hmm. the Maxxis range is pretty comprehensive. Anyone got any comments on the Ignitor or Monorail? The Crossmark is perking my interest, but I suspect it is probably too low-profile/similar to the Nanoraptor. I need a ‘halfway house’ between High-Roller and Crossmark I think… (yes, guilty of STW armchair analysis myself).

If only someone made a database of user reviews with dry grip/wet grip/cornering/rolling resistance/durability etc…

Buy less than half the price, buy twice, save money.

I’m after a Tora firm spring but they cost £35 – the fork was only £144! 🙁

Fair enough…

bleh.

If an object has a large moment of inertia about an axis, which is characteristic of increased mass at a distance from the axis, it will be more difficult to change the rotational velocity of the object about the axis in question.

In other words, it is harder to increase the rotational velocity of heavy wheels than light wheels. This will be felt most when pedalling to accelerate the bike, and on steep climbs when the wheels are repeatedly being accelerated from near zero rotational velocity.

It should be noted that this also means light wheels will slow down quicker than heavy wheels too, e.g. when rolling over rough terrain.

Plus, rotating mass is much more important the further away from the axle. This means that you will notice weight reductions in tyres, tubes and rims much more than hubs, for example. What you are actually trying to reduce is the moment of intertia about the rotating axis (I think), not simply the mass of the wheel.

I know someone who did something similar – he was climbing a hill and slowing a car down. When the driver got the chance he overtook, stopped in front, got out his car and called my mate every name under the sun. Stupidly the main point of his rant was that he was in a rush… but obviosly not so much of a rush that he couldn’t stop for a five minute rant.

Didn’t say they weren’t good…

Thanks for the ideas guys, will do my homework before purchasing. Major drawback with Small Blocks is that they seem hard to get hold of too.

Ok, enough positive replies so I bought em. About £12.50 from Wiggle, with clamps etc.

Maybe Campagnolo should start doing some MTB stuff again.

Cheers for the speedy replies! I will have a thorough explore of the Farley mount area when I move then. I did have a cycle through West Wood, but only found fire roads at the time – I did see one or two small tracks snaking into the woods, but they quickly became unrideable if you followed them.

Andy – sounds interesting, any idea when (i.e. what month) the trail building will commence?

I’m not quite that naive…

Interesting. In the context of frame vibration I would have referred to that as damping, but you live and learn.

Hysteresis? With respect to materials and loading isn’t that just another name for plastic deformation?

I hope that’s sarcasm

Can o’ worms.

Learning to manual yesterday. Pulled a perfect manual for the first time ever, but was so shocked I completely froze and couldn’t operate the rear brake lever. Looped out in very slow motion, and very comically.

On this evedince they definitely seem to be resin.

P.S F-Me pads are expensive!

I think there was a mag that reviewed a few 69ers, can’t remember the name though.

Aha. Clear as mud then. My immediate suspicion was that they would be resin. Will prob get a spare set of sintered in anyhow, maybe i’ll find some on ebay for pre-price-hike-prices. Or maybe I will start a thread asking how SS pads perform…

Well, they look a bit grey/metallic which would suggest sintered then. Don’t want to remove them from the calipers unnecessarily. Woohoo for sintered, I guess!?

I saw someone with seriously cut down bars on a fixie in Southampton the other day. Southampton!!!

Sorry soda, it was flippant humour. Serious mode on. I’m not really sure why it’s my responsibility to explain the appeal of hipster hybrids.

sodafarls – calm down.

wow, some people are angry.

Cool, any idea where can I buy them? I don’t recall seeing them in my usual on-line shop haunts.

P.S My argument was in favour of facing…

Yeah but you have to do up a bottom bracket really quite tightly, with a fair amount of leverage. Al isn’t the toughest of materials, so you could easily get a bit of deformation if the face/threads aren’t parallel.

Yeah that’s the other big diff… price!

P.S. No idea about longevity!

P.P.S SRAM 980 is almost as light as XT, 990 is ~XT weight.

Deore XT is ~300g for 11-34, ~250g for 11-32
Deore LX is ~440g for 11-34 (according to weight weenies)

If you aren’t a WW, prob doesn’t matter.
If you are a WW, the £/gram ratio is probably better than a lot of other components.