Great day at Dyfi today. Storm Hannah left some interesting conditions behind her. Stage 1 was running well and I had a decent run. Stage 2 was cancelled – disappointing as I’d perfected my plummeting tripod technique during practice. Was the right decision – it was almost impossible to stop on the steep chutes in the mud and would have been carnage if raced, despite being fun to ride. Stages 3 and 4 were horrible flagging mud feats and didn’t go well for me, but I was not alone in that.

Weather’s looking interesting for the WES round at Dyfi this weekend. I predict I’ll be spending half my time sliding down the hill off my bike!

Dyfi’s a tough round in terms of technicality for a first race, especially if racing stages blind. The complete opposite of Llandegla.

Looking at Strava, the Dyfi WES round was about 14km last year, so probably similar this year. I expect the Llandegla round will be roughly whatever a lap of the Red/Black route is.

Congratulations @blackmountainsrider and hope you heal soon @timbog160 . @snapperdan – your thoughts pretty much echo mine. Not my first Enduro but definitely the one I’ve found hardest. Being down the bottom of the results table is somewhat disheartening but I’m trying to ignore that and take something from the fact that I didn’t quit and rode well (for me) in places even if I struggled to put in any solid runs. I think Dyfi is going to be another tough one for me as (like Foel) it’s completely different to the type of tracks that I normally ride. I’ve also signed up for FDHR membership, so if you ever fancy a practice there with a fellow bottom of the table dweller then give me a shout.

Had a poor race at Foel today, but a thoroughly enjoyable day nonetheless. Just wasn’t having a good day on the bike and to be honest was a bit out of my comfort zone.

Long distance road riding. So it makes complete sense that the only events I’ve entered this year are all the rounds of the Welsh Enduro Series!

Cheers @snapperdan. Forecast is looking good for the rest of the week so I think I’ll leave the DHF on and sling the Shorty in the car just in case.

@snapperdan – trying to decide between a Shorty and Minion DHF (both WT) on the front for Foel Gasnach next weekend. Any thoughts?

I’ve seen a Range Rover around here a few times with the plate G155 MAG. Always makes me chuckle, but I still can’t get my head around paying money for some letters and numbers to put on your car.

“says MIPS” who are the only people who say MIPS does good as far as I know

They make some good points about the dubiousness of the ‘statistics’ being bandied about by Trek’s PR department though.

Had my first ride with the Troy Lee Stages at the weekend and so far very impressed. Was out for just over 3 hours and the helmet was comfortable throughout. It was a cold wet day though so can’t draw any firm conclusions about how hot/otherwise it might be, but it didn’t feel significantly hotter than my Troy Lee A1 open face. I didn’t notice the weight at all, the field of vision is excellent, it stayed firmly in place, it didn’t feel at all claustrophobic, and I could still easily hear other trail users around me. Drinking from a Camelbak was easily done by sticking the hose through the vent in the front of the chin guard (easier than going over/under the chin guard and could be done without thought after the first couple of drinks) – drinking from a bottle might be tricky. Eating an energy bar without removing/adjusting the helmet was also not a problem. I did most of the ride without eyewear, but put my 100% Accuri goggles on for the last half hour – there was no issues with fit/interference and they didn’t fog in the slightest despite a fair amount of riding on the flat and a bit of climbing.

I’m also looking for a LOCT or Mac-ride type seat if anyone else has one for sale.

Yeah, I don’t think they’ve run Stage 2 at Foel Gasnach in the WES before. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of stages gets cut down as in previous years if this weather continues.

Q2 – afraid not, but I do have some lovely 150mm RS Revelations (last of the 1 1/8” steerer models, 26”, 15mm axle) in excellent condition that I could be persuaded to part with!

Obviously fit is the main criteria, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth considering everything else. When buying a helmet I prioritise according to the features I want and then find the one closest to the top of my list that fits well. There’s a lot of variables, especially in the relatively new lightweight full face market. For starters, not all of them meet the same safety standards. Weight is also quite variable, as is ventilation. Then there’s adjustability (or not) of the visor, MIPS vs. other, how well they play with goggles, etc. To say ‘just buy the one that fits’ is not really the best advice.

light, strong, cheap. pick two.

“strong” helmet, interesting concept…

The first full face I bought in 1995 didn’t have a hard outer shell. It was light and cheap (£60). Strong, it was not.

I’ve just bought a Troy Lee Stage. Haven’t ridden in it yet though – will report back after the weekend.

If planning on incorporating the Gwydir (Marin) trail, then bear in mind that the second half of the final descent (and the best bit of trail IMO) is closed.

Also, the Fox Antifreeze is running at Coed Y Brenin on Sunday (kids event on Saturday) but I’m not sure if that will involve any trail closures.

That does seem strange. The latest manual makes more sense – i.e. get the lower crown position right and make sure there’s at least some stanchion above the top of the upper crown.

Given you’ve already cut your steerer, I’d just make sure your lower crown is in the right position and not worry about the distance between the crowns – I can’t see any reason for this to be particularly important and it’s not something that is specified in the latest manual. Of course, what the exact distance between the top of the stanchions and the lower crowns should be for your year forks is a different question as it may not be the same as the 163 +/- 2 mm for the current forks.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I didn’t understand your question!

What has the distance between crowns got to do with the lowers hitting the bottom crown? You need a gap between the lowers and the lower crown of at least the amount of travel, but that’s obvious right?

Distance between crowns has nothing to do with geometry, that is regulated by the position of the lower crown with respect to the stanchions. Current Boxxer manual states that the distance between the top of the lower crown and the top of the stanchion should be 163 +/- 2 mm, but this may be different for older forks. It also states that there should be at least 2 mm of stanchion showing above the top of the upper crown.

The only other measurements that it specifies in the manual relating to fork setup is that if the distance between the top of your upper headset cup to the bottom of your lower headset cup is less than 146 mm then you should use the low top crown, otherwise use the high top crown.

Great to hear. Good luck with everything.

So more pressure and less tokens after the upgrade? Is that right? I’m sure some people have said less air?

Assuming you’re not changing the travel, then that would be a good starting point. You might also find that you want a touch more rebound damping due to the higher air pressure and a little less LSC.

Reports qtip for being a big hitter with a second log in….

I’m intrigued. a) Why? b) You got anyone in mind?

Liking #2 but bike needs moooaaaaarr slackerer, longerer & lowerer!

About 18 posts in your case. I thought you might have stuck it out longer; maybe seen if you got some support. you just gave up too easily. You have to remember the forum isn’t what it used to be, threads like this would have been 9 pages by now.

Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want me to keep repeating my point of view endlessly for a few pages and then throw a full blown hissy fit and leave the forum altogether? I thought it better to admit that it doesn’t seem to bother anyone else and, given that I’m not really all that bothered about it, leave it at that (apart from a parting ‘joke’ to further illustrate why criticised the OP in the first place).

If you’d rather, I could aggressively defend my point of view ad nauseam. Perhaps I could even get a temporary ban, stir up a bunch of accusations of cyber bullying from all parties involved, and start a debate about the standards of forum moderation in the process.

More of a faux flounce I felt. A flouncette if you will.

It doesn’t take much for the flounce card to be played these days does it!

Can I interest you in a T-shirt?

Only if it’s Gnarpoon related

Okay, I’m clearly in a minority then.

I’m off to find some threads on other forums relating to closed topics on this forum, so that I can restart the same argument without having to add anything original myself.

Yes, I presume he did. He’s trying to warn people on bike forums that Sick are dodgy as hell, the context is in his link.

That there’s been a long running thread on here that is now locked isn’t really relevant. I’ve no issue with what he’s doing, seems quite reasonable to me.

So either (s)he’s new to the forum and couldn’t be bothered to check if there was a similar post, or (s)he’s well aware that there has just been a long Sick-bashing thread. Either way, this adds nothing to the forum, especially as they didn’t add any personal opinion or comment.

Your only contribution to this forum too OP! Did you sign up just for this?

Well that didn’t take long!

As much as Sick Bicycles seem like a bunch of chancers who I wouldn’t give a single penny, I don’t see the point of just linking to a thread post from a different forum, especially when there’s just been a long thread about them on here that was closed.

Would you link to other threads on other forums without any form of comment?

I hadn’t thought about this, 30% sag on a 160 fork is 48mm and 30% sag on a 170mm fork is 51mm, I dont think I would ever notice 3mm difference in the fork height! Time to bump up my Lyriks with a new longer airshaft.

Except it would be 7mm different.

The thing is that 10mm does make a difference in this case as it changes the shape of the shock curve. More travel = more progressive. It’s great that you’re happy with your upgrade, but for anyone thinking of changing to Debonair and/or increasing travel it’s good to try and understand how each variable is likely to change the shock curve, ride height, etc. and determine whether or not this fits with what you want to achieve. It’s also useful to discuss how settings such as sag, rebound/compression settings, pressure, and number of tokens are required to change after the upgrade in order to get the performance you want. No need to see your arse!

as I explained earlier in the thread there’s very little validity in comparing a 170mm OEM air assembly with a 180mm debonair “upgrade”

I see where you’re coming from, but I wouldn’t say there’s little validity in it. There’s just more than one variable that’s changed so it’s hard/impossible to pinpoint changes in suspension performance to either one of those variables. It’s still of interest though as many others will be doing the same or similar ‘upgrade’.

I’ve just bought a 160mm Debonair air spring to replace the 150mm Solo Air in my Pikes. I’m hoping/expecting that I’ll be able to achieve the increased mid stroke support that I want while also improving small bump sensitivity. I suspect that I will need to run a slightly higher percentage sag than currently (in addition to removing the 2 tokens currently installed) in order to achieve this and still use all the travel, but that the increase in travel will offset the change in ride height.

I did mine a couple weeks, 160mm pike. I had to reduce psi by about 10.

Is that coming from 160mm originally? If so, it seems strange that you had to reduce the PSI. I thought the idea was that the larger negative air chamber meant that you needed more air pressure to achieve the same sag, which in turn gives more mid-stroke support. Or are you running more sag in order to get full travel?

Are you sure about that?

He’s right. That’s why the general rule is to remove tokens when fitting the upgrade. It’s something to bear in mind when upgrading – forks that are at the limit of their travel (160mm for Pikes, 180 for Lyriks) will be more progressive than their shorter travel versions. Thus, increasing travel plus upgrading to Debonair is two independent things affecting the spring curve.

Whilst I would not want to defend any of the more bigoted or spiteful posts that have been made, I do often feel that several people on here are genuinely confused re sex, sexuality, gender,… etc. The whole area is relatively new and whilst some people have been dealing with the issues for all their lives, many are only now beginning to consider them.

Really? What’s to be confused about? Just because someone can’t imagine feeling a particular way about their own gender/sexuality/whatever shouldn’t prevent them from understanding that someone else does feel that way. Nobody has a problem with people asking questions to try and understand something – the issue is using dismissive/derogatory terms that make people feel bad or excluded.