It should be ok? I’m currently using an old m770 chainset with just a 30t in the middle position, and it’s no bother – google tells me that this crankset is a 50mm chainline. I even manged to squeak in a 40t on a 45mm chainline road triple, but that had about 2mm of clearance from the chainstay.

Tour regulations say

A waste collection area is in place at the start and end of the [Feed] station. Riders are only permitted to throw their rubbish, water bottles and all other waste in this specific area.

In order to respect the environment and with a view to safety, it is strictly forbidden to carelessly jettison food, feeding bags, drink containers or any other accessory outside of the waste collection zone or any other place set aside for this purpose.

Which obviously isn’t true about bottles, though I suspect the majority of those are picked up by fans. As for gels etc, who knows.

But anyway, it’s about putting on a massive show for three weeks. Start trying to cut down on that, and you’re getting rid of race photos, coverage, police motos, team support, and so forth. Few less motos might be a good thing, but no rider is going to give up coverage + neutral/team support.

I’ve had it for over a decade now, though I’ve been very lucky that mine has always been relatively mild – mostly weight loss, cramps, + frequent trips to the toilet during flare ups. It’s responded well to medication, and I’m currently on humira which has kept everything under control really well. I’ve also never had any particular food triggers, and I eat enough gluten to make up for everyone who can’t have it :)

There’s a lot of individual variation – working out what foods and exercise and medication works best can be tough, but there are a lot of treatment options out there. Knowing what the problem is after a diagnosis will take away a lot of that uncertainty now you can face it head on.

Wheelbase around 1250mm ish?

Count me in the like it a lot camp. I think the plus tyres probably made more sense for a hardtail than a full sus. With 450 reach and 62 degree HA it’s actually not too extreme numbers wise.

I’m glad to see more and more people experimenting with geometry and travel!

It’s probably fine, but as above, don’t cover it up.

Jazz or Golf, I’ve done it without too much bother in them. I’ve got a Fiesta and it wouldn’t even fit my 26″ bike without a struggle, just due to the shape of the boot.

I know people used to do it with old (non narrow-wide) single rings once they started looking like a shark fin. I’ve found on narrow-wide rings they seem to start dropping chains more frequently before there is an obvious wear profile on the teeth, you could use a little chain keeper or something and then turn it around, but that seems unnecessarily complex.

Surely the simplest solution is to use a steel chainring that will be very cheap and last longer than your bike?

200×57 if my memory serves me correctly.

It spends the majority of my riding time on the offpiste stuff in the tweed valley, plenty of very steep muddy and scary stuff to sink your teeth into. I test rode it with the standard pike and 66 degree head angle, and it felt like the front wheel wanted to tuck in some of the slower speed corners. A little bit of trail figure calculation led me to this set up – the longer offset lyrik with a slackset keeps the trail figure as long as a I like it, with the benefits of a long (1250mm) wheelbase.

I’ll certainly admit it’s not everyone’s first choice! Having spent a little bit of time on a geometron and a pole evolink I’m a convert to that kind of geometry. It feels so much more stable and assured on the kind of trails where I’m pushing my (not so high) skill limit. Far better on steep and terrifying. I’ve taken in around some tamer stuff at whinlatter, and the plough through everything approach keeps a smile on my face.

If you like your bikes to encourage clever line choice, plenty of agile jumping, and not having to set up super high and early for every corner, it’s not gonna suit. But if you’re getting a 150mm travel 29er then why not go all out?

I’m barely 5’8″ and I went for a large and put a -2 degree angleset in it with a 160 lyrik. With the steeper seat angle and the closer steerer the seated fit is barely longer than my old much much shorter bike. The flipside is that when out of the saddle it feels like an absolute monster.

Trade-offs are that it does take a more concentrated effort to weight the front wheel and it needs a bit more muscling around flatter tracks. Put it on something steep downhill though and it more than makes up for it, while still climbing acceptably well for something with geometry similar to a downhill bike.

Mine came with a low compression tune monarch which has been rubbish and I’ve broken it after three rides, so a resized cane creek coil is going on there to give it suspension worthy of its quality as a frame.

Retro bike has the full klein catalogues archived, so that would be the place to look. Agree with those saying pinnacle though.

Stanton slackline?

I’ve used both successfully, stans tape was a little easier, only because it was the right width.

What rims and tyres you’re using is much more important than what rim tape you put in.

Sealed cartridge bearings? Just leave them. Any gains in lifespan from adding extra grease will be negated by the fact that a pried up seal will never work as well as an untouched one.

You’re better off just adding a little grease around them when you fit them so they don’t seize into the frame.

Love my A1 and poc octal. Found that giro helmets don’t work for me whatsoever.

I’ve still got it. I’m going to wait until my ride this weekend before I confirm I’m sticking with the Toupe, so I’ll let you know after that. I’ll give you first dibs, if you want.

That would be excellent if you could.

Rusty, I know my local Evans had the specialized butt-o-meter, but it is a relatively large one, not sure if all of them have it.

I’ve got a toupe on my mtb – the £25 one. It suits me a lot better than my old scoop did – was getting way too much pressure on my perineum before, now I’m much more supported on my sit bones. It is quite flat, and I find that there’s a bit of a sweet spot further back, it’s not quite so comfy if I’m scooted forwards. With the scoop I was having to get out of the saddle on any longish fireroad climb due to discomfort, on the toupe I can just sit down and motor away much more happily. Cut out saddles definitely work much better for me though.

mikey – if you’ve still for the romin evo for sale I’ll take it off your hands, I could really use one for my new road bike.

I’d keep an eye on it in a general way, but you’d have to be spectacularly unlucky for it to break there. Maybe check that the handlebars don’t hit the frame there? Don’t want it to get any worse if you do crash.

I’ve got a 2013 mega for comparison, and I absolutely love it. Went to the crc demo at inners and tried both – the 29er blew me away. I’d agree with everything Northwind says. The 275 was fine, not a bad bike, but didn’t feel special or radically different or even any better than my current bike.

The 290 on the other hand felt incredible, and got me into so much trouble just by being ridiculously fast and so fun to ride. I’m 5’8″ and was on a large 290 just to try out the reach of it, because I’m a fan of long and slack, and it was a great bike to ride with no difficulty in the tight corners of the inners downhill trails.

Mason definition/resolution or genesis datum – racy and stiff bikes, with space to fit 30mm slick tyres in.

I’ve got a poc octal, which has awesome venting, really exellent. It looks like the tectal should be similar, so it should be reasonably good. The only thing that would put me off is that the name sounds like rectal :lol:

Supertacky is the softest compound all over, so that would go on the front.

3C Maxxterra uses the supertacky rubber on the shoulders only, and has a (slightly) harder one in the centre, so that would go on the back.

The 3C is still pretty soft though, and honestly I’d use it front and rear, simply because the slightly harder centre knobs keep their edge a bit longer on the front, so they give a good braking edge for longer.

These days I always go for a dual ply on the back at least, and something tough on the front. It’s not massive hucks that do them in, it’s more like battering it into a rock garden just a little bit wrong. Supergravitys seem to hold up well, I’ve seen a fair number of exos get little cuts or slices that just won’t quite seal. For the sake of hassle free riding, especially if its almost all on the lifts, a DP on the back is worth it.

Make sure it’s non sticky compound though. Last time all I could get was a 3C DHRII and it went from brand new to ruined within a week.

Also tubeless is a must, unless you enjoy fixing pinched tubes constantly, or running 40 psi.

I’d agree with Jon Taylor. I had a set that came on a commuter bike, and I found that when braking it put a huge amount of pressure in between my first finger and thumb. The rest of my hand just sat flat on the palm rest and was generally a bit useless. Possibly a set up and preference issue though. I put on ESIs and was much much happier.

What about some of the new schwalbe aerothan evo tubes? Should hold up to reasonable mountain biking, but 1/3rd of the weight and size of butyl tubes.

Mine’s been pretty good all winter. 11-42 on a medium SLX mech – I had to put the b screw all the way in to clear it, but it does work with no modification. I would say that shifting was marginally less slick than an XT cassette, especially for the biggest cogs. But really, for the extra range and low cost I can’t complain.

I got a 2.35 rock razor into my slackline, and there wasn’t much room to spare but it never caused any problems.

Genesis longitude hits all of those, though possibly not the sleekest looking bike in the world.

Low price, one sentence description, single low quality photo, advertiser has only been posting for a month on gumtree? All pretty suspicious.

Why would you use tinned when fresh is so cheap?

In the summer, fresh ones are absolutely better, no question. But in winter when the fresh tomatoes in the supermarket are watery and flavourless, tinned ones are much much better.

My old one creaked, a little grease on the QR cured that problem. Less likely, but weren’t the swingarm bearing pinch bolts a problem area for cracking at one point? Give that area a good check over if the easier creak solutions don’t work.

Since we’re pretty much just posting pics of our own hardtails, which I am totally ok with.

Salsa or chromag QR, hope ones are utterly useless.

Headset bearings are integrated, you just dump the bearing straight into the headtube. I’ve bought them from here for stumpys and enduros before.

I’m reasonably sure that these are the ones you want, but double check, I’m not 100%.

I would generally say a year, but it does depend on the bike, amount of riding, and conditions too. What you describe does sound bit short, is it possible that some other pivot or bearing has gone instead?

I went from fox 36 to a 650b pike and it was about 10mm more, so it depends on the forks you have on already, and if you don’t mind the extra slackness. Your stem height will be a little higher as well. Tbh it’ll probably be absolutely fine unless you are very picky.

I had a shorty on all winter and it was fantastic, but the mary has gone on now that’s drying out a little, and I feel like the mary works that little bit better over rockier and more hardpacked bits. I’d have a minion on the front if it was going to be almost totally dry, but otherwise I think the mary will stay on for a while.

Rear tyre is just personal preference. Semi slick if you’re feeling confident, DHR 2 if you aren’t. If mixing tyre brands means not using a hans dampf, then that is a-ok.

I’ve used a tyre boot and a bit of epoxy on a sidewall split and it worked fine, same as putting an inner tube patch on the inside. I figure that even if the patch fails, the hole is small enough it won’t be catastrophic.

Don’t know about the minion SS, but I went from a 26″ 2.4 ardent exo, to a supergravity rock razor, and the RR felt waaaaaay slower and draggier. I suspect this was mostly because it was at least a lb heavier, but it wasn’t exactly a speedy tyre. It had maybe a fraction less braking grip, but it made up for it by far in the corners. I found that the ardent was fast but wouldn’t grip at all once leant over.

The only thing that concerns me a little about the minion SS is that is seems pretty light, especially when compared to a supergravity or grid casing. I’m sure it’ll probably be fine though, since I had an exo beaver on the back all winter and it was about the same weight.

I’ve just put the rock razor back on now, so you can all blame me when it rains this weekend.

Is it a 150mm drop? I know my stealth 150 has always felt a bit rough, far more than my regular routed 125. Even after getting a brand new replacement from sram it’s not exactly buttery smooth. I was talking to my lbs and they said that pretty much all the 150s feel that way, it certainly wasn’t damaged inside.

I’m sure that the one you’ve bought could use a service – it might be pretty dry inside. Also possibly check your seatclamp torque – reverbs can be sensitive to over tightening. You could try slacking it off a little bit at a time and see if the roughness improves.

A bit more info as to what exactly you don’t like about it would help, but start with:

25% sag
One token (it probably has none in it)
Turn low speed compression damping right down, only a couple of clicks from fully open
Rebound in the middle, then spend your first few rides adjusting that. Aim for a point where it’s as fast as possible without bucking or being out of control from larger hits.