Someone with more knowledge than me should chime in, but I think the only important thing is just the spindle length, so measure that then find the right equivalent in a sealed unit.

To make sure you get the right thing then you could just take all the stuff and your frame into your LBS.

Is it possible to reduce the travel on a marzocchi 55? The only one that has a coil is the RC3 though.

Rockshox sektors come in a 150mm coil, fixed travel or dual position.

Fox are all air now I think.

Sektors are your only option it seems, a little heavy and not ultimate spec, but still nice forks.

Why the preference for coil though? Air is going to be the only option is just a few years for all forks. (Other than really low end mass produced stuff).

Extremely worthwhile, if you decide you are one of the picky few who doesn’t like the slightly increased shift effort and wants to go back to clangy chain slap, you can just turn the clutch off. Simples.

45NRTH Wölvhammer for ultimate warmth and ultimate cost.

I agree.. how is it a Pike? It’s a Pike in name only.

The replacement for the old pike in the rockshox line-up is the sektor.

These are pretty incredible for that much travel in a 35mm stanchion that weighs only a smidge more than a revelation.

Maybe when I have a new frame, and these are a year or two old in the sales…

Finger tight will be fine, it’s just preload.

Anything you don’t particularly like about the RP23?

The DHX is badly overdue an update, so I wouldn’t bother with it. The CCDB is supposed to be excellent, but obviously pricy, and requires you to have a decent knowledge of what you want from rear suspension. If you’re happy to spend the time to set it up properly then it would be my choice.

Personally I’ve found that saddles with an upkick at the back of the suit me better, so I’ve got a rocket V, a volt, and a chrage spoon and like all of them. Saddles are such a personal thing, so maybe see if any stores in your area have loaner ones you could try out? Other than that, fit bone measurements are a great place to start.

Is it when riding or when you are off the bike and can actually push the swingarm side to side? On my five I could move the swingarm a few centimeters side to side when the pivot bearings wore out, so it could be your bearings need changing.

24″ wheels on the front probably don’t roll well enough over techinical terrain, hence why some bikes had them on the back only. That means dealing with two different sized tyres and tubes though, and people just went for 26″ bikes, so manufacturers stopped making bits for them.

No, just a hand pump.

Even so, wouldn’t both front and back puncture if the pressure isn’t high enough?

Source of the problem right there if you are pinch puncturing all of the time. The majority of your weight is over the back wheel, hence why it pinches so easily, especially if you have a 23mm tyre at hand pump pressures.

Stronger and heavier tyres will help, but you should buy a track pump first.

Amazed that people keep avoiding the obvious i.e. the fact that the bearing is rather exposed behind that Hope plastic disc.

No one thinks this is an issue because every single other bearing on a bike uses pretty much the exact same system!

Headset, suspension pivots, wheel bearings, all of them are cartridge bearings that are sealed as part of the bearing, and an outer cover of some kind which just snugs on top of the bearing.

My XT bottom bracket has lasted two years with nothing more than greasing the crank spindle. I’ve taken the cranks off about four times over those two years, and it still spins smoothly. Maybe your hope did fail on you early which sucks, but if you really think HTIIs are so bad, then go back to a square taper.

Why don’t you just helitape up the stays? I’d be pretty doubtful that they are really wide enough that they force you to ride constantly in an uncomfortable position.

Last time I had knee problems I thought it was to do with my cleats and position on the bike, but it was actually caused by not being flexible enough. Once I saw a physio and started stretching regularly it went away within a few weeks, and I didn’t have to change a thing about the bike.

If it really is that bad, go see a physio, and maybe get a bike fit done.

I’d be really surprised if that much knee pain was coming from just the bike, but you could take a look at the fit figures of the yeti compared to your old bikes and see if there is a big difference between them.

Wish I’d bought more pairs of Shimanho DX shoes though. Aaaagh! Why did they stop making those? They were classy.

The disgusting white ones? The new AM45s are a lot nicer.

On point, lycra all the time is the best thing for cycling, but if I’m mountain biking then I’ll have baggies over the top for some extra warmth and comfort. Bib shorts are just too comfortable for me to ever want to go back to normal clothes.

As for mtb helmet peaks I do find mine useful to keep the sun out sometimes, but I’ll still put glasses on to keep mud out of my eyes.

Not very useful for those of us that swap between regular and goofy footed

You can buy another bit to put on the opposite side.

It makes sense, given that most riders only need bash protection on one bit of the chainring.

The guide should be doing all of the chain retention work anyway, not the bash.

As long as you are happy with the reach of the 18″, but want more stand over, then a 17″ would be perfect. The new curved top tube helps as well.

As long as the rear mech has the right capacity for the 10speed cassette and front ring combo you are going to run it all should work ok. Someone with more experience here might correct me on that.

You’ll look like a tit, and almost every downhill race specifies a one-piece full face, so they might not let you compete in a MET parachute. Do yourself a favour and buy one normal XC lid, and a proper full face if you want to do rad downhilling.

If it’s just going to be wet then road tyres. If it might be slushy/snowy then cross tyres at a lower pressure might be a bit more confidence inspiring. If it’s icy, you’d be better off walking.

I’ve got a lifeproof for my iPhone 5, was expensive, but less expensive than getting my phone fixed if something happened to it. I only put it on for cycling stuff, but it’s great because it’s waterproof so I know it’s going to be protected even if it’s in a jersey pocket on the road bike bike.

It also means I can use the phone immediately instead of having to take it out of plastic bags or anything. I’d definitely recommend it.

You might be able to pick something up on ebay, but it’s so rare these days to get IS calipers, so you might be looking a while.

Superstar don’t have the right adaptor, you need an IS-PM F203.

Superstar nano / thru pin.
Someone else on the internet does them only in black for a little bit less as well.

Thomson or renthal maybe? Unless you go for enve I can’t think of any carbon ones that are 780mm wide. I don’t know if either those would be any stronger though, but I’m surprised the chromag ones bent that much after a crash – were you still holding on when you hit the ground?

Mine did the same thing, turned out something inside the damper was unscrewed and needed sorted. Got them serviced and new bushes at the same time, so it could have been worse.

Send them to your reputable suspension servicer of choice, don’t ride them in case you break something very expensive.

I’ve used kestral ones before, and they are agricultural in a way that they feel like they will last forever, but aren’t sophisticated in any way whatsoever. They also weigh a ton, so if you move your workstand around even occasionally you’ll hate it. They clamp just fine, but they aren’t really special in any way. The reason lots of bike shops use them is because they can be bolted to the floor, and then will just never stop working.

If that sounds like what you want, then go ahead, but for the cost I would personally go with a park tool stand. Maybe your needs are different though.

If you do have warm hands then Scott Minuses are super thin yet still warm. Just windproof though, not waterproof, but they do keep some of the worst off. I need to wear liners under mine, but I have real trouble keeping hands and feet warm while riding.

I can’t help you with the deity stockists, but check out chromag if you want great seatclamps and handlebars in matching colours. You would probably have to buy them from crc though.

Anyone know the weight of an XT shadow+ mech? I thought they were claimed at around 250g which basically would mean that Zee is barely any heavier

258g for a long cage one.

Cheaper shimano road shoes (RT077) have both fittings.
I don’t know about bling shoes, the fancier they are the less likely you are to want both.

You could always get one from your LBS, as long as they have an account with the importer. Expect to pay full retail, which is about £300.

bike-discount.de had the 27.2mm one last time I checked, so I would assume they do other sizes as well.

Yeti ASR5?

Another vote for the sunline here, but since they’ve gone out of business they’re a little tricky to find second hand.

That doesn’t hold water with carbon rims. Everything mentioned here is heavier than a light alu rim at 1/10 the price. The benefit of carbon rims is in the stiffness. Apparently.

I’d agree with that for super-light XC rims, it’s difficult to get something less than 270g in alu or in carbon, but up at the tougher end, things like enve DH rims save at least a little weight compared to similar offerings, and should be as strong, if not stronger. The downside is obviously the extortionate prices you pay for some very marginal gains.

About time really, since I’ve only ever heard bad things about the DHX air, and they really need something that could compete with a CCDB air.

How much are you willing to per per gram saved is really the question.

Enve AM rims have 30mm external and 24mm internal widths, weigh 395g according to the website, and cost £700 each.

Flow rims have 26mm external and 22.6mm internal widths, and weigh 470g according to the website, and are £60 each.

A new Flow EX has similar widths to an enve, and weighs 490g, cost about £70.

So that’s 100g saved for 10 times the price.

As for hubs, chris kings are 300g (rear) and 160g (front), versus hopes 185g front and 285g rear (claimed).
You could certainly save weight by going for something like DT Swiss 240s with enve AM wheels and aerolite spokes, but the cost would be crazy high.

Hope hoops with flows are about 1850g a set, while I9 AM wheels are 1650g, or enduro wheels at 1800g.

Mavic crossmax SXs are 1755g a pair.

You need to decide how lightweight, strong, and bling you want you wheels to look, and then figure out how much you are willing to pay for it.

If it’s the extra massive high volume can, there’s a small circlip around one end of it that needs to be pried out, and then it should just slip off if memory serves me correctly.

I just found the guide: pinkbike[/url] show you exactly how to do it, the whole video is worth watching, but the bit that you want is around 1:10.

Topeak mountain morph or lezyne alloy drive.

Either strip them down and take a look yourself, or send them away for a service to check if the damage is actually there. If the lowers are cracked, you’ll either need to buy some new ones, or some new forks unfortunately.