Most LBS will have the adaptors in stock, Shimano product code SM-MA. Cycle Surgery charged me £7.99, which I think is about average.

GavinT – Member
One of the main reasons I stick with SRAM rather than Shimano chains is that you CAN reuse the same pins…

Thought so.

perthmtb – Member

…I stupidly made the chain too short (SRAM PC991 Crosstep) and now I have to add two links back in…

old_mtber – Member

At the risk of stating the obvious – why not just add another complete link to the chain from the bit you cut out in the first place?…

perthmtb – Member

Well yes, that’s what I’m trying to do in effect, but I have to join it to the rest of the chain somehow, and that involves either inserting a special rivet if its a Shimano chain, or using a powerlink if its a SRAM one, as you can’t re-use the rivets you took out these days.

old_mtber – Member
Ah yes I see your point. You need to obtain a new Shimano pin specific to your chain…

Am I missing something here? In the OP, perthmtb states that he’s trying to add links to a SRAM PC991 chain. So why would he need Shimano pins to do this? Unless things have changed
(chainged? :P ) since last time I bought a SRAM chain, they don’t need specific pins to rejoin them. Have they now gone down the Shimano route, whereby pushing out a pin enlarges the hole and requires a fractionally larger pin to rejoin the chain? If so, I’ll be bloody annoyed. I need a new chain for my bike and I’ve always bought SRAM chains (and Sachs-Sedis before SRAM bought them out) over Shimano for precisely this reason.

Check the travel adjustment screw on the lever blade itself, it’s a small (3mm I think) allen screw on the inner end of the blade, just where it hinges with the main lever body. Out of the box, mine were set to sit pretty close to the bars, resulting in them nearly touching the bar by the end of it’s travel. Winding the adjustment screw all the way out put the lever blades quite a bit further out from the bar to start with (but still easily reachable with two fingers, and I wouldn’t say I’ve got particularly large hands) and the end of the travel was much more where I’d expect it to be.

Oscillate Wildly

anybody know roughly what they weigh with dt swiss comp spokes? i cant find a thread on the whole of google that gives the build weight? just after a comparison as thinking of selling these[/u] to get something a touch lighter etc

I’m expecting to get shot down in flames here for failing to spot something blindingly obvious, but if you have them to sell, could you not just weigh them?

I think I’ve just had a ‘moment’…

DrP – Member

relliott6879 – the benefit of the new ones is the easy ability to ‘reverse bleed’ – sending any air bubbles upwards with the fluid.

Mister P – Member

The “top cap” is not meant to be removed from the lever on the newer style brakes.

granny_ring – Member

relliott6879, I used to bleed my old hope minis that way, thought you bled the new XTs from caliper up to the funnel with syringe first then attach a hose to the bleed nipple and let some fluid drain out until no air bubbles and keep funnel topped up?

I’m fully aware that the new generation of Shimano brakes can be ‘reverse bled’ and that a very clever man has undoubtedly spent a great many hours designing this system, I’m just pointing out that they can still be bled the ‘old fashioned’ way if one doesn’t happen to have a specifically-designed-but-frustratingly/infuriatingly-not-included-with-the-brakes plastic funnel to hand.

You can bleed them perfectly well without any buckets or syringes, I’ve got a set and didn’t use any of that stuff. All you need is a short length of clear plastic tubing with an internal diameter that lets it fit snugly over the bleed nipple on the caliper. Shimano usually provide this when you buy mineral oil.

1) Rotate the lever round the bar so the reservoir is sitting perfectly perpendicular to the ground, now undo the top cap and remove (noting in what order all the little plastic bits and bobs come off).

2) Brim the reservoir with mineral oil (with a steady hand, you can pour it straight from the bottle).

3) Postition some sort of receptacle (an old yoghurt pot is fine) under the brake caliper, push the plastic tubing onto the bleed nipple with the other end dangling in the receptacle. Now using (if memory serves me correctly) a 9mm spanner, undo the bleed nipple on the caliper fractionally whilst simultaneously pulling the lever back to the bar (It’s usually easier to rope in a bit whilst you do the caliper bit, or vice versa).

4) Once the lever is back to the bar, tighten the bleed nipple and release the lever. You’ll probably have noticed a few air bubbles in the oil that came out of the caliper, top the reservoir back up and repeat this process until there are no air bubbles (Gently tapping the caliper and lever with the end of the spanner every so often can help some small air bubbles shoot back up the hose and ‘pop’ out of the top of the open reservoir).

5) Refit the top cap and Bob’s your Uncle.

Shimanos seem to be a lot more suited to those who want to just take something out of a box, bolt it to a bike and forget about it. The problem comes if you need any spares, as Madison’s approach seems to be that a broken brake should be ‘fixed’ with a new one. Case in point? I have an old M525 Deore disc. The top cap for the reservoir on the lever has become fractionally mishapen and will not now form an oil-tight seal when done up, meaning the brake ‘weeps’ and would need constant fettling to be usable. Madison don’t carry spare top caps so, short of randomly turning up a VGC one on eBay (unlikely without having to buy at least the entire brake lever), that brake is now a glorified paperweight.

Hope on the other hand, whilst pretty pricey and more demanding of routine maintainence, will happily sell you the minutest part of pretty much anything they’ve ever made. They even offer a service whereby you can send your brake back to them for a complete strip, refurb and assembly, effectively returning your brake to brand new.

If you’re the kind of person who changes components fairly often, I’d say go for the XTs, they’re probably every bit as powerful and I’d be surprised if there’s even a bag of crisps’ weight difference. If you’re the kind of person who likes to buy something, cherish it like a favourite child and keep it for as long as humanly possible, go for the Hopes.

TooTall – Member
Most people who have trouble with kit spend too much time taking it apart and putting it back together.

Seconded! I have a mate who has been notorious for this as long as I can remember. Whatever he buys, he feels a strange compulsion to ‘tinker’ with it but never seems to quite manage to put it back together properly, things always seem to work better before he attacks them with the toolkit! It’s not just bikes either, I’ve lost count of the amount of cars that have been sat immobile for months on his driveway, surrounded by gearboxes, axles, suspension components etc covered with tarpaulins and always ‘just about to be put back together’…

My old bike had a Hope Mono M4 (180mm rotor) on the front and a Mono Mini (160mm rotor) on the rear. Both brakes were plenty powerful enough (as in lock the wheel with one finger) and didn’t squeal.

On my replacement bike for the old one that was nicked by a scumbag piece of lowlife chav filth, I’ve fitted 2012 Deore discs (180mm front and 160mm rear rotors). Both brakes are plenty powerful (as in lock the wheel with one finger) and don’t squeal.

My conclusion? Hope and Shimano both work just as well as each other. Hopes are a bit shinier/flashier and cost more, Shimano’s just do the job in hand and cost less. If money were no object, I’d buy Hopes. If I just needed a set of good brakes and was unconcerned with any ‘bling factor’, I’d buy Shimanos.

Dry trails are good!

I’ve been using clipless pedals for the last 17 years and have never felt the need to use anything else on any of my bikes. About 6 or 7 years ago I was talked into buying a shiny new pair of DMR V12s, after one ride I decided that I didn’t see the point and refitted my SPDs. The V12s then sat in my shed until late last year, when I sold them to a colleague for £25. He fitted them, went for one ride, decided that he didn’t see the point, refitted his SPDs and sold the V12s…

Is it the newer Hollowtech II type, ie with the external BB cups and the hollow BB axle? If so, I’d say go for it. Now’t wrong with Deore, I’ve used loads of the stuff on various bikes over the years and none of it has ever failed me.

Of course, it does depend what sort of riding your training/hacking entails and how big you are. I’m 11.5 stone wet through and don’t like my wheels to be more than and inch or two from the ground. If you’re (ferinstance) 17 stone and regularly ride off stuff higher than you are tall, you should probably look at something burlier.

By choice, I always use short cage rear mechs and triple chainsets on my bikes, with no issues whatsoever. I do have a long cage XT RD-M761 on my ‘main’ mountain bike with a 44/32/22 chainset, but only because that’s what came on it (emergency eBay purchase after my pride and joy was nicked), when/if it dies it’ll be getting replaced with a short cage equivalent. I run a short cage XT RD-M732 with a 46/36/26 chainset on my commuter bike and it’s never been anything less than perfect.

Surely a kitchen designer is supposed to design a kitchen around the needs and desires of you, the paying customer? You want trays? Then he should incorporate that into his design. You tell him what you want, not the other way round!

On the question of ‘to tray or not to tray’ though, it’s definitely ‘to tray’. They’re useful for all sorts of stuff, but primarily they stop the bottom of your hot dinner plate burning your lap!

Twitter. Never used it, never will, but half the world seems to be obsessed with it.

Never had a problem with the one I ran for 7 years untouched on my last bike. No creaking, never once came even the slightest bit loose and still had silky smooth bearings. At £8.57 per year, I’d say that represents fantastic value for money.

Get a Hope. After all, why wouldn’t you want a Hope headset?

Nothing against Hope, just the maintenance cost of new bearings and I’ll need the tools too. Are there any cup and cone hubs apart from shimano?

Cup and cone hubs are an ageing and increasingly rare technology, with Shimano one of the few mainstream manufacturers sticking by them. I don’t know why this is, but Shimano can be strange that way, they persisted with (very good) threaded headsets until they were all but obsolete but have never produced a threadless version. Cup and cones have a greater capacity to go out of adjustment and are more susceptible to dirt ingress, not so much an issue of on road bikes as it is on mountain bikes but a pain the arse regardless. You really won’t need to replace cartridge hub bearings too often, but here are some cup and cone hubs if you really prefer them.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26615

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=65298

Nowt wrong with a Hope Pro II , I’ve had a pair for years and they’re both still buttery smooth. An XT hub will be better than your 435 (I have one of those too and, like yours, it’s pants) but any cup and cone hub will always need more maintenance than a catridge bearing hub. If you’re dead set against Hope (no reason why you should be, but still) then perhaps look at DT instead.

why bother going for heavy 9 speed 12-36 with a 34 or 36 upfront, when you can use a light 9 speed 11-34 with a 32 or even better a 33t upfront

What’s the actual weight difference there? I’m guessing under 200g and probably quite a lot under. If I somehow managed to tape a 200g weight under your saddle without you seeing me do it, I’d be astounded if you noticed it when riding.

My bike now lives either in my office or in the spare bedroom. Excessive? Perhaps, but thieving scum have made me this way.

M732 XT thumbshifters and mechs on my commuter hack, along with an original Crud Guard (the one with the upright supporting legs).

It says ‘new’ Marzocchi post mounts, I’m just wondering how new? If it helps, I’ve got Shimano post mount calipers and a 180mm adaptor on a Marzocchi MZ Race post mount fork and they just bolted straight on. If you know anybody with post mount brakes, it might be worth test fitting them to your fork, if they fit they so should the adaptor in jimw’s link.

I’ve got the new Deores and I think they’re fantastic. Both the lever and caliper are far smaller and lighter than the old M525 Deore and they’re plenty powerful. Bleeding is dead easy too. Reference the rotors, I’m using Shimano RT75 rotors on one set of wheels and Hope (unsure which model, the ones that came supplied with my old Mono M4/Mono Mini brakes) on the other, both work just as well as eachother.

Do you mean the old Hope ‘screw-on’ hubs? If I recall correctly, Shimano, Suntour, Campag, Sach-Sedis and everyone else that made gears all used this system until Shimano invented the freehub and cassette.

I reckon the thinking behind it was simply to offer a platform that only required the cassette to be changed when worn, rather than the whole bearing assembly. Not sure how it actually works (somebody on here doubtlessly will though, failing that Google definitely will) but I distinctly remember trying to swap one from one wheel to another as a kid, whatever it was that I undid resulted in tiny ball bearings going everywhere and rendering the wheel knackered (Well, knackered to a 10 year old with virtually no mechanical knowledge anyhow!).

FWIW, I reckon the freehub and cassette idea makes perfect sense. In nearly 30 years of bike riding, I’ve never once worn out a set of freewheel/freehub bearings but I’ve obviously gone through a fair few cassettes.

EDIT: Several other posts have appeared whilst I was typing this!

I’d wait. If you go for the 2011 fork, every time you look at it you’ll end up wishing you’d got the Kashima coat instead. Mojo will retro coat any Fox fork with Kashima, but I think this costs more than the £175 price difference you mention. It’s also a lot of hassle to go to, when you could just buy a fork with it on in the first place.

Nothing wrong with 525 brakes. My colleague runs a set and has just downsized from a 203mm front rotor to a 180mm. Admittedly, the 203mm rotor was very much overkill, but that brake was as powerful as any I’ve ever tried, regardless of brand, number of cylinders or size of rotor. I’d say get the 180mm rotor and stick with what is a perfectly good brake, until such time as it actually needs replacing – potentially many years if you look after it.

As above. You can do them all in a day if you’re keen, but all of them in a weekend is easily achievable.

My commuter wheels have Hope rotors on them and they run just fine in my Deore calipers.

I also run a 180/160 combination and have done as long as I’ve ever had disc brakes. Interestingly, when I first opted for a 180 front rotor a lot of my riding mates told me it was overkill – 160/140 was the norm for XC then – but I reasoned that for a few grammes extra I’d rather have more powerful brakes. This combination seems almost to be the industry standard now though.

I use my bike for both XC riding/racing and commuting (with a set of 700C wheels on disc hubs) and I’ve never felt the front to be ‘overbraked’. At the end of the day, I’d rather have lots of power and only have to pull the lever lightly, than to be squeezing the lever hard but still wanting more braking power.

My office, first thing in the morning!

For the size, have you looke at you current post? it should have the size stamped / etched on it, alternatlivly, get yourself a set of veriner calipers to measure it

Helpful…

Urks, according to the Santa Cruz website, you need a 30.9mm post.

http://www.santacruzmtb.com/heckler/faq.php

A 23″ 1993 (I think) GT Timberline, rescued on principal from a mate who was skipping it on the grounds of it having a seatpost seized into the frame which he subsequently snapped trying to remove. A bit of heat got the the post out, which I replaced with an el cheapo and a £5 Specialized saddle from eBay. Over the years it’s gained hand me downs in the form of a Titec Hell Bent XC bar, M732 XT thumbies and front/rear mechs, a Crud Guard (the original one with the upright support struts) and a few months ago a day-glo yellow Magura HS33 front brake for comedy value! It weighs about as much as my car but seems to thrive on neglect and has been a faithful commuting hack for about 10 years now.

Dan, there is no adaptor on the caliper, we were bolting the caliper directly to the IS mount on the fork leg.

Jeremy, that’s what I’m thinking too. I’ve just tried his 203mm Shimano rotor in the No 8 caliper on the front and it’s fractionally too big, indicating a 200mm rotor size. We have emailed Hope and are waiting for a reply. Thought I’d check on here too though.

I didn’t realise there was an upper passenger limit, beyond which the tube drivers can claim they are working too hard and should be paid more. Maybe the police should try that, only arresting a certain amount of people per day, or the fire service refusing to turn up because they’ve reached their extinguishment quota. These guys get paid to ‘drive’ a tube train. If lots of people get on those tube trains then hey, it’s a busy day at work, it happens to the best of us.

Using the Olympics as an special reason is a bit precious too, what about all the shop keepers, street sweepers, bus drivers, bartenders, laundrettes, tatoo artists, escort girls etc etc etc who will also see increased custom as the world and his wife descend on That There London?

A few old pics:

My Kona, circa 2003ish before I revamped it.

Early 2006, just after rebuild but pre-Fox.

My old play bike. Built around a Trek 7000 (I think) frame that a mate was skipping. I had it stove enamelled black and built it up with a full Deore groupset, an RST 281 triple clamp fork, Magura HS33 brakes, Mavic 517 rims, Titec finishing kit and DMR V8 pedals. Everything bar the frame was brand new but bought in sales, I think the whole bike only cost around £500 to put together.

Bleeding brakes (especially after the debacle my friend and I endured the other day) and indexing rear mechs. No matter how many how-to guides I attempt to follow to the letter, I never seem to be able to get it spot on.

relliott6879 – Member

Hi guys. My bike was stolen today, from within a block of flats that supposedly has an electronically locked security door that requires visitors to ring a doorbell and be ‘buzzed in’ by someone from within one of those flats. What I now know is that theres is also a ‘trades’ button that opens the door anyway and renders the whole system useless.

I came on here looking for advice on what to replace my beloved Kona with, after looking aimlessly at manufacturer’s sites for hours and seeing nothing that really ‘does it’ for me. I stumbled across this thread and thought I’d share my pain a little

FWIW, the bike is (was?) a Kona cromoly hardtail (originally a 1996 Fire Mountain and owned by me since new), custom painted white, rear canti bosses shaved, IS disc mount brazed on and support strut brazed between non-drive seat stay and chainstay, FOX F80 RLT forks, XT cranks, mechs and shifters, silver Hope hubs, discs (Mono M4 180mm front, Mono Mini 160mm rear), ti skewers, stem and headset, Mavic XC717 disc rims, Easton EC70 carbon flat bar, X-Lite Enduro Stubbie bar ends and USE Alien carbon seatpost. Stolen in Waterlooville at around 3.30pm on Mon 28 Nov 2011.

Now that I’ve figured out how, I thought I might as well add some pictures. I know there’s probably very little hope of this turning up now, 2 months after it was nicked, but one never knows. Please ring or text me on 07747 595059 if you do happen to spot it.