cheers

Thurman Merman, what you using for a chain guard on the 1×9 kaffenback?

thanks clink

thats 2 rather different answers!

Centaur 10 speed on my Jake, no problems here. I aint racing just trail riding. Seems to work just fine even when its got pretty muddy.

Just for balance I much prefer the shape and operation of campag levers to the shimano I used to have. If it's all getting a bit hairy I am probably on the drops rather than the hoods though.

2.25 ardent front and 2.1 advantage rear is exactly what I am using, really like it.

When it was dryer I had a crossmark on the rear instead

Also really didn't like advantage on the front

thanks for the replies

I guess I'd be looking for the smallest cheapest room I could find and flying back home to the Mrs at weekends

Waiting to find out timescales for this from my boss who dropped this clanger then went on holiday for 2 weeks :(

I ended my first comment with a wink ;)

lighten up man! If I wasn't in Cork today I'd be going for a ride with him

Yeah I know exactly how many abandoned as I was stood on the hill in a monsoon watching not very many cycle past!

did you see that ;) at the end of my comment there

it is a stupid end to a race I think as anyone not in contention has no incentive to cycle past thier team bus and up the hill

shame he wasn't so keen to ride in Cork on Sunday ;)

ok thanks, i'll go look at the alternatives suggested, doesn't sound like midges would suit

interesting idea

unabashed definately looks nicest

"RestlessNative, you in Cahir then? "

Clogheen, right at the base of the Vee climb.

Tommorow I am going to ride up the Vee in County Tipperary, which is right by my house, and watch some old bloke called Lance whizz past

got a pic of the elastomer thing?

not sure I need one in the cage as my chain doesn't come off anyway, but it sounds interesting

22/36 is spot on as you say

hmmmm cheers mick, off to do some googling :)

Just looking at that Surly makes me want to change the Jake for a cross check, thats some tyre clearance.

Would I need wider rims than just normal road rims?

Locusts are grippier than raze, but more prone to clogging in the wrong type of mud I think. They are a bit bigger volume than raze.

Raze are much faster rolling

I have a set of both Raze and locust and the locust have not been on the bike since I got the Raze about a year ago

I agree with Mr Agreeable, put a med cage mech on and shorten the chain so its just long enough for big/big to run nicely. This is what I have with a 22/36 and 11-32 and no bash, and I didn't move the front mech down as it shifts better with it up where it should be.

The shorter mech and chain stops alot of the chain slapping about too.

all good points

on the plus side its 7 lbs lighter than my Inbred :)

hmmm yeah JoB hit the nail on the head there

I run my maxxis raze at about 65-70 psi for the same thing

these guys

rjcxtreme

I found them excellent

yeah i dont mean just an 11 at the back I mean an 11-34

I make a 38×11 at 80 rpm about 21.5 mph, that's not bad actually…off to spend some time in ms excel with gear ratios :)

how fast will a 38×11 go at 80 rpm……off to try and work it out

run 130 on mine, up is fine, down is fun

I have no idea why I want a rigid 29er, and looking at that is not helping me resist

lovely

"iainc – can you come to a full stop at speed on the hoods if you need to?"

yeah i can too, especially since I changed to campag as the hoods seem to suit my hands better. just when descending I find it easier in the drops

I always descend in the drops for better control and braking, using the hoods is scarey

Well you already have the brakes I was going to recommend. I have the cheaper 520 and think they are fine running koolstop pads. The limit to braking tends to be the skinny tyres.

I had 717 and they were great, ended up on my mrs bike and I went for 719 as they are a little wider and give tyres a better shape I think. Depends what size tyres you want to run really.

Another Jake,great bike

damn looks like it’s all blocked from here anyway :(

from the top, flash, mitsy, ziggy, pushkin, spike

My excellent lab cross Zed. Dumped near our house by someone who just didn’t want him anymore.

I am rarely out of the big ring on road…..but then mine is a 46 :)

Shame Shimano don’t seem to do a 29t cassette like the lovely Campag, I use one on the back of my Jake on my off road wheels and with a compact at the front its a nice low gear.

Rear mech should be fine, set it up so big-big just works without exploding and small-small you might just get a bit of chain wrap, shouldn’t be in those gears anyway really

Just stick a 28 tooth cassette on or something and a longer chain, a 34 – 28 is about exactly the same as a 30 – 25 of a triple and closer cassette

I’m assuming he can borrow the bike for alot of training too? So that he can tweak it and get it set up for him. Just jumping on a borrowed bike for a 150 miles ride is asking for pain