Before I sold them and got some silver ones

That Jones is truly disgusting, I don't care if it's uber niche…it's shite

>Leslie Chow?

no. who

Gay Chinese bloke from The Hangover, very amusing character

The Park ones are far better than the Minoura offerings, we use both in the shop and the Park are much more stable. I bought a Spin Doctor one for my dad a few years back for about sixty quid, I use it a fair bit in our garage now and wish i'd have been a bit more generous and splashed out on the Park one!

Cheers for the input all, like the look of the Sennheiser cx 300 so will try them out

Steve_b77: you've obviously never been to the Isle of Man then. You should come, it's lovely and quiet (apart from the last week of May and first week of June when it goes berserk with bikes) :D

so either I'm a complete weakling, or my freehub is jammed in there solid.

Most frequently asked STW question maybe? If I had a dollar…..

A harrowing story but great to hear he's on the mend. The local press have pretty much left him be over here so it's good to see how well he's progressing

Bump. Anybody?

I'm 5ft 8in (30" inside leg) and ride a 17". It's perfect for me, reckon a 19 would be correct for you. I love mine and like showing it off (the bike, that is)

It's been an incredibly emotional day…..even the cake's in tiers

Bur dum chi

Guy in the shop yesterday:
Can I have two 26 inch inner tubes please

Me:
Of course, would you like presta or schraeder valve?

Guy:
I'll go for the big-valved ones…my mate told me that the thin valve ones are made out of a rubber that lets air escape through it and you have to pump up your tyres before every ride

Me:
Yes that's true, it's a wonder we sell any of the thin valved ones in fact. That'll be £9.98 please :roll:

It's old style XT, therefore excellent stuff

You also get 10% of the value of the RRP of the Stumpy in accessories with their spring reward scheme until the end of the month

I will never get the 36 seconds it took to watch that vid back….ever. I feel robbed

Top Fuel will be significantly quicker up hills but twitchier down them. Depends what forks you've got to go on them too. Top Fuel frames are intended to be used with a 100mm fork, whereas the EX 9 frame has an oversized head tube so either needs a 120mm tapered steerer fork or a semi-integrated reducer headset

If it ticks the right boxes in terms of kit compatibility, i'd go for the Top Fuel for it's pace on everything but gnarly descents, it's ideal as a trail bike for most parts of the UK

A new chain won't run on a worn front chain ring, you usually have to replace at least middle and small rings at the same time as replacing your chain & cassette to avoid chronic chain suck. PG990 cassette and PC991 chain from CRC comes to about 80 quid – top quality kit at a very decent price. Worth getting XT grade or Middleburn front chain rings as they last much longer than lesser ones

46cm (medium). The Zesty and Spicys come up particularly big, i'm 5ft 8in and my mate's 46cm Spicy feels MASSIVE

BikeandBaconButty – they're £28 on CRC at the mo, if you're still selling them, how does £20 posted sound?

Email in profile if that's any good to you

I'm pretty green to the whole torrent downloading thang, but desperate to watch this series. Anybody got a link to where I can view it please?

shimano are user servicable, drifting the bearings out and pressing some new ones in takes about ten minutes

Popping the covers off, cleaning and regreasing takes about five :D

'Do not disassemble' my arse. No pun intended :wink:

Seriously thinking about getting one of these bad boys. Anybody got pics of their 456 Strong Blue/Creme decals builds?

I've got a Thule clip on high (9105 model number I think), the bikes are up in the wind a little but are well clear of number plate and lights, very well made and easy to assemble. Solid as a rock once installed. I've dealt with a fair bit of Thule stuff at the shop I work in and think it's excellent stuff across the board. Not as cheap as others, but you get what you pay for

Not got the riding style or panache of Macaskill, but i'm liking his shirt and waistcoat combo

Stumpy:

Only 2010 Stumpy FSR we've had back has been an Elite that the lacquering on the down tube had all stripped off. We stripped the parts, sent it to Spesh in Surrey and they sent out a brand spanking new Carbon Expert frame and Brain shock (US version) out as a warranty replacement, as they didn't have any Elite frames in medium left.

I am liking that tapered head tube on the 29er, hopefully that'll trickle down to the 26 inch aluminium versions next year. Think Spesh are missing a trick by not speccing an oversized head tube and bolt through fork on a 140mm travel bike now that they're so readily available

That's called ovalising. If you're lucky they'll be able to rub it down with some wet and dry and the new bearing will still be an inteference fit. If you're unlucky your hub is fubarred and you'll need a new one.

Bon chance!

What he said. If you have to shorten the hoses you'll need some DOT 5.1 to bleed them with though

In truth, I'd love to know the experiences of anyone who's hammered a recent FSR around Alpine singletrack for a week (3Cs type stuff)

I used my 07 Stumpy Expert for a full four month season in the alps, guiding for Bike Village a couple of years ago and can honestly say that I can't imagine a better tool for the job. Climbed fantastically, especially in rocky, technical going and went downhill like a scalded cat, I ran it with a 32mm Talas 100-140 fork up front. The new Brain is even better, the 'clunk' has gone and the reliability is good. I now work at a Spesh dealer, we've sold five or six this year and everybody who's got one has come back beaming. As a comfy trail bike with enough adjustability to race in xc and marathon events, it's awesome

They come standard on a lot of Lapierre Zesty and X Control we've currently got in the shop, they feel very solid but if you're after a short lever throw then they're not the brakes for you. I'm the same and like a nice short throw and positive feel and have deduced i'll never get on with the RX. The lever feels very far away from the bar and although you can adjust this, all it achieves is to move the whole lever action closer to the bar, thus trapping your fingers.

Sorry to piss on your chips mate, best go for a pair of Hope X2s, i've just got a pair and they rule!

Just p1ssed myself at Qwerty! :D

I'm with Dibbs, you only have to breathe on my X0/XTR cable set up and it shifts like a Cadbury's Dream.

The shifters do come with cables but i'd whip them out if I were you and keep them as spares. Two minute job

Also consider Bike Village. Based in the foot of the valley below where TA work out of, the Sam, Lyndsey, Tom and co have a thirst for epic singletrack, amazing food and cherry tree hammock lazing in the evenings. They've been doing it ten years so know just about every inch of singletrack within about fifty square miles and in some cases, beyond. Being in the foot of the valley also has it's perks: always down hill all the way home! There's even a piece of singletrack that ends at the end of the garden and you pass through a gate made of a Cove and a GT to get back in!

Worth a look, anyway

bikevillage.co.uk

The Bonty super juice is complete and utter tosh, you're wasting your time with it

There's a 1mm spacer between the 1st and second gears not attched to the spider, but that's it

If you've got the LWB model with sliding side doors then a towball mounted rack 'Hang on' from Thule is recommended. They do them in 2, 3 or 4 bike versions. If you've got a ladder to the roof of it then a roof bar rack, again from Thule could be the answer. The Proride 591 is very good, but you also need the cross pieces and a fitting kit, assuming you've already got front to back roof bars on it as standard.

http://www2.thule.com/Thule/Page____83213.aspx

Sounds like a stupid question, but isn't the idea of having a van that you put the bikes inside?

Nice GS JK

link?

Tech X2 and Race X2 are replacements for old mono/mini. Basically they are the 2 piston, XC suitable brakes (Race model is lighter)
Then you have Tech V2. Again, 2 piston, but with a wider caliper body and able to run twin ply, vented rotors.
Tech M4 are the four pot, beefier versions.

The Tech lever and caliper assemblies are pieces of CNC'd beauty, i've just fitted some Tech X2 with braided hoses and floating rotors, they look the business but can't comment on performance yet as i've been poorly since I fitted them!

Hope that helps

We put it in 12 inch pram tubes all the time at the shop, works a treat (either that or they go to the other bike shop in town because their baby is covered in sealant)

+1 Hope Matchmaker clamps & X0 shifters, I couldn't get them in a good position without the 2 in 1 clamps. They're a lovely piece of kit. Running X0 instead of X9 gives you the option to adjust the cable tension paddle to your desired position, which I also found necessary