+1 for Skin so Soft. All my cycling is around the Loch Lomond area which along with Skye and Aviemore is where midges go to die….and 10,000 pals come to the funeral!

Used it now for 5+ years and stops 95% of the buggers getting their teeth into you…oh, and Mrs Rosscopeco ‘loves’ my lovely soft hands…. 😉

Gra: I stayed in Aviemore in late spring at a family gathering thing and managed to sneek out early one morning and did the old Badaguish XC route. It’s a relatively well worn loop which the locals obviously frequent. The LBS were really helpful when I phoned for some local advice. The winter snows had just melted so the rooty / rocky sections were super slippy, if you’re lucky (the weather’s been great up there of late) the trail will be dry and therefore really quick. I found the instructions spot on, albeit I had to stop and fish them out of my pocket several times to re-read them. TOP TIP: Don’t forget the ‘skin so soft’, the midges will eat you alive every time you stop.

http://www.magneticjunction.com/mountain-biking-at-badaguish/

I’d go for the PUSH tune. I dont have it any more but I did this on my Orange 5 rather than swapping over to a new CDT shock from a newer Orange 5 I bought Mrs Rosscopeco (She’d never know :wink:) It transformed the pedal platform feel of the shock (never good on a single pivot) but it also made a HUGE difference when taking big hits. At the time TFT told me the old RP23’s were far better than the new CDT ones…sorry can’t remember specifically why!

No pics, but as per BigJohn I’ve been using a Cotic for the last year. Not the Soul but the ‘Simple’ which is the same frame but with horizontal drop outs. I literally havent been on my FS for over 9 months now it’s that good!

In saying all that I’ll be selling the Simple as a partial build within the next 4 weeks if you are interested!? I’ve decided to join the 29er revolution so upgrading everything!

Spec:

Cotic Simple 19″ frame
Rockshox ‘Coil’ Revelations QR UTurn 90-130 (Last pair bought directly from TFTuned)
SS rear wheel, Genesis hub, Alex Lite rims, 160 hope disk
Hope headset
RaceFace XC stem
Thompson 400mm seat post
Salsa seat clamp

Thanks z1ppy, well worth the read. I’m not desperate to sell it immediately as I’m of on Hols next week. It’ll be a nice project to come back to…

Decision time!

So, what would you recommend…split it up for sell it as a complete (ish) package?

Jambo: it’s a 68mm shell, so according to Shimano I’m using the correct amount of spaces. I tried taking one spacer out and I then can’t tighten up the cranks properly I.e. even when the crank bolt is tight there’s loads of play.

Just checked on CRC when I bought them….June 2011! They’re still technically within the Shimano warranty. Think I’ll give that a go and see what happens….they can only say no!

UPDATE:

4 days since I tightened up everything and after 50ish miles it’s loose again 🙁

Stripped everything down today, primarily to ‘de-grease’ everything and try a dry fit approach. On closer inspection the splines inside the non drive crank arm were showing signs of wear. Has anyone else had this issue?

I guess I have a couple of options:

1. Buy a new non drive crank arm.
2. Upgrade to XT or XTR.

I’ve always been of the opinion that SLX and XT were the same with the main difference being in the chain rings and decals?

Any opinions?

Thanks all for the push, guess I need to find some ‘brave’ pills 😕

Anyone here built up a Solaris with a Rohloff and can tell me what overall weight I can expect?

Got any photo’s?

Turns out the Hydrophobic coating IS on the new Radar Photochromic lens. I called Oakley UK and they confirmed.

However they also said that all their Hydrophobic coatings are not permanent…you need to buy the pen and re-apply the coating every 2ish months!

BB is spaced wrong, cranks arent sitting onto the axle properly.

I’ve used all three ‘spacers’ so I cant see this being the problem. The crank bolt tightens up fine, I’m just scared of overtightening it as I know then can break. It’s one of the plastic ones….maybe a new alu one from eBay might help?

Note, this is dealing with carbohydrate (CHO) not calories

GregMay…good point. I was keeping a rough tab on Cals, circa 250 / hr, but hadnt considered the CHO aspect. Based on what you’ve outlined, eating half of the soleen malt loaf could have been the killer. It packed a whopping 650cals which I ate in 5mins! From then on, the following phrase became my mantra….dont barf, dont barf, dont barf. The feeling of barfing never went away, although it got way worse when we were climbing (working harder)

We could talk about fueling on fat…but a) its going to mean you’re not going to be racing b) when it goes wrong its rather messy c) its not that fun.

It was b) for me…VERY messy. By the time I got home I was having double vision and was constantly shivering. I still couldnt eat / drink so I slept for 2 hrs and then managed to eat a bowl of cereal. Not to be repeated!

You need to train your stomach to deal with it.

How do I train it? Is it as simple as getting out on the bike and eating, or should I also be considering other products?

I’ve had my Omega Seamaster Auto for about 3 years now and had a few issues with it. It’s actually away getting repaired at the moment following a ‘bump’ that ended up with it running fast. The thing is on this occasion I cant remember ever ‘bumping’ it! This is the 3rd time it’s been back to the shop for a ‘service’. I’m really thinking of trading it in and getting a Quartz one as the cost to repair it could fund loads of bling on the bike! In fairness up till now it’s worn all the time which includes circa 80 road miles a week and 40 off road miles. I guess like us all I’ve had my fair share of unexpected meetings with terra firma, but going forward I’m going to join the £5 timex crowd and put Omega in a nice box when I’m out and about on the bike.

Beardie, not sure what the noise sounds like but i had really ‘creaky’ rear end on my 5 a couple of years ago. Turned out to be the QR tension. I swapped it for one of the bolt / nut skewers and it’s not ‘creaked’ since…..hope that works for you too.

Have to agree with bandito…I’m running my Rohloff in my Simple frame….it’s anything but ‘Simple’! I’m using a nutted axle which is actually working well with very little slippage without the chain tugs. It’s still a faff to remove the wheel. In fairness I swap my Rohloff wheel between my Simple and my Orange 5 on a regular basis. After speaking with Cy over the last few weeks I’ve just started looking for a large Cotic Soul which I’ll use with a chain tensioner….anyone have a Large Cotic Soul kicking about?

I’d recommend the Cotic Simple, because it’s got the horizontal dropouts I use mine with a Rohloff. I simply swap the rear Rohloff wheel with a Single Speed wheel when the mood takes me. I’m loving this frame so much that since buying one 9 months ago I’ve hardly used my Orange 5. I’m totally biased though…I’ve a medium Cotic Simple frame, freshly powdered in Cotic orange for sale if you’re interested 😉

I’ve now had my Simple for just over a year and can’t get enough of it. I run it with Rohloff hub. If you’re looking for a Simple frame I’ll be selling my other Cotic Simple 17.5 frame soon which has just been freshly powder coated in cotic orange?

I’d vouch for Purple extreme. I’ve used it on and off for the last 3 seasons up here in ‘sunny’ Glasgow! It never reaches the claimed 400miles per application but certainly keeps things running smoothly.

Robbo, I’m not sure where your riding takes place ‘geographically’ but for up here in sunny Scotland I cant look past my BaaBaa’s long sleeve / short sleeve tops. They’re used every day for my commute down to temps of circa -5. Below that I pop on my medium Icebreaker. Throughout the summer I simply aternate between my long sleeve top and short sleeve top. Cool in the summer, warm in the winter. They dry super quickly and dont stink after a couple of rides….according to the wife 😉

Splendid, it’ll be an orange one then! Now down to business….’Medium’ Cotic Simple in orange for sale…..!

Thanks for input all. Think I’ll just stick with the Cotic simple for the time being. The wheel change is in reality easy although a bit of a faff. After another 4″ of snow last night here in sunny Glasgow the rohloff and ice spikes tyres had to go on again this morning.

I’ve used a pair of these for the last 2 x winters here in Glasgow. Both years saw 4 – 6 inchs of solid ice for the best part of 3 months. My route is roughly 16 miles with 14 of these on trails which never get salted or ploughed. Only time I fell was when I stopped cycling and got of the bike….I stood on the ice and went on my arse! Cant rate these highy enough….worth their weight in Ggld. As ‘anotherdeadhero’ states, only down side is you’ve no excuses for not getting to work!