I’ve had mine on my Solarismax and despite being over torqued and having wrapped electrical tabpe around my bars to inprove grip it moved down over time after some pretty rough descents. It ended up just resting on the headest I think and was fine like that. I don’t think it’ll do any serious damage, might justy want to protect with a bit of tape. You kind of want it as low as possible anyway, and it doesn’t interfere with the fork. The bag connects really nicely the straps and is very quick to take off and generally feels very solid when riding. It’s a recommend from me despite being a bit miffed that it did move ( I’ll check out that link above to see if I’ve done something wrong in the fitting but I can’t see what it’d be). I’m thinking of getting the rear rack too.

Thanks Weeksy, is that the one with the little cinch bolt on it? I could give that a go if you don’t need it anymore, cheers. My suspicion is that it won’t cure the creak though, that’s why I’m thinking of replacing the whole headset assembly. If the creak is happening as a result of poor bearing fit and so the bearing moves under load would people consider that a warranty issue? If I endo it creaks very loud and doesn’t inspire much confidence! Pretty sure it’s not the forks as they came off another bike and never has a squeak out of them. I have to say I’m not a fan of drop in bearings in a carbon frame.

@walleater do you have a link to the top cap you replaced the knock block one with? I’ve ground off the tabs on one of the spacers so I can use a normal stem but I’m getting quite a bit of creaking from the headset so wouldn’t mind replacing the whole lot to see if that helps…
What did you do with the little tab that screws into the frame? I have to say my top bearing fit doesn’t seem too precise, am wondering if that’s where the creak is coming from.

I’ve got a pair of terrenos in 2.25 I think that I’m going to shift if you’re interested?

If anyone else has some bird blank forks they want shifting I could be interested…

I’ve just had a quote from cerakote up north for some 38 lowers. £100 plus return postage, seems very reasonable. Quotes for a respray start at 150. But I think they have to be stripped back in some sort of dip first so if there’s a concern on that front…

I’ve just been through a lot of research and chainstay clearance is the big issue. I got a Second hand voodo bizango and it just works. You need to space the motor out by about 3mm to clear the chainstay. But a great donor bike I reckon as there are loads of second hand good condition ones on eBay and the spec on them isn’t bad.

I’ve got 2021 Pike and Lyrik ultimates, the lyriks feel amazing, very supple, just a lovely feeling fork. The Pikes are taking a bit more time to dial in. Bought them second hand so I’ve just given them a lower service, new wipers, swapped the c1 spring to the older b1 and removed the top out bumper to increase the negative chamber volume. Feeling much nicer in my carpark bounce around now but haven’t taken them on the trail yet. Having to put quite a bit more air in now – close to 100psi (I’m around 76kg all in) to get support just off curb drops but still feel pretty good off the top. If I had to recommend one at the moment though it’d be the Lyrik.

like the OP though, I’d be interested in getting any more recommendations. Definitely want to explore the lakes by MTB some more.

@Kramer thanks, I’ll put up a separate post about it to try and get a bit more info to see if it’s worthwhile trying to figure out, could easily spend all evening getting lost!

Are you planning on the full 3 passes or dropping in from one of the cheeky options?
If full 3 passes then I’d definitely still go if the weather is good.

Not sure really, never ridden in the lakes, just heard that one was good so thought I might give it a shot. What are the cheeky drop in options if you don’t mind sharing?
Also I take it Helvellyn would be a silly option on a bh weekend?

Any tips on the off piste at Grizedale? Was thinking of having a look at that too..

Weather permitting I was thinking of heading up to do nan bield or something similar next Saturday, but given it’s a bank holiday will it be too busy with walkers to bother?

What i can’t get my head round is folks posting snippy little comments on a thread about bikes on a bike forum.

100%!!

Yeah Andrew Major’s write up seems pretty positive but he does seem to go for more left field choices that might be considered a bit on the niche side of things…
At first I read you could get a new pike ultimate for £400 which would have been a no brainer! But even so that’s a considerable saving over anything else. Enjoying the rs kit I’ve got at the mo tho it’s not the latest stuff.

https://nsmb.com/articles/the-r7-pro-fork-manitous-magic-toothpick/

something a bit different?

I think it was bikester Matt, amazing deal but over a year ago so unlikely to be still on!

The00 what is falling apart?

Cheaper but out of stock…think I’ll just go with Elro. Ta

Thanks, I hadn’t. Still £36 for 2m of hose! I only paid £100 an end for the whole brake!

Yeah I hope they’ll check the spting too while looking at the damper. Like you say, the noise isn’t coming from the spring but no harm in checking grease levels while they’re at it as it seems they’re often over greased from the factory. I imagine they’ll do that.

For other people’s reference I’ve just spoken to Silverfish who said if I’m concerned about the noise to send them in and they’ll strip them down for me under warranty. Can’t complain about that.

Yeah the level of noise doesn’t seem right. It sounds like a shock in need of a service… Sounds like it’s on the damper side, just on the rebound stroke. Might do a lower service then to see if that helps. Also thought maybe they need to be stood upright to or a while as have been horizontal in a box for a while.

Cheers. I think I might ride them for a bit and see if it settles down. If they stay that noisy it’s going to do my head in! Haven’t read that they are a particularly noisy fork so got me thinking if something was up with them..

I guess it’s too much to ask for a colour matched front fork unless it’s black 😢

Get it sprayed?

Not off the shelf but pair a yeti arc frame with a carbon fork? Reckon that’d be a fast grountain bike 😜

Thanks. Also your whole description of the different routes didn’t show at first but I’ve just seen it and that’s really helpful. Looks like it’ll be an early one if I go in the summer then… Cheers

I imagine people will get agitated if you cycle during the ban. People get agitated at the mention of pushing up during the ban, so I doubt you’ll win friends by riding.

Is that just the llanberis path tho or any route?

What’s the best route up and down Snowdon? I might try it later this year.. also I’ve just read that there’s an unofficial agreement not to bike it between 10 and 5 in the summer months. How strict is this? Ok midweek?

Yeah it’s chainstay clearance. Similar spec on my solarismax but I think the numbers are slightly different. I run a 52mm chainline with a 34t on that. Shifts perfectly. I run a 55mm chainline on my full suss because of clearance and it’s definitely worse than the 52mm. Lowest gear skips in off when back pedalling. Pain in the arse, so I’m going to try downsizing the chainring and moving inboard on that one. Would go with the narrower chainline if I was you.

Great musician too! 🙃
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCxHLsiwQBXFIIgXmxkRnzHA?feature=gws_kp_artist&feature=gws_kp_artist
RM.

Thought I’d have a look to see if this was what the thread was about! Worked on Johnny’s house on the isle of Eigg a few years back. Love his music …

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/topeak-racerocket-mt-mountain-bike-mini-pump?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&sku=5360429443&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=base&gclid=CjwKCAjwq-WgBhBMEiwAzKSH6LIvNTGk-t57n-WtMpfs9pwdRyIeZEN5W2_szs-ojwhWsdyBPDZuuxoCIEoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Much better than the Lezyne it replaced that got notchy after a couple of uses. Fits in my evoc hip pack

Thank you. I will pm you in a bit for more info.

Also is there any potential to damage the frame/bb with the kit?

Ok that’s good to hear. Is there some sort of adjustment to the chain line in the kit or is that a case of using different offset chainrings?
Also where did you purchase it from?
Cheers

I don’t suppose you could elaborate a bit more about the q factor? My concern was that I’m sure I read somewhere that it’s non boost spacing cranks on the kit but my Solarismax needs boost cranks to clear a 34t chainring, or with non boost it’s 32t for clearance on the chainstay. The kit comes with a 42t ring I think so obviously it would need a new ring. Do you know what the smallest ring you could fit on it is? Sorry if these are basic questions but any help much appreciated!

Unfortunately my riding time is fairly limited so it seems a bit excessive to have 2 full squishes! But the 2nd hand market seems to have nosedived now and I don’t want to sell it for less than I think it’s worth so I might well build it up again. I thought the stage Evo would probably make a slightly better companion being even shorter travel but it would mean selling/buying a new (second hand) frame. Probably not worth the hassle. Any thoughts on shortening the shock strock to reduce the travel? Worth a play? Any benefit?

I have one of the last iteration of the stage 5’s, the 2020 model. It’s very close to all the numbers on the current stage 6 Evo, especially if you stick a 150 fork on it. Really liked the bike but I then bought a trek slash frame as I wanted no excuses on the rougher stuff/jumps/drops plus I want to learn to manual and the chain stays on the s5 are unusually long, perfect for pretty much everything apart from manualling! Tried to sell the s5 frame on but have had little interest so might build it up with light parts and fast tyres to put as much distance between it and the slash. Really liked it.

That’s a pain. I got mine from Amazon I think. Worth checking there…

A lot of the trails in the woods are difficult to find without going with someone who knows the area. I’ll try and post a map if I can.

That’d be great, cheers

What do you recommend doing on the MTB around Darwen tower/ tockholes way @flyingpotatoes ? We’ve got a job over that way so might be able to get a ride or two in at some point.