I’m running 1 band and one token at the minute and it feels pretty good. Had to up the pressure by 40psi to 220. Might try 2 bands and dropping the pressure a touch. As is the bike feels alot more efficient than before, doesn’t bog down as much on pedalling and seems to carry speed better. I’d say if you’re finding the pressure too high then sticking all the bands in sounds like a good idea (4 in total though right?). How many tokens have you got in there? I had 3 in before and dropped it to 1 and it’s still more difficult to bottom out because of the pressure increase. Also might be worth backing off lsc?

Saw this thread a while back so thought I’d post up my experience in case others are considering it. In short, definitely worth it for me. Just installed one on my stage 5 and it feels great from the off (best guess settings) with lots more tuning options to play with. Without wanting to sound like a piece of marketing regurge, running the same sag it’s more supportive in the mid stroke and harder to bottom out despite removing 2 tokens. Oh I missed supple off the top. What it says on the tin innit.

@aberdeenlune and @murdooverthehill do you use your silca tattico for road or mtb? Or both? I’m after a new pump as my lezyne got notchy after its first use so went back. Looking for mtb use tho so high volume low pressure..prefer to buy something quality and be done with it.

I put a couple of vittoria terrenos in 29×2.25 in the classfieds a while back. Could suit if you interested pm me.

Yeah I’ve avoided strava so far but it’s probably good for this sort of thing. I know you say it’s not complex but I’ll find a way of making it so.

Sounds good. I didn’t make it up yet but hopefully soon. Thanks for the link above, sounds like there’s a good thing going on there with the council.

Yes, the element of choice does bring its own issues!

I think you’re right Johnnystorm, kids have got to be inspired to do any activity or else it will be a thankless task. She rode a friend’s kid’s voodoo nzumbi and was way more interested than on her current bike which makes me think getting the right bike (for her) could make a huge difference.

It’s not that she’s dead against cycling or doing it with me (I think!), just that it’s hard around here for kids as it’s steep and she hasn’t been introduced to cycling from an early age so hasn’t built up to doing the hills so it’s a bit off putting. But she’s getting bigger and stronger now so I think she could get into it with the right bike. She’s currently got a rigid frog bike which is getting too small. It’s light but doesn’t have a great gear range and I imagine will feel pretty rough on anything more than a canal path. Hence looking for something with suspension.. Most of the hardtails I’ve been looking at around that price range have a crap fork on them that probably won’t feel much better than a rigid fork but the Titan x actually has half decent suspension on it. Just don’t want to weigh her down with an anchor that makes the hills even more unappealing.
Travelling to cycle is difficult as we have young ones too..

Yep totally understand re being considerate and riding at quiet times etc. I’ll be heading over alone and on a weekday evening.. thanks for the tips above and I’ll pm you el_boufador. Definitely keen to find the interesting stuff…

DavyBoy, do you mind elaborating on the Sowerby riding? I live in Hebden and generally ride from the door but I might get adventurous one day and go further afield!
Also what happened to Havok? Was planning on checking that out at some point..

@singlespeedstu

I bought the red ones I think, but that was based on nothing more than a bit of internetting. I think the more expensive green ones are more of a race compound which I don’t think I really need.
I’ve only just bought the curas so will use the stock pads first but got extras as they’re a bit harder to come by.
Bikester shipping isn’t too pricey either and came within a week.

Don’t know what you want to pay for cura 4 pads but I bought some extra galfer ones at an ok price from bikester when I bought the brakes. Might be worth a look.

Evo cycles had hayes in stock when I spoke to them a couple of weeks ago.

Just picked up a pair of cura 4’s from bikester for a good price. Was tempted by the tech 4’s but the formulas were half the price..

Bike sounds ace btw

I’ve had some great ‘flow state’ rides after a beer or two!

Another recommendation for xr4’s in 2.4 here. Great balance between grip, weight, volume and a good price too.

Ah shame you’re on a small, I’m in west yorks on a large s max and you’d have been welcome to give it go. Anyway I find it a great bike for local riding, tyre choice makes a big difference to how the rocks feel!

Ha ok good to know👍
Anything else as another option or is this the only thing worth riding in what is quite a large radius?!

Love mine for riding, the waist belt is really good. Don’t run but can’t see why it wouldn’t be good for that too

Thanks for that. Rob I take it that strava distance is for there and back? Is it easy to navigate with a map? Don’t have a gps or particularly want one… Also howcondition dependant is it? Ie will it be miserable going if it’s had a bit of rain on it?

Thinking of other options. Any opinions on Stainburn? And a bit further than I’d like but what do people think of Dalby?

Anything else…?

Cheers

I might have a pair of basically new mallet e’s (long spindle version) up for sale. Pm me if interested

Blimey Jordan, that’s good going! Hope you heal up soon. Unfortunately my missus came down with a fever on Saturday and was too ill to look after the kids on Sunday so I had to miss out. Absolutely gutted.
Now wondering whether to go for the Llangollen event in May but I’m a bit worried I’ll be out of my depth on that one, looks pretty steep. Anyone done it before?

Sounds like a good way to roll, Jordan :) I’ll keep an eye out too.
Tickets did sell out fast I think, I had a hunch they would so I set an alarm! It seems it’s at the softer end of the racing spectrum so a bit more accessible to the average punter (I hope).

Thanks for the info. I don’t think I did the downhill line when I went before, not quite sure how I missed that. Pretty sure I did the Hope line though. Anyway, I’m looking forward to it, if you see someone on a green Orange say hello :)

Btw I think 2 of the stages aren’t on the normal circuit, did you get to practise on those when you went?

Nice one Jordan, good to hear hear I’ll not be the only first timer! My plan was to ride a lot and get fit beforehand but between family and house renovations that’s gone out the window!
I thought it might not be great for watching..
Yep mashup Chakaping, so as Jordan says no practise but as many runs as you want on each stage. Just 1 day.

Ok. 34:21 gives me a very close round up to a whole chain link too so it looks like it’d work well from a tensioning perspective. I am worried about the hills though, it’s pretty steep here! (west yorks) But I want a challenge and to get fit and would find it frustrating if it’s too spinny..
I’ve read 32:20 is pretty standard for mtb and 34:21 is very close to that so probably a good start.

This is handy for getting somewhere close to the right ratios for your frame’s chainstay length

That’s really useful thanks. Do you know how close you’d have to be to a full link size to be able to use the push up tensioner? Anything up to .5″ out sound ok?

I’m not massively heavy so it sounds like either chain thickness will be fine. That kmc chain is bloody cheap which is good!

Some great advice so far, thanks. I kind of feel obliged to do it now but the thought of some of the hills around here is making my legs buckle already 😆

I might give it a whirl with my current 34t chainring before buying a new one. Seems that for steepish mountain biking pairing that with some like a 22/24 cog would be a good start? Any advice on ratios? (29er 2.3 tyre)

The common issue with anything that pushes up is it relies on you having very close to the ideal chain length to start with. If you’re only just too short and have to add almost 1″ of chain to make it work then they can’t take up that much slack on most frames before they hit the chainstay

Gotcha.I think I’ll try that first though as it looks much nicer than the rear push down type and much much nicer than the derailleur type..

That sounds good Kayla, let me know how that goes – as it stands I was heading towards getting an hg freehub as the cog/end cap setup isn’t that appealing. But if you can make that work I’d certainly be interested.
On the tensioning side I’m looking for something as neat as possible and have just come across using a blackspire stinger on the iscg tabs pushed up. Looks neat. Any experience?

I’ve come across your MS cogs in my search Kayla but saw that you didn’t do spacers so wasn’t sure how that’d work. So you can use HG spacers, it’s just not ideal? Also I think I’ve seen people having to bodge a sort of end cap/washer because the lockring is smaller?? How do you go about that?
Thanks

@nixie Nah!!! Go the whole hog from the word go… grow a beard, get swallow tattoos on your hands, also buy a fixie, and whack a bunch of stickers on your lovely shiny bike 😉 !!!

That’s stage 2 but I need to know I like it before I commit!

What’s good value for an hg cog setup then?
I have tried just sticking to 1 gear but I imagine it feels quite different not having the option to shift..

Answered my own question by looking at the Starling site.. very neat

@IA very nice. How is the chain tensioned on that? Is it a special dropout?

Thanks for the tips, I’ll take a look. I tend to squeeze rides into small time windows between work and family so not particularly conducive to meeting up with other riders but thanks for the offer.
As another suggestion OP I do a cracking loop from hebden up to widdop and back in case you dont know it. Lovely ride.

@big_n_daft I’m always up for more local info if you’ve got some good recommendations..

Yeah the pump track area is totally washed out but the main red loop with the black add on bits is all rideable. I suppose it depends on your expectations. For me it’s close to work and is good for an hrs exercise but if you’ve known it in a much better state you might well be disappointed..

I’m fairly new to the area but have been for a quick blast there a few times over the last year as I work nearby. I think I’ve read that it’s been left to ruin a little from what it was but I’ve found it a good place to get a loop in. It’s got a sort of strange abandoned vibe that I quite like.
No incidences with the yooth for me. In fact I’ve only ever seen 2 other people on bikes and one dog walker up there!