More control over continual rough stuff, the pro pedal works much better as well. I believe the boost valve is meant to help the mid stroke wallow where it would generally blow through this section of travel it is a much more effective part of the shocks travel/stroke now. As with the F.I.T cartridge on their forks it was primarily developed on/for the down hill rigs then after a few years was transfered to other travel bikes. I did actually notice the difference when I changed my shock to a boost valve, made the bike handle better on fast rough descents as did getting the F.I.T upgrade on the forks and I normally just notice that I’m still on the bike in one piece at the bottom of a hill and not much else. Both upgrades are worth getting.

Also they are releasing a shorter reverb for 2012

If you do bother to get 1, and they are great it was Hibike from Germany where they are £195 delivered. It won’t be to much bother setting at rite highroad as you will just release the button when it feels comfy.

used them for years with no problems of stanchion wear, they do help to keep crap out which means you have to service less often.

IMO much better than standard seals, a definite upgrade I think.

Specialized concept store in Bristol can get them for you Tel: 01179297368.
Or you can speak to Duncan at the Specialized HQ who services and does any warranty work on the Roval wheels (this is who the concept store will phone) Tel:02083913500. You will need to tighten the spoke through the rim, if you tighten it as a normal nipple it will just crack/break, and good luck getting those I had to buy 100 for £50 from Germany when all I needed was 8!!

For a little more you can get a yeti arc 5 alloy for £1350 from Freeflowbikes, just ask not to have the CK headset and bottom bracket.

It handles rough stuff, trust me. I run it softer than they recommend with around 35-40% sag. No issues at all in 6 months of rough riding ploughing through rock gardens, roots and drops.

I think I had this once from running, can’t be sure as not medically trained! but I found it hard to walk etc due to pain on the outside of the knee. I was told to stand with a slight bend in the knees for several minutes a few times a day. This seemed to help greatly and I was back running within a month, but I was a bit younger then!

Try big adventure store in Swindon Tel: 01793 488882, Simon or Jason are really good and spot on honesty /service. Don’t go to Red planet bikes or Total bikes in swindon, both utter rubbish service and wouldn’t trust them one bit, will also take them best part of a year to get round to anything!

I have these wheels and they are very good, quick and strong. I also converted the rear hub to the 12×142 standard with the dt swiss 240 kit, which specialised/roval said wouldn’t work! Also put SKF bearings in mine as originals kept failing with regular abuse on the Quantocks!

Many thanks for all the info, I think I will go with 64x 260mm spokes as advised by mboy as makes sense. I know that their isn’t much gain on having the cx ray spokes, maybe a little stiffer and more longevity, I already have DT super comps on some other wheels and was going to get those, but this is my dream build with CK hubs for my MTB so looks are coming into it as well, I know its vain but I will only buy this sort of build once.
If your interested (but your probably not!) I’m going with silver alloy hubs, black bladed spokes, silver brass nipples and black ZTR Arch rims.

Yes hibike in germany for £195 delivered. Order today you will have it by Thursday latest.

Nope, been ragging mine over really rough stuff, up and down Snowden, off 3 feet drops and generally abusing it. Best bike I’ve ever had the honour to own. Put 140mm forks on it and 12mm rear axle. It’s got a 5ur warranty anyway and the rear end problems were in the early days of the frame. You can het the frame only for £1350 from freeflowbikes, great people to deal with. Just get 1 you will not regret it 1 bit.

Simple answer is that you are always in the sh*t its just the depth that varies when it comes to women, so just fill your boots and go riding as long as you know your still spending quality time with the family at some point, also if the phone goes mid ride ignore it as ruins the flow!

Rum X-king 2.4 front and back, have no problem ripping round corners, depends on how you handle your bike, RQ are more secure but not quite as quick and slightly taller. RQ 2.2 front with x-king 2.4 rear sounds a good combo, I like my tyres to be the same.

Get a rubber queen, either 2.2 or 2.4 both are big. Great tyre, just make sure any conti tyre is the black chilli rubber before buying.

Go down singletrack by side of road at triscombe stone then continue down road for say 50yds then straight on past wooden gate on fire trail, follow this for about 250meters just past a turning on right theirs a rocky shoot on the left, say 30-40yds past. Take this, sharp right at bottom and follow trail to T junction in trail, go left and the chimney is 50m infront of you going down into the trees. At bottom take 3rd left firetrail up to top.(rams combe) or just get sharki to show you around. Enjoy, theirs alot more better trails at Q but their all good.

Fox is cable actuated apparently, also set drops like GD post, get the reverb £195 from Hibike delivered.

None, best move I made on my bike.

Their is no nut if I recal, just the outer cap, just pull it of. If difficult use a vice, their is only the sealed bearing on this side. For the other side I bought the tool of ebay to remove that retainer ring which is over the sealed bearing, it was a bitch to remove.

Went with ZTR arch rims in the end as a compromise with weight and strength. Also managed to get CK hubs for £415, 15mm LD front and 142×12 rear, sweet!

American classics come in 100g lighter and seem to be liked, although I have 2 friends with them and the rims do seem a little soft and are narrower than your present wheels. I have same wheels as you, converted rear to 142×12 standard and replaced all bearings with SKF, really nice and quick wheel set. I’m just about to have some CK hubs built up, the wheels will be heavier but will hopefully last. You can buy the rovals for £360 at the mo as well! Hope hubs seem to suffer with premature bearing failure.

Thanks for all your advice, I will have to ponder this one a little longer I think!

I’m just a magpie really!! Always dreamed of CK’s so going to bite the bullet soon, can’t wait, just need the 142×12 conversion to get to the UK.

Northwind funny you should point these out as they are my exact wheel set I have been running since late 2009 and have seen lots of abuse so will be going on the wife’s bike once I have my CK’s! I also converted the rear hub to 142 x 12 no problems which Roval/Specialized said was not possible!

Yes CK’s are a little weighty, but imo worth the little extra weight. Thanks for all the input so far.

I looked at the mavic XM819’s but reviews state their a bit narrow so a little unsure. I want CK hubs as for as long as I can remember I have always wanted them, they are my dream wheels, I also ike to service evry thing myself and for items to last. Any thoughts on the mavic rims as I can’t find any info on inside width.

Cheers for all your input, I think I may stick to the crest rims and will get JRA to build them up for me, I just hope their strong enough for my clumsy riding through rock gardens!

I was originally looking at JRA for the wheel build, ‘loum’ was the quality of the build good and how are they holding up?

Cheers so far for info, I have never really trusted their opinion but their the only local shop to stock CK hubs, so thought I would get some thoughts from you guys. Cheers and anyone out their who has built wheels with the crest rims?

If I rode a 29er on my preferred trails the results would be 2 collapsed wheels! I think I will pass on this lady wheel trend, and speed is down to the person pedalling and bike handling skills not the wheels.

Ignore the 29er comment, were not in the states and we ride off road!

Their plenty long enough, will probably find you will need to shorten them, but as their Hope its very simple to do. Great brakes by the way especially the levers.

I take it that your talking from experience of owning both ceramic and steel bb’s?

Don’t bother with shimano, get British and buy Hope. I got the ceramic, lasted 2.5 years so far and I ride my bike all year at least twice a week plus daily commute, well worth the money.

When I got mine I couldnt get it for under £250, would have bought from crc for £220 if could have, but also only needed the short version so would still get from germany now.

Just do it, the quicker you press the button the qiucker it will be on uour bike!

Ain’t your cable a normal brake or gear cable depending on the end bit?

The MMX is the same as the normal mount with an extra bit you can use for match maker or not for normal mount, so just get the MMX. On Hibike I could only get right mount as no options specified. Also the reverb is specified as an online but the bottom half of the cradle is very long and the top half is short, so I turned the bottom half round which then gave me about 15mm of layback, I’ve had no problems running it like this.