You should check out Golddiggers Tripple cute light on the ‘DIY lights’ mtbr forum. Same workings as (2700 lumen!) Trouties dominater but better shell imo and works out well over £100 cheaper. Great bloke, great service also anodised the lights himself any colour you wish. I got the endurance battery and charger from smudge (mtbbaterries) same as what comes with Trouties. Worked out at around £230 all in.

I use the Gore Xenon windstopper gloves through the winter. These are tight fitting gloves with a little terry towelling inside so still keep you warm over winter but aren’t bulky, they are fairly waterproof as well. Not sure if would be too warm over the spring/summer months.

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Country living[/url] by Mashka Cordwell[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Another XR4 2.2 lover. Great grip on loose shale or rock, not the best on mud but you aren’t asking for that. The 2.3’s are huge and the Bonty range of tubeless ready tyres are the best for sealing.

As Ramsey Neil said, they work brilliantly and are only around £3.50 for each plastic strip and £5 for their valve. Best thing is that they last, I found with the tape that it damages easily especially when changing tyres and the valves are really secure so you don’t get air leaking from that area which can be a common thing with the tape set up. Its also lighter than the other set ups and fractionally heavier than the yellow tape. I use the Bontrager symmetrical strips on Stans Arch rims.

Get the Bontrager rim strips and valves. Works better than anything else.

Are the shoes the same model?

This can be a huge factor, as I have just changed trainer type and I’m having all sorts of niggles since. If they are exactly the same then putting a few hours of running into them should see you ok on the day as you need to break them in so not to get blisters etc.

DON’T use new trainers for the day, you will need to break these in over several runs putting atleast 50 miles into them. I would suggest getting a sports massage on your legs. I had this done before a half marathon last year after lots of training and it felt like I had a new pair of legs, went out for a bike ride and absolutely destroyed my mates without even trying.

I’m glad a few of you have taken advantage, surprised their isn’t more takers as a few bargains are to be had.

Five lords/Bin combe is my favourite descent at the moment. Covered in leaves at the moment so difficult to follow the line down though.

You should read the very long thread over on mtbr to do with home brew sealant, much cheaper to make own and you get a far superior performing sealant.

Best home brew sealant

Its a long thread, but worth a read or just skip to the last 10 pages where it all changed.

I love my reverb. Just serviced it myself for the first time in 12 months hard use and their was quite a bit of crap inside it, but it still worked sweet. They both have a 2 year warranty so no real risks as if its gonna go wrong it will in 2 years. I would go on price and see what the actual sale price is of the Kronolog when it comes out.

Got some Cressi anti fog for swimming goggles and works a treat. Only £4 delivered.

Cressi anti fog £4

On a recent mtb magazine test the V2’s were in the top 3 for power. They have loads of power if you ever need it and if you want more power you can get the vented rotors.

Hope V2’s

Should stay in the hose. I did mine the other day and managed to top up the fluid in the end of the hose with a few drops then put back together resulting in no need for a re-bleed.

Get the Hopes, their more powerful and are proper bling. Get them with the Race levers if possible as meant to be a better combo than the Tech lever, although I love my Tech levers as super adjustable and they look good. No noise from mine, Takes a few minutes at first to set up correctly then I never touch them again apart from to change pads.

Brake model Power (Nm) Weight (g)
Ashima PCB 64 328
Tektro Auriga Pro 77 491
TRP Dash 85 407
TRP Dash Carbon 85 393
Gusset Chute 89 469
Hayes Prime Pro 90 501
Avid XX WC 90 356
Magura MT8 90 339
Quad QHD-7.1 Nano Light 92 422
Quad Rapide 97 475
Hope Tech Evo X2 97 463
Quad QHD-7 Nano 97 463
Avid Elixir 9 99 397
Avid Elixir 7 99 395
Avid Elixir 1 100 471
Avid Elixir 3 100 442
Avid Code R 103 429
Magura MT2 103 428
Magura MT6 103 337
Shimano Deore M596 104 490
Formula R1 Racing 104 334
Shimano Saint 105 529
Shimano XT M785 107 466
Formula RX 107 398
Formula R1 107 355
Shimano XTR Race M985 110 388
Hope X2 Race Evo 110 377
Shimano SLX M666 111 485
Shimano XTR Trail M988 112 407
Hope Race Evo M4 115 496
Hope Tech Evo V2 120 524
Formula The One 121 393
Formula RO 124 418

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/fitness/article/how-we-test-hydraulic-disc-brakes-24345/

Got both and fell in the middle of both size guides. Sized up on both accounts and they fit perfect.

My bike is hurt, I’m hurting inside. I am missing our time together…

KMC chains are the best, have their own power link. Manufacturers recommend using all the same items together to make more money. All the different brands work fine together, only thing you can’t mix is rear shifters and rear mechs.

Rubber Queen 2.2 BC £39.99

Check the chainring bolts and grease. Also check your seatpost and grease.

Just by the medium it will work with crisper shifting.

12.5st and run it at between 165psi- 168psi with no propedal on.

The Plough inn at Holford is very friendly and a good spot to ride out from.

oven for 20mins at 180

Better than Eastenders

No, you need to spend it all and the basket total needs to be higher than the voucher value.

MiddleBurn’s every time!

Vuze is easy

the bearings on a full suss, no bling or excitement to be had..

Disagree, I love replacing mine with the best quality bearings I can source then feeling how smooth they are. Usually SKF bearings..

I would have agreed with the star nut but then noticed the quality of the one which came with my Chris King headset, also got the Hope Head doctor which is engineered alloy..

Mud guards are boring if you use them, or I would agree with the cable crimps. Also to consider would be the oil on the chain..

3 years on my Hope BB and still smooth like new.

Middleburn X-type. You can change them to single ring, double or tripple as you wish by buying a different spider arm. Also come with a life time warranty which is honoured plus their british.

£205 Middleburns with rings

High rollers and nobby nics, both are utter rubbish.

Yes you can the only difference is their ‘wet’ boiling point ie how well they work under high temperatures.

Avids do this if bike up ended. With avids all that needs doing is pumping the lever for a minute or two.

Quantocks is worth a look.

222 on everything for me. Only need to stop them vibrating loose so its perfect, requiring 5nm to break loose.

I have run both tyres on my bike, would choose rubber queen 2.2’s every time. The X-king 2.4’s are good but don’t have the ultimate grip of the rubber queens and don’t ware as well. Only reason I switched to the X-kings was the fit in the rear of the frame.

b r – Member
Three years so far with my Hope, and I never got 6 months from a Shimano one…

This +1