I’m sure as long as the 5w30 you have is fully synthetic it will be fine.

Yeah. The motorex 5w fork oil is for the damper.

The 5w40 is different. I think from reading the mtb forum motorex supergliss 100k is a good alternative if you are bothered for using motorex. It’s not cheap though and hard to find here (can be ordered from bike discount in Germany). I wouldn’t get too hung up about the lower oil. As long as it’s fully synthetic.

So this if you feel like the damping fluid needs changing (you don’t have to even touch it if it’s just to do a lower service or change the travel as it’s enclosed in the upper leg of the damping side):

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Product.do?method=view&n=470&g=1272868&p=1272863&d=124&c=4&l=2&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Base&utm_campaign=Fork%20Oil&gclid=CNHF7tCmtNMCFZIW0wodEMMPxA

And if you can find it anywhere this for the lowers:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/motorex-semi-bath-fork-oil/rp-prod130301

Or any 5w40 fully synthetic motor oil.

They do use 2 types of oil if you are changing the damping fluid too.

If it’s a simple lower leg service it’s just the semi bath oil which you need. 3cc is the amount which you put on top of the air piston head. 3ml basically so just a touch. And that’s of the Semi bath oil. And I think it’s between 7-15ml in the lowers depending what you read. I used 10ml.
Semi bath oil is simply for lubrication. It’s thicker to help it stay where it’s needed rather than all slopping into the bottom of the legs. Motorex semi bath or 5w40 fully synthetic is what’s recommended. I had a litre of rockshox 0w30 which is used for pike lowers so just used that. It’s fully synthetic, fairly thick and slippery and does the job.

If you are changing the damping fluid you need to be more careful about getting the correct weight / make of suspension fluid. The viscosity of the fluid changes how fast the oil flows through the damping circuits so changes how the forks damping feels. And different oil manufacturers weights can differ by a fair bit. So motorex 5 wt might be the same as maxima 10 wt.

I think manitou recommend motorex 5wt for the damper fluid.

I must admit im 5′ 7 with 29” legs riding a medium but wouldn’t want the bike any smaller. That’s with the stock 50mm stem. I have about an inch of seat post showing.

They are great bikes. Very capable. The 2016 AL one isn’t light though.

The slot in the cassette tool isn’t essential. Just remove the rubber bumper from the air shaft. It just comes off. Then the shaft inserts far enough to get the cassette tool seated. Just remember to put it back on once you are done.

Off hand I think a park fr 5c gets the bottom of the left stanction undone to get to the inside of the air shaft.That’s by removing the rubber bumper first off the air shaft rod then pushing it up into the leg as far as it will go so the tool goes far enough up to engage the splines.

The top air cap is simple enough. Either use a decent quality adjustable and care or appropriate size socket.

The bottom air side footnut can be undone by inserting an Allen key into the poppet valve (either 4 or 5 mm, can’t remember off hand). I wouldn’t want to use this method too many times though as it would be fairly easy to round it off,the proper tools do make it easier and safer, especially the thin walled socket for tightening / undoing of the air side footnut as there’s always pressure on the spring in the poppet valve pushing the Allen key out. Also pushing the Allen key into the footnut/poppet pushes the air shaft away from the threads so you end up having to push the top of the air shaft back down from the top of the crown to engage the threads to tighten it (I used a broom handle!). It’s not impossible but it is a faff.

I guess it would be possible to machine a socket down to fit. There’s a New Zealand company who sell one on its own too but it’s still not cheap by the time you add shipping and possible duty charges on top. That’s why I bought the full kit.
https://www.shockcraft.co.nz/modified-8-mm-socket-to-fit-manitou-mattoc-magnum-2015-later.html

As for fluids, I used rockshox 0w30 for the lowers and grease I used stendec easy glide fork grease, both of which have been fine.

If you are near Huddersfield you are welcome to borrow the tools and I hope the above makes sense!

and remember that the footnut / bolt at the bottom of the lowers undo the ‘wrong way’ as they are being threaded in from the indide of the leg.

if it’s for the front I would go for it. No where near as noticeable resistance wise as if it’s on the rear.

And 2.5 is a bit bigger than 2.3. But not much I wouldn’t say.

i went with the minion dhf maxxgrip on the front, mainly because I’m tight and it was cheap on eBay but it’s very heavy at pretty much 1300 grams being dh carcass. Think I will get a MM to replace it when needed as I don’t find the trail star compound bad at all really.

Like yourself when the onza that came on it needs replacing il look at the DHR2 2.4. Don’t mind exo as an alround compromiseover the sluggishness of dual ply / DH.

Still not as much choice with 29 inch aggressive tyres unfortunately. At least not with differing compounds and carcasses.

It’s the rear that’s the problem IMO if you want wide and tough.

Front you have the Minion DHF 2.5 if you don’t mind the weight of the dual ply in the Maxxgrip compound or a Magic Mary in super gravity trail star compound which is lighter but still decently grippy if the 27.5 is anything to go by.

Rear you could look at a DHF 2.5 in dual compound but again it’s heavy and hard to find info on the compounds. I guess it’s probably 60/62 which would work well on the rear but can’t find anything to confirm.

E13 TRS? Supposed to be decent but they are pricey. Never used one.

I got the 10 sp sunrace cassette as the bike came 2x 10 with an SLX cassette which would need the rivets taking out to fit an expander ring.
Im using it with an 11sp xt mech. It works fine and no need for a goat link or rad cage as they can handle the 42 no probs without messing with the b screw. That’s the short cage version with an slx 10 sp shifter.

Worth considering. No need for new shifters then but you have the option in the future to change to 11sp without a the need for a new mech.

Sometimes a 10sp mech will work with the 42 t but it’s a bit of a lottery. And I found it more difficult setting up the shifting and the shifting wasn’t as good. At the time I ended up using a rad cage which made the shifting spot on but the 11sp wasn’t out then.

As above, long bar for leverage. 8mm anti clockwise. It’s feels unnatural putting that much force through it but it should give.

If it’s a cinch ring (if you need it off) and it’s never been undone they can be hard to undo too. I used a threaded bar and some washers to keep the old style bb tool in the slots then another long bar on the wrench I was using.

I do like the wtbs that I have had previously. Held the tyre well and seemed very strong but superstar don’t have them.

I’m thinking maybe just go with the DT FR 570. It’s 60 odd grams heavier and £20 than E512 but welded and should hold up well.

Should look at myself for weight loss before the 60g on a wheel!

Yeah I’m half tempted with stans flow as I’m sure they will be super easy to get up tubeless. But then I know when I used old magics years ago they were very tough D521 I think they were.

My sons a similar age and I think we have settled on a frog tadpole. He sat / stood on one in a shop on Saturday and it seemed plenty small enough for him. Certainly enough so he can get used to pushing the bike around stood over the saddle.

Seem like great value too in comparison to islabikes who’s model seems to sell for not much less used than the frog is new. They seem a bit better thought out with the brakes above the stays too.

Also best to do a boil wash first to remove previous residue from the machine.

I also think it helps the waterproofing if you pause the wash half way through when the shorts will be submerged in the proofer/water for a hour or so. Then let it finish. That’s if your machine allows you to pause it.

In contrast to the above re the Alex / chosen hubs I have found them pretty poor. The rims seem very soft and don’t shrug off dents very well. And they seem a real faff to get up tubeless ( 3 layers of tape and still wouldn’t go up with a track pump). I have tried maxxis, Schwalbe and Specialised tyres and all seem very baggy on the rim. They haven’t seen much use and a good few spokes ended up loose on the rear needing a re true / tension.

The above said I’m not light and ride as such plus they are on a hardtail but I also don’t ride with silly low pressures either. The hubs seem pretty fair though.

If I were in the same position again I would save up more and get a custom hope / dt Swiss build with WTB rims.

Or if money is an issue maybe a custom shimano / wtb build from crc could be possible for that budget depending on hub size / rim needs. I have had a couple of WTB rims before and they seem good quality and tyres seem to seat well on them.

Does it not say on the sticker on the back of the left leg towards the seal (presuming it’s not had the travel changed)?

It’s hard to say from the picture as they sometimes sit into the travel a touch.

Best way to tell would be to pull the crown away from the lowers. If they don’t move 150mm. If they do 160mm. And if it does might be worth giving the air side / lowers a service.

Should now come with blanking plate. Mine did but it was fully boxed.

Cheers. Will give it another go with some more rim tape.

Thanks for the replies. The tyres are schwalbe Magic Mary and Nobby nic. They do seem very loose. Certainly don’t need levers to get them onto the rims.

Depends what size you are but cycle surgery has the 909 for the same price as the 905 rs in M.

Not sure if you prefer the rockshox fork over the fox but the fox does have a decent damper in it and the rest is better specced.

There’s not much surface to grip the cam, I think when I did mine it mentioned about using a suitably sized cone spanner.

Next the mway at the mo by Carnforth. Sounds to be some fairly souped up / powerful cars going down.

Rutland had a deal on the whyte t-130 in medium. Think it was a third off down to 2k but 10mm less travel than you were asking for.

Cx will be fine. Use the same here unless I know it’s going to be very hilly for which I will use the mountain bike for easier gearing.

On spds as its my commuting bike but if it was a gentle day ride I would put flats on.

Just watch if you have discs and the trailer has a safety cord attachment like chariots which loops around the stays. Not to teach you to suck eggs but best secure it in case it gets caught in the disc.

Medium will be fine for 1x.

Maybe I am unlucky but I have just given up on GX. First derailleur lasted 4 rides before the clutch stopped working. That was warrantied with a new one which was faulty out of the box so just ended up getting a refund.

It was pretty good when working though. I do like the feel of SRAM. The shifter paddles I found feel better than Shimano being dedicated for thumbs where as shimano 2 way release feels compromised.

That said I will be replacing it with XT as I can’t be bothered waiting 3 weeks when things fail.

The original seals / bushing in the head assembly aren’t upto the job and end up leaking. Think there’s an o ring and kind of a wiper seal. The nsd assembly is good because it uses a longer bush to help prevent sideways movement of the shaft too much and better seals.

In relation to the bleed you know when you have a good one as the lockout will lock it out rather than making it a bit firmer.

The first time I had issues it had leaked. The second time air got into the damper. It’s frustrating and it makes a big difference to damper performance.

As Ben mentions likely the seal head either letting air in or leaking fluid out. It’s a know problem, hence rockshox fitting a new seal on 2016 forks.

If in warranty get them to fishers via the shop they were purchased from. You could service the damper but it will likely happen again so best getting it sorted.

If not in warranty try the nsd damper seal assembly. Seems to sort them. But not cheap for what it is once you factor in import charges.

If you are near richer sounds pop in and have a look at the Cambridge Audio minx go. A bit bigger than the Bose but not restrictively so and its well priced and sounds good to my ears. Comes with a little cloth carry pouch too.

This is what I have and it does indeed work. Prefer the ergonomics of the SRAM levers.

Decided to give em a try. Fingers crossed.

Mike, pro build brand. Built by Raleigh I believe.

Tracey, those are the ones I was thinking about. As you say seem well specced for the price. Just wondered about hub reliability.

Anyone about 5’7” and can advise on the sizing of these?

Contemplating a trigger 27.5 4 but wondered about people’s ideas on sizing.

I currently have a 16.5 slackline which according to the geometry drawings is 20mm longer than the small cannondale but 10mm shorter than the medium. That’s virtual measurement.

I am 5’7” and currently ride with a 50mm stem and find the slackline just about right size wise, probably wouldn’t want it any shorter so I guess I would be best with a medium and if it’s a touch long get a slightly smaller stem than the stock one which is also 50mm.

Maybe the rc adjuster adjusts it all at once then to the point where they lock out?

Send Fishers an email and see what they say. Might have to go through the shop where you bought the bike from being an ex demo but hopefully they will be covered under warranty.

They were good with me about my pair of RC’s and replaced them with some rct3’s. Not so good when I had issues with the replacement pair so ended up ordering a replacement part from aus to sort them.

And the fork should pretty much lock out if there’s no leak in the damper.

Tom, your right, the rc is open to lock over roughly 12-13 clicks. It does sound like something mechanical has gone wrong if it’s just spinning, but as far as I’m aware there is no compression needle in the rc as that’s for the low speed adjustment which the rc doesn’t have.

Had both. Very much the same performance.

Can’t remember if I read that DP are supposed to be a bit less plush. They are not massively progressive anyway.