thats a goodun. ive held broken shifters together with zip ties and gaffer tape to get home, same with rear mechs. wasnt much i could do to save snapped cranks, bars or forks though.

i dont know of any middle rings less than 32t though i may be wrong. i wouldnt want to try and get a decent chain line if i had to mount a ring in the granny position. though thinking about it, if you had a 68mm bb shell and got a seat tube mounted guide rather than a bb one you could put all 3 spacers over on the drive side of the bb and that would shift it over 2.5mm, not sure if that would be enough though. maybe running a square taper setup and offsetting it to the driveside would work?

ill try and swap a shift so i can come and play. can the route involve cheek or not? actually scrap that its a weekend, wasnt thinking!

this is a bit cheaper, £25.

if its a problem with spending cash, why not just leave your front mech on and use the stops to set it where you want it? if you cant get it there with the stops alone you could always run a short section of cable to the nearest cable boss and put tension on the mech that way. it might look fugly but it would work.

the only thing i would bear in mind that probably isnt in the other thread is the gearing changes for bigger wheels. i dunno what to suggest because i wouldnt touch a wagon wheeler with someone elses barge pole but im sure some nichemonger will help you out. :P

yeah i did, the lg1+ was 200g all in. but those top only chain guides obviously weigh less so thought the weight of the bits you take off would be more useful to know. either way even after fitting aguide its still a good amount.

would be very supprised if it added up to 1lb difference

got me doubting it too so i went and weighed all the gubbins i took off. 510g.

just stay on top of the gear, dont let it pull you along on the downs or slowing could be interesting. trackstanding is weird at first but way easier once you have a few goes at it. enjoy! (and dont try and dress like a messenger/ make your bike look like a messengers please!)

makes diddly squat difference to weight

my xt shifter, front mech, cable, granny ring and bash ring came to just over 500g, so over a pound. and my chain wouldnt stay on down rocky stuff. horses for courses innit?

what geetee said, the device just sits on the threads of your bb and is trapped between the frame and the outside edge of the bb.

woop! thats what i wanted to hear 8)

cant see why it wouldnt work but id be tempted to run a stinger or similar to wrap the chain that bit further around the front ring.

my lg1+ has been absolutley faultless down stuff thats always had my chain off even using a stinger. weighs less than most bash guards too!

the front mech kind of does the job of most xc type chain retainers, you will notice what a good job it does if you try to ride anything rocky without using a retainer. if you want something more robust look at an e13 lg1+ or similar, with this you can also still run a 32t front ring and you dont need iscg tabs as it comes with an adaptor.

the rear mech, cassette and chain will all be fine, make sure you use a front ring that is the correct diameter for your chain though, dont buy a bmx one or anything.

the crank thing is down to personal choice really, either is fine. some brands such as raceface sell the crnks without rings which will save you a bit of cash but you can always flog new chainrings on the classifieds.

good luck!

that flood at dalbeattie remind me of summer 2007! when i went back in october of the same year and found there was a skinny to ride i was pleasantly surprised, it wasnt at all visible on my previous visit.

rangers track is probably my fave uk downhill, good choice!

nice but id ditch the green if it were mine. i miss my 4x, wouldnt have it as my only bike again but ill certainly pick one up as a play bike if it comes up.

i have to admit epicsteve, that, like yourself, i would never choose a five as contender for best looking bike. i test rode half a dozen that fitted what i wanted and looks wise i was torn between a roscoe and a lapierre but just had so much fun on the 5 so went for that instead. never liked the colour but i was off ot the alps 2 weeks after i bought it and it was the only colour they had in stock, i could have waited less than a week for a red one but wanted to get some miles in on it before my hols and TBH wasnt that fussed on the red either.

it really does ride nice though.

ive had a couple of gravity droppers and a ks i900. both are fine if you dont mind maintenance and the extra weight. having had both saddl and remote levers id definitely go for a remote again. i dont like clutter on my bars but its invaluable when riding trails you dont know too well. if you go for a gravity dropper get a multi drop one, it really is nice to have one that drops a bit and one that drops all the way. i didnt get the multi drop but drilled my own extra hole where i wanted it which thinking about it is probably a better idea. also if you go for a GD id reccomend the standard rather than the turbo, if only to avoid the whack in the nuts you can get of a turbo. with the standard you press the lever then bump the seat with your bum, meaning you are already in contact with the seat as it starts to rise so you can control how fast it rises. i had a couple of 'oof' moments with the turbo version and even after id adapted to it i still preferred the normal one.

hope thats of some use to you.

FWIW i had some trouble with pinch flatting single ply maxxis even when run tubeless. not stupidly low pressure or anything, just hitting rocks and the like harder than they could stand. i tried running a dual ply rear and it solved the problem but just dragged too much to be any fun on anything but the downs really. im now runnning a LUST ignitor 2.35 FR which is actually pretty good. not one single pinch flat and i was getting them every single ride in the peaks on single ply. its about 50-80g heavier than a single ply but close to a pound lighter than a dual ply ansd seems to have the extra thickness in the right place, for me at least. for snowdon etc. ill still fit a dual ply because a ride like that is all about the downhill and i always flat there if i dont run dual plys, but for tanking down jacobs ladder and the like the LUST is more than adequate. the ignitor tread pattern looks like it is meant to be fast rolling though its not really any faster than a high roller but its not any less grippy either. its a lot grippier than it looks! ive used it quite a bit in mud and im happy on it. all tyres slide in the gloop but its one of those that you can feel going rather than it just letting go, giving you time to do something about it or go with it rahter than ending up on your arse wondering what happened.

whats the sizing like on the phantom compared to the stealth? i got rid of a large stealth because it was too snug but all my other endura stuff is a large and fits fine. should i go xl on a phantom?

not sure how the ebb will affect it but the latest dirt (i think) has a superstar one that they think will do the job. you would need to pick up a bb mount though

if you cant screw it in at least four full turns easily by hand then its worth getting a lbs to sort it out. not a difficult or expensive job and well worth doing.

high roller is a bit better in the mud IMO, as long as its not just runny gloopy then a high roller will find something to cling on to.

32t front with 11-32 rear. all good so far, the lg1+ works a treat, is super easy to set up and weighs less than 200g. comes with a bb mount so you dont need iscg tabs too.

the paint was removed by a company called prostrip in notts. they used a caustic somethingorother specifically for aluminium alloys, cost £40, it was then polished by blumax in notts for £60 and then lacquered by thornix for a further £60. it was a bit more than i had expected but im happy with it.

if you dont like em then they stay! whether i like them or not theres no way im caving to peer pressure now. seeing it in the flesh might mean you have to ride in the mud though fella!

andy m, straitline stem, burgtec bar.

dbw, i feel like my lettering deserves an award for provoking such a reaction!
the front ring thing wasnt really a weight saving thing to begin with, i never use my granny ring after riding a blur 4x for so long which pedalled so bad in granny i just got out the habit. now when i use it i kind of mentally psyche myself out by doing so. i also drop my chain with annoying frequency on anything rocky despite running it as short as poss, i tried using a blackspire stinger plus a few failed bodge attempts but nothing really worked. once i had decided to go single ring i thought i may as well get a decent lightweight one. i didnt even know about the maintenance myth.

andy m, that too. rad to the power of sick!

i know ton, i wasnt taking offence, just taking the p1ss out of myself.

clear powder coated grantway

nonk, aha!

mtfu

hth

drop that seat all the way down. same comments as above for stem and gears. id personally get a higher rise bar with a similar width but you would end up in pretty much the same position, just look way cooler! 8)

blimey thats a blast from the past, i used to wish for one of them at xmas!

thats right ton, bought it cos mbr and dirt told me to, polished it cos steve jones did then fitted silly wide bars cos doody told me they were cool.

baa!

nonk, i dont know what that means…

mboy, no megas for me. i need this much skill compensation for the peak! ill probably pick up a short cage mech if i decide to stick with the single ring, just testing for now really.

brakes, i know what you mean.

i could try and find a burberry saddle too, i bet sdg do one!

i quite fancy a skillz sesh. i mean im sh1t hot already, granted, just thought id show these teaching types a thing or two…

aint it great when someone points out something that massively changes your riding for the better? congrats, enjoy your turns!

lmao chunky, you are too kind!

uplink, yep lacquered, same day it was polished to avoid any oxidising.

orang, it was a bit porky before, had talas 36's, dual ply rear tyre, gravity dropper seatpost and twice as many gears.

and some paint.

cheers jon, yep 2010 150mm revs.
it climbs better now than it did with my 36's on! first ride out last week with the single ring and revs i went lookng for nasty sharp inclines to see if it was too slack and its all good so far. still descends well but does up and along with less protest.

i saved a quarter of a pound with the polishing. not much when you think i saved over a pound off forks, a pound off seatpost and seat, a pound off the rear tyre and a pound off the drivetrain.

it would appear i own a marmite bike. oooh, i feel so niche right now… 8)

a place called blumax in nottingham. i wouldnt say i wholeheartedly recommend them but you could do a lot worse. apparently it was hard to polish cos of the other metals in the alloy but theres some less than pretty patches here and there (or all over, depending on your taste!). you only see them close up and it will look scuffed and tatty soon anyway so im not fussed.