I looked at this a few years back on a 1st Gen Canyon Spectral:On, but didn’t end up doing it. If I remember correctly the 630wh battery is longer so I would have needed to increase the length of the battery retainers/holders so it fell into the too hard box…..

E-Bike Squirt could be a suitable alternative to Smoove. I’m currently using e-bike Squirt and it’s longer lasting and more water resistant than standard Squirt. I did use Smoove a couple of years back and from what I can remember it performed about as E-bike Squirt.

It’s the greater of N+1 or S-1. Where N is the number of bikes that you currently have and S is the number of bikes at which point your wife/partner leaves you and you have to go through a costly separation/divorce……………

Not MTB specific, but the cut is more all round and it isn’t particularly roadie/fitted. I’ve worn it with a base and mid-layer underneath and there was plenty of room

I’m using it for mountain biking so it will be interesting to see how it holds up to brambles, gorse and the inevitable falls etc etc, but at that price you can’t go to far wrong….

This may be of interest:-

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Gore-Wear/Spirit-Jacket/T2JR?s=1

As far as my unexpert eye can tell it’s the same Gore fabric as the Rapha jacket, cheaper but no hood. I bought one and have had a couple of rides in it, including a shower and so far been very impressed. Very breathable, but still windproof (how do they do that?). Not particularly thick, but the cut allows for laying underneath and kept the water out during the shower. No taped seams so I guess it will leak after a time.

Slightly off topic, this is worth a watch

https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2021/04/apple-tv-announces-new-music-docuseries-1971-the-year-that-music-changed-everything/

It’s loosely based on the book with the same title

+ 1 for “What’s Goin’ On” by Marvin Gaye. More specifically the Detroit Mix on The 25th anniversary reissue, which is rawer and less polished. Apparently this was Marvin Gaye’s original production before Motown decided to improve it in post production……

They have just started filming Series 2 and are currently filming on Hankley Common……we were politely diverted away from the filming area on Monday. Apparently Series 2 doesn’t air until 2024……

Prizm Low Light for me, which would seem a good compromise if you are having trouble choosing between Prizm Trail/Torch and Clear. I used to switch to Clear in the winter, but don’t bother any more and just use the Low Lights all year round.

Sly’s best three minutes?

Possibly not……….

ACCU-GAGE LOW PRESSURE TYRE PRESSURE GAUGE

I’ve ended up riding with the Prizm Trail Low Light lens all year round. I mainly ride wooded trails + my eyes aren’t overly sensitive to bright light. I found that in the UK the full Prizm Trail lenses only really work for me on bright sunny days a couple of months a year and are too dark for the rest of the year. I also haven’t felt the need to swap out the Low Lights for the clear lens that I used to ride in the winter. So for me they’ve become an all year round option.

https://www.mbr.co.uk/how-to-2/wandering-bite-point-shimano-405883

If the bike is still under warranty, go back to the shop and explain that the delay isn’t really acceptable and see if they can give/lend you a shock from another bike in stock. I had a similar issue the a Stumpjumper several years ago and after a bit of discussion the shop agreed to it. A friend had the shock go on his Turbo Levo earlier this year and was told it would be several weeks to get it replaced/repaired and I suggest the same approach to him and the shop did it.

If they don’t have a bike with the same shock in stock maybe they could lend you a demo bike while yours is being sorted? A good shop should lean over backwards to help a customer and keep them out on the trails, it won’t always be a sellers market…..

The Delta linkage is a single pivot with a shock linkage. It isn’t as complicated as it looks. It looks complicated because of the flip chip system which has 3 bolts per side which people mistake for linkage bearings. I’ve had a Following V1 for 6 years and had the bearings replaced twice. The last time by MB Cyclery who commented that it was one of the easiest bikes to change…

Some bloke in the local woods on the pros and cons of e-bikes

Sum up is at 12.50…

I heard that Hope are releasing an e-bike specific hub soon.

True, but that is principally down to the reduced weight the geometry is identical

I swapped the Fox Rhythm 34 on my Levo (nearly identical geometry as the SL) for a 160mm Lyric Ultimate with a 51mm offset and run the low flip chip setting and that works find. There are people running 160mm forks and reverse mullet wheels too and possibly shorter offset forks. The best place to look is probably EMTB Forums Specialized page.

https://www.emtbforums.com/community/forums/specialized.4/

I set my Lyric Ultimate up using RockShox’s Trailhead App, see link below:-

https://trailhead.rockshox.com/en/

I the ran a ShockWiz on the fork and it agreed with the Trailhead App settings. So I’d start with the App and then adjust from there as necessary.

Just got back from a ride…..all good. Wouldn’t you be better off going to Milford station and crossing over to Thursley Common via Rodborough Common?

I didn’t notice any trail building when I was there yesterday….other than the new coaching area near the Lookout. The area from the reservoir to the Clubhouse is taped off for forestry work e.g. Red 15, Camel and I think Kevlar too, although I didn’t go back that way so not 100%. Tracked vehicles have been driving through area and there’s a lot of branches and debris on the ground, but not many trees down (yet?). Frustratingly although it was taped off nobody was actually working there……

To be fair to CRC once the supplier had agreed to honour the claim they couldn’t have been more helpful. On the warranty claim form I had requested a replacement cassette, but as the process wore on I bought a new cassette elsewhere (they were out of stock at CRC) so I could get back out riding. When the claim was accepted I asked if I could have a refund and they agreed and the money was duly refunded.

What I learnt from the experience was that if I ever have to make a claim again, I’ll just go out and buy the part I need and request a refund from CRC, rather than hang on waiting for the claim to be resolved and a replacement part sent out.

I recently made a warranty claim on a cassette, were a tooth had snapped off. Their website states the following:-

“We make every effort to resolve warranty as fast as possible; we know you want to get back on your bike asap! If we can sort the issue we will but in some cases products have to be sent back to manufacturers, our workshop or specialist repair partners and this can then take a little longer. Please be patient with us as you can be assured we are constantly striving to achieve the quickest turn around we can.”

Initially they asked me to send photos with my completed warranty claim form rather than the part, which I did. The photos showed that the cassette was not worn….it was only 6 months old….and that there had been no damage to the cassette or the bike.

After a few days they contacted me and asked me to send the cassette. The couriers confirmed delivery to CRC a week after I initially sent my claim.

I then heard nothing for the best part of 2 weeks, so I contacted them and was told that their internal procedure is that they have up to 2 weeks to evaluate and respond and since there were still a couple of days to go and to contact them again if I heard nothing once the 2 weeks was up.

I heard nothing, so I contacted them again. They informed me that they had decided to refer the claim back to the supplier and that this could take up to 3 weeks.

Eventually after the additional 3 weeks had passed I was contacted and told that the supplier had accepted the claim. The whole process took just over 6 weeks.

Could be a good option for e-bikes. The steel cassette and (presumably) thicker strong chain would help with the extra load and reduce wear and the gaps between gears would be less noticeable with the assistance….

I’ve had good delivery on bikes that are “in stock”, but bad experiences on the two of the three occasions when I’ve ordered new models that had just been released to the market. On both of those occasions the delivery dates slipped several times and I ended up cancelling the orders.

If anybody is interested I’m selling a V2 180mm dropper with the 22.2mm separately clamped lever for £140. I ordered it last week but it’s slightly too long for my frame (schoolboy error). PM if you’re interested.

I’ve just had a tooth shear off on the largest sprocket of a SRAM Eagle GX cassette. It’s only 6 months old and has been ridden about 300miles……………

I mainly riding in woods/forests and use Prizm Trail lenses in the “Summer”, but find that they cut out a bit too much light during the rest of the year and switch to clear or yellow lenses. I think I read somewhere that Oakley are bring out Prizm Trail Low Light lenses? If so these may be a better option for riding offroad in the UK.

I use Wippermann Connex links, they are re-usable and easier to connect and dis-connect by hand (i.e. without chain link pliers) than other links, which can be useful out on the trail.

I had a Camber Evo 29er and went to an Evil Following for exactly those reasons.

This months MBR arrived today and in it is an article on Best of British about testing/developing Whyte hardtails in Peaslake………and one trail gets several name checks………..Evian…

Do YT have a service centre in the UK? They quote UK pricing for servicing on their website, but they don’t mention where the servicing is carried out and how you get the bike to them.

Evil The Following

There are loads. Bike50 (in reality mostly over 65) in Surrey has about 200 people registered.

http://www.bike50.org.uk/

Singletrack article about some of them here

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/over-the-hill-what-can-a-group-of-oaps-teach-us-about-mountain-biking-and-life/

Just back from a ride on Holmbury and Pitch. A bit damp and drizzly with a few puddles and bits of mud here and there + nice greasy roots to keep things “interesting”…..good fun.

The North Down are chalk and flint and tend to be muddier and more slippery than the Surrey Hills which are greensands and which drain and dry better

I did eventually get a Spectral:On, but it was nightmare. I originally order one on the day they were first posted on the website in early March and the order was confirmed with an estimated shipping date of late March. I then got a series of revised shipping dates, usually after I prompted them that a shipping date had been missed. The fourth or fifth revision was in early June and was for another month delay and so I cancelled the order in sheer frustration.

I carried on looking around at other e-bikes, but nothing else seemed to have a decent spec/geometry and a reasonable price, (except the Vitus and that was sold out before I even realised it existed). To cut a very long story short, I checked back on the Canyon website late August and they had bikes “From Stock” in my size, so I ordered one and it was shipped on time the following week.

The saga didn’t quite end there though. 4 or 5 days after the shipping notification I checked back on the online Order Tracking and there was nothing shown. I contacted Canyon and told that the order tracking wouldn’t go live until the bike was received by DHL in the UK. I eventual got the bike about 2 weeks after the shipping date (previous bikes have arrived in 4-5 days after shipping), apparently they can’t air freight the Spectral:Ons because of the Lithium Ion battery, hence the longer delivery, although I can’t remember seeing this stated anywhere on the website, nor was it mentioned in any correspondence.

Very happy with the bike though and the nightmare is starting to fade………

A friend of mine, who has pain in his wrist from torn/frayed tendons that impact on nerves, uses them he says they seem to help.