TB.

Thats sounds entirely plausible.

CK. Please read the posts. I'm not saying that the forks aint legit, they are obviously RockShox. Other contributers here may have raised that particular point, to which I would repsonded with… my comparison between the Reba SLs (falied within one year) and my Reba Race-Teams (still going strong) and my own opinion. However, I do hope that people may draw their own conclusions.

Also, I'm just passing on, to whomever wants to know. Just what my experience was. What I subsequently was told by people in the business, and my overall opinion.

You can't argue with the fact that I am telling you, had I have know the SLs were G/Is, I would have reconsidered my purchase.

It was because of this lack of info from the retailer, I then came to mistrust Merlin.

Thats it, no arguement.

Go buy forks from Merlin, good luck, I hope it works out for you. But I aint buying from them again.

Solo.

Smudge, Trout.

I am grateful for your posts, most helpful.

One other Q though Trout. The Low Batt, what is the signal ?, does the main light just start to flash or something when the battery gets low ?.
What is the signal to the user of a low Batt ?. Seems like a detail, but I'm just curious.

Cheers.

:D

Solo

Ok, it was pretty late when I wrote my post and I was tired.

Bascially, I feel that Merlin were less than open, honest about the fork I bought from them. As I tried to point out, the website add didn't inform me that the forks were actually Grey-Imports, purchased by Merlin, from the factory RS had their forks made at.

It has been explained to me that such grey-imports are produced by the factory itself and sold onto whomever wants to buy them.
Then of course your warranty is with your supplier/retailer, etc.

But Merlin didn't explain any of this, had I have known, I wouldn't have purchased said fork. Witholding information, affected my purchasing decision…

As for reliability, people saying that there is not difference. Thats not my experience.

At least 10 months before purchasing the SLs from Merlin, I negotiated a very good price on proper, after market, RS Reba Race Team forks from another U.K. bike shop. They came in their original RS packaging, with shock-pump, manual, eveyrthing.

These forks have daily use from a heavier rider, for what must be around 2 years now, and they're still flippin fantastic, no reliability issues whatsoever.

So I believe that there is a difference between grey-imports and the items specifically intended by the OEM for after market sale.

Solo.

I bought Reba Race SLs from Merlin around a year ago now. The forks were grey-import and had the serial number ground off the rear of the crown.

No mention at the time, in the add on their website, for the product, that they were grey-import….

So when I discovered what it was exactly that I had been sold, I was surprized and disappointed with Merlin to have sold a fork, that from my point of view, wasn't what I was lead to think it was.

Apparently the Reba Race SLs were not intended to be sold in the U.K. as a stand-alone after market fork. At least, thats what I was told.

Then, with the forks shot, but still having a few months remaining of their one year warranty on them. I was faced with the prospect of either sending them to Merlin, whos main business doesn't appear to be servicing suspension components AND who would have a vested interest in repairing the forks as cheaply as possible….

Alternatively, I could "take it on the chin" and just send the forks off to servicing/repair specialists, whom I'd trust to do a proper job, using pukka replacement parts, etc.

I chose to send my forks to TF Tuned. I no longer trusted Merlin, after not even realising what it was they had sold me (grey-import forks).

Ok, the money I spent/saved, originally buying the forks from Merlin, was spent servicing/repairing them within 1 year of purchase, so you could argue that buying from Merlin was, in the end, a false economy.

But, TF Tuned were very good and I had every confidence that my forks were repaired to the correct spec and standard.

I had never employed TF tuned before, but would recommend them now.

However, I would not buy from Merlin, on the basis that I can't trust what I might be getting from them.

Trout.

What Battery to order from Smudge, to use with your XPE ?.

Also please, run-times.

The pics of the beam from the XPE, are they at "full Beam" and if so, does the light have a lower output option.

Furthermore, do the XPE lights have any low-batt warning facility on them ?.

Thanks in advance.

Solo.

Trout posted a review of the DX, now referred to as the "Bastid" light, on here a while ago.

It isn't just about how many lumens for your £, imo. Especially when you see the strip-down of the Bastid light.

I think that the lights produced by some of the Home-Brew light types are of a far better quality, the type of lights that will see you through many seasons of night riding.
Especially so when paired up with Batteries and chargers from Smudge.

If you ride a moderately priced to expensively priced bike, then perhaps fitting a Bastid light to it would seem a bit silly.

IMO

Solo.

Yeah, just thought that I would clarify.

And believe me, although I make my own, (ahem, superior lights :-) ) I back what you are doing over that DX cr4p any old day.

Solo.

Trout.

The price of £150 for the 6XPE, does that include the battery and charger ?.

Solo.

I hope Brant wasn't joking.

Solo.

I think DruidH is on the right idea. Get one device that does it all, ie, a windows smartphone.

Solo.

I like MM, especially as I can use it for my Garmin Edge and my mobile phone.

I think that being able to run MM on a windows phone is a nice feature.

Solo.

I happen to have this:

Which I was thinking of selling. Its "mint", hardly used.

Solo.

Dr D.

You describe what happens in realtime, perhaps during a prolonged exercise session, physical event.

However, I was describing what may happen if the author of this thread was to cut out protein from there daily diet, indefinately. And so was suggesting that they should not cut-out carbs or protein, as a change to there daily diet.

Agree with TJD, "dieting" isn't the answer, but one must change ones diet, permanently. No six months on low-cal diet greul, then back to the pies. It should be a change, forever.

So Dr D, please keep your b*ll*#ks to yourself, over a time frame of hours, your description of events isn't bad. But we're discussing a change of intake, for life. And if you cut protein from your diet, totally, the body will get it from what it already has. The breakdown of muscle tissue is a constant, ongoing process, and if you don't use it, you lose it.

Yes, its simple, more cals in, than are actually used, leads to fat storage, etc.

Thats it, I've no more to offer, and the weather is too good to spend time arguing here.

Cheers.

:-)

Solo.

MC. Good post, get well soon.

Bread, Pasta. Quantity !.

My own experience is that bread hasn't been good for me, espcially when considering what I will eat with it…CHEESE, omg how I love cheese :?
rarely eat it, but I LOVE it !.

Also, bread/sandwiches enables quick-feeding, snacking, ime, which may not always be a good thing. Taking time to make something can be a better option, it can help with controlling the urge to instaneously quash the hunger.
Having to wait while you are hungry (10-15 mins to make a small bowl of pasta), can be a good exercise in self discipline, imo.
And lets face it, what could be more important than taking the time to feed yourself properly…however that may be.

As stated earlier, I've been eating 40-50grams dried pasta with a small amount of tuna, salmon or pulses for lunch, for quite a while now. On the odd occassion when I can't do this I've taken a sandwich. All I can tell you is that it has made a noteable difference and after eating bread I do feel sluggish in the afternoon, but thats also perhaps because of what I've eaten with the bread, don't forget.

I'm not counting bread out, nor in, thats for you to decide.

Its going to take time, and experimentation, but remember that you're supposed to be learning how to feed yourself for the rest of your life, in order to maintain a sensible body weight, so its going to take time.

Theres been some good pointers given here by some folk, this can be a complex subject, how complex ?, thats up to you.

Not sure about bread ?, then experiment with it, see how it makes you feel after eating and see if it helps with your goal of weight loss.

Same for pasta, for example, cut out the bread for a couple of weeks, have simple pasta dishes for lunch instead, of a controlled size !, keeping an eye on your calorie intake, etc, and then you'll hopefully find your own answer as to its effectiveness for weight loss and PM energy levels.

All some of us are doing is reporting what works for us, and chances are, this has been a path of discovery for them/me to find suitable answers to what we eat and how much to eat.

Right, I'm off out now.

I hope this helps.

Solo.

Finbar.

Disagree. Rational is that reducing muscle first, then means that there is less muscle that requires energy from your fat reserves.

This is the strategy employed by the body to eak-out your energy reserves for as long as possible. A smaller muscle uses less energy, with the obvious caveats.

In car terms, its like trading in your V10 powered M5, for a Polo Diesel. Less of an engine to feed, means you get more miles per gallon.

Petesgaff, good post.

Solo.

I think Monty, Knottie and iDave make some good points.

My point of view has always been to control my weight by chosing what to eat. Its ok to exercise like mad when you're young, but when you're older, the weight will go back on, unless you have learnt what works for you. You need to find a dietary solution for life.

I exercise for other reasons, not to control weight, but to keep all the important stuff in good working order, heart, lungs, etc and to slow the reduction of muscle tissue.

As MLB writes, I do believe that you need to get on board the calorie thing. I believe its quite simple, and I refer to you to a recent article in the mag discussing "energy balance". Those who consume too many calories could be regarded as being in "positive energy balance", according to the magazine article, hence the accumilation of excess calories as stored body fat.
Therefore the obvious answer is to run a calorie deficit, as MontyLikesBeer points out. Then the body will get the additional calories it requires from your fat reserves.

As you know, theres a lot of opinion about what we should eat, I believe that you shouldn't cut out any particular nutrient, but should manage them all.
Again I refer you to another article in the Mag where Pasta was discussed.
I had always eaten pasta, but had forgotten about it in recent years. The article got me thinking, and I started eating it regularly again. Its certainly helped with that drousiness I use to feel between 12:00 and 3:00pm.
40g of dried pasta (not egg based pasta), with perhaps a small tin of tuna in spring water and a simple, light, vinegarette type dressing, for lunch, has sorted me out for post lunch lack of energy. Pasta is low in fat, and has very good contents of carbohydrates and protein. Obvously I don't eat that everyday, but very the theme.

At this point I was going to list what I avoid and restrict in my own daily intake, but instead I very much endorse what Knottie8 recommends, which is to take the time, while shopping at the supermarket, to read the label, the nutritional content table.
Its an eye opener for sure.

Also, very important, do not cut-out carbs and do not cut-out protein. Doing so will see your body getting these from your muscle tissue. The body will "harvest" protein from your muscles, if you don't give it any through your diet, and it will also acquire its carbs from the braking down of bodily protein.

I have a weekly eating routine, I know what I'm going to eat and why I'm eating it. I no longer get hungry between meals, although when the bordem sets in, its still tempting to drift towards the fridge…
I do occassionally stray as mentioned earlier, perhaps once a month I'll have Fish-n-Chips. But its because I rarely have such food, that when I do, it is such a treat and I enjoy it all the more for that. IT could be Fish-n-Chips, could be a Ruby, whatever. I believe its impotant not to cut these things out entirely, but instead reserve them for rare occassions.

Watch your calories, exercise, do not cut-out any particular nutrient such as protein or carbohydrate, regain control of portion sizes and most importantly, imo, exercise your self discipline. Without that, nothing is going to change.

:-)

Solo.

Mr S.

Ok, it was worth a try, good luck with getting your light.

I hope CRC come through for you.

:-)

Solo.

Build your own light.

Contact Troutie, he does kits and even a few builds and you'll get your light for less than £200.

Solo.

Yeah. Where does the dried-out sealant go then ?.

Solo.

RichPenny.

Thanks for the info. Sounds enticing, but from my five minutes surfing, so far. Doesn't sound as if I'm going to dive in just yet.

I've got my touch-cruise set-up just as I like it, I get GPS, WiFi and web, streaming, etc, all the usual, and it all works fine on Windows 6.1.

But that doesn't mean that I'm not always open to "improvements".

Cheers.

Have a good weekend all.

Solo

RichPenny.

I'm not sure what Android is, I've just had a quick surf for it.

I'm now wondering, did your HTC come to you with Android already installed, ie, by the OEM, or network provider ?.

Solo.

Err, so am I reading this correctly ?, HTC phones are migrating away from Windows mobile, to another OS ??.

I put up with Windows Mobile (not too bad IMO) so that I can run TomTom and Memory Map…

Solo

Tinsy use to have a 1×9. Contact him.

S.

An HTC phone, which is what I have, or a BlackBerry ?, I think they call it.

My HTC is a very good phone, although mine doesn't have as slick a finger interface with the display as an iphone. But then again, my one is about 2 years old now. Reckon the newer HTCs are better, developing their "touch-flow" UI.

Solo.

Lol, there are some absolutely minging crates there.

Great !, keep'em coming.

:lol:

Solo

Sherry.

Go for it, good luck :D

Solo.

Not at all. type stuff into the search engine and see what you get.

Tins, obviously I know you, how else would I know your car number plate…

Solo.

Sherry.

Telephone them. They may deal.

I use to fear one of the smallest words in our language, the word….NO.

I do not fear this word any longer. Each time I hear it, I seem to walk away, still intact, no blood loss, no limbs missing.

My first showdown with "NO" was when I negotiated the sale of my first FS.

I walked into that shop thinking of the price I was happy to pay, and thinking that this price was all I was going to offer.

I thought, if the man in the shop said "no", I was going to walk away, and try elsewhere.

We got chatting and I told him what I would give him for the bike…..he agreed the price. I got my first FS, £400 off the price, yippee !.

That was 2005, now I ask for discount on loads of stuff.

The word "No" ?, can no longer intimidate me.

Telephone the shops still advertising said fork. Tell them that you're happy to take the fork that no one else bought from them, and offer them a reasonable price.

Sensible shop keepers have a saying.

"Your first loss, is you best loss. Take it !".

The "mark-up" on bike kit is so high, they have a margin for dealing/haggling.

Give it a try, what have you to lose ?.

Solo.

Nuke.

Thanks for clarifying. Added little tips like that really help. The You tube vid is good, but theres still nothing like discussing it with someone whos got the experience. :-)

I reckon its probably best to just replace the old fluid with some new stuff and not to mix. I'm not sure how much DOT fluid costs, but it must be worth just sticking to one type, with just the initial flush through.

DJG. Not sure if we're comparing eggs with eggs there. I was always under the impression that Formula Oro was just a higher level/quality of brake. A bit like comparing a Vauxhall with an Audi ?.

I recall reading a brake test somewhere a year or two ago and the Formula brakes got to a higher temp, but still resisted boiling, and gave a greater braking force, they performed great in every test.
I also recall at the time looking at the prices and they were significantly most costly than other brakes.
As you may know, there are many pressures on OEMs to get the correct balance of kit onto their bikes, including component costs, but also as importantly, component availability.
The SRAM family products, to my understanding, have become so prevelant partly due to the fact that alternative manufacturers just haven't always been able make enough gear sets, brake systems, etc, to supply all the bike Manufs.

Anyway, my friend collected his bike last night and is happy with the tweaks I've made, including tightening up the loose fittings on his rear brake system. He reports that the rear brake is much improved. I would still feel happier if he invested in the bleed kit. The lever felt a bit "long" to me. But then again, one has to take into account hydro line flex, etc, I suppose. My XTR DCLs have a slightly longer feeling rear brake than the front (Perhaps it something to do with the length of hydro line to the rear caliper ???).

I pasted on the comments from this thread and I think he'll keep the 7s, and when/if he gets round to bleeding the brakes, the few jewels of advise from this thread will be most helpful.

Thank you all very much. :D

Solo.

Burts.

In my experience, no, you don't adjust lever reach, when bleeding the brake.

Solo.

Sherry.

Sorry, it just made me laugh.

Got to admit, was funny.

:-)

Ok, I just checked wiggle, and the picture they have for the 5 doesn't show the contact adjuster.

So, sorry, me taking from the wrong end on that one.

Best go with what Nuke says.

But if no joy, come back to the Forum, we'll sort it. :D

Solo.

Ok, I just checked wiggle, and the picture they have for the 5 doesn't show the contact adjuster.

So, sorry, me taking from the wrong end on that one.

Best go with what Nuke says.

But if no joy, come back to the Forum, we'll sort. :D

Err, Ok, we need a Juicy 5 owner here. I thought that the 5s had the red star on top of the lever, which you rotate to adjust pad contact.

The screw you need to use an allen key for, is as you say, just to adjust your reach to the lever.

Solo.

Nuke, now you mention it, I can't recall that either.

I would assume that one forces the fluid from the caliper end, while slowly extending the plunger in the syringe connected to the lever, yes ?.

Solo.

As you know, I'm not an owner, so not that experienced. However, I believe that Juicy 5s and upwards have a pad contact adjuster.

Have you adjusted that yet ?.

Solo.

Oops, pressed enter mid post.

Craig1975, thanks again. Yeah, I've seen the youtube vid. Seems straight forward enough and much better than reading a set of instructions, but if he wants the brakes bled I reckon he is better off buying the kit as I suppose you could blow £35 at your, not so good, LBS on the same job, just once.

My thanks to all.

Solo.

Excellent feedback, thanks.

Mtbfx. no worries, cool, looking back, my post could have been clearer. :D

Mk1fan. I took the washers apart and found white chalky and brown corrosion/stuff. So I cleaned with wire wool and dropped the tiniest drip of oil on them just to facilitate movement when seating. As per the install instruction, etc.

Foxyrider. Yeap, Not all Bike shops are created the same. I've yet to find a good one, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist.
:-)

What jimbo said.

Solo.

True or not, I have to lol at this one.

Have you both considered going into show business.

Ta

Solo.