Connex links work fine on XT 11-40 cassettes but rather than buy the link I’d buy the 11Sx chain with the link included. The connex chains last really well.

I’m using a 2016 fox 34 (non-boost) with Bomboloni on 45mm rims with plenty of room all round.

Search Strava for @uli cicles Garma who runs the bike shop in Santa Pola 20km from Alicante. He rides every day so plenty of routes to steal from him. I did my festive 500 there this year but was on my gravel bike so plenty of what I rode wouldn’t be 25mm appropriate.

Exactly the same thoughts here. Don’t need 12 speed, entirely happy with 10-42 range, would like AXS.

I’m interested in your friends set up @tomhoward.

Everything I’ve read points towards something that chimes with that weightweenies table where the best you can do is get the middle right and the ends ‘good enough’. But no one can ever explain what the real life experience is. That it works in a stand or at spinning effort isn’t enough to convince me.

I’ve asked Rotor which spacing (Sram or Shimano) their 12 speed cassette uses (11-39 and 11-46, fits on Shimano HG freehub) and they say ‘both’! Which either means they don’t know or that the difference is so small that no one needs to care about those fractions of a millimetre!

OP, check out Rotor. And watch out for chainring compatibility if you go the 10-45 Shimano cassette and chain – another chance at incompatibility!!

I spend time in Santa Pola, 15-20km south of Alicante. I usually take my gravel bike to increase the options of linking the roads up with farm tracks. The roads are lightly trafficked and drivers are way more considerate there than in the UK. Costa Blanca tourism does a pretty good job of publicising the good stuff but there are also many many great routes to put together on Komoot using lesser known roads and trails. For me it’s a fantastic place to combine riding with family time.

I think SRAM may have extended the warranty window or they’ve been kind to me at least. Definitely worth getting in touch with your shop.

https://spokes-calculator.dtswiss.com/en/calculator

You can pick your DT hubs from the drop down and manually enter the ERD. Looks like 287 is correct.

How did the spoke angle end up on the 28 3x ? That’s the only concern I’d have.

This week I’ve done 5 of 6 wheels on DT 350 and 240 straight pull hubs that I got a deal on and will settle in to #6 after typing this. First wheels I’ve built for a long while and I’m loving squorx nipples. So much so that I’m trying to rationalise new wheels for some other bikes just to build more!

Were Marta the version with one static side and one moving piston? If the static side isn’t close to the disc then you’d get an incomplete grip on the disc. I also have a set of pads but as I’m foreign they’d cost more to post than a new bled brake set on close-out.

Bike24 is CRC/Wiggle. I stopped using that crowd when they decided that where an item would be delivered would dramatically change the price (not just VAT differences. ‘Free’ post though!)

For example I’m looking now for a Use Revo light. The price is totally different on Wiggle.co.uk and Wiggle.se – both for Swedish delivery.

I just can’t be bothered to check prices across every TLD for (all) their sites for maintenance products like chains and pads. Especially when some are up and some are down!

So now first point of call is R2. Then bike-components, then bike-discount.

I’ve done returns to them all (I have had lots of sets of SRAM brakes and droppers..) and they have all been great and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend any of them.

Of all my bikes the Pickenflick gets the most use by a country mile. It’s a December ‘14 model so hoping that I don’t have the same issue down the line as you. It’s a triggers broom bike with only the shifter, headset, fork and handlebar remaining from the original build so thinking of putting a through axle fork in to remove some gritty-brake rub. Such a great bike.

I think landowners (in addition to and including NrW) will be pleased to read this thread and see some very well informed views. My concern is with the social media / petitions aspect which could make an unconnected landowner feel it is easier to disallow access to their land completely today instead of dealing with this kind of hassle in future.

It’s a crop. If we’re lucky to get unofficial access then we should be mindful which sectors we build in and for how long it will remain in use.

I understand it may be different in the uk. Here we have more space than anyone could ever need and not really any tradition of building/armouring trails. Just lots and lots of natural tracks so that none would be sorely missed when a sector gets harvested.

This thread has been a really interesting read. I can appreciate it sucks to lose valued trails but being in a managed forest makes that inevitable at some point.
My wider concern (even being in another country) is that landowners and managers are going to link this case to themselves and think “wouldn’t it just be easier to discourage all trail use now rather than having to deal with all this BS in 5-10-20 years when the crop is due?”

I have a box-fresh 11 speed Shimano MTB DT ratchet freehub that I’d love to swap for a ratchet XD.

As well as a clearing house for freehubs wouldn’t it be great if people could swap in end caps too?!

Let me know if your swap with vincienup doesn’t work out.

There’s not A pickenflick. Mine’s one of the early ones and I run up to 650×2.2 speedkings / 650×2.1 Kenda spikes / 700×42

If they made my frame with through axles* I’d buy it in an instant but until they do you can prise mine from my cold dead hands.

*My spike tyres and rotors sometimes grind a bit if it’s really gritty and I’m really cranking and I think bolt throughs would help.

Also interested in the answer to this!

Two consecutive days over new year last year on Tenerife: both 25 degrees at sea level, one 17 degrees at 2300m, the next day zero up there. Going back again this year I plan to limit my altitude according to clothing.

Bike-components.de have all the Sram small parts available.

https://www.bike-components.de/en/Brakes/Bits-Pieces-MTB-Disc-Brake/?filter_manufacturer_id=62

Pretty much all Sram spares available from here. Although giving everything a good clean, iso alcohol wipe, grease and bleed sorts most things. But by the time you’ve got everything apart you might as well put in fresh wear parts.

The biggest problem with Strava around here is the dumbing down of trails. Some of the most interesting, and tricky, single track quickly becomes a ripped straight line once a segment is created. I’m tempted to create a loop around the perimeter of the car-park for those who want to get their circuit completed as quickly as possible without the hard part of actually enjoying riding round the trail.

Praxis make a nice thread-together bracket which is working well for me.

I’m a bit late to add my 2p as you’ve ordered already, but for the benefit of anyone googling in future.

I have a 29+ I had made up by Waltly. It runs rigid forks in the winter and Fox 34 in the summer (non-boost, Bomboloni on farsports 35mm fits fine).

I’m only 177cm so just on the border-line of 29×3 making sense. Running carbon 35mm rims keeps the rotating weight down so it’s almost as fast as my Yeti ASR on my usual 28-minute (-28:30) XC lap.

Grip is superb as mentioned but get yourself a consistent gauge as the tyres are very sensitive to pressure. +/- 2 psi will see you pinging off everything to rim striking. Definitely go tubeless as you will strike your rims unless you run absolutely too high pressures. I guess a wider rim would make them less sensitive but that’s based on maybe rather than experience or science.

Good choice on the Stache. My friend has one and the rear dropout assembly that allows you to pull a 29×2 in even tighter is something I envy. If you’re building to their rigid fork then you’ll be able to swap to a Fox 34 if you want as I think their rigid is 15×100

If I was building again I would have gone for something that takes 27×3 and 29×2 but if you’re tall then the Stache is a great bike.

If your chainring is slim then a small padlock to attach the chain to the ring is a decent immobiliser. Not so easy with those deep chain rings though.

The ASRC is less flexy than the titanium 29+ but considerably flexier than the Capra carbon. In motion the flexiness isn’t apparent. I’m running it with an RS-1 so both frame and fork are very twisty in the workshop but I call BS on anyone who says it’s a problem, or even detect it, on the trail.

I’ve just got an ASRC and first shake down ride out with shock pressures off by 10-20% and rear brake dragging I set a PB time on a 28 minute XC loop. (28.5 minutes on a custom Ti 29+, 30.5 minutes on a Capra). There’s more to trim off now it’s fully set up.

Tonight I rode the jump track and only skipped one set. As I get older and spend less time in the air the ASRC will make even more sense as an all rounder.

Summary, very fast up, down, and across. Pretty capable just down too. Would definitely buy again no question!

A 29 Fox 34 non-boost fits 29+ on a 35mm rim with plenty of space all around. Not sure of atc but with 120mm travel what is a relevant measurement anyway?

It’s a 29er that I’m looking for but there do seems to be some good deals around on that size too.

I don’t want to sell them on. I’d rather put them on a frame, hence the question and asking for suggestions.

Looks like I’ll take a loss then if I don’t find a frame to hang them on!

Any suggestions?

Sorry for the old addition to this post but I googled a thousand times to find info about a fork that would work with 29+ and didn’t find anything conclusive about normal (not specifically designed for 29+) forks that did work.

I’m now using a 2017 Fox 34 29 non-boost with a 35mm rim and Bomboloni tyre with plenty of space all round.

It was an expensive fork but means I can use one pair of 29+ wheels with both rigid and suspension options depending on season. My riding buddy uses a Stache 5 and my 34 29 would work perfectly on that frame too. Important bit being it is non-boost so you can use the stock wheel.

If I finish a ride in a car park then I won’t have milk handy.. and in that case a shake is more convenient. I forget the original question. The answer is have something, something is better than nothing.

No one seems to have mentioned age related effects yet. When I was a young whippersnapper a large dominos pepperoni and half a dozen beers was fine and dandy to see me riding strongly the next day. Now at 40 if I don’t get something decent to eat or drink as soon as I get off my bike I’m done for the next day. Sample size of one but no double-blind randomised large scale experiment on anyone who isn’t me would convince me to skip a recovery drink nowadays. Whether it’s a ‘scientific’ shake or just a banana blended in some milk is immaterial as long as I get ‘something’. Convenience trumps most else.

I’ve called myself a cyclist for 3 decades and have never worn a cycling cap before now.

Not perfect but very much better than anything else I’ve tried!

What other gems aren’t those roadies telling us?

Thanks for most of the replies.

Looks like I’ll be giving the Halo products a try before I resort to surgery or disfiguration. Although the vaseline idea will get a trial first this evening

As a baldy I’m accustomed to never being further than 6ft from a buff but I’ve never had any success with sweat management from them. I’ve trimmed them to just a band, doubled them up, tripled them but they never cope for longer than an hour. And 99% of my riding is deep in forests so airflow isn’t a solution.

Still vaguely surprised that none of the big helmet manufacturers have a baldy-man liner version… there’s more than a few potential purchasers around

@daffy how’s the chain line with a double on the pickenflick? What size rings are running?

Subject to the answers above the pickenflick is a great all rounder. Mine’s running 1x CX1 so doesn’t have the range I need for really hilly rides. But maybe I can use a double now…!

Half the price of XX1 still doesn’t exqctly make it Deore level! (Dirtyrider)

Can you share more, Ben? Anything to fit a standard freehub?

Did you mean 10-42 wiggles? The ad image shows 10-something and an 11- wouldn’t need to be XD

Not as much interest as I thought it would. I can’t see a lower level 11s SRAM group being anything other than the default choice for most riding.

There are so many bikes with ‘standard’ freehubs that are so far locked out (without new wheels) of 11s SRAM that I’m hoping they have an 11up 11s cassette for standard freehubs.

Though as said, there will be a 11up 11s Shimano cassette soon anyway so maybe it doesn’t matter

Surprised they haven’t lifted the embargo now it’s out there though. Or maybe they want to break the idea of embargoes too?!

And where’s njee when I need him. Nick, you know how I ride.. What should I be going for nowadays?

I figured that a dropper post would be a recommendation. Didn’t expect rear thru-axle to get such glowing praise!

I’m going to try out tubeless on my current bike (after 10 years of thinking about it)

Other than that the only thing that needs to get decided up front is whether wide rims are worth it. Given my 2008 bike gets a good hammering week in week out it’s still 100% original so I’m not expecting to ‘try out’ different wheel options. I want whatever I go for to be ‘right’. And being 1000 miles from a good shop means no test rides.

And I think it’s too late to be adding more skill and ability now… Laugh? I nearly did.

A few K and ‘active’ is not a good combination

If you want a little more excitement than putting it in a passive low-fee fund then you could buy a couple of single stocks of companies you like. You’ll then be less likely to sell when they have a bad day. Keep adding to the investments periodically and the short term ups and down get averaged out. (There’s a term for it but I can’t remember it off the top of my head)

Alternatively if you really want to be ‘active’ and still have a chance of covering transaction costs then look at CFDs. But then you might as well just go to the bookies and put it on horses. “No one knows what the short term movements in a share price will be” – It’s all gambling at this point

[small print]By reading this you agree. Not advice, might lose your shirt, house etc, blah blah Financial Conduct Authority, you’re on your own.[/small print]