Haha gurner. Never heard that one before.

Yeah I think if your feet aren’t able to move a bit laterally then it will put extra pressure through your knees that will hurt unless you get it at an improbably perfect postion. I also think if you are not spinning in a low enough gear that will do the same thing as being in a poor position. what kind of pedalling do you do?

The bike may be too small. Although you may be the right height, your legs are 1″ longer than mine depsite me being taller than you. I ride an XL. TBH my big problem with knee pain turned out to be cleat position. I had to try around for quite a while to get it right. If it’s medial knee pain then the cleats may be postitioned too far to the outside of your shoe. Try moving them around to see if it makes any difference.

The thing with getting the pedal behind the knee line is only applicable to a small number of riders. What’s more important is the angle at which the knee and leg sit at the top of the stroke as too much or too little will apply too much anterior or posterior force on the knee joint and affect your menisci.

Here, here! Just replaced my sl with a heckler and its just even more fun! Better thsn mybold meta 5.5 which was my pride and joy.

I didn’t previously wear pads either but working in acute care as a doc has got me going in the other direction. Number 1 serious injury seen most frequently from mtb’ing is cervical spine fracture so good quality back protection is also something people should consider. I just got a pair of POC knee pads and they were great for 3 hours round GT on saturday.

This GF actually turned round yesterday and said we needed to buy a van!!! Has this ever happened before in the world of MTB?! I almost asked her to marry me there and then. Of course I can’t afford either right now but hey-ho. So my suggestion is get a small van you can “renovate.”

Bled my X2’s last night using the technique from youtube. No problems. A thing to check is when you reseat the pistons you may need to replace the pads too as if they are both pushed out and squishy they wear extra quick. I still had about @30% left but the pistons had retracted too far to allow what was remaining on the pads bite and the lever would just go all the way through it’s travel. Something else to try before replacing seals which is quite a faf.

I saw those. They were there at about 15:30 when we got down.

Another thing that helps is popping the valve out to allow a greater amount of air per pump. The key is to get to a point where the volume going in overcomes the beads willingness to sit in the middle of the rim. Then leave them on overnight and it should be easier to seat them from then on. Ardent’s were a real problem for me. Strangely other Maxxis tyres didn’t prove so difficult, just them.

Have some XX cranks for sale if you’re interested. 650g or so. I’ve got al SRAM on my bikes and so far it’s been fine. Saying that I have Shimano on my road bikes and they’ve also stayed the course. I think it depends how much you mistreat them tbh.

I went for 1 and 2 and screwed the H screw in almost as far as it goes! Haven’t had any difficulties so far.

http://www.topeak.com/products/pumps/mountainmorph

Best frame pump i’ve ever seen.

I have an XL santa cruz superlight frame for sale in black. Kashmina RP23. £400 if you’re interested. Right on the money for 120mm.

The angle of your foot is imperative to the way you cycle. I have feet that point out though my right is particularly bad and I get bad back/knee/quads pain if I don’t cycle with my feet also pointing out. The whole leg is one long series of moving parts and if any get out of line when putting force through it, you’re going to have a bad time. You’ve already identified your problem I think, but maybe you need to find cranks with a larger Q factor or get a good chainstay protector? You cannot force angles like that on bikes as you are putting great amounts of force through your knees. You ITB is usually the first thing to go and it’s quite probably what’s happened here, but if you persist you are in danger of long-term damage.

My GF got a Womens’ Specific Design (WSD) Specialized and it seems perfect for her. I actually think it’s more important for women which first mountain bike they get as the sport can be quite awful (as we found out!) if you just try and force them onto a men’s mountain bike. The cockpit is all wrong as they have narrower shoulders, longer legs relative to men but a shorter reach. Check out the WSD models from different manufacturers as they are really well-made and well-suited bikes. Specialized and Trek I know do them.

What Peterfastlane has said might just do it. Personally I gave a set of juicy 3s away due to the intense frustration they caused me. Go for Hopes next time.

There are specific problems linked to binge drinking which are not directly linked to calorie intake. You’re also damaging your muscles as muscle soaks up a lot of booze when you drink. I drink at the level you are describing maybe once or twice a year and usually at weddings! try and drink water between every two pints and it will stage it out and keep you more hydrated. Think of the damage to the work you’re doing on your cycling if nothing else!

*Be careful as to who’s behind you want to sit….behind!