Still way too much snow up the hill here in Innerleithen, so I went for a spin alongside the Tweed… glorious sunny day though, nice to be out on a bike and something felt great about barrelling along on the compacted snow of the walkers footpath by the river.

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Tweedside pedal[/url] by StoooPotter[/url], on Flickr

Living in Innerleithen, with a number of bikes, running tubeless of all types…. here’s my experience.

Firstly, it does depend on how hard/fast you’re hitting things…. But, I’ll basically ride everything that’s there and at a pace that will clear all doubles on Make or Brake and Caddon Bank for example.

Make or brake is one of the worst bit of trail for tyres. It’s mostly loose, but with a bunch of big sharp rocks, some of which aren’t loose but stuck in the ground with pointy tyre shreading bits up. Other bad section is the Quarry, the wee descent half way up to minch moor on the main red route. As has been mentioned above, for the most part, it’s not that tough on tyres – XC or DH trails.

I spent a good while on Schwalbe racing ralphs and nobby nics on my light bike through the summer and, when hitting things hard and fast, found them just too light for inners…. kept pinch flatting (still running tubes then) and dinging rims unless pumped up to 40/45 psi… which was too hard to have any real grip.

No running tubeless on all bikes and favouring Bontrager TLR tyres. Not too light, but lighter than proper UST and seal find with Stans sealant. Got 2.0 mud-x on the 29er and probably about to order a set for the 26″ wheeled XC Full susser too as I really rate these tyres.

I’ve been running 2.35 Bontrager ACX TLR tyres for a bit on this bike (26″ SC Superlight with Mavic 819 UST Rims). They’re fairly light for the size (BIG) and roll really well. Lovely and grippy but tend to float about a bit over mud, hence wanting to switch to the Mud-x which I’ve been so impressed with on the 29er. I’ve also tried out Maxxis Ignitor 2.1 LUST on these wheels and they’re great. Very grippy and pretty fast given how they look. Prefer the bonty Muds in the winter, but will probably go back to these in the summer I think.

Big fan of Kenda Blue Groove 2.35 on my SC Bullit… seem very sturdy – but really need sealant and rim strips to run tubeless (not sure what rims you’re on) but have now switched to combo of 2.35 Bonty ACX and 2.35 Bonty Big Earl…. probably a bit heavy for you I reckon.

If you’re frame has space for them and you can find some, I’d really rate the Bontrager ACX 2.35 for weight, rolling and grip on innerleithen trails… and for winter gloop a set of 2.0 Mud-X.

There’s my 2p worth anyway.

I’m 5’8″ and riding a 16″ Inbred 29er.

Not my main bike – really built it up for winter riding and, given the last weeks’ weather, very glad I did. I figured when there’s loads of snow, the big wheels might make it less of a chore to just go a batter out a few miles on fire roads and foot paths if I can’t get onto any interesting single track.

It’s certainly not as playful as my 26″ bikes, not as easy to pop the front wheel up or hop about as you suspect, but overall it’s surprisingly agile.

The big wheels do roll well as people suggest. Lot’s of folk reckon it’s like having 60-80mm of suspension… well, it’s not as comfy as that, you still feel the bumps, but it does roll over stuff as easy as a big with a bit of bounce does if you know what I mean. Basically, it takes a big ish bump to stop it.

I’ve ridden the whole of Innerleithen XC route on it, my local trail, and it didn’t stop my hitting anything including jumps and drops. I wouldn’t have it as my main bike for riding technical trails on, but overall I do like barrelling along on it and reckon it’s gong to be a good ride for the next few months.

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Potter at Innerleithen[/url] by Spakman[/url], on Flickr

I think it looks nice too.

nothing in life can compare to the sense of achievement associated with building one’s own igloo.

falling…. with style.

very cool, very mental. Last 30 seconds made me feel a bit ill.

metalheart – yes, she’s very impressed… though not as pleased with it as I am, it’s like the best thing I’ve ever built 🙂

Rhys – that’s pretty cool (pun intended) … tempted to sleep in mine, but it being right next to my house (with nice warm comfy bed, heating… and loving wife) I decided to give it a miss.

was dark by the time it was properly finished, vestibule and all… so it’s a night time shot taken with my iphone and I illuminated the interior with the help of a dealextreme Trustfire torch.

Thinking of renting it out to folk coming up to use the uplift 🙂

I got a mustang rim on the front of my 29er… went Ghetto using a spare inner tube to make a rim strip, Bonty Mud-X TLR tyres, stans goo and my compressor for inflation. (couldn’t inflate it with a track pump)

Been running it for 3 weeks, 3 rides now and all is well.

I ran Bonty ACX 2.35s on mine… they’re a big tyre and felt great. Have just put some 2.1 Maxxis Ignitors on and they look tiny! Not ridden the maxxis yet, but reckon I’m gonna miss the fat rubber.

Got out for a spin round inners yesterday… lovely and powdery under your tyres. Super cold, but the trails looked gorgeous.

Here’s a pic my buddy took of my on my new 29er

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Potter at Innerleithen[/url] by Spakman[/url], on Flickr

“Moved to Innerleithen”, lucky boy!

Yes – it is a chore… I feel I can’t take it for granted and force myself to go out on the bike as often as possible as all you lot would have every right to have a go at me for not making good use of the local trails.

I’m running mine with no tugs on an inbred slit dropout frame. Seems fine but could be a pain to set it again in the dark and get the disc lined up etc if I have a flat and need to take the tyre out.

+1 for Bonty mud-x.

Running them on the 29er. Super impressed with them. Roll faster than expected loads of grip and pretty impressive in the 3″ of powdery snow today too. About to buy a pair for the 26″ bike too.

Looks lovely… how are the angles with the lyrik on the front? Do you ride with them at 160mm all the time, or find you dial them down a lot?

Looks nice, though I’d be putting some fatter tubeless tyres on there. Those crossmax sx wheels are fantastic, and run great tubeless too.

Nice build though, I’m still on a 2006 bullit. Great bikes

Using Stans rims, yellow tape and Bonty Mud-x 2.0 tyres. Very impressed. Highly recommended.

I’ve got the 2.0s on my 29er and they seem great all round tyres. Wouldn’t want thinner … Even on 29″ wheels

Just built up an Inbred 29er with alfine 8spd on the back. Only had one test ride, but very impressed.

Yes, it’s heavy.
Yes, there’s big gaps between the gears.
Yes, you lose the top and bottom of the range of a 3×9 setup.
Yes, it’s a bit of a pain to remove the rear wheel for a puncture – particularly if it’s dark.

However, you don’t really notice the downsides too much and the simplicity of use and maintenance on a winter bike is huge. As a second/winter bike it’s a brilliant idea…. or if you’re pushed on budget to keep a bike on the road/trail, I’d seriously consider an Alfined hardtail as a main bike.

I’ll be using my Alfine inbred 29er for the strathpuffer this winter.

Yeah, been quite warm around tweed valley the last few days, can’t really see any on the tops now, I’d imagine GT is clear apart from maybe the odd patch.

Weekend forecast is set to be mostly clear with a little cloud. Should be a good one.

Here’s my Santa Cruz Bullit – 7″ at the back and 6″ at the front.

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Santacruz Bullit[/url] by StoooPotter[/url], on Flickr

My general play bike for a bit of trail lunacy and occasional uplift days.

Here’s my lovely Giant TCR Carbon… SRAM Rival and a very light n skinny set of Sun rims on Dura Ace hubs laced with 28 Sapim CX-Ray spokes.

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My Giant TCR road bike[/url] by StoooPotter[/url], on Flickr

Best thing about road bikes is you really just need a half decent frame (don’t need to spend a fortune) and some good solid, not-too-heavy, wheels (again, not too expensive these days) and you’re good to go for a few years. Groupset really doesn’t make that much of a difference and nothing will break/wear-out for 5 years.

Get one!

Amazing performance…. I really like him, he’s a nice guy, he deserves to be here…. I think he’ll go a long way…

He reminds me….

of a young…..

Hans Ray.

I’m sure they’d have gone to the top if it was safe to do so….

Imagine if they chanced it on the 3rd run, the bus got stuck, and the whole day was cancelled.

Your right… but another important bit is that it’s measured at 90deg to the steerer.

So, you ignore any rise in the stem.

Absolutely – incredible opener to the vid… was worried that Danny had kinda hit his peak, but I’ve just watched that 3 times… awesome.

Could watch that boy ride all day. Proper nice chap to boot.

From what I could see, the snow was pretty bad up top and once the bus gets past the quarry, there’s no where for it to turn around easily if it gets stuck.

There’s not much they can do about the weather. Tally has to pay for the coach and truck no matter what once they’re booked. There was no snow forecast for Sunday, so no one saw that coming in time to cancel it.

Tis a shame though, but at least you got some riding in.

I’m just going through the same thinking… I’ve decided to try everything I can to see what works and what doesn’t. Here’s the list:

On my 29er …
Stans flow on back with stans yellow tape and Bonty mustang on the front with ghetto rim strip made from a spare 26″ inner tube. Bonty TLR tyres and stans goo.
This went pretty well. Rear went up really easy with track pump. Front needed co2 cartridge to seat the tyre. Held air fine after that. First test ride wit 30psi in the tyres went great. Very impressed with how easy the rear stans set up was.

I’m having a set of 819s built up for my light xc bike as I want simplicity and strength. Bonty TLR tyres on there too.

Have a set of 521 rims on my bullit and gonna try them with stans rim strip kit… Be interesting to compare that to the home made strip on my 29er front wheel.

Also have a spare set of Bonty Rhythm wheels that I use for uplift days. They’re supposed to be tubeless ready so gonna try them with yellow tape and run my wire bead maxxis DH tyre with goo on there.

Will report in a couple of weeks when everything is setup and running.

Thus far though, Bonty TLR tyres and Stans notubes goo and rims get a big thumbs up from me.

Wow – looks like it was pretty white up top.

I was sat in a cozy lounge at the bottom of the hill in Inners, with a stinking cold, looking out the window thinking… Hmmm, glad I went out on the bike yesterday… and glad I’ve just built up a winter bike (hub geared 29er).

Looks like Strathpuffer training starts here.

Don’t think your bonty valves will fit in the UST rim well.

Also – was thinking more of a stans rubber strip (with the valve) on a UST rim to use normal tyres, to build up the bead seat and make the tyre tighter on the rim. But, insulation tape may do it… from the sound of other posts though, std tyres with goo may well work fine.

Bonty TLR Tyres have a UST compatible bead, but thinner sidewalls so need some goo/tyre-milk/sealant (whatever you want to call it) in them… but they’ll work fine on your UST Wheels, should work great in fact.

I believe it’s possible to use normal (none tubeless tyres) with UST wheels/rims with goo… but it can be hard to inflate them as they sit a little loose in the ‘well’ in the centre of the rim.

I know Stans NoTubes do a rimstrip that’s for UST rims with normal tyres, but that kinda defeats the point of UST rims.. I’m running Bonty UST Tyres on 819 UST rims…. or at least I will be next week.

I’ve just got a set.

I’m normally a size 43 in specialized shoes and went with a 44 for these as I tend to find shimanos need to be a size up…. they fit ok, but are snug as has been said above. if I was gonna be wearing big chunky socks with em, I’d maybe need a 45.

Seem OK shoes though, way comfier than the 5:10s I tried on… and way cheaper too! though, not as grippy.

Got an RP23 on mine and really like it. The std float has a permanent slight pro-pedal setting, so the RP23 will feel a bit plusher and more active when the PP is switched off, then you’ve a choice of settings for the On setting.

I like the look of the ‘dale RZ 120 too… but it’s not available as just a frame.

Why would you want rid of the SL ?

Guess if you’ve been offered a bit of cash for it and fancy a change.

I’m very please with my SC superlight with RP23 shock.

Simple, cheap to maintain, great climber and loads of fun. You could go lighter though if you wanted something more racey.

Mud-x it is… might get some faster tyres come spring time. Right now, I’m most likely to ride this bike when the weather is horrendous, so makes sense to spec it so.

I have, after all, got it build up with an alfine rear hub specifically for muddy winter condition.

hmmm – I saw a cheap deal on them, but think I should listen to my instincts that have stopped me clicking buy on them all weekend.

Being as this is supposed to be my winter bike, I reckon I might go Mud-X

Might just go for a set of mud-x 2″ bontys and have done with it, but really worry they’ll feel slow on any hardpack stuff. There’s be plenty of trail centre riding, but I’ll also be riding the puffer on this bike.

What happens if you get a puncture? Can you just stick a tube in?

Yes, though you’ll need to take the valve out… and the rim strip if using those.

Bear in mind if you’re using a rim strip and goo… it’s gonna be a bit messy, so you’d want to carry a plastic bag or something to put it in to stop if getting all over your bag.

Also – I think some tyre / rim combinations can mean that you’ll want to have good tyre levers with you in case you need to stick a tube in.

After much debate and research (talking to people I know who run tubeless and looking online) I’ve decided to give it a shot, but I’m going with proper UST rims and Tubeless-ready tyres… and a bit of goo for thorn punctures etc.

Not sure on the weight of mine, but reckon it’s around the 25-26lb mark. Not a heavy frame, but it’s never going to be “Super Light” built up. I’d say go light where you can (XTR/XO Components will help) but keep strong stuff parts where you need em… tough but light wheels and bolt through forks well worth it as it will inspire the hooligan in you a bit more than you’d think for a 100mm frame.