Bought one of these recently
Blackspire Epic Downhill 6061 Series

I like the red, very nicely done, maybe I would use a different chainstay protector and grips (black with red lock-on rings), but otherwise nice.
Maybe you could route the cable for the front mech directly rather than through the seat stay gap?!
Sven

Watch out, though, there are several different threads out there, so you better replace the bolt AND the wedge. Also, there are various different diameters for the wedge even for 1" forks (due to varying wall thicknesses of the steerer), I recently needed to replace the bolt of an old Syncros 1" threaded stem, the wedge was still okay. I tried a few I had lying around and from a bike shop selling second-hand stuff but ended up getting a new bolt made by a workshop as none of the bolts I tried fitted.
Sven

Munich is probably one of the prettiest cities around and I really wanted to live there when I was 13 so I could go cycling and skiing in the alps every weekend, but 20 years on, it's simply a rather posh and overpriced city where everything is laid out for you if you are willing to spend the money.

Berlin has a LOT more going on, and…
> the architecture is mostly shit, consisting of 50's & 60's soviet blocks
such as the Museums Insel, der Reichstag, Gendarmenmarkt or Potsdamer Platz?

Very different cities in any case, and thanksfully not everyone has the same taste (neither would be my first choice BTW)

We had one with a built-in wooden drainer, however, the wood making up the drainer split after a short time. Replaced the drainer by a ceramic one and kept oiling the wooden parts, and it was fine ever since.

Silly that most fixed gear riders still have their front brake lever (if they are sensible enough to have a brake) on the right and hence no hand brake at all when they indicate to turn right (not that most of them would ever indicate anyway).

A rather old Serotta in SS disguise, sorry for the bad picture and the slicks. Anyone remember Suntour XC Pro brake levers?

I remember Dollar and maybe Alva being indeed quite nice, with Stirling being close-by as your local town, and decent MTBing on your doorstep, but lived in Edinburgh myself and would go again.

I doubt even the FC EBB has more than 13mm movement, same for Trickstuff, I measured it and you cannot get more movement as otherwise the axle would hit the bottom bracket shell. At 12.7mm, you would still need a half-ling in half (hence the name?) the cases, that's why sliding dropouts or proper EBBs have a throw of at least 25.4mm or 1".

Certainly get the BB faced AFTER powdercoating!

Sven

Exotic as mentioned by Mackem, but they are even cheaper here in all sorts of flavours, looked at 1" ones myself this weekend
Carboncycles[/url]

Sorry to hear that! My wife is very much into cats, we have quite a few at home and she knows a lot about them, however, she thought that anethetics for a 13 year old cat would be the riskiest part of the operation, is this what the vet told you as well when you asked him what went wrong? The cat may not recovered from the anethetic properly, which can happen?!

I have been quite a few times in the mid/late 90s, but since I was living in Germany at that time, driving was easy so I can't help with airports. I still think it is one of the best places to ride your bike, trail 601, up and down Tremalzo and Monte Baldo were my favorites. At that time, everyone used to follow the Moser guide books, pretty sure they are still around (possibly only in German, but very detailed!). A lot of the tours involve going uphill on steep little backroads and then coming down on small trails with huge boulders in the way. You'll have fantastic views every time and can treat yourself to an icecream in the afternoon after each ride. Very much recommended (but I can't compare to many of the French resorts in the alps that people seem to be raving on about).

I broke 2 of the old-style Syncros seatposts, but they were the best looking seatposts ever made. Still riding around with my 140mm Syncros stem 1" quill!!!
Newer stuff seems okay but maybe not quite as special as it used to be.

What a shame, the bike didn't pass the majority of the STW members's taste, ah well…

The front brakes are what I had on my previous bike, no need to spend money, some people would say the Magura rim brakes have more 'feel' to them than disc brakes; the rims are Mavic ceramic and have been through three alps crossings, but that doesn't mean they don't fall apart next weekend.

Some of the white bits (mainly at the right seat stay) are to cover up where I took the hacksaw to remove the cable guides that I didn't need. The brown is indeed – I dare admit it – electricians' tape.

> Also why have you got your brakes set up Euro style/other way around?
Because I am 'Euro'…

That is a neat way, even though one bike shop owner once told me that the rather tight bends would make shifting slightly worse, but I am sure it's okay. I used to have a frame with sliding dropouts for Rohloff's OEM1 axle plates which was fine but the cables were running under the chainstays and on my first ride a few years ago, I smashed the gear box on a rock, something that had never happened to me with a mech on the other side that sticks our way further.
I now built up a Scandal where the Rohloff cables come neatly from the top along the seatstays without any bends, disadvantage is that the disc brake hose runs along the downtube. The torque is dealt with one of the real Monkey bones that I bought when I lived in California. Pictures will hopefully follow next week…
Cheers, Sven

Veyr nice indeed.
Do you happen to have a couple of pics of the cable routing on the back of the non-drive side? I like the brake hose and the two Rohloff cables running under the top tube and am curious as to how they end up on the external gear box.

I've done it quite a while ago, in 1999 which I think was the second or third time they've ever organised it.

> How do you train for multiday events like this?
A couple of 2 or 3 day rides are okay, no-one runs 26 miles BEFORE running a proper marathon either, but train for more than 2 hours regualarly, more like 4 to 6 hours.

> Will the trail conditions allow light weight xc tyres?
Tubeless wasn't around when I did it and I have no experience with it, I would go for a lightweight 2.3 tyre and check the weather a week beforehand to see how wet it is likely to be.

> bar ends
Yes, no matter what the fashion police says.

> Should I buy some super stiff light weight shoes or can I expect some
Expect some hiking of at least 1 hour at a time, but I don't know the route for this year.

> How much should I eat/drink before, during and after each day?
That's up to you but I have to say the the food provided during the transalp was outstanding, especially during the stages, but breakfast and dinner was fine, too (if you don't mind pasta most nights).

Hope that helps
Sven

Admittedly, I didn't build it myself but had the idea and did the CAD drawings for this eccentric external bottom bracket that a machinist then made for me. Sad thing is that while I was waiting for the guy to machine the pieces, I read about the Trickstuff Excentriker on STW for the first time…

Still works well, however, after 2 years now!

Barry probably means the excentric external bottom brackets either by Trickstuff from Germany, see

Trickstuff Excentriker

or the one by forward components from the states, see

Forward components[/url]

Both have been discussed on the forum before, both have their good and bad points.

I think it is… We stayed in this remote Youth Hostel in Glen Affric overnight and than had this fantatsic downhill to the road along Loch Duich. Sven

That should read 'weather', of course…

Newtonmore to Plockton in four days a few years back, we did not use a GPS, one could probably do that route in less time as well, depending on whether. Some fantastic riding, especially around the Five Sisters, took in the Corrieyairack pass as well, and easy to get back from Plockton to Newtonmore by train via Inverness (book tickets for bikes in advance).

Picture from Kintail here

Thanks for that already, I suppose I will have to get into GPS software a bit more…

I lived there for a few years… I may be 'biased' as I am German but I heard from multiple people that Berwick was at war with Germany from the 2nd WW onwords up to the early 80s. Anyway, it's got some stunning architecture and huge, beautiful townwalls, a fantastic beach and gorgeous coastline. On the downside, there are indeed too many chavas due to the two council estates, lots of charity shops, rather depressive high street shops, and for some reason every other shop seems to be a hairdesser!!!
But there are a few nice cafes and pubs… Cyclingwise, there are good coutry lanes for road riding, Glentress is quite a drive away too be honest, but the Cheviots accessed from Wooler or Kirk Yetholm are close and are great for MTBing. And house prices are cheap! Would not be my first choice but I would go back..
My first try in posting images, that's me flying a kite in stormy weather…

Chains will be the cheaper option, but if the money does not put you off, I would get winter tyres here. It's amazing how well you can go on snow, and in some countries you get part of the blame in an accident if you don't have winter tyres EVEN if it wasn't your fault (as long as it is below 4 deg C or similar). Not sure how much they are here, but it might be a faff to find a place that can quickly put the right tyres on for you while you are wasting your holiday time…

Stuey is right, it's for firm tech brakes, got some on my bike, the holes should be on both fork legs (behind the leg) which is a bit of a give-away…

What make is that, not sure I can tell from the pics…
Looks fast though!

Yes, if you mean the ones by http://www.velosolo.co.uk/
Does what it says on the tin, hasn't come loose yet, well made and not more expensive than 'normal' cogs.

>>Is that the one in wellies?

>think so

That should be Michelle Hunziker if I am not mistaken…

They may be dangerous in some cases, but more importantly, they are pointless, the sun hardly ever shines here, most muck comes from the tyres and not from above where the peak sits, and since a lot of MTBers ride on the road from time to time as well, why bother with it at all…

Wow, a reply form Chipps himself, thanks for the offer, as much as I would like to come along at some point, I suppose I am not around while you are at work and vice versa. Thanks anyway.

nigew: Thanks for that, I'll contact you on Monday if I haven't sorted it by then. CVS didn't even have threaded rods last weekend, I haven't come across Bonsalls as yet…

I sent an eMail to you, ChatsworthMusters, thanks!

I used a hammer and wood in the past, too, but now splashed out on a Hope headset, so I wanted to go the safer way, and most of my tools, incl. vice, are still in storage in Northumberland, so can't get them any time soon….

It certainly does not have to be a home-made one, I thouhgt my chances of finding a home-made one are higher, but if you have a 'professional' headset press happy to lend to me, I would take either.
STW is probably closed at the weekends, not sure whether they want to give out tools anyway. I just thought there must be a few cyclist in Hebden/Todmorden who have a headset press…
Thanks

clubber is right, I built my own excentriker (haven't got any pics at the moment) and used it with RaceFace cranks, but tightening them too much resulted in a lot of drag. It works, but not perfectly, but one could always play around with slightly thinner than 2.5mm shims as sold by VeloSolo.
At the momemt, I am trying to fit 105er cranks on that self-made excentrik bottom bracket, should work fine as you can adjust the exact porition of the left crank arm, a bit like heasdets.
Sven

Kamel, does folding the Airnimal involve taking the wheels off? I searched but never found a video of its folding mechanism on the web…
Their Rhino model is even available with disc brakes and sliding dropouts, I go through normal brake pads like mad since I have a steep descent on my commute…

I've been at one of their shops last year to buy a roadbike, I was living North of LA at that time. I seem to remember them telling me that they are not allowed to ship e.g. Fox forks abroad as Fox keeps an eye on the prices which are loads cheaper over there, Marzocchi does not seem to be a problem…

Riva is for bikers, Torbole for Windsurfers, Arco for Climbers, but that doesn't stop anyone from staying anywhere else, in fact the best bike shops were in Torbole last time I went. Swimming after a hot day in the saddle is fine, but too cold for 'normal' swimming. Limone is very nice and the best trails are still accessible. There are plenty of trails you can ride cross-coutry on as well, and the downhills are all doable with a hardtail, maybe more fun with a 6 inch travel bike. Go up Tremalzao and Monte Baldo for the classics, and get the Moser guide book (in german, but easy to understand) for the most detailed tour descriptions.

I just measured those a couple of days ago on various cranks/frames, not the actual Q-factor but the distance between the inside of the crank arms if they were parallel and also the distance between the outside of the chainstays 175mm behind the BB to check clearance. I did this because I want to re-shuffle some cranks from one bike to another…, and of course I don't have the numbers on me right now. Anyway, a new Shimano 105 HTII double ring setup was certainly the narrowest, still giving quite some clearance on an On-one Scandal frame, but not much (maybe 1mm) on a very old Serotta steel MTB frame. A 3 year old Race Face HTII crankset was the widest, and the two square taper in between, but that obviously depends on spindle length.
Clearance of the cranks is not the only problem as the small chainring on a triple setup might scratch the chainstays even though the cranks have enough clearnce against the chainstays.

I'd consider it, price depending. I like the idea of possibly being able to choose a different colour.

Thanks for your replies! Sven

Newcastle – Amsterdam with DFDS Seaways is loads cheaper than the ferry from Rosyth and still saves you most of the driving plus gives you ‘free’ overnight accommodation.