I’ve got 2 sets of wheels, one has Argotal front and Kryptotal rear for winter and softer conditions, the other has Kryptotal front and Xynotal rear all enduro soft compound.  Previously run maxxis exo and specialized grid trail but had to run an insert to avoid pinch punctures but no issues with the continental enduro casing so far. The continental tyres really do roll well and I’d rather take a bit of extra weight without worrying about punctures.

You should be able to fit new shock hardware to shock 2, I think it’s M8 x 30mm that would replicate the bearing mount on shock 1. Currently £18 from tf tuned.

Had the same with a xtr and it’s replacement xt shifter both warrantied by shimano. Lost faith in shimano and now using a sram gx shifter with xt mech.

I’ve always got tf tuned to arrange courier collection when sending my shock away for servicing, think its around £14 with DPD but that way your covered if it goes missing as shocks are on the prohibited list for most of the couriers if you send it privately.

Thought I’d try flats last year after 10+ years riding clipped in. It took a few months to unlearn all the bad spd habits but feel much more confident now. Really depends on the shoe and pedal combination to work properly, I’m using specialized 2fo and burgtec composites that are great but I mistakenly tried a pair of normal walking boots for a muddy winter ride but had hardly any grip on the pedals. Now have a pair of addidas goretex boots for winter. Was really surprised at the lack of waterproof flat shoes compared to spd.

Have used the original rimpact on xm421 rims so still 25mm internal with no issues. That was with maxxis exo so not the toughest tyres though.

First ride on a dt swiss wheel and stripped the freehub ratchet teeth 10 miles from home, at least it was mostly downhill all the way back. Pretty annoyed at the time for a brand new wheel but the replacement ratchets have lasted 3 years and still going

Basecamp bikes in Granton on Spey might be worth a look, always seem like a good bunch of guys whenever I’ve been in the shop. Not used them yet for servicing but going to get my shock booked in soon. Have also had excellent work done by tf tuned in the past.

Been a driver for 5 years now and love the job, very tough to get into as you have to pass a series of psychometric tests before even getting an interview with a train company and they normally have hundreds of applicants for each vacancy. I drive track maintenance trains rather than passenger so mainly night shifts as we can only work when normal trains have stopped but passenger drivers will have have a variety of early and late shift to contend with.
Worth looking at the engineering and freight companies as they might not get the volume of job applications that the passenger companies do.

Another vote for dt swiss, got two wheel sets with 240 and 350 hubs and have been faultless. If it’s the 240 hubs your getting then they should have the 36 tooth ratchet as standard, it’s the 350s that come with 18 teeth

@dougieb that’s fine mate, I’m not sure if the pm is working so best to email me at derekduke(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk and we’ll sort something out

@dougieb I’ve got a spare top cap from a charger 2 that was on a 2018 boost pike 29 that should fit you ok. I upgraded my charger 2 with the push hc97 kit that includes a new top cap and damper internals.

Bedmaker I’ll take your 24 tooth ratchets, just sent you a pm

I upgraded mine with a charger 2 damper and new debonair air shaft so basically turned it into a pike, really transformed the fork as the motion control dampers not great. Haven’t tried it at 160mm but it’s only a new air shaft and easy to change back to 150mm if you didn’t like it.

I’ve got the alloy version and agree that the stock wheels are fairly heavy. I already had a nice set of dt swiss xm1501 wheels that made a noticeable difference to the bike but kept the original wheels for use through the winter. Great bike though but maybe budget for a decent lighter weight wheel set to get the best from it.

Had my S150 for nearly a year now and it’s been fantastic. Only negatives are the stock wheels on the S and RS models are quite heavy but I had some nice DT Swiss wheels to swap out. I did consider the bird and the fact you can spec the components yourself may be a plus but I decided on the whyte as you can see it in your local bike shop. Also the S150 can run 27.5 plus if you like the sound of chubby wheels.
Prob can’t go wrong with either as their both great bikes.

Mashr I might be interested in your avalanche damper, have sent you a pm

I’ve just bought xtr 12 speed rear mech and shifter to replace gx eagle. Even with the new style cage and jockey wheels it jammed solid and bent the mech for no reason that I could see apart from a tiny bit of mud.Thats the 2nd trashed mech in 6 months. Ideally I would have waited for xt 12 speed but didn’t want to spend any more cash on sram. I think xtr mech and shifter with gx cassette, chain and chainring will be a good combination.

I had a brand new 240 hub with the 36 ratchet strip the teeth on the first ride leaving me stranded 10 miles from home. Was replaced under warranty and has been fine for over a year so must have been a manufacturing defect of some kind. Really easy to strip down and regrease every 3 months but make sure you use the correct dt swiss grease. I also bought a spare 18 tooth ratchet set to carry in my camelbak. This means you can pull the cassette and freehub off as one and replace the ratchets if it strips again mid ride. I’d be a bit wary of the 54 but carry the old 18 with you and should be ok

Thanks, it’s for a Whyte S150 so will give it a try, it’s not too expensive to get it retuned if required

Anyone used the uberbike eagle jockey wheels yet? Doesn’t look like they have the ridge like the new sram design but have good quality skf bearings unlike sram. Is the ridge really necessary or was it only when the bearings wore out that the chain would jam on the original sram design. I’m still on the old style jockey wheels and would rather replace them before the inevitable happens and I’m left with a bust mech miles from home. Can get the new style sram for around £33 or £40 for uberbike.

Wheels manufacturing do a 6806 bearing extractor that lets you tap out the bearings from the cups while their still installed in the frame once you’ve removed the cranks. You can replace the raceface bearings with any 6806 bearings but the hope 30mm  stainless ones will fit no problem

Been driving trains for a few years now and leaf fall is defiantly a big problem, the leaves get crushed by the wheels and form a teflon like slippery coating on the rails that can make starting and stopping extremely difficult. Approaching a red signal and not sure your going to stop is pretty terrifying and I’ve failed to climb gradients and had to return to the bottom of the hill for another attempt. Most trains have sanders fitted and wheel slide protection that’s like ABS to stop the wheels locking up when braking, unfortunately the trains I drive don’t have these fitted with the result that too much braking locks the wheels and puts flat spots on them. Leaf fall residue can also stop trains being detected by the track circuits with the potential for a signal to show green with a train ahead. Best way to describe it is like trying to drive your car up a icy hill and stop on the way down.

I’ve unscrewed the air can and there’s defiantly no volume spacers, it’s not really a massive problem how it is just now but just checking there’s nothing wrong with the shock as I expected to install spacers since I’m over 14 stone, not sure how lighter guys would find it.

Thanks for the replies,  I’m setting sag sat on the saddle and weight approx 95kg including backpack. There’s no volume spacers  installed and it’s a ML3 shock tune. Maybe I just need to hit stuff harder but just checking there’s nothing wrong with the shock, I just thought it that with no volume spacers it would be easier to bottom out especially as I’m hardly a lightweight.

Whyte recommend sag of 25% so maybe try that but imagine that would give even less travel. I know the frame is designed to be used with a coil shock so maybe it’s just very progressive towards full travel

It fully bottoms out when I release all the air.

I’ve got the 29er versions on my T129, initial impressions were ok but needed 3 tokens for mid stroke support but meant they were harsh on small bumps. Was all set on a set of pikes but thought I’d try the luftkappe piston first. Feel so much better now and that’s with no tokens in, great small bump sensitivity without blowing through the travel. The GRIP dampers pretty good as well, almost on par with the charger and much better than motion control. I fitted it myself but you could get tf tuned to fit as part if a service, maybe extend the travel to 140mm as well

Definitely check the rear bushings for play regularly, a friend has same bike and left his too long with result that it wore out the plastic and started to eat into the frame meaning it was loose even with new bushings. Don’t know why lapierre didn’t use a bearing there.

Just checked realtimetrains.co.uk, it’s due through Alnmouth at 17.34 and Berwick at 18.11. Its also got a scheduled  30 minute wait in the goods loop just north of Berwick Station until 18.48 so might be a good place to see it.

So roverpig does that mean your flaremax will be for sale in 9 months? Hope so because I’d love one but can’t quite justify getting rid of my year old T129 just yet

I’ve been impressed with the new specialized gripton tyres. Using a butcher up front and slaughter rear both grid casing and they feel tougher than maxxis exo

I use a wheels manufacturing 6806 bearing extractor on my raceface bb but the bearings on the hope should be the same size 42 x 30 x 7mm. The extractor fits in the internal diameter of the bearing and is then tightening up allowing you to tap out with a hammer. You don’t even have to remove the bearing cups from the frame and takes minutes to change both sides. I got mine from eBay for around £15

Is it a minion fbf by any chance? Had the same issue with mine on the same Specialized rims, tried everything including fitting with a tube and only unseating one bead but the tyre just pulled away from the rim, ratchet strap and compressor had no effect. In the end I bought some thin laminate foam underlay from b&q to increase the rim diameter and this worked ok. The tyre was very loose for a tubeless ready version but weirdly the minion fbr I put on the rear went straight up no problem so might be a slightly different casing on the fbf. I was a bit worried it might burp at low pressures but it’s been fine down to 4psi in the snow although it’s usually around 7psi for trail use.

Think it depends a lot on tyre size, I’ve had 25, 27 and 30mm rims using maxxis 2.3 and think the ideal is 25mm for that tyre size. Obviously using larger tyres like maxxis wide trail or the new breed of 2.6 trail tyres would suit wider rims but then there’s a weight penalty especially on a trail bike. A 2.3 on a 30mm rim gives a wierd tyre profile imo, the sidewall is wider than the tread and feels draggy on the rear as more of the side knobs are in contact with the ground. I’ve just ordered a set of dt swiss xm1501 wheels and was originally going with the fashionable 30mm versions but decided on the lighter 25mm for the above reasons.

Been using Wickens and Soderstrom N.o 5 for the last few months and its far better than anything else I’ve tried, pricey though but well worth it.

Check out the Whyte website, they sell touch up paint for £2.99

I’ve got a T129rs so similar design to the T130 and fitted a standard absolute black 32 oval in place of the raceface 30, has about 2mm clearance to the chainstay and has been fine so far but would get the boost version next time

The only reason I bought another one after denting the first was CRC had them half price and I could reuse the original spokes. Should have bought dt in the first place

Had a look at the xm481 but decided to go for the 471, 25mm internal width will be fine as only have clearance for 2.3 tyres on the rear and prefer the extra strength of the 471 rim. Maybe I was just unlucky with the Easton rims but they do seem very soft as I’ve only dinged 1 other rim in the last 5 or 6 years.

I’ve got a 2017 T129 RS in xl size your welcome to try, I’m in Fife so not too far from you. Really is a fantastic bike and the rear tyre clearance is much improved this year, have been running a 2.3 dhr2 through the winter with no issues.