but both were resolved in a very "civil/gentleman-like" way.

Swords or pistols?

Fox shorts come with liner a liner. Good shorts, too. MX1 have a sale on at the moment (link).

How do you break them?

Chain around chain ring and largest rear sprocket, missing out the derailleur, then plus three links and a Powerlink. Feed chain through the derailleur and then join the chain – you should find that the derailleur cage adds some tension. If not, remove two links.

If you have a suspension frame, you should, after joining the chain as described above, remove the shock and confirm that the suspension can travel fully without being impeded by the chain/derailleur reaching full tension.

How useless do you have to be to fail at fitting a Head Doctor?

My American family blood rushed to my head and I confused couldn't with could*. Post edited…

*like, could care less.

I knew somebody who couldn't go anywhere near Tandy electrical stores.

or is it ok if they are both happy with the set up??

OK by whom?

My point is no greater than 'live and let live', which appears to be something you don't like.

And where have I said anything to the contrary? I'm not saying that anyone should/shouldn't do anything – other than play 100db make-believe outside my house at 4am – merely that my opinion is that something is childish nonsense. To put it in a way that you might be able to understand, imagine that I said I think yellow cars look stupid. Does that mean, or even imply, that I think nobody should have a yellow car? No; of course it doesn't. Learn to read and quit projecting your woeful reasoning abilities onto me.

You've demonstrated your lack of empathy and inability to accept that others may choose to live their lives differently from yours in the Sharki thread as well as here.

All that has been demonstrated is your inability to be critical of something you like. My empathy is fine.

As I understand it, KMC make Shimano chains apart from the XT and XTR, which are made by Shimano in Japan.

The KMC X9.93 is fairly cheap and is well worth a try. I buy those or XTR, depending on what I can get cheapest at the time, and the only thing that would seperate the two is the better value of the KMC. The X-plate design of the KMC gives really clean shifts.

Its just like grown men riding bikes in in the woods.

Really? Think about it. It's nothing like it. And your idea of being mature demonstrates nothing more than that you haven't got beyond some hand-me-down notion of what it is to be an adult. You can not apply one of your stupid criteria to me.

I ride to keep fit. It has the added bonus of requiring a skill-set which requires constant attention and an approach to learning which can be transferred to many of the other things I do in my life. There is no escape from life; it has no cure – whilst it is, or can be, good for children to explore their reactions and interactions through fantasy and role play, there is virtually no similarity between what they do and a bunch 30-somethings running around the woods pretending to slay pretend dwarves.

WTF does he do with the 'phone/remote at 1:10?

In my opinion, you'll need top and bottom guides/rollers. There's not a huge difference in design or price between these types of guides, so you may be best just going somewhere like CRC and perusing the chain guide section until you find something you like the look and price of.

My house is situated in a woodland public park and shortly after moving in we were introduced to the world of Live Action Role Play (LARP). This is the "real world" version of WOW/Dungeons & Dragons/whatever, where overgrown infants dress up like elves/wolves/princesses/wizards/eejits and play out their fantastic games.

I was startled from a deep sleep at around 4am by the most incredible scream from outside my window. My immediate thought, perhaps obviously, was that somebody was being attacked. I lay for a moment or two listening for another noise to confirm that the first hadn't just been a dream. I then heard a mumbling voice, gradually getting louder, although still incomprehensible, which suddenly ceased before, in best, booming warlord fashion, a cry of "DIE BY MY SWORD!!!!" tore through the silence. Screams, shouts and the sound of men dressed in fur rolling through leaves all ensued…

It took three dead-of-night interventions before the crowd of fools understood that the world around them – well, my house – still existed after they donned their woolly helmets and dressing gowns, and that my non-fantasy need for sleep and zero appreciation/tolerance for their wizardry would result in somebody's rectum being used as storage for their "tools of war" if they were ever heard of again.

What a load of infantile nonsense.

If you have 143mm of stanchion showing, you have approx. that amount of available travel. It's a Fox air fork, so you're unlikely to ever achieve it, but 143mm visible suggests that the fork is intended to have the 140mm of travel you bought it for.

It's the same both ends. The holes are the same size.

What is the distance between the wiper seal and the top of the stanchion?

…and if it is there is no point going high end unless all your tunes are encoded at -V0 Variable or 320 CBR.

Precisely.

Thanks toons, I checked TFT but didn't look at Mojo for some obscure reason. Anyway, I have been sorted by Si at Progressive with a superb deal on an '11 RLC.

Is it for listening to downloaded MP3s?

Preventative maintenance. Understanding why/how things work also teaches you why/how things don't work.

SRAM chains are no more/less likely to fail than any other. Shimano/KMC/Connex all produce good chains. I don't like pins from the point of view that they're easy to install poorly; this leading to the chain coming apart. If the chain links actually snapped (laterally), then poor shifting technique is to blame (shifting under load). A snapped chain is always due to user error, in one way or another.

Yes, they all have it wrong. The M770 has Instant Release (shifts when you operate the lever rather than when you let go) and 2-way release (lever goes forward or back to shift up), but only the XTR M970 gets multi-release.

I looked a the Evans description and it appears that they've used the M970's text. Multi-bearing support they mention is also only for the XTR; the XT only uses two bearings.

The Shimano description says 'no' to multi-release on the M770. Link.

I like it. It's sometimes nice with a close 9-speed to jump a couple of gears. I'd already gotten used to it with my XTR M970 shifter and, although once or twice I cleared two when I only wanted one, it's easy to get used to and, as I said, quite a good feature. I've been running a modded M770 since reading the MTBR thread, as have a couple of people I ride with. The suggestion of potential problems rematked upon in the MTBR thread are, in my opinion, unfounded.

How does it differ from my 3 x 9 setup if I just stay on the middle ring, particularly when it comes to pedalling backwards?

The outer and inner rings help prevent the chain from coming off the middle ring; or at least they help to ensure that it goes back on the middle ring after it's been bounced off (often at the same time as a back-pedal). The derailleur cage restricts the movement of the chain on the top of the ring.

I've ended up with Gamut P20 guides on both my bikes. The chain is secured top and bottom, and even with the bash it only weighs in at something like 200g. A small weight penalty for guaranteed chain retention.

I've known somebody who removed graphics from an anodised frame (Specialized Big Hit) using nail polish remover, the stuff that comes pre-soaked into cotton pads. They made short work of his and left an almost invisible outline. I don't know if the SC graphics are applied in the same way…

Blackburn Mars 3.0 is £15 at CRC. Bright and the batteries last for ages. I've been happy with mine for the last three or four winters.

Continous cable run: not worth it

That's a matter of opinion. No ingress of dirt or water, less friction points mean better shifting for longer. Other than possibly needing to modify the frame, there really is no downside to single length outers.

If you don't want to drill/Dremel the frame, there are numerous options for securing cables/hoses. M:Part do these…

Or some plastic tube and a zip tie can be used to make these…

I disagree that our "help" is perpetuating a problem in this case.

I didn't say that it was. I said that sometimes help and support can perpetuate a problem. What constitutes "help" can often be a matter of opinion. I recognise that there is a responsibility on both sides in what is asked for and what is given.

And I've made no comment, or judgement, on whether Shane's life is conventional or not, so just calm your harassments. I'm just saying what I see; my perception formed from on my own life experiences and from time working in the support system. You are of course free to disagree, but at least do so based on proper understanding of what I've said.

give Shane a break and support him – not kick him whilst he's down

I stand by my comment. From most of what I've read about him and most of what I've read by him, it sounds like he needs to learn to support himself. Sometimes, all the help and support people get does little more than keep them from learning the skills needed to actually help themselves. Trouble is, people love to help; perhaps without realising that it's their help that is perpetuating a problem.

Sounds like you're running away from yourself. That's a wasted journey, and you'll miss out on the assistance of the only person who can help you.

We drove to the french Alps where it rained and rained and rained for five whole days…

…then we drove home again. Roll on 2011…

My partner had her Stumpy completely jammed in the Alps earlier this year. She made it about 1/3 of the way down the Venosc descent at Deux Alps before the clay jammed both the rear wheel and the cranks. Mine fared slightly better in that at least everything kept turning.

You should get that tool. Shimano TLFC21. Put a little WD40 or penetrating oil on the bolt while you're waiting.

Onzadog, I'm absolutely with you on the reading of the trail. I did road racing in cars when I was in my twenties and have a reasonably good idea of when to brake and when to let the engine/gearbox do the work. My point was that the "brakes aren't for slowing down" is simply untrue.

cynic-al, I don't know if I am one of those you refer to, but, in my eyes, it's just basic common sense that skidding the wheels is not a particularly efficient way to slow down. I sometimes skid my rear, either by locking with the brake or by drifting, but I don't pile into a corner with my rear brake jammed on thinking that I'm slowing down in the most efficient way.

read the road and let off the throttle early.

Great general advice for a motorised cycle with a gearbox riding on tarmac, but essentially useless on a bicycle fitted with a freehub on a twisty dirt trail.

are you looking for brand new or would you settle for little used, as-new?

I'd consider used at the right price.

Thanks, Si; You have mail.

If it were a minority of riders who didn't know how to brake, the brake bumps would not be an issue.

A police motorcycle instructor once said to me "brakes are for stopping,not for slowing down".

So what did he use to slow down? A good sense of humour?

Thanks for that. I'm using a 2010 RC2 at the moment and, if I know what a trail, or section of trail, is like, then I may make adjustments to my compression settings. You may be right that I would not miss them if they weren't there, but I don't think I'd want to take that chance. I suppose that the the 2011 RLC is a possibility, but I would like to retain compression adjustments.