A pair of 2.8 Schwalbe G-Ones will make road riding a lot nicer without having to buy a new wheel set. You’ll probably want a bigger chainring and smaller range cassette to put on as well!

I’ve gone down this route, thanks for the recommendation! Mush less spendy than a new wheelset.

If I remember that bike has quick release boost rear wheel which might limit wheel options. Is there definitely space for a 29r? I know my old whyte 905 wouldn’t.

yeh its boost qr both ends, but hunt supply hub adapters for qr so it shouldn’t be an issue. There’s a fair bit of clearance with chunky 3.0 tyres so I assume 29×2.3ish should be ok too.

I put Mezcals on my Marin Nail Trail and revel in the light weight and nippyness, but they area still quite wide and a tread. My 50mm (1.9?) Continental Terra Hardpack fly along in comparison on hard trails and roads.

This is the kind of info I’m after. Hunt say of the XC wide rims;

“Tyre size: Optimized for 2.2″ to 2.4″ tyres; work well with 2.0″ up to 2.6″ tyres.”

Are there any recommended faster rolling tyres that would sit on those rims and have reasonable performance on road/gravel?

It would be nice to have the 29×2 for winter road/gravel, be able to chuck on a set of 29×2.3 xc tyres for light trail bikepacking duties and have the 27.5×3 for when things get rougher.

Loads on our lavender in Derbyshire. Just wish our westie would stop trying to bite them ?

I find the instinct to be useful for running and it sometimes helps to stop me overtraining when I’m tired. The 530 is great for navigation (did the 3 day trip without needing a charge and had 40% batt left), but the garmin fitness tracking metrics are a bit weird when you combine them from 2 devices.

With the backpack thing- I think it depends on what you’re riding…

If I’m doing an overnighter where I want to really ride the trails (enduro packing?!) I prefer my 30l backpack. I can take my full sus trail bike, and hop and move the bike as it’s lighter. The trade-off is it’s more fatiguing on any sit down flat bits.

If you’re doing long stretches of sat down pedalling and aren’t bothered about ‘shredding the gnar’ get a pannier rack. You won’t be hopping over any water bars though.

RustyNissanPrairieFull Member
If the pistons are reciprocating / motor is running, and there is definitely water getting into the pump head then it can only be some/all the check valves are not seating.

Also check if there is a pressure relief valve on the outlet of the pump – ie something that stops it overpressuring if the outlet blocks. Make sure this isn’t passing.

Really appreciate the help, thanks!

Managed to remove all of the check valves. Cleaned them and they were all operating smoothly. I’ll have a look for pressure relief.

RustyNissanPrairie

Full Member

Pressure washers use triple piston reciprocating pumps*. Each of the 3 pistons has an inlet and outlet check valve in order for it to function so 6 in total. If any of these ‘stick’ or get foreign objects stuck under them then the pump will ‘miss’ on that piston and pulse.

Providing the simple things have been checked (filter is clear, pressure switch starts the motor on demand) then removing and cleaning the check valves is the next course of events. If they cannot easily be removed then a sharp crack with a toffee hammer in their vicinity when the pump is running often fixes them.

*I use these type of pumps in the chemical industry for high pressure metering of low viscosity and cryogenic fluids. Im a hoot at dinner parties when I get on this subject.

I’ve tried tapping them with a hammer.. there doesn’t seem to be a way to tell if they’re clogged though. They look like they should be removable with a socket but I can’t get them to turn.

Good thinking, but I think this one is supposed to run all the time. It certainly *does* run all the time, regardless of whether the hose is attached.

Just run it with the pistons exposed (dunno if that’s a bad idea or not 😆) and they seem to be working fine

Thanks for the tips so far- here’s one possible candidate. The pistons are all moving freely.

There are no obvious filters… The feed hose appears to connect directly to the pump, which would require disassembly to access.

Easily the hardest part of doing this is avoiding getting sick.. last year it was flu- was flattened for 3 weeks. This year it’s the ‘vid. Managed 15 days and have just had to rest this week. Looking forward to picking back up when the chest allows.

Can confirm that I rode it and didn’t die. Sorry for the upset noeffsgiven, but anything to use a spare part knocking around the garage and save a tenner 😆

but might the leverage be too much for the frame?

Well I didn’t even consider that. It’s a 2018 steel Marin Pine Mountain…

Yes! I did ok last year then got the lurgi and that was that. Hopefully get all the way through this time :D

I use an osprey escapist when I want a backpack. My thoughts on the soft luggage v backpack thing depend on the technicality of the route and the amount of hikeabike.

I agree with all of this! Including the choice of backpack! For me too much weight on the bike ruins the fun of riding ‘proper’ trails, but if you’re going to be sitting and spinning all day a big backpack will hurt your arse.

Yeh I do mean switch, sorry typed that in a rush. I’ve changed lights and switches plenty of times that make sense, but this is a mystery to me- was just wondering if it made sense to anyone else. Guess not, pro it is then.

That type of tool didn’t work well for me, couldn’t get some bearings out at all, and one broke.

Replaced with a slide and hammer blind puller which has been much better and can do a much wider variety of bearing sizes.

I sadly ended up replacing it with a DeWalt set. £179 for a combo drill, impact driver, 2 batteries and a fast charger. Much better products than the vintage b&d and the replacement batteries from ‘proper’ sources were about 55- 70 quid. Got 12 years out of the old one so 🤷‍♂️

510s are way to narrow for my flipper feet. Shimano gr7’s fit much better but aren’t as grippy and I don’t think they’ll last as long.

Why the 11 speed chain though?

Thanks for that! I’ve been wanting to try that combo on my bikepacking bike/local route hardtail (running old deore 1×10) for a while. Good price!

@devash interesting career path mate, you’ve certainly been about a bit! I always find it impressive when people have the courage to just switch things up- as a generally anxious b**stard the idea of it majorly stresses me out.

Any Locksmiths in the house? Look like it could be fairly interesting, well enough paid and some variety in the job. And I already have a van XD

@Blackflag or the grass IS always greener- I’m going to change career, F**cking hate it, and go back to music because it was just fantastic all along XD

Ha @Tom-B I’d be amazed if we didn’t have some mutual friends. Must be a thing for muso’s at this age tho, I know two that have gone into coding in the last few yrs and are doing well for themselves. The ones playing in Jazz bands? not so much…

Thanks for the suggestions so far, definitely food for thought. With the IT thing, it’s so broad I have no idea where to even start. Also not sure I’d survive in the corporate world- only ever been self employed and not particularly tolerant of ‘business lingo.’

Well done to everyone still going, and some great pics taken too. I was loving the daily exercise until I got the worst bout of Flu I’ve ever had.. Barely made it out of bed for a full week, and 3 weeks off the exercise as I couldn’t breathe. Broke the exercise drought with some riding up at kielder at the weekend. I’ll try again next year!

Have to say I’m loving this challenge. It’s got me out of a proper lazy streak and back out in the pissing rain enjoying myself 😆 hope everyone else is finding it as helpful!

Day 1 done! Sunshine also helped with the motivation 😁 if anyone lives in/near new mills and wants to team up for some rides, I’d love to! Just moved from Manchester and have no friends 😆😭

That’s what caused mine too- I have a vitus escarpe and the shift/brake cables run under the bottom bracket. Always questioned the wisdom of having them under there seeing as the down tube and my shins are peppered with dints from rock strikes.

There was a gas pipe to the hob that had to be extended about 50cm and the sink waste pipe had to be moved. If I’d asked someone to do the work in an isolated situation I would have though 500 quid was a lot for what needed to be done, but when gas is involved all bets are off!

There were no units fitted so everything was accessible- no faffing under floor or routing walls etc.

I suppose I’d better have a good look at the plan supplied to the builder and see if it was adequate.

It’s a proper Pita, this renovation lark. And expensive too.

I’d thought about a shipping container actually, and cladding it in wood so it didn’t look awful. Wrote the idea off after searching on here and finding people saying it was a bit shit due to condensation etc.

Budget at the moment is about 4.5k as that’s what I can accumulate in a reasonable amount of time, with 2k already saved. If getting a brick one built is the best way to go, maybe I’ll look for some quotes and put the gear in self store for a year or so.

I’d love to build one myself, but not sure I really have the time/chops to do it.

Seems like the Asgard are popular.. only thing is I’m not sure they make one quite big enough for me. anyone got anything to say about concrete prefab?

amazing rides, well done! wish I could contribute my own rides to the thread ….

Full time drummer/drum teacher here! Drumeo is a good resource, as is a lot of other online stuff, however there isn’t really a substitute for;

1. spending a lot of time playing, and;
2. getting personal advice from a tutor/pro level mate who knows what they’re on about.

I spend a lot of my professional life debunking stuff people pick up from the youtube. Even if it’s good advise on there it’s often taken in the wrong way and makes peoples technique a right mess. The material is also so often the wrong level for them and they tie themselves in knots.

That’s not always the case of course, there are loads of self taught drummers who have excellent technique and brilliant musicality. They probably didn’t learn from drumeo tho, just listening to their favourite records.

I’ve nearly made this thread myself so many times!

My usual routine is;

BELLBELLBELLBELLBELL

‘Scuse me mate?!

OY!!!

If they still don’t hear me at a shout I’ll try and inch past them. Once, when I was along side going 2 mph trying to get their attention a runner turned 90 degrees and ran straight into me, nearly pushing me into the canal. He then tried to tell be bikes weren’t allowed on the ‘footpath.’

In all seriousness if you can’t hear your surroundings it’s pretty dangerous.

I do agree that things should change, however the reason the phrase “punished” is being used is because Fred in his business vehicle can no longer afford to get his essential equipment to work, whereas Tracy in her private vehicle, who could easily use the tram or bus, can continue as normal.

maybe instead of punishing small business owners, they should charge the c***s turning deansgate into a carpark with their lambo’s and hot hatch’s, that get about 5mpg.

This whole CAZ thing had somehow entirely passed me by until this post. I live in Trafford and have just bought a 14 plate connect at the current inflated prices as I need it to move equipment for work.

Hopefully will be eligible for the small business funding, but the kicker is I’m moving to New Mills soon- if I move before the funding comes through I won’t get any as it’s just outside the GM area. What a F******g nightmare.

I assume the prices for these vehicles will plummet when the charges come in.

Yeh maybe- the UK can get deceptively cold depending on when and where you camp.

I stayed the night on kinder low last April and it got down to -6 in the tent.

For that 15 quid extra you might get some more versatility.

I do think sleeping bags will always be warmer- don’t underestimate the benefit of a good neck baffle. The night mentioned above I had an alpkit pipedream 400 and was toasty. It would have been an unpleasant night under the blanket.

I have the corus hd (older version of the one you’re looking at) and have been using it for years. The 2 degree comfort rating is accurate- I can go a bit under it to -1 if I’m willing to wear layers/be a little chilly.

The mat is really important with a quilt as I’m sure you know, but also attaching the blanket to the mat in some way (I use elastic or poppers depending on the mat) makes a big difference to the warmth.

As an alternative the enlightened equipment blankets are very popular on other wild camping groups/forums.