Al, on the Superstar website they say their chainrings are 12 speed compatible.

New bits for the Ripley?

Rode bikes in the mud, went to the pub. I hope it dries up (even a little) soon.

The boys at Sprung have always been good, plus it’s handy for me as I can drop bits off

Oooh, that’s cheaper than buying it with the bike was – even with the coil

Cheers. Seems its not an option now anyway. I’d emailed Cotic earlier about spring rates and had the reply below. Looks like it’s the air shock or a different frame

“We have discontinued the coil options now though as we don’t feel that they work as well as the air shocks that we designed the frame around.”

How do you get the old bush out?

My Spank rims were like this with the valves for the Nukeproof ARD inserts. I used a glueless patch over the hole for extra sealing and ended up needing to use pliers to get the lock ring tight enough it would seal.

And yes, I do carry something which would get them off if I needed to put a tube in on the trails 😁

Crankbrothers Highline. I picked up mine for under £120. Wish I’d got one for the other bike too*

*OK, it’s 160. But what 10mm😉

Cheers, been out riding 😊 I’d retaped it after having a procore set up which needs high pressure tape. I did attack the lock nut with pliers, which seemed to help. Not a fan of having to do that though. The rubber base on the Nukeproof valves is quite narrow so it doesn’t fill the hole as well

Cheers Chief, I’ll measure up. As I said, the lyrik has bags of space but the back of my mega is a little bit tight with a MM in there so much bigger will cause problems. It hasn’t clogged but has come close! I’ve always used schwalbe but they’re a bit £££££

I was looking at the butcher and hillbilly 2.6, are they much bigger than a 2.35 magic mary? Forks will be fine but my frame will be tight if they’re much bigger

“Is a short boat with a v shaped the solution to bring the river alive?”

An acrobat 270?

You should be reasonably snug in the boat, back rest and footrests adjusted so you can brace your knees under the deck. Also simple things like make sure you’re holding the paddles an equal distance on each side from the paddle blade, and also don’t look at the nose of the boat while you’re paddling! Same as on a mtb, look where you want to go.

Like a few others have mentioned, proper coaching from a local club or coach will also make a massive difference.

I’ve got one, selling it shortly as I got offered a cheap Ragley Big Wig. It’s a really nice bike, I just found it a little short compared to my other bike which is a Nukeproof Mega 290. If the cheap Wig hadn’t come up it still be riding it!

Hearing aid users do struggle with cross talk and high levels of background noise, as the aids usually amplify everything.

A simple question, and the first we ask is has he had his ears checked for wax?

Maxxis tomahawk? Typical Maxxis 2.3 so smaller than a Rock Razor

2618 miles, all on the mtb. Not bad, but less than last year when I clocked just over 3000 miles

http://www.casavacanzesulborgo.com.

Stayed here twice, planning to go back next year 😀

I have, it’s bloody expensive but something I’ve wanted to do for years.

Anyone want to buy a kidney? Hardly used

Evening Widge. 2.35 magic mary on a 27 mm (internal) rim is snug by the time you’ve got a mudhugger on.

Riding this weekend

It uses my name, can I please have a free one? It worked for Jeffsy .. 😉

How is the bargain winter bike then Alex? 😉

Wallop, that is definitely a help. Even if it wine related 😊 Where’s the best place to get off to drop into la thuile, la ros or the Col?

I’ve been out to Les Arcs for the last 3 years, I’ve never seen cheap passes for La Thuile or La Rosiere advertised and the guy whose apartment we stay in has never mentioned it. We’re heading back next week and planning on riding La Thuile again so I’d be interested if it was true!

Nick Davies, we’ve been told you can catch the bus from Bourg up the La Ros side and then lift / ride to La Thuile. On the return you’d reverse it but ride down to Bourg. What problems did you have?

The old Stumpjumper Evos were prone to this, switching to floating rotors fixed mine as it wailed and ate brake pads.  Looks like you’ve tried that though.

Cheers all. Oats are OK, wheat not so much. I used to just have bog standard cereal bars so never looked into proper “sports” ones

I knew that, however I’ve taught mobility to visually impaired people for 15 years so I should!

The blister paving at crossings isn’t braille, sorry to disappoint you. It’s a tactile warning there’s a dropped kerb, with the other part of the “L” shape leading you to the control box from the back of the pavement (if it’s been done properly)

Edit – vibrating pillows are usually a disk which vibrates when smoke alarms go off to wake them. These are for people with hearing loss 😊

Bump! Now looking at booking as tickets are available. A couple of questions –

1 – it looks like you only need to book the bikes if they’re assembled. That right?

2 – if the bike bags over 120cm (which seems to be the maximum size for luggage) has anyone been checked?

We did Finale from Nice with bikes a couple of weeks ago, not to bad apart from lugging bike bags around train stations! One of our group did get stung for an extra €40 on the return as his bike box was over 150cm – worth checking the size allowance

The formula C1 brakes on my old stumpy evo were terrible, so bad the rotors were changed under warranty for hope floating ones. They also ate pads – on the Alps the back brake would do a set a day.

In the dry.

The day we did the Passportes I did 2 sets of pads on the back wheel while doing banshee impressions every time I touched the brakes

You rode this morning? You are keen. Hope you packed a snorkel and didn’t get struck by lightning.

Oh, and don’t scratch it. I’ll want it in pristine condition when it’s for sale next year 😉

We’d be doing the same so that’s positive! The information I have is from the bike brechfa site, not sure how up to date it is –
<p dir=”ltr”><strong dir=”ltr”>”The Raven – Black Route<br dir=”ltr” />Diversion in place due to tree harvesting.</p>
<p dir=”ltr”><strong dir=”ltr”>Gorlech – Red Route <br dir=”ltr” />Garden section diverted around due to repairs.”</p>

Edit – website is working as well as ever…

Not all are 30mm axle. I made that assumption, and then found out that the one on my girlfriend’s is 24 (entry level Al model)

It’ll depend on the model, from memory some use a crank with a 24mm axle and some use one with a 30mm size.

Looks nice

The bearings aren’t great, I complained and CRC sent me a new set. No idea on a spare mech hanger though, sorry!

Plus what Chakaping said about the shock bushes

Exactly the same as mine then. Hopefully it’ll sort it

My mega 290 did exactly the same, turns out the frame and swingarm mounts don’t exactly match up. I spoke to Jake at Sprung  about it. His advice was to bolt in one end normally, but leave the other end with no hardware in and see how much out it was against the frame mounts. Mine was only a couple of mm, so I just offset the aluminium bush to one side to get it straight. I’ve had no problems since.

http://www.offsetbushings.com

I got an offset shock bush on my stumpy evo with a monarch plus.