So they can ollie easier – otherwise they don’t make much sense.

Bones Parkriders and then Powerflex 9s for me:

http://bulldogskates.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=1375851&trail=30

not just any old physio – find one recommended by similair sufferers – the one I went to was a shoulder specialist but I wasn’t getting anywhere and know of several simialr stories, not just with shoulders.

My osteopath helped me more, and the swimming at the Maldives fixed it. A mate had a hamstring problem, after a year of seeing different physios and getting nowhere he went to an osteo in London who knows a lot about muscle recovery and he is now on the mend.

this book is also good:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treat-Your-Own-Rotator-Cuff/dp/1598582062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295372355&sr=8-1

worth reading just for the stuff about how long you should stretch, etc. This is in conflict with what some people will tell you but the whole book is based on solid clinical trials.

How small an area are you talking – you can ride from Swinley down to the Tunnel Hill area for a start…

I was told that it is very unlikely to fix if it is sticking up like that so you will need a hooked plate.

I had several issues after mtb and skiing falls, went to a physio and had a personal trainer at the gym, but it was going to biyadoo in the maldives and swimming round the island using just my arms in an extended breastroke without using my legs (took about 1 1/2 hours) that fixed up some intense pain in my right shoulder.

Cotton socks for wicking?

my hook plate’s coming out start of March as that is when my Bupa renews…

I was recommeded Sominex – doesn’t help you get to sleep in the first place but helps you get back to sleep in you wake up.

I have been using only 1/4 of a tablet as that seems to work and you don’t feel bad in the morning.

I will also read a techy book last thing in bed – if reading about WCF or similair doesn’t knock me out within a few pages then I know there is something else wrong…

Some of the other bikes look to have too much suspension for long days out on the bridleways, such as the GT. Look around the forums for the number of people who are reverting to HTs as their FS bikes don’t give enough fun.

I would go for the Anthem, it has a good level of kit on for the money (Fox F100 forks) and the maestro system works well so you shouldn’t need the propedal setting on the more expensive rp23.

Took one too many lines at a party last year – cycling home was well dodgy…

There’s an XC6 as well for normal rotors…

Slightly different setup here – 11-34 9 speed on the back and either 27-40 or 29-42 on the front depending on which bike I am using.

Only a slight lose of range and don’t miss the real granny gears anyway.

Really like the 27-40 for XC.

Would be great if Anquet didn’t run like a crippled dog on my computer…

or has the (dw-) links broken???

eVent has millions of tiny holes and goretex doesn’t? I don’t think that is correct – don’t all of these waterproof and breathable fabrics work by having holes large enough to allow air through but not water?

Therefore these jackets should still work if the DWR is failing – they will just “wet out” and get heavy and maybe cold with the amount of water the outside of the jacket is holding. They will still be dry on the inside though. Reproofing just causes them to start beading water again.

It is very possible that water got in the jacket openings and wicked down, as BadlyWiredDog says, but the pattern of where the inner is wet might give you a clue that this happened. My paclites would do this if you weren’t careful.

If eVent is like paclite then they do feel wet when actually they are just cold from the water on the outside – normal goretex and proshell doesn’t suffer like this but my paclites aren’t good and you need to wear some form of midlayer for them not to feel uncomfortable and think they have leaked.

I had a RaceFace Atlas jacket from some years ago that was ace – just a shell with pit-zips but I wore it in all sorts of rain with just a HH Lifa and was never wet. There have been several different types of Atlas since though, of which some I have, and they aren’t as good – either heavier duty or cheaper material.

be careful with cheap sallopettes – I bought some trespass ones once in an emergency and they were NASTY – all clammy and didn’t breather – yuk.

Helly Hansen stuff is normally a good cheap option, or discounted Columbia might be better.

Look on ebay and similair for Rossignol stuff, this normally goes cheap but it will be decent kit.

I had the Minoura RS5000 which looks pretty much the same except for the clamp presumably being better.

It was ok but I found those style of stands unstable – take the front wheel off and it will tip easily. So I gave it away and bought a tripod style which is very stable and I can rotate my bike round to work on it at 90% or even upside down.

If you get that one you can make it stable by putting some sand bags across the legs, or if you leave the wheels on you can lower it to the point where the wheels are touching the ground – and then it will be very stable.

You should clamp the seat-tube, not anywhere on the frame as the frame is butted and therefore weaker.

she doesn’t do aerobics classes as well? that set my wife’s knees off…

are you meaning the “gordon brown” stuff…

Specialized Nimbus Aramadillos are bloody robust.

No bearings on my dw-links

“Tell him to go back to being stig of the dump and building big holes in the woods”

I work with him – when he joined he saw my Turner screen backdrop and told me of a Turner nutter he knew who named his child after the bike.

heihei – do you know/used to ride with Alex Hoffman, or does he know someone else who named their child after Turner?

I don’t buy magazines…

single-pivot designs characteristically require platform shocks to perform well, dw-links don’t – that implies a fundamental difference…

Just think of the mess to the ground when that tank turns a corner…

is the common bit that they have pivots?

Dave Turner said on the mtbr forum that with the top shock bolt undone and the suspension fully extended you should be able to push down on the saddle with one hand to compress the suspension.

The 2010 version had an upgraded bushing with the shock which made things move easier than the 09 (both standard Fox RP23 bushings) but the needle bearing kit is better.

Think I started out with 120lbs and went up to 155 or 160.

you wonder what the point of propedal is?

nuke – dunno if it affects you but on my 09 dw-link flux the main pivot was a little larger in diameter at the outside than it should have been which meant the suspension was a little stiffer than it should be – when I set it up for the correct sag the actual pressure I used was a little low and therefore I got pedal strikes and bottom outs easier. When I changed the pivot (free from Greg) I could put
40psi more pressure in the shock.

I also use the enduro needle eye bearings instead of the DU busings on the shock mount and it is plusher still, so might help you run higher pressures.

http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id275.html

Sorry if I am talking to the converted – you probably ride a lot more aggressively than me (with that forum name) and certainly more aggressively than I will be riding next year after 5 months out with a broken collarbone :-(

who said Maestro was a single pivot system?

davidtaylforth – propedal is worth knowing about as the need to use it is the sign of a flawed suspension sytem!!!

It is a damping in the shock which acts against the tendancy for the bike to bob as the rider exerts pedalling effort. This happened a lot on early designs, like single-pivot, and is still present on some newer designs.

However even on a bob-prone design you may never need it if your pedalling style is good enough – for instance the Orange 5 is a single pivot bike that is very popular – some of the guys I ride with has Orange 5s and never put propedal on when climbing, but others might need it if they were not so accomplished.

On other bikes that require it you will feel the bike sapping energy on a climb until you switch it on – a Santa Cruz superlight felt like this to me – and people often spend a lot of time balancing shock setting and propedal to get a compromised performance that suits them.

There is a newer suspension design by Dave Weagle named dw-link (ignoring split-pivot) which appears to be one of the best at balancing all of the problems that a suspension system has to tackle, and it’s main feature is so-called anti-squat, which simply put stops the bike squating down into its travel as a reaction to pedalling forces. dw-link bikes normally have short links to characterise them, and there are several companies using his design or using something that is a close copy to try to get round his patents.

The Giant Maestro system is a close copy and works well.

The recommendations on here to try the Anthem X are good – I love my Flux but it is more money and certainly more to compensate the 1lb more frame weight (although frame weight is not so important if the suspension is more efficient – hence people say a bike rides light).

Anybody who bobs the Anthem X probably could do with learning a better pedalling stroke…

Geometry counts for a lot, but you don’t want to dump a load on an FS bike and then find later than it has flaws that bug you. You can change a lot about the feel of a bike with a different stem or even risers, but it is difficult to fix up a suspension design – changing shocks or getting them Pushed can be expensive.

So ride several bikes, but if you want it for XC pay attention to how it climbs.

RP23 is there for marketing – people spending that amount of money will want an RP23 for some reason – I would rather not have it.

As I say, if I climb out of the saddle I still don’t see the need for the propedal – but maybe that is the anti-squat nature of the suspension.

First comment i see on the trek top fuel say he wishes the suspension remained active when braking…

Not sure but I have had that pain – last year when I was running to get ready for the Gt Bentley 1/2 marathon and overdid the training – it gradually went with time.

I think pains like that are often due to an imbalance in the strength of the muscles (or maybe tightness of the muscles) of the leg – I have very tight hamstrings, as do most cyclists and runners.

I good book on stretches is “The Stark reality of stretching” – all lower body stuff and apparently he is well regarded.

The best stretching for cycling for me is to actually stretch the gluts, so I try to touch my toes but keeping my back straight as I bend rather than ending up like a question mark. Watch women, this is how they bend over…

Spin the pedal if you can, rather than pounding the pedals as this puts a lot of stress through the knees.

If you are bandy legged or similair and use clipless you might consider if you need canting, like ski boots. Otherwise make sure you have lots of float – maybe with Time Atacs, CBs or Look 4.4s.

Propedal is a hack.

Hammering up a fireroad might be the only time propedal was ok, or maybe if you stand up a lot – although I stand on some climbs and can’t feel any bob on my bike.

Otherwise I cannot see why you would want to compromise your suspension with it.

Look at user reviews of any of the dw-link bikes and you will be very lucky to find anyone who uses pro-pedal. Here’s a link to start with:

http://www.mtbr.com/cat/bikes/xc-suspensio/turner/fluxdwlink/PRD_425925_1526crx.aspx

I refer you to my earlier comment – you shouldn’t need propedal anymore – not with anti-squat designs.

Suspension should be plush on the downs and not bob on the ups, and if you have to play with propedal to do this you are riding an outmoded design.

What is the point of putting propedal on for a climb as you are stiffening out the suspension and so it will act more like a hardtail on bumps and roots rather than digging in and giving more traction.

If you want a bike like this why do you not save weight and ride a compiant Ti HT design like the On-one?

why do you want propedal on a modern FS bike?

So how do you ratchet or avoid pedalling so you don’t smash your crank or pedal into a rock?

you won’t be able to find them – the title of the post explains it – Hope hid the connectors…