Did you mean the climb up to Cronk Ny Arrey Laa from Eary Cushlin?

‘Lazarus’

A friend kindly gave me this Kona Unit frame and forks – the frame was broken but I’ve had it repaired so she lives again! Sourced most of the parts for the rebuild from this forum – thanks guys :-)

the government won’t pay £8000 for the best advert the island could get on TV

Another golden opportunity missed :(

Hope the finish line doesn’t change, I live within a mile of it and it’s downhill all the way :D

1) Yes – I’m riding this year.
2) Yes – 2011.
3) Be happy with anything under 5 hours.

I did a one-hour taster session on the Manchester velodrome and really enjoyed it, hoping to go back for more soon :-)

What a finish!

To see the Maillot Jaune at this stage of the race putting it on the line in the final 3km’s was epic – had tears in my eyes when Cav lit the burners and “left them for dead”.

Lost my voice shouting at the tv, hope it’s back in time to shout some more on Sunday :D

It’s a good time to buy while a majority of property is bumping along at the bottom of the market.

Most BTL lenders are still looking for 30%-40% deposit so it’s worth finding out what mortgage products are available to you before considering what percentage of your current property to re-mortgage.

Good plan to sell up in 30 years (or maybe less depending on market performance!), worth doing some planning to minimise your capital gains tax liability at your exit point.

Must point out that I’m not a financial advisor but I am a BTL landlord!

Good work :-)

Very nice – go for it & enjoy it!

Out on the roadie tomorrow for the 100 mile ‘Isle of Man Lighthouse Challenge’ sportive.

Haven’t been on a bike for a couple of weeks due to a bad back so fingers crossed…

Good luck and most importantly – enjoy it!

I had a Ralph rear / Ron front combination before switching to the 2.2 x-kings. The biggest difference is on the back, the x-king grips where the Ralph would have spun up.

The width also suits my bike, there’s not much spare room between the stays and the Ralph used to clog up with mud – not been a problem with the x-king.

There you go…

(with 40psi in on a 29er)

Great tyres, I run them as a pair front & rear = very happy :-)

Does anyone do a 32/22 double?

Nice pic!

Agree about the saddle, it’s ok for short / medium rides but it’s not friendly for long haul stuff plus the seat clamp scraped the coating off the rails and they started to corrode alarmingly quickly…

Considering a Specialized BG upgrade.

I lost 2 stone on the 2011 Specialized Allez 16 diet.

Put a pair of Conti X-Kings (2.2) on my 29er HT for an event last weekend and loved ’em – very impressed.

The Rocket Ron was ok on the front but I got annoyed with the Racing Ralph letting go on loose, steep climbs & damp roots etc. I’m not saying it’s a bad tyre, it just didn’t suit me / my riding style so I was looking for something different.

I’ve always liked Contis, I’ve had Mountain King II’s on a 26er before which were brilliant but wanted to go with something faster rolling so went for the X-Kings, the lower profile tread and 2.2 width being well suited to the Cube’s tyre clearance.

… and what chainrings are you running?

Did you stay with XT?

Just completed a 24 hour enduro and the bike did me proud!

Only technical issue was a broken seatpost clamp (+ the seat sliding along the rails & ripping the paint off…) and I had to change the front & rear brake pads.

Conti X-Kings (2.2) were fantastic and no mud clearance issues despite some awful conditions.

Thinking of going to a 2 x 10 set up though, anyone else done it?

Hope there’s no serious damage gsp1984.

I’ll be putting mine to the test at the weekend – entered in a 24 hour enduro (solo!).

Just got a pair of Conti X-Kings (2.2) to put on, anyone familiar with them as a 29er tyre?

Agree with stevewhyte – the brakes are mega, why changer them?

I can recommend these guys to try for a shipping quote.

Rule #58 has this covered…

Looks exactly the same as my how my front gear cable is!

Thanks jwmlee – sorted a KMC link for the old chain new SRAM now fitted :-)

I’m 5’11” / 32″ inside leg and the 19″ frame fits me perfectly.

Got a SRAM on order so should be back in business soon.

Dodgy gear change while climbing finished the shimano off…

What power link can you use on a shimano 10 speed? Was thinking of making the old one into an emergency spare.

:cry:

Yeah, having the same trouble – no matter how tight I do it up. It only usually drops by around 10mm (before I spot it) but it’s still moving when it shouldn’t.

Not had to replace any cables but I’ve only got about half of the original cable clips left – cable ties are slowly taking over…

Still loving the bike though :D

2011 was my first end2end, completed it in 5hrs 59mins on a 10 year old Trek with v-brakes and not much training – hoping for better this year!

@stevewhyte – Experienced the same slippy on wet rock problem on a big climb yesterday – lots of wheelspin.

Currently running 40psi in the rear (I’m 90kg), could be time to let some air out!

Specialized HardRock Sport – First mountain bike.
Trek 6500 – Replaced the Spesh when thieving gits stole it from the shed.
Trek 4500 – A mate needed to sell it and I wanted something with disk brakes.
Cube Reaction 29 GTC SL – Sold both Treks to get it.
Kona Unit 29 SS – A mate very kindly gave me the frame & forks – build in progress.

Loving my Garmin Edge 200, it’s brilliant :-)

I managed 18.7mph average over 15 miles on my single-speed roadie the other night.

(Gearing: 42:16)

My lockout failed after a few rides, when applied it just hissed loudly when you pumped the forks…

LBS sorted it during it’s first service though and it’s still ok at the moment.

The nearest I found to a technical manual for fork set up is this: Rocshox Dual Air Tuning Guide

I’ve been impressed with the standard tyres so far, on a couple of occasions the Ron up front has held on when I though it was going to end badly!

First – A new 29’er

Runner Up – Garmin Edge

I’ve used Parcel Flight and they were really good.

I’m lucky enough to live on the Isle of Man

A playground for all things two-wheeled :D