I’ve had Shimano, RF and some cheapo BBB (the BBO-25 model by the looks of it) and the BBB has been the best so far. Nothing wrong with the others, they all lasted about as long as I’d expect a standard threaded ht2 BB to last (about a year, as you say), but the BBB is still spinning smoothly and looking clean inside after a little longer than usual so far (coming up on almost 2yrs).

What km79 said, basically. What is it about your current bikes that doesn’t work for just riding and having fun?

people are buying boutique frames but then ruining them by building them up with Lyriks, 30-35mm wide rims, heavy droppers, heavy 11 speed (or even 12 speed now) drivetrains, blingy but massive and heavy Hope quad piston brakes with braided hoses etc….and then quoting weights of 32lb.

See, I’m with you until you start spouting shite like this. 28lbs is a fine weight for your bike. Some of the parts seem too much of a compromise to me, but, if it works for you, fine. No need to keep poking away at that chip you seem to have on your shoulder about people with more expensive bikes.

Scratch. On seatstay, just across the weld.

mountainbike.net and gabelprofi.de are always good for RS parts if you can’t find it elsewhere. But yeah, I’d strip it and have a look first.

I’ve had a Dakine Lowrider for a few months now. Tbh, I still prefer a backpack-style pack, which I never had any issue with to begin with. Filled to anywhere near capacity (and not much: ~1l water, multitool, tube and co2) it just bounces around quite uncomfortably. Probably going to sell it on when I get around to it.

Rather than a generic ‘looks like a Trek’ comment, I was pretty serious. Pivot placement and linkage are near identical. Looks to be a longer stroke on the PP, higher BB.

Looks like a longer travel version of that German internet bike.

Edit: this one

They work well if you’ve got mudguards (else you’ll get soaked by water being thrown up at you) and are wearing “normal” trousers. Regular fabrics stick when they get wet, and that bit on top of your thigh isn’t a great place for things to stick with all the movement as you pedal. Quicker and easier to put on than waterproof trousers, and you can have them rolled up around your waist if it’s not raining now but looks like it’ll pour soon.

This is why I think they’d work for me. Might just order a pair.

I’m tempted. Was chatting to a guy about them a couple of weeks ago and he said they worked really well for commuting. Be interested to hear other experiences.

You mean ones with a platform?

Somewhere to put your foot if you miss clipping in. Other than that, not much. That is quite useful, though.

fourbanger – Member
Do the Hopes do anything that Saints don’t?

Like not grind their bushes and bearings to dust and offer a platform larger than a kid’s size 10? Yeah, they do that. In fact, I think pretty much every pedal apart from Saint does those things too.

Depends what you mean by worth the money. I like mine better than the Nanos I also have, but I didn’t pay anywhere near full price for them either. If you’re looking for vfm then Nanos are the choice, but I suspect the Hopes will last a lot longer.

^What BWD said. Snakeskin in general is pretty pish in my experience though. Schwalbe seem to offset the added weight of the sidewall reinforcement by making the base of the tread paper-thin. Specialized Control tyres have, perhaps, slightly weaker sidewalls, but are better overall. If I was choosing tyres, of similar ‘meatiness’, based on protection I’d probably go with Maxxis EXO, but I have no experience of recent WTB.

I got one a while ago for about the same price. I was very happy with it, including on the day when I launched myself headfirst into the edge of a rock and the Goldeneyes did its job admirably.

I use flats on one bike and clips (Time now) on the other. I can’t for the life of me remember which ones I happened to be riding during my worst crashes, and doubt they were either the cause or exacerbated any injuries. Though, my biggest shin scars come from a set of Shimano M520s and not any of the flats I’ve had.

If I’m honest, I think I actually prefer clips for sketchy stuff. There’s an element of commitment to them where flats might let me chicken out, or take it slower.

My Evil Sovereign hung for a while in our dining-room until I built it up again. It wasn’t exactly a decoration as it had stood on the floor underneath when it was built up before, but I like to think it classed up the place a little.

Spyshot of the 2018 Specialized Enduro:

The name “Enduro” has been hotly disputed since its beginning.

Has it really, though? A few STWers, who’ve never ridden one anyway and have sworn off ever doing so, isn’t really even a dispute. Around here we have Bike Rallies and Enduros, they’re the same thing. No one really gives a shit. We ride them, have fun, the end. And, some stages may even contain a tech climb or two 8O

That said, when people say that they need an Enduro bike for the Enduro riding they do, when what they really mean is ‘a bike’ for ‘pootling around the local woods’… oooh, then you’ll see the steam shooting from my ears :wink:

So, the big question is does chrismac like the Canyon Team vid?

I’ve seen my LBS turn away people wanting wheels trued with the pretty reasonable justification that it’s a bad enough buckle that it will likely only end up back in the shop again in a few weeks. An less savvy customer might even blame said LBS for ruining a wheel that ‘only had a buckle’. The shop might recommend changing the rim or a whole new wheel, which could be quite a shock after the customer originally only went in looking for a repair that should only really cost a few quid.

Alternatively, it’s probably Brexit’s fault.

Cold. First day back at work today. All my MTB’ing over the break has been in plus-degrees, but last night it dropped to -10. Was really feeling the cold suck the energy out of my legs this morning.

Volvo drivers, which is about 80% of Swedes. If I had to narrow it down, I’d say older, gold-coloured S80s (old men) , and XC60s (younger women).

Thank the Lord for us SAAB drivers :D

Ah, so not entirely wrong. I must admit I don’t really get them, but I’d love to have a go.

That’s exactly it, thanks! Not sure where I got the idea about the gears from, I was so sure of it.

Um, wheels were yesterday. Pedals today. Sorry.

But yeah, keep an eye on their advent deals. They might come up again.

#wigglegate

Flounce of the Year award attempts are really going to the wire this year.

Boring, but my best has been a new saddle and grips. Gone are the niggling aches on longer rides. Oh, and sticking a coil in my old Revelation too. Was a revelation [Boo!].

Ultrafire C8. A little big, perhaps, but better than others I tried (don’t remember what they were called, unfortunately).

I used to be all about the ESIs, but found my hands would start to go numb towards the end of longer rides. Now I’m on Ergon EG1s, which would seem to be the exact opposite of ESIs in terms of squish and thickness, but the difference for the better is amazing.

Last Fast Forward, one of those Transition CXs with the stars-and-stripes paint and an Evil The Following would be my sensible choices (relatively speaking). Then I’d have a Commie DH V4 for the one day a year I’d get some use out of it.

And a house with land enough for a pump-track in the garden.

I’m still all-in on it being a Superlight. An unfinished factory frame, or maybe even a prototype. To quit now would be a sign of weakness! :D

165mm is the i2i of the shock, which is bang-on for a Medium Superlight.

MYxx is Model Year, which means it could have been out since anytime in 2014, probably.

canopy – Member
could be nicked? or have had a bad scrape, or a bad owner decision?

evidence thus far:

– dropouts and mech hanger look right for a 650b bantam or heckler

– swingarm is wrong for a superlight (no twist like 2007+ 26ers and current 29ers have)

– swingarm is wrong for a 650b bantam or heckler (no gap where it joins shock)

1: …or a Superlight with a 142mm rear
2: … because it’s MY15+
3: … because it’s a Superlight

The twist I think you mean is not on the latest revision: see here.

Edit: what we haven’t talked about is the lack of bottle-bosses and cable routing :lol:

I was asking what it IS, not for confirmation that its a superlight

Unfortunately, this is not possible.

canopy – Member
I’m sure its not.

The mech hanger is also wrong. on superlights it attachs from the rear.
here’s a current 29er one. (linked directly off SCs site)

It’s a Superlight with a 142mm rear (which was an option alongside qr):
The dropout in question.

As has been said, the raw finish is making it look weird. It’s a Superlight.

That looks about right to me. As above, dropout seems correct as does everything else about it. It’s just the raw finish that makes it look a little wonky.

Edit: when they went to 29er, weren’t the smaller sizes actaully 27.5? So that should be right too. The swingarm looks wrong for an old 26″.

Wife gave me a print from Geoff Waugh recently. Looks good now it’s framed and hung. He does everything from road to mtb to just general bikey stuff.