You can replace just inners for a while, but replacing both makes a massive difference IMO. CRC sell just bits of outer if only, say, rear shifting is dodgy.

That story is so 2007…

The SC bearings are all Enduro ones now, with better (extra) seals in the kit. Comes with loctite too.

Top tip is to clean your bike well before starting. A workstand helps too.

If it's a new Blur, I thought the bearings had a guarantee on them?

I've done this once or twice (on the older M646 version)

Take the black end plates off (4 bolts on each). The outside face of the pedal will then come off. I think it has a spring in it that makes the SPD pop up. It's a bit of a faff to put back in.

Once the end is off, there's a wee cap over the end where the bearings are. Remove it, and inject grease. You can roll the seal at the crank end of the axle to let old grease out.

I wouldn't take the axle and bearings out unless you want to enter a world of frustration :)

About £50 if you need a new 24-hole Stans 355 for a Pro3 – wonder how I know..? Not hard to get the straight-pull spokes for them either. Bicycleworks in Edinburgh got both for me in < 1 week.

Pro3 hub only allows QR or 15mm axles as well. Need to get a Pro2 if you want 20mm/Maxle option.

30 or 40 degrees, soap flakes rather than normal powder, no softener. Shouldn't need washed as often as a man-made fabric either.

New SIDs are excellent. Got mine from Merlin, with manual and pushloc, but no pump or original box.

You could take the whole thing off and soak it in brake fluid which might free the piston. IIRC, XTR 965 post-mount calipers are cheap at CRC – about £25?

You can get a new pin at ukbikestore

Zimmer? Subscription to SAGA magazine?

I took the Glen Geldie/Glen Feshie route yesterday coming over from Braemar to Kingussie. It took me 5 hours to get to Kingussie from the Glen Tilt/Glen Geldie junction, although I did go via the gliding club to see what was going on. It snowed around the watershed as well :-)

The Gaick pass would be a much faster and easier way, as others have said, esp. if you have luggage. Only 1 ford that way too, vs. ~5 on the Geldie/Feshie route.

Aye, need to book. Mate booked hime and 3 friends' bikes on a train to Ft William, turned up and found all the bike spaces taken by some chancers' bikes. Long debate with guard, and the other bikes were turfed off because they didn't have bike reservations.

Agree the capacity for bikes is woeful.

Bit late, but I would stick with 717s if you want something sturdy… Folded my front 355 in a crash recently (9 months old), but my pair of 717s have survived similar heavy stacks with no issues, and are still going strong 6 years on (on a full sus).

Hoops 355s feel much faster though!

Same here – 6' 1" and 50cm XC2

High5 do some tablets that are cheaper than nuun and seem to work just as well

Genesis Core 10 or 20

Aye, pretty basic. Campsite was quite squishy last year (lots of moss, tons of midges), but bearable. We stayed 2 nights, but it's only £3/night. 10 mins down the road to the start, so it's a bit far to base yourself at the tents. We left a car at the car park to use instead.

Also, we did have a solar shower, but there's nowhere to hang it up!

Thanks for the heads-up on dash4it. Just got some maps from there. Also, if you use the code DRAGNET at checkout, you can get a little more discount ;)

Any way to get it on cycle to work or similar? Effectively a discount!

Just buy High5 and get electrolytes in all the drink mixes. Fewer weird chemicals than SIS as well.

Buy a crate of Yazoo milkshakes from Costco and take a couple in a day. You'll get 3 bottles for the price of these forgoodnessshakes. Also take decent stuff like rice cakes, oat cakes, apples, bananas in with you in a rucksack or panniers. It's not rocket science. Why not get scrambled eggs in a roll instead of bacon a couple of days too, for the protein?

Nice. Are those the woods where you can do a wee drop off a wall into a grassy clearing?

Classic Blur was rated for max 105mm forks I recall.

Are tibolts.co.uk not the same company as superstar?

Rebas

I run one on the rear (only) sometimes. Has worn pretty fast and they feel a bit vague when cornering – flexy small knobs on the outside. Have gone to a Crossmark instead, with more defined edge knobs. Worth a punt if you can get it cheap. NextDayTyres over there –> are worth a look too.

Disc caliper mounting bolts work well (on my m760 XTs, anyway)

Sometimes they don't need replaced either. I recall TFT just "tightened" the bushings on my forks last time which, going from the above, just means moving them in the leg a bit.

MTFU ;-)

If you got a Wii instead of PS3, the Wii has an excellent I-Player "channel" that lets you watch it from your wireless connection.

The SLs there have a coil spring and you can adjust the travel without opening them up. They also have a lockout for road work. The XCs appear to have an air spring, so are a tad lighter, but you can't adjust them as much.
The SLs will probably be more reliable (no air seals to worry about). Extra 10% off this weekend too!

I think brake caliper bolts will fit (M6?) – they certainly do for the M760 cranks

A new baby?

The new SLX and XT rings only fit the M770 chainset. I guess you could modify the ring, but I definitely wouldn't file the spider! My recommendation: buy a steel Deore ring for the M760s and sell the SLX one on the classifieds.

From what I've read, 355s are tougher than the 4.2s. I've got the SP6 Hoops, and apart from a fairly short bearing life on the rear, they've been fine for a year. I got mine from Wheelpro, but he's only doing Pro2 Hoops this year.

Fish supper the night before. Rocket fuel.

Eh?

By vanilla I mean the plain, 1st generation Hope XC hub (Ti-Glide or whatever you want to call it) :)

I'd found those links, but didn't know if the SP hub was the same as the Pro3 Mono (road) one.

Thanks guys.

Kyle of Lochalsh -> Kinloch Hourn -> Ft Augustus -> Corrieyairack -> Aviemore -> Tomintoul -> Braemar -> Mt Keen -> Montrose. About 240 miles, should take you about 4 days :)

The uplift is off at Innerleithen this weekend cos of snow on the fireroads – no idea about the actual trails though.

I like X-Lite Stubbies – got them on 2 bikes.