Have you tried an Avid bracket on the Forumla brake?

Providing the bolt holes aren’t any closer together than the holes on Avid’s bracket then the Hope adapter should work (noting the modification that is required)

Like the pics in this thread:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/threaded-bolt-avid-brake-lever

Use the bracket as in the post above but you will need to elongate the holes in the Hope bracket using a drill or file.

Tyre choice is easy – what ever comes with the bike… 8O with the exception of the Specialized Fast Tracks I had on a rockhopper years ago(could have been poor riding ability but they seemed to wipe out very easily)

Gears & brakes are pretty well covered (occasionally prompt “right thumb away from you…”) – its only a small thing but it a great feeling when she changes up or down without being prompted to do so.

Body weight has been talked about as have legs and arms being the shocks asborbers – it just getting the confidence so that she hovers above the saddle and to allow the bike gain momentum so that it rolls over rocks / stones etc.

Knee pads & padded gloves – great idea, I’ll throw in elbow pads too!

See pics in this thread for my setup (including hope match makers modified to fit Elixir brake and SLX shifter)

I’ve had GXP BBs in the past and on my current bike… They are made of cheese and fail every 3 to 4 months in my experience. My previous bike had a Shimano BB and never needed replacing. As far as I know you can’t use a Shimano BB with a SRAM crank, however Hope and Chris King BBs can be use with an adapter.

I often ride alone, I don’t really enjoy being out with mixed ability groups as the lactic builds up whilst I stand around waiting – some would call me anti-social.

I use Motion X to track my routes on the iPhone and have it set up to email my fiancée every 5 minutes with my gps coordinates – if I’m not home when by I should be she often has a quick look to make sure I’m still moving. Obviously it requires phone signal but works well most of the time.

Sui – seems to be several companies doing this at the moment, I heard a pharmaceutical company based in the Midlands are doing exactly the same thing.

All but the lowers are 2012 and new (taken off a bike and not riden)
The lowers are 2011 QR with a couple of marks the decals and will have new seals so effectivily a new fork.

Not sure why I didn’t think to look on eBay – clearly not engaging brain, thanks for the tip!

Even with the firm suspension and run flat tyres from a driver’s perspective the handling is awesome although it may be a bit unpleasant for passengers at times…

As for the picture with snow chains on the front; in the snow I run snow socks front and rear, no point being able to get the car moving if you can’t steer it or stop it.

Thanks all – having realised it is only a soft alloy (thanks Junkyard) I held it in a vice and carefully screwed a steel bolt and fortunately its sorted out the thread.

Fixing a puncture? :roll: Ha, no! Initially I was too hasty when fitting Hope matchmakers to bolt the shimano shifter to the Avid lever. Very happy with the end result:

I had one fail – specialized replaced it under warranty

When you inflat the tyre with a tube do you hear the bead popping on to the rim?

A google search suggests a some people have had struggled with tubeless on your rim until they built up the middle of the rim with a weather strip to reduce the channel.

Stick with it – it’s worth it once you succeed!

If using a ust rim an tyre you can pre-inflate with a tube and then carefully break the bead on one side whilst keeping the other side’s bead attached to remove the tube and install the tubeless valve. it won’t help in your situation as doesn’t sound like you have a ust tyre or rim

Reading your post again, I could be wrong but ghetto to me usually involves a 20 tube that is cut down the middle to act as a rim strip, once the tyre is inflated te excess is carefully cut obvious with a knife I thought to use just tape you needed a tubeless ready rim i.e with a bead hook.

Where abouts are you based?

Both myself and the fella I ride with wear Giro Hex helmets, he has broken two now and walked away without any marks on his head. I recently broke one in a high speed crash with rock – helmet did what it was supposed to do.

So in summary tried and tested… why buy anything else? Whilst I was waiting for my half price crash replacement I bought a spare helmet for emergencies, a Specialized Vice as it was less than half price in the sale – doesn’t feel nearly as comfy as the Hex.

The local garage compressor (if like a tesco 20p job) is a croc o shite and won’t help….

You need a decent pump as well as technique.

I’ve had lots of success in recent times – mostly due to the B & Q compressor I bought for a hundred quid but I’ve also been successful with a 12V car compressor and a Joe Blow Track Pump.

Is the bead of the tyre quite tight in the middle of the rim with tape? If you’ve got a helper try the following:
1) Suspend the wheel off the ground – hooking it over the handle bars helps.

2) apply suds.

3) Get a helper to pump like crazy with a track pump or use a 12v car compressor whilst gently pushing on the tyre above the valve to get a good seal at least near the valve – you’ll know when this is achieve as you won’t hear the air escaping near the valve.

4) with your helper pumping away work around the tyre trying to pull the bead out and gently patting the tyre all the way round – the suds and hissing should show you where to focus

With any amound of luck it will suddenly inflate (fingers crossed)

I had various cars and all have had their fair share of problems (Fords, SEATs, VWs, and now BMWs). The problem with BMW is when they go wrong the main dealers and parts are expensive however for me the looks, driving experience (sounds like I’ve swallowed the marketing manual) and build quality far outweigh the negatives. Mine is almost 6 years old with 60000 miles, still goes like stink (well as fast a 2 litre diesel can) and the interior feels as tight as the day it was made.

If you want realibility buy a toyota, you just have to accept that its likely to be as dull as dishwater to look at and drive…. (not meaning to offend Toyota owners but with the exception of the older Celicas, MR2s etc the familiy cars are well in my opinion dull)

Well when I said proper tools a google search suggest a crown race puller… and by improvising I meant my trusty hammer, screw driver and vice :lol:

If it’s a one off what about a normal set of scales, weigh yourself and then re-weigh holding the bike and calculate the delta?

Its a Comp so came with a triple – the higher end models have the double and bash.

It comes off in middle too (tried it in granny as an experiment to see if it fell off all of the rings). It’s probably habit as I’ve always descented in big ring, the logic being (probably flawed)if I have an unplanned dismount the teeth won’t slice a hole in my leg as the chain is covering them – although clearly this is unlikely to be the case at the moment.

Ah ha… it could be the back pedalling… on the descent where it usually happens I back pedal half a turn a few times to keep my outer foot down as the trail twists.

Its a direct mount mech so assumed there was no height adjust.

Whilst not cheap you could go for a wireless house intruder alarm system, including PIR / door contacts in the garage… most have autodiallers too so it will call your mobile / nominated numbers if you are away from the house.

The advantage is that it makes a lot of noise and can’t be muffled / silenced by an intruder.

I always drive around with my dipped beam on regardless of the weather conditions – perhaps I’m about to be ridiculed for doing so?

I’m really impressed with the young riders getting round in that time – smashing effort

That “small bump” forms part of my regular road ride (first climb on the way out and last climb on way back)… I pity you doing it on an MTB after the rest of the route!

There was a comedian waiting at the end of the final descent from Cleeve to the road… “Are you doing the 50 or the 100?” Bearing in mind it was before midday and having gone flat out I couldn’t have been more demoralised when he went on to say “the quickest of the 100K boys will be coming through very soon”

I reckon the alarm will get annoying. I turned mine off as there is a tough climb on my regular XC loop where I peak at over 190 in granny ring, the alarm is very annoying when the only options are keep pedalling or get off.

I’m no expert but here goes with my opinion… I’ve got a polar CS200, I bought it to keep an eye on my heart rate and to see how many calories I burn during excercise sessions.

The likelihood is that I’m not getting the best out of the technology but to be honest all I do is look at my average when I get home and look at my HR when climbing a tough section.

If the guy or girl in front is pulling away I doubt a HR monitor will prevent you from wanting to try and stay with them.

We did it a couple of weeks ago, the weather was grim and in hindsight we probably should have turned back… 60mph winds, horizontal freezing rain like shards of glass pelting you in the face etc.

I had an expensive & rather painful encounter with a rock near the top… I’d suggest packing spare wheels and helmets in the car if you are planning to ride somewhere else the following day!

Does anyone have experience of Roval Traverse ELs?

The Merlin custom build is looking good at the moment – from what I’m told the Hope hubs aren’t compatible with the 9mm RWS?

Comparing a Hope hub rear build against a Shimano XT build what does the extra £100 get me? (other than a nice looking blingy hub)

That is worth knowing about the XM819 – maybe I should look at the EX823.

From what I read on Google the Stan’s rims they require a stan’s rim strip whereas the Mavic rim just need a UST tyre.

My 320d is the original 163BHP, the later models (I think from late 2007) got 177BHP and are a good 5 – 10 mpg better based on what my colleagues tell me) I think the newest ones are 181BHP and better still on fuel.

Over a tank of mixed town / country roads / motorway I normally get 45 to 50mpg on the computer. Traffic light grand prix and lots of town driving significantly reduces it but the same can be said for any car.

Best I’ve seen is driving back from the Alps to Rheims last summer where I got 56 with the cruise set just below 80.

Result… thanks for the good advice / input I’ve been given. The builder has accepted financial responsibility for implementing the corrective action.

In fairness to the builder I can only applaud their honesty and approach to put this right.

I’m a no for winter tyres, funding a summer set is expensive enough and storage is a PITA. (I wait to be shot down for my opinion!)

I have a complete set of autosocks in the boot for when it does snow – they worked wonders on my E46 last year. I bought a jack as the arches sit too low on the wheels so without this it will be near impossible to fit the socks.

Thanks for following up – I have a case open on NHBC and have supplied photos.

The builder has also been out to inspect, taken photos and has gone away to investigate what I have against their design so I am waiting to hear.

I went for the M Sport purely based on looks.

IMHO the main consideration for the M sport is the rock hard suspension combined with the even harder run flat tyres – if you want a sporty drive and don’t mind adopting a roadie’s mindset to avoid pot holes, drains etc its brilliant; if however you are after something more arm chair like get the SE.

There are some trim differences too, the M sport comes with sports seats including a rather cool but pointless button that inflates the side bolsters on the front seats, fat steering wheel and fat gear knob etc.

Whether buying used or new the SE or M sport decision is just the start of – its then finding one with the various options you want (as you probably know the list is endless). I can thoroughly recommend the Loud speaker upgrade package (gives an amp and subs under the front seats) and auto dimming wing mirrors.

TIMC – its a 320d M sport, I’m guessing the previous owner had some spare cash and “invested” in the 216 wheels.

Well as it’s turned into a BMW thread… I’ll show you mine :lol:

I would have loved a 330d but couldn’t justify the additional costs.

Daffy – the E46 roof bars are different to the E90, they can be made to fit but IIRC it requires a dremel or equivalent to modify the feet so they fit in the slots on the roof.

As both a cyclist and a BMW driver I think I’m suitably “qualified” to comment here… news flash there are just as many moron’s who drive every other type of car.

At the risk of starting an argument I put it down to a limited group of individuals with an inferiority complex over the type of car they drive and therefore make themselves feel better by calling all BMW drivers w**nkers and probably cast Mercedes drivers & similar makes with the same small minded brush.