Don’t know whether you have had any luck yet, but I got the part you need from Zyro last week. They are the new UK importer fro Easton and seem only to pleased to be helpful (unlike extra who I think had lost interest).

I was going to go out for a quick ride, but I started reading this thread and now it’s too late.

Off for some beans now.

I’ve idaved and it worked for me. I did eat carbs when I was actually out on the bike every now and again – as the great dave suggests.

I don’t do idave all the time, but the principles of it work for me. Much more likely to come home and have a bowl of beans and some tuna than I am to sink a bowl of spaghetti these days. I have a very physical job and without question a bean/fish/veg breakfast keeps me going for much longer than cereal or toast.

Perhaps the most important thing I find in anything like idave is the fact that it just makes you think about your intake – and that in itself is a good thing.

I had a massive furniture order on between early December and late February which meant that I was generally too tired to get much cycling in. I have a tendency to eat junk when i feel like that but i was quite careful to keep up the proteins and minimise the carbs and it seems to have kept the weight off and kept me feeling healthier. Not to go into too much detail – but my innards just feel so much better too.

As people have said – whatever works for you. It’s good that you’re doing what you’re doing but you’ve also got to enjoy life too.

I’ve been a fan and occasional buyer since the outset and was bought a subscription last year (which is just about to run out).

I’m in my late 30s. It seems to me that the magazine is getting a bit middle-aged bloke. It might be that I’m in denial about getting older, but for one reason or another the mag isn’t speaking to me any more.

Hats off to you for the brave visual/tactile changes to the magazine (which I think are a big improvement). For me though it’s the content that’s failing to engage. I’m not interested in pretend vicars, tea shops, child rearing and bike riding on the other side of the world – all delivered in a matey style.

I might take an online subscription as I do appreciate skills, technical equipment and ride information.

I love the sound of metal fusing together.

Get the right sized spanner and then a tube (something like a piece of scaffolding pole) that you can put around the spanner to give you much more leverage. Works almost every time for me.

Also, thinking a bit more – looks like you could clamp it in a vice if you have one…

Thank you. New cups it is then.
Are GXP ones OK or any recommendations on others?

Evans Cycles have a terrific deal on the Noir chainsets at the mo.

Nope to what exactly?

If you’ve got tubeless wheels what’s your thinking with going back to tubs (especially if you’re planning to put sealant in them)?

I’ve got three sets of tubeless road wheels (fulcrum zeros and 2 stans)and having ridden a variety of good quality clinchers and tubs over the years there’s no way I would go back to either over the tubeless set up (particularly the faff of tubs).

Can’t we have a survey thingy put on the forum and let the voters decide?

Retrobike has useful feedback forum. Could that happen here?

Contemplating a dropper post for the cx bike. Don’t think it’s been outlawed by the god of 3 peaks yet and it makes real sense if you’re into more extreme crossing.

Other thing. I’ve invested heavily in tubeless for cross. Stans 355 rims (Merlin still have them on sale – and even if you get the white ones you can sand the paint off the rim walls) with a widish (35mm) tyre up front and a narrow tyre (like a 30mm Michelin Mud) at the rear and you’re flying. No faff of tubs and no pinches of tubes. Lovely.

The other thing I have done sometimes with non UST tyres is put another couple of wraps of tape round the rim just to make it tighter. Worth a try if you want persist with the tyre.

I’ve done a few MTB races on the cx bike without issues – in fact it’s a lot faster than most mtbs on rolling terrain.

Where I live in South London/Kent borders I ride my cx bike a lot as it’s fast on the road for the first 20 minutes and then it makes all the local trails more technically demanding. The same is true for more extreme riding. Sure you’re not going to be doing 8ft drop offs on your cx bike but there is a real pleasure and skill in getting your cx bike up over and around things.

If I could only have one bike (instead of 9), it would be my crosser.

Assume you’ve removed the valve core? If so, try putting a tube in to get the bead seated, then remove the bead carefully on one side to take the tube out. Then at least you only have one side left to try and seat. Worked for me with a favourite old Michelin tyre that I was struggling to seat. Lots of soapy water on the remaining bead once you’ve removed the tube.

Like the man said, good like a welly, but at least they’re windproof so even if your feet are wet you don’t get that wind chill.

These Sugoi socks are the only waterproof thing I’ve used that really work.

The fit is really tight so you don’t get water running in. Got mine from Cycle Surgery a year or so ago. I really recommend them.

Good grief, I’d never seen a Whyte Preston. It has upset me a bit.

Or the Bandwagon for cheaper skates…

Still the bike I most enjoy riding.

Ah, but do they really float?

My two Forca posts arrived the other day. The quality seems very good and with the combined postage they were a little over £70 each. Looking forward to putting them to the test.

Trollees maketh the troll.

If Was could confirm if the locking pin hole is on both sides , then what is stopping you spinning the ‘seat post ‘ part around 180 degrees and then re assembling? Note does depend on locking pin hole being present on both sides.

I haven’t seen this up close but is there any reason you couldn’t drill a hole through the other side (using the existing hole as a guide) and then turn the top part around?

Was – out of interest, where are you sourcing your from? I could be interested. I’m assuming Forca is not an indigenous German brand.

Just don’t go too deep

Thanks kilo. That’s magic. Should fit a treat.

Das Boot.

Thanks for the excellent mini review – I like the unexpected ‘ejector seat’ rise option…

I’m a dead cert for one of these. The only thing I need to know is what is the length of the post when it’s fully extended. My wife’s yeti only has 180mm of post showing between seatclamp and saddle rails when it’s at riding height. Would you mind telling me what the minimum amount of post is extending out of the frame when it’s in its ‘up’ position? Does that make sense?

Thanks

Rich

Any updates?
Strongly considering one for my wife’s yeti hardtail for Christmas.

Contact special branch.

Thanks for that all – what I thought.
Shame they can’t just make it simple, eh?

Horse sh*t on bridleways. Good grief. You’re kidding.
I posted up a while ago about some really snotty horse riders round our way, but you can’t blame a horse for doing its business wherever it wants. And to be honest I’ve had some cycling specific energy bars that have been worse than a mouthful of dobbin’s doings.

Don’t ask where Mule Bars come from…

Thanks. I wondered the same myself, mainly prompted by the fairly clear Shimano instructions. That said, Chris King guidance seems to be the opposite.

I’m mainly curious because I’m planning some major touring on these wheels.

Thanks for that, but a touch narrow.
Found some nice Bontrager 29er tyres in 1.8″. They’re just what I was after and cheap too at £16 each from JEJames at the mo.

Good analysis here

Nice post there, expressing much of what I feel.

I design and make wooden furniture in South London, using timber that mainly comes from old trees grown within about 40 miles of my workshop. Many of my clients love the fact that I can tell them where a tree grew and was felled. However, that’s a bit of an aside…
Here if you’re interested.

I’ve really tried to keep my mtb UK/European. There’s a lot of Hope and Middleburn, a German frame, Swiss forks, Italian saddle etc. Without going for a Rohloff I can’t find a European drivetrain. I believe there is a massive value in buying British and supporting an indigenous design and manufacturing industry. There is a sense of pride in making things – especially really good things.

That said, a lot of manufacturing work can be quite repetitive, but I’m pretty sure if you asked some of the remaining tool makers in Sheffield whether they wanted their current jobs or they’d prefer to work in a call centre I know what they’d say. A few posters have hinted at a crazy culture in the UK of pushing intelligent people away from getting their hands dirty. Schools encourage bright students towards academia and abstract city careers rather than towards high end vocational work. It’s really short-sighted on so many levels.

I wish more people would invest in UK manufacturing. The ‘savings’ made by transferring overseas are illusory. Someone always pays. Greater global inequalities are no good for anyone. So, in a roundabout way, yes. Made in Britain does have meaning to me. I would always go for it first especially if it is, like Hope, the best you can buy.

Ah. There’s quite a good place in Denby Dale, think it’s called the Bike Shed, or if you want to go slightly further then 18 Bikes in Hope is very good.

Great bike shop called Lex’s very near Penistone.

If that mob outside the temple doesn’t disperse, the police will be forced to use their sikh heating missiles.

Yeah, bad news here too. My mate has just had his mediaeval music concert cancelled. Police heard there was going to be luting…

I’ve got a couple of friends deeply involved in Operation Trident. They are the most restrained and controlled people that I know. Although they never speak in detail about their work, their intelligence work is immense. I am not a defender of the police lying or shooting people, but I can only surmise that in shooting Mark Duggan they calculated a known risk and acted upon their intelligence and highly trained instincts.

The local cop shop has just been stormed near us in south london. The toilet block has been smashed up.

Police have nothing to go on.

I’ve got 11-36 XT cassette with 36t Middleburn Uno on the front. It’s great and, with the exception of really slippery climbs in the depth of winter, it gives me everything I need. All kept in place with an old Roox Chaindog.