I’ve got a couple of pairs of Castelli and a pair of Funkier that I got on sale in CRC. The Funkier definitely have more room around the shoulders. Pretty comfy for a long ride too.

Cheers. I’ll try to find my way to the top!

Great. I’ll head up to Comrie on Saturday morning then for a wee solo ride around red and blue. Have done Carron Valley a couple of times. Not had the Hightower at Glentress yet, but that’s a bit of a trek! Comrie looks doable so long as I get back in time to go out with the wife and kids in the afternoon.

Anyone ridden Comrie Croft recently? How is it? I’ve never been. I’m thinking of driving up from Glasgow on Saturday morning.

I run mine on an eBay top cap mount. Really happy with it. Sits on a 10mm spacer for some clearance. No issues with how high it sits.

Koolstop tyre jack.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tools/koolstop-tyre-mate/

I’ve been using orange seal for past two years on 3 different wheel sets with no issues and no drying out. I top it up every 2 or 3 months.

DBAir was second on my list. The X2 being too expensive. Only thing against it was the expensive service Vs do it yourself with Topaz. The Topaz comes back into stock every couple of weeks at CRC. I kept checking then bought last week when it appeared for my Hightower sizing. The Topaz forum is full of former DB users.

Me too on the saddle and the brakes and the bars. Moved them all over. :)

The Topaz gets a lot of praise and there’s a bunch of guys riding it in the mtbr Hightower thread. I just fitted one to mine but haven’t ridden it yet side from up the street. Very smooth with low break away is all I can say for now. It was on sale at CRC last week too which was nice.

The immediate bite of Shimano is something I hated. I felt my XT were too grabby. The Hopes can stop me sharply when I want to, but just feel more progressive, lever feel is nicer, and they look ace too. More reliable than my XTs which leaked twice.

13st – 210psi on mine. 4 bands in +ve and none in -ve.

I’ve had my E4s for about 18 months. Love them. Problem free.

When I had a Trigger last year I ran E4s on it. No issues. The rear was a different story – the Hopes need more clearance to fit than XT – clashed with the frame. Needed to move up a rotor size so I could use a taller post mount. I ran mine on the XT 180mm rotors with a hope adapter.

I ran Shimano for years, and even upgraded my last bike from 1×10 XT to 1×11 XT. For the past 3 years I’d switched from using the index finger shift to just push push with thumb instead as I felt that allowed me to keep my index finger over the brakes.

My new bike came with GX 1×11 and frankly there’s very little difference. I couldn’t tell you whether one is better than the other. But the GX is certainly snappy and accurate. I have no complaints. If I was buying a new drive train I’d absolutely go Eagle for the extra range.

That said, if you go Shimano, get the Sunrace 11-46 cassette – nicer range and steps than the Shimano and works really well with the XT long cage shifter.

I love my Apple Watch series 3. Works well with Strava, waterproof, etc. Great battery life.

Just to balance this out. I had a KS Lev that was warranty repaired three times in 6 months. It went another 6 trouble free before I sold it. And the bike. So they aren’t immune to problems. Each time it was a saggy pogo like your Reverb. The stock remote on the KS was crap, so I converted a front Shimano trigger shifter to the task.

My Reverb has been trouble free for the 4 months I’ve had it and I don’t mind the lever – it’s the only style mounted below the bar rather than above.

I used Works on my last bike. Unfortunately they don’t make a Race Face Cinch in boost so I went Absolute Black this time. If you buy from Tredz you can use their regular £5 off voucher to get the AB for a reasonable price.

I wear bib shorts with baggies over the top. Remove the baggies and jersey, pull in joggers and a fresh top, and a pair of clean trainers. Drive home. Bike goes on rack, dirty clothes in boot.

I get on well with my Power saddle. Getting the right width and getting it level was important. It’s the comfiest saddle yet for me. Would like to try an ISM.

Prettiest bike in here is @daern ‘s blue Ridley. Wish my Defy looked like that!

Every helmet I’ve owned is fine with glasses. Currently using the Bell Super 3. Maybe it’s your glasses rather than helmet that’s the issue? I’ve been using Rydon from Rudy for a long time.

Spyres were fine until going got fast and steep then I found they needed a lot more effort to slow me down, especially quickly for tight bends. Hydraulic 785s are so much better, easy controlled one finger braking, is night and day. Best upgrade I made to my Defy. Watch for deals and it can be a cheap upgrade as the Spyres and shifters sell easily. I’d never buy a mechanical disc brake bike again. I paid about £250 for my 785s from Merlin a couple of years ago and sold the Spyres and 105 shifters for £125.

@daern Grew up in Bishopbriggs. Now live not too far from the start of the WHW and discovered the Dumgoyne Loop a couple years ago when I got properly back into MTB. Wish I’d ridden this stuff 25 years ago. Where are you at now? No longer local?

BikeInn RunInn etc. They never have stock of what they are selling. Take your money and keep you waiting. They’re online rep isn’t very good.

Weirdly small image in first post. Try again…. seems to be related to posting via phone.

I just wrapped mine with Cinnelli Gel Cork. Really like it. Cheap too.

@slowbloke no Audi here either, just the best bike I’ve ridden. Ironically cheaper than many a Singletrack ride too!

I’ve never had an issue with it. My 9yo inherited my 11-42 10 speed XT setup – shifter, mech, sunrace cassette and has no issues with it, and he’s a bit rubbish on his bike still. Much nicer than his big brothers X7 setup.

The newer 11 speed XT stuff seemed nice the short time I had it before I moved to a new bike with GX (which isn’t noticeably different to XT really – I was push push on XT rather than push pull).

By all accounts the Elemnt is better built than the bolt. It’s also got more of a paper white screen which is easier to read. I went Elemnt.

Regarding the LEDs, I use the side ones for HR zones on all screens. So when on a live segment or whatever I can see where my HR is.

I really like the big screen. Mounted a lanyard behind the screw on the battery cover, which is the only advantage I see the bolt having.

The newer Elemnt had the same bright leds as the bolt, earlier ones were a bit dimmer.

I pulled my Aeffect cranks with this:

https://www.parktool.com/product/crank-puller-for-splined-cranks-ccp-44

Then used a Shimano BB tool (icetoolz one I think) to remove the cinch ring from the crank.

It’s a great budget to have, and if you shop around for last seasons models you can get a great deal. I snagged my Hightower Carbon S 29er build for £3200 in November from Biketreks (who have been really great with after care service, fast warranty on my Monarch, and even a £30 loyalty credit). If that hadn’t been available I was looking at a 5010, Bronson, or Jeffsy 29er, but I got the bike I wanted.

There was a thread on this the other week. Have a look, lots of replies. Personally, I sold my Garmin 520 and bought a Wahoo ELEMNT (the large one) bundle with Speed/Cadence and HR. Couldn’t be happier with it.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/gps-numpty-advice/

I bought a pair of 785 brakes from Merlin one Xmas on sale for under £250. Then sold my Tektros and 105 shifters for around £125 making the switch another brainer.

If your bike is running Claris then you probably want to budget for an 11sp cassette and 105 mech to combine with the 785 which ups the cost some.

Personally, I hated the Spyres. You still needed armfuls of brake to slow down on steep hill I ride with a hairpin half way down. With the 785s it just like an MTB, relaxed 1 finger braking so I can focus on the corner entry.

Can’t say I’ve ever had issues with piston alignment with M4 or E4. Never lubricated the pistons on either. Been very happy with mine with 180 rotors front and back.

I bought my son one of these last year.

https://www.evanscycles.com/pinnacle-kauri-26-inch-kids-bike-EV275992

He turned 9 and it fitted him with plenty room to grow. He struggled a bit with the gearing on hills so when I upgraded my own gears I put 10sp XT with a sunrace 11-42 rear cassette onto the Kauri.

I can’t see why anyone would want to mix and match E4 and X2. The E4 has plenty of modulation so no need for less power, and has a good balance of power for trail riding. Not much more weight than an X2. Only reason I didn’t want the V4 as I didn’t really want mixed piston sizing.

I do like that I have the ability to lock up the rear on demand for those occasions when that’s useful.

E4 are awesome. With Tech 3 levers they are also the most comfortable brakes I’ve used.

I’ve read some reports of the Guide R suddenly seizing up mid ride. Don’t sound as reliable as Shimano?

My last bike refused to let me centre discs by pulling the lever, I had to centre them by eye. Could be that? Could also be a bent rotor that’s pulling to one side? The fact you are having the issue with two different brake sets suggests its either rotors or alignment.

I’m not sure I noticed much when I bought mine – road and mtb.

I got a lovely set of DT EX471 wheels built up for my Trigger Carbon last year. PT Cycles did a terrific job. I’m n to convinced I could tell the difference between those and my so called flexy stock wheels. Maybe I’m not aggressive or heavy enough. The ARC27 on my current bike gets middling reviews but I’m perfectly happy with them.

I also bought a pair of Fulcrum Carbon Disc wheels for my road bike – cheap for brand name carbon, but still very expensive in comparison to a good pair of alloy MTB wheels (I never thought I’d spend so much).  Not convinced I can tell difference there either. Maybe slightly more responsive and maybe a little less vibration – not sure. I got them last year just before a serious amount of work travel kicked in and I didn’t really get to spend much time on the bike – so hard to remember what it was like on the old wheels. They look fantastic though. :)

I guess my answer is maybe. Especially if you have really really heavy wheels stock or you just broken a wheel, then I’d be more inclined to buy a nice upgrade than a cheap replacement.