The MTB THREAD .....*Spring has Sprung, dust production March*

[Chaz]

Has it been raining a lot in the peaks? We've had a fair bit of rain here but the quantocks was still pretty dry and rideable when I was up there on Saturday

[coiler]

Has it been raining a lot in the peaks? We've had a fair bit of rain here but the quantocks was still pretty dry and rideable when I was up there on Saturday

The cutgate bog is infamous, it NEVER dries out, Apart from some post rain puddles on trails, everything is pretty dry

Although last few weeks weather has been rubbish, very unsettled! with bursts of hot sun in between clouds/rain.

[{SAS}TB]

Yep most the trail wasnt bad at all but megabog was wetter than a boscastle carpet

and tow bar fitted today

[coiler]

Have tow bar will travel

[coiler]

Chesh Ring detox yesterday on the bike, 100 miles of towpath filth, with several rides in the peaks since, and drivechain was sounding noisy, shifting a little off, encrusted mud on all the pivots, and after the Cat3 KOM run, which required going full tilt through a large slurry bog to maintain lead on the garmin, the wretched smell, and this all sun baked on like cement.











Post Fenwicks F1 wash with dish sponge and hose, regreased lots too.







Clarks cable frayed and on last strands, expected better off such a premium cable,




cut new chain and fit, mech was took apart too and jockeys serviced




took the chance to fit new X0 shifters,





Found a new grease since SC eol'd the blue stuff, fits the gun and went in lovely, salt water resistance and specs look good







New shifters look lovely, and have a really crispy, well made gear change about them, definitely an improvement on the x9, front and rear mech indexed to mastercraftsman quality









Changed to gold sintered hope pads on back, and not going to bother with resin/organic again, much improved braking feel, great dropping off lantern pike on Thursday which is a long rotor pinging with heat drop off the top, should last a lot longer too, will switch fronts out when worn





Swapping back to old nanotechs, the bearings in the new ones leave a lot to be desired, wonder if superstar would warranty them? Left pedal doesn't spin freely, right pedal spins too freely, almost loose! Leaking grease out on both of them too





Finally XR4 it past its best, rubber is going brittle. Bonty have EOLd most 26". Wanted 2.35" and looked at loads, but for pure lightweight, whilst 2.35, nobby nics in EVO flavour with pacestar compound for longevity beat everything else by 150-300 grams! Should arrive next week.

[Chaz]

Hope you have more luck with the nobby nics than I did, ps. no vpp old grease pushed out action shot?

[coiler]

Hope you have more luck with the nobby nics than I did, ps. no vpp old grease pushed out action shot?

remind me was it a sidewall fail?

I'm keeping XR2 on the back, and got another XR2 once that wears out. Its always my rear tyre/sometimes mech which hits rocks

I will be putting some more grease in the VPP next week, first lot since the bearings were changed a year ago, should have done sooner really, was a bit mucky, so hoping for a clean flush through next time, with PICS!

[Chaz]

I was going town forestry commission graded path, not much more than gravel and a stone sliced one of the tread knobs in half all the way through to inside. 0 Issues since I got the XR4 bontys, love them and not too bad on the road so make a year round tyre for me I reckon

[coiler]

Were they EVO or perf spec?

Wish XR4 were knocking about in 26 lol

[Chaz]

They were the EVO snakeskin ones I believe. See, you'll have to give up those 26ers sooner or later

[FunkY]

I'm looking for a customised Orange Five 18" in the Stockport/Manchester area...

Hope breaks and hubs, mavic en521 rims, Schwalbe Hans Dampf rear and Magic Mary front down hill tyres, XT shifters and derailure (CNC hope jockeywheels in the mech), fox32 front forks (badges removed) raceface posts bars and saddle.

It's pretty recognisable:







Give me a heads up if you hear anything please, and get pictures if you can. It was stolen on Wednesday night.

[coiler]

Hey Funky not yours is it? How was it stolen, from shed?

[FunkY]

Not mine. The frame alone cost 3x more than I'd spend on a bike: https://www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/five-frame

Taken from a friends living room. He wouldn't put it in a shed, it was his baby. He'd spent months (and quite a bit of money) getting everything just how he wanted it.
3 guys in masks booted the door in. Smacked him in the head and robbed his bike and phone.

[coiler]

Keeping an eye out

[coiler]

Knee/Quad pain is back with a vengeance. Same pain which kicked in 50 miles into the Chesh, started after a 4 mile run a week prior. Used to get a similar pain 3-4 years ago but fixed with setback saddle and ITB stretches.

Any ideas?



Its in right leg, to left of kneecap, looked online and it matches the VMO muscle perfectly "vastus medialis oblique".

Starts off pain free, but once 20 miles is passed, it begins, a radiating pain through the VMO, and gets progressively worse as ride continues, even more so on hills, and on the downward stroke of that leg, becomes almost one legged on climbs at its worst.

Foam rolling the area hurts, but feels great after session finished, but i'm not able to fix it as next ride, starts again


Did the old heel on pedal at full extension and there is a bend in the knee. So might try and raise the saddle 1cm at a time.