wholelottabonzo

A 'Beam' torque wrench is what your after then! They do not wratchet and they do not click or beep when you hit the torque. They rely on you stopping when the indicator on the gauge is at the torque you require. They are also p*ss cheap! (not as accurate as the other types but it sounds like it's just what you need.)

Am I the only one reading this who thinks the little James Blunt wants shopping in? He stole a bike and tried to sell it and gets away with it scot free? Really? Listen man I'm glad you got your bike back but FFS he's only gonna do it again to some other poor b*****d. Don't be selfish, do the right thing.

The Norbar ones just shouldn't break full stop and they're based in Banbury UK so should you ever have an issue, I'm sure they would sort it for you.

Hey Sponge, Norbar Torque Tools are excellent and I will highly recommend them (it's their main business), but to be fair any torque wrench from a reputable company will be fine... Snap-on, MAC etc. The only real advice on how to keep a torque wrench is to never store it set at a torque. Set it, use it, then remove the preload. Simples! You'll probably find though it's not something you will use regularly so it might be better for you to nip down to your local car garage or something with your bike and ask if they will let you use one of theirs if you don't have a mate who has one!

Stuck the Trial Tech stem on this morning, good step! Feels even better for my back now! Damn weather has messed up me finally getting out for a proper ride though!

They might not be the best forks but that's all the more reason not to make them any weaker and more likely to fail!

Do you know what media was used to blast the frame? There's a good possibility that it was this that has caused the failure of your forks. The fracture is a perfect fatigue failure which has propagated from an initiation point, a stress raiser, possibly caused by some overzealous removal of paint from around the welds/crown of your forks. Although shot blasting is primarily used as a way to increase the fatigue life of a component, if not done properly or with the correct media for the material, it has quite a large detrimental effect on the overall fatigue life. You can see in the picture that they have been cracked for a while before they finally gave up. The crack probably started not long after the frame was blasted. I feel your pain though! Not nice!

Is that a bare shot blasted finish or is it painted grey?

Holy bananas that's tight! Drive side wasn't far off but the other side felt like I was stripping the threads until the torque wrench clicked! 54N/m was the magic number. Still a little play at 48N/m but it's gone now! Cheers boys! :bow:

Cool, I'm doing this from work so I'm not actually near my bike! Going off that sram page, there should be 1 spacer on the drive side. Will check when I get home to see if it's on there!

Yeah just found that here: https://www.sram.com/sites/default/files/techdocs/BB-Howitzer-e-r0.pdf Will have a go up to 54N/m Is the size of my BB i.e. 73mm 83mm or 100mm just the width of the BB mounting on my frame? Cheeeeers

Yeah I believe it is a Truvativ Howitzer with the Hussefelt trials cranks. Never been a fan of just doing stuff up tighter when it's already tight but I will give it a go... Any idea what the torque is supposed to be?

The guy I got the bike from told me the rear hub has already been upgraded, however I'm not sure what the original one was to know if the current one is an upgrade or not!

Hi, Having been out the game for a while, my new bike has a different BB to what I was used to. It has what looks to be two external bearing cups which screw into the frame with a through axle? Anyways however it works, it looks as though the two cranks are joined to a seperate axle through the frame as opposed to the old sealed square taper jobbies. If I stand over the bike as if I'm in the riding position, there is a bit of play left to right as if i can move the axle back and fourth ~1 to 2 mm through the frame... Is this normal?? Doesn't feel great as when I'm riding and the load changes from side to side, it knocks. It's worth saying that I have checked and the cranks are tight onto the axle and the knocking isn't coming from there. I don't have the right tool to remove the bearing cups but I can get hold of one if I need to.

So what your saying is, you had a kabuki, changed everything on it, then changed the frame... Triggers broom?

That's my homemade Biltong drying box smiling! Reminding me I need to make some more! The bars feel pretty good just messing about on flat outside my house. I haven't actually been anywhere to ride the bike properly yet let alone just try the new bars! I'm planning a ride on Sunday so will give them a proper go then. Cheers Ross, I've just PM'd the guy about the stem. For a tenner there's no reason not to give it a go see if it's any good!

Before After I'm happy anyway!

Sorry to jump in and hijack! I'm near Northampton. You up for a ride round here soon?

Sorry no pics just yet as I'm at work, The bars have arrived and I've fitted them, I must say I'm pretty bloody pleased with them as I was starting to doubt them with what was being said on here. As I said earlier I'm 6ft5 and I'm quite broad shouldered so I'm not entirely sure I'd be comfortable with a lot of up and back sweep... The bike feels quite different with the new bars on it and I'm definitelly more comfortable. My wrists are at a more natural angle for me when I hold on to the bars and they do add a little extra height which has taken a bit strain off my back. I still would like to try some more angled bars at some point but right now I'm not desperate to do so. Maybe if I can hook up with some folks for a ride somewhere I can have a look at some different bar styles and see if they suit me any better. I will add a couple of pics later for good measure!

Some unbranded PoS that came as standard on the DiamondBack Kabuki Mono. Will stick some pics up when I get a chance. Will post one of the old bars v the new Funn bars. Go from there...

Yeah I see what you mean, however there are bars on Tarty Bikes which have pretty much the same up and back sweep as these Full On bars. I'm going to reserve judgement until I've tried them. Unfortunately I'm not really in a position to try out a whole range of bars and pick the one which feels best. it's gonna take some time and experimenting. Also having been looking back at how trials has changed and evolved over the last 10 years or so since I used to ride, I'm well aware of the tend for 'trends' to come and go and rember when flat bars were all the rage! I'll try these Full On bars and if i dont find them comfortable, I'll maybe try more up and back sweep etc.

Just bought these. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/funn-full-on-riser-bar-785mm/rp-prod91525 Will give them a go.

Fair enough! The flats I have at the mo are 750mm wide. I quite like the width as I'm 6ft 5. What reccomendations do you have for risers?

What is it against flat bars?

I currently have flat bars with a shallow(ish) stem rise. I want a bit of extra hight at the front so, should I be looking at keeping the flat bars and getting a new steeper stem or go for some riser bars with my current stem instead? I'm a little sceptical of just ordering something incase I don't get on with the geo change... Any reccomendations?