Martin Reynolds

If your riding street, then a short, high stem will do wonders to it. A lot of the time, a well set up heavy bike can feel lighter than a badly set up light bike

Judging that the forks come with 200mm steer, and the first 45mm is threaded, you can cut it down to 160mm before you run out of threads (and i don't know any situation where you'd need to cut it down that short)

They're 45mm down the steer

For me,its always interested me to find out how things work. As a childhood, one of my hobby's was taking shit apart, and putting it back together ( usually for it never to work again ) I enjoy maintaining my bike, because i know at the end of the day, when i jump on it and it rides like a dream, its because i've made it ride that way. Id rarther have that then pay a monkey in a bike shop to fix my bike, where they properly don't have the slightest clue about a trials bike.

Nah that's fair play, the topic was 'are they worth it' and you've suggested a way i can improve them with spending f**k all money. Cant complain at that I know where you're coming from, i'm sensitive to bright lights as well and it pisses me off when cars have badly set up lights. I've seen some properly nicely set up HID's though before, where you can clearly see they light the road up a treat, but look like sidelights as you drive past the car.

I donno why either you or pashley are getting the idea that im fixed on HID. i am listening to what your saying, and it makes complete sense. 14.4 volts through dodgy old wiring = something odd volts at headlight and poop performance. I was asking more out of curiosity, if sorting my wiring out doesn't make much of a difference. On your period?

Valid point You said earlier that HID kits are fine as long as they're low powered and set up correctly. Do you have any ones that you 'deem' low powered? and does the light colour make see detail better/worse?

Like im gunna take ANY advice from you....

I'm quite happy to slap in a relay to prove you wrong I fully understand what you're saying in regards to excessive light causing you to not being able to see anything else, but you seriously underestimate the lack of light my headlights produce

Its only a Citroen ax, but like i said, its nice to be able to see. I know the headlights are properly shit atm due to poor bulbs. The drivers headlight has been replaced a few months ago (the lens on the old one decided to fall out one day ). I know theres the option of brighter halogen bulbs, buts its all these ultrabirght/simply white/ brillant blue, ect that claim to be 50-100-150% brighter than standard bulbs, and you know in the small print it says " measured on this car at this time of day, with this amount of ambient light" which means if you buy them and they're shit, its cause of your car. So if you've got any suggestions of any halogen bulbs, im willing to listen Theres enough people going around with stupid bright/ incorrectly adjusted headlights for me not to have the greatest care for other road users And to be honest, im not that bothered about picking up detail, i just wanna be able to see the big objects that i want to avoid hitting

Yeh, ive done it on cheaper frames, but theres just that horrible feeling that stops me from installing the likes of a chris king headset into a frame with a hammer and wood

How? surely if you have a correct beam pattern, and the headlights are set up at the correct height, it doesn't matter what bulbs you use?

Considering winters coming and its already getting dark when i leave work, it'd be nice to have headlights that'd actually light up the road. Anyone had any good/bad experiences with HID kits? any to avoid? was thinking something like this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/35W-Bi-Xenon-HID-Conversion-kit-H4-Hi-Lo-4300K-6000K-10000K-UK-STOCK-/130793096358?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1e73e044a6 Cheers

Yeh, ive seen Mr Darks one, which is threaded bar, a couple of nuts, and some sexy lathed washers. Id ask him to make me up one when i next need it

There isn't many tools you need to use on a regular basis. My toolkit pretty much contains: Crank puller Splined bb/freewheel tool 4 prong echo tool hope bore cap tool chain breaker And most of those are like less than £15

to be honest i wouldn't trust anyone to work on my bike. I buy the tools and do all the work myself. Literally the only thing i haven't done is like headset pressing, because the tools cost silly money.

Theres a few nicer frames out there within your budget range. Ive got a born 2012 and x-ray 2009 and they're both lovely to ride, and around +55/60 bb. i've riden my mates limey 3 26" and it was horrible. It felt so solid, it was like a tank - no matter what Tyre/ Tyre pressure you ran.

Yes! i was in the same boat as you, the forks are 1.3kg, and the bars 700+ grams. Changing bars and forks can save you easily 500 grams, and thats a notisable weight difference, especially considering its all ocming off the front end

It should be done with CLASSIC MINI'S! shame on you!

THIS! this by a million times! you get people like Matthew_Gibson who sent me a packet of booster spacers, and wouldnt accept ANY money for them, and like Danny00135 who felt bad for not selling a knackered hub to me cause someone paid before me, even though i wasnt 100% intrested in buying it! Then theres the like of Luke cockshott who i had to chase for 8 months to get the product i paid for!

My friends hope sounded like this for some reason, not sure why

You've got the technique dialed. I'd suggest leaning forward slightly more, so you can hold the back wheel up a bit longer to get more of a turn I

im pretty sure he means £40 for a pair of the expensive ones, whereas its £40 for one on Tarty

I dont think they've changed at all. They were designed ages ago, so they dont have much offset compared to trials oriented cranks