Ali C

if it's anodised then yeah, caustic soda is the one to go for. Add the caustic soda to some warm/hot water (the hotter the water, the more powerful it is). I think a toothbrush works well for frames and doesn't melt like paint brushes do. try scrubbing a bit of the frame first, leave it on then wipe off with cold water, this will give you an idea how fast it will work, then go from there really. The frame will look pretty dark at first, but if you wipe it down afterwards and maybe use some autosol that will get it up to a shinier finish.

I have been bouldering a couple of times in the last week, I really enjoy it! I am not amazing, I seem to be around the V4-5 level but I find the grading really hard to understand, I can do a blue route really easily on one wall, but the one next to it I can't even begin to do. I plan on going more often.

another vote for a decent Samsung.

backhops are always a last resort with me haha

it depends how you ride the bike. If all you ever do is backhop then lower is better, if you like to roll stuff then a higher front end is better. sadly comp riders tend to just backhop everything these days rather than ride the bike, so they tend to have a lower front end.

after at least a 2 year break from comps, I have decided to enter this one. Looking forward to it.

they are all usable for trials, Dominik Raab uses front and rear XT brakes on his 26" (with 160mm rotors too I think!).

I wear some I found in specsavers, cost £120 and was buy one get one free, so I got two pairs for that price (good job really as one broke the other day). I am pretty short sighted, but I HATE wearing glasses, I only ever use them for driving. I tried contacts, but I HATE getting them in. I wish I liked them more as I hate not being able to see when out riding.

looks sweet can't wait to see you riding it!

still suspicious , you sure the weights aren't in lbs?

I am finding things suspicious

are you letting the bar down to your chest and lifting from there or are you going halfway and using the "bounce" to help get it up? From looking at you I just can't picture it.

That sounds like a lot, I don't have small arms and I could do 70kg 8 reps on the bench press, 25 reps with 35kg curls sounds like a lot too, if you are managing to do these then you need not worry about your strength at all!

that will work really well with his vee brake

won't give a smooth shiny finish though. Using a stanley knife (or one of those retractable long bladed knives), mark with a pen and ruler where you want to cut, ideally with the pad in a vice, but a careful hand will do. Use a bit of soapy water as lube and do long cuts along the line. It will cut though easily and give a smooth shniy finish, perfect for anodised rims.

fair enough

I don't see why running back sweep is bad for tgs?

yeah, wasn't that keen. the system they use(ed) to preload the top bearing just plain wasn't as good as a split race system that most other companies use. The O-ring was a b*****d to get over some forks and would still allow slight movement unless really cranked up tight.

I have mine so that the from the side, the bars (before they start to sweep) are in-line with my headtube. like this

bar angle pics please, can't say I have ever had wrist pains apart from when my bars have been too far forwards.

my hope headset is going on 2 years old now. I don' use the Head dr just because I have the Inspired topcap, but I have used it before and it worked fine, never snapped the alloy bolt either. I do agree with Mark though, pimp Ti Trialtech topcap and alloy bolt is the way to go!

man, your bars look way too far forwards! It looks like you are getting forced into some pretty random shapes when backhopping and gapping. Ever tried tilting them back? I bet you'll improve quite a bit.

yeah my main income is from demos, but I would class that as semi pro, If I don't do shows, I don't get paid, it's just not in the same class as althetes who have a salary regardless.

I was just mentioning UK riders but yeah, I am sure Leach counts too.

When you get paid to ride your bike regardless of it being for a demo, or just your own time. Chris Akrigg and Danny Macaskill are the only two I can think of. In skating, it's when you have a pro model, so in that regards at the moment Danny would fit that description.