Ali C

Turns out I had a split in a pipe to do with my turbo, I'm so happy right now

Caustic soda doesn't touch steel so the spokes will be fine. I've done wheels before, all I did was mix a batch of caustic soda and use a toothbrush to brush it on the rim/hub, leave for a few moments and wipe off with a rag/clean water. don't worry about going over the same bit twice, it may make the alloy go a funny colour, but a bit of wire wool will bring it to a decent finish.

it has got a turbo, I looked for any lose pipes but it was dark and the engine layout makes it tricky to see. the power hasn't totally come back, but it is weird. I also thought about the clutch, but it changes gears as well as it's ever done. I would have thought it would have been pretty noticeable if the clutch was playing up.

Thanks for putting it up Ben, the blog is a great idea

peugeot expert

choose the best forks

would anyone be able to give me some kind of idea what's up with my van from my symptoms? Firstly my exhaust back box has rusted through and it actually fell off recently, so keep that in mind. I was driving up the M6 doing about 68mph, van was running fine, good temperature, no noises. I then heard a "thud" (like running over a cats eye) and the power of the van really reduced and grey/blackish smoke started to come from under the van. The power was seriously reduced and going up hill was a real struggle (35mph on motorway hills, eeek!). If I put my foot down, the van would accelerate in pulses and if I really put my foot down, the engine would just rev and not seem to put it to the wheels, the harder I revved the more smoke there was. now the weird thing is that when I came back home it seemed to get a bit better, I could get up to and keep speeds of 70-80mph which I couldn't do before and the smoke seemed to die down. All the while the engine still sounded fine with no whining or knocks, temperature is normal too. turbo blown? I don't have a weird "dentist drill" noise though. exhaust issue? (bearing in mind I have had issues with it recently) Fuel pump? Going to take it to a garage anyway, but it would be nice to have some kind of a heads up on what will need replacing/fixing any ideas?

drove to Europe and found some amazing things to ride, I'm quite happy with that.

How very dare you! I aught to thump you in the face young man!

it's my opinion that the Earth is flat

me too

narr, just saying it reminded of that situation. Adam does his best to help people out, unfortunately sometimes when you do nice things they get thrown back in your face. I don't know the full situation with the hub other than what I have read and I know Adam doesn't lie so I am happy to believe what he has wrote to be the truth in which case I find it hard to understand what you are unhappy about? I also can't believe you are still bitter about the bb, did you take up the steel axle option (I didn't even know you had been offered that)? The thing is, no matter if the bb was fitted incorrectly or not (though I'm still sure you said the bb spacers were fitted) if you're ilding super light parts on to a bike then you're going to have to accept they have a shorter lifespan. Things break, if they do then get something stronger.

this reminds me of my first trials bike. it was a Pashley 26mhz. I cracked it on the drive side chainstay after about 8 months (mainly due to getting savage chain suck). I took it up with Pashley as I was young and un-aware that frames could break. Pashley refused to warrenty it because the chain suck I had weaked the frame. I was not happy and ended up being pretty rude and arrogant. Eventually they sold me a new frame for half price. To this day I am ashamed in how I acted. Things break, and unless it's something clearly not right from when I first open the box, I just deal with it. The bearings in my bb right now are worn out after 3 months. I don't see it as a big deal. I'm not going to be asking for more. It's such a shame that you think the way you do Dave. Perhaps the best answer would be for you to make your own products that I'm sure would be perfect in every way or to start up your own shop so you can deal with customers only the way you can.

48 hours.......

I only work with what I'm given

Are there places to get that done? Like you can go in and get an antique vase valued if you want.

sad news indeed, must have been horrible for the friends to have witnessed! I hope they can get over what they have seen and I give best wishes to friends and family. With regards to Gouldy77 and without wanting to spark an argument, having rules to force people to have brakes and wear helmets would suck and be next to impossible to enforce. I ride brakeless quite a bit and it just wouldn't be practical to take a set of brakes with me to use when I decide to use a road to get where I am going. The reason a lot of riders cycle is because of the lack of rules and regulations, cycling is a form of freedom and the moment people are forced to obey rules it ruins the whole experience. It sounds like a freak accident, as sad as they are they happen to a lot of people in all kinds of activities. It's not really a problem that needs to be fixed. It's like forcing people to wear helmets when running as you're more likely to trip and fall, So yeah, not wanting to spark an argument or be disrespectful.

I think it would help and I would put it from A to D, it would put the diagonal piece in tension rather than compression.

I've been dirt jumping, I thought it was fine with rigid to be honest.

I'm game. Email sent.

yeah, after running Shimano Hollowtech cranks and steel cranks I wouldn't want to go back to ISIS. Myself and Mark have been running steel cranks for a bit now, Mark as he said has the micro drive style and I went for a splined drive setup (Tree sprocket). Neither of us run bashguards and it hasn't been much of an issue we have been mostly riding brakeless though so I guess that might mean we are less likely to slam down on our sprocket.

I'm offended that you are wary about my concept of geo To be fair, I mostly take Mark's advice anyway haha. Send Marino an email rather than fill out the form, that way you can explain every detail you want rather than be restricted by the form. Trials rider seem to be obsessed with wheelbase! As I said, wheelbase is not important, that doesn't tell you how long or short a frame is going to be. you could make a frame with an 1100 wheelbase but make it feel shorter than a bmx if you put a 100mm bb on it and a 60 degree head angle. Take a look on Tartybikes and find out what the reach is on your current frame, that's the best way to find out how long or short a frame is going to feel. If you just put a steeper head angle on your bike (pivoting at the lower headset cup) then that would keep the same wheelbase but increase the reach by roughly 10-15mm. If you want more reach then it's a case of lengthening the front triangle.

I saw a marino with a 130mm headtube and even that looked a little odd, it had a higher seat tube length than an inspired too. If you just want it to fit and are not worried about looks then go ahead, but it will look very odd and perhaps won't be as strong (spacing the tubes so far apart effectively is turning the front triangle into a square). The low bb will make is more stable for manuals, but is that a good thing? It will make spins harder, that includes turning while manualing. If I was you I would find out what rearch you wanted and give all the angles you want and don't worry about the wheelbase, that is the least important measurment you can give. the wheelbase will be whatever it turns out to be once the important stuff is done.

not really What do you want the bike to be better at? I can't see many advantages from a lower bb? And are you serious about a 180mm headtube length? I can see why you would want to do it, but man that will be one ugly duckling!