forteh

I really do like how they have done the mounts, it will be interesting to see how it transfers the braking forces to the tubes, Im guessing that it will be a fair bit stiffer and not need a booster Similar in concept to the limey1 brakemounts but so much nicer looking imho. I would say that it would be on my list of frames if I were looking for one

Well technically a bmx king would be his only option if he has a modstock

But buying new cranks is an expense when you already have some 18/16 would be my choice in your position, personally I find it a touch light with 165 cranks so with 160s it might be ok, possibly alittle hard though.

If youre using 160mm cranks then I would recommend 22/19, 18/16 or 16/14 for your ratio on stock; 18/15 is recommended on 175 cranks. Personally I run 16/14 and it feels just about perfect with 165mm middleburns 22/19 and 16/14 both give 1.14:1 ratio, whereas 18/16 give 1.125:1 which is alittle lighter. If 22/19 or 16/14 is too light but 18/15 is too heavy then try 20/17 as this will be just about inbetween the two.

The seat is often used to control the bike in mid air Jumping a bike with no seat and massive standover (a trials bike) feels really alien to me.

My hub was second hand from ben travis back in feb 05, I dont know how much abuse it had received from ben but it was pretty well used. I serviced it, and it has run absolutely fine for me for the last 4 years. The internals are all still fine although the bearings are starting to get a little rough

Basically any king If you want to run a rear disk get an iso, if not then a classic. If youre only running singlespeed and you can afford the extra for the singlespeed hub then go for it, the operation of the hubs is identical all across the range. Depending on how big and how smooth you are you might want to invest in an HD axle and funbolts, likewise a stainless steel driveshell to stop the sprocket digging in. I believe the ss hub comes with both upgrades as standard. Personally I use an old discotech hub (with the rear disk adaptor, now called the universal hub) with the standard axle and alloy driveshell - I havent snapped the axle yet, using a titanium bolt through to secure the wheel and with a wide based sprocket it doesnt dig in too much

How hard can it be?

Headset and maggie slaves are both over 12 years old

Not directly no, the monty splitter is barb fitting only and the braided hoses are normal hydraulic hose fittings (albeit smaller). You could make a threaded hose splitter that would do the same and use braided hoses

I was like that, I learnt to go the other way and can now sidehop both ways whoopee Try to learn it really wasnt that hard. Still cant get much more than 38" either way on a sidehop though I cant sidehop to front to back aswell

Like a horizontal tap, sort of like a brakeless front to back edit: 20 seconds = frenchie gap, 28 seconds frenchie sidehop http://vimeo.com/3258342?pg=embed&sec=

Sidehops to rear while turning through 90 degrees, Im learning them but it just doesnt feel natural Hopping on the front wheel.

The echo sl is the lightest headset out

There is a larger interface between the crank and the BB so it will feel stiffer, especially if you're running FFW and have a large cantilever load to bend the axle. The cnc ones are stronger because deng uses a much better grade of aluminium for the cnc cranks, if he were to use the same for the forged cranks they would be stronger Square tapers are absolutley fine if you have a decent BB and cranks, Ive not rounded a single taper BB in the last 15 years of riding bikes. The main problem with isis is that once you have removed and refitted the cranks a couple of times, the splines wear and the cranks develop play - apart from bodging with shims the only way to resolve this is to buy a new set of cranks. With square taper there is always a nice tight taper fit to pull up onto Im currently running an ancient hope hollow ti BB and Im not in the least concerned that its going to snap with my riding.

Ive run the rubber queen with a normal tube since october and its not pinched yet, to be fair I havent been riding as much as I would like Ive got a mountain king on the front and it grips really well, I reckon it would work on the rear although perhaps not as good as the rubber queen (which I must agree with you is astonishing ) Its still pretty flexy with the booster on, bite is very good and not had any problems with hold so far, I prefer a softer brake as it eases the tendonitis in my brake fingers - Im also running an RB lever which always induces more flex; the brake booster is only 20g so I can afford to keep it for the weight I will try it without when my new pad refills come through from heatsink.

I believe that triton is no more, shame really My frame is 1585g, so lighter than the control to start with, I think it is a fair bit flexier than yours though, I need to run a rear 2bolt booster really. Ive topped 9kg so Im relatively happy, might put the BT forks back on to drop it down to 8.8 though Im not sure if you could get away with a supersonic mountain king without a heavy tube, I think its got lighter sidewalls than a single ply maxxis

Nope you're wrong Forging produces a stronger final shape than machining from solid billet. As the piece is hammered into shape (the forging process) it alters the grain flow within in the material and this gives a much stronger structure. Tryall and monty cranks are forged and then the pedal thread and splines/tapers are machined on using (most probabably) a cnc machine. Middleburns are net forged, that is the shape of them is created with a very close tolerance forging and then they are machined (again by cnc), that is why they have an organic sweeping shape that cant be machined easily/cheaply I dont know if the echo cnc cranks are machined from a forging or from plain billet.

I was thinking the same thing That rear tyre is 300g lighter than a rubber queen and the bars are 100g lighter than trialtechs, thats best part of half a kilo already, add to that the 95g front tube and skinny rear tube and it all quickly mounts up. I think we can both relax safe in the knowledge that our lightweight titanium bikes (ok mines 1.1kg heaver than this! ) arent going to snap in 4 months riding Still an awesome weight - put those components on my triton frame and you have the same geometry, same weight (maybe 50g heavier because you need to run a tensioner) but a nice strong frame that wont fail so quick

Sounds about right, except even I can read the continental written on the sides of the tyres

Ah fair enough, for some reason I associated the presta valve with latex tubes :$ Ive yet to pinch a normal butyl tube with the rubber queen, dont know how they compare to the larger mountian king though.

Thats rather nice How long you reckon the latex tube will last with a mountain king?

Take the BB and cups out, put copper slip on the threads and inside the loose cup where it fits over the BB shell - that should solve your creaking

I think... 20" bikes were called mod because they were originally modified from bmx's and converted for trials use, 26" trials started out with small framed standard mountainbikes. Up to a point the only trials specific bikes available were mods. I could well be wrong though

I thought snailcams were meant to be set with the wheel loose, if the chain tension is set correctly then you shouldnt get any slap. If your chain has stretched so that the tightest you can get it is between notches and the next loosest is slapping then theres not alot you can do other than try smooth cams, fit a chainstay protector or get a new chain