Matthew62

Cummon old man, the times they are a changing. P.S. You'd be surprised how much freer the drivetrain will feel when not going through a guide.

Complete new bike parts have all been ordered so building should start this weekend. Looking forward to putting together what'll be my fanciest (and hopefully most coordinated) bike yet.

Might be worth holding off for now then until potential change in the future. If your current setup works….why change. P.S. Carbon cranks…… #poshcunt

But a cheap jibe is worth writing off a potential (even future) customer for life? As Mike said, if someone spoke to me like that it'd be my last dealings with them.

I saw all that chat last night (sorry, pish) and thought I wouldn't bother arguing against, but basically, yeah, they do work. They do need to be paired with a clutch mech to have maximum effect and you will drop a chain every now and again in the roughest of conditions, but not due to mud. Everyone I ride with runs them, and I'm the only one who uses a top guide. I've never been on a ride where someone has dropped a chain and that's riding a real variety of chains. On my old bike once the chainring was a bit old when riding GT only on the dry, rough end section I did drop a chain, once, but it is uncommon. A lot of people who race will run a top guide for security so you have the best of both worlds, but most importantly nothing rubbing on your chain. The Blackspire mono veloce Snaggletooth is what I was running and was very good. I may even have a used 32t 104 BCD one spare possibly….

Needs a thick-thin pal!

Yeah all tyres were TCS or Michelin equivalent. Glad to hear your setup is holding up!

Great rims! I've been using them for a year now with no issues at all. I've ran quite a few tyre combos on them in that time having set them up tubeless every time and they always go up a treat (and are strong to boot).

It wasn't a dig, just adding some reasons as to why people might be concerned about things like APR and other such tedious things as the motivation for freedom is strong. In much the same way I fully understand why people live at home to save up for a deposit so they can get straight on the property ladder, but I in no way support it. I wouldn't do it as there's no price you can put on an independent life no matter how well you get on with your parents. I couldn't get excited about all the bumall in the world if I knew I had to go at it with mum about. Just the basic aspects of life for me don't align with living under someone else's roof. I couldn't bare it. I moved out the month I turned 18 and only returned for 2 months after Uni (long enough). I've lived in a good few cities and had so many different experiences which I just either couldn't have had, or been able to enjoy knowing that I'd be going back to the family house at the end of the day. Being in your twenties and living at home is such an odd concept I just can't fathom it.

I think most people would much rather not live at home though….. granted it's all a touch boring and tedious, but freedom/your own life>going home to ma.

If you like the fit of a Giro lid, they have added MIPS to their Feature lid which is good (but a touch warm). It's also almost half the price, but maybe a touch less refined: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/giro-feature-mips-helmet-2015/rp-prod128407?gs=1&gclid=CJiolMK80MQCFaiE2wodcooADQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

See i'm tied when I think about this news. Obviously it affects me quite directly professionally and is a sign of the difficulties with print magazines in this day and age (something that is really disappointing as on a professional level I love editorial design, and on a personal level I'm very fond of magazines) but over the last however long Dirt has just, for want of a better word, gone shit. The content is rubbish, the editors are awful and the level of language used is just embarrassing. I didn't read it in the glory days, but by all accounts it was a lot better. They also seem to purposefully want to buck certain trends. For instance the DH scene is not what it was on a UK level. The World Cup still has a very loyal following but you can't miss the rise in 'Enduro' riding/racing and they're coverage of this side of the sport has been sporadic at best. As first they begrudgingly reviewed the odd bike etc, and gradually race coverage has followed but it's just not up to the same standard as other publications with similar agendas. I understand they want to stay true to their DH roots, but you cant only have content for 4-5 months of the year and there doesn't seem to be too many DH riders wanting to support them, otherwise their readership wouldn't have dipped to a point where they're unsustainable. The weekend/week just passed was the biggest biking event so far this year, and a massive event in its own right. There was the first EWS race of the season (which was incredible), a big DH race, a slope style competition (with fairly decent prize money), pump track challenges, every major rider imaginable was there and even more events than I can remember and there is not one jot of coverage on Dirt. Nothing. I don't get it?

More and more helmets seem to becoming MIPS'd so there must be something to it. The theory makes sense and the top manufacturers are backing it. To be honest if it's only a £20 upgrade I wouldn't think twice. Head protection isn't an area to skimp and even if it's just a marginal added security feature I'd happily take it.

Do! Treat yourself. The weathers only getting better and you can't beat a blast down the hills. (Well you can but it's still good fun).

It depends…. on how you're either building the brake, or if you're putting 2 together from existing parts. The connector for a deore and SLX calliper are different whereas the barb and olive at the lever are the same. If you have a complete deore brake at the moment, you wouldn't be able to just put an SLX calliper on, you'd need the correct connector and fit it to your hose.

It's a slope style bike though….so fairly specific to just one type of riding (not unlike a trials bike). There's a lot more variety and better layout when it comes to full-suspension MTBs but you're not going to see lots of 4-bar slope style rigs out there. Just a really small amount of suspension with tonnes of compression to take some of the sting out of big hits.

Well my memory was of catching a "tiger" about by the toe. I genuinely didn't know there was any racist connotations until I heard the original (so to speak) when I was an adult. I heard lots of "words" growing up it doesn't mean I use them without care as a conscious adult now, it's fairly easily to distinguish what's acceptable and what isn't. I also hope that 99% of the population as you suggest were brought up to hear that rhyme, and continue to use it now.

No they wouldn't.

They are quite simply....divine. They just work exactly how you'd want and never fail to deliver, to the point they actually make my bike feel slightly unbalanced because the Rockshox setup is so supple and active that it shows the Fox shock up. Granted it is forks vs rear shock but they move so freely but are supportive whereas the Fox shock has a bit of stiction and is noway near as active. The small bump sensitivity of the Pikes is great and yet (with being able to dial them in with tokens) they hold you up nicely and can take big hits. Yesterday I was riding the DH trails at Innerleithen which are fairly meaty and the Pikes were just unfazed. They encourage you to lay off the front brake which only helps them track and perform better so it's win win. If you can, you definitely should. P.S. If you're also deliberating over the new 36..... my opinion is although it may be good, it's over £200 more and you have to undo 5 bolts to take the wheel out, and it's heavier.

I was also at Innerleithen yesterday. Beautiful day for it!

I can't help from a technical perspective, but those guys had pretty shitty $10 guitars that weren't in the best of shape so I wouldn't get too hung up. One of the truest thing I heard about guitar playing is that the tone comes from your fingers…..

Hold the bleeding' phone! It sure does look lovely, but that's a 70's headstock so it should be a 3-play pick guard. You're mess in' with my decades man! An off-white pick guard would look good on that, however sometimes the ages/vintage ones come out looking pretty green.

If you're going single ply remember to only put a 3 way selector in the pickup switch rather than 5. I do love a good matching headstock.

Give the Acid Mothers Temple a listen if you "dunnae ken 'em already" (I presume you're down with the Scottish lingo now)

I don't understand why religion has any say in law though? Like the whole "respecting" of peoples beliefs…. why? Why should I respect someones opinion of something that has no validity, truth or reasoning? I wouldn't go out of my way to insult someone either, but to bring it back on point….if someone was bleeding out the NHS's natural response would be to give blood. The only reason they even don't is due to people of (certain) religious beliefs… why does faith override general practice or law? Why are there bishops in Westminster? Other than due to out-dated tradition I don't understand the correlation between faith and any form of societal ruling? We're always told that the UK is a Christian country…. is it?