djb

erm, i think i'm now digging a very deep hole so am off to bed!!

and to think i got an A in A-Level geography :"> my location was based on pompey mix which is spicy so i automatically thought india :)

when you said pompey I was thinking out India way >_< , bloody fancy name for portsmouth

er, buy a v brake (Y) (you'll probably guess i'm not a magura fan)

Yes, whole wheel built up inc rim tape and skewer ready to attach. Happy to help

Is that £60-£90 for just the rear or for a pair? Assuming just for the rear since thats all your breaking, merlincycles.co.uk can do XT hub, ex721 CD (dark grey coating) inc rim tape for £64 + postage and that should last a good long time. I'm still riding on a 521 (same rim just older) that i cracked about 5 years ago and its invinsible!! You'd be lucky to get Hope hubs within your budget and would probably sacrifice a good build. I've had issues with Deore and LX hubs literally falling apart though i may just be unlucky (i'm not a hard rider but have had the bonded internal pieces come apart or the soft bearing races crack!!) so would try and get XT or even better, in my opinion, see if someone can build a rim on an old steel hub like an Acera X like I use, its so much better than all the new alloy stuff and has well outlasted the other shimano hubs i have tried and with less maintenance. As mentioned before the build is pretty much the most important thing and i know for a fact merlin build fantastic wheels - it whats they're best known for. Stif also build excellent wheels but are quite pricey, you'd probably pay another tenner from them for the same wheel.

get a set of proper bolts with a 14mm head rather than the 8mm allen key ones - you can never get the things tight enough with a tiny allen key but using a torque wrench gets em on so they don't creak.

guess i'll put up with it then, bit of a bugger but for a tenner i can't complain too much

just like doing a static power hop but as you pedal shift your body weight to the side you want to go - i go left even though i'm right foot forward since it stops me smashing my mech if i don't make it. shift your weight forward and aim to land on the front wheel and then either roll forward and let the back follow or lock the front brake and let the back swing round (i find it easier with the brake locked). hope that helps

just got a s/h front wheel, xtr on 521 ceramic for a tenner!!! anyway spent ages trying to set the brake up to stop the squeel, thought i'd done it for a minute and it wasn't making any noise riding round my drive but as soon as i started using it properly it started squeeking again and it's not quite either - i didn't dare use it coming home last night at gone 10pm for fear of waking up all the little children!! i've tried evrything i can think of, pad alignment, cleaning etc etc but nothings working - anyone got any suggestions? oh yeah i'm running a front v, one side DX the other LX with some cheapo generic pads. the arms do seem to move forward and back quite a bit on the lugs (bolts are tight as possible) - don't know if this could be the problem? please help i cannot live with it

that bash ring looks quite a bit larger than the chainring so if you're really fussed about it being so close you could possibly grind away a bit of it, personally i'd leave it as it is, a gap is a gap and as long as it runs fine then why worry?

I ride stock simply because when I started I was still having to ride my bike 3 miles to school everyday, I just couldn't of hacked it on a mod with one stupidly loose gear - I still run 16 gears on my stock now and i wasn't allowed more than one bike then either (parents hey who wants em). Plus it was easier to modify my mountain bike than buy a new one. Have ridden a mates mod and yes its fun but its just not me, suppose i'd get used to it and I wouldn't mind one as second bike to be honest but don't have the money now.

Don't know about which bike, more like a bike you can trust. I can ride just as well if not smoother on my old skool GT as I could just before I snapped my mad trials frame because I trust it. For me its almost all mentality, say 80%. If i'm not thinking straight I can't ride but with the right mindset I can do way bigger stuff - across, up and down. Other 20% is physical condition - not necessarily strength but thats included.

trials on a budget - just the way I like it!! Looks a little long for me though i'm only 5'6, rim grind looks quite neat - does it make a significant difference?

great idea jamie - free stuff is so much better than non free stuff. I always need barrel adjuster screws for rear mechs - i seem to break one everytime I ride.

I've never quite understood peoples facinations with maguras - most of my mates have had them at some point and all but one have changed back to a well set up set of v's. I personally have shimano DX brakes front and rear with Avid SD 2.0 levers, tioga rear brake booster, no grind on the rims (521CD rear, ceramic front) and cables that are like 3 years old and I swear on my life they work better than any maguras i've ever used and feel better, if a little spongy but hey I like em like that and i could set them up to be ultra sharp if I wanted. It really depends on how you like the feel since i'm not convinced they work any better. Try and ride some bikes with them on and see what you think is my advise

weld it - me and most of my mates have ridden with welded-up frames for a good long time and they don't tend to break again, plus if you know someone who can do it for free, err its free and that's always a bonus. My mad trials frame has just been re-welded after snapping both seat stays away from the seat-tube - I guess DX brake power is just too damn good!! I intend to rebuild it once I get all the paint off - mmmm polished :huh: