[If Your Tpa Is Raped, Come In.]

(EDIT: Pics are wrong! [No shit, Sherlock])

Right.

"How to replace my McShite TPA", by Mark Westlake.

(Pics courtesy of everyone's favourite Stud Muffin, Adam Read)

To get your lever blade like that, you'll need to undo the bolt next to the number 2. This should means your lever comes off...

You'll be needing to sort out the shagged TPA bit. Whip off the spangly red bit. 'fraid to say that's the last you'll be needing of that cheeky chappy, so say your final goodbyes and all that.

Having done that, poke out "2" with a 5mm allen key. This should mean that 3 and 4 fall off.

Having removed them, you'll be needing to sort out the shagged TPA bit. Whip off the spangly red bit. 'fraid to say that's the last you'll be needing of that cheeky chappy, so say your final goodbyes and all that.

Select the following from the huge mess you've got yourself:

1 is about as useful as a Jeffrey Archer novel. That's the sheared bit of TPA bolt. It should come out without a fight, but if it chooses the "hard way", have a go at it with the ol' mole grips and whip it out.

You'll need to replace it with an M5 bolt. This is the same size bolt as the one, for example, you use in 4-bolt Magura clamps or in your headset (which is the one I'm using, selected from my old T-Bird...).

Having put that in instead of the TPA bolt, rebuild the lever and have a super fun happy time riding with a nice, nearly indestructible TPA.

Prime.

Mark.

PS. If it all goes a bit FUBAR at some point, you should be able to work out how to carry on - I did mine a while back so it's not too clear in my mind...

PPS. The ONLY THING that is different now is the fact you have an M5 bolt instead of the knackered TPA bolt. There should be NOTHING left outside the lever, unless you've ballsed up somewhere :-

[Travelling By Train]

I don't think it was mentioned, but The Train Line is the bomb Poo for train tickets and all that wank.

Mark.

[Chain Slack]

Well, I like my bike to move as soon as I pedal, so I run mine fairly damn tight - so when you push the chain up a bit back from the freewheel/chain-ring it moves about 3mm or so.

Just means it reacts a lot quicker, and feels supremely nice.

Mark.

[Tyre Preasures]

I’m finding I’m happier with 75 in the back (Luna 2.5 tyre with a standard tube…might need to get a Reluctant thick tube or something), and about 40 in the front. That’s primarily riding street. Might need to let her hiss for a bit before riding on rocks, I suppose.

Mark.

[2 Bolt Mounts To 4 Bolt]

You can buy Evo-Adaptors from Supercycles and use them, but a LOT of 4-bolt mount frames seem to not really allow you to run a 2-bolt magura on an evo, and actually get it so that something doesn't hit the tyre...

Anyway, take off the QR lever from the 2-bolt mount, and those plastic elbowy things that go on at the top of the clamp bit. Buy some longer bolts (usually about M5x60, but you might need to hack off the last 5mm or so of the bolts), and some washers.

Line up the top hole of the clamp with the top-hole of the 4-bolt mount. Whack the brake into the clamp, put the top bit of the clamp on, then stick one of the bolts down into the hole. Tighten it up as much as you can really, although not too much or too little 'cos you'll strip the threads on your frame. Which isn't fun...

Anyway, do the bottom ones up as you did the tops, really. Same as a standard Magura, and ta-da, you have a 4-bolt Magura.

Unfortunately, without bodging it's a F**ker to get the 2-bolt Magura boosters to go on the 4-bolts (although you can hack the bottom bits - where the booster is usually clamped - off the CNC'd Magura booster and use two of the triangly bits, but tyre clearance can sometimes be an issue there, especially with mods).

Also, you could just buy 4-bolt Magura clamps for £15 incl. p&p from CleanBikes. This would probably be more preferable, because not only do they look nicer, but also you can adjust the brake far, far more easily. This is because they have two slot-holes on the clamps - top and bottom - so you can adjust them in that way, whereas with the two-bolt clamps they only have a circular hole at the top, so you can't really move them at all.

If you want more info on what the F**k I just said here, PM me or summat!

Mark.

[Free Wheels Hub For Mods]

Dictas aren't too bad really. It's just that they feel Poo. On the back, they're great. They last for ages, and they don't feel too bad.

Shimanos on the back for some reason just feel a bit nicer than the Dichta. They're a bit stronger, so you don't get the standard Dichta-style spongy sort of feeling with them, even though they only have 16 engagement points. I dunno, it felt like more to me. Anyway, lasted me over a year and a half, so can't complain. Even then the internals just shredded pedalling out of my garage!!!

ACS Claws are the Poo, really. You could go for a White Industries freewheel, but F**k paying £80 for what is basically a very expendable part of the bike. I don't really think that on the front it's going to last £70-worth longer than an ACS (if you get me...), and Poo, you could buy 8 ACS Claws for that much, so why bother really? On the back they'd probably last a whole trials career, but there we go.

Mark.