that NBR dude

There's always offers like this on ebay, especially from the US, Hong Kong and China. They are legit

What? My B-4 weighs nothing, and its not exactly built with "lightness" in mind

To be honest, I kind of like them in a strange way, but then I've always been one for slightly more adventurous colour schemes. People moan so much about plain silver frames, then when companies like Ashton, Koxx and Onza start to design something different and colourful, people moan and say they want plain silver... is there no please with you?? They are a bit "out there" in terms of colour schemes, but in a couple of years time this sort of style will be considered "old fashioned" and all frames will have something different again. Maybe if the block colours could be customizable so you could match the frame to your current set-up? Lets face it though, if the frame doesnt match your current set up, you can be damn sure people will go out and buy new parts to match it all and make it all coloured co-ordinated.

Website advice.... really??? I don't do websites, I dont have the time or the patience to learn, and I have better things to do with my time. However I know what people like to see (lets face it, I'm part of "people") and its important a site is clean, easy on the eye, nice to navigate and generally looks like a professionally designed site. For me it ticks all the relevent boxes of what a flash orientated site should be. If you don't understand "why" someone has chosen their desired concept, how can you possibly criticise on that? Mitch has a reason for the coffee theme, just like I'm sure you had some acid induced concept for your "alien digesting a cow" site. I'm not going to go on about it, as like I say, I don't do the ins and outs of websites and flash and all that jazz. Mitch has worked for me in the past, and with a clean and professional site, I'm won't hesitate to use him again.

There was a discussion about this a while ago. I've run 4 frames with double disc, and have had a front disc since 2002, and I have never ever ever bent a rotor. I sidehop to my rotor side, ride natural between big pointy rocks, all sorts. It really is harder than you think to bend one, especially on the front. First thing would be to check (if you are now willing to try front disc) that you have a disc ready wheel and forks, as that could spell more money if you don't. If you want to stick with your maggie, I'd say have a look round Tartybikes at pads, and see what they suggest for smooth rims. Your front brake doesnt "need" to be as efficient as your back brake, so pretty much any pads will be an improvement on what you have at the moment. As someone said, either Zoo pads, Rock pads, Heatsink blues (if you can still get them, I'm not sure). I wouldn't bother grinding your front rim. Its not neccessary for a front rim unless you do a lot of comps in the wet, and all it will do is stop you riding down hills, as you won't be able to hear for the rest of time.

Really?? I'd have said the other way round. The 2nd pic makes the chainstays look super short, but the front end really long. Just the decieving angle I took the photo at I think. The chianstays are pretty short, but feel nice, and the front end is just the right length for it to feel not too crampt, yet not as long as my old GU TP. Its a really chuckable frame, which is what I wanted. The GU was like trying to manoeuvre a semi-truck down a one way road.

I got this, as it was 2nd hand and cheaper than forking out over £50 for a new one. I've heard no reviews on the Montys 72ep freewheel, so for me the proof in in the pudding. If it blows up and turns out to be an appauling piece of engineering, then I will hold my hands up and say "oops I was wrong" and then buy an Eno. I'm willing to take the risk for the amount I paid for it, incase it does turn out to be ok. Thing is with all of these freewheels, theres so many different reviews. Ive heard bad things about tensile freewheels, yet excellent things about try-alls. I've never had any issues with Enos, yet other people do. I think a lot of it is down to how quick people are to blame a product, and not look at how they've treated it first. This Monty freewheels hardly been used, so perhaps with a little care and attention, it may turn out to be different. Until I try it, I cannot say if its good or not.

Nar, dont bother starting small, just go all out haha! I do see what you mean, in the pic, it does look really long. Its not though, its about 1015. Im not bothered about my drivetrain at the moment. The freewheel is destroyed so hitting it cant make it perform any worse I have a new Monty freewheel coming to replace the wrecked try-all, so I bought new cranks and a bashplate too (as I'm too lazy to try and get the try-all off the cranks, and I had to cut a trialtech fixed cog off as it wouldn't move), so once everything is swapped over, it will be sorted.

Because its been out twice since I've built it. Combination of weather and not trusting the freewheel in the slightest

Sincere apologies to all those who liked it with white rims, but I was bored, and that's a dangerous thing when I get bored, as it usually involves spray paint of some kind. I agree that it did need some colour, so I've given it some. Going to get some nice subtle Repsol Honda stickers made up for it, to work with the orange.

Nar Dave, if you look, the gusset top and bottom are painted white, like the centre of the frame

Darn, they bring out the B 4 like that, just after I bought mine in plain silver. Typical timing Oh well... crack open the spray paint...

No you wont. The clamps don't have that much movement, plus every time your chain stretches, you will get further and further away. The only way to make it work, would be to grind your dropouts so the wheel goes in further, but its really not a recommended option.

I used to have that case!! Do you have the optional performance monitor, that tells you the temperature of all the HDDs, processor, fan speed and stuff like that??

They weren't intially talking about lubrication. As it wont open up, we needed a way of clearing out the gunk and grime inside the freewheel. This is why I think people suggested WD40 as a way of breaking down the grime inside and cleaning it out a bit. This method cleaned out a fair load of rubbish from inside, but I dont think the noises are down to dirt and grime, but something more serious.

If im honest, going by its performance today, nothing like that will work. I think the whole internals are mashing themselves with every stroke. Its skipping like a school girl and the noise is getting worse. Had a few rather tasty bangs coming from the freewheel today which reaaaaaally inspired confidence. Think this freewheel is only fit for the trash. Impatiently awaiting my new Monty 72ep one. Cheers for the help anyway guys and girls

Yoda says "Foolish one you are" If you need help video wise, just give me a shout any time

I'm with Ben on that one. I snapped 2 frames on the top disc tab. It really doesnt look strong to me. Why not extend the material up the seatstay a bit to strengthen that area up. As for the colour schemes though, love it. Looks really really good

Well I've had a play a while ago, and I think I may have made it angry... Loads and loads of crap has come out of it, but it still makes as ghastly noise and now starts to get stuck slightly every now and then... I can also move the sprocket around a few mm side to side and up/down

Theres really very little difference between the Bionic B 4 and the 221 Kamel. The chainstays are a little shorter, but I think thats about it, going by the rough geo in one of the threads a while back. Meh I don't really mind if its a copy/rip off. I love the design, and for me it feels something special (even if its not really... )

Nathan, render your videos as progressive, not interlaced. That will remove the horrid liney issue you have on that vid. Good vid anyway, but I have the same view about the car and the lady. Doesnt take much to wait a couple of seconds for them to go past.

You can indeed get one the correct spacing to fit a 24. I had one, the KHE Geisha freecoaster for MTBs. Geisha freecoaster As has been said though, to make it properly usable, you need a fair bit of slack. This will mean you have a good 1/6-1/4 of a pedal stroke before it engages. Theres no way in hell you're going to be able to ride trials like that. It would be worse than having a shimano hub. As Mark said, if you space them out inside to make it kick in quicker, then they are useless for fakies as, as soon you loose concentration or move your front foot slightly, it will kick back in and send you over the back. For BMX, if you ride streety stuff with loads of fakies, they are awesome, and i'm considering getting another one for the BMX, but for trials, definate no no.

You bought up some very valid points I had not thought about before. It all kind of makes sense to me now, and doesnt seem as bad as just a blatent rip off to make a quick buck. I didnt realise that importing to China cost so much, I just expected it to be comparable to any other country. I guess thats why you only ever see Deng/Zhi bikes in Chinese videos. I've bought a Monty Kamel 72ep freewheel to replace this knackered Try-all one, along with some Monty cranks and forks to lighten her up a bit. I never thouht this would happen to me as I never care about weight, but I'm actually trying to build a light bike... Its almost there, just waiting on my new parts, and I should actually be able to get out and ride it at last. As for colour, I don't know what will happen yet, but I dont think I will spray the frame, apart from maybe the headtube area in a Monty kind of fashion. I like more neutral colours/tones such as blacks and whites (you should see my BMX, thats pretty much all white) as it just looks more modern and clean.

Cheers Paul, I'll give it a go today and see what happens. Ive already bought a Monty Kamel 72ep freewheel so that should be here in a few days, but I want to ride sunday so if I can make this usable for a couple of days, then its all good. Ta for the help guys

Thats Karma for you...