monkeyseemonkeydo

Fix'd.

Dic size aside, I went from a mark 1 Fourplay running a Maggy (Phat pads on both smooth and ground rims) to the Team full build with 180 Hope Trial Tech's front and rear and I much, much prefer the discs. They have everything- power, hold, modulation in all conditions and also add to the perceived smoothness of your riding because of the lack of noise. Pretty certain I wouldn't go back to a rear Maggy unless I absolutely had to.

The 180's on my Fourplay Team are more than powerful enough- I honestly don't think you'd need anything more. I've even considered downsizing to give me more modulation/bite at the expense of hold!

Uh huh... That's what I got around 10 years ago and it's still going strong . Mine probably cost about £15.

Alpine bikes are fairly high end and should know what they're doing. They're not just a Raleigh dealer...

The fact that virtually all computer displayss/laptops are now 16:9 means that that's the way to go I'd say.

I'd sell my children for one if I had any. I'm willing to sell someone elses if it comes to it... "Come here Maddy, we're going on an adventure..."

Yeah that's what I guessed, not to worry!

Purely out of curiosity, I take it the front hub/axle is incompatible with standard 'Maxle' style QR systems? I'm always taking my front wheel out to get the bike in the car and do like being able to do it with a QR. I'm guessing that system wouldn't work with the design as it stands though. In related news: Do. Want.

Using my immense paint skillz... kinda depicts it. basically the fixed length and rigidity of the outer allows the inner to simply pass through it when you pull the lever rather than just change it's own path to 'take up the slack'. Without an outer, when you pull the lever it will just change the path it takes to get to the lever rather than apply tension to the calipers. The one on the left tries to show what I was describing above, though because of the way V brakes work without using some kind of pulley system you'd only end up pulling the farthest arm towards the lever and you'd need to be running a 'floating wheel' (rather than a floating disc) to make the brake actually work.

The outer is effectively keeping the distance between the caliper and the lever constant, due to it's more rigid structure. If you could have your lever set up with the cable aligned with the direction of pull of the cable at the caliper then it would work without an outer, but because that can't work with the geometry of the bike, location of the bars etc. it's impossible.

18:16 will be massively too low. Try going the other way and try 18:13. Will take a while to get used to but would certainly be better than 16.

The lack of runoff/give in the crash barriers is one thing but the crash structures in the cars seem to be fairly shite too- in the crash I lost count of the number of cars which had just turned into darts with no side impact structure left. Combined with the apparent crap fuel cells there really are issues there. You mention the F1 and Lemans accidents where the cars have taken off- in none of those have there been a fatality or even a serious injury (in recent years anyway). Sure Dan was unlucky but it does seem like the Indy series (not Nascar ) is unnecessarily dodgy.

Not really. There are a few spots around Weymouth but not much on Portland itself.

Aha... yeah... I'd never even noticed!! :$ Good point, well made! The Hope (even with the rotor the wrong way round) works really well on the back. With the 180mm rotors the front is almost too powerful sometimes compared to what I used to run but the rear is spot on- plenty of modulation for manuals but full on bite when you need it. *scurries off to the garage to switch the rotors round*

Someone will have to donate me a mod before that can happen! Open to offers of course

Haha, I know I know! I guess a more appropriate title would be along the lines of 'just checking in'... The old Mk1 was 'still going strong' after about 3 years of abuse- I think this bike will probably outlive my ability to physically ride to be honest!

I truly suck at getting videos out! Meant to do something over the Summer but that never happened for various reasons... Apart from some little clips that Dan Jones has captured I haven't managed to get any footage together on the 2011 .

No the white/blue/camo one was swapped for the 2011 model late last year... couldn't resist when the dual disc bikes came out!

It's coming up towards a year old so I thought I'd take some pics while the sun was out. Only changes from stock are the Rohloff tensioner, Eclat Gonzo seat and Hope barends.

I did consider that interpretation and decided not to edit...

Are you seriously 20 and doing a degree? Fuck me.

Without wanting to start an argument (honest!) those lines seem to totally contradict one another.

Definitely a bit of both. I started riding because it was fun, challenging, something different and something to do. After a couple of years of riding by myself (being the only person within a 30 mile radius who actually rode trials) I met some other riders and realised that I was actually pretty good. Once I had others to gauge my level on I still loved riding but also got pleasure in being able to do bigger and better stuff. I guess now I ride as much because it makes me happy as because I'm reasonably good and enjoy the feeling of getting things right. If I'd never progressed and was still hammering bashrings on 2 foot high walls I don't think I'd be getting the same enjoyment as knowing that I have progressed to where I am.