Sponge

Oh no I wasn't having a go at Trialtech boosters. It was mainly aimed at the instant demand for a carbon version when that alu one looks almost as perfect as can be! I'm a big advocate of their range and especially this new booster. Since this new 4-bolt one is crazy light yet still very stiff, I'm just a bit muddled why a carbon one which is so much more expensive and not all that much lighter could be a demanded option. Seeing how light the booster range of Trialtech is already including this new 4-bolt one, I don't think there's all thaaat much weight that can be saved on an already brilliant component? Fair enough if the alu 4-bolt one was over 200g like my Tensile is!

That new 4 bolt booster looks awesome! Pretty damn light too, about a quarter the weight of my Tensile if I'm not mistaken! To be fair, for a component like a booster shouldn't riders be wanting something really stiff and do its intended job and not care about its weight too much? I mean, after all, if you want to cut back a mere few grams just don't bother running one? Carbon boosters are all pretty flexy compared to solid aluminium ones in my experience, so it's not worth saving a few grams over! Cutting knobs off tyres and using electrical insu. tape sounds a far better plan for just pennies!

I noticed that too. I thought that maybe Inspired put the full-welded mounts on as an improvement against cracking? I may be wrong. Now that the Inspireds have end-welded mounts it's a little confusing, haha! Pythons and Pitbulls of 05 and 06 especially suffered a lot from cracked mounts. They were all U6 tubing as well, so that's why I run the heaviest stiffest booster purely just to prevent that.

4-bolt will always be stiffer, and I mainly run one just to protect my frame mounts from cracking. I personally don't see the point in 2 bolt (except for saving like 20 grams) as they are easier to upset if you accidentally end up sitting on them, and don't offer as much frame protection or stiffness. That new Trialtech one up today looks pretty sweet. Light too.

New pedals look great! Did any other parts such as forks, headsets, and cranks receive any design update like the pedals did? Or just remaining the same from 2010?

Out of the 3, the 2007 has the best quality manufacturing. It's also the one that's broken the least. 09 Python I've seen a few sketchy ones with really sloppy welds for a £400 frame. 08 Typhoons are fragile due to design and the Chinese riders have told me before that 2008 was the worst year in terms of frame quality as Deng was switching around factories.

Nice collection! How come you've got so many bikes? haha

I remember when I first started in around 05 these were the tanks! Super strong, and actually made of U6!

A few of them have cracked at the top of the booster weld. Wait for the 2011 one!

No. Sorry, but you've got something very confused here. Nothing to do with actual age. Hence the italics. It's to do with the fact that a lot of people (not all) are generally very misinformed and under-informed about historical facts and events. It's more to do with ignorance and narrow-mindedness that stems from a form of immaturity. If people in my course (International Relations) spoke about Muslims in this kind of dogmatic and narrow view in a seminar discussion with tutors... they wouldn't be taken seriously for the rest of their uni years by any of the tutors. My dad works for the UN as a diplomat, and I've been through private education since young so I've seen some of the most snobbish rich kids and parents who are so ignorant towards anything that's 'alien' to them. Then again, I've seen some of the smartest well-rounded people through school who take a more diplomatic and empathetic approach to issues like Muslim protesters; at the same time all the colleagues at my dad's office who didn't get to where they are now by being ignorant towards other cultures and what actually happened in history. A few of those colleagues are actually pure-blood English who've said though they remember and mourn for their family members and ancestors that died in wars, they feel ashamed at what Britain has done to the so many countries throughout history. Like I said, I'm not Muslim, nor do I advocate the disrespectful things they put into action like in that article. However, I can't help but raise an eyebrow at people who go on psycho-fueled racist attacks against a minority (in this case: Muslims) and labelling all of them in a negative light. I've nothing personal against the people who post pretty demonic things about these Muslims, I'm just not sold on the ignorance and sudden hate wave that bears very weak grounds for proper educated discussion. Skimming through a few pages however, there are a few people who seem to see things in a more broad view, some of which I agree with, one example being one of your first posts in this topic. I'm not here to start any arguments or initiate bitch-fests, and again, physical age has nothing to do with it. I was just pretty shocked to see how badly some people reacted to this. I can understand why they might want to say such things, but that's not to say it's right either. But yeah, sorry if the way it was phrased seemed I was acting biased against people purely on their age! Not at all. Otherwise I'd be the most ignorant one in the village! Haha, it's up to you! I wouldn't mind being called 'Child' in a reply email from TartyBikes Being 16 sure was a lot easier than being 20!

To those in this thread saying how Muslims are evil nasty people and everything else along those lines are horribly misinformed. Do some research before going on a massive psycho attack. I'm not Muslim at all, nor do I advocate them, and have seen my fair share of obnoxious 'Asian' gangs walking around like utter goons... but in all fairness Britain has been pretty horrific throughout world history. Provided most of you actually passed your GCSEs, you should have some vague idea at least about how Britain raped half the world with its 'empire'. Look up the Opium War, just as one example. This country, its military, and its 'justifications' for getting involved in international conflicts is notorious. The amount of trouble Muslims have given Britain pales to the amount of grief Britain has given to them. Think of it this way, imagine the US decided to accuse the UK of some random international crime and made an excuse to basically invade this little island we live on. This is in direct comparison to the real-life situation of the US (and UK) invading Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers everywhere and tanks just shitting over all the towns and cities. You wouldn't be happy would you if you saw American soldiers bullying the local folk in your village and tearing down buildings? I am pretty damn sure PLENTY of Brits would go protesting and bitching about foreign soldiers shitting up the country. I What those people did in that Daily Mail article was pretty disrespectful towards Remembrance, and it is too extreme. But they do have good reason to be angry at this country. They should have tried to find a more diplomatic solution. Especially as the whole world sees the UK as America's bitch "to help them with their dirty work". Heard it plenty of times from all the people I've met in all the different countries I've travelled to (mostly jokes, but when 90% of foreigners you meet joke about that when talking about UK-US relations.... something's up)

This is true! Though from when I had a go on a friend's Echo TR platforms, those made Wellgo MG1s feel pretty awkward in an uncomfortable sense. As a general comment, I did a bit of 5 minute searching around on CRC and found that Wellgo do a lot of other pedal models in different shapes, sizes, prices, and weights. A lot of them not bad at all, as I'm guessing they are cheaper due to not going through a rebranding process that a lot of other brand's pedals are?

I'm on a tight budget... and it's for a unicycle (err.. pogo stick), so just after something that won't scar indoor surfaces like metals do. Those Premiums are about 300g too for the pair, so for $26 and sealed it's not too shady? Anyway, yeah, for metal pedals I'd always have them on a bike. Echo TRs!

Fair enough, I'm just after a decent pair of plastics that grip well. I was hoping metal pins might help, but seems not? I am comparing these to Odyssey Twisted PCs though however. Otherwise I was thinking of these... Premium Slim PCs, which are pretty cheap ($26) and sealed... Maybe could power drill then studlock some shallow screws in once the plastic pins die.

I know these pedals have been talked about before... but just wondering what the current verdict is on these? Quite cheap...

Thanks Ali, that's awesome, very much appreciated!

Hey guys, Though I've ridden before with 2004 HS33s, and only bled it once in its whole lifetime with the help of a friend (yep, sorry I know it's an easy easy job for most! But I've just not been required to bleed it and become fully used to the whole system) , I'm now a wee bit confused about how to get my recently cut down 2011 brake working properly! I've highlighted in bold my main questions so as to make it easier to read and answer. So I've got a 2011 HS33, and saw the stock hose was waaaay too long even for a rear brake set up, so I flicked through the manual as a double-check to see if there were any particular things to note about this new edition of the brake. Removed the 8mm barbed nut attached to the hose at the slave cylinder so the whole hose popped off the slave. Then I cut the hose with a stanley, and was instructed to slide over: 1. An 8mm sleeve nut 2. then an olive ^all onto my newly cut hose in that order. Then required to tighten the nut down into the slave, so essentially I believe the olive was forced into the cylinder with the hose end whilst being tightened down. Note: the 8mm sleeve nut and olive just slide around on the hose when everything's all loose before screwing in. This is how it's supposed to go for the 2004/2005 HS33s too, right? Now, it seems I get decent and even pad push from the slaves... but, the first 1-2mm pull of the lever feels 'empty' if you get what I mean? I can't remember if it felt like this exactly before any cutting job (and I made sure as much as possible that I didn't lose any oil). Can someone confirm whether or not this is normal of 2011 HS33s? or did I manage to have one or two air bubbles trap themselves in the line? I am also curious, when inserting the brand new cut length of hose (with 8mm sleeve nut and olive slid on top) into the slave cylinder, does it get pushed deeper into the slave cylinder by the tightening of the 8mm sleeve nut? Lastly, the fluid that came out was a clear mineral oil, I thought it was water for a second! Did Magura update their oil for 2011 or something? Seems a bit different to the blue Royal blood that's always been about. I've found no satisfactory answers on the Magura site regarding their 2011 brakes, so I'm hoping you guys can help me out a little with your experience of HS33s! If anyone here already has a 2011 HS11 or HS33, that'd be really helpful! Thanks very much, any help would be appreciated

I was thinking along similar lines. It does make one wonder what is the point of it? Esp. since the process no doubt isn't going to be cheap as chips?

Nah, What I meant was that the red loctite was so strong (studlock) that it basically stopped the bolt from screwing out whilst it was turning as it seemed the dried sleeves it formed inside the threads acted as a locking layer that just barred the bolt from turning itself upwards and outwards even though it spun. The silver bit in the starnut was dead tight when I finally got it all out. But yeah, studlock (red) isn't recommended unless you want something to be pretty much permanently bonded. Blue is the most commonly available one and more than enough so long as you prep the threads first and put a generous amount smothered all over.

Expensive option that *might* work is getting your BB threads chased and BB shell faced and then get a brand new BB that might have more suited tolerances for your frame. Cheap way out is to just try some blue loctite. But it'll only work if you *completely* purge your threads on the BB and inside the BB shell of any grease or dirt. The loctite won't work if it gets in contact with any grease or dirt. Apply generously and screw it all together, let it dry for at least 24 hours. 48 just to make sure. After that it should be fine. But be warned, it will take a bit of ooomph to untighten the BB in future if ever you need to. Never use red loctite though. I made that mistake to a topcap bolt about 6 years ago, and long stong short: It got stuck and locked tight even though the bolt was turning and I had to hacksaw away at the topcap and stem to try and extract the bolt.

Hey, So I've a friend who's custom making his own frames and forks over on the other end of Eurasia, and he's wondering what 'type' of 4 bolt mounts are 'best'? By best, I'm guessing he's trying to find out which ones are theoretically least prone to cracking on the weld, hurting the tubes, etc. Some pictures here should clarify what he's trying to get at: All four have slightly different welding. -Braced mounts with full welding all-round -Braced mounts with welding just on the tabs -Braced mounts with a strip of weld on one side -Individual tabs welded on Props to him for wanting to go into that kind of detail to make the best possible frames and forks for himself and local riders. Now I think about it, it is something that I've wondered at the back of my mind before. I seem to remember certain types cracking at the welds more frequently than others... Any input or knowledge would be great! Cheers [i hope it's okay to use TartyBikes' images for clarity as they have the best shots by far, if not I'll take them down and replace them with others)

I noticed the Echo SLs are a little different depending on when they were bought. I heard some batches had a +20mm mount, others a standard IS. Also, mine have no drillings in the disc tab and have no silver outlining cutouts. Just plain black throughout. Is it possible to tell which one was made from that 'outsourced' source and the Echo factory?

Bearing puller, available from almost any auto store for cheap ^Works a treat on anything from Profile cranks to Echos. Destruction-free method of removing any stuck/stripped cranks!

I do agree with Ali here. Whenever I've tried riding peoples' 'street bikes' they all have long chainstays and quite often bb drop. Why?! I suppose manuals are less twitchy with longer stays, but still...