Mark W

Good thing you wouldn't have to worry about it loosening, seeing as it's on the back where they're also a shitload more reliable? The DMR hub isn't a locked out MTB to whoever asked, it's just basically a 135mm wide BMX hub. Has your friend remember to budget for building costs?

Just remember to take into account the fact that the Hope's on the rear, so it'll have more clicks per crank revolution than the ACS on the front? Since I've got my Eno I'm more into the front freewheel system, to be fair... I also used to have a pair of Tensiles and they are truly amazing cranks, I really can't recommend them enough without interpretive dance.

Yeah, full build, otherwise that frame would have to be made pretty much of solid gold :o

I took a load of pics with my Mum's SLR (she had it when she was 19) - a Praktica (although now has a Cannon EOS) - and it's way good fun. It was even better developing them though. It's really amazing the first time you do it and you realise that the actual photographing side of things is pretty insignificant in comparison to the developing side of things. Plus, when you're there and you're waiting for the picture to develop in the developing solution it's pretty intense :o But yeah, digital SLR's are probably the way to go, to be fair, but there's something awesome about developing pics that you've taken with an SLR...

35.2lbs?! Bloody hell, no thanks Vario :o That's mental...

It might not break there, but the way the end of the seat-stays joins the downtube looks sketchy? I guess there's not going to be much hassle from it 'cos the top-tube joins it before it gets to the down-tube so it should mean there isn't a huge amount of force there... Any indication of weight?

I guess it's only really similar 'cos of the colour and the forward sloping seat-tube, but there are only so many ways you can play about with a frame design I suppose. If it works, where's the problem, whatever the source of inspiration for the design was?

Sorry for the thread-jack! Steve - I'm gonna send the books back to you tomorrow (hopefully!), but today a rider came down with the new white 'sink pads. Basically, my rear pads have gone a bit funny, so I was gonna change 'em anyway. Said rider had a go with his pads on a new grind and they were amazingly, so I'm thinking of getting a pair. Basically, I've got 8 pairs of backings (15-16 pads in total, from what I can remember) I was going to send to reduce the cost of the new pads, but some of the pads might have a small amount of contamination in the pad material. They've been in a bag with other Magura bits and a couple might've come into contact with a little bit of Magura blood that came out of a not fully emptied brake. Does this affect whether you want them or not?

Do those seat-stay/seat-tube gussets do much? They're on some or Norcos jump frames now too. Is there much point to them though? EDIT - "TheMunn"; do you mean the Ti one?

:imaginethisisthe"readthethread"emoticon: :closedeyes: http://www.engageclothin.co.uk/neilsillyness.wmv

The Foam's have never given me trouble. My hands sweat like troopers, and it's fine with the foams. Better than rubber grips either way. The Azonic's are just like the most rubber grips in that if you get moisture on them they go a bit funny, but you can just rub 'em down and they'll be fine anyway. I've never really had trouble with rain either, mainly 'cos if it's raining and I'm out I'll be on-bike more, so the grips are covered. But it's the same as with the sweating issue - I never had any trouble with the foams with anything.

So Yao Zhi has two pro model bikes? b*****d :closedeyes: That stack video looked amazingly harsh, to be fair. Hope the ankle heals up soon. It seems a bit sketchy "faking" moves, to be honest though. I mean, other than that top vid, but "faking" it seems a bit sorta... I don't know. You did get super close to pulling it, and fair play for being such an amazing rider, but it's not good cheating like that. Still, your call.

My ODI Ruffians lasted me 3 weeks before I wore down to the core. For £15, this made me a little unhappy... I haven't used Loc-on's for the last year and a half though 'cos the Pazzaz bars I got to test from Onza aaaaaaaaages ago have a slight manufacturing defect in them where there's a little bit of excess laquer (like a bump on the bars, about 0.5-1mm deep) on the underside of the left bar which impedes the collars and the core going on. 'cos of that I've tried loads of different grips, etc., so I've had a fair share of good and bad grips. Before I go any further I should probably point out I've got stupid shaped hands in that I've got massive palms but tiny fingers (really useful for playing bass (Y)\), so I like my grips quite thin. With that in mind, I used Monty grips for a year and a half. I replaced them once in that time just because they'd compacted down so much they were almost too thin, but also pretty hard. I've tried other grips, such as the 24seven mods (every compound is crap. No joke. Grips with waffle bits on them will die quickly) which were arse, the Insane-branded mod grips (they're the same design but with an altered compound) which were half-decent, and I've finally settled on the Azonic/O'Neal branded grips, in a soft compound. I seem to have ultra abrasive hands and can tear grips laughably easily, but these grips are brutally hard, in the softest compound. I can't really ride without gloves any more, which kinda sucks, but the Hebo Trial Team gloves I've got dominate so it's not so bad. Anyhoo, none of these grips have spun (apart from the 24sevens, but that's 'cos they're just a crock of shit anyway). I've never used anything to put them on (apart from the Azonics which have a tiny internal diameter and needed some GT-85), generally just ramming the bitches on. It always seems to work, and if worst comes to worst you could always wire them on. So yeah, I wouldn't really bother with Loc-on grips. For £15 for a pair of grips, it's a little expensive and with the only plus side being "they don't spin" - well, other grips don't spin either, and cost half the price... Play the field a bit and just check out what's around. Personally, I'm either going for Monty foams, Ritchey foams (bit thicker though), or the Azonics again. Seeing as the foams are only a fiver, why not give them a try? I usually soak them in water, then squeeze them on. Because they're such a tight fit, you have to pull them super hard and you actually wring the water out of them by fitting them so you can ride straight off. Winner :closedeyes: Mark.

The square bit sometimes spins as well, but it doesn't do it all the time :- It's only when the TPA's wound well far in, but that's about it...

Way to tempt fate, Mr. Wood :-

Cheers Dave :- One thing I found weird about the Creepy Crawlers was that the tread's quite shallow? Still grippy as hell, I was just thinking that there's gonna be less life in them in total, but I guess if the compound doesn't wear super fast it doesn't matter :)

PADS: Heatsink Batch B's. TIME USED: Bloody ages (read: 4-6 months, ish) RIM USED: Alex DX-32 GRIND?: Yes, fresh one now BRAKE USED: Old 4-bolt Magura with a new water bleed and an RB booster. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF GOOD WORKING BRAKE: Great lock, nice modulation. OTHER PADS USED: Black pads, CRM's, Koolstop reds, Monty X-Hydras. REVIEW: I used to swear by X-Hydras, and still do - they never did anything wrong as far as I was concerned. However, the 'sinks are just better, basically. They lock really well when needs be, but have a load of modulation (enough to do decent hop to manuals with a grind on) too. Really, really nice pads. Not as loud as the X-Hydras, but I'll leave that up to you to decide whether that's good or bad :- Oh yeah, they were the 10mm wide pads, and they're down to like 6-7mm now, so wear's been pretty reasonable.

Fair enough. Does that mean it lasts for a shorter length of time, or is this similar to pad compounds in so much as soft doesn't necessarily mean a shorter life span?

I used a pair of X-Hydras for a year and a half. That was weird... Anyway, in 2004, I used the same X-Hydras until about summer time, had a new pair, then got some Koolstop reds from Quick_Spider for free (cheers :-), got given a Plaz CRM or 3 too, and some Heatsink Batch B's. Haven't worn out any of the Koolstops, CRM's or Batch B's, although one CRM is about 1mm thick. Not ideal... I took the Koolstop off as well 'cos I fancied more bite, which the pair of CRM's give (used to run one Koolstop and one CRM). They feel simply amazing on the front. Good bite, great lock. Gooreat.

Sorry for bumping this out of oblivion again, but I thought it'd be better than putting a new topic - but what the crap does "Slow Reezay" mean, compound wise? What characteristics does it give? Oh, and the tyre's still properly grippy. It feels weird in some ways, but nice in others. It doesn't react like my old Luna used to (i.e. it grips :) - nah, just doesn't gaps where you twist mid-gap and it lands at an angle it compresses and expands in a weird way), so that needs getting used to. Either that or I'm just running it too flat... So yeah, any compound help would be great :-

I just don't get how people can be "bored" of new bikes coming out? It just makes no sense :- They're all built to cater for different people in the trials scene, so they all have good points and bad points about each of them, but I don't get how people can be "bored" of them? Especially this crap about "long, low and silver" - how can you be bored of three huge generalisations? When people say they're bored of polished laquered frames, manufacturers start doing paintjobs and people cry 'cos they're not nice. Long frames seem to work for a lot of people (yes, even street riders although again you'll have to (holy crap!) actually change your opinion on something), and the lower bikes, for a lot of people, feel a bit nicer to ride. So if something's not designed for a rider like you, there's just no incentive to be 'bored' of it? :) P.S. I don't get the boredom, or maybe it's just complacency? Whereas before there were naff all trials specific components around maybe there's just saturation of the market now? I dunno, it all seems a bit shit anyway. Either way, I shouldn't be typing, I'm too busy snapping all my CD's 'cos they're boring 'cos they're all melodic, harmonic and rhythmic.

Yeah, I can well imagine that pressing the same amount of keys would save effort. :-\

Yeah, we had to throw away about 15 cases of the 18-pack multipacks of Walkers crisps tonight at work. The thing is is that it was one batch of the flavouring that had the dye in, which is then divided out amongst other products, so again you're getting a tiny *tiny* percentage. Equally, it hasn't actually been proven that it does or will cause cancer in humans, in the same way you get people crying about people using mobile phones 'cos the radiation will microwave your brain, etc. It's not as big a deal as is suggested, but I guess it does show they could do with more stringent monitoring for food supply routes. Seeing as it was just one batch of produce that had the dye in, and they've had to recall everything that "might" have it, it's just a bit inefficient really. Same way that they now monitor animal movements to try and stop a food and mouth-style problem again, if they did it with food stuff like this wouldn't happen in the first place?

Hey Dan, I get the same with my front Magura and some of the V-brakes, it's just the little bit of leeway with the manufacturing tolerances for the pads/caliper I guess, and 'cos there needs to be some freedom of movement anyway...

Sorry, yeah, big butchered bolts are "in" for '05 :(