I might have to have a look. Just got a second puncture this afternoon but I was prepared. Goats head this time.

 

Getting good at changing tubes at least...

Thorn proof won't necessarily fix it, it depends why you're getting punctures. What pressure are you running and how rough is the stuff that you're riding?

It's been all good now, haven't had another puncture since (~200km since then). I switched to tubes that aren't paper thin and I've got the size up (2.35s) as my spares to reduce the ballooning. Also running the rear up closer to the pressure limit. But yea, I've been over far rougher stuff and haven't had an issue.

Thinking about going clipless (SPD). XC riding seems to be where I'm headed. Heck, there's even races like 5 minutes from my house.

It's worth it, it helps with just about everything except for motor style food out cornering! :) My preference is for Time pedals. Shimano are OK, but I don't find the release as friendly. Crank Bros. were horribly unreliable for me.

Wow, Time look really good. I've already got SPD pedals (came off my brothers bike, just cheapie shimano M520s) so I can at least get started in them but I might start hunting for some Times.

 

I haven't heard great things about crank bros, definitely not keen to try them myself.

Been riding clipless for about a week and a half and I freaking love it. Solved all the problems I was hoping it would. No clipless topples yet, few moments of panic though, my time will come.

 

 

Can anyone point me in the direction of where I can get replacement coil springs for forks? I've had a look around and can't find much locally. It's a Rockshox recon silver TK, not the greatest or lightest but its doing the job for now. I've got the preload wound a long way up but that's killing the travel, the spring seems to bind about 1cm before the forks bottom out.

 

Also my father bough a 2011 run out mongoose full suspension just so he can come out on some trails with us. Not much but it was cheap. Anyway, the front forks are the same as mine but are air sprung annnnd they leak very slowly, about 3-4psi since Saturday when they were completely deflated. Is there anything I can do about that or am I better off just dropping it back at the store and having them replaced under warranty? My brother has Fox forks (prick) and they haven't leaked anything in over a month so I'm assuming this isn't normal.

Just read this on mtbr

 

Weaknesses: QC problems: in my case, the air shock came instaled on the bike with no oil lubricating the top and lower o rings on the air piston. This caused to the fork to loose air fairly quickly. I had to disasemble them after using them for a month to fix the problem. After adding the specified oil quatity and type the forks have worked great, no air loss.

Source: http://www.mtbr.com/cat/suspension/2012-forks/rockshox/recon-silver-tk/prd_485650_6771crx.aspx

Yeah didn't sound right. I'd take them back and get them fixed under warranty.

Got about 800km out of my Conti Race King on the rear. Any substantial distance on the road really chews them up.

 

Changed over to a Schwalbe Racing Ralph today and dropped down to a 2.10, see how that goes. It's about 140g lighter but that's more outweighed because I switched to a dual wall rim (kept snapping spoke nipples on the single wall). I don't think these are going to last much better so I might try something like the Marathon Extreme next.

I would be scared to ride with clips incase my foot got stuck.

I would be scared to ride with clips incase my foot got stuck.

 

Have had a couple of close encounters with the ground. It's usually not a big deal because your forward speed is more often close to zero. Scratch on the knee, bruised pride.

 

 

I have seen one bad story about a guy using crank brothers egg beaters. These are designed a bit different to most clipless pedals (and the general consensus seems to be that they're pretty horrible anyway):

 

 

Basically in the process of crashing something got jammed in the opposing side of this guys pedal. That meant it was impossible for it to release and the end result of the crash was that it essentially snapped his leg. When you come off at speed usually the force of the crash will release you from the pedals unless you've got the tension waaay up.

 

 

But the benefits are huge. I don't think I could go back to riding with platforms now. I rode my brothers bike briefly with sandshoes (he uses BMX style platforms) and I hated it.

Depends what type of riding you are doing, when i was racing i used cleats on some tracks and flats on others. On more smoother and more peddling tracks cleats is where its at. For the rough stuff i had more control with cleats but found it safer for me to run flats. They both have benefits, but i don't under stand the hole crank brothers debate I'm unsure about. ive been running 5050 x's for almost 3 years i havent had one problem with them, but i think it was more to do with the cleat versions. Even though i have had mates very unhappy with there 5050s.

 

Went for a ride today at the local pine forest tracks are fast short and great fun. But the up keep on them well there is non so toke the tommy hawk out spent a couple hours hacking at some huge pine trees to clear the track. Was great fun tracks are simple but a heap of run. Still got it in me even though first time down hilling for about a year and a bit. Also a great way of clearing my head after a tough week.

got the bike in the back only just fits, but on the way home had to let the air out the rear tire to make it fit.

ride time :thumbsup:

Edited August 2, 201214 yr by iwontarolla

Rode up a bit of a hill on Friday. I'm not much of a climber but I thought I'd give it a crack anyway.

 

 

 

 

Next time I go I'm taking my road bike. I didn't realise that only the first 2-3km is dirt and the last 17km is paved. The road surface isn't great (I wouldn't want to do the descent on a road bike) but it's good enough for climbing. Even the dirt section would be tolerable on a road bike.

 

Scoping out a larger frame or something to that effect too. I'm thoroughly convinced this frame is a size too small for me. My knees have had enough of it.

Given up mountain biking sadly, can't risk the injurys downhilling has. Can't seem to sell my bike though what's disappointing.