Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

Anyone been to the Velopark? What are the trails like?

Good enough for some fun laps, very pedally but if you pick up enough speed the short downs can be fun with doubles and such. There are even some very short steep climbs they've built up with steep dropoffs the other side which are quite tricky and fun.
I would go back some time I think but it's ever gonna beat going to trails almost anywhere else.

Cheers - think I'll check it out Thursday with a couple of mates.

Claudio and Val Di Sole course preview. Fucking gnarly.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/claudios-course-preview-world-cup-dh-val-di-sole-2015.html

talk to me ........... shimano xt / xtr front mechs ( triple ) to be used with a shimano sl-m770 9-speed shifter
any to avoid ? any to go for ?

Watched The Syndicate's Greg Minaar helmet cam footage last night.

Very rooty, will be hell if it rains.

I actually missed the nervous laughter and the singing you get on Claudio's runs. Will watch later.

I can't wait to watch it tomorrow, don't often get to watch a World Cup live.

On a somewhat unrelated note I've just been reading about Chris Porter from Mojo's Nicolai Geometron custom build:

http://factoryjackson.com/2015/08/21/prototype-nicolai-geometron-gearbox-bike/

Pinion gear box, 1350mm wheelbase, 62 degree head angle, and 180mm Fox 40 forks for trail riding. Bonkers.

looooooooooooooooooo - ooooooooooong

Went to Aston Hill this afternoon - planned to do a couple of laps of the XC course prior to XC race tomorrow
Felt weak and crap, - stopped at one lap as heart felt a bit weird. Turns out I put in a pretty intense effort. Hoping tiredness, heat and some asthma responsible. Best not try to race tomorrow :(

Servicing forks - not much to it, or avoid? Juts got some Rebas that would probably appreciate the love.

Lowers service is pretty easy. Other bits get a bit more tricky, but nothing too daunting.

Coolio - instructions talk about Red Rum and Judy Butter. Where would one buy these products - they don't seem to be available on the regular cycling mail order shops (or I've fucked up searching).

@AdsH, hope you feel better soon. It was hot today after all, I just hid indoors.

Having seen the photos of that fork, I'd probably want to check the condition of the internals before spending money on any fancy lubrication products :-/

Servicing my Lyriks I just used the same weight of oil that goes in the lowers to soak the seals and Juice Lubes bearing grease for everything else. I don't think that Red Rum or the Judy Butter is available any more. Rock Shox (if you really want to use their approved stuff) sell PM600 military grease for many service jobs including fork servicing. I haven't done a shit ton of fork servicing but so far haven't found purchasing that necessary.

But @BareNecessities has some good advice: try to find out the condition of the forks first, such as the bushings. If there is a lots of play in the stanchions then servicing them will be pointless (when bushings go most places I have dealt with either replace the lowers or the entire forks). If there is a lot of scoring on the stanchions then servicing might be pointless.

Thanks - that's helpful. There's zero play in the stanchions (as far as I can tell),. but def some wear. I'll open them up and take a look at the seals/whatever is in there.

Assuming the worse and I need replacements, where do I get these? Anywhere a complete noob should look to help level out the learning curve with this stuff?

They were dirt cheap, and the idea is to see how my Karate Monkey feels with suspension, but I'll happily ride them into the ground - however long that is - if they're working and don't fuck up the handling.

Assuming the worse and I need replacements, where do I get these?

Order them from SRAM.

SRAM is the go to place for service manuals - for roxshox - and they are goooood. They aren't discouraging when it comes to their users opening up their forks.

M-prep is a good alternative to the red SRAM grease.

Probably a question for umop3pisdn (from memory you ran one?) - Surley Singleaters - how good/bad are they. Considering single speeding my Niner which has vertical drop outs and standard BSA BB. Reviews on MTBR are pretty damning. Alternatives look limited - White ENO hub pricy and needs freewheel cogs? Eccentric BBs (trickstuff and Philcentric) won't run with MTB triple cranks.

I've never used a Singleator, but have used OnOne/SSC roller tensioners on lots of different bikes. They're cheap and they work, you occasionally get a bit of chainslip if you let the tension drop though.

Never had any problems with a singleator, as long its run to push up rather than down. very easy to fine tune chainline as well.

for rockshox also look to http://www.tftuned.com they carry or can get parts.
Other tuning houses are out there, Loco is highly reguarded but never checked them out, a few more smaller companies.

The SRAM/Rock Shox service videos on YouTube are very good and as @Howard says the technical manuals on the SRAM website are excellent. When approaching things for the first time if I feel hesitant I write down the steps in my own words so that I have my own more readily accessible, concise manual.
As for parts, bike shops with a Fisher Outdoor account (which should be almost all of them) will have direct access to SRAM/Rock Shox. If you have any trouble obtaining parts PM me, my shop can get all current Rock Shox parts and support.

http://up.opencycle.com/

Filling an opening in the market, somewhere between 'gravel-grinder' and 'monstercross'?

Thanks guys. Opened up the lower legs. Definitely needs new oil rings. Seals looks like seals, but presumably they come as a package so might as well replace all. The grease/oil had thickened up and was a bit mucky. Clearly hadn't been serviced in a while (ever)?

Stanchions are worn - unsurprisingly - but there isn't anything on the lower parts that looks worse than what was already showing. Suspect that the wear on the coating will just mean less than ideal performance, which I always expected, so I'm not particularly bummed out.

Questions: should I buy replacement seals and do what's got to be done knowing it cost me fuck all and it won't last for ever? Should I take a look at the dual air as well, or can I get away with not touching it?