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

Well it's a steel frame so you can just drill a hole for an internal dropper, the KS Lev is meant to be a good external one but expensive

So bring it out of the down tube and run the rest externally?

ya

Am I right in thinking that i30 rim will work well for tyres from 2.2 to 2.6? 2.35 on my i23 have to be run at 35-40 psi to prevent roll over which defeats the purpose of running higher volume rubber.

Yep

I've found that 30mm internal works well for 2.4-2.6", but anything narrower can leave the sidewall slightly exposed, unless it's something like the Maxxis 'wide trail' version.

2.2-2.3" seems a little happier with 25mm internal rims. It does depend a little on the tread pattern.

Running slightly more than 5 psi helps too ;-)

^ That's me being quite picky though, as I've never had any real issues with 'too wide' or 'too narrow' rims.

> I'd love a fast, super light, carbon, short travel, full sus, xc 29er (trek top fuel 9.7 for example). But my head tells me I should go for something with a bit more travel (trek fuel ex 9.8, if we're staying with the same brand). Both 29er, both carbon, but 100mm vs 130mm.

I like xc racing but let's be honest, I'm not at a level where the extra weight of 30mm more travel will be the difference between winning and losing races...am I best off getting a "trail" bike

May not make you win but you may pick up some places. Thats a serious amount of racing - enough to use the best you can. Your heart is right!

^ guess I'll put the coding career change on hold....

I'll go with 29mm and 7psi. That should do it.

Fit a DH casing tyre and a CushCore liner, and you might manage 6psi.....

2.35 Vittorias veyy happy on 27mm internal

I've also noticed my i23s get a bit grumpy when I'm running lower pressures but they seem OK around 20 front 30 rear.

This is the 27.5 version

My i23s are equally happy with 28mm tyres :)

Thanks guys. I'll go with i30 and 2.4 minions. First to work out if they'll fit in my rear triangle.

What is this dark magic you speak of?

Bonkers expensive, but apparently very good. @t_w has tried similar products, I think.

https://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/cush-core-tire-inserts-49758/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3326Pd1Pio

Looks amazing but kinda an over kill for my current level of riding.

Anyone doing Strathpuffer? I've just entered with a few friends. No idea what to expect... none of us have ever done any racing... I'm the only one in our quad who actually owns a mountain bike... Things are looking positive from the outset

Edit: I'll probably be pestering y'all for tyre/setup advice and stuff so you've got that to look forward to

Edit: @Ecobeard did it last year - doing it again? May send you a trillion questions over the next few months if that's okay? Reading through your excellent write up at the moment

I done it as a quad with @Ecobeard this year. We've entered it as a pair for 2019...

What @colm89 said

Either of us will be happy to answer what we can.

LoL - I forgot about that write up 😂

Had to have a read as well to jog my memory

Some initial recommendations:

1. Get ice tyres
   
2. Bring every single bit of cycling kit you own
   
3. Rent a campervan
   
4. Take the train up on Thursday night/Friday morning
   
5. Bring a heat source
   
6. Be prepared to be unprepared
   
7. Don't over think it, just do it
   

Where are you travelling from?

Sage advice

I would only add

1. be prepared to be very cold, even by Scottish standards