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

You can take steel out, titanium bonds into the bone in a way that makes it much harder to remove. Good for some applications but not for others

Didn't sound like it'll come out

Looks great! Rode my friend's Epic Evo in girona a couple of years ago and it felt so capable.

Welcome to a life of fun and games at airports. And courts.

Thanks.
Sadly it's going to be getting the black Select SID's fitted again as the blue SID has got some play in the bushes so needs to go back for a warranty fix.

Good luck! The insufficient bushing overlap is something they acknowledged with the release of the new 2024 version. Sram love general public beta testing when it comes to new products...

It's no secret that a number of the previous SID forks were plagued by bushing play, an issue we encountered on several test bikes. To address that, RockShox increased the upper tube length by 25 millimeters. That extra length means that the lower bushing is fully engaged at top out, and there's 50% more bushing surface engagement, hopefully greatly reducing the likelihood that any annoying fork play will develop.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/first-ride-2024-rockshox-sid-ultimate-fork.html

That's handy to know.
At least if they've admitted that it's an issue then it should be straightforward to get it warrantied.
No doubt this'll happen with the SID fork that was supplied with the bike at some point as well.

I'm struggling a bit with tyre options.

I put a pair of Spesh Purgatory on my Honzo when I built it (mainly because they were cheap) but I had problems with rear sealing so it's currently got a tube in and I wasn't too happy with the feel of them when I was at Glentress last week so was going to fire some better rubber on but I don't know what.

Maxxis Minions seem pretty common so they canny be shite right? Only problem is there's like a million versions of each one and it's got me a bit bamboozled.

Schwalbe Hans Dampf? Reviews on Merlin and CRC are mostly good. They aren't that expensive, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Any other suggestions gratefully received.

Rims are WTB i35, 29", current tyres are 2.6" and I'd like to stay in that region.

What kind of stuff are you riding/what about the Purgatory didn't you like?
Although I've never ridden them, it seems the general consensus is Hans Dampf is a bit rubbish, so probably why they're cheap.
When I rode Glentress in April I was on DH casing Magic Mary and Big Betty, and in hindsight I could have easily ridden something lighter. Most of the other guys were on Assegais, Minions, Wild Enduros or Kryptotals

The current continental line up is excellent and the naming standards for casing and compounds is easy to decipher. I think they only do 2.4 though

What kind of stuff are you riding/what about the Purgatory didn't you like?

Not riding much at the moment sadly!

I'm feeling a bit timerous after doing my collarbone in what was it, May(?) so its been a lot of Cathkin Braes and then Glentress was my first go at something different really. I'm guessing I'll be riding mostly trail centres for a while to remove the 'being out in the middle of nowhere by myself' aspect.

With the Purgatory tyres, the rear was being a cunt about sealing. It also seemed to go from being wooden hard to squirmy wormy within a couple of psi and even with the tube in and the pressure staying where it should, I thought they felt a bit unsteady in corners, like they weren't really biting?

Could just be getting used to a new bike I guess.

Looks like 2.4 is the largest front but they do a 2.6 rear, I've run a narrower front/wider rear on a weird mullet setup before but I know I'm a weirdo, isn't it usually the other way around?

My frame definitely has more room than my fork though so...

And courts.

Does a plated up shoulder come with a built in bar membership?

I've never like spesh tyres, always have a way too high recommended pressure and felt like shit. Maxxis have always seemed good off-road, pick a tread for the riding you'll be doing .

I've gone for a pair of Argotals in 2.6 and a big bottle of Orange seal in place of the M Fuc Off I've got at the moment. And one of these tools to hopefully make geting them on the rim a bit easier.

What a fun way to spend £150...not.

I like Maxxis tyres but it’s hard to buy ones that don’t have a wiggle in them.

I’ve got Double-Down casing DHR II and Assegai on the Enduro bike and Exo casing Dissector/DHF on the trail bike, all 29” and 2.4/2.5 IIRC.

Dh22’s going on the Yalla.

How are they both so hard to get on the rim, but keep falling off?

Is that very fast?
I am not that bad with heights, but no thanks to that drop, walking would be challenging.

Ha, it was a bad joke. It's gravity.

Does a plated up shoulder come with a built in bar membership?

Not as far as I'm aware, although I qualified last century, so the rules may have changed. When I was called to the Bar, one of the qualifications required was that you had to have eaten 12 dinners in your chosen Inn of Court. And, yes, seriously. If you'd only eaten 11 dinners, that wasn't enough.

You kept receipts I assume?

I’ve just had an SLX (M7100) chainring break on me, the outer ring coming detached from the spider. I’m looking at a one-piece replacement, and have so far found offerings from Unite, Burgtec and Wolftooth.

Does anyone have any experience of these? I’ve found suggestions that the Unite and Burgtec tooth profiles may not work as well with the Shimano chain.

I've seen this happen a fair amount. The safety torx bolts securing the chainring to the spider can work loose/fall out which leads to the failure. It's a terrible design that prevents user maintenance without having a set of safety torx keys. This is something that would be covered under warranty without quibble if still within the 2 year warranty period, (if not still worth trying with a Shimano dealer as they will still often send the failed chainring back to Madison for you if you cover postage/bribe with biscuits ect). 32/34T chainrings are in stock with Madison, 30T currently out of stock...

I've never experienced 3rd party (1x) chainrings causing any issues when used with a Shimano drivetrain, so as long as your current chain/cassette wear isn't excessive and you're using an appropriate 12spd chainring. Best practice would be to fit a new chainring when replacing your chain & cassette to allow even wear through your compete drivetrain.

That's most helpful, ta. I'll have a chat with my friendly LBS.