To all you 29er's out there!

The amount of money those forks cost, I'd hate to cut anything off the steerer :-)

Could end up being a bit painful though!

Maybe stick a whoopie cushion on it then.

I've had my 29er (Apollo's old one) for a couple of days now and boy I got it just in time!
Riding it in the snow has become one of the most fun cycling activities I've done, such a buzz.

thinking of building up a set of ss 29er wheels

i can get a pair of CK ss hubs, just trying to decide which rims, flow or crest

Crest - Smooth controlled rider

Flow - Clumsy fat arse

Which one are you ;-)

thinking of building up a set of ss 29er wheels

i can get a pair of CK ss hubs, just trying to decide which rims, flow or crest

Go Go Go!

thinking of building up a set of ss 29er wheels

Are you tired of Swinley destroying your gears?

i have flows on the 29er, crest on the commuto x

part of the plan would be to run the bike ss for winter, geared for better weather, or even to use the soma juice as a ss steel 29er and keep the lynskey for dry days

this is partly because of Swinley damage

there is also the Arch rim

I think I'd just stick with the flows if you get on well with them. It's nice to have a little bit of extra strength in reserve in case of a clumsy moment.

I shall now wait to be corrected by the mtb'ing legend that is scoble.

the flows are utterly bombproof

after a few years they are still true, and they were built by an utter idiot as his first ever disc wheel build, and then ridden by an complete and utter imbecile

I don't remember building you any wheels?

I don't remember much at all though.

How are your forks holding up to the grindy sand?

forks are fine, again serviced by a buffoon

I think a major selling point of newer Rockshox forks is how serviceable they are. Particularly having the SRAM tech videos to follow.

I saw the Krampus at the Bike Show today. My god, it is a monster. A beautiful monster though. It really does look like it could roll over anything. Would love to try one out on the trails.

have been reading up

it appears the Arch EX rim is the same width as the old Flow rim, and that the new Flow EX is considerably wider

given that my CK to Flow wheels have lasted so well I think I may well go for the new Arch EX rims

waits for smallfurry to contribute as he knows more than me

When I was researching new wheels to replace my boat anchors, the Arch Ex was coming out as the top choice, due to me being right on the limit of crests, and wanting to avoid as much weight as possible, so avoiding the Flows......they aren't heavy, but if I was spending dosh to reduce weight, I figured I might as well do it the best I could.

Then I pulled the trigger on the Easton Havens on special at CRC, so didn't bother!

On another note, this was yesterday, on the Stort going to see me old mum....

And this was later, on the way home, in the middle of fucking nowhere...

This drive side, shows my new, lightweight chain. Oh no it doesn't, because the fucking quick link popped off, causing me to fall on my arse, damaging my knee a bit (the good one), and causing me to scrabble in the snow, trying to find it. The chain, that is!
I did, however, manage to locate half the quick link.

have been reading up

it appears the Arch EX rim is the same width as the old Flow rim, and that the new Flow EX is considerably wider

given that my CK to Flow wheels have lasted so well I think I may well go for the new Arch EX rims

waits for smallfurry to contribute as he knows more than me

Go with the wider ones.

I've been looking to upgrade my Velocity Blunts. Because they are white. Nothing seems to be that much lighter for the width, and I know they're strong as I've ridden them down a concrete staircase with something stupid like 20PSI in my tyres.

Gonna Plasti dip them. Just finished plasti-dipping my cranks.

The SpotBrand will be looking a lot more classy soon..........

the thing is, my old flows have been great, the new ones are even wider, and possibly heavier, so do i really need the extra width?

but then part of the idea of the ss wheelset is that this will be the poor weather mtb setup to save the drivetrain being destroyed by Swinley mud, so maybe the even wider rim will make more sense.

still not certain if the ss hubs will be used for the lynskey 29er or the old Soma juice that is mainly being used by cycle trainees who don't have their own bikes

the thing is, my old flows have been great, the new ones are even wider, and possibly heavier, so do i really need the extra width?

but then part of the idea of the ss wheelset is that this will be the poor weather mtb setup to save the drivetrain being destroyed by Swinley mud, so maybe the even wider rim will make more sense.

still not certain if the ss hubs will be used for the lynskey 29er or the old Soma juice that is mainly being used by cycle trainees who don't have their own bikes

My Blunts are pretty darn wide. Like I said I was bombing around on them with 2.5" tyres with barely any air in them. For me it makes single speeding easier. I have some fecking step climbs, and not being able to smoothly spin up, means I'm grateful for every ounce of grip.

Its not so good on the road though. The physics probably dictate that a lower PSI MTB tyre will roll better. But lets face it, it feels slow, and thats what counts.

Save weight by running slightly narrower tyres, rather than narrower rims IMHO.

This is all, like a lot of MTB stuff, highly down to taste.

.....also. Managed to get an amazing finish on my cranks.

Give one thin coat of plasti-dip, wait 30mins with spray can in the cold workroom (around zero), give second coat. The cold stiffens the spray, so it forms lumps. On drying it flattens to a faux leather like finish.

Found this out by accident when experimenting. Decided to try and use it as a method.

Shite photo (havent removed masking either). No sun, and the flash ruins the pic.

^ That photo has a definite "scary looking sex toy" appearance to it :-s