Dammit’s adventures in mountain biking

Anyone aware of a mudguard that uses the three threaded holes on the back of the Helm's bridge that isn't £55?

Genuinely shocked that you haven't pulled the trigger on that already.

I think that's the only one so far

Genuinely shocked that you haven't pulled the trigger on that already.

I suppose it's well priced for carbon fibre, just seems a bit much for a mudguard.

**clicks buy**

Dibs

The Magura brakes are, I have to say, excellent.

You're making me second guess the 68 HTA and 74 STA I'd decided on, maybe a bit conservative.

Mine is 65°/76° which feels great, so maybe.

Will you be fitting a 150mm fork though?

Looks super nice!

What dropper is that?

Well I might, you're not my mum.

you're not my mum

Prove it

The Magura brakes are, I have to say, excellent

Better not cut those hoses then

Well for one we're on the opposite ends of a geometry chart.

Fox transfer, 175mm, with a Wolfstooth lever that forms the rear part of the Magura clamp, so pleasingly neat.

Fox transfer, 175mm

ta

You ride an XXXS frame?

Popped out at lunch to ride the 529 on Brockwell pump track. It’s not optimised for this buy it was still fun.

Hardtail, at 6’7” stem to stern is 1” shorter than the full bounce.

I've ridden the hardtail at Swinley, Bedgebury and a couple of times at Brockwell Park BMX track since I built it so I gave it a going over with the torque wrench to check that everything was tight - this is a) really anal and b) a good idea as it revealed that my calliper bolts were too loose.

Check your torque people!

Sounds about right - hardtail will get longer when sagged

Here's a question - I have the same grips on both bikes, on the 529, which has Renthal alloy bars they are rock solid and very comfortable. On the 295, which has Burgtec carbon bars they just won't grip at the ends, so can rotate on the bar. I'm assuming this is a materials/friction issue - would carbon assembly paste be a good shout to try to resolve this?

I'm assuming this is a materials/friction issue

Possibly

Out of interest have you measured the diameter of the bars at that point?

Rub a bit of sandpaper over the carbon bar.

What could possibly go wrong.

Steeper and shorter, surely?!