HammerHed

Goodnight - The Magic Numbers

I run 2 x 9 with grip shift and it is much better than 3 x 9, I rode 38k's of the Spruit the other day on my big chain ring. no hassle. Though there are no big climbs there. I do find that where you need a granny gear on a very steep slope I battle a bit, but if I am fit its OK. I always felt that the granny gear on 3 x 9 was a waste, as I would only use it to climb very steep slopes and then only the granny gear not any others on the small chainring. So for me its a no brainer, 2 x 9/10 is the way to go!!

Put lots of k's in your legs, and do lots of power intervals on your indoor trainer. MTB has heavier bike + more rolling resistance than road biking, so you have to train for that by riding your MTB off road for long distances and building more power. 70k MTB rides every weekend, do 70k Saturday and 40k Sunday to start to build up the mileage. Then hit the IDT 3 or 4 times a week for 1 hour warming up for 15-20min in aerobic zone < 75% max hr then doing intervals in 83-87% HR zone, and alternate between the 2. A few weeks of this will get your power up nicely, and you will feel the difference on the trail. A rest week every third week where you drop the volume of training by 15 - 20% and then the next week back to the levels of before the rest week. Works for me. Better still get a power meter and train with that, you can then really gauge your status of fitness and tweak your programme accordingly.

I reset the pressure in both + & - chambers and it seems as if it OK now. Will have to ride to get the right pressure but I guess the 10kg I have picked up in the off season has made my bike sag more than it usually does. Thanks for the oil leaking out tip, there was a little that came out, not enough to spoil the party though. The ride height came back as soon as I released the pressure in the - chamber. And did not suck back again after I had pumped it up again. I guess the - pressure has to do with the amount of damping / rebound you want from what I could feel. Might be wrong though. Thanks for the tips guys.

TX dude, I will try this out tonight, hopefully I can sort it out myself.

Do I replace the oil that comes out?

OK will try that, I see if I hold the wheel and pull the fork out - push the wheel down while holding the handlebars there is a bit of travel there but it gets sucked back up when I let go.

I have a weird scenario my Reba World Cup fork is missing 25mm in length. It should be set at 100mm of travel and was before I had it serviced a while ago. I checked out the spec today and see that the length from the top of the lower crown should be 480mm to the middle of the axle, mine measures around 460mm where is the missing 25mm - 30mm? See attached pic + spec diagram. How can I fix this any ideas? See pic at bottom of proper length for the 100mm fork.

Shock pressure settings are quite personal, and also variable depending on the terrain. A rough course would require softer settings than a smooth course. Likewise a heavier rider requires more pressure in the shocks to keep the shocks from sagging too much under the riders weight. Saggy shocks change the geometry of the bike. Its all relative to these variables, so there cannot be one setting for everything.

Get a cable tie and wrap it around the stanction the smooth part that slides into the bottom of the shock. push the cable tie down so it is touching the bottom of the shock. Now sit on the bike and then get off the bike and look to see how much the shock sagged, the cable tie will be pushed upwhen you sit on the bike and remain where it was pushed to. This movement should be about 20 - 25% of the total movement allowed by the shock. Adjust the amount of air pressure in the fork - & + until you get that amount of sag. Once that is done you will ride nicely on that fork. From my experience I have a Reeba World Cup fork the - & + should be about the same pressure. So its quite fiddly but once you get the setting it will feel good. I hope this helps.

I'll be there too!

Shame! It's very funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ&feature=player_embedded A NYC cyclist who received a fine for straying out of the bike-lane recorded this video of his attempt to ride around town without leaving the bike-lane, instead crashing merrily into any obstacle that he encountered, from taxis to construction equipment.

I'm running XO grip shift on my XX cranks, works perfectly, much better than the triple blade. Although I am still running the XO rear derailleur and cassette.

I rode Maxxis Monorail 2.1 UST in front and Conti Race King 2.2 UST at rear for this years very muddy Sani2C, the Monorail was great the Race king was terrible, rear continually washing out in the slippery stuff. My partner rode Mountain Kings front and back and bad no washout issues at all. The Race king is great for all other conditions but Crap (with a CAPITAL C) in mud.