Mountain Biking

bloodiedathame · 19 Dec 2017 at 10:18

It's new bike time. My Pinnacle Iroko 2 is finally paid up and on riding it this morning, it's ******. I'll repair it over the summer but need some new wheels ASAP.

Criteria:
- From Evans (ride to work scheme)
- As close to or under £1k
- Hardtail is fine (wouldn't write off a full sus though)
- I'm 5'10" so medium frame

The Norco Fluids are pretty well reviewed but I have no idea how their numbering system works. The 2017 7.2 HT PLUS won MTB hardtail of the year <£1k last year.

Initial thoughts:
- https://www.evanscycles.com/trek-roscoe-8-2018-mountain-bike-EV311877
- https://www.evanscycles.com/cannondale-trail-3-2018-mountain-bike-EV308175

Shame about the brakes. Acera are lower spec than Deore and my Deores gave me loads of trouble.

steve45 · 4 Jan 2018 at 14:08

Anyone had any experience with 2017 RS Yari RC? Specifically changing travel with the Solo air version, previous experience with RS forks (Pikes, Revelations, etc) was a simple stripdown of the air side and playing about with 10mm spacers is this still the case or are we talking new air shafts looking upping 150mm fork to 160mm.

Begbie · 4 Jan 2018 at 14:18

steve45 said:
Anyone had any experience with 2017 RS Yari RC? Specifically changing travel with the Solo air version, previous experience with RS forks (Pikes, Revelations, etc) was a simple stripdown of the air side and playing about with 10mm spacers is this still the case or are we talking new air shafts looking upping 150mm fork to 160mm.

I believe it's new shaft. The solo air is. It looks pretty simple, but obviously not as cheap...

steve45 · 4 Jan 2018 at 14:26

Begbie said:
I believe it's new shaft. The solo air is. It looks pretty simple, but obviously not as cheap...

ah well, i guess its not that bad anyway its not like the shafts are that expensive.

Begbie · 4 Jan 2018 at 14:59

steve45 said:
ah well, i guess its not that bad anyway its not like the shafts are that expensive.

New bike?

steve45 · 4 Jan 2018 at 15:16

Yeah mate, 2017 Orange Crush S, will be sticking with the stock travel whilst they are on the Crush, looking at some fox 36 at some point, mate was interested in the Yari's if they could be extended to 160mm.

Mark A · 4 Jan 2018 at 18:58

Got my 32t chainring from superstar. Hopefully its the right one as there was a standard and boost version and finding an answer as to which I needed was a nightmare as theres so much conflicting advice. YT reccomends a 0 offset and people that have taken that advice said the chainring was too close to the frame, but others said it was fine... The one i ordered was a 3mm offset which a guy on Youtube with the same bike used and said everything was working fine.

Now I just need to get the crankarm off but my 13.5 stone doesnt seem to be enough as its not budging. Have to say I think the Shimano system is a lot better than Racefaces as it was a 5 minute job swapping out a Shimano crankset. I think I spent about half an hour trying to remove the crankarm before giving up and ordering an 8mm hex bit for a 1/2" socket that I can use with a massive breaker bar lol. If that still wont budge it then i'll have to submit and take it to my local bike shop, but I hate being beaten and like to do as much as I can myself.

TallPaul_S · 4 Jan 2018 at 19:39

Are you just trying to remove the 8mm hex nut? it should only be torqued to 61nm (45ft-lb) according to the manual, which isn't especially high...

A decent size 8mm allen key or 8mm socket with a bit of length should do the trick.

Mark A · 5 Jan 2018 at 11:11

Finally managed it with the right tool. It was way tighter than that, the allen key was just flexing and not moving the bolt at all.

400g weight saving once the new chainring is deducted

Job done, all looks to line up well and I think theres enough space between the chainring and the frame. Would it be worth getting some sort of chain device to keep the chain on the ring and is there one anyone can recommend?

neil_g · 5 Jan 2018 at 13:50

Got a one up device here with bash. Had no bother with it.

https://www.oneupcomponents.com/products/bashguide-iscg05

TallPaul_S · 5 Jan 2018 at 19:09

That's nearly 1lb of weight saved, nice!

You probably won't need a chain device, the narrow-wide ring will keep the chain on pretty well, unless you're doing some proper gnarly stuff

neil_g · 5 Jan 2018 at 19:38

Assuming you also have shadow plus or similar rear mech.

gettothechopper · 5 Jan 2018 at 20:05

narrow wides are fine when new but tend to drop chains once they get worn more
any proper downhills and you need a top guide really

Superpatsy · 9 Jan 2018 at 14:13

Can anyone recommend a saddle? The one that I have on my Giant is a pain in the arse (literally!). Hoping to get something a comfier but don't have a clue where to start! :d

BaJ · 10 Jan 2018 at 07:10

Charge Spoon, cheap and well regarded.

DereksDontRun · 10 Jan 2018 at 22:55

another vote for Charge Spoon, or Fabric offer some v similar saddles with some more width options (and I think Evans Cycles have them, for you to try them).

DereksDontRun · 10 Jan 2018 at 22:59

a nice new vid from YT explaining their history. A bit inspirational and almost a bit punk rock. well worth 15mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KW6ofE5v9c

Mark A · 11 Jan 2018 at 11:27

DereksDontRun said:
a nice new vid from YT explaining their history. A bit inspirational and almost a bit punk rock. well worth 15mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KW6ofE5v9c

That was a really interesting watch

. I didn't even know who YT were before I asked about a new bike in this thread. They seems like a really cool company and i'll definitely be recommending them to friends after my awesome experience buying from them.

Also regarding saddles, I have never found one thats actually comfortable. My first bike had a WTB saddle on that wasn't great, which i replaced with a charge spoon, which wasn't much of an improvement for me. On long rides I always end up feeling like i've spent a night in a US jail. The saddle on my new YT bike looks cool, but its not comfy sadly, so I might have to swap it out for the spoon.

DereksDontRun · 11 Jan 2018 at 16:13

Have to admit I swapped my YT's Jeffsy's saddle to a Fabric one that's v similar to a Spoon. Not necessarily because the stock one was bad, just 'cos I was used to the Spoon's shape.

Realistically, all saddles will be "noticeable" until your backside is toughened up by some regular riding...

tips tho:

make sure to use some padded inner shorts inside your MTB shorts - most shorts come with a removable padded liner that helps with longer rides. If you don't have any then get something like endura hummvee shorts with a liner, and just use that liner with all your shorts Some people will say to also not wear underwear under these inner shorts, as it can cause some chaffing, but personally that's something special for the road bike...
Remember with MTB, you're not a road cyclist, and thus your backside shouldn't stay planted on that saddle all the time... Pretty much anytime you're not peddling and certainly when you're going downhill then you really should be stood on your peddles and not be sat on the saddle, otherwise that seat is just going to keep thumping into your backside and making things worse... (thus why dropper posts are nice to get that saddle out of the way when you're not peddling). It's amazing the number of people that try to stay seated when going through a rock garden or off a jump...
Make sure it's angled/fitted properly. It should be near horizontal, which (if you're not used to it) could almost feel like the nose of the saddle is too high. Some people don't like the front of the saddle against their bits so tilt it down, which just means they don't get the intended support and slide about the saddle more, which leads to other soreness. Check youtube/website for bike saddle setup guides

Mark A · 11 Jan 2018 at 20:21

I got some of the padded shorts, but they felt like i was wearing a nappy

. Might have to give them another try once i start doing some longer rides.