So, Sprung put their hands up to having missed something and asked if I could come and see them with the damper. Which I managed to work into a trip to work HQ on Monday.
Long story short, they found the problem - the bottom seal was leaking and the leaked oil was being sucked into the top of the damper above the separator piston, giving the impression when the damper was out of the forks that the oil was leaking from the top.
Sprung have given me a spare charger damper they had knocking around and are making a warranty claim on my behalf for a new damper.
"The Lively Monster Truck"
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millemille
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millemille
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
The Hope dropper lever and adapter I ordered haven't arrived at the LBS....
...nor have the Hope crank arms or jockey wheels...
...but the Hope speed sensor magnet has...
I'm pretty sure I've got an addiction to Hope parts.
Went for a pedal this morning and I'd put it up there in my top ten rides of all time. The bike was flawless, the weather was perfect, the route was epic, the scenery was breathtaking and the trails were nice and quiet.
07.00 at Shatton...
Up Shatton hill...
...to the aerial and then along the tops before dropping down into Bradwell...
.. through Bradwell and up the other side of the valley to the cement works and then a left turn up Pin Dale and on to the tops to head over to Mam Tor.
Up to the great ridge with views that soften even the hardest heart and which I didn't even bother trying to capture as photography is a skill I lack.
Along to Hollins Cross, down the gnar descent to the Edale road, along the Edale road to Jaggers Clough...
..and up to Hope Cross and down Roman Road and back to Shatton.
The route, I did it in the reverse direction....
22 miles and 3,500 feet of climbing. 2 hours, one and a bit batteries, all on Urbot naturally...
Bike managed to get filthy muddy as I took the opportunity to cool my feet by riding through a seemingly innocuous puddle on the ridge after Hope Cross...which turned out to be over hub deep and muddy as a very muddy thing, so all cleaned up and ready for a Hope fitting session this week...
...nor have the Hope crank arms or jockey wheels...
...but the Hope speed sensor magnet has...
I'm pretty sure I've got an addiction to Hope parts.
Went for a pedal this morning and I'd put it up there in my top ten rides of all time. The bike was flawless, the weather was perfect, the route was epic, the scenery was breathtaking and the trails were nice and quiet.
07.00 at Shatton...
Up Shatton hill...
...to the aerial and then along the tops before dropping down into Bradwell...
.. through Bradwell and up the other side of the valley to the cement works and then a left turn up Pin Dale and on to the tops to head over to Mam Tor.
Up to the great ridge with views that soften even the hardest heart and which I didn't even bother trying to capture as photography is a skill I lack.
Along to Hollins Cross, down the gnar descent to the Edale road, along the Edale road to Jaggers Clough...
..and up to Hope Cross and down Roman Road and back to Shatton.
The route, I did it in the reverse direction....
22 miles and 3,500 feet of climbing. 2 hours, one and a bit batteries, all on Urbot naturally...
Bike managed to get filthy muddy as I took the opportunity to cool my feet by riding through a seemingly innocuous puddle on the ridge after Hope Cross...which turned out to be over hub deep and muddy as a very muddy thing, so all cleaned up and ready for a Hope fitting session this week...
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MingtheMerciless
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
Am missing the Peaks despite the carnage they wrought on my bicycle.
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
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millemille
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
Big and burly is the key to surviving the Peaks...MingtheMerciless wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 7:38 pm Am missing the Peaks despite the carnage they wrought on my bicycle.
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Couchy
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
And the bike ?millemille wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:17 pmBig and burly is the key to surviving the Peaks...MingtheMerciless wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 7:38 pm Am missing the Peaks despite the carnage they wrought on my bicycle.
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millemille
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
I'll keep setting 'em up, you keep knocking 'em in the back of the net....Couchy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:53 pmAnd the bike ?millemille wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 8:17 pmBig and burly is the key to surviving the Peaks...MingtheMerciless wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 7:38 pm Am missing the Peaks despite the carnage they wrought on my bicycle.
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weeksy
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millemille
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millemille
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weeksy
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MingtheMerciless
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
I keep looking at the 5dev Ti Shimano EP8 cranks but Mrs M would kill me repeatedly to death.
Feast your eyes.
https://ride5dev.com/collections/cranks ... -ep8-crank
Feast your eyes.
https://ride5dev.com/collections/cranks ... -ep8-crank
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
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millemille
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millemille
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
Tuesday gone I was over in Belfast with work. Flew out of Manchester at 0'crack sparrowfart hrs. Drove up to Manchester and left my car, an estate with heavily blacked out rear windows, in the T3 multi-storey. The secure car park, with CCTV and less than 50 meters from the cop shop. I reverse parked, with the back hard up against the outside wall, on the 3rd floor looking directly down at the cop shop and directly in front of a CCTV camera.
In the back of the car was the Focus - with the front wheel removed - and my riding gear and spare battery and other bits and pieces. You couldn't see what was in the back unless you put your hand up to the glass and peered through from close range.
After a 5 hour wait for my delayed return flight at Belfast I got back to the car to find a handwritten note on the screen asking me to ring 101 and quote a supplied reference number, signed "Greater Manchester Police". And it became apparent that the tailgate window was smashed and the bike was missing.
FUCK!
Rang 101 and got told I needed to go to the airport cop shop...and the operator mentioned in passing that "there was someone in custody".
Get down there and speak to a PC from the airport policing unit. They'd nicked the thief within minutes of it happening and had got the bike and front wheel. As the cop described it, he'd walked past the cop shop mess room window carrying the front wheel in one hand and dragging the bike in the other, which prompted the half dozen or so cops in there having their lunch to a man to drop their food and jump on him.
I gave a statement and the cop told me that the suspect was a homeless drug addict and was currently in hospital, I think my face must have shown what I was hoping - that he'd fallen down stairs, repeatedly, while being arrested - as the cop explained he had the health issues you'd expect a homeless drug addict to have. The cop said he'd be out of hospital in the next few hours and he'd let me know what happened when they interviewed him.
I got the bike back, the bars and control are all twisted where it was dragged out of the car. How the fuck the thief got it out of the back I don't know, both getting out of the window as it's a struggle to get it in with the tailgate fully open and because he'd have had to had it hanging over the chest high wall 3 floors up.
The back of the car was full of broken glass and was a right mess so I told the cop I'd head home and clean it out and check to see if anything else is missing. The cops had kindly sealed the broken window up with some sheets of sticky backed plastic when they'd attended the car park so I drove it home.
Emptied the back out and cleared some glass out and it was apparent that the spare battery and key for the battery lock were missing so rang the cop shop, the cop gave me their direct number, and told the controller and they said it would be added to the log so that it could be brought up interview.
In the morning I had an email from the cop, sent at 01.20, telling me the thief had made a "full and frank confession" but no mention of the battery and key. The thief went to court on Wednesday morning and was remanded and is now in nick somewhere.
Further emails back and forth between myself and the cop and the thief claimed to know nothing about the battery or key. The police are going to review the CCTV and see what, if anything, can be seen. I would hope that the thief took the battery and key and hid them somewhere to come back to them later and took the bike to dispose of first.
A part of me does wonder if during the period between the break in and the police attending the car someone else helped themselves to it, but why didn't they take the helmet, shoes, riding gear etc?
Anyway, my hopes of getting the battery and key back are diminishing with each passing hour. I've got a £500 excess on stolen items and I can get a 2nd hand battery and a new lockset for about £400, so I've bought replacements.
Autoglass are due to be here any minute to replace the tailgate rear window under my insurance...but we'll see if they turn up with one with the correct level of tint. There's a few scratches in the paint where the scrote dragged the bike down the side of the car, but we've got a really good local bodyshop that I've used before for this kind of work (and the owner is a neighbor so get a discount) and I can't see it costing more than £50 for a touch up.
I'm going to nip up to the cop shop at the weekend and drop off several boxes of Krispy Kreme's by way of thanks for their good work.
In the back of the car was the Focus - with the front wheel removed - and my riding gear and spare battery and other bits and pieces. You couldn't see what was in the back unless you put your hand up to the glass and peered through from close range.
After a 5 hour wait for my delayed return flight at Belfast I got back to the car to find a handwritten note on the screen asking me to ring 101 and quote a supplied reference number, signed "Greater Manchester Police". And it became apparent that the tailgate window was smashed and the bike was missing.
FUCK!
Rang 101 and got told I needed to go to the airport cop shop...and the operator mentioned in passing that "there was someone in custody".
Get down there and speak to a PC from the airport policing unit. They'd nicked the thief within minutes of it happening and had got the bike and front wheel. As the cop described it, he'd walked past the cop shop mess room window carrying the front wheel in one hand and dragging the bike in the other, which prompted the half dozen or so cops in there having their lunch to a man to drop their food and jump on him.
I gave a statement and the cop told me that the suspect was a homeless drug addict and was currently in hospital, I think my face must have shown what I was hoping - that he'd fallen down stairs, repeatedly, while being arrested - as the cop explained he had the health issues you'd expect a homeless drug addict to have. The cop said he'd be out of hospital in the next few hours and he'd let me know what happened when they interviewed him.
I got the bike back, the bars and control are all twisted where it was dragged out of the car. How the fuck the thief got it out of the back I don't know, both getting out of the window as it's a struggle to get it in with the tailgate fully open and because he'd have had to had it hanging over the chest high wall 3 floors up.
The back of the car was full of broken glass and was a right mess so I told the cop I'd head home and clean it out and check to see if anything else is missing. The cops had kindly sealed the broken window up with some sheets of sticky backed plastic when they'd attended the car park so I drove it home.
Emptied the back out and cleared some glass out and it was apparent that the spare battery and key for the battery lock were missing so rang the cop shop, the cop gave me their direct number, and told the controller and they said it would be added to the log so that it could be brought up interview.
In the morning I had an email from the cop, sent at 01.20, telling me the thief had made a "full and frank confession" but no mention of the battery and key. The thief went to court on Wednesday morning and was remanded and is now in nick somewhere.
Further emails back and forth between myself and the cop and the thief claimed to know nothing about the battery or key. The police are going to review the CCTV and see what, if anything, can be seen. I would hope that the thief took the battery and key and hid them somewhere to come back to them later and took the bike to dispose of first.
A part of me does wonder if during the period between the break in and the police attending the car someone else helped themselves to it, but why didn't they take the helmet, shoes, riding gear etc?
Anyway, my hopes of getting the battery and key back are diminishing with each passing hour. I've got a £500 excess on stolen items and I can get a 2nd hand battery and a new lockset for about £400, so I've bought replacements.
Autoglass are due to be here any minute to replace the tailgate rear window under my insurance...but we'll see if they turn up with one with the correct level of tint. There's a few scratches in the paint where the scrote dragged the bike down the side of the car, but we've got a really good local bodyshop that I've used before for this kind of work (and the owner is a neighbor so get a discount) and I can't see it costing more than £50 for a touch up.
I'm going to nip up to the cop shop at the weekend and drop off several boxes of Krispy Kreme's by way of thanks for their good work.
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weeksy
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millemille
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
Replacement battery and lockset bought, waiting on JE James for prices and availability on some Focus specific parts needed for the battery.
Consoled myself to help get over the trauma by buying a pair of DH clipless pedals from you've guessed it, Hope.
Also had a bit of result with the warranty claim on my charger damper, I'm getting the fancy 2.1 with high and low speed damping adjustment, FOC as a replacement from Rockshox.
Which was nice.
Consoled myself to help get over the trauma by buying a pair of DH clipless pedals from you've guessed it, Hope.
Also had a bit of result with the warranty claim on my charger damper, I'm getting the fancy 2.1 with high and low speed damping adjustment, FOC as a replacement from Rockshox.
Which was nice.
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millemille
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
Crikey, 9 months since the last update.
Not riding the Focus anywhere near as much as I'd like to. Lots and lots of travel with my job means time for hobbies has taken a bit of a back seat, and wanting to ride the Ducati where possible and also maintain some semblance of a marriage doesn't help.
Anyway, the bike is a full rolling catalogue for Hope parts now.
Managed to get out with @Couchy a month or so ago and we did the kinder loop and the super techy rocky climbs up Jacob's ladder and the various cloughs.
Was really struggling on the climbs, looping the front and struggling to keep any semblance of control of direction.
Did some measuring when I got back and the combination of mullet set up and boxxers has made the bike perfect for downhill, but the seat angle is just too slack and there's not enough weight over the front.
So, I've gone back to 29er all round thanks to a sparkly new Hope Pro5 fortus 30 wheel and a Schwalbe Big Betty tyre.
And I've also invested in a doohickey from a company in Canada that was brought to my attention by @porter_jamie and has been raved about by Steve from EMBN.
It replaces the seat post saddle clamp...
...and has a 3 position adjustment of the saddle angle and position and consequently the effective seat angle, controlled by a lever under the saddle
Normal riding position....
Climbing position, with the nose of the saddle dropped down and the seat angle about 1.5° steeper....
Descending position, with it tipped backwards so it looks like the jump bike setup all the cool kids use...
Hoping to get out for a proper ride in the next couple of weeks to try it out, trouble is every time it's sunny the Ducati calls to me....
Not riding the Focus anywhere near as much as I'd like to. Lots and lots of travel with my job means time for hobbies has taken a bit of a back seat, and wanting to ride the Ducati where possible and also maintain some semblance of a marriage doesn't help.
Anyway, the bike is a full rolling catalogue for Hope parts now.
Managed to get out with @Couchy a month or so ago and we did the kinder loop and the super techy rocky climbs up Jacob's ladder and the various cloughs.
Was really struggling on the climbs, looping the front and struggling to keep any semblance of control of direction.
Did some measuring when I got back and the combination of mullet set up and boxxers has made the bike perfect for downhill, but the seat angle is just too slack and there's not enough weight over the front.
So, I've gone back to 29er all round thanks to a sparkly new Hope Pro5 fortus 30 wheel and a Schwalbe Big Betty tyre.
And I've also invested in a doohickey from a company in Canada that was brought to my attention by @porter_jamie and has been raved about by Steve from EMBN.
It replaces the seat post saddle clamp...
...and has a 3 position adjustment of the saddle angle and position and consequently the effective seat angle, controlled by a lever under the saddle
Normal riding position....
Climbing position, with the nose of the saddle dropped down and the seat angle about 1.5° steeper....
Descending position, with it tipped backwards so it looks like the jump bike setup all the cool kids use...
Hoping to get out for a proper ride in the next couple of weeks to try it out, trouble is every time it's sunny the Ducati calls to me....
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MingtheMerciless
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Re: "The Lively Monster Truck"
@millemille what back pack do you use for carrying your second battery ?
"Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
"My dear Doctor, they're all true."
"Even the lies?"
"Especially the lies."
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millemille
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- Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2020 11:40 am
- Has thanked: 304 times
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