Glop

It doesn’t snow very often in Ireland but when it does, the country breaks down. Schools close, roads close, drivers forget how to drive and skid all over the road. People drive up into the mountains and have to get rescued by mountain rescue teams on skis

Still though, it’s great fun. However, not so great for road cycling. The road tyres are just a bit too thin for all that snow. Mountain bikes now, that’s the way to do it. So on Saturday, two weeks ago, myself and two others from the Cycling forum on boards.ie decided to see how far we could get into Wicklow.  We set out on our mountain bikes and one studded-tyre equipped cyclo-cross bike. I brought my Nikon D50 with me and got some good photos.

Studded Cyclocross

We set off from Dundrum, went out by Enniskerry and from there towards Djouce and Balinastoe. There was snow on the side of the road on the way out, but nothing too bad. Then we got to the turn off for Djouce/Balinastoe. The road was covered in compacted snow and ice.

After some slipping and sliding, it was off the bike and letting some air out of the tyres. Sorted, off we went. We stopped just before the hill going up by Djouce and got some photos.

Snow Fields

This was just a field, covered in snow, with the hills in the background. Fantastic. So on we went, the hill by Djouce wasn’t a problem like we thought it would be. On past Balinastoe and we got to the junction of the road going to the Sally Gap. One of the hearty trio departed and the two of us went on to see how far we could get.

Heading toward the Sally Gap

We encountered snow pretty quickly, but kept going. Once we got to the base of Luggala, that was when the snow really started to pile up ! Back off the bike, more air out of the tyres. Almost running on nothing at this stage.

Heading up Luggala

Unfortunately we got almost two thirds of the way to the top, but could go no further on the bikes.

Had to walk up the bikes !

We were determined to get to the top though and see Lough Tay. So we left the bikes and continued on foot. We bumped into some entertaining sights along the way

A guy just cruised down past us on his snowboard !

Eventually we got to the top and the view were just stunning. I’d never seen that much snow in Ireland before.

The view of Lough Tay

View over the hills

Back down we went then, skidding and slidding on the bikes, really great fun. A bit of a slog on the way home, but absolutely worth it. One of the best cycles I’ve ever been on

I’m still alive ! I thought I’d resurrect the blog a bit with some of my bicycle related shenanigans and anything else that comes my way. So first thing is the suspension fork on my mountain bike !

Manitou Axel Plus

If you have a Specialized 2004 Rockhopper, you may have a Manitou Axel fork on it. My basic Rockhopper has the Axel Plus fork. If one searches for this fork, one tends to find squat ! The Axel Plus doesn’t seem to exist. However, you may come across a service manual for the 2003 Manitou Axel range. The Comp, Elite and Super. I believe the Axel Plus is the Comp and the 2004 range seems identical to the 2003 range. As my fork started making strange clunking noises recently, I decided I better have a look at it. The fork would compress, but then not de-compress fully until receiving a whack. This de-compression was the clunk noise and tended to only happen when going at a bit of speed downhill. Slightly worrying.

I had a look at the service manual, bought some suspension fluid and also on a gamble, bought a softer spring for the 2004 Manitou Super. The manual said that my weight was just within range for the softer spring and I thought it might make a bit of a difference. So first off, remove the fork from the bike.

Fork Legs

To remove the lower legs, remove the bottom hex key bolts. The right leg (left side in the picture) takes a 2mm hex key. When this is removed, pull out the adjusting knob. Then use a 8mm hex key, inserted into the fork to remove the small bolt.

On the other leg, just use a 4mm hex key to remove the bolt. Grab the shiney metal stanchions in both hands and use your thumbs to push down the on the lower legs, pushing against the rubber seals. Keep pushing it down until the lower legs come off completely.

You should be able to clean the upper legs and the containing lower legs. I didn’t clean mine thoroughly as I didn’t have appropriate replacement grease for the inside. They were fairly clean anyway. It’s probably a good idea to re-attach the legs at this point as it makes things easier when replacing the suspension fluid and the spring.

To change the spring, unscrew the top left cap. (The one with the 2mm hex bolt in it.) Remove the bolt and pop the cap off. You can use an adjustable spanner then to open the 20mm knob (if you don’t have a 20mm socket). As this unscrews, the spring will pop out, attached.

Fork spring

You can clean and re-grease the spring. I tried to replace it with the spring I bought, but the spring appeared to be too small, and didn’t decompress the fork fully. I re-install the original spring.

Fork Fluid

To replace the suspension oil, remove the top right cap. Again, I just used the adjustable spanner. Pour out the old fluid. Take a long hex key or something long and push it into the open fork leg. This will force down the internal plunger and force the remaining fluid up. Pour this out. Pump the fork, pour out, push the internal plunger and pour out, repeating until no more fluid comes out. Pour in the correct amount, doing the same plunging technique to ensure the fluid goes everywhere it should. Re-insert the cap and tighten.

This is where I encountered a wee problem. The adjuster knob on the bottom of the right leg should screw in. Unfortunately I could not get the screw to remain attached after I screwed it in and then compressed the fork. Perhaps the internal plastic it screws into was damaged, but it didn’t appear so. The fork functions without it, so I just had to leave it.

Re-attach the fork to the bicycle. Be careful not to be a complete moron and put the fork on the wrong way around.