What are owners views on these frames im thinking of upgrading and i like the look of them. Ill try and get a demo day on one sonn but would like to hear thoughts and see some pics cheers

Yeah, I've been looking at one of these recently (or a nomad), would also be interested to hear what they are like.

I ride with a friend who has one of these. VPP and Bearings / Seals seem to be an issue. its been back twice for this. I'll get him to post some comments.

Are you looking at alu or carbon? I demoed an alu LT last year, back to back with an Intense Tracer, Orange ST4 and a few others & was very impressed (coming off a Fivespot). I felt it was nice & firm on the climbs whilst also feeling like it had a lot of travel going down. A few months later I bought a carbon LT and it's even better than the alu LT I reckon. Incredible stiffness if you like that sort of thing..I do. It's changed my riding a bit…more late breaking, jump the back wheel around type stuff, as you can be confident that the bike will track straight out of the corner when you put the power down. Absolutely the best FS bike I've ever ridden, no question. Need to get some dirty pictures, but here's a few freshly built…

Btw, the new ones with VPP2 are reportedly MUCH more reliable in the bearings dept, and better at climbing in the granny ring, although admittedly I prefer middle ring climbing on this bike. The new ones have grease ports for the main bearings, kind of similar to how Turner have been doing it for years. Mine's been going since last summer with only one application of grease & is absolutely tight still.

Hmm bearings still not UK proof, like tractor frog mentioned above my blt2 has been back twice for gritty, noisy stiff main pivots despite 'seasonal maintenance'. I think I had one of the first in the country to give an idea of how long iv been riding it. The problem was with the grease gun blowing the seals out causing them to split.. Jungle were good tho and provided new seals. However, a handfull of rides later and the santacruz creak is starting to re-appear.

Don't beleive the hype, the bearings are still not great

This is mine. Had it since June 08, so one of the earliest in the country. It is so good, and so more competent than me, that if it was stolen tomorrow I would buy the same again without checking anything else out.

I live in Highland Scotland so do a lot of big natural stuff with a lot of rocky descents, so it does get hammered a bit. Climbing is excellent, best with the propedal off, and going down it just gives you so much confidence. I give the grease ports a quick pump about once a month – takes about 30 seconds. The only thing that has needed attention is the bushing at the bottom end of the shock which has been replaced twice under warranty. I understand that they now have the bushing material sorted out so should not be such an issue in future

However, a handfull of rides later and the santacruz creak is starting to re-appear.

Don't beleive the hype, the bearings are still not great

Have to disagree. Never had that seal problem, and the only creak has been when the shock bushings needed replacing. And riding mine in Scottish weather all the time I reckon it definitely is UK proof

Everyone has different experiences granted

I agree tho, changing the shock bushings in the past has been necessary

The lower main pivot however has been a consistant source of annoyance, dirt gets trapped in the bleed port preventing the ball bearing closing it properly and shazam!, more creak.

Ive had one for 2 yrs (ridden a fair bit as well) I think & Ive only had to replace the bearings once (recently).

The lower main pivot however has been a consistant source of annoyance, dirt gets trapped in the bleed port preventing the ball bearing closing it properly and shazam!, more creak

rapidDave, don't understand that. I only pump grease in when the bike is clean, dirt doesn't get a chance to get into the nipples, so they always close off properly

I have one (not the carbon, but the alu) and I really like it. Had it since August last year and I haven't had any of the issues that others describe. I ride mostly at trail centres and at Wharncliffe. No complaints at all with the frame – come of the kit selection I might change if I were to guy it again, but not the frame, which I think is very stiff and feels like a bike with a lot more than 5.5" of travel due to the VPP.

Haha! yes, of course you should only pump in new grease when the port is clean.

I mean dirt somehow manages to get jammed in during a ride