Andy – i spent the whole of the Are You Tough Enough event wondering whether just to wither under your immense pressure and go for a 29er, but i chose not to for several reasons – and all of these were ticked of under epic race conditions!

1) Your smug face
2) Sky’s smug face
3) Your terrible impression of a manxman with a scouse accent
4) I’ve got all the bits ready for my 26″ bike
5) 29ers will never catch on
6) 26″ wheels are perfect
7) I’ve just spent a small fortune on my big bike
8) The last 29er i rode kept burping because it couldn’t take proper abuse
9) Only people with really diddy feet ride 29ers
10) We’d have no more abuse to throw at each other

I’m doing it for you mate!!

😀

*THAT accent*
BJ glad you were thinking of me during AYTE 😉 I’m sure next bike you will throw away your wheelist inhibitions – you know for a lanky streak of pi$$ it makes sense… 😕 Sky says woof…

*end THAT accent* 😀

Mine has a superstar headset -think its the T2 one.

Through mouthfuls of gooseberries!

Panic over – managed to mix ‘n’ match a Hope headset – sorted!

Finally, i can post some photos of the new build

It comes in at 26lbs – but i’m not 100% confident in my scales

I had it going since last Friday, but i’ve had a big tech issue at home, so no internet!

Been out tonight and i’m mighty impressed with the frame – its great.

Very rigid and very fast!

[/url] New build by boltonjon, on Flickr[/img]

New build 2 by boltonjon, on Flickr

The yellow actually looks good, better than it does on the on one site.
Anyone got a pic of a red framed build?

I love the yellow. The red’s a wee bit wishy washy, almost faded but the yellow is absolutely spot on- almost exactly the same as my old Mmmbop in fact.

mus’tard

Mine is raw carbon black, which is lovely. I have to say though, that yellow does look good.

nice build BoltonJohn, if you will forgive me for asking how does it take a good battering?

Cheers for the positive comments guys!

The bike rides really nice, but the frame does make some funny noises when i’m giving it beans – especially around the front end when i’m doing something particularly silly – but i’ve never ridden carbon bikes before, but i understand that its normal

It handles very well – very stable downhill and climbs very well considering the headangle.

I’ve only ever ridden steel & titanium hardtails in anger – but i love how stiff this is – you stomp down and the bike shoots off

For the money – I think this is the deal of the century – £250 – bargain! 😀

They are great frames.
I bought a raw black one at the beginning of the year and love it. Its my stealthy night bike.

The wife borrowed it the other week as her cheap evans special threw a wobbly 5 mins before going out for a ride. When she came back she refused to give it back despite the medium frame being too big for her.

So, being such a nice chap I am, for our 10th wedding anniversary a week later I bought her the small painted frame in black with grey decals and built it up with all the components off mine. It looks fantastic.

It was a good excuse to upgrade mine to XT and transfer some other bits between bikes.

So I ended up with:

1. Upgraded super stealth night bike
2. Happy wife ….doesnt happen often 😉
3. Upgraded components on my full sus.

Happy Days!

PS, It looks rather tasty in yellow! I reckon the all red frame would look good built up..anyone got any piccies?

Is anyone aware of a source of replacement drop-outs which will take a 12mm thru-axle on the 456?

I’m striving to achieve full wheel compatibility between my bikes – but its proving elusive!

Cheers