I’d really like to test ride one to ensure I’m not making a £330 mistake- anyone north west based?

Of course if I loose or damage it I replace/etc it.

Not ordered the titanium one yet then?

Oh… and you’re not a bloody medium FFS!!!! How tall are you, in your own head?

If your really stuck you are welcome to come to Cannock for a night ride and have a go on mine.

How tall are you, I seem to remember binners saying you have ape arms so I’m guessing 6ft or more? Are you planning on using it as an all day bike or a mess around bike? I only as as Medium is great for me at 6ft as a mess around bike but if I was to use it for frequent long rides a large would be a better choice.

Seriously Hora… its no wonder you can’t find the right frame. You’re buying the wrong size. You need a large frame. Medium frames aren’t designed for people over 6′

Its definitely a medium I want. I had a sit on one in the pub carpark post-Pootle and it felt spot on.

Aaaah …. the pub car park test? The benchmark for every expensive purchase

If youd’ve asked ths a week ago, you could’ve borrowed mine for your morning in the Surrey Hills!

Why a medium?

Seriously, is eveyone else in the cycling universe wrong, or could it just, possibly be you?

If you’ve been riding the wrong size for years, of course the rigjt size is going to feel a bit odd at first.

wisepranker – Member
If youd’ve asked ths a week ago, you could’ve borrowed mine for your morning in the Surrey Hills!

+1 @hora, if you come back down to SH or in 2/3 weeks want a ride in the Peaks you can borrow mine.

How tall are you? The Cotic frames have plenty of standover for their size, get the right size frame and put a straight seatpost and a short stem on if it’s your only bike and you want to chuck it about but still ride if for hours. I’m exactly 5’10.5″ and ride a medium with a 50mm stem, which is the same length as a small with a 70mm stem. How long was the stem on the one you sat on?

Did you buy a medium 456 after riding mine? 🙂

No I had a medium 456 before- It felt better than a 18″ and the medium 456 is smaller than a medium BFe.

I’m 6ft1 with a longer body. I hate long top tubes. Its the only thing that put me off the Sanderson Life and I find my large Enduro’s top tube a smidge longer than I’d prefer.

I was talking to a couple of Surrey/local lads on Friday evening and I was berating them for taking living 20mins from the trails for granted 😆

No I had a medium 456 before- It felt better than a 18″ and the medium 456 is smaller than a medium BFe

No it isn’t, it’s 6mm longer. The important dimension of a frame is the length, not the height! Get a 19″ frame and put a short stem on it.

If I was buying a soul I’d buy a large.
I’m buying a medium Bfe.

Its not going on epics, just some gentle peaks lowering.

If I was buying a soul I’d buy a large.
I’m buying a medium Bfe.

Its not going on epics, just some gentle peaks lowering.

Sounds about spot on for someone who’s about 6ft.
I’ve gone for a medium BFe and a large Soul. Both fit perfectly for the jobs they do.

At 6’1″ you might be ok on a Medium with a 70mm stem and a layback post. Mine felt better with a layback post than it did with an inline one.

Oh and it was smashing when I took it to the Peak on a 5 hour ride. My back was ruined tho.

If I didn’t plan to use mine to learn how to jump properly and to use at the BMX track I would have got a large and put a 50mm stem on it. Mediums do look better tho.

I’m 6ft1ish and mine (the one from the pub carpark) is medium.

I had the battle with myself over sizing, got the medium because they’re meant to be fun, do-it-ALL bikes. Like hora said, if it were an all day xc bike, then get a large, but nobody wants to ride a gate around a pump track or down DH stuff.

They have long top tubes anyway, just get a big ol’ seatpost. Also, some lovely wide bars will stretch you out a bit.

Hora, I would sayou cold borrow it, but I’m South Yorkshire, so It’d be a meet in the middle job. I didn’t realise you were from the wrong side of the Pennines.

Or we could just get Pook to organise another pootle?

Pook Pook Pook (like saying Beetlejuice)

330 on a new frame or 50 on a set of bearings for the enduro…

you do talk bollocks sometimes, but you might just get away with this. My mate Gavin had a medium BFe and he’s 6’1″. He lives rivington way. I’ll see if he still has it, I think he sold it as it was too small for long rides.

£20 for bearings.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPECIALISED-FSR-2007-ENDURO-BEARING-SET-/270379629892

There you go then, a new frame or 16.5 years of bearings

Mark,you’re welcome to come over and ride mine to get the idea?
Richard

Ive had both. I’m 6’2″. The large was better. The medium was ok, but too small for bike riding. It was also to big for properly playing around on. It was to much of a compromise so I bought a large. This was perfect for bike rides but not really any worse than the medium for jumps and downhill stuff.

I’m near Lancaster – you can have a blast on mine (medium).

I’m buying a medium Bfe.

Just out of curiosity, not meaning anything by it or suggesting anything negative, but if you’re so set on a medium and you’re sure it’s the right size, why do you need a test ride?

It is after all, a steel hardtail and sizing aside, one slack angled steel hardtail is pretty much the same as the next.

You could also try riding a Soul as it’s basically the same bike, just lighter. Pump the tyres up on a Soul that extra bit more and it’d end up feeling like a BFe.

Ahem, I’m 6’3″, but I’ve sold it.

Got a Blue Pig X now, that looks minging, but fits better and consequently does everything better, that I need it to do.

FWIW I’m 5-10 and got a medium as my BFe was do-it-all (inc all day rides) not just a play bike (I am, ahem, long body / short leg)

The thing about the ‘play bike’ concept, what does that really mean? I totally get the very small frame for real dirt jumping and 4X thing. But downhill, when you want a relatively long stable bike, a bike that you can run a short stem on to give you room to move rearwards relative to the front axle – surely that’s better with a typically sized frame? And that’ll give you a frame that’s also big enough to pedal uphill. And if you’re running longer forks then you can run less (or no) layback on the seatpost for better climbing without the bike ending up really short.

As I said, i’m 5’10.5″ on a 17.5″ Soul with a 50mm stem and straight post – and it’s built up like a BFe and gets ridden similarly – it’s XC in the sense of across anywhere and down most things and frequent air. I really wouldn’t want a small. I’ve ridden a friend’s 18″ 456 with 70mm stem and layback post and it feels like an enormous unwieldy tank in comparison. Unless you have really really short legs for your height and thus standover actually is an issue, a shorter stem on a correct sized bike does actually make more sense – in fact the quicker steering of the short stem will make it feel more manoeuvrable than the smaller but longer stemmed bike, but when up to speed the longer wheelbase and longer front centre will feel more stable on fast rough steep stuff.