A friend of mine is about to buy a 2nd hand Hummer frame (2008 so it’s the long travel one) and wants some advice about kit. Mine’s build with ProII/s, 20mm Rev, XT groupset, Thomson bit, Carbon bar, all nice pimpy stuff.

But everything has gone up so much lately, not sure the best way to go. He has a Spesh Enduro built up in a burly manner so wants a light-ish but strong build. I was thinking

20mm air fork – RS/Magura/Something else?
Hope or Shimano wheels
Shimano brakes (he likes the ones on his spesh)
SLX transmission (seems nearly as good as XT)
Thomson Post/Stem
Easton Bar

I tend to ride more nowadays than look at the latest bits (bit of a change for me!), so before I commit him to £1500 of spending, did I miss anything? He’s not bothered about 2nd hand as we have to build it next weekend so he can ride it at the CLIC-24!

Not cheap, but I have the Reba Team w/Maxle on my Handjob and it’s perfect.

If Hummer is same geometry (?), I’d recommend it strongly. It’s under 3.5lb I believe, so a good match for a light frame.

Brilliantly controlled suspension action, and nice stiff steering too.

Bit short I think. Really needs a 100-130ish. I find mine nicest at about 125mm. Don’t adjust it much, so might be worth getting a fixed length one to save cost. Not sure how good Fox forks are now for reliability.

Reba is 120mm these days 🙂 efinately a good bet but the cost does sting a bit. How about the qr revs on merlin is the steerer long enough??

I was just looking at the cost of bolt thru forks. Flipping heck! My 20mm RS Revs (Ace fork) were £400 before xmas. They seem to be £550 now.

Ah I see the Reba is 120. Thanks. The Revs on Merlin would probably be ok as it’s a 17inch frame, but I just think a QR fork is a bit of a short term saving. I much prefer my 20mms over the qr it replaced.

Manitou Minute Elite TPC – 20mm ??

CRC Have the 140mm version down at sub £300 at the moment, bear in mind that Manitou A2C is low compared to Fox/RS so the 140 minutes are only a teeny bit longer than a 130 revelation.

Clicky

Ive got the MRD TPC’s on my 4x bike and they are superb, steer clear of the absolute damped ones though.

Merlin are doing a full XT groupo with wheels for £700.

“bear in mind that Manitou A2C is low compared to Fox/RS so the 140 minutes are only a teeny bit longer than a 130 revelation”

CRC say they are 515mm A-C for 140mm. All fine, but low to fox? A 140mm Fox 32 is 511mm. A rockshox 130mm is 508mm

CRC have pike 454 airs on for £320 at the moment don’t they? = 2100g or so

Thanks all. I saw that groupset Nick, looks a good deal. I’ll take a look at those pikes as well. That’s £200+ less than the revs for 1/2 pound more weight!

Not ever ridden Manitou forks. But not heard good things about them, have they improved in the last couple of years?