I haven’t ridden my full suss (Five) for 2 years. Partly because my Soul is way more fun and easily enough bike for most of my riding (Surrey Hills), partly because I ride so much road these days…

So if I ditch the Five do I:
1. Move the bits to a Bfe or Alpine as a playbike and something I can still use when I go to the Lakes
2. Just put the ££ in a savings account
3. Buy a cross bike – so I can ride to some off-road action in winter close to home without having to drive over an hour to Surrey Hills…

Option 1 seems a bit pointless as a 5 is a great bike for the Lakes and 140mm can be loads of fun in the Surrey hills, a LT HT may be too close to your main HT ride too, esp a bfe? Given the choice for Surrey hills, I’d take a susser or a light XC HT over a heavier LT HT every time.
Option 3.5? A light rigid 29er / monster-x kind of thing with bars between road and MTB, alt/swept back ones. Worked for me anyway, perfect for cx type winter and long summer singletrack rides and riding from the front door is great even if the terrain’s simpler. Just match the bike to your most easily accessed riding. Something that covers simple tracks well at speed as well as being capable on the fun stuff is like more-fun road riding without the car hassle.

If you’ve not ridden the 5 for 2 years, then it does not sound like it needs replacing at all. I’d recommend option 2 which does sound a bit boring admittedly

I agree with TGO.

Buy a cross bike. I was going to say road bike, but then I re-read your post. Actually I’d build something odd like a singlespeed, rigid 69er, but then that’s me rather than you. I’ll shut up now.

I’m going through a similar quandary! I have a full susser 29er, a full rigid 29er, but recently I have started riding more on the roads because the tracks are all knackered with all the wet weather. I’m not looking to sell either bike though as I use them both regularly. I’m using my 1 x 10 rigid for this and I’m really enjoying it having a proper hard thrash/work out. I’m currently looking for that bike and you could even argue that it’s a step near to being a roadie! 😉 Sell the Five and buy a fast cyclo cross for when you fancy that thrash on the road as well as the tracks!

Good question. I’ve literally just got in from a quick (ish) lap of the verderers in the FoD on my c456, and wondered why I ever take any other bike when I go there…

What size is the 5 & how much do you want for it?

If you’ve not ridden the bike in 2 years, and you don’t miss it, then before you do anything else, sell it!

Then when you’ve sold it, and got some cash in the bank, have a think is there anything else that might suit you better for your local riding? If your local riding is particularly tame, get something that is going to make it seem more interesting most of the time. Which, to be honest, is probably a rigid fork for the Soul! This will then still be a good winter bike, and you’ll have some money in the bank to replace bearings and cassettes and chains and brake pads with!

EGF: The Five is a medium 2004 in black (130mm) with Pikes, Hope M4, XT & Thomson kit.
Whilst the frame and brakes are few years old, it’s a bit of a frankenbike with most other stuff only having a couple of years use tbh
Dunno how much I want for it – £950 all in? May split it for bits if you think you want the frame/forks? Email in profile if yr interested…

Thanks Brooess, was thinking about it for my lad but he’d need a 16″ cos he’s a short arse like his dad.

Sell the five and spend some of the money on upgrades to the Soul, perhaps upgrade the Soul to the latest frame.

I have a BFe and since buying it hardly ride my FS (Reign), I ride mainly in Surrey Hills. It’s a great bike for the trails there but it sounds like you are more than happy with the Soul. If you want a cheap winter thrash bike to save your Soul (ouch!) then that could be a Cross Bike or it could be a cheaper HT with more road orientated tyres.

I sold my five recently and bought a Carbon456 with 150m revs.

Pocketed a grand in the process too which was nice.

Do i miss the five? no. Was the five faster than the c456? yes.

The five was very spicifically built for my local area 160mm forks and coil shock – this c456 is far more a jack of all trades at the moment.

Buy a cross bike – so I can ride to some off-road action in winter close to home without having to drive over an hour to Surrey Hills…

Do this so you can ride in those 3 hour windows when driving would take too long.

Esselgruntfuttock – there’s a 16″ frame on sale in the classifieds at the moment.

Then when you’ve sold it, and got some cash in the bank, have a think is there anything else that might

be more important than a bike!

very easy to see a bike as potential other bike, but once the cash has been sat in your account for a couple of weeks, you’ll start to think of it differently “hold on, another bike’s another bike, but I could get a new snowboard set-up, surfboard and a wetsuit for the same money” or a holiday, climbing rack, savings towards a car, house…

you might decide to go for the crosser anyway, but give the money a chance!

wise words from ned

@ CYB you can rent a decent fs for £45-50/day, maybe same in the Lakes.

Rather than have a bike worth 4 figures sat in the garage unused, convert it to cash and rent on the odd occasion you really need a FS.

If you fancy a crosser get one, but it’s not a replacement for your 5, it’s a bike you chose because you wanted one.

Jones with a fat front – thread closed 😀

Get a different Full suss to revive your interest. I had been thinking of going down this route but recently took my 456 to Scotland on holiday as it was the only bike I had with a rack to carry the 7cwt of crap my SO demands is taken on every ride with her. This was fine until I sneaked off on my own to some of the 7 Stanes. I was rapidly reminded of why I bought a FS in the 1st place. Of course I got round on the 456 but the FS is a lot more comfortable