If you were there what bikes did you try out, anything impress you? Was there on Sunday and tried a whyte 146, lappiare spicey 916 and a trek slash. Currently run a nomad so wanted to try out similar bikes ( the yeti sb66 was booked up 🙁 ) Did the same route for all of them to compare how each one felt on the same terrain.
For me it was a close call between the trek and ( for me surprisingly ) the whyte. The trek climbed reasonably well helped by the fox talas no doubt. Descended very well aswell. The whyte was very impressive. Didn’t climb quite as well as the trek (a travel adjust fork would help no doubt). But point it down and it flew. Even though it had the least travel it just goes to show its not travel, it’s angles that make a big difference. The spicy was IMO a big let down. Was expecting big things from it due to all the rave reviews the mags give it but for me it just didn’t light my fire. I’m sure there will be people who will jump to the defence of them but one mans wine and all that.
So what did you ride?

I was in with you in the last session, when you were on the Slash. I was the bloke on the SB66!

The SB66 was very good. I spent most of the time comparing it to my hardtail though… it’s been a long time since I rode a full susser but it felt very competent. Maybe not quite a stiff as I expected but it was a good climber, rode very light and just flew downhill. It ran 32mm Fox forks but should/could have run something bigger up front. The frame felt more capable than the fork, to me. I didn’t feel that slack either, which was nice (some slack bikes just feel cumbersome to me, like the Spicy for example).

The main thing I noticed related to the length of the back end, compared to my hardtail. Because it was longer it:
a) didn’t want to lift the front so easily
b) wasn’t quite as nimble picking lines when going up hill

A longer fork would help with a) I suspect, by putting more weight over the back end but then a longer fork would make it slacker, which may make b) even worse

Remember you mentioning about the bike unwilling to manual. Would agree a bike like that deserves a 160 fork on it ( boss deville mmmmm)

I was there bought a rumblefish after the demo, do you know where the photographers videographers will be posting their stuff from the day?