Might be doing what I did shown above. Mine appeared to be cracking so I cut the gusset off and it was the weld that was starting to crack off and the tube looks fine. No fatal accidents have happened since .. yet!
New Spitfire.
They’ve got rid of the welded on braces where all the cracks seem to occur.
Let's hope so. I moved to my new version Spitfire from a Commencal Meta 5 😂 It was a newer Meta 5 though and it didn't crack
That might be an idea GeForce! Although if I could have got one for 50% rrp I would take it but mine is second hand.
Chief, noticed any difference in how the new one rides compared to the old?
The insurance money is going on a HB160 instead. Silly not to, really...£5500 over £850 😂😂
"Chief, noticed any difference in how the new one rides compared to the old?"
Was due to be built up today but the Hope Boost adaptor hasn't turned up! Will let you know when it does and I've ridden it.
It's not going to be a like for like comparison because my older one has a -2 deg Works headset but I'm sticking with the standard headset in the new one (for now). But everything else is staying the same (bar swapping my irritable 170mm Reverb with a 185mm Revive).
The colour looks nice - it's just a shame paint chips, whilst my old anodised frame is almost unmarked!
What colour did you get? The paint on my teal one has held up well, apart from the front of the chain stay.
I do like the look of the polished one though.
Did anybody get a positive outcome from crash replacement? My phantom is a bit poorly and may need putting down......
Depends on what you class as positive! 50% RRP was what I was offered and declined.
Was that because you felt it should really be a warranty replacement? 50% rrp sounds pretty good to me. My phantom is 4 years old and I bent the top tube on a rock in a crash. No other probs until then.......
Yes. The actual frame that failed catastrophically was 20 months old. As said previously, this was itself a warranty replacement frame for the original, bought in Feb 2015, which was mis-aligned and ruined the shock.
I accept that the 2 year warranty runs from the original date of purchase, and therefore the snapped one was out of warranty, but with such a well documented history of them cracking at the brace I'd be expecting more than 50%, especially as mine actually snapped. If it'd happened anywhere else on the trail, or at BPW a couple of weeks before, it'd be a hospital trip.
Had I actually crashed first, well, then £825 (or £850 for a Rune) would be acceptable. Luckily, cycle cover with Barclays includes accidental damage, so that paid for the frame and the other damaged parts.
It’s up and running! Will test it tomorrow...
Have been out a fair bit on the new Spitfire and we’re getting on very well. Think it needs a new headset - the cheap one in there is a bit creaky - and it seems I need higher bars and I’m already at the top of the steerer. I have my bars pretty high on my equally long hardtail, much higher than when I rode shorter bikes.
I’m running it with a 160mm Pike with Luftkappe so a bit under 550mm A2C when it’s just sitting there, and in the slack setting. Interesting observation (if you’re a geometry geek) is that I’ve measured the head angle a few times and it’s coming out as between 64 and 65 deg.
According to the chart it should be 65.6, so either that’s the manufacturing tolerance or the chart being more conservative than the truth or a bit of both. BB height measuring at 340mm with DHF 2.5 and DHR2 2.4 (great tyres!)
Bikeyoke Revive 185mm dropper is great for when you’re suffering a crisis of confidence on the steep stuff as I am now!
Wheelbase measures 121cm with a 160mm fork, 2cm more than it should be with a 150mm - so it must be slacker than on the charts!
Hello again all,
Considering + sizing my 2016. Ive got 27.5 drop outs is there an ideal rim width tyre size to go for?
Likewise would spending a little more on the 26 drop outs and wider rim / tyre provide a better solution?
2016 with 26" drop outs is a very tight fit on 27.5" wheels, let alone plus.
Bugger! Have 27.5 with 2.4 minions was hoping to experiment with +
Darn it
Do you mean you already have long dropouts (27.5/29+) and want to go from 27.5x2.4 to 27.5x2.8?
Theres plenty of room with 27.5. I think 2.6 would be fine.
After going up to an XL with slackset I've put a normal headset back in, rides better on local twisty woodland trails.
Cgg spot on, but id assumed id have to use 26 to gain more space.
Happy to stick with my 27.5 dropouts though, so is 2.8 achievable?
You’d have less space with the 26” dropouts because they shorten the back end. And I don’t see much point of going to 26+ tyres. There’s about a fingertip thickness’s clearance all around a DHR2 2.4 so I think you’d just about squeeze in a 2.8 with no mud clearance. 2.6 would be fine. But it depends so much on the tyres, very few measure as large as they claim.
Cool, thanks all
It’s riding great! Needed some higher bars compared to the 2014 medium I had before (stack height is actually slightly 6mm higher but 30mm longer reach seems to demand even more height).
Looks great. I've finally sold mine. Sad to see it go but time for a change.
Just found two Spitfire mech hangers in amongst my spares. Drop me a message if you need one.
