It’s just really expensive changing
That's why in the past few years i've done the swapping thing instead of selling/buying/buying/selling. I've traded 6/8 of my last bunch of bikes, both myself and the lad. I've done OK on some (this one for example) and i've had to put some money in a few, like the Slayer. But i've not been putting in millions... Arguably people drop money on cars and lose more than the whole value of my bikes within the first hour of collecting it 😀 So i'm OK with the financial side of it.
I feel spending money is justified as it's my 'thing' i do most days, so it's not like i buy something and it sits there for month after month losing money, it's out there being used.
The Fuel EX though, is BETTER... well, today it is 😀 and for the current riding i'm doing it is. Whether that's a 12 month thing or less, or more... i have no idea 🙂 But i like it 😀
It suits the pink pedals better than the Slayer
Whether that’s a 12 month thing or less, or more… i have no idea 🙂 But i like it 😀
We do 🤣🤣
Glad you're enjoying it, and absolutely tomorrow will be different to today so why should the answer be the same? It's bikes not physics
On the saddle note, I've gone through quite a few in the quest for the most comfortable (for me) and if you haven't tried it the Ergon SM Mtb sport saddle has been outstanding so comfortable for all day rides
and if you haven’t tried it the Ergon SM Mtb sport saddle has been outstanding so comfortable for all day rides
That's what came fitted to it and i rode on Sunday, it wasn't terrible, but i'm not massively keen and advertised it on Ebay/here 😀
Ah ok lol, just shows how personal a saddle choice can be.
Playing at Tirpentwys today, have to say there's some stuff here that makes my arse clench. Way outside of my happy place 😁😁😁
With the noisy seat-post removed and the new Raceface dropper in it's place i went out for a quick test and as expected, the bike is 100% silent and sweet 🙂
Wasn't the longest ride ever as the rain started and then got worse... so i called it fairly early on... but i'm most happy 🙂
Missed this part.. I’m not looking for the right bike.. I don’t see there ever being or me even wanting the right bike. There’s just bikes, a bike today, a different one next month, or the month after, who knows. Life changes, priorities change, there’s no right bike for every situation, so sometimes i end up with the right bike for XYZ and not ABC, then i want the ABC bike. I don’t see this as a fault in the bikes, nor in myself.
Have you ever considered, like, owning several bikes rather than replacing and buying a new one every couple of weeks? That way you could choose the one that works for a particular scenario. I know you'll now argue that you can't afford such extravagance, but you probably spend more on diesel going to bike exchange points in a year than it would cost to simply buy an additional bike...
And yes I know, it's just retail therapy that's got slightly out of hand 😉
Have you ever considered, like, owning several bikes rather than replacing and buying a new one every couple of weeks? That way you could choose the one that works for a particular scenario. I know you’ll now argue that you can’t afford such extravagance, but you probably spend more on diesel going to bike exchange points in a year than it would cost to simply buy an additional bike…
Well, the previous fuel was 10 months, the Slayer was 11.5 months, so it's not really THAT often. Some of the others have been shorter, some have been longer. My G-160 was nearly 2 years, my T-130 was 2.5 years...
It's not always a question of funding that stops me having multiple bikes, it's the fact i'd have a preference and ride 1 and not ride the other. The FuelEX though is arguably the 'sweet spot' in terms of bikes attributes for what i ride and where etc. It's about as sweet as it gets i think really.
The swap for the Slayer/Fuel wasn't even a £1 drive, i was going to FoD that day anyway.
it’s the fact i’d have a preference and ride 1 and not ride the other.
I get that - I've got two FS MTBs and ride one of them much more than the other as it's the right bike for most of my riding, whereas my less-used FSer is most definitely the right bike for other riding I do less often. Having more than one bike means I've usually got the right bike (in my stable at least, if not on the day...) for XYZ AND for ABC, without the need for swapping. I've also got a hardtail that doesn't see much use but when I do it's definitely the right bike for that particular use where my FSers are unnecessary.
What I'm saying is having >1 bike at the same time and having a favourite and not riding the other(s) as often isn't necessarily a negative.
Just think how much fun you'd having swapping bikes if you had 2+ in your collection to play with 😁
Just think how much fun you’d having swapping bikes if you had 2+ in your collection to play with
LOL i've got loads i can play with
Fuel EX9.8
Session 9
Privateer 141
Liv ebike (160front)
Hybrid
DMR Sect
As all of them are air shocks (or no shock) i can in theory use any with a couple of mins setup. But really it's only the Fuel and the Liv that i ever use. As i said above, i found that even having the extra 30mm of bounce on the Slayer over the Fuel didn't mean i could hit things that i thought/hoped. If anything as i'm getting a little older each year i'm less likely to hit bigger things now. I hit the Red stuff faster than i used to but i'm not going 'bigger', so the extra bounce, just ain't needed for me.
Just think how much fun you’d having swapping bikes if you had 2+ in your collection to play with 😁
My experience tells me that the swapping involves taking all of them out of the garage then putting all bar one back in the garage only to repeat later because your road bike ended up at the back because it's November but tomorrow is going to be glorious and you've only got a snatched hour or two to get out.
My experience tells me that the swapping involves taking all of them out of the garage then putting all bar one back in the garage only to repeat later because your road bike ended up at the back because it’s November but tomorrow is going to be glorious and you’ve only got a snatched hour or two to get out.
Problem sorted
What's happened to the Orbea eeb?
What’s happened to the Orbea eeb?
In simple terms, i didn't see a use for it and i'm not convinced my mate really wanted to sell it... So instead we just went riding and i used the Liv with new Fox 36s installed and some Ebike pads from Uberbike... it was great. So i didn't see much point in having the Orbea.
https://eu.steadyrack.com/Problem sorted
If you've room to pivot your bikes, you don't own enough bikes.
Swinley forest today with teen crazies who just pedal, corner, power, pedal, power. I may collapse!
teen crazies who just pedal, corner, power, pedal, power. I may collapse!
Tell me about it - in prep for the upcoming Gorrick I took Jnr out with me for some start sprint intervals. I've found out where the Father / Son power parity occurs - at 14 & 51yo. 😀
My excuse is that I'm in the throes of a bad cold....
You did better than me, I got to almost 12 before he started trouncing me on DH, but yeah I may have reached 14 before I lost the overall as I had power and persistence in my favour.
Now, I'm a spent force.
But tell you what, we had a blast! 5 of us just arsing about throwing ourselves around there, ace fun.
I must admit, I'm enjoying the winter break from DH
Swinley forest today with teen crazies who just pedal, corner, power, pedal, power. I may collapse<br /><br />
Maybe you need to do some sweet spot and threshold interval training sessions on Zwift from the workout session? Might improve leg speed and ability to recover. Although it won’t make you 30 years younger sadly 🤣
I always think Swinley is a bit of a sprint from corner to corner kind of place with short sharp climbs.
I think dropping 30kg would be better. But beer and croissants are gooooood
beer and croissants are gooooood
Amen
I prefer cider / spiced rum and Panettone personally 🤣
I prefer cider / spiced rum and Panettone personally 🤣
But of those 3 things none of them is breakfast.
I always think Swinley is a bit shit
FTFY
You couldn't be more wrong. Swinley is ace fun, lots of turns, jumps, roots, up bits, down bits. How anyone can think it's anything less than brilliant is completely beyond me.
Sure, it ain't bpw and it ain't Dyfi, but it's not a mountain either. It's just fab fun.
Chasing mates, french lines, silly gaps (by them) and fine fine fun.
Swinley is alright considering the lack of elevation and safety first by the FC there. Probably suits a down country style of bike best as it’ll take out the irritating roughness of some bits of the trail without bogging you down with loads of plush suspension you don’t need.
You couldn’t be more wrong. Swinley is ace fun, lots of turns, jumps, roots, up bits, down bits. How anyone can think it’s anything less than brilliant is completely beyond me
I'm only semi serious, it's ok.
Ridden it twice. Once on the HT, once on the ebike.
It was ok, but just ok - preferred it on the eeb.
Brilliant though, that's a far stretch 🤣 I'd put it a level below Cannock
But then the Peak is my playground
I’d put it a level below Cannock
Wow, I've never been to swinley, but is it as bad as that?
But then the Peak is my playground
Where else you ride doesn't matter, my playground these days is massively varied with Dyfi, Hopton, Peaks, BPW, Ponty and of course FoD being the staples, but that doesn't mean Swinley isn't brilliant, it is... Is it sweeping vistas of the peaks, no... is the the steep tech of Ponty, no.... but it is just where and what it is, a fun, friendly place, throwing it into berms, sweeping round corners, trying to hold off the brakes to keep mate in sight, getting to the end of a section and laughing about how you nearly stacked it on the slippery polished stones... I'll sit and argue in defence of Swinley all day. It holds many memories for me that place, from his first 'trails' to hitting a 10' vert drop at 12 years old, to his first 'black' in the skills area and massive gap jump, to sitting eating cake and talking rubbish with mates more times than i can count.
Ok, glad you like it and it holds some sentimental value for you. If you enjoy it, it's all good 😊
The even better news... the seat is silent and the bike doesn't make any noises now 🙂
I specifically took it on sections it used to make a noise on, like short steep 1st gear climbs... nice, silent.
I do need to work on my skills and fitness though for sure !!!
Fitness is a funny one though - you can think you’re absolutely flying, then someone firmly puts you back in your box.
Virtually everytime I go out with a certain mate I can guarantee he leaves me for dead on the first meaningful hill. I’m fit enough now that on short sharp things I can stay with him and on certain long shallow climbs I can generally out spin him up then (he’s the kind of guy who is in his happy place stood up cranking on the pedals), but everything else he’s gone unless it’s really tech abs standing up cranking messes up traction.
I’m at my fittest in a while and back down to almost bang on 76kgs but I’m still giving away about 10kgs to him I expect. Wet paper bags are built sturdier.
I think power>weight is a massive factor for these small ones. They're knocking on sub 60kg even at 5'11 and their power is awesome. My lad can sprint at 13+ w/kg according to a Zwift race in his 15s power. So when he pins it, well, i'd have to be putting out an insane amount of watts.
TBH i don't mind though, i know my place in the world and at 52 (tomorrow) i'm a long way from being a spring chicken. So i get my wins every now and again... Yesterday i led into a section and i think they were slightly impressed by my lack of incompetence from their heckling from behind 😀 😀 I didn't manage to gap em, but i kept them somewhat honest 🙂
Anyway, back to the bike... i'm thinking of whipping the shock out this week and throwing in a volume spacer or two. It's running a Fox DPX2 which i'm happy with, but even at 225psi i'm getting to the bottom of the travel on many many times in a ride, so would like to be able to keep the pressure around/less than that and get a bit less through the travel at times. Admittedly, i don't know how many volume spacers may or may not be in there.
But i've also got the bolt i needed so i can fit the standard Trek Performance Float EVOL to give that a testing while the DPX2 is out..
i’m thinking of whipping the shock out this week and throwing in a volume spacer or two. It’s running a Fox DPX2 which i’m happy with, but even at 225psi i’m getting to the bottom of the travel on many many times in a ride, so would like to be able to keep the pressure around/less than that and get a bit less through the travel at times.
Vol spacer installed and set to 210psi this time...
See how it goes. I’ve got 240psi in my float x and that seemed ok on the weekend. It wasn’t difficult terrain with just a few little drops and stuff but I still had maybe 10-15mm stroke left on the shock. <br /><br />
Dare I ask why you have 2 shocks already - did they both come with the bike or did you have one spare from your last Fuel?
Both came with the bike. the Float EVOL is the thru-shaft which was standard on the bike. The DPX2 is aftermarket (Which arguably COULD be the wrong tune for the bike).
I like a DPX but they do seem to sit low in the sag, but generally feel really plush with it.. I'm not suffering massively from pedal strikes.
If the dpx is sitting low why not just stick more pressure in it rather than more tokens?
If the dpx is sitting low why not just stick more pressure in it rather than more tokens?
I don't think the DPX's acutually sit low... they just feel like they do. It's something i've felt on them for years and different bikes...
I'm currently getting used to a similar Fuel EX with a Fox Re:activ shock, so I'll be interested in your comparisons if you swap out the DPX for the stock unit for Science; some way down the line I may upgrade to the DPX, although the original shock seems more than right enough; it initially felt a bit bogged down until I corrected both the shock and tyre pressures, and it now feels quite perky.
I've used the Re:activ before and had no issues on my previous EX9.8
This one though i tried this morning and lets just say, it's horrible, it's squelshy and clunky... so clearly not working 'correctly'
I'd like it working though so i'm wondering whether to try a mail to Fox service center or just send to @tftuned and get the team there to fix/service it.
But i certainly don't recall the previous one having an issues or problems for me.
Where about are you Ben ?
There was a long debate on the old bike about the fitting/mounting kits needed to get a standard eyelet shock fitted, which ended up in me buying a spacer from TFTuned for the bottom end and a kit that mounts in as a trunion from Basecamp Suspension
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As you can see, it goes into the standard eyelet and gives you a Trunion mount.
If you're near Berks you're welcome to meet up and borrow my DPX2 and play with it a bit.
Yep, it seems pretty good to me so far once I had it set up OK, but I was curious as to whether the DPX made a noticeable difference in your opinion.
I'm in the Surrey Hills, so not a million miles away - that's very kind of you to offer. But let me get a few more miles on this one first, though. I've borrowed a Shockwiz from a friend so will be using that a bit.
