Ooh, is that a Hammer? I think I’ve still got a brochure from back then when I used to dribble over stuff I couldn’t afford…

Altitude looks nice too.. are the highlights as bright orange as the Instinct?

Yeah it’s a Hammer, had it from new. Restored it four years ago or so.

he he me too, I used to dribble over the Ti-Bolt, one day I might own one! the Hammer was as close as I could get to one at the time! 😉

No it’s not orange at all, the pic is a pretty good colour guide, it’s a fairly dark red.

I like it very much. There again I’ve always liked Rocky Mountains.

Very nice, I have a carbon Element and it’s a brilliant bike. Mine came with a dual remote for the forks and shock, I changed the forks to SIDs but kept the remote on the shock which it needs unless you want it to either bob in “D” or have to run too much pressure.

Oooh yeah. It works! 29ers are brilliant. Holds a line so well, I missed one of the lairy lines I usually take on my Yeti and the Instinct just plowed on through without missing a beat, getting me back online easily.. Lovely and confident round the big berms too. Been a bit spoilt by the silly light weight of the Big Top, so this felt a bit sloggy on the long climb. Suspension works well. A fun bike.
The Thumb lever for the rear shock is simple and logical.
Whoever said about the semi-slick was right though, the roots were slippy at the start as it had just stopped drizzling and the Ikon had no grip on them whatsoever!
I was overtaken at the start of the ride by some bloke on a white Santa Cruz. I was bimbling, thinking I needed a bit more air in the rear shock and thought, I’ll chase him down. He was gone though! Damn quick… Humiliated on my first ride 😥 😀

Nice bike. Your ets in the pic above.. the virtual pivot point must be somewhere in the kids pool 😉

Nice looking bike there mister. H2R.

Both tyres look a bit light on grip if you don’t mind me saying. Is that a thing with the bigger wheels/tyres? (Fellow virgin 29erer though mine hasn’t arrived yet).

Tyres were perfect on a long ride in the dry today! well, except for the slippy chalk climb I managed to find, but don’t think anything would’ve gripped on that. Knobbier tyres are definitely available Euro. Geax or Spesh for example(s).

Lovely machine and enjoy