Matt, given your response to the “do I need an FS” thread, I am intrigued about your reasons for this thread?

Did to demo the trance BTW? Really, really good IMO for a lot of the stuff around our way. Plus no pedal strikes from the anthem!

But before I bite the bullet, I have been getting my final blasts in with my old HT. Given my numpty mechanics status and the fun I still have on this (including a mega blast yesterday) I am wondering about the same kind if bike.

I like the look of the FF 29 looks like it covers a lot of needs.

hey mr

I never demo’d a Giant, I bought a Whyte boinger, have done a few rides on it, it’s mostly overkill for our local stuff but was damn good fun on Pitch last night, you’re welcome to a test go if a M will fit.

my reason for this thread is to, hypothetically, fill the gap between my Selma (SS rigid) and my bouncer (20 gears and 240mm of bounce!). My Whyte was damn good fun on the downs last night but hard work on the fast XC (majority) part of the ride (that’s not a complaint). I was so knacked by the time we got to the pub I could barely order a pint!

Thanks Matt, I am definitely a large but thanks very much for the offer!

I feel I can only justify one bike at the moment!

If the Anthem is comparable to my Whyte, I wouldn’t pick it as one-bike-to-rule-them-all. Perhaps investing in an expensive pair of light wheels would alter that tho, it handles nicely up and down.

FF29 would be a goer I think, or the M109s.

DSC01480 by South Downs MTB Skills, on Flickr

Here’s my green FF29, next to my mates black one.

Great bike, a lot of fun to ride!

Yeti Big Top.

I’m really enjoying my new Stumpjumper Evo. I think it could be built up either light for racing duties or a bit more trailsy with tweaks to stem, bars etc.

If you get the Yelli you might never ride the Whyte again

Maybe. It’s an expensive bet tho, there are plenty of new frames for the same or less.

Just as a side note, I’ve got an Anthem 29’er too 😉

It barely weighs any more than the FF29 (the frame & shock is just over a pound more) and its got basically the same build kit – XT, Crests on Hopes etc.

I like the fact that I can cane the FF29 through shitty ground without having to bother really cleaning it, not something you can really do with a spangly FS, but on the other hand the Anthem is faster

Hurtmore – For what its worth i had a test ride on the whyte a few weeks ago as i was curious. Went into it being swayed by the potential benefits of full sus…..came away from it realising i just have more fun on my yelli and the extra effort required on the ups infuriated me. I found the yelli easier to, for want of a better expression, dick around on. Sure it’s more sketchy when you’re going quickly but surrey hills trails aren’t exactly rough and that’s where 99% of my riding is. I’ve also happily done a couple of enduros on mine so they can handle all i want to do. I do appreciate the Yelli frames are stupid money though, hence why i got mine second hand, but from your previous posts on what you like riding and taking into account the trails round us you’ve not felt comfortable on it sounds like it would be worth having a go on something like the kinesis, or on something with yelli style characteristics but without the daft price; maybe a Kona Honzo or Sam’s new Buzzard.

Yeah it’s about hitting that sweet spot between the ups and downs (and the alongs actually).

That said the review of last year’s Honzo here: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-kona-honzo-12-45971

weighs it at 30.5lbs.

I just weighed my Whyte (bathroom scales method) and it came in at 30.2lbs including XT pedals, a bottle cage and a bit of mud. (not stock – different bars, tubeless, XT transmission, a 2.25 rear tyre that may be heavier than stock).

I’m going to weigh the wheels and compare them to my Hope/Crests, could be loosing a bit of rotating mass would turn the corner on XC performance.

Re geometry compared to the Yelli – they both have the same head angle at 120mm bounce, the Whyte’s chainstays are 7mm longer and the Whyte’s wheelbase is 60mm longer. That’s pretty good considering there’s 120mm of rear travel to accommodate. (Figures from the producers’ geometry tables).

Gotama how does your Yelli come in on weight?

Can’t argue with the geometry on the whyte, for me it just didn’t feel like i would want it to. Appreciate its all very personal and the demo i rode was set up spectacularly poorly whilst, i suspect, also being too small for me since they only do a 19 inch.

To be honest re weight i don’t know, it feels relatively light compared to a mates bike on the classic pick up test. The frame also felt light before i built it up. Its a bit of hotch potch build with heavy old hone cranks combined with light One brakes and sixc bars. I tried faffing about weight a while ago and ended up with a pair of fox 32 150mm forks which were noodles. Have a look on the mtbr yelli thread as there’ll be loads of build weights on there rather than my ramblings. I did however notice a massive difference in speed up the hills and how flicky light the front end felt when i stuck a specialized s-works storm on the bike instead of the dampf that usually lives on there. In fairness that’s not surprising given the 300g difference in weight and harder compound but what i will add is that the dampf went back on there pretty quickly because for all the benefits of the light front tyre it detracted too much when blatting down through the rougher stuff. I also use flow or P35 rims as i’m c.95kg so they’re not the lightest. If you can get away with lighter rims it may help. Maybe one day a set of enve rims will adorn the bike but £2k on wheels 😯

Weight’s not everything, absolutely.

Would love a go on a Yelli. Cheez would love me to have a go on 1 too because he knows I’m weak!

They’re stupid money new over here and second hand ones don’t come up that often, especially in medium. Provided you’re not desperate for the cash then singlecracks looks like its in great condition and if you find you don’t use it enough because you always take the whyte then i’m sure you’ll be able to move it on again. Only live once and all that….

And i will just add that someone emailed me by mistake thinking i had the medium yelli for sale so you’d better hurry if you want it 😀

Ah the pressure. No biggie if it goes it goes. One door closes another …. etc etc.

Matt – geo has been tweaked, head tube slacker than ff29, this is the bike I’ve been waiting for.

Sml/650b: ST-39.5. TT-56cm. CS-42.5cm. HT-10cm. HA-69º. Rider height guide-163/173cm.
Med/29: ST-44.5. TT-60cm. CS-43.8cm. HT-11cm. HA-71º. Rider height guide-168/183cm.
Lrg/29: ST-50.0. TT-62.5cm. CS-43.8cm. HT-12.5cm. HA-71º. Rider height guide-180/198cm.

coming soon Maxlight sync

Beautiful looking bike but the headangle is a degree steeper than the FF29 as those figures are based on a 120mm fork whereas the FF geo is on a 100mm. I do like the look of Ti bikes.

I’m pretty sure my medium FF has a HA of 69/70 deg with 100mm Rebas on it

beautiful. and fifteen hundred quid, yoikes.

very nice, thoughtful, touch that the small is 650b and the others are 29. A2D.

I weighed my Yelli Screamy Medium frame with headset and seatclamp and it was 2102g. Very reasonable.

(Could just buy mine.. same price as the FF29 with a headset 😆 )

They’re stupid money new over here

650 usd (before sales tax) on Canfiel’d web store, 850 quid here!

man that’s some mark up, 100% apart from the tax!

they’ll ship overseas but are quoting 200 usd, (wow), anyway 850 usd is about 560 quid, add 30% for VAT/duty it comes out in the order of 730 quid

why 29?

Hi Matt

I did indeed email Gotama by mistake… but for now the Yelli will continue to be for sale as I have decided to get the fork and shock on my ’12 Bandit 29er sorted which is gonna cost a hefty wack! Damn Fox CTD nonsense!

I love a steel HT, my Sov being very close to my heart so I am looking for a similar thing to yourself… something tough and fun, steel and 29er… been looking at the Buzzard, Solaris etc… then I stray onto the 2Souls and Chromag sites and ponder splashing big money… so hard to decide!!

Any news on dialled 29ers, I thought a PA and alpine were planned for early 2013?

yeah mate we are blessed with choice but funny how a simple ‘fill the gap in the bike portfolio’ mental exercise quickly starts pushing up to a potential chunky spend. oh well it’s fun thinking about it. But as Gotama says we’re a long time dead.

@mike, no offense but cba with that one, see elsewhere

Yeah, it’s nuts. I paid about £75 (US Mail i think) to get mine sent over from the US and that was with a set of marzocchi forks in the box as well.

The canfield guys are very helpful on email if you wanted to order direct. I guess you could always ask if they could send it through a different courier or at least on a cheaper tariff.

Rewski – i don’t think Mike has the Alpine planned in 29er for a while yet. The new one due is 26. There is a PA in 29 due soon though. I used to love my alpine, despite it being waaay too small.

did you get whacked for a lot of VAT/duty on top?

(I put a thread up a few days ago re PA29 but nothing came of it).

Yes, got held at customs until i paid via card. Pretty sure it worked out at about 22% including the handling fees etc but it was over a year ago now and my memory is hazy so would be worth checking rather than relying on me.

I was told in past few days by mike later this year now til PA29er available. Narrows my choices I guess!

I did the 24/12 on the sync prototype last year, it’s a lot of fun to ride, and I will say is definitely a bit of a smoother ride than the FF29. Really handles nice through the singletrack and on the descents. I’d love one when it arrives, but as I’ve only had my FF29 a few months I don’t think I really can.

So I bought Ska-49s Yelli Screamy.

The fit’s not right for me yet (needs wider lower bars and the forks dropped a bit) but it’s quite a yappy bike. What I mean by that is it’s more like a little terrier nipping at your heels and tripping you up yap yap yap yap, than collie bounding along taking it all in.

It comes up lighter than I expected. I was anticipating ‘burly’ it’s not, it’s frisky. Yeah frisky is a good word.

Early days yet, watch this space. Must … get … those … bars … lower.

Also rode my friend’s new FF29, it’s stiff, tracks the berms like they’re on rails, fast on the climbs (very efficient) but my god a tad harsh in the back.

Ooooooh bad mistake, Matt. That’s never going to fit you properly and the depreciation on those frames is terrible. I’ll give you £200 for the frame and forks. I’m robbing myself.

You’re too good to me.

Let’s do this, give me £200 now, it’s your bike but I’ll keep it at my house for you, and one day, when the kids have left home, I’ll hand it over.

(That’ll be never then).

That’s it, I’m going to put *that* video on YouTube. Oh yes, you see if I don’t.

And it won’t just be you that suffers. There’s a whole family of penguins who’ll never be able to look their dad in the eye again.

£150. Take it or leave it.

It was my FF29 that MattG tried out and since then I’ve dropped 20psi from the forks and about the same from tyre pressure, it was quick before, now quicker, ” a real strava buster”‘ lower back muscles are taking a battering but then I’m not used to hard tails, however having clocked up over a 110 miles off road in the last 5 days it shouldn’t take long, cannot stay off this bike, it’s changed me life.

Looking forward to a test ride on that Si. 😆

The ten-yard Tarmac spin I had on Matt’s Yelli last night left me lusting after something similar even more. Be interesting to see how they compare…

Looking forward to another go on the FF29 too, now it’s been de-rigidised. On first go it felt a lot like my Selma except without the carbon chainstays.

The Yelli’s now got wider bars (and am borrowing some more widerer), the travel dropped from 140 to 120, and tyres that weigh less than a tractor, so it’s coming together. Haven’t yet got a ‘proper’ go on it.

Si was trying to teach me to do manuals, I’m gonna do that I have decided.

Cheez was asking on the headtube height relative to the Whyte. It ends up about 20mm higher because the HT itself is about 10mm longer, and there is another 10mm for a lower external headset cup – on the Whyte the lower cup is integrated. I’m not really up to speed on these – will the Yelli take an integrated lower cup?

The bars on my Whyte have 10mm rise and I run 10mm of steerer spacers, so flats on the Yelli should even it out.

(or it could be an internal cup not an integrated cup, I don’t know).

I’d quite like that 10mm of drop back though, it would give me more options for a low rise bar.