Hear me out, dirt-jumper-slash-commuter?

Go on then, I can join in the Blender gang as well. I had one for years and for a long time it was my only bike. I loved it at the time. Then full suspension trail bikes stopped being for XC and started being fun and versatile so I jumped on a Stumpy Evo and never looked back.

The problem with the Blender is that I know someone who still has one and it’s an awful little thing! I literally can’t believe I used to get around on one. I used to do uplift days at Inners and Ae and do laps of Hamsterley and all sorts. I must have been mental.

It would still probably make a good track and DJ bike but it’s got vertical dropouts so not ideal for single speed.

I commuted on this for a year in London. It was brilliant. Two sets of steps on the way in were the highlight of my day :) It was proper quick from the lights, and singlespeed was fine for London traffic.

I’ve got a P3 with 1×11.  Had to ride it to work (14miles round trip) a few times when my commuter had died.  With a 170mm Ks speed up dropper the seat was almost high enough for me to pedal properly.  It did the job but it wasn’t comfortable, even with some big 80mm risers. Not something I’d want to live with as a commuter.

Something like a Dartmoor Hornet 26 might make for a better all rounder.

Something like a Dartmoor Hornet 26 might make for a better all rounder.

I have a Hornet 26/650b frame I’m selling too so yes it would of course be perfect for this ;) in all fairness it is a great all rounder frame, very stiff though which is fine for flow trails, DJ etc but not so fun with braking bumps/roots.

local lunch pumps

Just put this together from a combination of parts bin, eBay and heavily discounted frame of chainreaction. Whole build should come in about £400 which I think is pretty reasonable. Fork probably needs a service though.

Not sure if I’ll use it as a commuter but hope it’ll get used as a bit of a runabout pub bike if nothing else. Failing that it’ll get donated to one of the younger kids in the family.

Yes I know it still needs a chain…

@tuboflard that’s a really similar build to mine above. Nukeproof solum, deore cranks… mega deals, both off CRC.

Did you get the pikes off the Ribble PSA also? What a bargain they were.

Reckon my build owes me about £700 but it was all new. I love it!

They’re only Reba’s @el_boufador but got them for £100 off eBay and I’ll not be doing any more than pump track stuff on it, no dirt jumping as my bones are too old and brittle for that. But yes I’m really happy with it, the Deore cranks we’re a steal as didn’t realise they came with a bottom bracket too so ridiculously cheap for the money.

Decided that I’ll build up the Azonic and see how I like having a dirt jumper before buying something newer and bigger. I measured the reach at about 380mm so I definitely think it’ll be on the small side.

Just missing a 160mm rotor and IS mount to finish it off. More details in https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-quite-old-bike-day-project-what-fork