Haha I just nod and say “looks lovely, whatever wallpaper you want is fine by me”

I think that’s how I’ve ended up having a polka dot covered spare room with a 4 ft tall ceramic Dalmatian in the corner. Damn you tk maxx.

Anything for the easy life ay?

You are Joey Tribiani and I claim £5

My present train of thought is get one in the raw phosphate, give it a try and if worse comes to worse get a different frame and tranfer as much as possible. What could possibly go wrong??
Does seem like a marmite bike!

The clue is in the name 😉

‘Hello Dave’ is the catchphrase of Papa Lazarou from the League of Gentlemen, who’s other common saying is ‘You’re my wife now’ (after he tricks them into them giving him their wedding rings.

Hello dave, you’re my bike now. 😉

I thought it was a 2001 reference and PX had a new tandem…

(I quite fancy one actually, but my knees don’t like hardtails)

Hay guys just asking for a mate who picked a frame up last weekend. What’s fork offset you guys running on the main?

Love my Dave. It rides well on local trails as well as steeper off piste stuff. Climbs amazingly well, outperforming all my mates full suspension rigs. Have ridden it at BPW and FoD downhill, great all rounder. It’s only flaw is in XL it has required me to modify my roof rack as it’s so long!

can anyone offer sizing advice. A mate wants one, he’s 5ft9, rides a med orange reign (the 27.5 from a few years ago). Reach looks pretty long and it’s more of dossing about in the woods bike. I’m assuming the Medium?

Anyone of a similar size confirm? Thanks.

When I was setting up events 25 years ago Guy was the only journo who impressed me. He had a photographic memory. I recently got back into riding and bought a Dog based on this forum and his review. It’s very interesting to see and feel how geometry has evolved. As much as his intro grates [and he has cut it down recently] it’s probable that if he gets a duff piece to review it just doesn’t make it onto the net. If you were in his position how would you do any different and expect to remain in business?

Question for Hello Dave owners….(thinking of buying one and going boost and wider rimmed etc).

How do they ride XC? I’like long wheelbase and long chainstays…which this bike has. I’m also thinking the super slack HA will allow me just to pedal when exhausted on an all dayer and it’ll run straight and nail downhills when I’m tired. The super steep SA with the long chainstays will keep still in the middle of the bike for uphills. The tall stack will also be a gift for a bad back for middle aged bimbling with level bars. Currently on a Swift, and just wondering if these newest Enduro geometry bikes (or at least this Sick one) are the best of all worlds for something like the SDW? Only thing not so good would be the small main triangle limiting space for bags and multiple bottles. Anyone with one reckon it still works as a package XC (not racing XC but all day non tech stuff when you’re covering distance type XC)?

Cheers

I bought an XL Hello Dave frame in stealth black last summer before the price went absolutely stupid to £799… blatant covid/brexit price gouging.

It was built up with 160mm Pikes, 11-46T cassette, yadda yadda, wasn’t mega heavy and it didn’t climb “badly” but for a hardtail it climbed poorly. Also 203mm rotors do fit in the rear but not sure about 180mm, the clearance issues I think are with the caliper hitting the seatstay due to 180 mounts only going straight upwards whereas the 203mm mounts move the caliper forwards as well.

Point it down an Enduro or DH track that doesn’t have any tight technical sections though and its damn fast, the grip is very good, stability is good and the damping from the back end was surprisingly good.

It would be a brilliant bike if all your local riding was wide trails or bikeparks.

However none of the good points outweighed the fact that it turned into corners like a beached whale, you would have to really really force it into turns. This issue then becomes even worse once you’ve got it into the corner because of the sheer length of the damn thing, your front wheel will be going into another turn before the rear wheel has even entered the first one…

I mostly ride in the Tweed Valley, it was pretty bad at everything that’s there, mellower tracks it was so much damn work to keep it rolling, impossible to pump rollers or dips because its too long, it sucks at jumps, manuals or bunny hops too. Steeper tracks it was only good on straights, anything technical appeared and the bike just wasn’t agile enough to get where you needed it to be.

Honestly PlanetX have the size guide completely wrong as well in my opinion. I’m 6ft1 (6ft2 with my riding shoes on) and i’ve got pretty long arms and legs, the size guide says XL, so that’s what I ordered without thinking to go over the geometry and compare things properly with other frames and bikes. I mean, look at the reach… 520mm, an XL Mondraker Foxy is 515mm and that’s for people 6ft3+.

Compare the Dave size chart to the TikTik and you immediately see something is wrong, for my height I’d be on a Large TikTik at 460mm reach, almost the same reach as a Medium Dave frame yet the size chart on the Dave says go for XL…

Anyway I sold the frame because (1) it was blatantly too big, (2) planetx refused to swap it despite it still being pristine, and actually told me to sell it on at a loss and buy another frame in a smaller size.

In any case both the Hello Dave and TikTik are complete rip-offs now, £799 and £499 respectively for something you cant even buy in nice colours.

Marino on the other hand: 4130 frame with a nicer design and almost identical geo – £349…

Haven’t ridden the hello Dave but have the 650b version albeit direct from Marino.

It was hideous. The poster above (Monghorn) summarises its failings pretty well. Add in the weight as well – heavy enough for its own orbit – and it was a real slug. I didn’t even find it great on the downs as it could never be described as poppy.

It wasn’t my bike but did try it for a decent time. The owner sold it for a Sonder Transmitter which he loves and is much better both at covering the distance and having fun. The person he sold the Marino to sold it within a month as well which would seem to suggest it’s not a bike that is really suited unless you are really smashing the downs.

I still like mine. 6″4 on an xl.

I had some stuff in the bike shop the other day and the owner said he has modified a couple so they can run 180mm rear rotors.

I’m still having fun ragging round my local woods ( not super steep or hugely tight). It’s been fun when I’ve taken it out of my area (intermittently with a tiny son plus covid).

I’m happy jumping and bunny hopping- I can’t manual on any bike.

Yes it’s heavy, but I’ve not broken it yet and have broken a few frames recently.

I run 160mm forks if that makes a difference

Guess an extreme geometry bike doesn’t work for everyone

Still on a small TikTik here at 5’4 and I absolutely love it. It’s my only mtb and living in the Lakes it’s the heaviest but best-riding hardtail I’ve ever had, way better than the transmitter it replaced, or the Blue Pig before it. I like riding low over the front and with a 160mm coil fork, slammed stem and flat bar it’s just great on everything from afan/cwn carn trail centre trips to guiding in the Torridon, plus all the local rocky tech. Also the only bike I’ve successfully cleaned the climb up from Hartsop reservoir toward Kidsty Pike on! Hard work on pedally smooth trails (heavy, coil fork, 2.6 tires etc) and ridiculously composed on super-steep DH plummets in the woods. I do wonder whether the small benefits from agility that is lost on the 29er or bigger sizes.

I think you are right that the smaller sizes for “extreme geometry” hardtails definitely retain the benefits that you don’t see on the 29ers or Large/XL (unless of course you’re a very tall person).

I’ve ridden hardtails with similar slack geometry but with reaches more in line with the TikTik frame and they are significantly better and more fun, they’re still pretty hard work up hill or on really mellow stuff though.

Had I been on the TikTik I think I’d still have the frame given that its geo with 650b should be far more playful and fun but still stable down steeps.

wondering if these newest Enduro geometry bikes (or at least this Sick one) are the best of all worlds for something like the SDW?

I would say it’s overkill for the SDW. Sure – you can pedal around on it but there’s much better tools for the job. My friend recently sold his. Wasn’t his only hardtail, but still found it too heavy and niche for the local South Downs riding once the novelty of absolutely nailing the faster descents wore off.

He also struggled a little with the front end. Washed out a few times as he adjusted to a different riding position.

That’s not to say he thought it was a bad bike. Just not the right bike for what he used it for.

Original tiktik can run 29er as well

Running as 650b at the moment, it’s like a Landover, will go anywhere but slowly (mainly due to the heft of the wheels and the rider)

Going 29er this summer

Cable runs are from the dark ages but other than that it’s great

For a frame that cost me <£250 quid new I’m happy