Just looked back at the spec of the RS.
Mine doesn’t have the dual-position forks and the Guides are the ‘R’ version.
Those are the only differences I can see.

That long! wow.

Cos this years new bike is going to be a 650b BFe 🙂

But I’m waiting for those to arrive……..

oh I see – the Aeris wont take that long then – that’s good. There are a few people eyeing them up.

Hey Alex – only just got to this post. Fantastic pictures. You’ve set the bar high now. I’ll try and get some on Cadair Idris this weekend although looking at the forecast it may be ‘green bike being rained on under foggy sky with no view’ 😉

Glad you like it. Definitely worth the wait. I’m up in the peaks sometime in the next couple of months – Bird Owners meet?

That does look nice. And nicely priced too.

Glad you like it. Definitely worth the wait. I’m up in the peaks sometime in the next couple of months – Bird Owners meet?

Sounds good. Let me know when you’re up.

4 rides in.
I know the conditions are just about perfect, but the new bike helps:

(a lot of those PRs were around Whinlatter and trail centres have an awful lot of segment duplication)

Glad to see you picked the best colour, just like me.

Got yours yet, kudos100?

Very similar looking frame to a Switchback Unveil, but at twice the price. £1,600 for an ally FS frameset seems to be the norm entry point nowadays.

The Aeris is £8xx. Full builds start at £1550.
Someone I ride with has the unveil. Personally, I don’t think they’re anything like each other. The Aeris is all about the geometry – not many bikes are longer/lower/slacker. Perhaps no 140mm bike is.

Twice the price? Unveil is from £629, Aeris is from £850. £1600 gets you a complete build doesn’t it?

It’s a fair cop guv, the switchback and the aeris are built in the same factory. The two bikes share the same chainstay and seat stay tubing as well as d-mount and dropout (the replaceable bit). Basically identical right? 4 parts in a bike constructed from I don’t know 60 or so means it’s at least 139% the same bike before allowing for all the things that make it entirely different 😉

Apologies, misread the pricing info on their site. Same rear end as the Unveil and front end very similar apart from the shock mount being on the down, rather than top tube. 29 / 27.5 differences accounted for, both frames appear to follow the current Evo trend of long, low and slack. Good to see indie brands getting the most out of direct manufacturer relationships. Both frames appear to be excellent value for money.

Very nice indeed. Is that your blood on the coping?

It would be if I tried to ride it howsyourdad1 🙂

Apologies, misread the pricing info on their site. Same rear end as the Unveil and front end very similar apart from the shock mount being on the down, rather than top tube. 29 / 27.5 differences accounted for, both frames appear to follow the current Evo trend of long, low and slack. Good to see indie brands getting the most out of direct manufacturer relationships. Both frames appear to be excellent value for money.

So it’s totally the same as all specializeds, all new kona, and pretty much everything out there? I don’t think so.

You seem to miss the points about suspension dynamics, all geometry and massive wheel size differences. That like saying every hardtail is the same as every hardtail because they are twin triangle design. Also, the unveil is not long at all, check the numbers. It’s long compared to 5 year ago, short against any current company, and only low compared to Specialized and their 6ft head tubes.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a bargain and will probably ride great (as reports say) but it’s ‘based on’ an old Kona that predates ‘modern’ geo, so not in the same vain as new Kona process platform and the Aeris.

The Aeris also shares 1 part from a Kona too. Prize for spotting what it is though 😉

EDIT: I will help you out/clarify, its actually 4 parts that are referred to as 1.

gear hanger?

benpinnick – Member
The Aeris also shares 1 part from a Kona too. Prize for spotting what it is though

EDIT: I will help you out/clarify, its actually 4 parts that are referred to as 1.

Is the prize an aeris?
Is the kona part the shock link?

Got yours yet, kudos100?

I’ve had it for a couple of weeks Alex 😉 I bought the frame only, so was able to get it quicker than a full build.

Shock mount?

That bike really does look stunning.

You could do with some more time in the sun though! 🙂

I live in the North West – pastey skin is the norm!
‘Twas sunny today though. Great ride around some of the peak’s gnarliest downhills.
Very quick down Cavedale, the Beast, Hagg, etc

I’m glad I like my Spitfire so ridiculously much because that looks awesome!

P.S. I take it you’re not one of the pie-eating Northerners then… 😉

🙂 not unless it’s organic vegan lefty hippy pie!

yes, yes, nice bike, blah

What we need to know is how come you can’t see anything holding the bike up in your photos – even in the shadows ?

What we need to know is how come you can’t see anything holding the bike up in your photos

Prop: Stick – cloned out in Photoshop CC

Finally decided on one of these. Just need to convince myself on sizing…..
At 5’8″ I’m thinking a small, anyone riding a small?

I can’t match Alex (the other one) photo skills but here’s a couple of mine on Cadair Idris. Brilliant day out, brilliant bike. Same as AS, I’m about 10% quicker on this bike than anything else I’ve had. And that was mostly comparing times on the beast where it was lashing it down on Saturday. But what I really care about is how much fun it is to ride. 6 Rides, 150km ish, 3500+M of climbing in a week and a bit.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/roHJsK]North Wales MTB – April 2015[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/sknjn9]North Wales MTB – April 2015[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/skxBRv]North Wales MTB – April 2015 {HPR}[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr
More of that please this Spring/Summer 🙂

Looks good Alex – that poor forecast didn’t really materialise, which meant it was really quiet in The Peaks. Only 6 walkers down the whole of Cavedale at 11:00!

Blimey.. that’s good going. I’ve never managed to clean cavedale without a single dab – that top section always gets me. Next time then!

Blimey.. that’s good going. I’ve never managed to clean cavedale without a single dab – that top section always gets me. Next time then

I had a similar epiphany the first time I took my Pitch down Cavedale, went from dreading the steep/narrow bit after the gate to actualy wanting to go back and session it 9if the ride tothe top hadn’t been so painfull!)

I’m 17th out of 1071 for the rocky half of Cavedale according to Strava.
Beast DH 32nd/1807
Hope Brink Descent 18th/2056
Hagg Farm berms to gate 23rd/2554

Pretty pleased with those.
It was my first time down Beast with Strava on, and my Cavedale never registered before because I kept sticking to the grass for the jumps at the bottom, so I don’t know how much faster they were than previous, but took 10% off my Hagg Berms time.

Need to repeat them before I forget where I got on the wrong lines!

Come on Ben, don’t leave us hanging.

Which part is it?

I forgot a couple of details about the photography.

Using the above image…

Sun was really bright. I put it behind the bike (hence the big shadow out front). Because of the angle of the bowl, that put it high left.

Then used my remote cheap flash (Yongnuo YN460-ii triggered by Yongnuo RF-603C remotes) on full blast on the opposite side. About 2m to my left. This is what’s created the nice effect on the tyres and rims. It’s also filled in the orange a tad .

For flash sync purposes, I had to have the shutter at max of 1/320, so I couldn’t open the aperture much f7.1, hence why the bowl is still in focus.

For the close-up of the headtube, I wanted to reduce the DoF, so I didn’t use the flash and shot 1/1600 at F2.8.

oooh

http://www.vitalmtb.com/

Now go and get some mud and scratches on it to christen it.

Looks too much like a garage queen at the moment 😉

No it doesn’t 🙂
That was on the first day – about an hour after it arrived.
It’s now done 140km in the peaks.

I’m only pulling your leg. Lovely looking bike, but then I would say that!

Nice pics as well. I used to work in photography and worked for some amazing still life and car photographers.