The transition story on the front page reminded me to post this up

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Y25fkd]Normal service is resumed..[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

Bought from the excellent Noah’s Ark bike shop. Building it up with a Yari Fork, SLX groupset, 150mm Reverb and some new Stan’s Arch Mk3 wheels that a mate is building for me. Hopefully in time to ride Sunday.

It is rather similar to my FlareMax but I’ve wanted one for ages and Noah’s did me an excellent deal. Love the colour(s)

Another one? Looks like you need a bigger garage.

wow, your garage is tidy

mine is a disaster

The bit out of shot to the right is even tidier 🙂

I’ve sold 3. I think I was due!

New Bike (well) Frame day

my goodness, Thursday comes around fast these days.

I’ve got a smuggler, it’s such a brilliant brilliant bike!! So good choice mate!!

my goodness, Thursday comes around fast these days.

Harsh, Mark very harsh. But I have to admit also true 🙂

I’ve sold 3. And as stated it was a bargain. Although that might be stretching the definition of bargain for anon not MTB obsessed.

@wookster – that’s good to know 🙂

Looks great!

What does the frame weigh?

The bit out of shot to the right is even tidier

Show us then.

Blue lawn, eh? Like it. Keep up the good work.

@golddigger – it’s not light. 7.3lbs for the large. About the same as my Flare Max. I reckon it’ll build to about 30lbs based on my spreadsheet of real numbers. Which is quite a lot for a bike with ‘only’ 115m of rear travel. It isn’t going to break tho 🙂

@Merak. It’s a bit tidier than this now. I was still moving stuff about after buying that tool chest from Halfords at half price a few weeks ago

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Y68RqT]Still could be tidier..[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

Oh and @thestab… – I’m proud of that lawn. Keep it nicely mowed and fed. There’s a green one on the other side I use in winter 😉

<goes off shamefaced to tidy up garage>

You score highly, however points are deducted for the flotsam on the bench.

Cool, a different one for me to borrow 😀

Looks nice

It’s not there now. Honestly I can’t believe I let my standards slip!

Trusty – let me ride it first 😉

What’s gone then? Mojo 3 already?

Sorry for the delay in replying Mark. I have just lost two hours of my life to Invisiframing the bloody thing.

Mojo3 Gone? Wash your mouth out young man! I sold the Stache, The Aeris and my road bike. The Mojo3 is going anywhere. Especially in winter. It’s a bit too Californian 🙂

Nice! I’ll take a photo of the clearance on my HD3. It fits the maxxis 2.5WT just…

Very nice, I do like the Smuggler. I reckon it’d suit the majority of riding I do perfectly.

Get it built.

Well my mate has built the wheels

[url=https://flic.kr/p/YkKc1e]Wheels Built.[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

Had to slum it with non butted spokes, but I’ll buy some proper ones off SimonB and re-do them. Just too impatient to wait. And yes the rear hub is a different colour as it was a freebie off a mate and the logo’s aren’t lined up. Honestly you mate build your wheels and spends ages getting them perfect and then forgets to line up the logos.

You just can’t get the staff. Right best get the rest of it done.

Oh and @swe… the 2.5s on the Mojo3 leave loads of room. But I still can’t face taking it out in Winter as half the pivots get shot blasted by the rear tyre and the clearance on the pivot hardware is tiny. Just fills with me and files the frame.

Still not quite sure why I bought it (other than having the I-Wants) as the FlareMax on 29s is a very nice bike

[url=https://flic.kr/p/X7h34e]FlareMax on 29s[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

I might actually prefer with the 29s – esp with the American Classic wheels. They’re lovely. Still can never have too many bikes and be interesting to see how different they are. Even tho F&R travel is about the same..

It’s built. This is not my garage. If it was, I would have burned it down by now 🙂

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Y69SUJ]Transition Smuggler – built not ridden[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Y69QMN]Transition Smuggler – built not ridden[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Y4GtTf]Transition Smuggler – built not ridden[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

Quick ride in the dusk was all good. Chucked it off a two foot wall drop without incident. Seemed to corner well in the car park 😉 Proper ride tomorrow in the rain.

Wrote a thing: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=3942

[url=https://flic.kr/p/X9bTvk]Smuggler first ride[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/X9bSA4]Smuggler first ride[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

33km first ride in a very wet FoD. Nothing like a million polished roots to help you get your eye in on a new bike 😉 It’s new-bike-glasses fab tho. Rear suspension is brilliant. And I’m a big fan of that magic mary. Never had one before. Want to go and ride it again now (well if it stops raining) so that’s always a good sign.

It’s VERY different to the FlareMax

Interested in what the differences are between the cotic and the smuggler as I decided I was going to be really sensible and not rush my next purchase so was going to demo a flaremax but then saw a good deal on a complete smuggler and promptly forgot all that which I then took the wheels, dropper, brakes and gears off to replace …….

I’ve only had one ride so far but was impressed – still around 32lbs but doesn’t ride heavy

bit early to tell. I rode the same trails back to back but it was perfect yesterday for the FlareMax and significantly slipper today. I loved the FlareMax yesterday and got a couple of PBs which since I ride here a lot was a surprise. Got a couple more today on the smuggler which definitely wasn’t expected as I do mince about when it’s that dry/wet/dry/moist root kind of ride.

Initial impressions are the smuggler has a better rear end (it’s a better shock as well), incredibly plush, bottomless even with 115mm of travel, loads of grip, doesn’t seem to get phased by anything. I’m not a massive fan of that rear tyre and think it’d be even better with a DHRII

They both climb well. They are both really ‘smooth’ on the trail and both reward a bit of commitment like any good bike. My feeling is the smuggler might need riding a bit harder to get the best out of it.

I need to ride it a lot more. I’ve not yet switched back to 29 in my head and keep looking at that 2.3 tyre and think ‘where’s the rest of it’ 🙂 Although as I said the Cotic might be a better all rounder on the 29s not the chubbies.

Too many nice bikes. I’m not good enough to be any judge of which is best. The are certainly different tho and I hope different enough to justify keeping both.

I just weighted mine, it’s 31lbs dead which is about the same as the Cotic with those nice american classic wheels on. Agree it doesn’t ride heavy.