But you can, and would do better trying a more focussed approach to messing around on your bike.

That’s then all sounding a bit like training and homework rather than fun and riding… I struggle with that as a concept… Sure, i get the idea of it… but doing say 200m then going back up, doing it again, and repeat, i’m not feeling the love as a riding day.

is @weeksy the new @hora

Have you thought about putting a bigger fork on?

Common mod on a T-130 is a 10mm increase in fork travel. Changes the attitude of the bike slightly and gives a bit more bias towards descending without ruining the geometry. I’ve done this on many bikes for customers.

In fact I’d be tempted, before splashing loads of cash if you only have space for one bike, would be to increase fork travel by 10mm, and also fit a -1deg slackset too. Should get you around or just under 66deg head angle whilst retaining BB height and Seat angle, and improve the attitude of the bike somewhat. This is pretty much what they did for the 2019 T-130 range anyway, they all have slacker HA and 140mm fork fitted now anyway.

is @weeksy the new @hora

I’ve bought 2 bikes in 3 years ? Both were T-130s…. where are you going with this ?

That’s then all sounding a bit like training and homework rather than fun and riding… I struggle with that as a concept… Sure, i get the idea of it… but doing say 200m then going back up, doing it again, and repeat, i’m not feeling the love as a riding day.

I’m sure given your Zwifting obsession, you can appreciate the irony in that statement 😉

Why is skill improving frowned upon, yet spending days on a static bike trying improve your fitness not?

Sure, it’s a different approach to riding but it doesn’t just have to be that. Go and ride somewhere with tech trails, ride a loop and stop off somewhere or on a trail section that’s challenging, or you’re struggling with & spend an hour on it, breaking it down & then building the speed back into it.

You will get more from it than than buying a big travel bike that feels alien to ride most of the time.

In fact I’d be tempted, before splashing loads of cash if you only have space for one bike, would be to increase fork travel by 10mm, and also fit a -1deg slackset too. Should get you around or just under 66deg head angle whilst retaining BB height and Seat angle, and improve the attitude of the bike somewhat. This is pretty much what they did for the 2019 T-130 range anyway, they all have slacker HA and 140mm fork fitted now anyway.

Not sure how viable it is on the forks i have ?

Why is skill improving frowned upon

Not saying it is, not saying that at all. But me spending a day at BPW riding as many trails as possible and pushing myself is very different than going there and doing 1 section of 1 trail for hours. Along with the fact that i’m going to these places with my lad and that’s not on his agenda either.

We’re starting at the Swinley skills area in Jan every other Saturday, which will actually give us that completely focused type of riding you describe… But hoping it’s fun for both of us at the same time too

’m sure given your Zwifting obsession, you can appreciate the irony in that statement

Zwift racing is a completely different thing to MTBing for me, it’s a totally different mindset and activity, the only thing that they have in common is a set of pedals. But that said, each and every Zwift race is different, tactically, mentally, physically, all different but based upon a theme of course.

@weeksy it s a light hearted quip as it seems you are constantly on the look ut for the next thing 🙂 #emporersnewclothes and all that

it s a light hearted quip as it seems you are constantly on the look ut for the next thing 🙂 #emporersnewclothes and all that

You rekon ? I’m not getting that at all… well, in my perception anyway.

I wasn’t taking offence though, i just don’t see it in myself at all.

You seem certain you don’t want to change forks yet seem to be happy to swap out or buy an entirely new bike just for 5% of your riding?

That’s then all sounding a bit like training and homework rather than fun and riding… I struggle with that as a concept… Sure, i get the idea of it… but doing say 200m then going back up, doing it again, and repeat, i’m not feeling the love as a riding day.

Its all bike riding, we’ve got some trails locally which are around a minute long, all loamy. Spent yesterday sessioning the same tracks over and over, slapping turns, a bit of falling off, great fun and you build up skill/confidence. Back there next weekend and over Christmas.

Bike riding isn’t all about distance or height gained.

You seem certain you don’t want to change forks yet seem to be happy to swap out or buy an entirely new bike just for 5% of your riding?

My fork issues are that 1, i’m not convinced 10mm will make enough of a difference and 2, i only bought them 3-4 months ago so would be upset to swap them this early on…
3, it would cost me loads as i’d end up putting them on my lads bike and then need a new boost wheel for him too 😀

Dont need a new wheel, spacer kit off ebay, or proper adapters if they do them.

I had A similar thing earlier this year. My prefered riding is steep off piste techy stuff so I was tempted to go for a bigger bike. The more I thought about it though I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to be the older guy in his mid forties trying to pretend to be “sending it” but actually the being far from that in reality.

In the end I went for a slack / long 130mm trail bike with 150mm forks as a compromise, and accepting that in reality the bike is never going to be the thing to hold me back, but would suit most of my riding better.

Ymmv may vary of course and you may indeed get the most out of a bigger bike but that was the conclusion I came to fir me. Worked out for me as I’ve done every trail / feature / drop on my new bike that I did on my old dh bike without any problems and I’m loving it.

So reading behind the initial post and the follow up replies, basically what you asking is what enduro bike with screw fit bb do people recommend under £2k??? Because it sounds like you have made your mind up already

The more I thought about it though I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to be the older guy in his mid forties trying to pretend to be “sending it” but actually the being far from that in reality.

Dammit – shot most of us down there… 😉

weeksy – come over to Rogate sometime on the new mega-sled when you get whatever this ends up being and we’ll catch up. Or I will try and make one of your BPW days at some point.

So reading behind the initial post and the follow up replies, basically what you asking is what enduro bike with screw fit bb do people recommend under £2k??? Because it sounds like you have made your mind up already

Well, if i had made up my mind already then yes, that would be the question.

However, i’ve not… 🙂 I’m still sitting here contemplating.

As said earlier, until we go to BPW in 2 weeks time and then also Swinley Skills area the weekends after that, i won’t know the answer to my own question. When i see if my lads reality is different to his perception and my riding is fine and we stay together, then this doesn’t even need to come up in disucssion. But just weighing things up. The answer may be that for this year i’m happy on the T-130 and maybe next year after he’s had more training and experience then I buy something bigger, but by the same count, i may come to terms with the fact that he’s outgrown me and i have to accept my place in the world.
It may be that i’m still brilliant and i can beat the little bugger anyway 😉

Granted, my T-130 is better than i’ll ever be, granted if you stick an Atherton on it, it would do things i can’t dream of… but i’m just me, I’m not them.

can’t your son teach you some skills. Once you have those following a better rider down a trail can help too.

come over to Rogate sometime on the new mega-sled when you get whatever this ends up being and we’ll catch up

I have no idea where Rogate is mate, but if you can get to it, so can I…. If you’re heading there over the Xmas weeks, then shout on here or Email and me and my lad will come 🙂 We’ve both got 2 weeks off to play.

It’s a push up bike park near QECP. But it’s on greensand not chalk-clay so is ok after rain.
Yeah – will do!

can’t your son teach you some skills. Once you have those following a better rider down a trail can help too.

LOL he can barely tie his own shoelaces…. but he’s a decent rider “Just get on with it Daddy” isn’t quite cutting it as teaching 😉

I know this is coming over like i’m some sort of incompetent who can’t get down a trail, but that’s not quite the reality, i’m not a bad rider as such, but as a ‘jumper’ he’s a skilled little lad.

I’m not really sure what the Question is then Weeksy.  As you have had some great responses.

Hob Nob is right in what he says session if a trail that isn’t just riding a purpose bike trail centre is the beat way to learn, it’s training and is needed to improve skills in different formats at every sport. Riding somewhere you ride all the time is great but you are only going to improve riding that trail. Dropping BPW even a few times a year is unlikely to really sharpen your skills, just highlight your shortcomings.

It has been suggested that you upgrade your fork travel to modernise your bike to somewhere near current trail bikes by a former whyte dealer (10mm extra fork travel and an Angleset to slacken) but it seems you don’t want to do that.

so like I say it seems like you want to be convinced which bike to buy, which in itself is absolutely fine…I enjoy those threads as much as anyone.

I’m not really sure what the Question is then Weeksy. As you have had some great responses.

I’ve not said i’ve not had great responsese, i’ve not said there’s not plenty of food for thought in here… I’m perfectly happy with the responses, what makes you think i’m not ?

You won’t need more than the 130 at Swinley Skills area. There’s nothing which has not been built for a smooth landing and 20mm extra travel won’t make a difference.

I’m looking at new bikes at the moment, on a 150R/160F Bronson V2 and looking for a do-it-all for anything from trail to a week in the Alps. The most ‘trail’ friendly big bike I’ve ridden so far is the new Rallon which is currently out of your price range (at least for a new MY20 with the updated rear linkage). That’s a 160R 170F 29er which is pretty light with decent geo. I have also ridden a transition smuggler – 120R / 140F (or thereabouts), this felt really nice and capable (as other have said I feel the geo really helped here), though I feel I’d want a bit more. The Rallon was quicker though (although it felt slower at times it wasn’t). May also try a Sentinal, but concerned it may be a bit porky for everyday riding.

Rogate is a good call.. some good scope for progression in manageable sized chunks – just sessioning Bottlerocket alone will help with improving key skills.

i’m not a bad rider as such, but as a ‘jumper’ he’s a skilled little lad.

Longer travel bikes are harder to jump IMO, unless the jumps and massive.
Are you consistently using all the travel on your current bike? Are you bottoming it out on harsh drops, or hitting rocky sections fast?
A longer travel bike won’t help you land a drop or jump smoothly, and it’s not going to help if you mess up a drop by landing heavy.

What it *might* do is give you the feeling of confidence, which in turn will make you more confident and commit more, thus actually managing to ride better. 95% of that will be in your head though. Which is why new bike syndrome exists.

Can’t you just change the air shaft in the fork when it’s being serviced to take it to 140mm?

And if the Whyte has a sensible head tube design, swap the headset for a Works one, I’d go for -1.5 deg.

Total cost about £100 if you do all the work yourself, and not that much more for your LBS to do if you needed a fork service anyway.

That’ll give you a head angle of just over 65 deg and about 20mm more front centre, whilst everything else will stay the same. My old Spitfire which had similar geometry and only 10mm more travel at the back was awesome at BPW etc.

Can’t you just change the air shaft in the fork when it’s being serviced to take it to 140mm?

At this stage I have no idea. They’re only 3-4 months old.

Works headset I’ll look into tonight.

I ran my T130 with Fox 34’s at 140mm then changed them to 150mm, it’s a 20 minute and £35 air spring job.

Thanks Jimmy.

I’ll go in search

https://www.tftuned.com/air-shaft-assembly-34mm-float-lc-na-2-1214/p3465

i’m already wondering if i’d be better buying him something bigger instead of myself

Wouldn’t want to do that… scares me silly following Ollie when I’m on a bigger travel bike.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6HBBloHDDS/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

My current bike is great – it’s an Aeris 145LT with 170mm lyriks / codes etc and on uplift days it’s amazing. Capable of far more than I can do and when you’re on it it’s fantastic. I’ve done all day rides on it like the big loop at Brechfa / Brecon Gap plus pedalled it up Snowdon etc as well as uplift days. I’ve been riding it coming up 3 years in a couple of months time. No plans to change it at the moment.

I do hanker for something inbetween the Aeris and my hardtail though – but don’t have the justification to add a middle bike! I wonder if one of the 130/140 29ers might be that bike – would it do the big stuff nearly as well as what I’ve got but be more lively in more vanilla / mundane trails?

Obvious answer is get the shorter travel linkage for £100 and new airshaft for the lyrics ?? (Umm…. unless N+1 is REALLY strong)

Top video Steve, your lad has clearly come on massively! Nice one

Top video Steve, your lad has clearly come on massively! Nice one

It’s age mate, we’re doomed! They just pick everything up faster, bounce better …
Yeah he’s riding insane (to me) stuff…. and the Stuff in Dyfi/Antur and Rev’s is a step up from that.

I quite honestly made a conscious choice Saturday to take a bigger travel bike than he’s riding (my Bird is identical except he’s on XS and I’m on a M so I took the mega with 170/160) which was nice since I cased that drop/jump on one of the runs.. and when I follow him now I just rely on the extra travel as a skills adjuster but he still drops me like a bad smell.. but it does help a lot if he can smash through knowing I got another 10mm both ends… (though its seen me OTB a few times its saved me lots more)

Ideally though I’d get one of the newer Bird’s with the change-able linkage… but currently both bikes take same shocks and wheels so I’ve effectively got a 160/140, 160/150 (on the Bird) and 170/160 (On the Mega)

in my experience as a totally average rider, what you need is LENGTH and lots of it!

I moved from a large zesty, which isn’t really a particularly small bike, to an XL mondraker dune, and it’s amazing, simply because the “Middle of the bike” is such a wide zone now. Previously, i felt that i had to have my weight in just the right place, especially on drops, now, there is just more leeway for error, which is amazing, because error is how i ride!

Taking that massive bike to the Alps was actually eye opening, as i got round tight Les Arcs hairpins of certain death that i’d never got round on the much shorter zesty, simply because of stability and the confidence that gave me!

So whilst travel is useful, to try to swallow your mistakes, length is ime, actually far more important!

(and yes, it takes more effort to manual and bunny hop, but because of the stability and wider “centre” window, i can actually flat land manual this bike, which i could never quite manage previously! The only iussue is now when i get back on my HT, every time i manual or wheely i pretty much end up sat on my ass on the floor behind having forgoten i’m riding a much shorter bike……..)

Would a Calibre Sentry fit the bill? Currently £1699 at Go Outdoors. Even the Pro model with coil shock I think is about £2100.

So a new N+1…

My current bike is great – it’s an Aeris 145LT with 170mm lyriks / codes etc and on uplift days it’s amazing. Capable of far more than I can do and when you’re on it it’s fantastic. I’ve done all day rides on it like the big loop at Brechfa / Brecon Gap plus pedalled it up Snowdon etc as well as uplift days. I’ve been riding it coming up 3 years in a couple of months time. No plans to change it at the moment.

I do hanker for something inbetween the Aeris and my hardtail though – but don’t have the justification to add a middle bike! I wonder if one of the 130/140 29ers might be that bike – would it do the big stuff nearly as well as what I’ve got but be more lively in more vanilla / mundane trails?

Obvious answer is get the shorter travel linkage for £100 and new airshaft for the lyrics ?? (Umm…. unless N+1 is REALLY strong)

I had the shorter linkage and 160mm fork and the bike rides better with the longer linkage on it (more poppy) and higher front end.

Member
Would a Calibre Sentry fit the bill? Currently £1699 at Go Outdoors. Even the Pro model with coil shock I think is about £2100.

So a new N+1…

This is probably a good shout

Having spannered on a Bossnut, that goes down as a terrible idea… If it’s built with the same crap componentry, bearings, parts and setup… I’d rather walk.

I went from a T130 to a patrol and it was a huge change in ride feel and skills required, not helped with a huge crash first time out.

I do sometimes think about going back to 130, but the patrol is fun when finally set up, the loss of speed on trail centres and so on doesn’t bother me either, I’m not a racer, but as others say, slow speeds on this one takes adjusting too, not helped by me using a short travel hardtail most of the time!

If I was to look at getting something now, a giant reign would be one of the first I’d check, looks good and by all accounts just as good as any of the enduros out there.