The lost tale of no_eyed… the befuddled xc 'purist'

Cutting his teeth on the claggy sides of Surrey’s best chalk slopes as Mishun-H-teenager… the long-blue-days of 90’s steel ‘n’ real were a seemingly endless sweat-filled arc. Racing up baked greensand in a posse of lycra, then cantilevering down rigid rutted hillsides.

The dawn of the first suspension was laughably sniffed at and probably passed him by, but with time – technology was reluctantly embraced and even enjoyed, as it trickled down to fill ever wider silver stanchions. Disc brakes were a late revelation, then full carbon frames and fatter tyres. The bars got wider.. and wider still… as the stems got ever shorter.

29ers arrived and were an amusement, surely they had their place, but that was in that long-gone (and not missed) nervous shaking space on the starting grid, or as a giant cradle to gently roll newbies into the sport.

‘Long low and slack’ was now apparently the new mantra to reach an enduro-inspired nirvana. But humming that theme left no_eyed cold. So here he was, now alone and probably quietly adrift beside his twisty singletrack.

The hillsides hadn’t changed, even if occasionally they were now swapped for slightly bigger and rockier ones. But the bike still worked perfectly for no_eyed – the XC purist. Up and down. Around and around. Through the dappled trees, over the whoops and dusty berms.

The new bikes could no longer hit this personal sweet spot. Supple and efficient and fun and responsive. Gnar-lite.

Would the new MTB era simply usher in the end of the road for a befuddled no_eyed?

This’ll do ya! Pure as you like.

‘Long low and slack’ was now apparently the new mantra

What?

There is far more choice than there ever was. That kind of enduro bike is only one market segment. There’s everything from that to retro steel rigid to short travel and everything else.

Buy the bike you want – it’s available – and ride what you want.

Your old bikes weren’t any better, the only reason it was “purer” back then is because you were concentrating on the ride, not the bike.

You’re letting your experience suffer by spending your rides wondering if there could be a better bike for whatever bit of trail you’re currently on.

Stop reading mags and forums, go and ride like you used to: for shits, giggles nettle stings, views and the happy aches.

I am being knowingly daft, guys…

but really? There’s a new bike out there now, made by a premium manufacturer with…

A short top tube, 120-130mm travel, 69-70 deg head angle. Made in carbon and with… (Dare-I-say-it… 26″ wheels..?)

Tell me where – I’ll buy a stock of them! 😀

Gorilla edit: I’m still riding bike(s) like this..! but when they die.. 🙁

So sad 🙁

No sane human, or at least one that’s not kidding itself, can tell the difference between 27.5″ and 26″ so the bike for you does exist. The Giant Anthem SX (not carbon, but as light as most carbon bikes anyway).

Are you Jo Burts less well known brother?

That Anthem looks nice (I own a 2007 version – with all of 89mm of rear travel – get that!). Unfortunately, the head angle looks to be about 65deg – according to my on-screen protractor and ruler. I might be wrong thou’..? 😀

“No sane human, or at least one that’s not kidding itself, can tell the difference between 27.5″ and 26″”

Im sure they can if they have a stockpile of perfectly good 26″ tyres for various conditions …..

try as i might they never seem to fit 650bs…….

speaking of which i really should get round to disposing of all my 26er tyres since even the wifes entered this century with a 29er.

You don’t happen to have a set of Nobby Nic / Racing Ralph 2.25″ Evos – that I am a such fanboi of – going spare..? 😉

As an aside, I have mused on the possibility of cutting a section out of 650b tyre and sewing it up to 26″, for when the eventual day dawns – and 26″ tyres are no more.. 😆

Tell me where – I’ll buy a stock of them!

ebay

Loads of them going for bargain prices and many barely used
Whats it have to be new for?

“No sane human, or at least one that’s not kidding itself, can tell the difference between 27.5″ and 26″”

Im sure they can if they have a stockpile of perfectly good 26″ tyres for various conditions ….. and there in lies the issue 🙄

The hillsides hadn’t changed, even if occasionally they were now swapped for slightly bigger and rockier ones. But the bike still worked perfectly for no_eyed – the XC purist

well yes and no. If I want to go out on a rigid skinny framed steel bike with narrow bars and nostalgic wheels bimble around the trails I used to 10/15/20 years ago I can do that. If I want to go and mince down some of the techier local stuff I’ve been riding comparatively recently or heac to the pointer parts of the Lake District I can do that on the aforementioned rigid bike too. If I want to do it in a little more comfort, speed and fun – with less chance of faceplanting then these new fangled modern bikes with slacker angles and bouncier suspension are a lot better for that sort of thing. Ride where you want how you want on what you want*

Having said that none of my MTBs are long, low or slack, have silly wheel sizes, or were made in the last few years.

*but obviously you can **** off with your imperceptible standard changes that make all your kit obsolete

It has to be new, because if they stop making new versions of this self-proclaimed ‘sweet spot’ bike, there won’t be any more arriving on the secondhand market in a few years’ time.

I’ve never bought a new bike ever, but I’ve always had a hankering for something on the market that was new at the time and been prepared to wait for it to trickle down to the secondhand market… except now. I genuinely can’t see anything on the market now that actually appeals to me… hence the befuddledness.. 😉

no_eyed_deer – it’s 68.5. I’m sure you could live with that.

Trail_rat- I got two 27.5″ bikes at the end of last year. They feel like 26″ wheeled bikes. I’ve ridden 29ers and they feel very different, 26 and 27.5″ feel pretty much the same.

I’ve read this whole thread and I’m still none the wiser as to the point of that self indulgent crap at the top.

It’s like trying to make sense of the commentary of a mint sauce cartoon.

Will someone please explain for me?

piffle – the secondhand market is awash with awesome 26″ bikes and frames…and if you’re as long in the tooth as this thread seems to suggest then I don’t think you have to worry about the lack of new stock filtering through 😉

Plenty of 26 inch bits about. The only thing I find a bit of a stuggle is finding decent 1 1/8 straight forks.

Design wise Id be the first guy to purchase a new bike with the Whyte quad link 2 design. Love my marin soo much I’d love a new one with the same swinger design.

New bike has a 70 degree HA (29er) 😆 will still be faster than my brain can handle going.

The only thing I find a bit of a stuggle is finding decent 1 1/8 straight forks.

I have a final set of Rockshox Rev RCT3 solo airs in stock v.cheap 😉

Will someone please explain for me?

Probable MTB luddite writes whimsical self-indulgent musings yearning for the lost past and raging against the immutable changing landscape of bike design. Others try to convince him to go on eBay.

if you’re as long in the tooth as this thread seems to suggest

Only 38 to you laddie.. plenty more years left in the pedals. (I hope!) 😉

I give you my ‘sweet-spot’ bike no. 1:

69deg head angle, 135mm travel, head down, arse up 90s rider position.

My ‘Sweet spot’ bike no. 2:

70deg head angle, 120mm travel. Sweeeeeeet… 😀

Why does your bike have to be like that?

Surely the point of your post is that it doesn’t matter? Or did I miss something?

Re wheels – other than parts compatibility, it does not matter at all that wheels are not 26 any more. So yes, be annoyed about obsolescence, but once you have a bike and the parts it doesn’t affect your riding.

I built a bike to re-create the riding I did in the 90s, it has a 71deg head angle, but it also has 29 inch wheels.

The point of my post…? Hmmm…

I dunno.

I guess it’s that what works for me doesn’t seem to be being made any more. So what is one to do?

(I was also hoping someone else out there might agree with these sentiments).

(I was also being a bit daft – and setting myself up for ridicule too.. 😉 )

I guess it’s that what works for me doesn’t seem to be being made any more. So what is one to do?

Why do you think the modern equivalents *wouldn’t* work?

As I said – my Salsa has similar characteristics to my P7 overall, it’s just better in every way. The bigger wheels are better, in that application.

Moral of the story – move with the times, but not the marketing. There’s a modern bike out there that is better than what you are used to.

^ I hope there is.. just can’t see one ATM.. 😉

I quite fancy the looks of the Yeti SB-whatever-it-is-now, with its pimpy Kashima switch-infinity system, but reckon it’s probably too much of a monster-truck gnarpoon in reality..

Tried out a 5010 on a demo day and was a tad underwhelmed – and now they appear to have given version 2.0 the full long-n-low slacked out treatment (but a much better colour).

Other than that, I see nothing out there… 😯

The fact is (to me, at least) the older bikes DO work – and work really well. Their ‘moderate’ trail bike attributes seem to hit a sweet spot, for me. I might be talking total Luddite-inspired bollocks though.. 😆

Still not sure WHY you list all those specifications…? What do you actually want to do with the thing?

Looks like you want a short travel XC trail bike?

😯 Ooooh… that Salsa actually looks quite nice.. 8)

See told you 🙂

Too slack?

Possibly dude.. but it’s got a groovy 90s polished alu thing going on though!

It seems that you want an XC bike but don’t want a 29er. That’s tricky as bike designers seem to have concluded that 29ers are better for that application and you can’t really expect them to make a bike that they think is inferior just because you don’t agree.

Of course, you may be right. In which case you just need to wait for them to realize this fact 🙂

want an XC bike but don’t want a 29er.

I think you may have hit the nubbin bang on the nubbin there! 😀

I will begrudgingly condescend to 650b (if I have to), but 650b XC-lite doesn’t seem to actually exist on the bike market (yet). How long do we have to wait? 😉

29ers just don’t really cut it for me. Tried lots of them. Not for me, unfortunately.

Plastic, 120mm, 69 degree (well, 68.8) head angle, short top tube.

Also available for not a lot of money if you can live with last year’s.

https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott-spark-720-full-suspension-mountain-bike-2015-p259928?gclid=Cj0KEQjwwpm3BRDuh5awn4qJpLwBEiQAATTAQdu2ky-_kOqTo9Sun2pn2th8c4dm5k4TB64AXhzc2iIaAsbx8P8HAQ

The standard Anthem (not SX) has a head angle of 69.5 degrees and 650b wheels.
Only 100 mm travel though.

That Scott looks pretty sweet.. Bless those kooky Swiss! Didn’t Pivot do something carbonlicious a few years back that looked quite similar?

Anthem at 100mm still? 😯 Stop the press kids!

Scienceofficer – Member
I’ve read this whole thread and I’m still none the wiser as to the point…

It’s simple.

Man wants N+1 bike, needs to have rational and logical reason, and has gone into an perpetual loop in the process (there is no rational or logical reason).

Cure – buy N+1 bike and start thinking of N+2… 🙂

Finding the ‘650b is basically the same as 26″, so you might as well buy one’ argument pretty amusing right now. Quick where’s my wallet!