Assuming course like those at SITs and the 24/12, my head says 650b or 29er short travel lightweight FS such as the new Scott Spark for instance.

Thoughts?

I personally reckon that the carbon spark 29er is the perfect bike. I had a decent demo of one and that twin loc system is brilliant. My mate used one for mayhem and he had a great time on it.
However I ride a steel 29er El Mariachi for this kind of stuff as I’m poor 🙂

Depends….. Are you super fit and/or doing it as a pair or team? If so a light xc hardtail would be good. Are you doing it solo so comfort and sure handling when you’re tired could be a priority. My Spearfish did the job for me at Bonty 24/12.

For SITS a hardtail will manage- it’s a smooth, non technical course (although there is a lot of sitting down so a suspension will help in the comfort stakes, and if you’re comfortable then you’re much faster).

For something like Relentless or the other Scottish events a full susser is definitely the way to go. I raced on an Anthem- I found the Spark was too inefficient (it’s very bobby unless you rely on the lockout, which at 2am you may well forget abotu) whilst also having more forgiving geometry, letting you get away with tiredness induced mistakes on the trail.

(my Anthem frame is now for sale as my racing days seem to be over-

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-five-frame-anthem-frame-giant-roadie-sid-mech-xtr-brakes-crank-saddle )

Johnny was yours the green spearfish? If so, I was looking at it with much envy. I really want one.

Yep I was the green one. I did see an orange one early on the first day changing a puncture but never saw him again!
I saw one green and one blue El Mar. Can’t recall which had the Jones bars on it now. Echo the lockout comment. I locked out for the Clif climb but sleepily forgot to unlock the forks for the cottage return section….. Left well alone after that!

I must admit I like the Spearfish. I dribbled over one at the London Bike show.

SS

Yep I was the green one. I did see an orange one early on the first day changing a puncture but never saw him again!

That was my mate Steve, he loves that bike. Stuck a tube in – had holed a tubeless tyre somehow – sulked a bit, and finished the 12-hour solo, so he was definitely out there.

Lightweight FS for my money. It’s personal beyond that. I don’t like Sparks because I’m not a big fan of lockouts, and you have to use the TracLoc like a 3rd gear lever to get the most out of the bike IMO.

Glad to hear he finished. As my lockout-stupor suggests for a lot of the time I was out of it! I also holed a tyre but luckily on the sighting lap. Stupid paper thin Ikons! I bought some Bontys that were superb until the rain when I switched to Nobby Nics.

I’m starting to look for next year – Spearfish and Whyte M109 are currently on the ‘to test-ride’ list. Tell me which one you get Kryton, and I’ll get the other 😉

Lol at Localhero – how’s the recovery going?

I’m trying to decide whether to ditch the asr-5 while my able years are still roughly in view, or just let it die and replace it in a few years. It’s difficult because its such a great bike, and I want to replace it with an allrounder. The other option is to stick a 140mm fork on it and leave it as the weekend bike.

As you know i want to attempt a solo, so I’ve considered the t129s, and the Spearfish. The giant anthem 650b looks at though it could be good and Canyons Nerve 29 sl 9.9 looks a mix of weekend/event.

Or I could lighten the asr for less money, lighter wheels, 2 x 10 and some carbon finishing kit 😈

Double post

Most people I know who’ve done them;

a) aren’t right in the head
b) take a short travel FS with summer tyres, and a rigid SS with trailrakers for when summer ends catastrophicaly at 3am.

‘Spoon, I have a carbon Exotic arriving today to complete B)

🙂

Used 100mm FS 29er at mayhem this year, was overkill really, will use 29er HT next time

I won’t be getting rid of my asr5 – it’s too much fun (unless my numbers come up and some carbon loveliness finds its way to my shed of course). To be honest I’d suggest you have a go at a 24 on your yeti first but just lighten it a bit. When I first did the bonty I dressed mine up in light gear, put flat bars and bar ends on and it was fine. Having a perfect bike for it woud help but I reckon most of the battle at these things is mental. The recovery is going ok thanks, still pretty sore and achy but a good excuse to sit in my backside and watch the cricket when it starts 🙂

The team use a range of bikes, Carbon Niner Hardtail, various Ti hardtails, Carbon Pivots FS, Ali Salsa, Ali on one singlespeed.
Personally I’d like a quad bike as it’s motorised and hard to fall off 😉

The pointy end of the pack are nearly always on some super light, spine crushing hardtail.

I don’t know how they do it. After trying a few laps at Bonty on my Flash, I soon saw sense and jumped back on my Tallboy!