Thanks for the advice all. That gear calculator site in particular is excellent!

Always amazes me when people have the time to put something together like that. Now duly bookmarked.

I think I’d prefer the simplicity of 2x versus a triple. In practice I find I rarely use the big ring so this might be an opportunity to ditch it.

Thanks – some good options I would not have thought of – guess the key is having a test ride so may have to wait 🙁

“avoid santa cruz cos that’s just middle aged man shouting “I can afford one!” 😂

Oh bugger – sounds just like me!

I’ve got both the Spurcycle genuine bell and the Rock Bros knock off. The knock off works well enough. Spring hammer can stick but it just needs a squirt of WD40.

The spurcycle one is louder, sweeter and more resonant. It is a gorgeous thing which brings a smile to my face and makes me want to ding it as much as possible! Not worth £42 difference of course but there you go. A thing of beauty – file under unjustifiably expensive nonsense that makes life a bit less shite!

Didnt we do all those dishes at Brownie camp?

Marigold?

I bought a 2009 new, nicked out of my garage 3 years later and then replaced with a 2nd hand one. I absolutely love it. Makes me a better rider than I am, ragged it all over the Yorks Dales and the Lakes. There were issues with the early carbon rear triangles (mines Ali) but I think that was sorted on later models.

I have a Cotic Solaris 29er which is fab but the Lappy is every bit as enjoyable to ride. Marketing is designed to sell bikes and moves on but a great, fun ride doesn’t change. Ask him if you can try it out then decide.

There’s plenty of decent trails which you should be able to ride straight from your door. Meanwood valley trail is popular as it heads out towards the dirt jumps in Adel Woods. Also plenty of trails going North from Shadwell, out to Harewood and around Thorner and Bramham. Usually some road riding needed to link up loops but plenty of interesting stuff if you look. Best bet is get the relevant OS map and have fun plotting some routes.

Thanks all. Are there any trail maps available?

Ace, that’s what I wanted to hear – cant wait now.

£3? – blimey that’s a bargain after the £7 at Dalby! Seriously I don’t mind paying either if it goes back into the trails. £7 aint a lot to pay for a good days biking.

Is the Hope line a ‘Red’ grade? From the footage it looks great but I’m just aware that drops etc look a lot bigger in real life than on helmet cam…

Thanks but I was really looking for one that clips onto the shoulder of my camelback. Dont want to have it visible necessarily, just close to hand but protected from rain and mud

Gratuitous blue Solaris post – sorry.

Replaced my nicked Soul. Since I got this my beloved Zesty barely sees the light of day.

You want to go on an organised trip or be adventurous and explore an area?

Haven’t really got that far. This would be my first trip so probably getting someone to show me the ropes would work best I suspect.

Pickaxe? Bloody hell! 😯

I’m in Oakwood and since getting my bikes nicked I’ve definitely upped the security – alarm, ground anchor Allmax chain etc.

Did fee a bit more reassured after doing that lot but now I’m not so sure …(rushes off to check garage)

Be useful to know what part of Leeds. How did they get in? Sounds like a pretty determined bunch of scroats if they took the ground anchor…

I had my bikes nicked from by garage in Leeds earlier this year. Checked ebay and gumtree for months but nothing showed. Speaking to Ed at Crosstrax he said the word is that many high end bikes end up on ebay in central Europe. Beggers belief!

Bit late for me but might be worth you checking ebay a bit further afield

try these guys – very friendly bunch who ride Wed nights year round. Rode with them for about 8 months when I was working down there – good times!

http://www.muddymoles.org.uk/

Andy from Leeds

Bizarrely, another North Leeds (Roundhay/Oakwood) Solaris rider here. Same local trails as you other guys though head out to Dales when I can.

I think we can safely say there is now a North Leeds Solaris Owners club……

bout £2200 by the way.

Flatter bars now

Bliss except for : so many nettle stings on my legs that it kept me awake all night!!

Back to reality……

Fr0sty – what bars have yougot on there? How wide?

Answer ones seem to look good but struggling to find decent image on line……….

Thanks but bit confused – those Race Kings dont appear as tubeless – can any tyres be used without tubes if I use stan’s fluid (I’m putting them on Arch Ex rims)?

Can anyone tell me where I can get conti race king 29 tubeless – struggling on line….

Jesus that’s a sobering tale 😯 Had 5k worth of bikes nicked out of my garage 6 weeks ago and have since fitted electric gates to house and extended house alarm to the garage. My missus said that was unneccessary and that I was overreacting…..

Sounds not based on the above!!

Thanks Cy. Does the Chris King ‘inset’ headset fit this?

Orange, tapered, Mk3 with dropper post and 2 x 10

Thats what I have just ordered

white wheels/forks 🙂 …………?

How long do you keep forks for and how well do you look after them?

GW – er….I assume one or the other requires greater/more frequent maintenance? I had both on separate bikes for about 2 yrs before they both got nicked.

In that time I serviced the Rebas (got em second hand so reckoned they probably needed it) but the Fox’s were fine.

Your point is?

Blues Junior? Love mine and use it farmore than my Hot Rod Deluxe….

‘Will keep a look out.*Worries. Lives quite near Oakwood – just off North Lane. Buys landmines, pitbull and Glock 17……… + a blowtorch and some pliers, of course* ‘

Dont want to worry you further but I live off North Lane too!

‘So you haven’t actually spotted them yet then, post a topic when you have’.

Oh sorry did I get you here on false pretences? Sort’ve workin on the basis that by the time either of them appears on Gumtree for a shift-it-quick £200 it might be sensible to already have some kind of plan rather than start asking for advice at that point.. 🙄

Got a soul – fantastic – but amidst all the lurve I would say that the paint job is more easily damaged than any bike I’ve ever ridden..

Just seems to be sooo much softer and easily scratched and scuffed than I’m used to. For example I’ve got a black ‘un. Washing the mud off using a car body work brush seems to leave deep scratches all over the paint. Not that fussed coz its a great ride but just thought I’d mention it…….

Funnily enough I did just that last year. The retailer supplied the Cotic frame and various other bits (brakes,cassette etc) and did the build. I supplied some of my own parts like saddle and forks and they were even happy for me to purchase wheels elsewhere (Merlin) which were much cheaper than theirs. Sweet bike – I love it (and will be out on it in about half an hour).

Worth phoning around.

What budget are you looking at? There are still quite a few 2010/sale models kicking around if you scour the interweb e.g.

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/specialized-myka-womens-item144941.html

– bout £100 cheaper than the equivalent 2011 model, v good reviews, v good standover (Leisure lakes have a 15″ – even better standover)

One more vote for Nuun tablets. I often suffer from cramp on long rides (I’m 50) but these things have made a real difference. Give em a go!

The 2 pieces of tape with a slight gap method works great for me. I use fine sandpaper rather than Tcut to create a neat silver ring on my black seatposts (including my Thomson). Tcut just takes too long to wear through the paint.

Works a treat – seatpost set to correct height in seconds!

Hmm just a thought – why not spray some waxoyle down the seat tube to prevent the ingress of water from corroding the BB? Works a treat on my old classic car bits…….

RNP – and what happens if you come late to MTB (like me)?

I'd love to have built up years of experience but realistically that isn't going to happen anytime soon (if ever). Meanwhile I don't see the fun in trailing along at the back of the pack due to lack of skills/know how.

Life really is to short not to enjoy it and if a skills course helps fair enough. Cheating doesn't come into it IMO.

Cheers Jedi – definitely not 'there' yet but its getting better and hey, its all about the journey right?

Ed – Lee quarry sounds fantastic.I live in Leeds so not far away. I'll definitely get over there soon

Andy

Well certainly in my case it's much nearer the former than the latter!

I recently purchased a Soul to supplement my Zesty, mainly because I felt a bit overbiked for some stuff and also because..well you cant have enough shiny bike related things really can you?

I have to say riding a hard tail again was a bit of a shock, so much so that I wondered if I'd made a mistake.

1. I just can't go as fast downhill as I could on the Zesty, as line is so much more important and you don't have the ability to plough through things in the same way ('talent compensation' :)). The shorter fork also initially made me feel like I was far more likely to go over the bars on steep drops…

2. You can't just laze around in the saddle over moderately rough ground and rely on the rear shock to soak it up. This means far more out of the saddle work and knackered legs (at least at first)!

I've stuck with it though and now I find I love the lightness and directness of the Soul. It's really versatile and nimble and I think my riding overall has improved.

Still love the Zesty mind. For all-day comfort over gnarlier stuff and for instilling confidence and grin-ability it just cant be beat!

I used to notice this quite a lot and often when I slept on my back. I put it down to slight pressure being exerted on area around my elbow. A few years on it doesn't happen and hasn't had any lasting effect.