would have discussed the baron’s with you .. ended up taking a gamble on sun ringle duroc 35’s from crc… seem too cheap…. spank/hunt were my go to but at this price it was silly not to at least see

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RockShox-Super-Deluxe-Debonair-RCT-Rear-Shock-230-x-65mm/174200864252?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
im hoping the light compression, medium rebound is a suitable tune.. from what i coudl find out it sounds like it should be?
PS i did low ball the seller and it was accepted.. try your luck.. as far as i could tel lthats a good price.. 230×65 seems to be limited size

thank. this has cost me a lot of money so far…:P
first FS ever….
so far grabbed a frame, wheelset, RS super deluxe rct… mostly as i found deals on it all… plan to not rush.. and spend sensibly…
:S

i grabbed a 26″ manitou r7 for my boys 24″ bike, light, short travel, cheap to maintain, straight steerer however and qr.. but fine for my boys bike

will depend on how far in you need the post…. i had no issues on my 2019 medium, with a 100 then 120 seat post, cant remember the brands mind

Lightweight full face all the time, only exception might be when doing some distance ride taking in roads, i’d go open face for visibility…
Its saved me twice already.. once into a tree…and a week or so ago i ended up upside down on my head on a hard pack gravel trail
same trail made me start wearing knee and elbow pads… if i hadn’t have had a few layers on id be off the bike for a while with lots of lost skin, as it was, the base layer and jersey took most of it, but still ripped skin off underneath, this was at 17mph according to gps. i had similar injuries coming off on chalk at low ish speeds. So knee and elbow pads are a no brainer.
I have taken bruises to my hip/flanks a few times, and would like to get some sort of padding there.. have also opted to ride with my top(s) tucked in…a little extra protection by the time my hip bladder is belted up

quite liking my gussett s2’s.. feel fairly thin, fairly concave.. fairly light.. seem to be well engineered.. only thing i had before was DMR v8s and they are a world better in every way

i wasn’t exactly feeling the bottoming out, but the oring was showing it, and using up 150mm~ of travel for what and where i was riding seemed ridiculous, so.. i figured a bit more air pressure to give more support, and keep the geo more stable, could be beneficial.
i am definitely aware that at times i get down like i am riding on drop bars, elbows at angles and head down low and “pulling” on the bars when climbing the steeper stuff, probably in places were i should be out of my seat punching through…
and yes, it could just be the less compliant fork beating on my wrists and back i guess.. i will try taking off full LSC next ride out ( i think its only 4 clicks, and in these conditions im not riding aggressively), i guess i could drop the pressure back and add a token too.
maybe that’s sensible, set the forks back how they were, ride… ad a token or two and if the issue doesnt return, stick with it

bar width is 820 which is uber wide i know especially for me at 5ft8 but.. it seems ok? its hard to say.. i did try moving my arms in and out and to be honest, it feels similar everywhere to me…I am wondering if maybe i should by a cheap set of aluminium bars different riser and angles and see how they feel to compare

yer i figured saddle angle would change marginally, so i am going to tip it back a little assuming it doesn’t get uncomfortable, and combine that with a small adjustment of the bars and go from there

what the hell is that even? i assumed “hone” was a miss type of “hope” but no.. they are hone….
i mean, i would have bid except the saddle isnt available with it :S
check out the rest of the crap for sale… i have no idea…. looks like someone that does garage clearance or something…

only ever been twice, on peak days.. once in morning, once afternoon
i would say, get there early on a peak day, or.. leave it until lunchtime, although even through the busiest part of the morning i never found any issue getting anywhere
and giving the nipper a follow now for epic skills

Thanks Scott
obviously very confident that the majority of the trails will remain. i mean a lot of it is natural so…..fingers crossed.. its an amazing site

Very gutted about the head down rumours, literally the first place i tried any “natural” trail riding since i started last summer.
Was always under the impression it was a deliberately overlooked location.
I would have hoped that HCC would have reached out to the guys who look after the QE official trails in a hope to find some sort of arrangement.
In all honesty.. bar a couple of optional features, i would consider QECP blue more dangerous due to the speeds the average rider will carry… i’ve always been relatively slow on the head down stuff.
Not sure how much QECP i can repeat as my usual haunt so will also need something decent near fareham to mess around on

i had the wrong one on my reba, it was labelled in reverse.. click to lock.. push in to unlock…
kept quickly locking it all the time, which was the opposite of what i actually wanted

their own hubs i think

recently had the same decision to make
wanted 30+mm with not ridiculous weight, yet good durability
i opted for Spank 350 in the end due to CRC having them at the same price as the hunts.

I don’t really remember there being much to the last descent, after you did that mammoth rooty climb and the long flinty (not steep) descent the final little bit seemed to offer very little.
I don’t believe it compared to the rest of the blue/red sections at all, i guess that’s why they are chucking some table tops in

that’s the red final descent, which was rubbish before hand anyway
snakes and ladders on the back is open and excellent, i literally only run red to session this section
as is the snakebites on the mid descent

blue atm is dry bar one berm, top is a little soft.. week or so ago top was slodgy, lowers had some standing water
some of red is still quite soft but perfectly rideable
off piste.. well that’s some fun

yup, you can play on the award winning blue trail at QECP or do a little more of a slog along the red

Doesn’t help with your question specifically.. but ive got the Endura Mt500 which carries some DH rating being full face… So maybe if you are looking at lightweight FF it should be on your short list.
My only gripe is you cant park goggles under the visor without them in your eyeline

good point, i only notice it in the easier gears…. but thats after descending and having some time to pedal back up before the next

waiting on a pair of fox fire defend to come from CRC.. see how they are at the wekeend, although was confused by sizing so might be a no go

i have the fire defend, they are dam quality… but baggy at the knees.. have had a few spills and they have protected me so far.. also keep me reasonably dry on my wet wood’s rides.
i went for a 34 and 34 is usually spot on for me.. unfortunately i have to pull the ratchet up full and they just cut it for me (too big)

loving my trailstar (320 direct from dmr)
would need to check they do boost droputs

more planning how to actually ride mine…

DMR trailstar
rockshox pike dual position 130/160
wtb i29 27.5 rims on hope 2 hubs
none model 4/2 pot shimano brakes on 180mm icetech rotors
deore xt 8000 derailleur, BB, 32 tooth snail oval, sunrace 11/50 cassette
funn 35mm stem, 800mm protaper carbon bars
maxxis tubeless tyres (depending on conditions)
random dropper

ive got the fox fire defend, and so far they are well worth the money
worn them in light rain, and temperatures between 15-1 degree c so far.. although anything over 8 they are warm
they were perfect today at sunrise
also chucked myself down on flint/chalk and they are as good as new, as was my skin underneath

^^ this, i was about to buy some nukeproof comps as they were super light and the same design as the alloy pedals.. all be it much cheaper

yup, bought something from there.. clothing perhaps? and was a painless transaction

weird.. never had a spacer on mine that i can recall :S

the Dee-Dar came on my radar the day i ordered my DMR trailstar.
i prefer the look of the dee-dar but i think it was slightly heavier (the dmr is already heavy imho) and the geometry seemed so similar to me
I cant add much but i love my DMR with a long travel front end (170mm MRP stage)… would be nicer if it was a little lighter..

i had the hr2/ardent combo.. but now the mud is here swapped the hr2 to the back and chucked a shorty on the front

they were a fail, the original designer didnt realise that the thread distorting would skew the readings, that’s why they went to pedals

in for info
same setup here, oval ring xt mech

I’m one week in to a pair of Fox Fire Defend,
Game changer to me, i’m a shorts and short sleeve person
tight below the knee, baggy at the knee if you want pads, stay over my ass
kept me dry in light rain (not tried anything heavier)
warm, although a little too warm for low teen degree c, but bareable
the key thing.. i’ve chucked myself off the bike twice, second time was on a hard chalky/flinty surface and they showed no wear.. and totally protected my skin.. hopefully i will get a few years out of them
will be buying a defend top at some point, expensive but so good

on guard mastiff
about £35 on amazon depending on style, a lot of them are gold secure rated or what not

^^ won’t the backsweep also be a factor on how far the bars are away from you also? i think mine are quite shallow like 6 up and 6 back? from memory, but i do have to get them in the exact place or it isn’t good for me

just tried that test…and sure enough my width is 760/800 ish.. i’m 5ft 8 and run 800mm bars (because they were cheap CF items on sale) and deathgrips..
took me some getting used to (lat bike i had ridden was a 1990’s long stem and bars more like 500mm)
the most critical part i found was the setup.. getting the bars rotated so that the pressure is evenly distributed on my hands
i really couldn’t tell the difference between 760 and 800 etc….

IMHO… cranks are incredibly expensive
i spent ages looking for something decent at a reasonable price point
I ended up using an old generation rotor rex 3.. designed for a triple chainring.. was also 172.5mm… i couldnt notice a a 2.5mm difference..in all honesty i couldn’t care less about running it with a single, it was light and cost me something like £55 new from scouring ebay

If i had gone with a full RRP crank it would have probably cost similar to a wheel