I tried to turn off the lock on my hydration bladder so I could have a drink, and it was a bit stiff so used two hands. It wasn’t until I dramatically jumped off my bike on a really tame bit of trail that I remembered I couldn’t ride very long with ho hands on the bars…

Quite a few shops allow you to hire a shock wiz, I ended up getting one for a week for around 30 quid so a bit more reasonable than 300!

Top tip when fiddling with suspension settings, make sure you write down your current ones, means you can always go back if you mess it up.

Personally, I wouldn’t bother with a wheel upgrade on a bike you’re not sure you like. Maybe try changing the tyres and fiddling with the suspension first, which is a relatively cheap way of doing it.

I understand your issue, I have the same problem with the enduro bike I bought. Nice going downhill, but everything else feels like a bit of a slog. Not sure the Spectral would be worth the extra cost though, as it’s probably not that different. Might be worth trying to demo a few similar bikes to see if they’re any better before committing to one.

The massive difference between the Stanton Slackline and any New Cotic bike is the length. The 16.5 Slackline I have has a 415mm reach, whereas the equivalent Cotic is probably 40mm longer.

I think the Stanton rides brilliantly, and is the best climber that I’ve ridden (and good on the descents), but if you want a super long bike then I’d look at Cotic.

Edit – also look at the Sherpa from Stanton if you want a 120mm fork.

For 3-4 players, Love Letter is probably the most fun we have when playing with friends. Simple rules but great fun, and everyone we’ve played it with has ended up enjoying it.

Another favourite is Colt Express. Bit more complicated but still relatively simple to learn, and also pretty funny.

Thanks! In case anyone else tries it, you need to use the first 6 digits of your card number in the promo field.

Edit – Actually, I’m going to delete this

@dumbbot – out of interest, is that colour the teal colour off the website, or is it a custom one? I’m not sure if it’s a paler colour or if it’s just the lighting that makes it look different.

And are you enjoying the bike still? :)

Dalby blue route might be worth doing, a mixture of fire road and non technical single track, but with some hills. Sherwood is similar too.

I think there’s a sort of way marked route around Wetherby. Not ridden it so not sure how easy it is to follow, but it might be worth googling to see what it’s like.

I thought it was one of the most interesting interviews I’ve read. I don’t want to read something that sounds like it’s from a PR company, or a football manager speaking to the press after the game.

I do wonder what he thought about the article though. He seemed pretty happy with his choices and style of riding so probably wouldn’t complain about the content as such, but it didn’t sound like they got on very well

Rising 44 is pretty brilliant, one of the most readable WW2 books that I’ve read.

The First World War by Liddel Hart is a decent narrative history of WW1. It was written reasonably soon after the war finished so some of the analysis is still quite raw, but I thought it had aged pretty well.

Going from a full suss to hardtail requires a bit of adjustment sometimes, but the other way round just makes it easier so should be fine.

I really like Instagram. If you’re careful with who you follow it’s possible to create a really interesting feed, and not just full of what people you used to work with/go to school with had for lunch.

I’ve also met a few people on there who are now riding buddies.

Never understood Twitter though, and never really use Facebook.

Yeah, the Magic Mary 2.8 offers great grip in the mud.

They could make a PayPal claim against you by claiming it never turned up. Does this Baltic state have tracked shipping options? I know some countries don’t.

The front half just looks like an ebike, so a bit ugly but fairly normal. The back is a bit strange though.

Heard some good things about the actual performance. I like that some companies are trying different things, if all bikes looked the same it’d be a bit boring.

If I were you I’d sell the Spitfire, unless there was a type of riding you regularly do that you wouldn’t want an ebike for (may
be races?).

How about getting a hardtail and switching between rigid and suspension forks, and possibly different tyres, depending on what kind of riding you want to do? Means you get to stick to one bike but makes it very versatile fot relatively little money and faff.

I imagine something like that Karate Monkey posted above would work well for that.

I have two, mainly so that I have a spare in case one needs some work. I think having any more would be a bit stressful as I’d worry I wasn’t riding one of them enough.

Very moving, thanks for writing that Tom.

Pinkbike and classifieds on here have generally worked for me. Gumtree and Facebook marketplace was full of scrotes so avoid like the plague.

Ebay is probably the best bet if you’re willing to post.

It’s probably worth checking if you can get a 3×9 on these bikes. I’m pretty sure I read that the latest Cotics are 1x only, although that might have been the Rocket, not the hardtails.

I have the Stanton Slackline and it’s brilliant, although I don’t ride anywhere near as long distance as you so not sure how it handles that.

I hope they sort it out, both for the company and their customers who are waiting for the frame. They might be a bit of a pain on social media sometimes, but I wouldn’t want to wish their business to fail because of that.

The Gnarpoon looks really nice, although doubt I’d buy one considering the above issues.

The Magic Mary 2.8 has been brilliant on the few rides I’ve had with it so far.

Ben Cathro is really good.

What about this? I saw one in a bike shop and it looked stunning.

PORTOBELLO

Have a look at an OS map, or the open cycle map online. You can view OS maps as one of the overlays on Bing maps.

It does look pretty swoopy tubing in the videos, although it’s hard to tell.

My favourite history podcast is 1914: Day by Day (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03t8m6h/episodes/downloads).

This series is genuinely brilliant and is about the run up to World War 1. I know you said you didn’t want to just listen to military history, but this also covers the diplomatic build up to WW1, as well as a bit of domestic history too.

Each episode is really short as it covers a day. When I listened to it I found somewhere that grouped the days into weeks so I wasn’t having to download a million files.

Also, if you’ve ridden the 2 previous days for a reasonable amount of time then you won’t be at your peak strength on the third day. You’ll naturally feel a bit more tired and won’t have as much power. It’s why sportsmen train harder in the pre season compared to during the season. The constant hard training helps build fitness, but you won’t be anywhere near your peak for a one off ride if you don’t rest beforehand.

Even professional sports people have an off season to relax, both physically and mentally. It’s not a sign of strength to be constantly pushing and being hard on yourself, it’s a sign of a potential mental health problem. You can’t be at your peak constantly, our bodies don’t work like that. Pro athletes have very specific training plans which enables them to hit their peak at specific points in the season. Football managers infamously rotate their squad to rest their key players so they’re fresher later in the season. What makes you think an amateur cyclist is any different?

Seeing 2 hours messing about at Leeds Urban Bike Park as a waste of time isn’t a good sign. If you just want to get fitter then stay on a turbo trainer, but hitting jumps, berms and flowy trails is meant to be fun and rewarding, not just a work out.

Go easier on yourself. It sounds like you’re a decent athlete and in good shape, so focus on that. I’d also suggest a training plan of some kind. This doesn’t have to mean pushing at 100% every time, I’m sure good training plans also focus on lower intensity days and ones where you can focus on skills rather than just fitness. But it might help give some focus and give you an excuse to have days where you’re not setting PBs.

Maybe Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective? It can be played solo or co op with others, and involves trying to figure out a puzzle. It’s pretty good fun.

There’s a review of it here:  https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/videos/review-sherlock-holmes-consulting-detective/

I just double checked the figures for the Cotic and it’s even more similar to the Canyon than I first thought. The seat angle and head angle are 1 degree slacker, the chain stays are only 3mm longer, and the reach is 3mm longer. I’m guessing the rear shock tune/suspension design is making the biggest difference as everything else is so similar.

I’m not sure how that causes the bike to feel like more of a handful on climbs though. I can see how it makes it feel less efficient, but not why it feels like I’m wrestling with it.

On previous bikes I’ve had similar problems when I set the bars up too high, but if anything the bars on the Cotic are lower than the Canyon so I can’t imagine it’s that.

BTR for me, but that’s only because I prefer the look of steel over TI.

Thanks for the replies, there’s some interesting stuff here. I hadn’t considered the type of suspension so that could definitely be a factor. I’m not sure what the seat tube angle is on the Cotic but I’m pretty sure it’s a bit slacker.

Both wheels sizes are the same so that shouldn’t be an issue. And my fitness hadn’t changed from 1 week to the next, but i felt the difference immediately aftee I switched bike. Im not bothered about setting records on longer draggy climbs, it’s the technical climbs that I find tricky.

I forgot to mention weight! The Cotic weighs around 0.5-1kg more, but the wheels are probably a bit lighter than the Canyon. Would that make a noticeable difference?

I’m not sure the exact measurements, but I’m pretty sure the Cotic will have a longer wheelbase. The seat tube angle on the Canyon was probably a bit steeper too.

Tyres obviously make a big difference, but I had fairly draggy tyres on both bikes so imagine it’s fairly similar on both.

This is all based off feeling, not actual timings. Fire road climbs feel draggy, but I also find it a handful to control the bike on more technical climbs I.e. I feel like I’m wrestling with the bike.

I’m not really complaining, as I know the bike isnt designed to go uphill fast, but I’m interested to know what’s the biggest factor is.

Keep the bike you have. 650b really doesn’t make much difference so you’d be spending an awful lot of money to get a similar spec bike but with a marginally bigger wheel size.

There’s always something out there better (or just different) to what you have, so chasing the perfect bike can get very expensive if you let it.

Put it on eBay,  somebody will probably want it.