I’ll be selling one soon if you’re interested, it sometimes gets a bit stuck so won’t want much for it (27.2 diameter). PM me if you’re interested.

Go for the one you like the look of the most, I’m sure either bike would be great.

The Wiz 20 is pretty impressive for the money. The only fault I have with it is that I have a habit of accidentally pressing the switch mode button too fast and it thinks I want to programme it.

The charge lasts fairly well (although maybe not quite what they claim) and it feels really well made. Good fitting too, feels more secure than the Cateye one I have.

I agree with the above, definitely better but I wouldn’t bother upgrading.

I hate the “you don’t need more than XXX” argument. Of course you don’t need anything, but if it increases enjoyment then buy it, if not then don’t bother.

Personally, I love riding my full suspension, but my hardtail is brilliant when the conditions are less than ideal. I’m always a bit worried about using a full suss in the winter (and the hassle of cleaning it), so love having an easy to maintain hardtail that I can use. I also load it up with lights so I don’t need to faff around for evening rides, just charge them up and off I go.

Different bikes excel in different scenarios. Similarly, there’s a fun to be had by riding a less than ideal bike. As a lot of others have already said, using a less capable bike on well ridden trails can make them more fun again.

That’s a stunning bike, just found the rest of the pictures! The green frame doesn’t look all that good on the website but looks lovely there.

You can’t tease us with that picture, post a few more of the whole bike! I’m looking at getting a Stanton with plus tyres next year so very interested to see how it looks and your opinions on how it rides

I had a Cateye Volt 800 that I used offroad and it was fine for normal usage and just about good enough on technical stuff. The 600xl (assuming it’s slightly less powerful than the volt 800) may be a bit weak for anything except fairly steady off road, unless you combine it with another light.

If your budget stretches, I just bought the 1500 lumen self contained Itou Wiz20 for £94.50 from bright bike lights and it’s been impressive so far. It’s probably worth spending a bit more to get one that will work otherwise you may end up having to buy another, like I did.

I found Giro to be the most comfortable for the person with a larger head. I’d avoid Fox, I found it dug in at the back, although that may just be me.

Some very nice parts of Guisely but the traffic is always bad so be careful. Both places are decent for riding, but guisely especially so. It has Otley, Esholt, Baildon Moor and Calverley woods all within 5 miles or so.

Regarding the crime, have you used the police website to check the crime stats? It has a breakdown of crimes reported on each street for each month, I found it really useful when I was looking.

Even with the horror stories from last year, the estimated delivery time was accurate. I ordered in early January and it said it would be delivered early April, but it actually turned up a couple of days early. I imagine you will be fine if you order it.

Personally I’d stick with your hardtail unless you plan on doing rides that are only on country roads. I had a CX bike and used it a bit in the winter and for commuting, but found that I was avoiding the best parts of rides.

I sold it and go a hard tail instead, but I did consider a rigid plus bike as a alternative.

I love the look of the rigid Marin Pine. There’s a few 2016 models going cheap on the internet (£600 ish), and the 2017 ones have just been released too (£850 ish).

I imagine both will be excellent, go for the one that appeals to you the most.

Obviously the benefit of the Whyte is that you’ll be able to sit on it before buying, but I have a medium Spectral (5’9″) and it fits as I’d expect it to, so I imagine a XL should be fine for you.

In case anyone is interested, the photos are here[/url]. You can search for your name/number, but there’s also quite a few untagged ones too.

As others have said, go with the bike that will inspire you to ride. I imagine that making sure the saddle position, stem length, type of bars etc. will be important to maximise comfort. Perhaps a riser bar to give you a more upright position?

Onza Payoff.

There’s loads of good places to ride next to the canal between Leeds and Salt Aire, I often do a loop on my way home from work.

If you’re coming from Leeds end, you can turn left over the canal where the sewage works is, before you start the road climb there’s a fence with a bridle path almost immediately on the right. That bridle path takes you along the opposite side of the canal before winding it’s way up to the jump park.

If you come from Shipley end, the easiest way of getting to it is over the bridge and up the cobbled bridle path (about 1 mile from the sewage works). This takes you to a quiet road, which if you continue up and go left at the top, it takes you to the jump park and the other bridle path. Have a look on Google maps, it should be fairly obvious. There’s other routes in there too but they require a bit more exploration to find the best ones.

It’s definitely worth an explore, I often include it as part of a bigger loop if I’m riding around Esholt/Calverley woods. There’s a few ways to get into it from the canal, but there’s basically two bridle paths that take you in a loop (with a bit of road to connect them), plus a bit of off piste stuff. There’s also a pump track at the top if that’s your thing.

It can get a bit muddy when it’s been raining though.

I’ve just bought a pair of the waterproof Polaris shorts, they’re currently half price on the Polaris website. Not actually used them in anger yet but they do look like they may get a bit sweaty when it’s not torrential conditions. Their normal shorts are pretty decent in light showers though, they’ve lasted me a long time and haven’t fallen apart yet.

If you bought the bike new then I’d speak to the shop and see if they can arrange for the dodgy components to be fixed/replaced under warranty. If nothing else, it should improve the resale value if you come to sell it.

If they won’t do it on warranty, or if it doesn’t fix the issues, then I’d be tempted to give up and get a new one.

Thanks, that’s good to hear. I’m assuming it’ll be announced in the Facebook page when the dates/locations are set?

I’ve been considering converting my 29er to 27.5+. Are there any relatively cheap (£200ish) wider rimmed wheelsets available, or are they all £400+?

It looks a lot prettier than the older version. I’m quite tempted by it as I like the idea of the bigger reach compared to a lot of bikes (including my Canyon Spectral).

What’s the likelihood of a demo day tour? Hampshire is a bit far to go to try one out and don’t fancy buying one without trying it first. Are they likely to bring out a longer travel one as well, or is this a replacement of the 150mm one?

Have a look at the Canyon Spectral al 5, which comes to around 1640 with postage.

It has an impressive spec for the money and looks sexy in the red.

I have the Osprey 32 litre and it’s really good. It’s pretty huge and slightly more than I need, but I decided it was better to err on the side of caution rather than cramming everything into a smaller one. If I remember correctly, they also do a 30 litre one.

My commute is only 6 miles, but I regularly go for a MTB ride after work and it’s pretty comfortable doing 20+ off road, hilly miles with my work gear in it. It can get a bit sweaty, although all rucksacks can to some extent.

Newmillerdam and surrounding area is alright for mtb, although fairly flat.

I had a gravel bike (Forme Hooklow 1 2015) with cyclocross tyres on it. It was excellent for commuting along the canal towpath, quiet country roads and tame bridle paths. I mainly used it in winter as I didn’t have to worry about anything breaking due to all the mud and could easily fit mudguards.

I’ve just sold it and plan on getting a hardtail as a replacement soon. For the type of riding I was using my CX bike for I decided that I’d rather have a hardtail. Although the CX climbed offroad well, going downhill was a bit terrifying due to how shit the brakes were, unless you had your hands on the drop bars, which isn’t a great position to be in offroad!

I went last year, and although I didn’t ride, the terrain did look decent for mountain biking. There was a company with a stall along the harbour that was offering mountain bike tours, so might be worth speaking to them if you end up going.