I can’t think of many worse places in the UK to spend 3 hours in the middle of the night. HTH.

By what mode of transport? I’ve done the drive, which is very straightforward. A couple of tolls to negotiate. You can stop off in Monaco if that’s your sort of thing. There is a train as well which I’ve heard is fine but no first-hand experience. Enjoy, Finale is awesome!

I’ve had this injury twice on the same shoulder. The second time was as severe as yours, if not worse. I probably should have had surgery at the time but, due to location, my options were limited and I didn’t have much faith in the surgeon so decided against. 12 years down the line I get some fairly significant pain but functionally my shoulder is fine. I have to keep it strong with weight training or the pain worsens. Funnily enough the worst pain occurs if I have to stand for long periods. In that situation the weight of my arm causes a nasty ache across the trapezius. Even without surgery backpacks cause me an issue. I did a four day hike recently but doubt I could tolerate anything more (light packs for riding etc are fine). As you know already, there isn’t a time limit on the surgery, so given the same choice again I would probably avoid the knife in the first instance. I think I’ll need something done in the next few years but it works well currently so I’m in no rush. To answer your question about trimming the end of the clavicle – that’s done to stop it rubbing on the acromion and causing arthritic pain. Best of luck with your recovery.

Is anyone else desperate to see a big name DH rider aboard a DH bike with 29er wheels? If we seem to be coming to a vague consensus that 29 is probably a bit quicker, then wouldn’t that hold true for DH bikes too? I know Trek have a prototype and can’t help feeling 29 would suit someone Gee’s size…

Bit of a theme here…

+1 Giant, Specialized and SRAM. Giant and SRAM above and beyond the call, meaning I’m very likely to continue to use their products for the foreseeable.

On the other hand, I’ll never touch anything Commencal again.

Intense 5.5 is a fantastic bike, get it built up!

I’ve always found this a thing of great functional beauty:

I’ve been riding one for 3 months. It’s pretty much as expected: fast rolling; good, predictable grip when you lean it over; noticeably poorer braking on most surfaces. I have one gripe, which is that it seems to need quite high pressure to stop it squirming when cornering hard. Whether that’s due to having just one row of knobs and those getting compressed into the tyre, or the whole carcass folding, I’m not sure (3C kevlar bead with silkworm). For the mixed riding I’m doing I think I’ll probably go back to a DHR2 when it wears out. Don’t know about the Slaughter I’m afraid except that, IME, a Maxxis tyre will last 3 times as long as the Spesh equivalent..

KMC for me.

I’ll echo others’ bad experiences with Wheelies. Without doubt the worst customer service I have ever been subjected to. I can’t remember exactly how long it took to sort out but it was in the region of 6 months after submitting the claim, maybe longer. They sent out LOTS of the wrong stuff. Didn’t have stock of most of the things I needed, despite claiming they did, and absolutely DGAF about trying to fix things. Avoid!

Monarch is a good shock, though I had to warranty mine. CCDBA and X2 are in a completely different league. If you’re riding downhill tracks I’m sure you’ll appreciate the upgrade. I’ve heard from quite a few respected sources that the CCDB inline isn’t up to that sort of punishment, particularly if you’re heavier, but I’ve never used one.

I used the standard volume CCDB on my Nomad and it was brilliant. IIRC there are 2 setup pages on the CC website, one with standard volume settings and one with XV.

I never really understood where the recommendation for the high volume can came from, since the most common complaint levelled at the Nomad was that it would blow through its mid stroke. Solved by reducing volume in the aircan…

I’ve registered team case/dab/slide/crash

Brosnan
Hill
Greenland
Pichiottino
R. Atherton

I’m currently on an aluminium bike but have owned a few of each. All things being equal I would ride a carbon frame. My main reason being the very slight damped feel they give – carbon seems to iron out a bit of vibration. Also added stiffness possibly but I haven’t ridden the same bike in both materials to tell. All other characteristics, IMHO, are specific to the bike design, not the build material.

Oh, and I’ve cracked one of each: Carbon was an easy, seamless fix. Alu was a write off..

It sounds like the car was parked on private property? If so, they don’t have sound legal grounds to pursue a claim whoever was driving. These companies know that so rely on pestering and threatening behaviour to get you to pay. Ignore them and eventually they will give up. I know the constant letters are annoying but don’t bother trying to contact/reason with these companies. They are not interested in the rights/wrongs of things, only in making money.

I just replied on the other thread.. I didn’t bother trying to fix it as I wanted to upgrade anyway and SRAM were keen to give me a new shock. To be honest, the noise didn’t seem to affect performance at all and I didn’t notice it while riding.

I might have stuck with it but my shock also had an annoying habit of switching itself to climb mode during rougher descents!

Rickon, I had this issue and SRAM replaced the shock (actually upgraded) with no fuss. Although they were very quick in the end I didn’t want to the without a bike so took the opportunity to get an X2. Highly recommended!

I was already on the growing list of people who will never buy a Commencal again because of their refusal to stand by their products once they’ve taken your money.

It doesn’t really help the OP, but it seems what they’re implying with this response is that the seat tube extension and brace serve no purpose at all. Therefore it’s a terribly designed frame from a company offering terrible customer service. I seem to remember a very similar scenario with Pace a few years back. I kinda hope Commencal’s business goes in the same direction Pace did…

Climbs like Rickon says. Tight and twisty it’s ace. I ride everything in the Tweed Valley and it feels right at home. It begs to be thrown at steep, rocky, rooty stuff as fast as you dare. I can’t recommend it enough.

A large 26er slips very comfortably into a mk. 1 MX-5. Sadly, I had to replace the car when I went 650b…

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xzpk5kff5b3fd4r/2013-08-25%2016.32.34.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4eav206fo7f00fw/2013-08-25%2016.32.56.jpg?dl=0

I have had two Command posts, external and internal routing, done precisely zero maintenance in 3 years and they’ve never missed a beat. Plus, they work with those otherwise completely redundant LH gear shifters you have lying in the spares box.

+1 For Paisley. Very good to deal with.

The Reigns are all reduced in Giant stores but, weirdly, Giant seem to want to keep it quiet and haven’t reduced their prices on the website. If you search on the website it’ll tell you which stores have them in stock and the bikes will be reduced in store.

My point was, with your budget you wouldn’t need to sell much. There’s still a good £300 there with wheels, tyres, dropper, drivetrain… You’d end up with a much better bike than the Commencal.

I would buy a Giant Reign (and I have..). It’s a monster of a bike. Reign 2 complete bike is currently £1760 from UK Giant stores. Sell all the kit you don’t need, buy a CCDBCS for it, keep the Pikes it comes with, spend the leftover money on a trip to the Alps.

I wish this thread had popped up a bit sooner! I just bought a Reign 2 in the sale (a steal at £1760), but was really after the advanced version. Everyone out of stock in the UK. I’d seen jjbikes and even exchanged a few emails with them but decided it had to be a scam when they wouldn’t tell me where they were based. I’ll have to comfort myself with having saved £600 and still having a phenomenal bike.

More than a little hint has been dropped here: https://www.facebook.com/TweedLove/photos/a.196961036988643.48327.138953616122719/1052297398121665/?type=1&theater

I had the same problem. Try going lower pressure and use more compression damping. If that doesn’t work then 3 tokens, though I found 3 too much for most of the riding I do.

I rate it as a rear tyre for dryish conditions but no chance I would run one on the front.

Shortness of breath and rib pain following and impact = collapsed lung until proven otherwise. You need a chest x-ray so get yourself along to A&E. Nobody there will think you’re wasting their time.

In general, I much prefer the feel of carbon bikes but I would still have bought the alloy frame due to budget constraints.

Also, from other forum threads it seems I’m not the only one having issues both with the wheels and Commie customer service in general.

Quick cautionary tale.. 3 months since my initial warranty claim and agreement from Commencal to replace the wheels, I am yet to receive anything. They have now stopped even replying to emails. I’ve been perfectly polite throughout the whole process, even when they asked a month ago for me to resend pictures and video of the faults, despite already previously viewing these and accepting the claim as valid. Patience is wearing thin…

I found the cable routing messy and I couldn’t ever quite get the lever where I wanted it. I had an XT shifter I was never going to use for a front mech so it just made sense to use it for the dropper. It works great.

Don’t know about SRAM but Shimano was pretty straightforward, though I couldn’t tell you exactly how I did it. There are various threads floating around with instructions on mods but I just took it apart and figured things out. Took no more than an hour and I’m pretty cack-handed with tools..

I would always stay left, as you have done OP. In the UK for some reason we haven’t fully adopted the “keep left” convention anywhere but on the road. Anyone who’s lived in the US will have noticed they use this principle anywhere there’s flow of traffic, motorised or otherwise. For example in shopping centres or airports everyone will walk on the right. It’s common sense to them. Seems a little bizarre that it isn’t to us.

I’ve been on the bike a few months now and I really like it. Most of my thoughts are on this thread: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/meta-v4-any-one-got-a-pic-of-an-xl-size

On the subject of wheels – I thought they were tubeless ready, and actually got them set up tubeless. It was an absolute PITA though, I now realise why… In the end it didn’t matter too much as both wheels self destructed in under 50 miles. Commencal agreed to replace the front but, despite numerous emails, I’m still waiting more than 2 months down the line.

Ragley Blue Pig 20″. Looked and rode like a gate. Didn’t go round corners and somehow managed to be a harsher ride than an aluminium Orange. The good reviews baffle me.

Intense 5.5 for me too. Stolen nearly two years ago. I’d just about got over it when I read a Shaun Palmer interview recently where he said it used to be his go-to bike.

Little bit of a PSA here – I just went to Freeborn’s website as they seemed to be the cheapest place for Rimes at £72. I put a pair of 2014 shoes in my basket, just to see if they were in stock, and they magically became £60. Which is a shame really because I might have to actually buy them at that price and the last thing I should be doing is spending more money on bike kit..