Going into a “test ride purchase” with the express intention of returning the bike is not just immoral, but c***wittery of the highest order.

Thanks for your input, but as explained he does actually need to buy a new bike. If he did do a prolonged “test ride”, the intention would be to keep/buy the bike afterwards. Would just be nice to have the ability to return it if it doesn’t work out, rather than rush into a very expensive without even riding the thing first.

The preference is still to pick up a second-hand frame and transfer the parts, but finding one that he can get bought, shipped and built up by Thursday pm is proving difficult.

have fun … just don’t crash it

You absolute legend.

Not sure a Blender is going to be the best idea for 500km of Alps riding, but Wiggle have some Felt FS bikes that aren’t discounted at all so they may be worth a look. I’ll email my mate now and see what he thinks.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Or, as a possible option, try to snatch a 2nd hand bike or even a frame quickly at a lower price and sell after the trip at a small loss if he doesn’t like it.

That’s actually not a bad shout. I guess a lot might depend on not only finding a suitable frame on fleabay, but finding one with an auction that ends tomorrow or maybe Weds, then managing to get it to him in enough time to build it by Thursday night… 8O

Still, I’ll tell him to get searching! Anyone seen any likely candidates? 160mm travel, to be built with 36s, M frame size?

The only other bike we have access to is my old clapped out HT. The rear hub bearings are shot. It’s a 22″ frame. He’s about 5’9. Might mean I can actually keep up with him for a change. :D

Actually thats not a bad ruse “Hi I’d like to demo a bike……for 9 days…..in the alps……………………its for charidy though”

Yes, I know how it sounds! It’s actually only five days riding – we’re driving from London to Cologne on Friday, then to Chur on Saturday, then start on Sunday – but I appreciate that it does sound like a pretty rubbish attempt to get a free hire bike for a week of Alps riding.

(Although to prove it isn’t a shameless ruse, here is my JustGiving[/url] page. In fact, feel free to donate if you want. :wink: )

He’s probably going to have to make a choice and buy.

Yeah, I think he’s resigned himself to that fact. It’s just frustrating, as although he was looking at replacing his bike in the near future anyway, he’d obviously rather be able to test ride a few first.

Only used them once, to buy some lycra shorts for my gf. Delivery ended up being delayed by six days, but I got an email the day after my order to inform me of the fact. Once it was finally dispatched it arrived very quickly. Would use them again.

What do you run on your other bikes? If you like that, why not stick with it?

Failing that, if you’re trying to keep the price down then why not go for Revs (RLT or RLT Ti), SLX drivetrain, Hope Hoops (ProII Evo on either Flows or Crests), those cheap 2012 XT brakes off Rose Bikes (there was a thread on here recently) and then whatever finishing kit you fancy.

Yeah, come on horse riders – clean up after your animals, won’t you?

And I don’t want to hear any excuses about it being impractical to carry that gear with you while you’re riding. You could connect the barrow to the back end of the horse (I hear DT Swiss are working on a 1750×25 thru-bolt rear hip skewer, which is meant to be really stiff) and use that as a trailer to carry the spade, or just wear the barrow as a hat and hold the spade like a lance so you can ride around slapping those pesky cyclists off their bikes. (“That’s not a steed, you idiot – this is a steed!)

Those Luddites that haven’t yet adopted the new 1750×25 axle standard, or who insist on wearing full-face helmets on bridleways and therefore can’t get the barrow to balance on their heads, fret not – there is still hope. The next time you find yourself wondering how to dispose of the steaming mound of organic matter that has just fallen out of the back end of your mount, just eat it. It’s non-toxic and practically like muesli or Bombay mix or something, apparently.

You think that’s good, check this out…

One girl, nine cups?

SS Shep – not normally a fan of drops on a MTB, but that is a handsome bike.

Just ordered some A2Z – £7 from eBay.

Thanks chaps.

I’ve got the flat pedal variant. Best MTB shoes I’ve had – comfy, stiff, grippy, held up well so far… It’s true that they’re not the best looking shoes in the world, but they’re for the bike, not the catwalk.

Would certainly be easy to manual.

This.[/url]

Ontario Air Cavalry DH team truck.

Bad. Ass.

think more like 5-6 hours riding and 3-4 hours fanny about. you’re never that far away from a food stop in the alps, especially if you’re transalping (i.e. no extreme hike a bike sessions to the summit). there’ll be plenty of huts in the hills and bakeries in the towns.

We’ll be doing some hike-a-biking, but aiming to keep that to a minimum.

We’ve got to hit 100km each day to reach each waypoint, which I suspect will take longer than five hours but I guess we’ll see!

(13 transalps last year, 2 this year)

THIRTEEN last year? Bloody hell – impressive! Any favourite routes? As far as I know (I’m not the one planning our route), we’re starting in Chur and heading south-east into Italy, then up into Austria and through into Germany.

Can’t wait!

I’d try a few products over the next few weeks to see what you like/don’t and what works for you. Don’t try any new energy products during the event.

Yeah, that’s a good tip. I’m going to get a few things in this week and see how I get on with them.

If you’re not racing, then maybe one every few hours (or if you feel you’re flagging at any stage). Plenty of water with each one.

I’m usually pretty good at keeping hydrated, although I only tend to drink water mid-ride as I find energy drinks a little hard to stomach and if I’m just doing something shorter I don’t want to fuzz our my Camelbak. Should I maybe aim to also take a smaller bottle filled with some sort of energy drink just to sip from every now and then?

comfort food to lift your mood when you want to get off the bike, lie down and weep yourself to death.

Yes, thanks for that. I’m actually in the process of fashioning a bar-mounted bungee harpoon so that when I’m flagging on a long climb I can creep up behind one of the other guys and attach myself to their seat tube.

Are you racing?

Thankfully not – it’s a charity fundraise so will be at a more relaxed pace, but each day will still probably involve about eight or nine hours riding.

I’m no fan of gels either, but for something like what you’re doing, I’d learn to stomach them. Torq gels aren’t so bad I find.

I’ve never even tried one before. So how many would you suggest per day – one a few hours in and one later in the day, or is it really a ‘whenever you need it’ kind of deal?

That looks fun. Weather was miserable here today. :(

Ordered some shoes from them earlier in the year. Very reasonable price and extremely speedy postage. No complaints here.

A nice looking bike, to be sure, and I get what you’re saying, but I’m still not sure a £3k hardtail could ever really be called a bargain.

Transition Bandit is 67.5deg if you run a 150mm fork. That’s what I’ve gone for and love how it handles. Couldn’t be happier with it.

If you want even slacker, the Mythic/Banshee Spitfire is 66deg in the slack setting and only has 120mm rear travel. A bit heavier, though, and there have been some posts on here about issues with bushing wear. Shame, as by all accounts it’s a ripper.

Almost a bit like a slightly less extreme Spitfire, only without the dodgy bushings and the extra heft. Very nice indeed. I’m still really not sold on the colour schemes of the TRC frames, but that’s a minor point.

I also totally get why you went for this over the LTC. Even ignoring the difference in geometry, I also recently decided to go for a slightly shorter (by modern standards) rear travel bike paired with a longer travel fork (a Bandit with 130/150mm). I guess it’s always going to be a compromise one way or the other, but I’ve really been pleased with the balance between being responsive and having something in reserve for the rougher stuff.

Let us know how you get on once you’ve been out on it more!

Maybe it’s the angle, but that stem looks really long?

Really nice looking bike though. What did you have before?

A code red.!

WFT?

Then again if its a code I spoze only those in the know..know.

Hunterst: I remember your renovation thread on that frame. Really like how it’s come out – there’ just something very right about it.

Fourcrossjon: Ohmichrist. 8O :D

pics??

Took this today.

Think there are going to be a lot of scumbags taking the opportunity to do a bit of breaking an entering, want to be at home. Got a text from some posho friends of my wife who are LEAVING TOWN??

Got their address? :wink:

mcboo – fantastic photos. Warms the cockles, that does.

Is that how she got that pearl necklace?

Bike looks nice and stealthy.

To be fair, a VitP MojoHD would look stealthy infront of that sofa.

That is what I was going for, though. I have a Henry Ford Model T approach to bikes and components.

green is a much brighter colour

FTFY. :wink:

I posted a pic in an earlier thread while I was waiting for the cassette to arrive.

Haven’t taken any pics since, but it basically looks like that, only now with a cassette, chain and some mud.

Oh, and here’s the full spec:

FRAME: Bandit XL with 2012 RP23
FORK: Rockshox Revelation World Cup Dual Position Air QR15
WHEELS: Hope ProII Evo / Stans Flow
BRAKES: Avid Elixir CR (203/160mm rotors)
HEADSET: Gravity DX Pro
STEM: Thomson Elite 70mm
BARS: Race Face SixC
DRIVETRAIN: X7, with X0 shifters and X9 rear mech
POST: Thomson Elite
SADDLE: SDG Bel Air RL Ti
PEDALS: Exotic Mag Ti
TYRES: Maxxis Minion DHF / Larsen TT (both 2.35″, single-ply, 60A, tubed)
SEAT CLAMP: Chromag
REAR QR: Chromag
GRIPS: ODI Rogue Lock-On

It doesnt do anything for me.what i mean is.. the lens on these cameras doesnt give me any idea of the speed hes going.The speed he appears to be crossing the line for instance.One second its hyper speed,the next hes at a complete stop.

Safe to assume that he was going plenty quick.

I agree it’s sometimes hard to get an accurate sense of speed on those cameras, and also of the steepness/gnarliness of the trails. They always end up looking pretty flat and easy, to the point where you watch it and think “yeah, I could do that”. But the reality is that very few people could ride that track at anywhere near that speed.

and waiting for it to get dark so as to go out and get a few beamshot videos of various lights

You may be waiting a long time – black holes aren’t dark enough for that lot! :D

Likewise, only I haven’t coached (for good reason – God help anyone who would seek instruction from me), I’m drinking a Meantime Pilsner, listening to Fugazi and reading a book.

Same again tomorrow, me thinks. :D

+1

wouldn’t buy ashfanman’s as its cheaper at merlin

Ah, hadn’t spotted it had come down in price. Will now sell for £15 with free postage.

I have a brand new Park Tools IB-3, if you’re interested. Here in the classifieds.

It’s getting to be a bit like posting this video on UKClimbing

8O

That made my palms sweat just watching it.

What they said. I run my brakes inboard of my shifters for that very reason.