Airborne/Van Nicholas Zion. Had one – spent to much on it to realise it just wasn’t very nice, all personal opinion of course.

i’m there again, Solo, SS Swift, so there will be at least 2 going round – and round – and round……… If it’s anywhere near as good as last year it’ll be ace! If you see me in the Retrobike jersey, feel free to point and laugh at the dribbling wreck!

Afternoon Mark, replaced the freehub body on my Swift with a steel one, using Andel cogs from Velosolo with no problems at all. also used DX cogs with no issues.

Riding Solo this year so will see you all there, it's a great event and always a laugh. Though i do wish they would but themselves a new CD to play, sure it's the same one every time, after the summer series, winter series and now having to listen to it every lap over 12 hours i fear for my sanity.

Had a 26" Zion – opposite to loddrik, found it uninspiring, everyones different i guess. Sold it and now the happy owner of a Singular Swift.

Evening trout. Interested in what you have planned as my troutlite was fine last year at D2D, remember meeting you briefly as i was about to go out for a lap. Only problem is i have to throttle it this year as i seem to be doing it solo, so something as a back up would be good.

I'm sure most of it just comes down to design, though looking at the build quality between the 2 examples i had access to there was a lot of difference. Never liked the gusset on the down tube of my zion that looked like an afterthought tacked on. I'm sure alot of people love them, personaly i didn't. That was a hard pill to swallow after the time and money spent building my dream bike, wasn't easy to admit defeat. Also i don't know how relevant it is but i brought mine 2nd hand from someone on here that had recieved it as a warranty replacment and never botherd building it up. Then again On One designs seemed to be pretty sorted and it is £799.

Going between my Van Nicholas and my mates Lynskey frame i would have to agree that the chi-ti is inferior. Found mine underwhelming. But if it keeps the costs down i guess. Horses for courses.

there is a guy that works for BETD i think that i have brought a few m960 goldtech rings from for £15 a pop. Using them as a ss ring and they have been great. Can give you his e-mail addy if you give me time to find it and are interested.

Love my Swift, seemed to deal v well with everything MM threw at it!

Sam's also a pleasure to deal with – even when your stupid enough to bend your forks by riding into the back of a parked van. (Cheers Sam)

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ring crc up. They will build them no problems. My local shop built mine for me. But not much use unless your close to Lowestoft. Great wheels by the way. Running conti race kings ghetto tubless on my swift no problems.

hi mate. You will be fine, just get 3 like minded team mates and jobs done. Us lot are there again this year so you'll have some support. If i can do it solo this year you can manage it in a team! By the way seen the ride on the 30th?

bol, if juan won't then i wouldn't mind taking you up on that, short train journey away for me.

Burgh Castle overlooking the broads, windmills as well.

185 front on the ultimates, but they are a bugger to get bled. Can bleed them then leave them 24 hours and get more air from the lever. Leads to another question (sry) are all Dot fluids equal? the stuf i use seems to have alot of bubbles in it no matter how much i degas it.

Evening rocket, quick hi-jack for a question. I've had my medium swift for 2 -3 weeks now and looking at yours see youre running mech discs. atm i have Ultimates on mine but being xc brakes would like something a bit more powerfull. Tried a fellas bb7 that he runs on his trials bike and was genuinly amazed at the amount of power they had so tempted to swap them out, just wondering if you had any feedback on them for a Swift? worth the change?

Evening Curly ;). The weight of the Intense was part of it IMHO. We where riding Thetford was the other problem. The Intense felt loverly and plush when i was bouncing around on it, fantastic for bombing down rocky decents or for scrabbling up dodgy climbs where it would carve traction but on the trails we have here it was just to much. Any climbs at Thetford are usually very smooth, 1 – 2 min at the most. You can either honk up them quickly or just spin up them smoothly. Now i weigh 2 stone less than you and even pedalling it around the car park i was getting a fair bit of bob on the beast. Does it have platform damping? also at Thetford due to the trees and some of the trails there can be a fair amount of accelarating out of the corners on twisty tracks, dragging the Intense back up to speed must of been tirring. Don't get me wrong i thought the Intense was a fantastic bike, would love to ride it in wales or the peaks, somewhere to really make use of it. But it's to much bike for Thetford as it is. Maybe stiffen the suspension up and fiddle with youre compression and rebound damping to tame some of the kangaroo antics and i reckon it would be alot easier to ride around there. Saying that it just means i expect to see you there again soon!

There seems to be a general consensus that the gear is great when it does work but doesn't last to well? Would we all swallow say a 10% price rise if the durablity issues where fixed? i think i would happily pay the extra if it meant they would last.

I had a pair of their gloves that i brought in 08 that lasted a year – i thought that was pretty good going.

I put a steel freehub body on mine. Still marks but nowhere near as much. Just a little bit heavier thats all. As i now run it with wide based sprockets i'm thinking of going back to the ally one.

I'm exactly the same as Maverick, dead pleased with mine. Also ghetto'd fine with some Kenda Nevegals.

Maverickboy i'm dead glad to hear that, attempting the exact same set up tomorrow ;)

I got my ones built by Merlin last year, hang on.

Yep, they have them in stock. If youre going for a built wheel from them i would be surprised if they arn't just as cheap if not cheaper.

Mavic TN719 from CRC?

My first bike was a pulse pro. As stated above great frames, done everything on mine then flogged itm a year or so back. £100 isn't bad if the finishing kit is knackerd.

Itching to get mine built now, hopefully be here Monday.

Just to join in, mine should be shipped to me either today or tomorrow :)

It's cheap – thats my reason

Bear in mind it's the 3rd WS race at Mayday meadow at the weekend! So i would stick to Brandon side, especially with the forestry work going (well it was on the 3rd anyhow)

Be carefull with youre bike if you do go there, there's been a few stolen from there and at the branden cafe.

can recomend the weeride, my littleun loves her's

Congratulations that man!

Right then, if people are knocking around on a Saturday night ……..
Mates 30th next month and his misses has tasked me with digging out all the old music we used to listen to for a bit of a do. suggestions please! can be indie – dance – pop. as long as it makes people say " o yeah i remember that!" jobs a goodun!

lol, something to tell the grand kids!

No worries, found it now. This being singletrack world i knew someone would of been perving over that woman from sleeper, so quick search and hey presto!

I'm going to repeat the don't spend to much comment. Brought 2 bikes for my wife so far. A GF Big Sur GS and a Spec Myka elite. Between the 2 they probably coverd 75 miles tops.

Complete hi-jack and shamless plug but i'm selling off the wife's Specialized Myka atm. If any interest to you e-mail is in profile.

I have to admit i didn't think the surface was to bad on Sunday but everyone has their own opinion. There was a bit of ice and standing water, but after the weather today i think it's probably alot worse.

Ello, finally made it there on Sunday. Trails where fine with ice in a few places but only a little pushing was needed. The final Gorlech decent had a decent amount of ice at the bottom as i found out sailing over my bars as my front wheel washed out!
At the moment though where i am the weather is really dreadfull, full on rain and sleet pellting down. I was going to visit again today but have decided that it really isn't worth it. forcast doesn't look like improving much either. I would give it a miss to be honest.