@didnthurt I think it totally depends on how much braking you do. And/or how much steep stuff you ride. I probably brake too much! Having said that, Schwalbe Purple Addix has impressed me in terms of lifespan (compared to Maxxis MaxxGrip at least).

To a degree, tyre preferences vary on location/rider but FWIW my Pennine-based ordering of the key tyres mentioned is…

1. Schwalbe Magic Mary Addix Purple

2. Maxxis Minion DHF MaxxGrip

3. Massix Assegai MaxxGrip

I’d actually rate the Assegai lower than a Maxxis Minion DHR II MaxxGrip (Assegai just clogs up too much IME)

But none of these tyres are actually BAD are they? Just fine-tuning what suits you best init.

<u>@Shackleton am fairly certain you’d get along well with Aeris 9. I only really ride ‘natural’, generally steep stuff. I prefer running the bike in longer CS/slacker SA setting for stability. SA still plenty steep enough for ascending nicely. Would strongly recommend going coil, ideally with a climb switch, defo with decent LSC adjustment. That way you can quickly set it on the day depending what you’re up to (firm for fells, soft for roots etc). Geo very sorted for bike’s intentions. Loads of standover. 200mm dropper able. Looks like a pretty easy bike to live with in terms of maintenance/bleeding/cables etc. Suspension works great; soft > support > ramp etc. Well executed bike.</u>

@Shackleton am fairly certain you’d get along well with Aeris 9. I only really ride ‘natural’, generally steep stuff. I prefer running the bike in longer CS/slacker SA setting for stability. SA still plenty steep enough for ascending nicely. Would strongly recommend going coil, ideally with a climb switch, defo with decent LSC adjustment. That way you can quickly set it on the day depending what you’re up to (firm for fells, soft for roots etc). Geo very sorted for bike’s intentions. Loads of standover. 200mm dropper able. Looks like a pretty easy bike to live with in terms of maintenance/bleeding/cables etc. Suspension works great; soft > support > ramp etc. Well executed bike.

Yep. We’ve been testing a Bird Aeris 9. Surprise surprise it’s really good. But it is my sorta thang admittedly. All the way down to the coil shock (coil lover here). @Shackleton what bike(s) are you coming from at the mo? I might have some thoughts on how it compares etc.

@gbozo49 – Yep! Polaris Tor.

High rise bars FTW. 38mm rise, at least.

Oops! Lolz. Corrected now. I am not the messiah.

@failedengineer – “This new update applies to any motors already using the smart system.

“These include: Cargo Line, Performance Line, Performance Line Speed, Performance Line CX and Performance Line CX Race Limited Edition.”

No head unit required. (By Phil E-Collins)

Speaking as a past owner of a similar Stumpy, there’s nothing worth doing with geo changes that don’t end up robbing the bike of positives elsewhere. For example, an offset bushing (one is all the bike accepts IIRC) won’t do much positive stuff (0.5° slacker ish) and will do some negative stuff too (shorten reach slightly, slacken seat angle etc).

If it were me (and it was) I’d run a short stem (35mm), higher rise bars (50mm), run more sag in the rear (may require putting a volume spacer in the rear shock), and running a firmer fork setup (more LSC and/or higher pressure, vol spacers don’t really do anything until the last part of travel so they don’t help with general front end support/raising).

Hope that makes sense!

@failedengineer – Good Q. Have just asked Mr Bosch-UK.

@Blackflag – I’ve never found the 2.6 to be better than the 2.4 anywhere. And it’s certainly worse (more vague) in loose stuff IME.

Orange. Cotic. Transition.

L or XL. Reach is everything. Because pretty much all other dimensions can be adjusted somehow. Reach cannot. And yeah, circa 480mm reach for you IMO.

Here goes then: “Unfortunately, the order cycles post Supply Chain Crisis have not been favourable and consequently we don’t have stock.

“The Small/Medium will be available in the UK on giro.co.uk within 4 weeks, though sadly we may have to wait 90 days for the Large/Extra Large.  We will endeavour to get some sooner.” – Mr Giro UK.

Am still awaiting an update from Giro’s Brand Manager, will come back to you ASAP hopefully. Have re-poked.

I wear contact lenses for cycling, with some eyewear over-the-top, as it were. The glasses in this guide are all plain non-prescription glasses. We shall be doing a prescription riding glasses guide at some point later this year though. Thanks to all the prescriprion glasses users for their input so far!

Sorry for the confusion. I have updated the intro just now.

FYI I’ve asked Giro UK for some info as to the lack of availability of spare pads (they do theoretically exist but I guess they always just show as ‘out of stock’ yeah?) FWIW the pads in my test helmet are still good as new but YMMV init.

Shortyman – are you looking at hardtails or full suspension bikes? If full suspension, there are defo some designs that better accommodate smaller riders. It’s all about standover init.

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/hope-f22-flat-pedal-initial-riding-impressions/

Soz! The link in the headline is the correct one. Click that for now. Will sort the button link out as soon as poss. Ta!

Funny you should say that…

(I *may* have put the embargo in the wrong place on the calendar. Soon come!)

I’ve only ridden 31.8 Vibrocore bars IIRC and yep, very similar niceness. I never could quite get on with the shape/sweeps of Spank bars though, so that was the overriding aspect for me! These Thomson also remind me of 31.8 Renthal alloy bars. All good feeling bars. Pick whichever diameter/sweeps/colour suits you 👍

Go with your original choice. DHRIIs.

Confidence certainty > drag theory.

Comments noted. Good calls. Doable. Next week will ‘apply’ them. Ta!

Soz for confusions.

AM.150 refers to the AM.150 that we did a First Ride Review of a few months ago (as stated in the paragraphs above)

Yes, eraser = pencil rubber.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wolsey

@dangeourbrain the nose may well be, I sit on the wide bit at the back :-)

Er, @Speshpaul, I’m 185cm tall.

I just like to be as far forward as possible when seated. Steep (effective) seat angles FTW! :-)

All links fixed now. Hopefully! Soz.

@voodoo-rich you can get a different headset upper cap (with hole in for cabling). We’ve got one on the way to us so we can try different stems on the bike. So yes you can ditch the thru-stem routing but no you can’t ditch thru-headtube routing.

@Rubber_Buccaneer Unfortunately we already have (black) Hope 155 cranks on test on someone else’s bike at the mo. I’ll just have to get 165 eWings then I suppose. (not really, will be transferring the drivetrain parts off my NS :))

https://www.ursupplier.com/tools/angle_measurement/

As you can imagine, it’s not foolproof or super accurate but it is helpful sometimes.

@Jordan Oops! Inserted the geo table for the Orbea OIz by mistake. Soz. Correct geo chart in there now. Thanks for spotting! #facepalm

I only rode the Claymore once (twice maybe?). And only had the Hope for a week or two.

But, you’re asking, so I’m answering: HB.916.

FWIW!

Remove the 20mm spacer.

Swap in a much higher rise bar (38mm at least, preferably 50mm).

That’s what I’d do anyway.

YMMV.

@yoshimi the weight doesn’t bother me when riding. When not riding, it can be an issue (moving it around/over/into things!)

No idea what came on first MTB (early 90s £300 DiamondBack) but defo first purchased tyre was a Panaracer Dart 2.2

The 2.2 was important.