Hi Joelvaughan56, I can’t really comment on whether the Zero would offer you a better bike than an upgraded Mantra (well I could but I’d obviously be biased ;) ) but I can tell you the individual RRPs of all the components on the Zero.3 is over £2000 – thats a lot of upgrading, even if you save money buying those parts online!

Ive got two sets of Velvets. Mail me ben@birdmtb.co.uk

MTBing is more popular not less. Numbers of participants (in the UK at least) are climbing. Road got away from us for a while, but MTB is catching up fast according to industry numbers from the last 12 months. MTB sales are up by more than road apparently.

No it doesn’t specifically as all but one model has a reverb stealth as standard… But we have offset the dual guides under the tt so you can either use the spare if 1x or strap a second line to the guides. There’s plenty of room to have another line zipped on and it will be hidden away from sight so you’d never know it was just tied on.

.. but do you grease the o-ring? I had an X-Fusion stop blowing just this week. Little splodge of grease on the piston and voila. Working again.

EDIT: Oh and by the way dont grease the pump head or valve. That attracts dirt which can get inside the pump (causing it to stop working) or worse inside the fork/shock. Grit inside the shock will rub on the inside of the fork stanchion until eventually the shock or fork starts to leak air from the +ive chamber into the -ve. Once this happens your fork/shock will get stuck down and its an expensive repair. Always use a clean dry pump and check the valve & head for dirt before attaching.

PS – also try adding some grease to the o-ring on the piston (and make sure its still on the piston!). Never had a new one fail on me but thats extended the life of old ones who stopped blowing.

Just email Upgrade, they will sort you out (probably!)

Measuring: measure the distance between the centers of the shock mount bolts, thus is the eye to eye distance. Then let all the air out and fully compress the shock. Measure the eye to eye again. Take the second number from the first to get the stroke. Shocks are sized as [i2i] x stroke. Eg 200×51

Sounds like you just need a seal replacement and air can service. £30 + parts (25) Should cover it.

Not any more. Now you need a FF helmet Enduro is all about the backpack.

On hubs, the ones you rode were some bird protos… on production carbons its DT 350 SPs.

Ben – I like the flexible build idea?

Will you supply cranks that can take a 28T front ring, as it’s rather hilly here

All our Cinch cranked models run a 28 option…for free. Thats the Bird way!

I’ve only just noticed the lack of bottle bosses Ah well.

Don’t worry Alex, I will throw you in an Osprey pack like my blue one, but in black (I know you would want a black one) for free for being a top guy and travelling down to demo the bike :) They are the nuts. Anyone who wants bottle cage bolts probably doesn’t want an Aeris ;)

PS – Not that I want you to change Alex… but yes the £1550 one is a total ripper! Its not the lightest out there for sure, but every component is totally sound and its better riding than a lot of bikes 2/3/4 times the price… but I would say that wouldn’t I?

The 1550 model is around 31.8 lbs, down to just over 28 on a light build. I suspect Alex’s spec will be about 28.5.

Cranks are 170 standard, 175 on xl, 165 on xs. You can however change it out if you like.

From Farnborough you can pick up an access road into Minley from the Harvester roundabout (near the M3). Once you cross the M/Way you will see singletrack crossing the fireroad fairly quickly… just follow that.

Raceface also do a BB that will take a BB30 axle in a 68/73 BSA housing, for the right length crank.

So we managed to hook up a test ride for Alex at Cannock/stile… I think he quite liked it…

ha ha, I cant see us doing an eBike no. Not until the UK law changes anyway ;)

On Fatbikes, investing in that is pretty much a waste of money now as far as I can see. We’d be too late to the party – The FB craze will probably fade in a year or so, and be superceded by plus size, which has the potential to be a long term ‘size’ much more than fat bikes do. Plus brings its own challenges, but I am already looking at what might be coming along, and speaking with some of the pioneers like WTB to see where they think its going. A plus compatible FS is certainly a viable option we’re looking at! By taking it 1x only you can start to fit really big tyres into the frame, which opens up proper geo with big wheels and ‘standard’ components. 3 inch tyres running on wide rims and fairly tall profiles could still work with most current component setups if you slim down the drive a little…

Thanks kimbers for the mention. Bird zero will run 150mm forks (under warranty). We have bundles for forks/headsets/axles too. Don’t know where you live of course but we ship to the Eu right now.

2.5s will fit but it getting very tight. Not tried a 650+ in there. The Zero would swallow if up no worries but not sure on an Aeris. I’ll speak to Web to get one in. Deposit is 850 which get you the base frame and you can top up from there to get a full bike.

Nothing stopping you, but FWIW I have converted some non-TR Maxxis tyres before, and found they work but do lose air more quickly than TR versions. Fenwicks have a special goop thats supposed to be better for no TR tyres FWIW.

RF Ambush. Tough as old boots and pretty waterproof.

There’s a review coming out in MBUK this month. I don’t know what we’ll get so its a bit of a risk… but why not check it out? Hits the shelves on the 19th (I think). Lets hope its a good score now I have said that 8O

Yes you could do that – depends on the strength of the BB though as to whether you will just crush the BB or pull the crank off. You may be able to pop a coin in the cranks to beef up/widen the SQ taper crank puller. IIRC 2 * 5p did it for me once, not sure how what Baht coin would be the equivalent!

Would it not be best to save the hassle and fit an EC44/30 lower cup instead?

You can pick up a Bird Aeris from feb for £850 for a frame, £1550 complete. Sold a couple to Bronson owners (including carbon). Jock rides a carbon bronson for example: http://www.birdmtb.com/?cat=80. :)

No sure, but I dont think it will matter. 8/10/12 all should work the 30T rings are threaded all the way through. I can check what RF use tomorrow if you like.

Yes I have ridden them. Alloy is lighter but can be a bit brutal in all but the lightest bars (EG Turbine). Carbon is awesome and the new shape of the Sixc / Next is mint.

30T will just need half a normal bolt I believe (if its the screw in type)

Just park in crowthorne and ride in would be my advice. plenty of parking behind the dive center or in the village, and its only a few minute warm up ride off road to pick up the trail at Red 8. Even better, you can get a pint or fish and chips after!

Id recommend the Fox Rampage Pro Carbon – its a great helmet… but only if it fits you. With helmets fit is #1 always. No amount of MIPs/other fangled things will help you if the helmet doesn’t fit right. The fox has a load of inner sizes and multiple shells too, so I found it easy to get a perfect fit. It also looks the bomb :)

You guys are just messing about with your DT and Park stuff. This is what you want: I guve you a PK & Lie truing stand.

@deanbfm – that leverage curve looks nice on the scout, much like an Aeris. Have you ridden one? Would be interested to know how it feels, although I think I can probably guess!

The official spec list looks spot on! Would be nice to know the price of upgrades/downgrades.

I saw a chap outside the Food Co in Colchester with a Bird T-shirt on. Was going to stop and ask about it but he was with family. I assume it was one of the owners as it’s a bit early for fanboys.

I can guess who it was and he isnt a bid staffer… On the pricing for upgrades, it varies on product type, but if you use the formula 0.65 * (RRP of new thing – RRP of old thing) you are pretty close. Put another way we give you 100% of the value back on your old item, and then discount the difference to the new part by 35%… clearly a much better deal than buying a bike, ebaying a bunch of things then hunting around for a bargain online!

Options at the same level such as Turbine vs Atlas, or different tyres are free or sometimes £2.50 if you step outside the standard options.

The site is a bit incomplete (other than deposits right now) as trying to add all the variants has pretty much nuked its capability to operate, so I have had to pare it back. Some late nights ahead trying to fix this one!

Cazum there’s a review of the Aeris in this months WMB. If you are feeling cheap you can find the relevant parts on the website http://www.birdmtb.com

The 2015 EX models are much better value than the non-ex FWIW.

let the air out and stand on the tyre.

Cool, just added one to the front of my bike. Will test this avo and report back.

Yeah, thats a combo I am thinking about too. Unless you’ve tried the DHR2 you probably don’t know how much better it is than a DHR…. And given its the lovechild of a DHF and HR2 then on the front I think it will be mint. Just need to find the time to swap over and test! yes they are ‘proper’ size nowadays.

If you’re interested in the Aeris, then check out the current issue of WMB…

This is surely the same for most bike shops or indeed lots of other sellers of consumer goods….selling this years models and then being able to discount them so heavily at the year end? Or the fact that a lot can offer 0% finance.

The EoY sale is a bit different. Each party drops their margin in the chain, the brand, the distributer and the shop. Its not just that the shop had a huge margin to start, plus if bike companies insist on model years, then they’ve got to go… of course lots of companies do nicely without model years, you do wonder what the price of a Trek/Giant/Specialized would actually be if they didn’t have to sell them off cheap at the end of the year.

Thats different of course to the Halfords model – They are pricing a bike at X with no intent of keeping it there. Its actual price is 75% of X, they just keep it at full price long enough to put a ‘Sale’ sign on it.