I also have a Deco system and find is ok but not amazing. For example I have 300mbps up 300mbps down at the router, but that seems to drop to 100 up, 100 down in the living room, despite trying a variety of positions with the 3 nodes I have.

100 up, 100 down is still good but annoying to lose that much speed through the Decos. They seem to have quite a limited range to get their sweet spot. Eg if I go and stand near the mode that feeds the living room I get 220 down, yet if I walk about 6 steps into the living room it drops to 100 mbps as mentioned

Thank you, some good options there. I will check out Eufy and Reolink.

I do like the Blink ones, but I’d noticed that you have to buy some sort of hub to use them without a sub, which seems like a bit of a pain.

The ring doorbell might work, I guess it’s just a camera but I dont know if they have local SD storage.

The use case is quite simply some home security while on holiday. The reason I want a battery one is that it can be placed discreetly on a shelf or similar. I do have both extension leads and power sockets, but that’s quite obvious to any potential intruder to have a load of wires trailing everywhere so am after something as discreet as possible.

Thank you, but that has a power cable unfortunately in the pictures. Also the same model on Amazon is listed as requiring a power cord

I’ve used Insure and Go in the parts. Easy to configure the policy for different types of mountain biking and different levels of cover, but I’ve got no idea how good they are if you need to claim

Are all Schwalbe tyres going to be radial, or will you still be able to buy the non radial versions?

I’ve always used Magic Marys on both the downhill bike and also now on the trail bike now that they do the ultra soft compound in super trail. I much prefer them to anything Maxxis offer, so just curious if I’m still going to be able to get what I like or whether I’m going to have radial as the only option.

That’s a shame to hear the stories about Almax. My Almax chain is 19mm, and weighs a ton, but as I now store bikes vertically in Steady Racks I was going to downgrade to one of their 16mm chains.  I will contact Pragmasis if they still have some stock

If you can get in a few uplifts every now and then, plus a holiday to the Alps then get a DH bike! I have one, I dont use it loads, but it puts a smile on my face when I do use it. Plus, a huge factor is fatigue…the DH bike saves so much energy on the harder stuff

Almax seems to be in trouble – I ordered from them but even after 3 phone calls

Was about to say Almax, would be a good choice if you can get hold of them. Hope they’re still going

I got caught up and didn’t reply, thanks for the further suggestions. The G1 may actually be worth a look. I’m a bit surprised to find it can have just 142mm of travel, I thought they were more like 170mm plus. Also I have visions of Chris Porter insisting I have to be on a bike with 700mm of reach, but in fact the geo chart looks reasonably conservative.

Chakaping – I think I’ve overlooked Canyon but the Spectral looks great. Thought it was lower travel, but 140mm would be fine and it seems to get glowing reviews. As you say the chain stays seem short, I hadn’t appreciated that in mullet the stays are shorter – I’d assumed they are constant between the 29 and mullet setup. I just dont know if that’s an issue or not, technically at 429mm they are shorter than the chain stays I have now.

Thank you. Booked the Octavia Combi and hoping they dont decide to swap it for a Fiat 500

Thank you, would love a Berlingo but can’t find any. I did manage to get one at an airport  once, and I agree it was really cheap and works perfectly for two bikes.

Good to know about the Fabia, thank you

From what I can tell, the Combi is not the same as the normal Octavia…I assume it’s some sort of more compact estate.

Thanks again for the suggestions,

I’m not that keen on Cotic but will check some of the others out.

Chapaking – that’s a good point on chainstay, not something I ever consider so I guess I dont currently have a preference. Is 438 on the large Ripmo considered short? I would have thought it’s middle of the road. I realise they’re pretty long on the forbidden bikes.

 a higher stack & the same reach on paper will feel bigger than one with a lower

On the comments about the stack height. Again correct me if I’m wrong, but is it not the case that a low stack height will amplify the feeling of a long reach? Surely as the front end is lower, then your bars are that much further away from you, assuming everything else is constant

I’m based in Surrey so that wouldn’t work. There is a place locally that will demo Forbiddens, so that’s probably ok, just not sure about the v3 Ripmo. From looking there seems to be a lack of stock, but I’ll admit I haven’t called to ask for a test ride so will do that

Sharkattack – I find it’s not always possible to demo a bike. As I always need large or XL, I find shops often don’t have those in stock to demo. Or maybe a shop does have it, but they are 300 miles away. So I like generally to buy based on a Geometry table, and from understanding what’s good in reviews etc

Thanks everyone,

I’d prefer a carbon frame, but I must admit I like the look of the airdrop.

Good shout on the Cascade links. I’m not clear which ones convert to mullet (I know the Cannondale Jekyll one does) but I’ll email them.

Leegee – I didn’t realise there was a new altitude. Looks nice, how does it climb?

On the comments on reach. I thought reach had nothing to do with seat angle? I thought reach is a vertical line up from the bb, measured to another vertical line that is in line with the head tube? Ultimately I’m focused on it as I thought it would determine how large a bike will feel for me when I’m descending.

I do agree stack is a factor. In fact, I have three stem spaces under the stem, which I guess indicates that I dont get on with a low stack.

I’ve had Code RSCs for years and always liked them. Recently I’ve tried the TRP DH Evo on my DH bike, having been told they’re better than codes by a friend who switched. Having just spent 2 weeks on the mountains with the TRPs, my conclusion is they’re maybe just better, but not really much in it. My conclusion is I’d be just as happy with Code RSCs.

You could call someone like J Tech to ask. I spoke to them about shock pumps a while ago. I wasn’t quite following what the guy was saying, but he seemed to be suggesting they had a method to quickly inflate (DH forks in this case at 210 psi) and then tweak at the end. Might be worth a phone call.

leegee – I also have a Synchros digital one and would recommend it

I’m just back from 2 weeks in Whistler. Pretty much no queue on the main lift. In years gone by it’s been bad at the main lift at times, but this year they have the new lift that’s more than doubled the capacity, which I assume is probably a factor.

One of the great things about Whistler is how late the lifts stay open. The Creekside lift shuts at 7pm and the main lift stays open til 8pm for periods during the summer. Makes for a much more relaxed day, no point rushing for the first lift, you can pick and choose when you want to go out.

Thanks everyone, appreciate it

I was just thinking if I set the forks at 60 psi or lower, it probably means they will compress under the weight of the bike quite a bit, ie the forks may have 60% sag. And I was wondering if running the forks at 60% sag would in any way damage them during transit.

We have one and use it all the time, it’s excellent. Makes risottos, chicken pasta dishes, stews, curries, yoghurt and a range of other things. The impressive thing about it is the way in which it prompts you for each ingredient, weighs them, chops them and then cooks for the correct amount of time, including stirring. When I use it, I like that I can go and do something else for 10 mins while it does the stirring.

Whoever said £700, that’s wrong they’re £1200. There’s a reason chefs use them though, huge time saver on the right recipe.

I have an iPhone SE bought new in 2020 or 2021. It’s been excellent, I will get another one when it dies

My friend has a forbidden Dreadnought. At only 154mm of travel I was a bit sceptical, but he feels that it’s not out of place on even the harder sort of DH trails. I think that will be my next enduro bike.

Curious how that would compare to a Raaw Madonna, those look great and have also been on my list

I use Black Cat coffee and they do subscriptions.

I did try Hasbean for a couple of months having heard about it on here. Far too weak for my liking so I have gone back to Black Cat Coffee

I’ve been really pleased with Laytons in the past. They took all the heat out of dealing with a seller who was a complete pain to put it politely

https://www.laytons.com/

I would recommend an Evoc bag. I do add an extra bit of padding, but I’ve probably flown circa 20 times with it without any damage. It’s a very well thought out product

PS, I am aware that some people only put 18 g of coffee or so into the hopper each time, but this does seem like extra faff to me on a process that is already time-consuming

Can you not also play with the ground amount though? I have a sage barista express and I do vary the grid size, depending on what beans I get. I’ve also adjusted the internal Burr adjustment.

however, I also find that the pour duration is affected by the grind amount. There is a grind amount adjuster on the front and I find this does influence the outcome

As above, Magic Mary is my to go as an all rounder, for the front anyway. It just works well in all conditions, aside from the worst of the slop, but for that you’ll want a proper mud tyre such as a dirty Dan anyway. The MM is super grippy in the ultra soft compound.

On the normal bike I run a magic Mary on the front, DHR2 on the rear, whereas for the DH bike I have magic mary front and rear.

Whistler, 2 weeks in July for me

Personally if I was in the market for a 911 I’d get the 911 GTS. Basically has all the sensible options already specced, and depending on model/year sometimes has a tiny bit of extra performance.

I wouldn’t bother with the Carerra 4 GTS though, there is grip a plenty in the 2WD versions.

I had a TTX coil on my DH bike and that felt great, especially after a tune – so I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend one of those.

However on the fork side of things, I took a look at some reviews as I was interested in whatever the 36 variant is. The reviews dont seem to be as positive as I was hoping, so I went with Fox

Thanks a lot, will get one ordered

Thank you, has to be a modern wheel off style turbo though with a cassette as I need it as quiet as possible. I’m going to hopefully do some work while doing light zone 2 stuff so I dont think getting bored will be an issue.

The Kickr core seems compatible with boost 148 and 650b so I would hope drop outs aren’t an issue.

I just need to get a suitable cassette, as above hoping being marginally out on ratios by just 1 tooth in each gear won’t matter?

Thank you, ok I’ll abandon the idea of getting an 11 speed then….

I’m thinking ahead of actually buying a turbo trainer, plus I’ll go out on MTB rides on the bike during the hire period, hence the idea of getting another cassette.

I think in fact my GX cassette is 10-50, whereas that NX one is 11-50. As for the ratios, in the larger 5 cogs they are identical and in the smaller 7 cogs there is 1 tooth difference in each one. Is it fair to assume that such a minor difference will be ok?

To follow up on this, I’ve got a rented Wahoo Kickr Core arriving next week and need to get a cassette for it.

Currently I have a 51 or 52 tooth SRAM GX Eagle cassette, can’t remember exactly which. If I go down the XD route, then I need to change the Wahoo freehub, which would be ok. However, its got me thinking would I be ok with some sort of standard non XD (HG?) cassette that is 11 speed?

Someone I spoke to said there’s no way you’ll ever use the 52 tooth on a turbo, so I guess this means 11 speed would be ok?

As an alternate option to stick with 12 speed and stick with SRAM, I have found this cassette:

Sram NX Eagle PG1230 Cassette – 12 Speed | Merlin Cycles

This is not XD – so am I right in thinking that this would bolt right onto the Wahoo Kickr Core freehub? I had no idea that SRAM even did cassettes that are not XD.

Cheers

Thank you, good to know that you move it out of the way each time.

I have since found out that surprisingly they are available to rent at a place fairly near me, I wouldn’t of thought there was really a market for that, but it means I can go and hire one for about £40 and see how I get on with it

Thank you. What I didnt explain is this is going in a shed/storage room that’s 1.8m wide by 5m long and it already contains 3 bikes hanging, a cable machine, a squat rack, dumbell set, large weight plate rack, hex bar, barbells, large toolbox etc. I’ve made a good use of space but I can’t have anything else that’s ‘permanently built’. Therefore my plan with the turbo is to retrieve the bike from the  rack and change the wheel each time I want to use it. Then I was going to store the turbo in a corner somewhere.

If that ends up being too much faff then I guess I may just end up getting a folding exercise bike. Putting aside the lack of zwift experience etc, I guess the disadvantage of those folding exercise bikes is probably the seating position.

Cheers

b33 – no I’ve never used one and that’s a fair point over the faff. Unfortunately in my case I’m quite space limited, otherwise I would buy some sort of fixed bike. If there was some sort of folding one that would do the job, then that would probably be a better option just to save swapping the wheel over. I’m not limited on budget within reason, but I don’t think such a thing exists unless I’m mistaken.

Stumpy/Alan – thank you, I’m happy to connect my phone to the trainer, it’s just I have no interest in virtual road races etc on zwift.

Thanks everyone for the help, some good options there