do keep us updated!

kinda thought about this a little myself a few weeks ago and did the whole 29er curious thread, but I’ve found that after a few rides my bike is just fine! 🙂 It’s all horses for courses as they say…just ride what you got.

if had to guess a number….it would be over 9000

I agree Wozza, TT needs dropped on the Solaris, it looks ace aside from that tho.

Always had a soft spot for Cotics, not sure why, never owned one (yet)

emmodd-as above I’m in the states, but thanks for the offer! What is it that you ride out of curiosity?

the stache has 17.5 stays, longer than some, still short compared to others i figure. I’ve seen the Yelli Screamy, but I’ve never seen one in the flesh, so a bit rare where I’m at.

yea sorry, it kinda throws ppl off, I’m one of the few holdouts on 29ers here it seems, never felt at a disadvantage tho. I have a friend who has a trek shop, if I can get out on a Stache I’ll post up what I think of it.

ononeorange, those are the things I’d like to test out myself…my only previous 29er experience was with a very early xc one (pre offset forks) so I’m wondering if my previous opinion about them being “not for me” was down to tech not being there. Now that there are 29ers with 120mm forks, 68deg HA, short stays, ect….it kinda has me wondering if manufacturers have finally got them figured out.

like I said, not really interested in buying, but I may go demo a few just to compare to my current hardtail. 😉

Glad to see this thread!

I used to love climbing back about 10yrs ago, always went out with some friends to some rocks in the area, only tried the artificial rocks once. Got out of it when I had to have knee surgery but have been keen on giving it a go again. 😀

I found a discarded 29er tube on the trail last year and picked it up to toss in the trash on my way out. I forgot about it instead, must’ve been in my pack for months…

Cheers to all of your replies!

@ jota180: Yes I would hear about it for weeks! It’s taken a while to get here with her, not wanting to risk it when this close to her being a mtb’er!

I really like the look of those BlkMrkt and Gusset ones, may look into that, 5.10 look nice, might be hard to get her to want to spring for those, maybe I’ll try some cheap van’s or something for now.

thanks to all for the serious replies, I’d not even thought of shin-pads (d-oh!) I’ll have to look at those! Thanks for the offer Rob, she’s not to keen on pink however. I guess I should really look into shoes tho.
What shoes do you use with those spesh pedals Tracey?

I’ll humor…try any large wtb tread you find on discount, maybe even wire bead to add to weight, they are like tractor tires and can be had cheap if you look around online. I’m running 2.3 prowlers right now, def slower than I’m used to, not sure how the compare to HRs tho.

Funny thing, I only paid 400 for my ALOT. From a well-know breeder mind…

to be fair, spokes do help with the overall strength of the wheel…if you are having them built to a hope (great hubs btw) and don’t care about weight you could go with a straight gauge spoke/brass nipple combo for a super stout wheel. something like a dt 2.0 (champion i think?) should work just fine for you.

Hope this helps!

wow, learn something new everyday…always thought it was the rear that made my 456 harsh, makes sense tho, with the downtube as a toptube and such

*EDIT* beat me to it Rob

also what spokes…just trying to get a feel for what you’ve destroyed.
WTB has the new i23 Frequency rim, may be stout, tho not sure how they’d do with you if you’ve destroyed a mavic and DT…tho you could get a higher quality Mavic…something like an ex 729

What rim did you just bust? are you a heavy rider?

I have 456 and love it…but I only got it cause I couldn’t afford the Soul. While I will prob never get rid of the 456, I do long for a Soul…sometimes wish I would have saved for one.

When I put together what I would want in a custom hardtail some 10yrs ago it came out to what the Soul is. If I were you I’d just get one, I know I wish I could go back and do the same.

loving my hopes so far…can’t beat it for the price IMO

EDIT: mine are also silver…look at my past posts and you’ll see them if you want an idea…good luck!

just returned from a lovely poo here at the office, freshly clean loo and all.

took my 98 Gary Fisher out the other day…not bad really, not brilliant, but I still had fun! 😀

are those silver pro 2’s? awesome looking bike BTW…

hey all! as promised here is my final build:

build list is as follows:

Hubs: Silver Hope Pro 2

Spokes: Wheelsmith 2.0/1.7/2.0-Prolock nips (thanks for the tip mtbmarkymark)

Rims: DT XM 450

Weight (set): 1760g on the shop scale

I went ahead with the DT’s, figured I’d just go with my initial choice, pretty happy with the way the build turned out, LOVE the hubs! Got a new cassette coming mid week, should be able to ride them then, until then here is a few more pics:

Thanks to all of you who helped!

hey all! as promised here is my final build:

build list is as follows:

Hubs: Silver Hope Pro 2

Spokes: Wheelsmith 2.0/1.7/2.0-Prolock nips (thanks for the tip mtbmarkymark)

Rims: DT XM 450

Weight (set): 1760g on the shop scale

I went ahead with the DT’s, figured I’d just go with my initial choice, pretty happy with the way the build turned out, LOVE the hubs! Got a new cassette coming mid week, should be able to ride them then, until then here is a few more pics:

Thanks to all of you who helped!

Davis WV also has the Plantation Trail, also considered one of the best rides in the Country, a bit rough tho, so it all depends on what you’re looking for.

hey ltheisinger…I live here in the US and if you are going in Sept. I’d say North Carolina. Pisigh forest is said to have some legendary trails, also Ashville N.C. is quite the bike-friendly place, don’t limit yourself just to the western trails, the east coast has some fun stuff as well…tho Colorado is a mighty fine place to ride…not sure on the weather in Sept tho.

esselgrunt: what matt said…sorry for the confusion. 😳

yes…here in the states they are practically forcing people who can’t afford/don’t want full sus to but one…prob why I frequent this forum more than others…you guys seem more sane (when it comes to wheel size anyway 😛 )

i moved to SRAM last year (x9), and so far I’m liking it (hope I didn’t just jinx it!) but as far as front derailleur…def shimano is superior IMO

*EDIT* also have run truvativ cranks for 10+ years, worked well for me so far. never had any problems with my shimano’s before that either tho, so take that for what it’s worth…

thanks all for the responses…still haven’t decided yet, gonna talk to the shop in a few days and I’ll ask him then…but I’ve got a few days to think about it till then…

never thought i’d be this hard to build my wheels…then again I am rather indecisive 😛

wondering that myself cynic-al. thanks for the reply.

mtbmarkymark- thanks for the detailed response, these will be built by the local shop for me, don’t trust myself to build, may learn when I relace an old pair tho.
On rim choice I decided to stay with the DT I considered at first, 20mm ID is fine for me, not the lightest, but worth it for peace of mind i figure…don’t know why but I just don’t trust the ex yet…maybe after i see some get used and abused i will. Hence the reason for trying to shave a few grams on spokes….I’ll look into the 2.0/1.7 ones..

cynic-al how’s stiffness? and what is the rest of your set up?

I promise I’ll get on to getting them built and posting pics after this 🙂

I was going to do the pre built route, but I can get it cheaper at the shop, besides it’s nice having something custom 😆

ahh…I see, thanks Rusty Mac, def has me thinking…

yea I’ve been looking at the stans…but the flow is a bit too much, and the arch not enough, and I’d rather not be the guinea pig for the new EX. They look promising, but i question the stiffness at that weight. maybe I’ll upgrade to them later if they pan out.

thanks njee20, those are a bit narrow…i was jaded by the promise of tubeless…crossed them off now.

oh and rusty mac…why were the DTs a pain to mount?