Personally I would not move out of the way just out of badness. If they asked politely I would pull over at the next opportunity.

I’ve caught people before while recording my ride but it happens and it’s not an issue, I don’t usually ask them to move either I just ride behind at their pace, most folk are polite enough to pull over when they feel safe to do so, and that is just fine.

Don’t blame Strava for idiots behaviour either, an idiot on the trail will be an idiot with or without it and they were probably a knob well before Strava was about. Plenty of folk record their ride without feeling like they have to race every ride.

Darn, shame the High Latitude LT (650b) is only available at £1500, if there had a £1000 version that’d be ideal for cyclescheme I’ve been looking into.

Run mine (works chainring) on a 130mm susser, first with normal mech now with a clutch mech and no guide, i’ve not lost a chain yet. I live and ride in The Lakes and the trails are not smooth. At all.

I previously ran a normal mech, normal ring and top guide and I lost the chain occasionally, usually off the bottom when I back pedalled for whatever reason.

I have a set reduced to 150mm on my bandit, so far they’ve been great

It’s all rideable no detours that I know of

Looks real nice that does, so tempted to build one of these up myself but I know it wouldn’t get the use it deserves. I like the white grips (though they won’t stay white after the first ride)

There are one or two frames out there that accept both wheel sizes (i.e. mythic banshee) so you could buy now and have it set up as a 26 then if you decide 27.5 is the way forward you can buy the new bits for it.

Your choice of 27.5 bikes are limited at the minute so you either have to wait a bit longer before they’re out and hope you buy a good one or just suck it up and buy a 26 or 29, then in two years when you’re bored buy something new (or in 6 months time if you’re chakaping) :P

Transition have just put some sneak peak shots of the new Bandit, Covert etc frames on fb: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151860470492387&type=3&l=9102c533f7

Have obviously gone 650b but have also upped bandit travel to 140mm out back

Did you try it at 160 Bungalistic? Too much?

I have to admit I did not try the fork at full travel, not sure why it just felt nice at the 140/150 mark so I left it. I have seen some builds with Lyriks so it obviously works for some people, I was looking at Pikes too but they are pricier and i’m not a black stanchion fan.

Very interested to hear more on this. Was it a 160-130 lyric? How’s it feel being ‘limited’ to 150mm? How’s the Slant compare to the Lyrik in terms of damping, stiffness etc?

My Lyrik was a coil u-turn. I’d run it at about 120 going up and 140/150 going down. Slant feels fine on 150 I don’t miss the travel adjust. I prefer the lighter fork up front, makes the bike easier to pick up over trail obstacles and just adds to it’s playful character. I’ve not noticed it feeling any less stiff despite it being a 34mm fork with 15mm axle. The Slant has no damping options like the Lyrik did but I haven’t felt like I needed any so far. It doesn’t blow through it’s travel as quickly as say a fox 34 (which i’ve also tried on this bike) but i’ve not really hammered it that hard yet so difficult to say how it performs in all conditions.

I -really- like the look of transition bikes but the frames seem quite lardy

My full build is around the 30lb mark. I could maybe shave 1 or 2 more off that but I prefer something that can take a little abuse and cope with the big rocks up here in The Lakes.

I swapped the Lyrik on mine for a Slant instead, lighter and feels just as good, don’t miss the the travel adjust, have Slant set to 150mm

I bought a medium bandit a few months ago (i’m 5’8) and custom built it up with existing parts and I love it. The top tube is pretty short but this helps keep the bike short and it’s super fun and playable because of it. A very good bike and highly recommended. I wrote a small sort of review about it recently – http://www.jackrabbitt.net/bike/transition-bandit :)

Ride Ae if you want to spend a lot of time pedalling for little reward, not saying Ae doesn’t have good bits but i’m not a fan of the trail as a whole.

Ride Mabie if you like a more varied (and shorter) trail that also has some hidden extras if you know where to look. Cafe should be open if you’re here during the day too.

Soul the bouncer is overkill for mabie but wills till be fun either way

Ha ha yeah i’m feeling fine (I think). I was tempted to just go for a 29er hardtail and use that for commuting and some trail use but it probably wouldn’t see much trail use so a commuter style bike is most likely the better option.

Whats wrong with the Hard tail ?

It’s a bit small and heavy for what it now gets used for, might try use the new bike for some fitness miles over the winter so something more road friendly is required.

The Genesis Day one looks ok, not a fan of drop bars but can switch them if needed.

Commute isn’t far, a couple of miles with a train journey included. Might end up using the bike for extra rides around home, so bit of road and off road paths, cycle routes etc. Don’t want to spend too much really, been looking around the £500 mark but can be flexible.

I used to run Lyriks on my BFe, at the time they were set at 140mm which felt just fine for all round riding.

I’ve just bought the Slant for my Transition Bandit and so far they feel pretty good. They don’t feel as plush (or dive prone) as the Fox 34 I was test running but feel quite similar to the Lyrik that they are ultimately replacing, and for the price it’s hard to argue.

Yeah I believe it is the original m4, it fits a 183mm as standard but due to the +20mm adaptor needed I’ve always ran a 203mm up front. The fork post mounts are set up for 203 as standard though so that’s my issue.

Didn’t know I could buy half calipers, I’ll look into that as seems cheaper option. Ta :)

x-fusion forks are set up for a 203mm front brake. If i use my current adaptor to fit my brake it takes that to 223mm. So i either need a +0mm adaptor (which I hear they don’t make) or a new POST mount caliper.

I’m running a works thick thin ring combined with a ten speed clutch mech and no chain guide. It’s been on for a couple of weeks and no dropped chains as yet (this includes a trip to morzine)

Previously I had a clutch mech, hope ring and mrp 1x guide. The chain would drop if I back pedalled but was ok otherwise as the guide kept it from jumping off the top.

Cheers I’ll take a look

Yes both frames share the same geometry but they do have different audiences in mind to ride them.

The Soul is more a classic trail bike, it can be built up to a decent weight and it’s probably more suited to the all day ride crowd.

The Bfe is more directed at those who want something a bit tougher than the Soul, so they can go ‘play’ in the woods, hit jumps, downhill runs etc and know that the frame is tough enough to take the abuse.

I’m pretty sure Cy and others have covered these differences before, both on here and on the Cotic site itself.

Bottom bracket height feels just fine to me.

142mm basically came around so it was easier to fit back wheels in. The extra 7mm is used to create two 3.5mm locate dropouts that your wheel can sit in to help centralise the wheel while fastening it up. (remember the old qr version would locate in the frame dropouts). There is no stiffness to be gained as the hub remains 135mm x 12mm it doesn’t change.

Mine was doing it that too, only not quite a quickly as yours seemed to be losing air. I sent it to loco and got new air seals, was a cheap job thankfully and feels just fine now.

So not a huge difference that the rider will really notice and it can be ‘corrected’ with options if needed.

This just helps spread the cost of having to replace frame, wheels and fork at the same time as not everyone will want to replace everything they have at once (nor will some be able to afford it).

For the record I have no issue with any of the wheel sizes, horses for course as they say, if I have to eventually go 650b then I will but currently 26″ works just fine for my needs.

How much longer is a 650b fork compared to a 26″ one though? 1cm? That’s less than the difference between different brands’ forks for the same wheelsize…

Exactly. And if it is just a small difference that can be compensated by internal headset or an offset bush, or even simple tyre choice.

Quick question for if/when this 650b thing really takes off or becomes the main stream. Can you run your current 26″ frame and wheels with a 650b specific fork.

Say I was in the market for a new fork, I look around, decide I like the new Rockshox Pike, I could buy the 650b version that should work fine with current set up but will also be usuable in the future if/when 26″ becomes a dying breed.

Have you measured both your seat tube and post to make sure they are as described (both 27.2mm) it could be that the frame is wrong or both are just marginally out by a fraction.

I have a Thomson seat post (31.6mm) that fits fine in one frame but is too loose to fully tighten in another frame, both said to have 31.6mm seat tubes.

Cheers i’ll check that out :)

Can you take a picture of what your current problem is?

Do you have iscg mounts? If you do and don’t need a bottom roller mrp do this guide: http://www.mountainracingproducts.com/mrp/amg/

I’m 5.8 and ride the medium. Had it since the start of spring this year and ridden it mostly round Lakes routes. Feels good on big descents where the long wheelbase helps it feel very stable, but it feels a little cumbersome in the tighter techy stuff. Pedals pretty well with the lockout switched on or sitting in the middle setting.

Not too sure if I will keep it as I would very much like to try the transition bandit out as it seems a more playful type.

Fractured mine 3 weeks ago, no displacement and just had to use a sling for a week or two before some movement started to come back. Only took painkillers for first few days but ibuprofen have helped reduce the swelling.

Went swimming last night and it felt just fine, really helped loosen up the joint a little too, could probably ride gentle road stuff now but will stay off the bigger stuff for a few more week still.

I visited Coed y Brenin recently and rode the Beast, to me it was a very undulating trail, you will rarely find a section where you actually needed the seat dropped down too much.

It was a good trail but I thought there wasn’t quite enough reward for the work you put in, the cafe half way round was a nice touch though.

Should of said “Steel is real”, never been a fan of the alu hardtails

I’ve owned both surge and bfe. The surge is a decent frame that’ll take 160mm forks but will feel horrid to climb on. bfe frame feels pretty similar but feels a little more suited to longer days in the saddle. Both go down hills great with a 160mm fork but travel adjust is favourable for getting back up. I’d be tempted by that slackline or even the Production Privee Shan frame as both look a right blast.

Yes. I do it works just fine.

I like the new section it flows much better than it previously did and as many have mentioned it will bed in and roughen up over time, though I do fear they may rebuild the elevator/bad step descent too which is a lovely rough, worn in piece of trail.

If you want harder, rougher technical descents then there are plenty around.