I’ve used Ti-Spings in the past and the bolts are really nice but postage is a bit hit & miss for some reason.

I run a 2.8 DHF in my Fox 34 29er fork and it fits just fine, it’s a 44mm offset too. Mate runs same tyre in a non boost 29er Pike and it fits too albeit a little tighter.

I did try a 29er fork with 51mm offset on my old Rocket and yes you could feel a difference, couldn’t really say if it was better or worse though, just different.

If you’re just reducing travel I successfully used plastic spacers instead of removing the pin.

The drop down from Dale Head is pretty techy (mainly pitched) and also quite a bit stop/starty, though it’s been quite a while since I last did it. If you have a full day you could try the four passes but it’s a big day out for short’ish miles (16 miles or so).

If you do Dale Head down to the Tarn then you could either drop back down to Castle Crag or go along to Maiden Moor, though that has had some “fixing” done recently.

Other option from Dale Head is to try Hindscarth, also quite techy but with some nice singletrack mixed in.

Be worth checking weather before as low cloud, wind or just crap conditions that we have this time of year could make for a slog of a ride.

Zee has been ordered, got a RH cage as I thought that was correct for right hand grab, but no problem if not. Cheers all.

Mint, i’ll take a look at those. Cheers :)

This Merida just got a decent review – https://www.pinkbike.com/news/merida-one-twenty-8000-review.html

I’ve got a alu smuggler, it’s a little heavy with poor rear tyre clearance but it’s good fun.

I’ve got the older one and would usually take a medium but ended up buying a small after trying them on. I’ve had it for two years or more and it’s been through the wash quite a few times now so isn’t that waterproof anymore but it still gets used and it hasn’t fallen apart.

Check out review on front page, measures up 2.45 on Hunt wide trail rims. I’ve always found DHF tyres to be slightly undersized while the DHR2 seems to size up better (more accurate). Both are good tyres though.

I’ve had two (internal & external versions), after about a year the external one felt a little like you describe, a full service, new cable and upgrade to Wolf Tooth lever fixed that though and it worked as smooth as it was when new. Internal one is just over a year old and is starting to feel a little sticky now but routing on bike is a pain (transition smuggler) so that maybe doesn’t help. Never had any issues with clamping forces though.

If I was to buy again i’d probably just go cheap with Brand-x or look at the Revive which you can service at home.

Oddly enough I’ve just bought a 2.5 WT DHF and on a 25mm internal rim it looks pretty narrow, similar in size to the Magic Mary 2.35 it replaced.

Wouldn’t have thought a coil shock would help it going along or up hill, people often fit them to get better (or different) performance going down. I’ve owned a few Transition Smugglers, one with monarch shock, one with fox shock and not had issues climbing, often ran in trail mode mode for climbing as fully locked out feels pretty crappy for anything off road.

As with anything else, check sag, air pressures, shock setup first. Play around a little with that before spending too much money. Have you checked for tokens (or bands) inside the shock sometimes one more (or less) can help how it feels.

I’m running DHF/DHR combo in 2.8 flavour and I don’t think they’re any worse than the same tyres in 29×2.5. Not exactly a boggy mess in The Lakes but places like Ae forest and Dent can get pretty muddy this time of year and they’ve been fine. Took a while to get used to though.

27+ on mine and I love it, no idea on when or if I will try 29.

Cheers, does seem a little steep that when shifters aren’t that much more. Anyone have any need for an i-spec shifter then? (stealth ad)

Video with Guy Kesteven mentions a carbon full suspension bike…

Didn’t say if it was tubeless or not, but it was a better spec build than the NX one I think. Smuggler is a capable bike too and it’s pretty slack for a short travel 29er. I’d say mine weighs in around 32lbs for an average build (no fancy carbon parts).

Review on Pinkbike says 32lbs for a large – https://www.pinkbike.com/news/transition-sentinel-review-2017.html

A bad point is it’s hard to fit a chain device

Smuggler was similar the chain guide would rub against the gear cable. I found if I didn’t use the small routing guide on the chainstay near the BB the cable could run lower down and all was good.

Also look here: https://www.blackspire.com/product/snaggletooth-shimano-slx-m7000xt-m8000/

Looks like they use tabs to inset the chainring slightly so a chainguide should still work ok

To backup what edd says above: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/north-shore-billet-shimano-xt-chainrings-2016.html – looks like you can get a smaller ring and mount just as he says, so it should allow you to run a chainguide. I run a 32t oval on my cranks and it looks like chainguide should fit ok, but since they’re on my hardtail I don’t bother with one.

Older Smuggler as mentioned above, pretty decent geo and a fun bike. You could look for the older Flaremax & Rocketmax frames, though the rear is boost they easily fit a non boost chainring & cranks so it’s just a case of converting rear to boost. Plenty of cheap kits available so you can run wheel as it is rather than redishing it.

I used to run a Rocketmax with a kit out back to boost rear wheel and run a non boost fork up front.

What wheels have you got?

I would have thought the SolarisMax would have this “issue” too. Anyone run both wheel sizes and notice it much?

My Shan GT comes with a headset spacer if you want to run plus wheels and not have it go really low in the BB when running same fork.

Switching between two bikes, one with MT5’s and one with XT’s I prefer the MT5’s. Wasn’t initially keen on the longer levers but got used to them (shorted levers are available, though pricey). I just gravity bleed them then do a quick bubble bleed and all is good.

Bad point is the Shimano matchmaker clamp doesn’t offer much alteration in shifter placement so I sacked it off and bought a shifter without matchmaker.

The screw in pad pin from Shimano also fits the MT5’s as I had trouble sourcing replacement parts by Magura themselves when I replaced the pads. Some pads stay in just fine (the butterfly looking ones) while the 4 separate pads need then pin to keep them in place.

I know someone who has a set on test so that review should be coming out at some point, maybe he’ll pop on here and give his thoughts. Don’t think he’s broke them yet so that’s good news.

Think Cotic spec them as an option now too so worth dropping them a line seeing what they think.

Never really got on with plus tyres on full suspension bikes. Love the plus tyres on my hardtail though which will take 29 too. Only in really sloppy conditions do the plus float a bit, but living in the Lakes I don’t often ride in sloppy conditions and plus is mint on rocky stuff.

They also do a zero offset.

Didn’t know that. Is that for super boost or just to have more chainline options?

Sram chainrings come with two offsets, 3mm & 6mm. The 3mm is for use on boost frames while the 6mm is for use on non-boost frames. Depending on frame however you can use either chainring setup to get the chainline you prefer.

My Shan GT will only except the 3mm (boost) setup due to clearance issues. My old Rocketmax (boost) & Rocket (non-boost) frames didn’t seem to care either way.

@benpinnick did not know that about Raceface cranks, seems to make more sense in a way.

OI. I believe I was in ahead of you for group test volunteering

3 bikes on test means 3 testers, we just need one more :)

Can’t really compare the ones you’re looking at but I much preferred my old Slackline to the older BFe I had. I’ve also ridden the Sherpa and new Solarix Max and both equally as good (although aimed at different people I guess).

I’m gonna say yes, but you probably knew I would

I knew you would say that yes, but after that small test I had I kind of agree. I think a magazine test with some other modern hardtails is needed. I’ll quite happily make myself available for testing purposes.

It doesn’t feel unbalanced on my xl frame which is quite long

Doesn’t on my large Shan GT frame either but it’s quite a short front center on mine.

I thought i’d seen someone who had fitted a DBCoil IL to their smuggler so I would have thought a DBAir IL would also fit. People do seem to have room to run fox & rockshox piggyback shock on their smugglers too.

Controversial to NOT LIKE a Cotic, but that’s fair, pretty sure a reviewer said something along the lines of they wished the seat angle was steeper.

How does the transition smuggler compare? That’s what I bought instead of a Flaremax (time will tell if I made the right choice). You could always look at the Starling Murmur too if steel floats your boat.

I’m sure others will be along soon with more suggestions.

Reserve list for me since people got too greedy and ordered more than they needed

Roughcut damper is in a 160mm 650b fork.

RL2 damper is in a 140mm 29 fork.

Cheers both, i’ll contact Upgrade just to see what they say. I’m happy enough removing lowers but wasn’t sure on removing damper and if it needed any fancy tools or removal methods.

I also found some Hope ones that fitted and they lasted longer than the Cane Creek ones.

frankly monstrous Magic Mary 2.8

I didn’t know they did one that big it must look huge, what rim width are these on?

Depends how far you are wanting to ride and which descents you really want to take in.

We usually park in Haweswater, climb Nan Bield, descend to Kentmere, up and over to Sadgill, climb Gatesgarth then descent down Gatesgarth back to Haweswater.

X-Fusion Sweep with non-boost takes most 2.8″ tyres

Do they? I’ve got some of those I was going to sell on as last time I checked they definitely didn’t fit the 2.8 tyres I had.