I’ve tried to say that but he’s not having it, so even though he’s taken it apart it looks like it’ll be easier to just have it returned to me.

I thought the same as you, the threads are there but they’re not actually used. The damper blew on a ride and the blue top flew off (and got lost). I advertised it for sale with this info.

Picture is here on google so it’s just a link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gjSuTaUiGsNpn4HC2

Can you embed google images on here? I’ve never figured out how to.

Cheers for link. I’ve got a pic of the uppers from the fella and they look just like the first pic after point 5 in the first post of that thread. You can see the pin spanner cap clearly but the damper side looks like it has no cap at all. From my small search I can’t find out if there should be a cap or circlip there or if it is indeed just an open ended thing, as the damper gets removed from the top of fork assembly.

Was about to say if you live close and have a few mates with you it’s good fun but not worth a long drive. There’s not a load there but enough to keep you occupied for a few hours and there’s a decent balance of jumps & drops to work at.

I’d agree with the above by nickhit3 too, it’s probably more fun on a nippy wee hardtail or short travel trail bike but people take all sorts there to ride so take what you got.

I preferred the older 26″ Slackline to the Bfe I had but can’t comment on the newer version Slackline. You’d be able to find either of them 2nd hand if you looked around though.

I had the 2016 frame for about a year, it was great fun, ran mine with a 140 fox fork. It built up to be just over 30lbs so with some bling parts you could get it under that. I found it to be a very fun bike, the most playful 29er I’ve ridden. I’m trying hard not to buy another one.

Mabie was fully open last time I was there (few week ago) but they have been doing forestry work so sometimes sections are being closed down if there’s machinery about.

I doubt Cy & co will change the Soul too much but they will respond to how things have changed since the last version came out.

The Bfe grew in top tube length because people were running much shorter stems so that makes sense. They also based it around the 140mm fork as most people seemed to run that on the Bfe.

I’d expect to Soul to be slightly longer and be designed around a 120mm fork with a 50-60mm stem, what else they do you’ll have to wait and see I suppose.

Soul & Solaris are next in line for proper updates (not the small refinements like on the Rocket etc). So like the new Bfe they are going longer and lower I believe. No info on release or colour.

Other than the revisions/spec tweaks announced about the Rocket on FB yesterday.

The geometry has remained unchanged however and that’s more what I was getting at, they’re not going to release a new super long and low Rocket just yet (though they do have some prototype ones like this).

I’ve ridden the Evil Following, FlareMax, RocketMax, Stage5 and Transition Smuggler as well as a few others. I’ve owned the Smuggler (not latest one) and now own a RocketMax.

The Following was good but didn’t feel any better than the Smuggler so the extra money and not great warranty rules it out for me. The Smuggler was a fun playful 29er bike which I really enjoyed, and i’d love to try the latest version.

The Stage5 felt like a bigger bike, it had much more confidence and stability in rougher stuff but did lack that “fun” that I enjoyed with the Smuggler and FlareMax.

The FlareMax was also good fun, I quite like how Cotic bikes ride and I was pretty much ready to get one until an ex demo RocketMax came up so I got that instead. The RocketMax has a bit more stability about it like the Stage5 but I prefer how it feels on the trail.

Don’t hold out for any new updated Cotic full suspension bikes soon though as according to Sam demo man they’re revamping the hardtails first.

You won’t go wrong with many of the newer 29er bikes but try as many as you can and find out which one you enjoy the most before spending the cash.

Might try the Sram GX cranks then, the new 12 speed ones can be had on crc for less than £100 currently

What system do sram use to fit cranks, is it reasonably easy to set up? I’ve only used shimano up till now as fitting them has always been straight forward.

mikewsmith do you use the hope conversion to use a hope BB because GXP BB’s are awful?

There’s been a bit of rain recently and looks like there’s more to come this week so it’ll definitely be damp. I don’t think it gets really muddy but it’ll certainly make the roots and some bits a bit slippy. There’s probably some info on the GNAR facebook page about conditions of trails.

There’s enough trails in and around Innerleithen without needing to ride the trail centre. As BoardinBob says, trail forks app or do some strava segment exploring and you’ll find loads.

I had an aggressor tyre on the rear of my bike for a few rides and it was fine, it’s a little tougher than the purgatory grid as I’ve damaged quite a few those, while the aggressor is still ok. Not sure how they compare drag wise but the aggressor rolls pretty well when compared to the DHR2 I had on previously.

If you throw me some postage money (£5) you can have my Aggressor I probably won’t end up using it again, it’s only had about 4-5 rides.

The V1 Airdrop frame is pretty heavy I used to have one too, I think the frame as standard with the monarch plus shock weighs in around 8lbs.

My full build was around the 32lb mark. That was mainly an XT build with Arch MK3 wheels, Maxxis tyres and a Rockshox Yari. It weighed a wee bit less when I had an xfusion sweep fork on it but felt better with the Yari. Only time I really felt the weight was on hike a bikes.

The xfusion metric fork is quite heavy, if you switched to a Pike you would lose a pound in weight but is it worth it if you like how the Metric feels.

I’m 5’8″ and ride a large (18″) I’m up in Cumbria so it’s done a few big lakes rides.

I’ve got one, it’s pretty good, definitely one of the nicer hardtails I’ve ridden. They size up small mind.

I’m now wondering if they’ll make some geo updates to some of the other bikes in their range. I do like the look of that light blue Bfe frame.

I’ve not a gpx of that no as I wouldn’t usually include doing warnscale with the bash. I’ll have a bash gpx though.

If you wanted a bigger ride (though less miles) you could do the 4 passes and start in seatoller. Do you have to start from Keswick itself. I have a 4 passes gpx

The normal bash route that starts in Keswick is just a little short of 20 miles. Going over Walla Crag is cheeky so avoid busy times, but it’s definitely more fun than just riding the road.

If you add on going to the top of Honister then going down Warnscale you’ll be adding another 5 miles or so and you’ll have to go back up Honister from Buttermere too which isn’t very nice.

We’re all different though and I only mention it because my “problem” with the Smuggler was the same as yours with the Segment; a fantastic bike when I was pushing it but not as much fun the rest of the time.

Yeah “a fun bike” is very much a personal thing, due to it’s short travel and it not being a long bike I found the Smuggler an easy bike to play around so I really enjoyed it. I’m very tempted to buy another one actually but I think they might be getting an overhaul with Transitions new geometry/sizing.

I demo’d one for a full weekend a couple of months back, it was quite fun but very different to what I was used to. It can certainly cope with rough terrain and I don’t think I pushed it anywhere near it’s limits but I prefer the more playful ride of the transition smuggler or cotic flare max.

Apologies if this does get asked loads, I should have checked first. I’ll look into all brands suggested. Cheers

Bars was my first thought when it comes to bike setup, the stem is already short. I recently increased bar width by 20mm but thought change was minor. Not sure on sweep change between bars so could check but I had considered that too yeah.

I’ll add that it is my posture that needs the most work but any small changes that will help me keep this posture while riding can only be good.

I’ve only ridden the 2.0 version and thought it was superb, a really fun & fast bike. As honourablegeorge says they are quite short compared to many other brands though, I rode the large (i’m only 5’8″) and it still wasn’t very big. Don’t think they’ve changed the geo that much for the new version either.

I demo’d one for a full weekend a few weeks back. It doesn’t feel like a short travel 29er to me, a bit more capable in rough than my Airdrop but not quite as fun/playful as the Airdrop or my previous bike (Transition Smuggler).

I struggled a little in some tighter trails with it but you’d adapt to that over time. On some other trails I knew a bit better it was quick and pretty composed too. When it came to the end of my weekend demo I would have happily kept it.

I only demo’d the lower spec of the builds but had no complaints with the build or component choice. The full build was just under 31lbs too which I thought was decent. If I were to buy one (a possibility) i’d do the same as you and buy frame only.

3pm now according to the facebook page

My subscription copy arrived yesterday, not sure that really helps you though…

Happy with my v1 edit. Ed has been spot on to deal with and I like the sizing of my medium (i’m 5’8″). After a year of use i’m just about to change the bearings and it’s only £20 for the lot, much cheaper than the £75 I had to pay on my old smuggler.

I’ve just done similar yesterday, there’s a 4-5mm slash in the tread, it usually fixes ok with a larger tube patch, sometimes with a bit of gorilla tape on top. Only time i’ve written a tyre of is when I’ve put a hole right next to the bead. Worst result as you say is to just run it with a tube in.

Always worth having a spare tube with you though.

It is solid, but i’ve only noticed the weight when doing hike a bike rides. I am 5’8’ish and ride the medium (18″) with a 40mm stem.

I really like my AM41s grippy enough I found and they’ve lasted much longer than any five-ten or other shoe I’ve owned. Did they change the sole for the new version and make it worse?

Here’s mine though a few bits have changed since then. It weighed around 31.5lbs I think.

Ooh nice, that’s another new bike option to consider

Took this round the 4 passes yesterday and I actually enjoyed it! Here it is on a slightly easier ride out that I did on Saturday.

How long/big is the ride? I quite often just take a drink and a flapjack along with me then have some food sitting in the vehicle for after