An excellent thread – one where I really want to read all the posts

For me…

Bought a bigger house…
Sold a smaller house … (very problematic sale – started in March, finally sold end of October after 3 failed sales (2 different estate agents)) – plenty of stress as a result
First ever Snowboarding holiday (particularly pleased to be just about able to keep up with my two younger (and much more experienced) brothers)
Did the C2C with one of my brothers over 2 days – don’t do much road riding currently, but good to know I still have the miles in my legs.
Not enough mountain biking (in 2013 I managed to ride 50 out of 52 possible weekends – 2014 has been less)
The mountain biking I have managed to do has been excellent – top of the pile was the trip up Helvellyn in May
Cleared a load of new jumps & feel more confident on the bike as a result.

If I manage to do what I want in 2015 I will: –

1. Finally get over to Canada to ride (not got round to it for the last 3 years)
2. Race some Enduro’s
3. Finish renovating the house I bought in 2014
4. Ride as many weekends as I possibly can

I do the majority myself except…

Wheel building – I’ll lace it, but get my LBS to finish it off (I can’t quite manage the true and round conundrum)

Rear shock service – I tend to get this done once every 18 months or so (air shock), but make sure its protected with a lizard skin when fitted – the shock is over 4 years old now – it’s been to Mojo & TF, still on the original shock shaft – service report always indicates good condition

The headset used to be something I let the LBS do, but after they made a complete mess of it in May this year I invested in the tools to sort it myself

Having helped to fix mates bikes while away in locations where a bike shop is unavailable the ability to sort most things has proven very useful

I went last year & ran Schwalbe Big Betty’s front & rear, which were more than adequate – pretty sure I had the freeride snakeskin version (they’re not full dual ply, but certainly more than a single ply).

If I were going back I’d run the same again or possibly run a dual ply rear & a single ply front.

Cheers for the advice everyone – I’ll be going for a medium.

Chakaping – if you were a bit nearer where I am then I’d be interested – Wigan is a bit too far away unfortunately

I’ve had loads of WTB tyres over the years – Velociraptor, Moto Raptor, Raijin, Mutano Raptor, Dissent, Weirwolf

Very happy will all of the ones I’ve had – they seem to strike a good balance between grip, rolling resistance, puncture protection & price

Not had a Bronson or Vigilante yet tho – IMHO WTB aren’t especially fashionable tyres to have, but I’m very happy with them

Agree with parkesie

I run crests on my XC bike & Arch EX on my trail bike

I’ve had issues with the spokes coming loose on the rear wheel of the Arch EX’s, so you might want to watch this depending on who builds the wheel (same thing happened to my mate on his 650b Flows). Not had any issues with the front spokes coming loose (had the Arch’s for about 9 months – ridden almost every weekend – trail riding & trail centres)

Might be worth considering a mix – crest on the front Arch on the rear?

I’d avoid the blade if I were you – we went last weekend & the trail was cutting up fairly badly in places – pretty muddy – it needs a good dry spell to let it settle – if I’d have known in advance then we’d have chosen another trail – give bike park wales a go – it’s running well at the moment

assuming you are travelling in on the redways the signposts tend to only signpost the next suburb over

learn your suburbs & you’ll be sorted

it took me a little while to get a route sorted, but I’m able to get from NP to west MK in under 25 minutes

I ride into MK every day from Newport Pagnell

Willen as suggested or Broughton would also be good choices to park

The less desirable areas of MK are nearer the centre (Fishermead, Conniburrow etc.)

I stick mainly to the red ways – it’s a little slower to get about, but aside from a few road crossings there’s no traffic to deal with

Got one – cheers for the help finding the correct page to enter the code!

From my experience (4 different sets across 3 different bikes) it’s just a case of taking your time with the bleed process & following the SRAM videos to the letter.

Been running Elixir’s for about 3 years now & have found them to be pretty reliable. I’m aware that there are plenty of folk who’ve had issues.

Did the Destination X holiday in 2013 – would definitely go back.

Trails were great – generally well organised – the guides told us to be ready to ride each day at 9am & we started riding no later than 9:15 every day. We got plenty of riding in every day – some day we didn’t finish until gone 5pm. Wide variety of trails – from tight technical with plenty of switchbacks to fast flowing loamy trails.

If I’m to offer any (minor) criticism there were a couple of time we did some short road sections to ride back to the van where we could have been uplifted from the end of the trail & we did suffer slightly from the Trans Savoie going off about a week after we were there (they were down by one driver which did affect plans a little).

The only company I’ve been with who were better is Bike Verbier.

I seem to get this from time to time – been asked at least 5 times on a set of forks I have for sale for a BIN price.

In my opinion if you’re looking to put in an offer sufficient to end the auction early, it should be a strong offer & not a derisory one.

I get pretty cheesed off with the people who throw in ridiculously low offers – if you’re a serious buyer, make a serious offer!

On the 09 they changed the design of the lower linkage to be fully machined all the way through.

When the needle bearings went on my 06 frame I managed to find a bloke online who had done his own mod to fix it – this involved a full straight through bushing.

Mine lasted for the remainder of the life of the bike (about 2 years) – my brother still has an 05 Teocali which also got the bushing mod – still running fine after 5 years use

Not sure you can get them in the UK anymore – did a google search, which produced nothing.

I’ve actually had two over the years – 2006 Teocali Super, which the frame cracked on (the frames of this vintage had a couple of weak points).

Got a 2009 Teocali Super frame as replacement, which also cracked after a couple of years.

Both were great to ride (especially the ’09 one)

If it were my choice I’d probably go for the Shimano ones you’ve suggested.

I have a set of (admittedly) road Shimano shoes which I’ve had for 6 years now – they’ve done plenty of miles (thousands) and show no damage.

I’ve also had very good life from a pair of Specialized MTB shoes (think they were the entry level ones, which cost about £50 at the time) – they are still going after 3 years hard use.

I would avoid any 661 shoes – I bought a cheap pair for about £30, then had to replace them after they fell apart inside of 6 months.

If you get the Shimano ones bear in mind they tend to come up a little small and sometimes a little narrow for a given size.

If I was buying a new pair of MTB shoes tomorrow, then they would be Specialized or Shimano

Was chatting with a new mate in the pub last night.

He told me the story of how he managed to find his way down south from up north.

After a particularly bad day at work (he didn’t much like his job), his mate who had just finished uni persuaded him to go out for a night out (he had work the next day).

They got home at about 4am pretty drunk and decided they were going to apply for jobs for each other.

The deal was they were meant to apply for one joke job, one realistic job and another dream job.

So for my mate, his mate applied (for him) for a job at KFC (the joke), management at Boots (the realistic) and as a Quantity Surveyor (the dream).

They went to bed and thought nothing more of it, then a couple of days later my mate gets a telephone call – they’re very interested in his CV – could he come for an interview – it’s the dream job!

So he went to the interview and got the job, that was 2 and a half years ago – he’s very happy with the way things worked out.

P.S. KFC rejected him as he ‘didn’t have the right credentials for the job’.

Flew to Geneva & back mid August this year

Bike bag weighed 31.5kg, hold bag weighed 10kg

No issues experienced at any point

For 27.2mm seat tubes you can get any of the following dropper posts…

KS i7 dropper
KS Lev
X-Fusion Hi-Lo
Forca (see EBay)
T Mars (see EBay)

Been watching this thread with interest – I hope Canyon have been too!

apinkone – good on ya for speaking up – bike buying experiences should be shared – both good and bad

I get a fair amount of my kit second hand – not bought a frame 2nd hand, but have bought a couple of sets of forks. Generally had good experiences (2 sets of forks)

If possible try to see before you buy.

If the frame/forks have seen a decent amount of use (and are up to about 3 years old) but are in good condition, then they’re worth about 50% – 60% of the brand new price

I have astigmatism & my sight is bad enough that I have to wear glasses all the time.

I’m lucky that my prescription hasn’t changed for 10+ years so I’ve built up a number of spare pairs.

I have one pair I refer to as my ‘crap sports glasses’ – they’ve now got a couple of chips in them & are fairly scratched.

I’ve never experienced the issues you described ever & basically my current arrangement works well.

I also don’t get any issues ever with them steaming up (seems to affect normal cycling glasses as they are generally closer to your face when worn)

I have had contact lenses in the past but never used them to MTB. If you have astigmatism you’ll need toric lenses, but the optician will be able to advise you about this.

Haven’t had any notable noise, but they haven’t had much wet weather exposure. I tend to switch to Sintered for trips to the Alps, but luckily haven’t had much rain when I’ve been there.

I have a KS i900 and X-Fusion Hi-Lo.

The KS has been on my bike for about 18 months now & has been pretty reliable. The only issue I’ve had is with the actuation part under the saddle remaining open, when it should be closed (small amount of lube normally sorts this). Been used in all weathers and all conditions (most weekends, including 4 alps trips). I’m running the remote version. I’m yet to damage it despite several offs. It has next to no sideways waggle. I’ve kept it clean, but it hasn’t been serviced.

The Hi-Lo has only been on for about 3 months, so it’s too early to tell about this one.

What I will say is that the KS feels of a higher quality than the X-Fusion – the KS was also easier to setup/install.

The main thing which put me off the Reverb is the vulnerability of the remote lever/cable to damage (unless you have a stealth). Two of my mates have now snapped the cable straight off as a result when they’ve crashed. Both happened on away trips (and could not be repaired there), so they had to do the rest of the trip without a dropper. If I snap the cable on my KS, then it’s just a trip to the bike shop to buy a gear cable.

Given that most droppers seem to experience problems in their first 18 months of manufacture I’d be wary of anything new to market like the Thomson.

I’ve had 20+ sets from Disco now (also had a few sets from Superstar over the years)

Tried Organic, Sintered and Kevlar (I have most experience with the Kevlar ones)

I’m yet to have any issues – delivery has always been very quick too (all arrived next day)

dirtycrewdom – I left Bristol in 2002 – good to hear St Pauls has improved

try http://www.spareroom.co.uk

Should be plenty of people offering places for 3 months

There’s a few dodgy parts of Bristol (St Pauls wasn’t great when I lived there – pretty sure Bedminster wasn’t good either), so do a bit of research before you commit

For your leaking shock it’s worth checking the valve (where you attach the shock pump) isn’t loose.

A valve key can be used to tighten it up if needed (ask your LBS for one).

I have bought second hand twice previously.

I picked up a set of Rockshox Domains (160mm) followed by my current set of Marzocchi 55 Micro Ti’s (160mm). I went and saw both sets of forks before buying.

Both were in decent condition when purchased, I ran the Domains for about 2 years & serviced them myself – I experienced no major issues with them in that time. Rockshox are easy to service & would make a good choice.

The rebound has just gone wrong on my Marzocchis so they’re off with Windwave being repaired currently (I’ve had them for about a year & not serviced them yet).

Whatever you get should be 50% (or less) than the current new price for an equivalent fork.

Definitely worth checking stanchion wear, especially if you buy a Fox fork as they are known for stanchion wear issues. Anything with stanchion wear would have to be seriously cheap to make it worth buying. New stanchions are usually pretty pricey.

Finally – check your frame is OK to take 120mm forks – frames are usually rated for a maximum amount of travel fork you can fit. If you go over this then you’re more likely to crack the frame. What bike are you fitting them to?

So here is the summary…

26″ – been around for ages – plenty of people still love them (me included) – several predictions of their imminent demise about – critical mass means they will be around for a good few years yet – plenty of manufacturers dropping this size (IMHO – 26″ wheeled bikes are the most fun). Most of the bikes I see out on the trails have 26″ wheels.

650b – the newbie – apparently very popular – availability of parts not good currently (one of my mates had to get parts shipped from the US to get his finished (and no – it’s not odd bespoke kit)) – manufacturers don’t seem to have kept pace with (susposed) demand (IMHO – only marginal difference compared to 26″ – having demo’d a couple the benefits are negligible). Looks likely to be ‘the main standard’ going forward, whether we want it or not.

29er – the big popular thing last year, but seems to be moving towards mainly XC/short travel bikes. Very likely to continue to exist in the future, but probably becoming more niche. I can see the point of them, but they’re not for me (IMHO they are less engaging to ride & more suited to mile munching).

At the moment I’ll be sticking to 26″ wheels (after a brief flirtation with 29″) – the market will (hopefully) sort itself out in the next couple of years.

Whinlatter is well worth going to – when I gave Grizedale a go I was so disappointed by the trails that I headed out onto the bridleways in the forest which were much better.

As Whinlatter is split into 2 reds and one blue all of which start from the same point it would probably work well for your son as they’re not too long, so you can stop relatively easily once you’ve had enough.

Enjoy!

Lashing it down in North Kent right now.

Hopefully it missed the Surrey Hills, though I suspect not…

The ‘two of the most demanding’ tag is a bit of of an exaggeration – how difficult it is really depends on how fast you go (it’s probably a bit of H & S making sure people are appropriately warned and/or selling the trail as challenging to draw in visitors).

You’ll be fine.

I’ve ridden most of the trail centres in Wales.

I’d suggest either sticking to the South or North only – the roads through the middle of Wales are slow going.

If staying South I’d probably go for Afan (W2 trail), BPW and Cwmcarn (2 x Twrch trail).

Cwmcarn would be on the way back to Soton, the other two aren’t that far apart.

You could also head over to Brechfa which is worth the trip (though in my opinion best when it has been dry).

Best to get Brechfa one done on the 1st or 2nd day as the drive back to Soton from there would be a long one.

If you were going for North, then Penmachno/Marin can be done in a day (10 minutes drive to get from one to the other), a day at CYB (avoid the Tarw trail – it’s not good – go for the Beast/MBR/Dragons back instead) then Llandegla on the way out.

Staying somewhere near CYB or Betws-y-coed would be good if you went for N Wales.

Likely to be On One http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYSCBBW/schwalbe_big_betty_wired_tyre

From memory I think you need to spend over £20 to get free delivery

I just got back from a weeks riding with Trail Addiction where I ran one on the rear (brand new when I arrived).

I had the Freeride version (snakeskin) – grip was very good (dry conditions – no rain), but I came back with less nobbles than I went out with.

There’s probably only a weeks life (alpine riding) left in it.

Couple of my mates ran Specialized Clutch, which seemed less worn at the end of the week.

Got mine fairly cheaply from On One.

For me it’s anything I’m stuck with as a result of the design: –

Press fit BB’s
Lack of ISCG tabs
All 29ers
All 650b (what I buy needs to be compatible with existing 26ers)
+1 for proprietary shocks
Any frames with a history of cracking
Anything in its first year of production
Frames that only take 1 1/8″ steerers
Frames which only have quick release on the rear

I wouldn’t be keen on any of the following (might put me off or I’d probably just strip them off and sell them immediately): –

Anything CB
Fox forks
Wheels which have proprietary spokes
Wheels based on hubs other than Hope or CK

Might be worth watching this video: –

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Tech-Tuesday-Change-the-Seals-and-Fluid-of-Your-Marzocchi-44-For.html

Not precisely the same model, but I would imagine the process is similar.

I’m looking at servicing my 2012 55 Micro Ti’s shortly so would be interested to hear how you get on.

Yeah – UK Bike Skills is Tony – he posts up on here as Jedi – he’s currently out in the Alps enjoying some alpine singletrack

I was in Les Gets about two weeks ago.

One of our group brought his 13 year old son along, who was onboard a Specialized SX Trail built up with a coil rear shock and a set of 180mm forks. My mate built this up as a frame only build using mostly parts he had from an old bike. It was the perfect bike for the trip for his son, who absolutely loved it.

There are a few of these available second hand & likewise plenty of Kona Stinkys about for not much money. If you bought something like that then when he grows out of it you can probably sell it on for not much less than you bought it.

Finally get yourself over to do a skills day – I’ve been to UK Bike Skills (which is not far for you) & can definitely recommend it (http://www.ukbikeskills.co.uk/index.html) – it will benefit both you and your son. It can look pricey, but will improve your riding much more than the same value in bike parts.