I’m with the OP, Doped or not (they all were at the time, so it was basically a level field) that was an insane ride and the only one that sticks in my mind.

Slightly shorter on travel, but have you considered a Kona Process 111?

First decent ride on the new toy

i’ve been on a FOX 36 RC2 Factory since 2015. it had a rattly valve from new which was replaced under warranty and has never been an issues since.
I’ve done one full service where it was sent away and then lower services myself. Easy to maintain and utterly brilliant fork, more reliable than anything else i’ve had and tracks noticeably better than Pikes across roots etc.
If it is money no object, then that is the fork to get without going all custom dampers etc, which brings the inherent problems of lack of spares, downtime etc.

Depends entirely what you are after.

Had the excess thing with a set of Formula CR1s last week, new pads in, but the pistons wouldn’t retract fully into the caliper. Had to attach a syringe and open the lever end to bleed out some fluid to get the pistons all the way back in.

Got both XT M8000 and XTR M9000. XTR has a lighter action and is more polished/posher looking. Functionally, XT is better i find. I’m guessing that as it was launched after XTR, they had chance to iron out the minor issues (clutch lever position, overly light trigger action)

If it was me, i’d save the £200. XTR really isn’t worth it, there is zero performance gain and if anything, the XT has a nicer action in use.

Look at the other spec items though. If the XTR model has better shocks/forks/wheels/tyres etc then the £200 extra would be better justified there. if spec is otherwise identical then just get the XT model

Yep

edit: google ninja skills beaten by 8 seconds..

Really interested in a pair of these, but i have no airing cupboard, so i’m out.

Not to play Devils advocate, but a freehub is a consumable/wear item, look at Shimano, Hope etc. Thats why there are freely available spares. Some last better than others, some are re-buildable some are just replacement assemblies.

2000km in 3 months is a fair old whack at this time of year.

its an easy and not too expensive job to replace it. Fulcrum wheels are not the best sealed, especially the ones you have. I had some racing 7’s where the bearings seized after one wet ride. 10 minute job to pop new ones in and away i went.

I bet you find the missing screw as soon as you’ve fitted its replacement.

Skimped on it once, never again. utterly worth it if you actually want to be able to use the glasses

Same with me, Contis are ALWAYS porous. and more to the point, crap in general.

Definitely Swinley for a novices first rides out, theres a good mix of singletrack/distance and easy bailout points which makes it not too daunting.

other than that, Surrey Hills are always a great day out

My favourite combo. the sidewalls on the Canis are a little thin, but they grip and roll really well and are tough considering the weight.

The Ibex is hands down my favourite tyre. used it for several years on the surrey hills and it works in all conditions. bit like a high roller, but more predicatable

just make sure you buy the right compound/casing variation.

on the flip side i think its rubbish. i have a 27.5 set at home if you are interested in a bargain? haven’t used it in 6 months
i have had more punctures with it than without. The problem is the innertube glues itself to the inner tyre and tears. contacted Schwalbe about it, but they stopped talking to me when I told them what the problem was. make of that what you will.

So if you want a fully functioning kit for a bargain price, hit me up. all you’ll need to do is get a spare inner tube.

Sort of what im thinking with the Kona and its whats stopping me buying one and making me look at alternatives with more travel.

Another i’m considering is the Hightower..

Also considering a Kona Process 111, but not sure that is going to have enough travel given i’ve spent the last decade on more than 150mm travel.. maybe its just me stuck in my ways.

i’m 6’2″, been riding MTBs for nearly 30 years and worked in the industry for many years now. i’d class my regular riding as cruise up and spank down, not afraid to hit BIG drops or gap jumps. as such i’m after something
that will last, be fun and not be too much of a drag as i’ve now gone past 40… Going to have a go at some Enduro racing this year as well, seeing as that is sort of like an official version of my normal riding..
I know my stuff, what works for me and the local areas to me, just not had any experience of Nukeproof. Always good to mine the collective mind for info..

So normal stuff really, slightly dodgy bearings that can be replaced with better (par for the course) and dodgy SRAM wheels (which i’d flog off and replace)
I’ve had a few issues with the monarch plus before on other bikes, damping and wear on the shaft issues. all warranty issues.
I’m after an XL as well as i like the reach/stack figures on that frame. Also worried it might be a bit much for regular riding, but got my hardtail for that.

Can you expand on the issues cyclelife? or is it just the shock thats the issue?

I used one for about a year, sealing is minimal, but no worse than other headsets, but my bearings lasted and lasted. even sold it off with the original bearings still super smooth.

They are very good

i’m most concerned by the number of bolts holding the linkages together. looks like a future contender for the worlds creakiest bike to me…

What size are you after? the 21.5″ is already sold out. annoyingly.

In the same boat here, so i’m considering the Hightower

Mine should have but didn’t, contact Hope direct and they’ll send them to you

I run those and Hope Pro 2 Evos. I prefer the DT ones, they seem a lot faster rolling compared to the hopes. Seem well made and long lived as well.
Spares not as easy to come by as Hope though

I need to amend my timeline a little, the initial issue took 2.5 months for the new frame to be made from point of contact, at which point it took a month for the frame to be rebuilt when it was back to them. So 3.5 months to replace the original misaligned frame in total. It was a while ago and i wrote the above in haste and from memory. Should of checked the facts!
Either way, a RIDICULOUS amount of time to replace the front end of a frame. It should not have taken anymore than 1 hour to do once it was back with them.

rant rant rant :lol:

Letter before Court claim sent. We will see if that shakes them up enough to do the right thing and stop ignoring the law.

its due to the timesacles its been away for!

matlockmeat, reggiegasket, tpbiker.

i’m not going to name and shame just yet unless things don’t go my way. If you are looking at specific brands in the very near future, drop me a line with them and i’ll let you know if they are safe!

I’ve contacted them to that effect. If they want to carry on playing silly buggers it’s up to them. Pretty sure I have an iron clad case for small claims.

shhh. All I want to get from this was a bit of collective advice on my rights, which looks like I might have gotten.

What T is yours rs?

doh

@tjagain

extremely useful that, thanks. Might make their Christmas dropping that on them. looks like that becasue the original problem is the cause of the continued issues I am entitled to a refund, most likely a full one to my mind.

Drop me a pm, I have one.

Yes, great bikes, but fragile. The bearings are notoriously poor quality, mine lasted a mere 2 months before seizing which resulted in a cracked rear triangle. Sorted under warranty, but worth knowing.
If you do buy one I would absolutely recommend you change the bearings for high quality Enduro Maxx bearings from new, you’ll get a much longer life out of them and the bike is well worth taking the time to do it.

sitting on and riding are very different, pop back to the shop and ask them to put some test pedals on and take it for a spin. personally i’d go large

in my opinion having used XT m8000 and owned XTR m9000 since it came out, XT has a nicer shifter feel, so unles you really want carbon shift levers, save the money, XT is way nicer to use.

Cube Stereo 140 HPA SL? well within budget

https://www.evanscycles.com/cube-stereo-140-hpa-sl-2016-mountain-bike-EV264262