The committment in the corners is great to watch, nasty stack at the end, never nice getting tangled up with the bike like that 😯

Maxxis Ardent EXO 2.4 – brilliant big volume but fast rolling and grippy tyre.

And that sums it up brilliantly for me – it seems that advent of the bigger wheels is going to reduce the choice in the all-rounder category of bike that many of us like to ride for fun, particularly in larger frame sizes. I’m so glad I managed to get my bike when I did. I don’t mind what size wheel people choose to ride I am a fan of the choice of wheel sizes, but a bit like religion I have my own preference and I don’t want anybody else’s preference forced upon me.

I no longer own a DH bike becuase I admitted to myself that I didn’t have the balls or ability to go fast enough to make it worthwhile. I just have a 160mm bike which at the speends I feel comfortable going is more fun and easier to move around. Its still capable of riding down any track I want to ride.

This is funniest thread I have read in ages.

http://dirt.mpora.com/news/super-enduro-2013-ews-1-pro2-punta-ala-video-highlights.html

“Barel caught with his helmet off. Peaty and Lopes not happy as it’s against the rules…” OR is it because he smoked them? I love the video clip of Barel chasing down Minaar and making him look like a Sunday driver 🙂

Wow! Toasty how tall are you?

Fake a crash and see if they land?

Sherry I agree – the combination of really short chainstays but long wheelbase seems to make for a super stable but fun and manouverable bike – there are not many bikes quite like it. My bike has a 48″ wheelbase, much longer for example than the Orange 223 I used to have despite the chainstays being way longer on the 223. And yet it is the easiest bike to get around Alpine switch backs I’ve had, its magic. I considered the Forward Geo Mondraker before buying the enduro, its the only thing quite like it I could find without going the custom Nicolai route and that was too expensive for what was still an experiment for me at that point. Now I know it works. I don’t know for sure but would 29’er wheels kill the fun feeling that the bike retains despite its size, I don’t know.

Every ride – especially since I did a skills course with Fabien Barel. Now I cannot ride any trail without hearing him shouting “Teeem! Your butt! Stick out your butt!!!”

Another gem was his comment to the group “Guys, don’t be so f@cking lazy!” after our pathetic attempt to ride down a muddy techy trail and remember to do everything he had told us 10 mins before and change a lifetime of bad habits…

Legend – now I’m never not working on my skills, I’ve got FB on my shoulder.

Agreed clubber and roverpig. Unless you are racing its all personnal preference anyway, a second or two over a 30min stage might be important to Nico – its not important to me. But what is a shame is that what starts out as a personnel choice becomes an enforced one due to corporate profitability and marketing… time will tell.

I have printed out the Geo of a 2011 XL Enduro for safe keeping – if I can’t find a bike I like in the right size off the shelf in two years time when its time to replace it, I’ll send it to Nicolai and get them to build me a Helius AM in the right size 😈

And maybe its all in my head but every bike I get on feels different to every other one to me – I’m amazed people can go from a 26″ bike to a 29″ bike and not feel a difference immediately, cos they are different! Otherwise what’s the point? 🙄

Do all tyres feel the same? All bar widths feel the same? All stem lengths feel the same? No… why should wheels be any different?

That’s interesting Drac, I can imagine a frame being able to take 26″ or 650b with interchangeable drop outs, there are some bikes out there already that can do this I think. 29’er as well seems a bit of a push, the geo too specific surely? Head angle would be wrong at one end of the scale or the other.

Wobbliscott it could well have been due to the wheels being heavy, rather than just their size – always noticeable. As I say, I’d like to do a proper test on a better bike…

I was actually quite surprised by how noticable the difference was. I don’t think it was the best 29’er bike in the world and the wheels were pretty heavy, which would explain the feel so it wasn’t just down the wheel size I’m sure.

I’m not automatically against bigger wheels, I’m quite interested in trying different bikes and would be keen to test a 29’er and 650b bike properly. I only ride bikes for fun, so a bike I find fun is all I am looking for.

I think you may have a point orangeboy, that coupled with the fact that a 29’er can be percieved as filling part of the gap the XL 26’er leave behind. But that was kind of my point, are 29’ers going to be the death of 26″ wheeled bikes to fit tall people?

Cheers Wookster – I got my current frame from BikeScene actually, good service.

Any thoughts on my topic Drac or Rocketdog? Or do you just want to pick holes and feel clever? I said it wasn’t much of a test, and yes it was noticable. Clearly you know what I feel and like better than me.

And yes I have had a quick car park test on a 29’er – I didn’t like it but it wasn’t much of a test. I found the slower pick up due to the wagon wheels quite noticable. I like bikes that feel lively and jumpy, 29’er seems to kill it for me. Might be tempted by 650b though I’ve not tried one yet though and my current bike is fine for now.

Yes I know other brands are available, few of them make a bike with the Geo of an XL spec Enduro. I already own one which fits me like a glove and the only reason I noticed was because I was absent mindedly oggling the latest Carbon version, so it is no skin off my nose at the moment. I am 6’1″ so I am not that huge.

My point was about choice, and wondering if the marketing directions and costs involved in making so many iterations of bikes for differnt wheel sizes is going to end up restricting choice rather than adding to it.

Get a set of new Shimano Deore brakes – they are so cheap and work so well it makes my brain hurt.

You can even cut the hoses down to the right length and put them back to together without haveing to bleed them.

I don’t think he says anything unreasonable.. I think his points are sound enough and of course he is writing from the viewpoint of lorry drivers. I believe there is evidence to support his point about female cyclists as well.

Yeah sorry Billy I think my clutch rear mech is great, works a treat and no chain slap, totally reliable shifting. What’s not to like?

+1 for BillOddie – need to make sure your bike has a massively long top tube as well FTW

Nice one – once you get into a routine you will miss it when you can’t do it!

Yes I broke mine into 5 bits – the specialist said that unless I wanted to wear any off the shoulder dresses in the future it would be fine to leave it to heal without intervention. I now have a rather wiggly / lumpy but very strong collar bone, took about 6 weeks initially to get back to swimming and light activity. But then I was 23 – I’m not sure it would all heal so quickly now I’m 38 but its not an extremety and so has great blood flow. Not like my ankle – that’s a different story, took AGES to heal.

I have three boys, 8, 5 and 0.2 yrs. It is bloody hard work and takes over your life. But last night I stayed up late to fit some riser bars to number 1 son’s new bike. This morning before I went to work we checked it out together and had a chat about bar width’s and what grips he prefers while in our dressing gowns. We will be doing a bit of testing for fun at the weekend in the rain. Life doesn’t get any better IMHO 🙂

Interesting – I am 6’1″ (just!) but have long arms, so I am running a XL Spec Enduro with a 35mm stem and I find it fits me better than any other bike I’ve owned. I think the wheel base is 48″ with the short chainstays. The Covert large comes up much shorter overall I think, so hard to make sense of the numbers without getting on the bike!

Would a new Specialized Enduro not fit the bill? I like to look of the Covert but looking at the geo they seem to come up a bit short in the top tube in all sizes, is that a correct interpretation?

+1 for at least knee pads, they have proved their worth so many times.

I have 55 Ti which are AMAZING, the R’s would be a fair bit heavier

20kms each way through Geneva, along the lake and up to near the Airport. Lovely in Spring, too hot in Summer, challenging in winter but toughens me up! It made me a bit tired at first but now my base fitness is so much better and I can feel the benefit when I ride for fun. 17 miles is doable, get some good skinny tyres on and go for it.

Ad yes headwinds on the way home are the worst, there is a strong winter wind call the Bees that blows from the East in winter, sometimes its been really strong and has been down to -20 windchill. I feel pretty Grrr! after riding back in that in snow.

Oh wow this brings back happy memories, I can still remember my Dad helping me to build my Tamiya Frog, such a fun car 🙂

I only have one road bike, one commuter bike and one mountain bike, does that count? 🙂 Even that is a struggle. The next bike is always just a small loss of willpower away….

I have found Canyon to be very good and helpful when I have dealt with them – they were fine about a cancelled order.

Looks really nice with the CCDB, I am really dissapointed there is no Carbon XL frame this year. What size did you go for in the end and how tall are you?

Indeed – I have not been for over two years, I have missed out!

I miss Aston – must make a trip back there one day soon! 🙂

Way too many to list, my Santa Cruz Blur 4x was amazing fun but too small for me to be practical. Orange 5 has to be up there, but…

My current bike a 2011 Specialized Enduro has to be the best all-round bike I’ve owned.

Surely you could fit a 650b wheel in the back of this frame if you wanted to? It really isn’t that much bigger..