Some updated pics now it’s finished, I didn’t know sourcing decent tires for 26 inches was so hard (or expensive) now!

Full specs for the geeks:

Ragley G6 prototype 150/130 travel.

Rockshox Sektor 150 on a medium coil spring…so much nicer than air suspension.

Rockshox Monarch rear shock.

SLX brakes and shifters.

XT cranks.

Renthal bars and chain ring.

Shimano 10 speed setup with a 42t lowest sprocket.

Schwalbe Mary up front.

Schwalbe Nic on the back.

Brand-X 30mm internal width rims.

Reverb dropper.

Nukeproof headset and spacers.

It rides great, this recent weather means it’s had plenty of use, took it to BPW and so many people stopped to ask about it – general consensus from the conversations I’ve had is that an affordable Ragley full suspension would fly out of the warehouse.

(pics to follow when I can remember how to post them on here!)

Go second hand at that budget – I know everything is more expensive at the moment but a few years ago a £1000 hardtail came with a decent fork – now they’re sticking second tier Recon & Judys on them and asking for more than a grand…it’s a piss take.

£1000 on eBay this evening will get you pretty much whatever hardtail you want and it’ll be well specced as the previous owner probably paid 2k to get one with a decent fork.

No brakes as yet but Deores going on tomorrow – previous owner included a 42t cassette but couldn’t get it working with the rear mech (XT), I seem to remember my LBS saying you have to go with a cheaper Deore mech to make the wide range 10-speed cassettes work.
Fork is a Fox-32 @ 150mm, not ideal – will try and source a 140mm Pike for the front (might go mullet with 27.5 up front but haven’t decided yet)…tyres are on order, hate the Larsen TT as a rear.

Good points: no play in the frame, bearings all good – no creaking, Reverb actually works, rear shock is mint considering it looks like the original (was going to change that first but it can stay for now) – angles would’ve beeen mental slack in 2012, measured the HA last night at 65 degrees which is about right for todays riding – I’ll get working on it this week and post up some finished photos when it’s done 👍🏻

Ditto – I’d buy one too

Reece was good on Hardline commentary duties too – he’ll not retire yet, watched an interesting YouTube documentary (think it was called Flying Scotsman) on how he came back from that Les Gets crash to win a WC…seems as committed a racer as any I’ve seen over the years.

Will definitely post pics, I collect Saturday and it hasn’t got any brakes on it but I’ve got an old set of Deore in the shed, change the bars/stem over to my preferred Renthals and hopefully it’ll be good to go on Sunday.

Hi Brant, it’s the same orange as a Blue Pig I had a while ago – I collect on Saturday and I’ll post some pics.
Do you remember what size shock went in the back?

I’ve ridden 2.5 Minions on a 19mm width wheel with no problems.

Just binned a Hans Dampf in favour of a Maxxis Dissector on the back of my bike – still a fast rolling tyre but with more grip, the Hans Dampf was useless in the wet.

Fox suspension always feels great but has the build quality of something cheap & nasty – I always go for Rockshox because I like it to work and not need constant maintenance – honourable mention to X-Fusion, I ran a fork & shock on a Trance I built from frame only and it was great, solidly built, no leaks etc.

I’d watch the IXS as avidly as I watch the WC events…if it was live streamed by someone (cough – Red Bull – cough)…make it accessible and if Discovery play silly buggers with the World Cups you’ve got a ready made series that could step up to a World Cup/World champs level quite easily – it’s about the riders, I wouldn’t watch the WC races any more if Amaury, Bruni, Vergier, Minaar, Hart, Greenland, Finn etc jumped ship to another organisation.

In fact the race that gets me most excited each year is Red Bull hardline and it’s not part of the WC circuit and isn’t UCI affiliated in any way.

Another shout for Uberbike race matrix – bed in almost instantly, no noise, good power – being a soft compound you’ll go through more of them but they’re cheap so it’s worth it.

After years of spending thousands on bikes and building from frame only, chasing the latest Geo etc…I’ve just bought a 2016 Lapierre Zesty for £600
If I remember correctly it was a 150/150 travel trail bike, the last owner saw fit to install a 160mm Pike which is nice, I’ve changed the brakes over to current XT 4-pots…and we’re good to go, the HA is listed as 67 degrees which is unacceptably steep these days but hasn’t held me back…it’s a lighter build than current Enduro gnarpoons meaning it pedals well and don’t feel a chore on hills either – the second hand market is awash with good bikes for less than a grand.

Yep, if it’s crap next year it’s an ideal opportunity for Red Bull to launch their own series with more prize money – keep the slightly dodgy free Red Bull TV coverage, keep Warner as commentary (Elliot Jackson has been good too), give more to the athletes and the UCI/discovery will be forgotten about overnight.

Love hardtails, they are a pure riding experience with very little filtered out.
In recent years I’ve had:
Dialled Alpine
456-evo
45650b
Ragley Piglet
Dartmoor Hornet
Ragley Blue Pig

…looking to buy my first aggro 29er HT later this year – thinking Hello Dave or similar.

Anyway, dropper post down (only up when sat climbing), short stem so you can push on the front without feeling like you’re about to go OTBs, flat pedals, heels down, take the big hits through the legs…that’s about it, I’ve taken HTs on uplift days at BPW, FoD, Antur etc and never had any problems.

Multifuel.

Coal burns hotter and longer in my experience…I can get the house ridiculously warm with it.

Wood for the aesthetic.

Deepest Darkest West Wales here so both coal and wood are readily and cheaply available…my combined energy bills are half that of what I used to pay in the South East for central heating alone.

God yes I’d vote for it….it will never go to a referendum as MPs know full well the majority would go for it too.

For me it’s not about it being a deterrent, evidence from countries with the death penalty shows it doesn’t work like that.

For me it’s about getting rid of scum.

Rather than feeding and housing killers for 25 years (at great expense) they could instead just be shot.

Cheaper and revenge feels great.

Britain is being asked to pay x-amount as our EU divorce bill.

Pop quiz?…how much did Germany pay the UK in reparations following WW2?

For those of you who can’t be bothered to look it up Germany paid several countries some reparations but not the UK…..now think about that stupid, arrogant, inflated and pompous divorce bill again…why the hell should the UK pay anything unless Merkel leads by example and starts paying back some WW2 reparations…to put it in context, Britain held a legal democratic vote to leave and is being financially punished…..Germany illegally destroyed half of Europe and a good bit of the UK and pays bugger all?…seems about right for the corrupt EU and it’s this rubbish and double standards that Leavers like me want to get away from.

It’s funny, when people like me used to moan about the EU we were told not to be silly and the EU plays virtually no part in our lives…now that Brexit won the remainers are loving lecturing people just how big a part the EU played in British life and how much worse things will be….it can’t be both, make your mind up…desperation springs to mind.

Anything with the VW/audi 1.9 engine they stopped making in around 2005-06.

i had a tdi golf with 222,000 miles that gave another excellent years service until i crashed it.

We had an A4 with 170,000 miles when we bought it and sold it three years later with 270,000 miles still going strong

Current banger is a 2003 Golf with 140,000 miles (barely run in) with an awesome remap and goes like stink while still giving 50mpg if driven sensibly

If you’re really jammy you can find this engine in some early registered mk5 shape Golfs with a 6 speed box but owners keep them as the boxy mk4 wasnt for everyone.

Also – do you view that 12 year old as a victim of his circumstances?  Or do you think he made a informed decision to join a gang, and therefore got what was coming to him?

…well, if the cap fits.

Make no mistake my sense of humor is vile but that was the case before I joined the job.

I’m from a very ordinary family, grand parents were WW2 refugees from Poland and the Channel islands…came to the UK with bugger all, mother was one of nine children, neither parent attended university, neither did my sister or me, sister while we’re on the subject is a single mum…privileged we are not…but none of us have criminal records, all of us work for a living so I find it a bit rich when people from similar or better backgrounds moan about their lot in life…like I said, if you’ve been shat into this world to hideous parents that don’t deserve a child then you have my sympathy…otherwise pull on your big boy pants and sort your life out.

On the contrary v8, my ire is almost exclusively reserved for those who have had the opportunities and balls’d it up….born into a couple of drug addict parents?…barely attended school?…life of crime from childhood onwards?…you’ve been dealt a crappy hand and deserve all the help society can muster.

Born into an ordinary working class family?…thought it was cool to bunk off school despite your parents urging you to go?…decided not to work after school but sold weed instead?…now in your early 30s with no quals, no house, no job etc?…your fault…no sympathy from me.

Good start in life?…successful career?…kids?…wife?…house?…threw it all away because you couldn’t leave the bottle alone?…your fault.

I meet (professionally and socially) so many people who f¤#k things up themselves…i just don’t have any sympathy for them.

The way London is going currently (a 12 and 15 yr old dead today) they’ll be no gangs to worry about soon…Darwinism innit?…let the idiots slaughter each other.

Meanwhile those of us who dont live in a s@*thole enjoyed a barbeque and planting some growers this afternoon…aaand relax.

(casts an eye over at London, nope wouldnt go back)

On the contrary, i have all the time for the genuinely needy in society, what i come across far too often however are people who want to blame everything and everyone else for their situation.

Not everyone in a tough situation is there because they are a victim, plenty have made awful decisions, played with drink or drugs, refused to put in the effort at work etc…when i come across that i’ll happy call it for what it is.

Where to start?…the Russia links haven’t been proven, at the moment it’s rumour at best and sore loser Democrat conspiracy theories at worst…he has enough rich powerful detractors that if it could be proven he’d be impeached and out of office so fast…but…nothing, just rumours…don’t you think the Clintons with their wealth and influence would be all over it?

Gun laws?…same as they were before he came into office, he’s not to blame for anything…if that’s the case Obama is complicit too for not reforming gun laws…and just about every President who hasn’t banned guns…you’re judging their guns laws by our European attitude, theirs is enshrined in their constitution and many more US voters want guns than don’t, if you don’t like that don’t visit America.

The Korea thing?…if this was following intervention by Obama he’d be sainted by now…Trump played a part however much that sticks in the throat.

Economy?…maybe a continuation of Obama’s and maybe not, nobody knows, Labour took credit in 1997 for an economy that had been on the up for the previous several years under the Tories…the predictions of an imploding economy were false, he’s doing fine.

…and that’s about it, the personal stuff is just that, you may not like it and that’s ok…you may find it offensive and that’s also alright…you may feel it marks him out as scum who’s not to be trusted and that’s also ok…but all the time he’s doing a good job (and by any quantifiable measure he is) then that’s all anybody interested in politics should be concerned about…the touchy feely stuff is embarrassing for adults to get so worked up about, it’s like gossip is the new politics.

Got to love the new era of identity politics where even the media are obsessed with political correctness and other trivial matters like who slept with who, small hands, tweets etc…

…if you’re not liked these days you’re stuffed really, no matter your achievments or competency.

People were almost willing for a war with North Korea so they could blame Trump, sad really…his no nonsense stance was in contrast to the international community and previous President and it seems to have worked…you’d never guess from the news though, brief bit about North & South Korea talking again (and the politicians themselves saying Trump helped) and then straight into a longer piece about Trump sleeping with a porn star…people’s priorities are badly skewed…one of those stories is historic and makes for a safer world, the other involves a billionaire sleeping with a hooker 2 years ago…bizarre.

In other news this week (actually i’m lying, shamefully it didnt make the news) was that the number of new applicants for benefits in the US is the lowest since 1969 and the number recieving benefits is the lowest since 1973…good news you’d think…but the media barely mentioned it and instead focuses on Trump’s private life.

I wouldn’t give a toss if he slept with a different porn star every night of the week if while he’s at work he gets rival countries talking to each other and improves the economy, the job he’s employed to do…and much to the annoyance of the media (and plenty on here) he hasnt brought about WW3 or collapsed America’s economy…

….but oh no he’s said some sexist stuff and had affairs!…same as lots of politicians, the most recent being Bill Clinton but he was liked so is remembered fondly…modern politics is embarrasing, people try to be serious but ultimately it seems you’ll get judged on your personality over results…like a bizarre popularity contest that everyone has been hoodwinked into.

Mikewsmith…i believe it’s those million or so floaters in marginals that decide general elections…the stats are pretty static, something like 40% of the country vote Labour, 40% vote Tory and the rest split themselves between minor parties and drift between the two major parties deciding elections.

How many Labour members would be out on their ears for anti semitism if Dear Leader took it seriously?…Ken Livingston for one…or were those Jewish Labour MPs who spoke out lying?…the Tories are far from perfect but let’s not pretend Jezza’s ‘kinder gentler politics’ is anything other than a catchy soundbite…the party has huge problems and the swivel eyed Momentum types getting all arsey when Corbyn is criticised are hindering the cause.

It’s me that Labour need to attract to win GEs again…you may not like that but plenty of us voted for Blair in 97 but wouldn’t entertain a vote for comrade Corbyn now.

This…take Corbyn out of the equation and labour trounce the Tories…as much as the traditional Left seem to love him, huge swathes of middle England floating voters will never vote for him as he’s from the Red side of the Labour party and has some alarming allegiances with the IRA, various terror groups and dictatorships etc…for the millions that swept Labour into power in 1997 his views are unpalatable in the extreme.

Its why they invented Kodi boxes…i haven’t paid for PPV for ages!

Jesus wept, threads like this make me glad i dont have children….seemingly schools are now run by SJWs who police the sugar intake of kids on their burthday FFS…get lost and find something real to be concerned about…then the group who believe in no treats on a birthday in case some parents cant afford to supply treats on their spwan’s birthday…yeah that’ll prep ‘em for the outside world, make them think we all have the same stuff (hint: we dont, the world is full of haves and have nots)…then the parent/police who espouse their way of parenting and sneer at anyone doing it differently…if Mrs Dev and me reproduce i’d honestly consider home schooling so neither me nor our poor child had to interact with these joyless prats…home school and then a member of a different sports club for each night of the week seems about the only sensible way to avoid teachers who dictate what kids can and cant eat, parents who read the Guardian and Communists who want to enforce equality of outcome…its like a weird hellish nightmare.

Love these recurring threads on STW…those predicting death and destruction if you go over the speed limit are overreacting…do fatalities occur?…of course, are they common?…nope.

Given the number of vehicles on the road in the UK fatalities are thankfully rare, I work in the ambulance control room currently and it’s a big deal to have a fatality call come in because it’s not a daily occurrence.

Most people (and certainly most modern cars) can do 70mph+ on 50 limit roads and 100mph comfortably on motorways…people do it every day and don’t spontaneously burst into flames.

Plenty of slow drivers are lethal, the old boy who drives everywhere at 40mph but cuts people up, pulls out in front of traffic, doesn’t stop for pedestrians etc…never had an accident but caused hundreds!

In my experience the most common cause of accidents tends to be not looking/seeing…i believe the official stats back  this up too…of course speed compounds the issue once the accident has happened but rarely is it the actual cause.

People are also conveniently ignoring the attraction in that it’s fun…like the illicit nature of drug taking, it’s illegality is part of the lure…track driving, local level racing etc is all good fun but it’s not cheap, usually requires a dedicated vehicle and a weekend away partaking in said activity…or you can put your foot down for 10mins on the lovely winding road during your commute to work…get to work invigorated and with a grin on your face.

Only thing I’d say about your wife is her speeding seems linked to a wider manic behavior pattern which would concern me..if she just enjoyed a blast once a week early in the morning I’d understand (we’ve all been there) but she needs to slow her entire life down or she’ll have a stroke, heart attack etc before she knows it.

She’ll be fine anyway if she gets caught again, a mother in court pleading hardship and an inability to ferry the kids around and do motherly things is never in a million years going to get banned…despite the progress society has made with equality women still get treated with kid gloves by the judiciary.

I’m practically hard..😅..lets see some proper fireworks!

It’ll be awesome…Russia’s forces look good on paper due to sheer numbers but their tech is old, the QC on their hardware is shocking and their troops are poorly motivated amateurs for the most part…even Turkey shot down a supposedly invincible Russian fighter jet recently..Russia will bottle it because they won’t want the very pubic humiliation of getting their pants pulled down by the US and UK.

😂

Get on with it, I could do with a few extra pennies now the Iraq /Afghan contracts are drying up…i hear Syria is nice most of the year.

…a return to Empire you say, where do I sign.

As a right winger myself we bemoan all the social policies that will be enacted when the next Labour government takes the reigns…the problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people’s money…no doubt Corbyns lot will bankrupt the country or try to tax wealthy individuals for the bulk of their earnings…and then wonder why these people leave the country leaving nothing to tax…it’s depressingly predictable.

In that case we (as a society) should never give anything or anyone a second go, because it failed once before…it’s a ridiculous premise and doesn’t take into account more progressive attitudes in the police (and society in general) and implies that we are incapable of learning from mistakes…and we know that’s nonsense too.

…why bring race into it?..i didn’t…i said idiots with knives will kill each other, I couldn’t care less what colour their skin is..as someone else said; in Glasgow the racial profile of those involved in knife crime will be different to that in London..makes no difference, still idiots, still Darwinism at work.

A certain section of society (and this forum) seem to want race brought into everything..as a touchy subject it invariably leads to arguments, derailing the debate and ultimately shutting it down..try not to do that and don’t accuse others of racism when they haven’t mentioned it..it says far more about you, your prejudices and insecurities that you have to paint others in that light.

Actually binners you’re right, this isn’t my problem so why should I pay any more tax in order to sort out somebody else’s sh#t?..

..idiots will carry knives and stab each other, Darwinism at work.

As you were.