Yeah, as a paramedic of 17yrs I chuckled too at the ‘well maintained’ bit….also snorted at the “rolling theatre” part and how they’re scrubbed down every shift.

In my experience for two large NHS services, the vehicles get put away in crap state if you finish late (every shift!) and left for the oncoming crew to sort out….if they don’t get a call straight away, which they will.

Our fitters are bodge merchants extraordinaires, this is the NHS remember, anything to save a penny.
The ‘better’ of the two vehicles on my current station is on 250k miles, I couldn’t tell you if that’s the original engine though.

Then you’ve got some of the more unsanitary things that go on in them between crew mates who have affairs together….bleugh, burn it burn it with fire!.

No pads for normal trail riding.

Knee pads at Antur as its rocky, none at BPW as its soil mainly.
Full face and pads for uplift days and the odd DH or Enduro I enter.
Gloves all the time however.

Giant Trance….ok it’s not 160mm, the new one is 150mm front and 140mm rear….but the Maestro suspension system is firm, 140mm keeps things interesting and the longer fork (will take a 160mm happily) gives a margin for error…not overly long like I found the Reign and pedals well to boot, easiest FS I’ve ever ridden.
The latest 2017 models are future proofed with Boost spacing and come with a decent parts spec comparable now to many direct sales firms.

You can go more XC orientated (obviously) and there are also 160mm bikes out there currently that ride like mini DH bikes and take all the fun out of the trail but for me 140mm out back feels just right on a UK full suss….i owned a Saracen Ariel when the brand relaunched in 2011 (or ’12?) and that also had 140mm rear travel and was great fun too!

I love Orange frames, I’m a fan of single pivot designs anyway but i especially like the industrial over built looks of an Orange frame.
The frame only deals (usually around £1500-£1600) are comparable to other brands, my Giant Trance frame and shock was £1500, what I have a problem with is the build spec.

It’s crap, let’s be honest for the money they’re asking it’s pretty poor.
If it ever goes on sale as frame only for the usual £1500 then I could spec a better build for the 5.5k they’re asking, it’s irritating because aren’t they supposed to be able to buy in bulk for discounts?…they must get some kind of trade prices at least?…it doesn’t seem like this gets passed onto the customer.
Who actually pays £1000+ for a fork?!….i can go online and find that fork brand new for around £800….a full XT groupset is around £300 including brakes, why then only put half of it on and instead charge a premium for Hope brakes that in my experience are no better than Deore!?….their full builds reek of style over substance and quoting the manufacturers rrp for a particular part is no defence when anyone can go to CRC, wiggle, Jenson etc and get the same parts for several hundred quid less…it’s why YT, Canyon, Radon etc are doing so well, people don’t like being offered an average spec bike for top money.
In short I love the frame but I hate the company ethos.

Mrs Deviant has had two.

Both for convenience I suppose, first was with a previous partner and they split up shortly after finding out she was pregnant and she didn’t want to be a single mother.

Second time was with me, we weren’t using protection at the time and although we’d been together a few years and had the funds to raise a child neither of us were interested. I was too into motorbikes, cycling, gym, kick boxing etc and Mrs Deviant was still besotted with horses…we could see our lives changing in a way neither of us wanted so….abortion time.

Easy really, catch it early enough and its a bundle of cells, no thought, no fully functioning nervous system etc….she just took a tablet and spent the day on the loo emptying her uterus into the gutter, job done.

It’s her body and nobody else’s business, and I’d happily extend the abortion limit closer to the due date without any feelings of guilt.

I bought one end of last year.
It’s awesome, lighter than steel HTs I’ve owned, no harsher but then I came from an over built Ragley Piglet…steel HTs with narrower tubes have ridden better IMO but not by much.
For the price it’s unbeatable, mine runs a 140mm Revelation and simple 1×10 shimano drivetrain on 26 inch wheels (even though it can run 650b) as I like the mud clearance.
I use it all year round but primarily as a winter bike, it does everything from uplift days at BPW, Antur etc to spending a whole day exploring Brechfa forest or Nant Yr Arian.
I can happily recommend it to other riders although I am interested in the On One Dee Dar so a change could be on the cards this year but then HT frames are so cheap these days it would be rude not to try as many as possible!

Dual fuel stove here, we’re in rural Wales and not on the gas mains, I have kerosene central heating but when it’s cold and wet up here we supplement with the stove.

Don’t get the cost thing, we had a truck load of wood delivered in October that will last until spring now, it was £150, far cheaper than a kerosene refill which we do twice a year.

The heat is a lovely dry heat, it burns through the night and warms the upstairs too, never noticed any smoke in the house but outside you can see smoke from the chimney.

Also used coal late last year out of curiosity, it was a slower burn and gave off tremendous heat, if I can source a cheap bulk delivery it will probably be cheaper than burning wood.

It has become a fashion thing, two of my friends who live in new build houses have had stoves installed because they look nice, their houses are centrally heated and well insulated to current standards, mine is 200 years old and made of stones and mud! Some people genuinely need the extra heat a stove gives and for others it’s a ‘pretty’ addition to their faux country house.

If people want to crack down on stove use target the urban hipster set first.

Happened to me too, bought a new (but year old) Saracen Ariel…it arrived with a dented downtube, sent it straight back and they sent me back an undamaged one.
With what I had planned for that bike (enduro, DH, uplift days etc) the risk in structural integrity didn’t seem worth the risk….i was offered a discount/partial refund instead too but declined.

Got mine at Slam69 too.
Good price, unbelievable actually considering.

Well built, welds look neat and strong, tubing reassuringly hefty for an Alu bike.
Modern geometry, longer reach than my Ragley Piglet and slacker HA too, lower BB also making it nice and stable smashing down stuff.

Just shows how much profit (rip off?) some of the other bike companies must be making if Dartmoor can bring the Hornet to market for less than £200!

Before any snobs chip in with comments about it being an Asian catalogue frame resold over here….i couldn’t care less, they’ve got so much of it right that I don’t give two hoots about exclusivity.

Actually a shame I’ve had a Trance since 2015 as I’d happily give their FS bikes a go too based on how my Hornet rides.

The Deore 2×10 groupset would be my choice, all the ratios you could want, cheap and reliable.

Great fork, I had the 140mm coil spring option on my HT and they knocked spots off the 140mm Fox Floats I had on my other bike.
Easy to service and incredibly reliable.

I run 2.3 shwalbes on a Pacenti TL28 set (28mm internal width) and its fine if this helps?

I have the 23mm version rear as if matches the 23mm width of the Tactic rim I have on the front (i managed to dent the Tactic rear) went for the proven Switch/novatec hub option.
Very pleased so far and it also slackens out my 650b Trance when I put it on the back of that.

All dependent on tube thickness/diameter whatever the material used.

I’ve ridden an old 456 with stays thin like pencils and a narrow 27.2mm seat post, it was bliss….also beneficial was the straight steerer which I’m sure added more flex than tapered steerers today…add in the 2.5 tyres I like to ride and it was exceptionally comfortable despite being cheap and not being the 853 steel that people rave about.

More recently I owned a steel Ragley that took a tapered steerer fork, had a 31.6mm seat post and stays that were thick like a snooker cue….the ride was completely different despite the material being the same.

I’m now on an Alu Dartmoor that rides the same as the steel Ragley, it’s all big tubes and heavy duty welding like the Ragley….im still a massive fan of steel however, I never worried about breaking it, cracks appearing etc and I was always confident it could be repaired by a local welder if the worst happened.

Geometry is more important as others said, it’s why I went to the Dartmoor….it is longer in reach and slightly slacker in head angle.

That said I do like the Production Privee idea of not putting a brace between the chain stays. I reckon that would be beneficial for lateral flex in any material and also aid tyre clearance and mud clearance….wonder if I could cut the one out of my Dartmoor!?

Dartmoor Hornet = <£200
On One knuckleball carbon bars = £50
Shimano Deore brakes = £80 the pair
Superstar custom wheel build = £150 – £300
Rockshox Pike = £400 (i’ve seen them cheaper mind)
Deore cranks and running gear = <£100

Easily done and a nice bike at the end of it too.

This is when coil forks were king, pretty much fit and forget.

At the moment I’d have to say X-fusion, not fashionable but brilliantly reliable.

Molgrips.

Take the West Wales road from Lampeter to Newtown and the scenery is stunning, wouldn’t fancy riding it on my current bike though!….give me one of these new 180mm jobbies instead.

According to my LBS it’s part and parcel of these massive 42t+ cogs now.

Guy there just fitted one off those massive Hope expanders for a customer and getting it into the larger plates was hard work.

Even as someone who runs 1×10 I’m beginning to think that 2×10 was the pinnacle and these 1×11 and 1×12 systems are looking for problems that don’t exist.

Level or nose marginally down, good saddle.

There are natural trails in Wales where I live where even 160mm seems a little underbiked!
Some of the boulders and potholes wouldn’t look out of place in Rampage.

The sector is making a massive comeback due to forks like the Lyrik, 36 etc….i believe Dirt call it Superenduro!?

Everyone who’s ridden the Cube 180 raves about it, don’t Intense do one? The Radon Swoop is on my wishlist, might head me off buying an out and out DH bike.

I have a medium and I’m 5′ 9″

You’ll be wanting at least a large, good bike though.

Good fork, I ran the coil spring version for years with zero problems. Dead easy to swap out medium for firm for x-firm springs depending on what you’re riding.
Can’t comment on the air versions I’m afraid.

It doesn’t help that we appear to be an odd demographic who’ll spend literally thousands on their bikes and then baulk at car parking fees, entry fees and anything else that costs a fraction of the machine you’re riding!

£50 for the new tyre from Maxxis?…yes please.
£50 to enter an Enduro race?….what I’m not paying that!

Ribble 7005 ultralite here too, great bike….comfy for a road bike, light (got mine down to 8kg) with a sensibly picked build which for a budget machine is impressive.

Shame, he proved he was the best or at least could beat the best the year he won the overall and came within a gnats cock of winning a Gold at World Champs.

Maybe just needs to recharge his batteries, that kind of natural talent doesn’t disappear overnight.

Btw, loving these direct sales firms like Propain, Canyon, Radon, YT etc coming in as there’s less off a bun fight for the traditionally good Trek, Speech seats….also hoping they’re bringing in more money with them, these guys and girls deserve more reward.

A lot off crap gets spoken by anybody with a 140mm+ machine…..

“Yeah I’ll be at such-and-such round”

…..come the day they’re nowhere to be seen.

I’ll get flack for this but here goes, with all and sundry owning an Enduro gnarpoon these days they’ve just become another bike….ride it, race it, don’t, who cares?

A few years ago when people spent thousands on trail bikes AND a downhill bike they perhaps felt the need to justify said purchase and raced the DH bike, albeit at a local level. That impetus to get out there and race/justify your 3k Giant Glory has gone.
It also doesn’t help the numerous comments on here when an Enduro event is coming up and people say “I’m not paying to ride trails I can ride for free the following weekend”…..it saps the enthusiasm from the sport.

Anyway, I liked the idea from one poster about having a northern organizer, a Midlands/wales organisation and a southern organiser….if people want to do the full series they can and be in the running for overall honors or ifc people just want to race on their doorstep they can and we could have regional champions. Something for Parr, Patton etc to think about.

Dango….

The travel mod is to replace the standard 200×51 shock with a 200×57 one.

Same eye to eye length so straight swap but the extra 6mm of squish at the shock translates to something like an extra 18mm of travel at the back end. With a 160mm fork it effectively gives you a 160mm Trance, clearance no issue, I’ve done it, once it’s back from the bike shop I’ll post some pics.

I have a Dartmoor Hornet, yes they can be that good and that cheap….just demonstrates for me how much the bike industry is ripping us off!

Did the same with my Trance, 160mm forks, the 158mm rear travel mod, wide bars and 35mm stem….it seems single minded but despite the mods it still pedals well, climbs well and descends like a demon.

I love it, it’s very light too and would recommend it to anyone looking for a ‘do it all bike’….

Pick any of the following:

456 (any variant), PP, Dartmoor, Cotic, Stanton, Chameleon, Cromag etc etc….

All do what you ask in slightly different ways.

Pinder318 cherish them and send them off to TFTuned each year for a service, should outlast you then!

Why as wide as that? You could go down to 2.1 or less.

Tried it when I came back to MTBs…..then discovered 2.2 Panaracers….then 2.35 High Rollers….then 2.5 Minions.

Each has offered more grip without sacrificing too much drag and mud clearance, there will however be a rule of diminishing returns whereby any new wider tyre will drag, clog up with mud, roll around on the rim etc….the trick is finding the balance, if I rode XC all day epics I probably would use 2.1 widths but my riding is winch and drop or uplift days which is why I’m 2.6 curious at sensible PSIs and Maxxis’s supertacky compound on the front.

If it’s crap I’ll go back to 2.4 and 2.5 fronts.

We should take a leaf from skiing where slower riders already down the trail have right of way and the onus is on the faster skier behind to pass safely…..problem solved but there’s so much ego in MTB, at the moment I despair at some of the conversations I overhear at trail centres.

They should do a race or two, that’d bring down to size!

Squirmy tyres at silly low pressures that are prone to punctures?….where do I sign up!

I’ll stick with 2.4 and 2.5 thanks, might try 2.6 if they’d clear my frame’s

Are we not going back to the days of the Nokian Gazzolodi if the manufacturers actually build tyres strong enough for mountain bike use!?…..otherwise they’re just flimsy POS that seem to punture every ride.

Dartmoor Hornet, just so much fun and far more capable than a HT has any right to be!

Relegated my very trick Trance to second bike which I never thought would happen.

As above ACC ran with an angleset in her Ibis during the EWS, I realise her bike was newer than yours but go for it.

Nice choice of fork too, if I could find one for reasonable money I’d snap it up!!
That’ll be quite a beast when built up.

This would be the charming Cope that dumped Emma O’Reilly when she was talking with him about coming clean about Armstrong…..so much for the zero tolerance policy at Sky again and nice to know Cope’s loyalty lies with a doper if push comes to shove.

Chances of surviving a cardiac arrest outside of hospital is around 1%…..not good even with good CPR from a Dr and Nurse on the flight.

Depends on how much of her heart died during the cardiac arrest as to how bad her heart failure was afterwards, someone can look on the up and then suddenly crash.

RIP

We should be rightly proud of our composites industry and the fact that ‘foreign’ teams want to be based here and reap the benefits of our expertise in chassis design, aerodynamics etc….you have Colin Chapman (RIP) of Lotus and the legendary Cosworth DFV engine to thank for laying the foundation.