Echoing others thoughts, it’s quite hard to find a slack aggressive HT that will take a 100mm fork unless you want a converted dirt jumper…and they’re crap on the trail.

I believe the 456-summer season could take short forks and still have a slack HA….i briefly had a Kona Caldera that had a 68 degree HA with a 100mm fork, that was good fun but bizarrely climbed worse than any other mid to long travel HT I’ve had!?

For the riding I enjoy, uplift days mainly, I find a steel HT with 140mm forks to be about perfect….i’ve gone longer and it wasn’t as involving, the bike seemed to steam roller everything in its way with too much lurching fore and aft which got tiring having to adjust body position so much to compensate.

Cheers, all went without a hitch….my maths is crap though, we were in surplus to the tune of approx 3k which will be a welcome cheque when it arrives next week!

Good move and pleased Vernon is going, what about Maes or did I miss something, he’s the one I’d want to have under contract, he seems able to win at EWS level and the following weekend at a DH World Cup!….incredible talent.

Wonder what plans Dan has re. the Slash and Remedy?!…..i’d happily run a Slash as a mini-DH bike if I didn’t want a dedicated machine for the job.
Be interesting to see if Trek makes them run Bontrager tyres…..nothing wrong with them but they’ve been on Continental for so long now the switch may take some time.

Where does it leave Brannigan and Brook Mac?…or are they a straight swap into the GT team!?

These kinds of tyres look appealing, I bought a Rock Razor earlier this year for the benefits mentioned in that article about the Minion-SS….all was going great until I tried to brake, I should add I was on practice runs at a local DH race but braking in a straight line prior to the corner they had no bite whatsoever…..i ran wide into a load of spectators who found my incompetence highly amusing!

I should imagine for general trail riding they’re great, I often put a Larsen on the back during the height of summer….but pointed downhill on steep tech terrain I found them lacking….i swapped over to a Minion DHR2 and all was good again….decent chunky paddle-like knobs to bite into the ground when braking with the bike upright.

I could see Rock Razors and Minion-SS being suitable for places like BPW where the trails are hard packed and the tyre doesn’t actually need to dig into anything to brake but on this particular DH course where lots of it had been freshly cut, it was grassy, muddy, rooty etc….they were useless.

Re. The women, if you’re good enough you’ll be fine…see Rach Atherton, Manon and Tahnee….all fast, all competing in the BDS which is essentially the proving ground for World Cup success and all attracting sponsors.

The problem the female class has is the massive gap in talent between the top riders as listed above (also include Myriam Nicole in there) and other supposed ‘elite’ WC riders making up the top-10 despite being more than 20secs behind the winner.

There was a Canadian girl at Mont Saint Anne this year who was hyped as being able to ruffle the feathers of the big guns….great I thought, new talent coming through….she did nothing to trouble the likes of Atherton et al.
That’s where the problem lies, not some hand wringing PC, should we give more TV coverage to the women? argument….the women themselves need to sort out their training, their bikes, what domestic series to get noticed in etc….put out the promo vids, garner the results and the deals will come their way….but all the time Atherton, Seagrave and Carpenter can put 20secs+ into the other girls in the top-10 then there’s your problem….it’s not sexism, the male category is so tight with mere seconds often covering the top-10….the women not so.

You can hardly blame viewers for not being that fussed about watching that.

Devil’s advocate mode….all this could’ve been avoided if you’d bought the right sized bike instead of following current trends and forum wisdom of buying the largest frame you can possibly stretch yourself onto.

(runs for cover)….

Trance here, great bike…can take a 140mm fork and be an excellent trail bike or fit a 160mm fork and go Enduro racing!….the DW/Maestro link suspension feels bottomless even on big hits and then really shows its magic by stiffening up nicely under power when pedalling….very light too even in metal although there is a plastic one available if thats your thing.

Great off season so far, loads of juicy rumours.

Athertons to Trek is fairly well known I believe, Rude coming back to DH is also fairly certain, Gwin in his own team but still riding Specialized bikes is an interesting one….i’ve heard he might partner up with Luca Shaw for that one with Troy Lee Designs and Redbull footing the bill perhaps?

As others have said Brook Mac seems to be the go-to-guy when a team is stuck for a top rider, he’s good but I don’t think he’ll win a WC in current company….surely better to give a junior a chance?…rumour is Brook Mac to GT, that’s ok but if I was GT I’d want Martin Maes doing a full senior season too.

With TWR effectively folding or being taken over by the Athertons where does that leave Laurie Greenland?…i hope he’s got a good deal for next year.

Sam Hill and Mike Jones are staying put, they’re a good pairing and once Hill is fixed he’ll be winning again.

Santa Cruz Syndicate?….i reckon Minnaar will stay on to see just how far out of reach he can put his World Cup victory tallies, Bryce seems happy….I’m concerned for Peaty, I’d hate to see him failing to qualify for the main event each round, he had an excuse this year but next year it’s make or break basically….top-20s will be the minimum expected of him to keep that ride I reckon.

I’d like to see Wyn Masters in a well supported team, he’s hovering outside the top-20 currently but could break into the top-10 with the right support I think.

Brosnan is safe at Spesh I reckon, he’s their banker if Gwin moves on.

Interesting to see what Hart does now Marzocchi have effectively folded and become Fox?….he’s so close to a World Cup win….rumours are Bruni is moving on, seems odd given he’s just landed Lappiere a World Championship but rumours again say the team has been bought out by Canyon?!….with Barel in an advisory, developmental, coaching role.

YT are rumoured to be entering the class, plenty of good riders for them to pick from….Sam Dale, Matt Simmonds, Blenki etc….

Like.

Lose the mud guards, I don’t care how effective they are, they just spoil the aesthetics of what would be a beautiful bike.

Dirt magazine asked YT some uncomfortable questions last year (maybe this year while they were still in print, cant remember?!) about why, when the Capra enduro bike and the Tues DH machine were so good that they dont have a factory team in either discipline….apparently money isnt an issue, look at the top US and Canadian freeriders they’ve recruited over the last few years….YT said it was in hand and ‘something’ would be happening soon….they intimated that they didnt want to make up the numbers and would want to come straight in with a winning rider….

…Gwin fits the bill in that respect, it’s an excellent opening into the US DH market and i should imagine YT would let Gwin play fast and loose with whatever components and sponsors he wanted to use.

I hope it happens.

Ditto the Athertons to Trek, that is a good bike and i could see Rachel being untouchable again and a resurgent Gee on such a sorted bike.

Anyway back to the original question, I dunno why people rush off to these weird brands when the big ones have you covered with some quality bikes e.g. Trek Remedy

This.
The bigger brands (although far from infallible) generally put out some great bikes…they have the R&D budget, the pro test riders etc….and the end result is usually very polished, rides brilliantly and due to economy of scale comes in at a reasonable price too….whats not to like?

Obviously everyone is different and some riders do genuinely want to help a new firm like ‘Bird’ get a foothold in the market, after all competition and choice is a good thing….but so many riders want to be different for the sake of being different, there’s an element of ‘look at me’ about their bike choice….’see how much of a connoisseur i am?!’….even though the bike they’re on is effectively being tested by the buying public due to limited R&D from the companies in question.

I had an (almost) unlimited amount to spend on my last FS, i’m not rich i’d just been saving and had the credit card ready also….i looked at British made, i love the industrial lines of an Orange-5, i liked the idea of the start-up Bird company….i love Nukeproof’s stuff and for a 14st rider like me they seem built like tanks…i even canvassed opinion on here and was met with all the usual leftfield suggestions, Canfield this, Salsa that, Evil the other etc….Transition and Banshee pricked my interest and may be an option when i buy a DH bike next year but in the end i went for a….Giant.

Haha, why?!….i test rode one and was blown away.

The rear suspension is fantastic and really has had some magic worked into it (they can thank Dave Weagle for that but its a touchy litigious subject!), it actually firms up under pedalling….none of that horrible bobbing that seemed to plague other bikes i’d tested….the Alu mix Giant use seems impossibly light and i liked the fact i can swap between 140mm, 150mm and 160mm forks depending on what kind of riding i’m doing and Giant are fine with that and will honour the warranty….it has a normal tapered head tube, helicoiled post mount rear brake fittings, 135×10 or 142×12 dropouts that are easily interchangeable….and as a bonus they chucked in one of their own brand Giant Contact dropper posts…i also like the fact i walked into the shop to buy it, visited again recently to have the BB fitted (fitting was free, all i did was buy the hatefull pressfit thing)…..so here i am out on the trails on a mass produced aluminium trail/enduro machine that is about as grey and anonymous as these things get, its even grey and black in colour!….but i dont care, it rides beautifully, has a comprehensive warranty and excellent main dealer back-up should i need it…..any money i have burning a hole in my pocket i’ll spend on the best brakes and drivetrain i can get at the time as that will make more of a difference to me than whether the bike is ‘on trend’ with it’s ETT/reach/whatever measurements!

Turner DHR, the current one…..the machining around the BB and shock mounting/pivot does funny things to me…will be my 40th birthday present to myself.

Brilliant thread. What we’re seeing here is a combination of things….some snobbery around the YT brand, someone clinging on to current geometry trends, believing in them hook line and sinker and being dismissive of anything that deviates from that and some very defensive behavior from everyone regarding their overpriced bikes….it’s pure gold.

Looking at these photos the concept seems to be a solution looking for a problem….whats the point of tyres so tightly squeezed into the forks that they’ll foul up with mud on the first crappy ride?!

Didnt the last Mega winner do so by playing the conditions and putting 26 inch wheels in his 650b frame/forks for added mud clearance?

I reckon for it to work properly forks would need to have a radical redesign too…at that point things begin to get prohibitively expensive for most people….ditto the rear end of the bike, stays would need to become so wide to allow mud clearance that heel rub would be a common factor on plus sized bikes.

This is a part of MTBing that is just going to pass me by i’m afraid, i’ve never found myself lacking grip with a 2.5 Super Tacky Maxxis up front….and i’ve had the bonus of decent mud clearance to boot.
It’s interesting to watch the early adopters and maybe this will sort itself out into some kind of affordable mass produced system whereby we all enjoy the supposed benefits of the additional grip on offer.

I liked it, was always going to be hard to top Skyfall though….but Spectre sets up the introduction of Blofeld nicely, he’s the ultimate Bond villain and will no doubt escape custody for the next installment….and the family/foster element between him and bond adds a nice personal twist from now on.

Craig is great and a proper Bond, ex forces, grizzled, cycnical, etc….however the star for me is ‘M’….Feinnes is a great actor and needs more screen time.

They need a strong female for the next one too, Vesper was good in Casino Royale as she was integral to the plot not just someone for Bond to shag for information and leave again.

Q is brilliant, just the right amount of humour there….keep it up.

Edit- i liked Waltz as the baddie, for me the bad guy is always more sinister when they’re quiet and calculating…he played it beautifully for me but then i havent seen Inglorious Basterds to compare him to that role.

My 16 inch HT with 140mm forks would be some people’s idea of a nightmare (i’m 5′ 9″ by the way, so probably looks like a circus bear riding a bike)….i love it though, love the ease with which it changes direction, love how easy it is to get in the air, love the confidence inspiring steel girder like construction that allows me to ride like a pillock and get away with it….always fun at places like BMCC, Antur, BPW, FoD etc and trying to chase down the full-on DH bikes….not always successfully i might hasten to add!

Its a laugh and thats what bikes are for me, i have no intention of entering Enduros on it….i occasionally find a local DH race with a HT category and have a competitive outing in that respect.

I have a Trance with 160mm forks for the serious side of this sport where everyone seems to compare themselves and their bikes to each other and pick holes in millimetres of difference in geometry….part of me hates myself for getting suckered into it, i was happy with HTs but i have ridden FS before and i’ll concede they are easier/better over truly horrendous terrain….only thing i’ve done as a two fingered salute to the MTB gods is ditch the Rockshox suspension it came with and go full in with X-Fusion front and rear…always gets some looks that one!…almost like people arent expecting me to get down the hill in one piece with such ‘inferior’ chassis tech on my bike, haha!

Charge Spoon at 14st here.

I’ve also enjoyed the On-One Big Nose that came on a 45650b i ordered a few years ago, very comfy….still have it under the stairs as emergency backup.

I associate the brand with ‘surrey man’ and having had to spend a painful number of mornings stuck behind a group of Rapha clad MAMILS as they wobble their way through Esher, Epsom, Dorking etc it has tarnished the brand for me….same as if i won the lottery i wouldnt wear a Rolex or drive a Ferrari, just something ‘yuck’ and a bit try-hard about those brands.

If you get the choice when choosing as wheel build go for steel freehubs, you don’t get any of this nonsense and the weight penalty is tiny.

Some very po faced and serious (boring) cyclists on here.

Get a test ride, if you can’t then take a punt….that’s the joy of bikes, they all ride differently.
So what if the top tube is slightly short….fit a 5mm longer stem and move the saddle back another 5mm…..there you go, you’ve just gained 10mm more TT.

Some of the comments….’l only ride horst link’…..’l used CAD to superimpose the geometry over my old bike’…..jesus wept, you guys are missing out….seriously.

There are so many good bikes and so little time (and money) to own them all!…..i currently have a DW/maestro but I’ve had linkage driven single pivot….I’d like to try Horst….I’d like to try VPP….I’d like to try an Orange-5 etc

This thread has descended into another example of why I don’t ride with others and am loathe to call myself a MTBer, as a group we really are a sad sad bunch.

Anyway, the Capra looks great….this obsession with having a bike so long you can do very little other than sit in the middle of it like a sack of spuds will pass I’m sure, at the moment marketing is leading design and the cash cow is Enduro so that’s why we’ve got what we’ve got so to speak.
Be interesting to see who will be the first manufacturer to break ranks and move away from silly short chain stays and ridiculously long front triangles.

Good, the Adidas stuff looked much better….let’s see a return to that please!

I like it, if I had 4k burning a hole in my pocket…..

That advert smacks of someone caught up in the hype, buy with haste repent at leisure and all that…..i should imagine once manufacturers have milked the whole ‘short chainstays, conservative head angles’ thing to death you’ll see Porter’s Geometron appear in various guises as the next big thing from the main manufacturers.

I like it, makes perfect sense for riders like me….super stable at speed, DH slack when aiming down, steep enough seat tube and long enough chain stays to stop it pulling wheelies while climbing, if you’re an XC whippet you’ll hate it but for ‘winch and plummet’ riders it looks ideal…..may stick a -2 degree headset in my Trance and see if I can get close to the same thing.

Short chainstays are crap, unless you’re a slopestyle rider throwing whips and need that ‘in the air’ maneuverability then most of us would benefit from more stability on the trail not less from a stupidly short twitchy rear end that often limits tyre choice too!

Loads about, the direct sales models are the obvious choice but can be tricky to get test rides on.

Giant Trance it’s available at that price, lovely lightweight frame and incredible DW/Maestro link rear suspension that actually firms up under pedaling.

Spesh Stumpy can be had at that price.

Trek Remedy is available for less than 2k now it’s end of season.

Nukeproof TR, the shorter rear travel one makes an excellent trail bike.

Genuinely so much choice and so many good bikes, enjoy…..pick the one you like the look of the most or can get the best deal on and go for that one, you’ll be happy either way.

Have 2 kids to drop off at school / nursery on you way to work 10 miles away?
Take the car.

Have heavy equipment you need for you job?
That’s what vans are for.

Live in a rural area and travel fairly long distances?
Take the car.

Live less than 5 miles from work
Maybe think about cycling, even just on nicer days

1 mile trip to the shops for a pint of milk
Maybe think about walking.

Going out for a bite to eat in town at the weekend?
Could you take a bus or train?

The voice of reason.

To be honest the pious and high-horse brigade boasting about how they revel in the crappy weather to cycle for an hour to work each day are as off putting to leisure cyclists like me as Clarkson is for serious petrolheads….both are extreme ends of the argument and neither one is helpful.

The post i quoted however is pretty much where i’d like to get to at some point with my car/bike use.

I get the reasoning behind it, I’m just concerned it might be so different I’ll not get on that well with it – I like technical climbing just as much as heading down.

You’ll be fine…i went from a bike with a 68 degree HA to a bike with a 66 degree HA and then to a 45650b which i think was slacker still (poss 65 degrees with a 150mm fork?)…never noticed any problems with climbing.

The worst bike i had for climbing was a Kona Caldera that had a HA of 68.5 degrees with a 100mm fork….i dont know what was up with the geometry, maybe the seat tube was angled too far back but it would lift the front even on mild climbs…the slacker longer forked HTs i’ve had have always kept the front wheel rooted to the ground.

I think to do that you need to convince the middle aged middle class middle management to continue to live in the city.

Good luck.

I’m only 38 but couldnt wait to leave the South East, it was OK when i was single and going out lots with my single mates and the odd couple….but once everyone hit 30 and started buying houses, partnering up, having sprogs etc the aim has been to get the hell out of dodge….cities are crap for families, certainly down South anyway, they’re expensive, crowded, dirty etc….no privacy or open space to call your own….you’d have to pay me to live in London.

For just 50k more than the 2-up/2-down terrace we had in the South East we’ve moved to a village location and live in an 1850’s era 3-bed cottage in 4 acres of land with stables, double garage, off road parking etc….as a bonus we’re also 20mins from the coast and have a few of the Welsh trail centres nearby….but yeah, go on then, tempt me back to the City?!

Car use is convenient….it just keeps coming back to that word i’m afraid, you can label it lazy if you want (i couldnt care less) but having a car and being able to live hours away from where i work has meant we’ve been able to move away from the hussle and bussle of the outer London area and have a quality of life that would be unaffordable to us if we stayed in the South….we priced up similar properties in the South East the other evening to see how much our place would cost if you lifted it up and plonked it down in the outskirts of London, Surrey etc….it would treble or even quadruple in price and working in the NHS on a very average salary that just isnt going to happen….trying to guilt trip people like me into giving up the car and living close to work would effectively limit the chance i’d ever have of living in the countryside or owning a nice house, you create even more haves and have-nots than there are already….same as when some plank suggests taxing the arse out of fuel to penalise people for driving, all it does is hit the poorest first as running a car is a big expenditure for them….the wealthy carry on regardless.

The only way i can see things working is if people who live in cities by choice have cycling infrastructure put in place for them and maybe some kind of tax break to give up the car….as i said in a previous post; congestion, traffic, whatever you want to call it stops being an issue once you’re out of cities and decent sized towns so the rest of the country looks on bewildered at the funny attitudes of the city-types who seem to think everywhere in the UK has everything nearby and within cycling distance….its no wonder people like myself get defensive, if you choose to live in a city and want to vote for pro cycling Mayors, councillors, MPs etc to change things then bully for you, just dont expect the rest of the country to fall in line with your view of how we should all live, work, travel etc.

The last inch is hardly used for me, it’s big hits and things go wrong territory.

This.

Even at Antur the other week my 140mm Revs werent quite getting that last 20mm or so….its purely for when i get things badly wrong and the front of the bike has to sort itself out….i could let some air out but its a hardtail and the geometry changes too much when taking a 140+mm fork from fully extended to fully compressed….it has 20% sag and i like it sat in its mid travel for most of the runs.

I’ve never understood the ‘must use all the travel’ school of thought….are people really setting up their 160mm full sussers to use all the travel on a pootle round the woods, morning blast around Swinley, XC mince etc?????….that seems like bloody hard work, nauseating and energy sapping to me.

Now, if your forks cant compress to full travel because theres something wrong with them then thats different altogether.

….then take into account the type of fork and how it affects your riding, when i had a medium coil spring 140mm Sektor on my HT i rode off the back far more and could get full travel (but still without harshly bottoming out) at places like BPW, FoD etc….same length fork now but air spring and it ramps up a lot more so i find myself riding over the front far more or at least more centred on the bike anyway.

Suspension can get as complicated as you want to make it!….i’ve always found TFtuned to be very friendly and helpful, other report back good things from Loco, Mojo etc…

No public transport through the village where i live….that said the nearest town is only 2 mins in the car up the road (so perfectly cyclable) and it has an Ambulance Station, if only their HR dept wesnt so crap and would process my transfer faster!….soooo, currently travelling 4 hours each to my old NHS trust in the South East!….obviously i dont do that everyday, i travel down and do a run of shifts and then go home for about a week.

If you ever find yourself in the hideous position of suffering a drawn out end to a terminal illness please get on good terms with your GP and quickly….in my experience as a paramedic those who suffer most are those who suffer in silence….start seeing your GP soon after getting the diagnosis, even when you’re still fairly well, mobile etc….unloading emotionally is beneficial for a start….but more importantly if you express just how terrified you are about the pain and suffering aspect the more likely you are in the end to have a GP who will administer that final large bolus of morphine ‘to make you comfortable’….or the more likely that you’ll be walking home with a script for several large bottles of oramorph solution, that then gives you the option of checking out on your own terms.

Don’t be one of those martyrs that doesn’t want to be a nuisance, it’s your death so bloody well take control of it!

Molgrips pic says it all really….cities have always been busy, I remember being at school and reading about cities that date back hundreds of years and were busy stinking places (only it was waste that was the problem then), put people in close proximity and what do you expect?!….i could spout off about the sheep who insist on moving to the south/london/cities and contributing to the problem….if you don’t like it move away, we did….where I live now I barely notice traffic, it’s a complete non issue that only city dwellers drone on about, boring.

Speaking of laziness isn’t that pretty much the main reason for moving to a decent sized town or city?!….you know, how ‘convenient’ it is to have everything nearby!

If you want to appeal to more than just cyclists direct government investment and infrastructure towards moving people, housing and jobs out of the congested areas in the UK….we have enough space, sadly our populace is concentrated in small areas and congestion arises because of that….spread everything more thinly and watch the roads become a far quieter place….of course then people will moan that they can’t walk to the nearest bar/shop/restaurant etc….

Seems people in cities hate cars, meanwhile the rest of the country wonder what all the fuss is about.

Also, by the time that you factor in travelling to the place that the bus picks you up, waiting for it, having to set off earlier because it’s unreliable/doesn’t quite fit your work hours/drops of a twenty minute walk away, sitting in a nice comfy air conditioned box listening to Eddie Mahr for an hour is sounding more attractive by the minute.

This.

My car may be expensive to run….actually its not, my insurance now i’m in my 30s is bugger all…fuel is cheap…MOT is cheap if the car passes…tax is cheap as its a small petrol etc etc….and the biggest plus as listed above is convenience, public transport doesnt come close….in fact there isnt any in my town at the time my shifts start (6am by the way)….that means walking miles to work in the dark and wet during winter, no thanks….or cycling miles to work in the cold, dark and wet during winter, no again….then factor in getting up earlier to allow for the additional commuting time and my working life starts to look even less appealing than it does already.

….or i could just get in my car, stay warm and dry…listen to some music, get up later, carry my work kit without hassle….maybe pack my squash gear and go straight from work to the sports centre after work….Mmm, convenient…actually that last bit is a lie too, i stopped playing squash a few years ago as the two mates i play with both work in London and get the train to/from work…it became farcical trying to book a court and keep the booking, the trains would inevitably be late or cancelled altogether so we stopped bothering in the end….go public transport!

Unless it rains of course

….weather forecast suggests an 80% chance of a wet race, could get interesting.

This thread is pure gold, it has everything…..a thinly veiled dig at another STWer’s riding, the video evidence of the accuser’s own crap riding….references to a ‘pecking order’ while out on the trail and seemingly done with a straight face for good measure….jesus wept, unless you’re paid to ride your MTB then there is no pecking order, it’s a hobby….probably best to find something else to do if you can’t help but take it this seriously!

….as others have said, this is why I ride alone…..i’m not averse to a ride with mates, genuine friends who view MTBing as ‘dicking around on bikes’ like I do but the thought of being in a group of blokes who take it all very seriously indeed and have a pecking order, shout tips to slower riders, buzz tyres etc leaves me cold….just so so sad.

Just had mine done…38 yrs old and 138/92, pulse of 96….lol.

….but then I know why mines like that, my DR doesn’t however.

Mine goes back to normal (usually 115/75) when I stop playing with steroids, peptides and insulin.

I wouldn’t worry about it.

It’s always been an unwritten rule in motor sport that if you’re not in the championship hunt (and MM isn’t) then you don’t get involved….sadly the petulant little Spaniard forgot this and tried to scupper Rossi’s race….he came off worse, suck it up princess and learn some manners.

The only slight bending off this long held tradition is when the person you’re running interference for is a team mate….but MM and Lorenzo aren’t teammates so he had no business slowing Rossi’s race like that.

Sad end to the championship, 10 years ago I’d have staked my mortgage on Rossi being able to start at the back in Valencia and still win, not now though….it’s been great to see a 37 yr old Rossi riding for wins again this year but he’s been done up like a kipper over this by HRC, the Spanish in the sport etc….

Oh well, roll on next year!

Monkeyfudger gets it….a STW forum niche favourite gets a less than stellar review and owners have a meltdown, love it!

My thoughts; I rode rigid steel MTBs in the 90s….there’s a reason they’re not used anymore in XC, DH etc…progress has moved most of us onto suspension forks at the very least…most onto full suspension….the thought of taking a fully rigid bike for a ride around the woods or on an uplift day like I do my current HT with bouncy forks leaves me cold….the Stooge is a retro bike in that respect, a throwback….if you review it to modern trail standards it’s not surprising it will fall short, it’d be like reviewing a Ford Anglia to modern benchmarks and then acting surprised it doesn’t measure up!

Craig was spot on the moment he was in Layer Cake. It was a eureka moment, “Oh, that’s Bond. He’s going to be Bond”.

This.

I watched layer cake, not even aware they were looking for a new bond but said to mates that he’ll be the next bond (as did many others i’m sure)….to date i havent seen another actor do that for me.

He does need to be relatively unknown like Craig was…an established star comes with their career already tainted by more well known roles….the studio needs to look around the indie scene and see who’s coming up or grab someone after their first breakthrough performance but before they do anything else.

Ragley anything.

Superstar / Novatec hubs on my HT too, they’re great….easy to swap between axle standards, never had to change the bearings yet despite DH and winter abuse, I’d happily have another set.

Is that Renton’s?!?!…..Hora to the forum please!