Cheers, yorkshire89. That’s the one. Mail inbound.

I’ve got a carbon Trance X. I fitted 140 Fox forks, 720mm bars, a 70mm stem, Flow EXs on Hope Pro 2 Evos running tubeless and went 1X10. Even with a dropper post it only weighs 27lbs. It still climbs really well, but is able on the descents, too. I love it and ride it at Swinley or the Alps. In both contexts it copes brilliantly.

GB – thanks for your hard work. The signage was excellent and the event a real success. I even got up that big hill near the end (Sawyer’s Hill?) on a 1×10.

I can vouch for Torchy’s stuff. Good prices, great service and very bright.

I did a century ride on one of these on Wednesday and it was fine.

Sportful Hotpack. The 4 has been replaced by the 5, so is available at £40 or less.

It’s a great area I visit regularly with both mtb and roadie. Try cycling up the Col de Joux Plane….

They appear to be back to £39.99 now. Nice.

The Fluxient U2 Mini is very good and can be had for £40 delivered from Torchy The Torch Boy via eBay. There’s a two year warranty, as well.

I have been impressed by my MW81s, including use in the Alps at Easter in snowy conditions. Sharing a blue run with a skier was amusing. He did do a double take but, being French, thought nothing more of it. The boots were also very good in the incredibly wet winter we had last year. All in all, I find them warm, comfortable and waterproof. Just buy a size up: I’m a 43, but a Shimano 44 fits nicely.

I use a Zee FR mech with a T-Rex on my Trance and it’s been excellent.

Ok, short stem and wider bars fitted. The bike felt great at Swinley this evening and lost none of its climbing abilities. So…………… I’m going to keep it!

Sportful Hot Pack 4/5. The 4 can be had for £40 as it’s been replaced. Watch out for Italian sizing, though. I needed a large, and I’m pretty skinny!

Arrived this morning and fitted to my Anthem, together with a 60mm OD2 stem I found on eBay. I have these bars on my Trance and they are great, especially for £40! Off to play at Swinley later. It’ll be interesting to compare the difference on the Anthem, having gone from 100mm stem and 685 bars. I hope it still climbs…

Just weighed the Anthem: 23.98lbs. I’m quite please with that! :-)

My Anthem X carbon 26er is around 24lbs running 1X10 and tubeless.

I already have a Trance that I have converted to 1X10 and put 140s and a dropper on. It’s a lovely bike. I built the Anthem first, then a carbon Trance frame came up, which I couldn’t resist!

Ok, wider bars (Easton Haven carbon courtesy of the recent PSA) ordered and a 60mm OD2 stem sourced from eBay. I’ll see how that feels, the think about 120 forks.

Lovely bars, and on their way for the second bike…. Bargain!

Oh well. Maybe I’ll keep it and bung a dropper, wider bars and a shorter stem on it….

Ok.Thanks for that. I was hoping for a bit more due to the scarsity of the frame.

So, what’s it worth? Would eBay be worth a punt?

It’s not a crack, just the end of some helitape.

Oh, and a new headset that has seen one Swinley outing.

Trance carbon running tubeless 1X10 with dropper and Flows. A shade under 27lbs.

As does the 510. It came with a lanyard that I put over the stem, just in case.

Yeah, I run saint with a fr zee, 11-40 and NW 32. All works excellent

Me, too. No problems at all. Saint shifter is crisp and positive and better than the Zee one because you can dump two gears at once.

I use a Zee FR mech with a Hope T-Rex 40t on my Trance with no problems.

Have a play with the free stroke screw on the brakes. You may, in theory, be able to reach the bite point sooner.

11-25 and compact here. Hardly ever use the 34 around where I live (East Berkshire), but find the setup fine in the Alps. I do have a 12-27, just in case, though…

Frame from 2010
10 Gears
26″ wheels
Unfashionable brand
Long stem @ 70mm
Bars only 711mm wide
No flats

But…..bloody brilliant!

If you cycle up the road to Samoens 1600 you can then climb into the Massif above Les Carroz. The area has trails marked which offer plenty of fun riding of an AM/XC style. If you drive round to Les Carroz go into Tourist information and you should be able to pick up a map showing the trails. (I’m not sure if Samoens has a Tourist Information, but it probably does.) There are loads of trails and they are fairly well marked. You can go out for an hour or all day. No lifts will be running, but you can ride up tracks to the tops of most of the mountains. It’s a great area that I ski in the winter and MTB other times. If you have a road bike, try the Col de Joux Plain out of the back of Samoens. Then drop down and into Les Gets and come full circle. Plenty of fun in Les Gets, if you like DH.

I’m getting on well with my Fox Launch Pro. Comfortable, offer good protection and are complimented by matching elbow pads.

I have a Saint shifter and XT brakes. Can I ispec them together? Saint shifter is precise and easy to use. Dumping more than one gear at a a time is useful, too.

I find Spesh shoes are spot on size wise: I’m a 43 generally and a 43 in Spesh, whereas for Shimano I size up one size, so a 44.

I had this. It was air in the system. I fitted the syringe into the caliper with fluid in it and the bike upright on iis back wheel. I then flicked the hose from the caliper up to the lever and also flicked the lever. I was surprised by how many air bubbles came out. I kept going until no more air came out, removed the syringe, refitted the cap and wiped the lever and reservoir clean with IP alcohol. Job done. This was despite following Shimano’s instructions when fitting the brakes in the first place, which involved shortening the hoses.

I use a seven seater with only four seats in place. This leaves a gap between the two back seats as there can be a seat here. The bike goes straight in, no messing. All good.

Trance X with:

Saint shifter
Zee FR mech
XT 11-36 cassette plus T-Rex 40T Cog
XT Triple Crank that I already had. Chainring spaced in by 2mm.
Raceface NW 32T
XT chain

This all works really well, was easy to set up and has been used in Swinley and the Alps with no issues in terms of reliability and climbing.

Yes, they are a bit on the small size.

I’m only 5’10”! The post is at its highest there for fire roads etc and is fine for me. When dropped it goes nice and low.