SQ Labs 612 ergowave have been kind to me.

Pet hate: “Just testing the water” SO ARE YOU SELING IT OR WHAT????

I’ve bought a couple of PNW things from them, arrived fine. No problems.

Love my Hydra hubs, love the sound too. If you want to quieten them, just use a bit more grease in the freehub. I’ve just serviced mine and took them apart again to wipe some grease out. They were too quiet ;-)

I use Dumonde Tech Freehub grease BTW

I had 800mm on both bikes but felt they might be a bit overkill and cut them down to 780mm

780mm feels spot on for the Druid but I’ve gone back to 800mm on the G1. It’s a big bike and just feels like it needs a little more to muscle it around.

With the scarcity of Sram cassettes at the moment, I managed to get hold of a 10-52t Garbaruk. Very impressed, shifting feels a lot smoother than the GX cassettes I’ve been running until now. Obviously it’s a bit more expensive, but worth it I’d say.

How are the Ribble hardtails? Whenever I see one I think how nice they look. Classy and understated.

Pics please. I recall that Gulf colour scheme is a bit gorgeous

I have X01 AXS on both bikes and love it. Shifing is a dream, I’d hate to go back now.

I had AXS reverb on one bike and didn’t find it anywhere near as much of a benefit. When I swapped over to a frame with a different seat tube size, I sold the AXS reverb and much prefer the Bike Yoke that replaced it.

AXS shifting – Yay! AXS reverb – Meh.

TradeInn/BikeInn whatever do seem to be the slowest of the European retailers. I’ve had stuff from Bike Discount and Bike Components which have arrived within the week. A saddle from Bike Inn took 3 weeks

Got back to the car after a ride, wheels off, frame and front wheel in back of the car, got in, reversed and felt a godawful bump. Got “that” feeling as I realised what I’d done.

Yep, I’d left my lovely 6th element carbon rear wheel propped against the car and had reversed over it. Miraculously, apart from the rotor being all kinds of bent, the wheel survived unscathed with just a light scuff, still running true 6th months later, A testament to the strength of 6th element carbon rims!

I was thinking something similar the other day.

Santa Cruz – BMW. Overpriced status symbols, common as muck. The company car of the mountain bike world.

Is that a multitool in the box too? Seems like a strange thing to bundle with a shifter

Don’t hate me, but I ordered a Geometron G1 frame in November. It arrived a week later. :)

Deity T-Macs, if you can get hold of a set. Perfect size for my wide feet and as grippy as you could ever want.

Is this what you’re after? There’s on on FB marketplace. Not cheap! – https://www.facebook.com/groups/mtbukbuysell/permalink/3944441885600065/?sale_post_id=3944441885600065

https://www.cardertech.co.uk/shop/twotwelve-pedals

Look tasty. Not actually tried them, but I’m tempted.

I’ve been running 12sp X01 for a couple of years, no problems at all. Upgraded to AXS a year ago and absolutely love it. Zero problems in all weathers – super smooth, quick, precise shifting all day every day. Have it on both bike now.

I did both upgrades on the (relatively) cheap, went with upgrade kits, one from Europe when that was still an option. The other was from ebay, I think I paid about 500 – 600.

First bike was a Muddy Fox Courier Comp in 1990, bought because they were “fashionable”, bitten by the bug and traded up to an Orange Clockwork, bought from sShokwave in Nottingham the year after.

At the time I was living in Leicester but found a job and moved up to Sheffield in ’95. been here ever since, still riding and loving every moment. Currently being old and useless on either a Geometron G1 or an Evil Offering.

Bike 24, Bike-components and Lordgun bicycles have all been great for me.

Got 12sp sram on 2 bikes. Runs smooth on both. You do have to make sure the gap between jockey wheel and casette is spot on, but easily done with the right tool. Two thumbs up from me.

The problem I’ve had with Wiggle, and to be fair it’s seeming more commonplace among large mail order retailers, is the woeful lack of customer services with actual real people.

I had to return a pair of forks, which I did get a refund for, but the process was really frustrating and stressful. At no point was I able to speak to someone to explain the problem, or did I get a direct answer to specific questions asked in emails. It was always generic responses, template emails or choosing from a list of options that were never quite applicable.

i’ve found bike-components.de to be quite good. Fast and well stocked.

I bought a 2nd hand 2016 meta, rode it for a year before selling it last year, great bike. Loved it, no problems at all.

I had a Mezzer Pro, lasted a week before bushing problems, Zero support from Hotlines until a couple of weeks after I sent it back to wiggle and insisted on a refund. Happy with the Lyrik I have now.

I find it hard to fathom the price difference between Fox and Rockshox.

Just to jump into this thread, I’m looking for a roof rack that would fit a Large Nicolai, so a pretty huge wheelbase at 1310mm those of you that have the Thule 591, would that fit?

The current Yakima just carries a Large Evil, but the Nicolai is way too long!

Just to update my original post. I now have a refund from Wiggle and a new set of Lyriks from Bike24 fitted, and very nice they are too. Despite initially not being interested, Hotlines got back in touch after a couple of weeks and were keen to sort it all out, but by that time I’d already returned forks and asked for a refund.

It’s a shame things couldn’t have been handled better sooner, I really liked the Mezzers initially. Felt great, looked great, but just that worry of zero support :(

Cheers all. I went for a Garmin 530 in the end, seemed like a safe option!

You could consider a Nicolai/Geometron. I’ve just picked up a 2nd hand G15 which is tagged as their Enduro bike and I’m stunned by how well it rides. Pointed down it’s super plush and capable, and despite a super slack head angle and 170mm forks, it climbs really well.

The G1 looks even more capable, longer travel but a lot of options to customise by swapping mutator chips

Kingdom Vendetta :)

I’ve had Hope E4’s and currently have XT’s and Code RSC’s. XT are my preference. Never had a wandering bite point.

I’ve got some Lyriks on the way. There seems to be crazy differences in pricing between Rock Shox and Fox. I paid £750 for Lyrik Ultimates, Fox Factory 36’s all seem to be upwards of £1100. Seems like a huge difference in price for forks that are in direct competition.

I got an email from wiggle saying the warranty department would be in touch, then the next day, an email asking me to send pics so it could be referred to the warranty department, and in the absence of any pics to send the forks back using the returns form.

The most annoying thing is that all the emails are generic responses, there’s never an opportunity to speak to someone about the specifics. Any replies to emails that I’ve sent haven’t had any answers.

I’ll be boxing them up, sending them back and requesting a refund.

It really is a (bad) joke. Not had a reply from Wiggle yet, had the bounced to EU reply from Hayes in the US and heard nothing from them yet. It’s only one working day I guess, but the level of runaround isn’t looking good.

I got 1 weeks use from NEW forks ffs.

I’ll give it a while and see what, if anything, they say, but wonder were I stand with putting a claim in for a refund through PayPal

I’ve contacted Hayes/Manitou at the US site. Submitted a warranty claim (supplied serial number, order details etc) and got (automated) confirmation that it had been received and forwarded to the EU team who would follow up. Fingers crossed…

Well, just cancelled my order for some lyriks and ordered some mezzer pros. Hope I don’t regret it!

Looks great! Nice build, 31.5 lbs sounds fine to me. Hey Ho. EE wings are gorgeous bits of kit.

I have a pair of Dakine Thrillium gloves which are great and super lightweight. Thin goat leather palm gives loads of grip and still feels really tactile. Like a second skin.

Ed Sheeran, Adele – the twin pillars of mediocrity.

White lycra, those overshoes roadies wear, rear mud guards, E-bikes (I know! Sorry)

I’ve had 2 sets of Hydras and no problems at all, although you do need to stay on top of the bearings which seem to wear faster.

More than worth it for the instant engagement though. Makes the Hope hubs on my other wheels feel horrid.