After test driving new 5 door mini, Skoda fabia, Ford Focus and-out of curiosity, the cactus-wife has ordered a purple one!
Looks like an aubergine!

Anyway to go back to the original question I think SC bikes really are that good and it’s up to you if you think they are the right money or not. I have had four: a chameleon,; bullit.2; v10 mark 3; nomad. 2 aluminium and the latest nomad 650b.
I have been over the bars on all of them and two of them required hospitalisation (so far!) so you definitely CAN fall off them-but then again I also fell off my demo, norco, commencal and epic.
The new nomad has the best geometry of all of them and I realise now the older gen ones were too short-but this is the best bike I have ever had and after 3 weeks in the Alps and riding round a bit in the UK I know I don’t need a dh bike and an xc bike, I can just have this.
As long as the kids have got shoes and the mortgage gets paid, get one!

Mrblobby fair point they did have a carbon enduro 29er with £1k off which at £3.5k looked a great bike at the right price (but no CCDB shock)

You are talking bobbins about ford vs bmw though-Bm is a much better car

Went in a specialised concept store today and a carbon enduro frameset is £2800 so about the same as a santa cruz really – why does everyone think they are expensive compared to everything else?

I have to agree with chickenman above I am on my fourth SC bike and i have gone over the bars on all of them, useless things

Except guide dogs, obv!

We have a cat that really p!ss*s me off. I really really dislike digs though – don’t see the point.

I have one of each and the Mac is by far the better piece of equipment, and i mean that pound for pound. I think Mac haters just can’t afford one the same way I have no interest in a high performance car as I can’t afford one of them (spent all my money on a mac and a carbon bike)

tried one on – looked rubbish and the build quality is appalling – even the guy in the shop recommended i look at something else

I found the SRAM ones even more brittle than the shimano to be honest-they certainly aren’t as durable with te extra complication of a clutch, but they certainly work so I am sticking with my SLX-my last one lasted a couple of years then just turned into a normal (none clutch) mech so I have it as a spare.

PF bottom bracket too…

pawsy – they need cutting – we need a picture or you are a fat bike roadie

pawsy lets see a picture then

[quoteIf you want to limp on the ups and along the flat in order to enjoy maybe 5% of the riding in the UK, go nomad.

If you want to limp on the ups and along the flat in order to enjoy maybe 30% of the riding in the UK, go bronson.

If you want to have fun at every oppurtunity, fly on the ups, turn the flats into a “*DH*, enjoying 95% of what the UK has to offer, go 5010. You will have to accept you won’t be flying down a national standard dh race at race pace though.[/quote]

83.56% of statistics are made up on the spot!

But I see your point and I thought the same would be true until i bought a nomad (cos I liked the colours, the adverts and that if I’m honest) and then proceeded to be faster up, across and down on it than i was on my old nomad. If I had two bikes though it would be a 5010 and a knackered old DH bike for the boring UK uplifts and yearly trip to the alps

Firstly– respect to Euanc that is awesome!

The nomad does seem slack on paper (hardly different to a capra though) but it does seem to work and it climbs a load better than the old nomad, which isn’t maybe sayin too much but it’s what I was used to. Downhill it doesn’t plough like a downhill bike (I have the monarch) but it does feel very different to the old nomad due to the extra length.

I think a lot of bikes are going to go longer travel and longer wheelbase

Hey I got one of them blue bikes too! (but without fancy wheels…)
Also fitted #Enduro SWAT bottle cage, fancy little tool thing and headset chain tool – thats #Enduro

IMG_3688 by droppin-neutron[/url], on Flickr

Not sure I can beat to put a tyre called a Magic Mary on my bike-it’s already pink

Thanks for the help-are these the downhill casings:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321418312916

Got mine last Friday-ordered with straight pull hubs but turned up with regular Pro2’s. Was sick of waiting and had a massive hangover so I took em anyway .

Tubeless easy to set up, but they feel heavy after my (26″) Havens

They might not actually be called extra grippy, but they are more grippierer!

The ones I got where hope ones dunno if others will fit

Hope pedals have very poor levels of grip on any shoes until you fit the ‘extra grippy pins’ you can get from hope for a tenner.

5:10’s then grip really well with them

Think so. As was Gee Atherton, who fell off

I have some saints and find them to have a small platform and be pretty heavy-so I don’t like em

Have Hopes as well they are much better-but I would be interested In some grippier pins if anyone knows where I could get some

For me, it would be the fact that I wouldn’t want to leave the roof bars on permanently, given that I do 400 miles/week commute and I reckon the economy hit would be noticeable.
Taking them on and off every week is a pain. I have roof bars for my Ibiza and gave up with them when they were going on and off once a week.

I leave mine on but I use those thule ones you just tighten on by hand-takes less than two minutes to install/remove if you want to. Bet it’s a load more faff dismantling filthy bikes, folding down seats, removing kids seats, trying not to damage car interior and then putting all back together-plus the boots free for your stuff.

My Tow bar mount is a pain though -I have the old fashioned thule one that doesn’t tilt, weighs a ton and needs careful packing of bikes to prevent fork lower destruction, but it serves a purpose. The new ones are great I just can’t afford/justify a new one at the minute.

Big vote for the superb though-massive boot, incredible leg room in the back, greenline model so very economical (4 tanks of fuel for alp trip: 2000 miles, 5 bikes, four blokes and 8 days worth of gear). I couldn’t care less about performance and ‘handling’ it’s a bloody estate car it does 90 in cruise on the motorway and gets up hills. Plus I think it’s quite handsome, in its own way

Why is it important to get the bike inside? It’s much more convenient on the roof or a towbar rack isn’t it? I have both on my Superb and use the roof bars for me and one mate and the rear rack for more passengers bikes if I need it. Doesn’t putting them inside just filth up your car after a ride and scratch your bikes if more than one?

Is it the security issue?

I have some of these I don’t use for sale, work pretty well:
http://wheelsmfg.com/bb-30-shims-shimano.html

I have jus had that race face one fitted to my bike and it does seem very good though I aren’t ridden it yet.

Also look at these:

http://wheelsmfg.com/bb-30-shims-shimano.html

Which I had on previously but the SRAM bb failed, and instead of replacing under warranty I had the race face instead.

I still have the wheels manufacturing cups if you won’t to buy them-they are much better quality than that specialized adapter…

I bought some after looking at them for a few weeks and thinking ‘no, I don’t want them they will be s**t’, then I thought sod it they are only about £27 posted so I took a gamble. Turned up after three week and they seemed fine – came with hip pads too. Fit was good and had all they usual troy lee badges etc etc.

Anyway when you wear them I think they feel really sweaty and the material is definitely cheap. Also, one of the zips on the pocket was digging into my leg so I had to snip a bit of it off. The colour as well – I bought the red ones and they aren’t the same colour as troy lee’s red… but that didn’t bother me. Worst thing is your mates taking the pi** out of you for being a tight sod!

Overall, i’d buy another pair, cos they are cheap

That would be OK – im not in a massive rush to sell it but your post prompted me to mention it. I will send you a PM

Actually – I don’t know how to do that on this forum – can anyone help?

Im just about to sell mine either full build or the frame – red medium mk2 if your interested

You need these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-br-m785-pad-axle-snap-ring/

Latest nomad is bolt through though. The Heckler is still a great bike and the right price

Did you make it to Hopton today and if so how was it??

I got an email today to say mine have been despatched-I first contacted Easton last Thursday so pretty good turnaround I would say

I would read Ghostwritten first then Cloud Atlas

Well said ba54her!!

Feel not enough attention has been given to that awesome Nicolai! I love it, great spec choice (apart from the brakes, obviously!) Great job

I have a Nomad mark 2 Alu and it is really nice and all that but with the benefit of hind legs I wouldn’t have had it I would have gone for a BlurLT. And if I were buying now I agree it’s a bit old school in terms of geometry (you have to get used to being perched up on it a bit). That said if I could only have one bike it would be a great choice because they are really tough, light for what they can do and easy to upgrade (they have iscg, big head tube) and can take lots of shock and fork options. Mate has a carbon one and its not that much lighter either

[/url]
New bicycle[/url] by droppin-neutron[/url], on Flickr

Insurance replacement for my V10

[/url][/img]

4 blokes, loads of legroom, all the gear for a week and a spare Nomad in the boot!