I tried putting a 29 front wheel on my rigid bike for the same reason as will a few years ago. Fitted in the Pace carbon forks fine and did make it a bit smoother. I dropped bars and moved saddle as best I could to keep position and bars low. However I hated it. Made a nimble, fast bike feel slow. So I sold the wheel and went back to where I was.
I am sure big wheels are great but not for me. (I am short however)

mboy and vortexracing. Thanks, will probably have to take the plunge. just didn’t want to spend £100 and find it was no good. Cheers.

Thread hijack-sorry
Vortexracing. I have a Soul very similar to yours (but orange)
Currently only has a top chainguide (Superstar), dropping the chain a lot and so need to have a bottom guide as well. I have a Superstar top and bottom guide on another bike that works perfectly, never drops a chain but noisy on the bottom jockey wheel and did not want this on the Soul.
You seem to have an MRP top and bottom guide on yours, is that noisy?

Swampthings on tarmac don’t even freewheel downhill

I think that Super Tacky Maxxis Swamp Things are better over roots and anything wet other than gloopy than Wet Screams. However also super draggy.

I have a 2006 Espace that I have had from new. Now 80,000 miles. i am an ex petrol head and for the first four years of its life drove it very fast (for an Espace) Has been fantastic with big European family trips, downhilling race weekends and carrying huge amounts of logs, dogs and building materials etc.
Had a blip with drive shafts recently but eventually diagnosed and fixed for about £1000. Until all the speed cameras nothing was better at flying through France fully loaded in the middle of the night.
When they introduce another Espace (if they ever do) i will get another one.
Still feels modern and design is old now.

I guess the numbers make more sense with road miles where 100 milers are not so epic. But still well played and I like the idea of a mobile pub, you might be on to something!

Some huge numbers on this thread. Was really impressed until i started to be a bit depressed. All that mileage must get a bit tedious. I think I ride a lot, I ride most days and all off road straight from the house. Most short and sweet with a few downhill runs thrown in when walking the now rather fast dog. Lots of downhilling days and some longer xc rides with friends at weekends etc but probably only 2000 a year, maybe 2500 at a push. Can’t see how I would want to do more. Would not leave much time for anything else and most normal people would think I was pretty obsessive already. I know we are all different etc

Lots of comment about being able to ride anything on a bike no matter how ‘small’ or ‘big’. Fair enough and I accept the idea of a compromise bike. However I can ride anything (except gaps and big drops) on my rigid bike but often I have to go slowly . I can ride nearly everything faster and have huge fun on my Soul and I can ride everything on my Orange Blood even faster and have even more fun.
But on a sunny day, going out for a big ride with big views nothing beats the rigid bike, even climbing can then be fun. The answer is more than one bike.

I would definitely go the two bike route if you can. XC whippet for races and big XC days out and then you can go for a hooligan bike without worrying about practicality. I agree with ianpv about big bikes. They can winch uphill and when is climbing fun anyway but it is the traversing and flat stuff that makes them feel slow.
Ride one for a while and then it is always great fun to get on the other. My twopenneth, wrong probably.

Chiefgrooveguru, you may be right of course but i have another bike for aesthetic grrr. ( Your bike does look burlier than mine) But as I sink my way through a bottle of red I am resigning myself to the prospect and will just swap it between bike as needed.

Why do people want to do 100 miles of SDW in the winter around the shortest day?
Conditions – wet, cold, muddy, slippery and full of puddles. Help yourself.

I bought a New Renault Espace in about 2006 for cash (about £20k). I went in to buy a second hand one and they offered such a good deal on a new one that it seemed rude not to. Still have it now.

I spent loads on a pair of the Shimano walking boot spd shoes and they have been superb. Four years old and still going strong. With spds you can afford to make the investment. Increasingly I ride with flats and the problems in this thread arise, I can’t be bothered to spend a lot of money on shoes for flats because I tear them apart so quickly, fine in the summer but cold and wet in the winter. Re soling may be the answer as has been mentioned. Decent boots for £100 or so and resolve them every year.

Agree with kayak23. 32 up front and 11-36 on the back. If you can’t get up then push, it’s not much slower and if you often spin out, you are probably running too much travel. However whether you need a chain device will surely be determined by whether you often drop the chain. If you intend to use 160 travel then probably yes.

Averaging out sporadic bike purchases every couple of years etc and excluding bike holidays it is probably about £1500 a year.
I ride nearly every day, at least 5 out of 7, even if sometimes not very far or sometimes twice a day, proper ride and then with the dog for example. Mix of XC and Downhill. Say 275 -300 rides a year. Means about £5 to £5.50 a ride.
I can’t decide if that is a lot or a little.

Good thing to do but don’t suppose it will make you faster on a bike. I swim every week after needing it as part of physio after a big accident. I swim between 1500 and 2500m per session. takes between 35 and an hour. (I am sure all the swimmers will turn up and tell you it will only take 10 mins) I am a rubbish swimmer and find it very boring but I can tell it is really good for me and my wife now goes and I do it to support her as much as anything.
Despite the fact that i don’t really enjoy it I think I will continue and I can’t really explain why

STW- Tough crowd
Probably like many i read Dirt and Singletack. The others are awful. Always look forward to Singletrack arriving. Not all of it is for me but we are not all the same. Usually I read a book but if my concentration is lacking or time is short then a magazine is fine. just don’t take it too seriously. However, I ride every day and perhaps that alters my judgement.

Hey Doug
I bet you say that to all the boys!

I have a Blood but never ridden a pitch or a bottlerocket so views are probably not much use. If I remember rightly it is a bit lower than a bottlerocket, perhaps because it only has 125mm rear travel and that was one of the things that attracted me to it. I have really enjoyed it and will be keeping it for a while because nothing appeals to me more at the moment. Not a sensible or efficient bike but fun. I have ridden all day on it (once with DougBasqueMTB above) but given the option would rather ride all day on something else. Not a reflection on the Blood but that type of bike generally. They make up for the tedious efficiency shortcomings by being a hoot.

Cotic Soul
Orange Blood
Rigid Dirty Jo

I think it is pretty irresponsible to post this thread only a couple of days after I have bought the original and surely much better, because it is so much more expensive, Gravity Dropper.
Still look on the bright side. If I get on with the Gravity Dropper then the next one for my other bike will be cheaper.
Not heavy, not complicated, not expensive. Hardly seems fair.

I went two years on the trot a couple of years ago and for me the riding was perfect. Really enjoyed it and would like to go back one day. Enjoyed the place we stayed as well. I would have no hesitation recommending it. Have fun.
When we were there the second year the other guests were guides from other bike companies going on a biking holiday! We did a snow to sea ride that sticks in everyones memory.

I agree with bender fenders and the clutches on rear mechs. Will swap from Sram to Shimano next time I bend one if Sram don’t bring one out.

Thanks for the link but just seems a bit expensive and still a faff if it goes wrong,
Might just get Santa to get me a work stand or think of something else I struggle to justify

Please don’t expect any useful bike related comment when there is so much public sector bashing available on line. Please direct your enquiry to the Department of Work and Pensions.

Buy two bikes, a fun but half sensible one for epics. Hardtail or Lapiere Spicy, something like that and then you can buy something really stupid without having to worry about practicality.

I had a Sub Zero for a couple of years. Not very sensible but a lot of fun. Encouraged stupidity and a few mangled rear rims. Crush would seem similar but with the added option of actually being able to ride it somewhere.

Very impressed with everyones mpg figures. Mine seem much worse, whatever car I am driving.

I have one on a Cotic Soul. Bought it because I couldn’t get a Toupe but I think it is better. They don’t have spiky bits on the back that catch your clothes. I love minimalist saddles and think it is really comfy but i have ridden a lot for years and so have no nerves left in my nether regions.
When my children borrow my XC bikes they always moan about the saddles but are quite happy on the SDG saddles on the downhill bikes.

I saw the photo and thought it must be a spoof thread but apparently not.

Just arrived and enjoying all the filler. (Aren’t all magazines just filler anyway?)
Si has made me suspicious, as has the complete absence of any Fox forks or Shocks

Rather fascinated to see GW’s unbranded 1999/2000 small xc frame with a 63 degree head angle and 100mm forks. Can’t imagine that many such things exist now, nevermind back in 1999.

I googled it, but it was just guitar or valve amp repairs. Fair enough if that is the case and I will use this as an opportunity to make changes. But, just goes against the grain to bin something that seems fine for me at the moment.
In the old days there seemed to be lots of people that could fix hifis, maybe not any more.

Aren’t High Rollers a bit much for general XC. For my normal bike I use the next Maxxis tyre down, the Advantage. 2.25 or 2.35, I can’t remember but voluminous and not too heavy. Have them on a Soul and have been really good.

The most horrible car I have ever owned. My wife bought one and it was quite practical (but a bit unreliable, the electrics kept going wrong and I am someone that usually buys French or Italian!) As soon as I had to drive it regularly I sold it. Impossible to drive well, everything felt three steps behind me. Replaced it with a different car and now happy again.

Worry about singlespeed rings is that they are too wide for a 10 speed chain but I run a Middleburn Uno single speed ring with a 10 speed chain and it is fine. I run 1x on three bikes including a full suss with no problems.

If this is for real then a legendary thread 🙂

I have been using leather ‘sort of’ with a soft furry lining for winter riding for years. Really warm without being sweaty and thin enough on the palm to be grippy. About £11 a pair. I appreciate that previously I was an embarrassment to ride with but now it seems that I was just an early adopter.

I subscribe to Dirt and Singletrack and enjoy and look forward to them both. Sometimes buy another bike mag if I need something for a flight. Always stunned at how awful they are and then feel a bit guilty and just think that an old duffer like me is probably not their target audience.