@martymac I have a spinner, have already bought some spd pedals for it.
Looking at the Northwave Escape EVO MTB Shoes Shoe link

@stevextc that’s hardcore! I’ve been having issues with repeat infections in my feet and specifically the bones. To the point where I had my 5th met and little toe removed because even IV antibiotics were not shifting it. Been told to minimise any risk of skin tears etc you are right though, broken bones would be worse…

@oldnick thanks for the tip, I will use it from the first time trying it.
I need to find some wide fitting shoes as the next job!

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the thoughts.
Back in 2013 the Stache was also available in xxl but the shop only had an XL I could try and told me I’d be better on the XL, I do think I would have been better on the xxl with longer reach.

The NP scout has an XXL.
I’d say I’m longer in the body than the legs (33-34” inside leg trousers and always struggle with tips that aren’t extra long).

@intheborders I going to switch to clipped in as part of the foot issues is Neuropathy which means I have little sensation from my right foot and I know from past riding that it leads to losing my foot placement and torn up shins so that needs to stop.

@sharkattack I live near Leeds so I have access to Leeds Urban Buke park, plenty of greenways and canal towpaths. Mixture of riding really.

@joebristol I’ll look at the longer options, maybe the xxl scout. You’ve described it pretty well. I think I know the modern rigs would suit me better but it is the XL big Al being on offer at £279.99 that has got me thinking about it.

@ta11pau1 you’re correct, I also ran my seat as high as it would go so being over the back wheel was likely.

@DickBarton thanks for the advice.

Cheers!

@onegearnoidea thanks very much for the info, I have added wide fitting Spd shoes and pedals to my growing shopping list!
Cheers!

@shermer75 I’ve never ridden clipless, don’t even know where to start but it does feel like the safer option. Should be fun learning though!

@onegearnoidea that sounds very familiar, I know what you mean by the pin. I had some surgery on my right foot which was done under local (removal of half my 5th Met and little toe) and they warned me how painful the pain blocker injections would be in my ankle and then realised how little I feel when I didn’t flinch when the big old needle went in! Something I need to learn to live with but I am really hoping I can still ride. How long did it take you to adapt?

General question but are any particular clipless standards better/easy to learn then others?

Cheers!

@spooky_b329 @docrobster

Thanks guys, that link was interesting reading, quite happy to try a rotor Mount bolt and see if it works okay.

Any thoughts on the 12 shifter and 11 speed derailleur?

Cheers!

@bassmandan Thanks for that, so I would need one of there? BB

@tomparkin

If the cranks are NX ones like this:
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/fc-nx-1-b1

…then I think the spindle is 30mm v.s. the 24mm for HT2, assuming your current cranks are HT2. So you’d need a new BB as well as the drivetrain.

Alternatively, you could just whack a narrow-wide chainring on your existing cranks, replacing the cassette and rear shifter to suit.

I’m not sure what HT2 means but the current crankset is Shimano Acera FC-MT210. My original plan was the m5100 rear, shifter and cassette as that is a really good 11-51 range. Would love that cassette on my bike but it is a m7000 slx that will not work with the 11-51 apparently.

Anyway, this is the Groupset CRC NX Link so I would need an appropriate BB on top of that kit?

@bassmandan

Is it a 2019 or 2020 model? I have just stripped apart a MY20 X-Caliber 8 (bought in 2019) which had a 1×12 SRAM SX Eagle drivetrain. BB was a Truvativ Powerspline thing which I tried to replace once or twice and could never find stock.

I could be persuaded to part with shifter, derailleur, cassette and cranks, or some combination if useful.

It is the 2019 which we bought in Sept 2018. I think the frame was the same for a while though.
It’s this one 2019 X Cal 7

What freehub does yours have?

@joebristol

I want shiny and new, only trying to kid myself lol
Need to see what my stache might be worth.

Those two forks you linked, look great. From what I read about the Big Al, I’d need at least 185mm taking into account the head tube, stem and a spacer or two. Only thing is the travel, they are both more than 140mm. Can they be changed?

@joebristol

Not brand new and 29er I don’t think. If it were 27.5” there are some bargain Yaris on Chiggle. Bikester have some Yaris for £330 which if that’s the landed price with tax and VAT isn’t a bad deal. Merlin have some for a similar price but only in 51mm offset and you’d need to reduce the travel so that’s another £50 for parts.

I will have a look thanks, I think the Big Al can take up to a 150, Scout anywhere from 130 – 150. Thanks for the help.

@ctk

What about just getting a new fork for the Stache?

That would be an option, I think I could use one of those angled headsets to slacken the front end a bit. The seat post always felt a bit too slack, when climbing steep hills the front end gets quite light.
I know the forks on it are 120mm and 51mm offset.

@northersouth

If you were really concerned about fork stiffness, wiggle/crc has great deals on Fox 38’s right now (£550 – £620)

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fox-suspension-38-float-performance-elite-boost-forks?
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/fox-suspension-38-float-factory-grip2-boost-forks

You can shorten the travel down to 150mm.

Thanks for that, I think I’m over worrying. I don’t have the sort of budget you mention, more like half.
Even at that I’m sure what ever ones I get will be better than the ones on the 9 year old Stache.

@lucasshmucas

I bought a GT that came with WTB iSt rims as standard and they flexed noticeably at 110kg. I then built a set of wheel low using Dt Swiss FR560 rims which arent that heavy, at least not compared to touring rims anyway, but have been utterly bombproof over several years of riding and never needed any truing.

Good to know, thanks. I’ve been looking around online today. Some decently priced wheelsets around. It looks like my non boost Bonty Dusters have held up really well in the time I’ve had them. The back needs some attention but solid enough.
I’m not jumping of anything (yet) but usage may get harder on the wheels if I get better!

@joebristol

If you don’t stand when climbing I don’t think you need to lockout a fork so I’d lose that requirement to open up a bigger choice of forks.

Try to get something with an air spring that you can tune with tokens or other means and with a specific lsc adjustment – a his is to stiffen up the fork against low piston speed hits. I.e. movements from you pedalling etc. This won’t effect the forks ability to absorb big compressions / hitting roots etc where the fork is having to move quickly to get out the way before rebounding.

The 34 mentioned above isn’t going to be any heavier than the options I mentioned I wouldn’t think – the Lyrik / pike/ 36 / Yari / Bonber Z1 all have a bigger chassis with 35 or 36mm diameter stanchions.

Thanks again, I’ve messaged @bikecurious about the ebike forks. Is there anything comparable on the market for that sort of money?

@misteralz

Also, agree with the posters above – I typically run 203/180 and a good few more psi. I can’t get on with low pressures at all.

I will run big rotors. I run my tires with a lot of pressure in, likely way too much. Will have to experiment with lower psi.

@bikecurious

I’ve a set of 34 Performance E-bike version I need to get around to moving on. Being the ebike version they have thicker walled stanchions so stiffer than a normal 34 but use the airspring from a 32 as the normal 34 spring doesn’t fit. The damper tune is heavier than standard too I believe, they also have sweep adjust Joe mentioned above so can easily be adjusted on the fly while riding.

140mm Travel. They’ve been on a second bike so not had the most use. Recently serviced.

I’d let them go for £250+postage, let me know if interested.

Thanks, will they be heavier than normal with being designed for eMTB? I have pm’d you.

@ton

6ft 4” and 20 stone here.

currently riding a 100mm forked specialized rockhopper, as it suits my needs for a mtb at present.
over the years i have owned every single kind od hardtail available. from 150mm forked hardcore things to 80mm xc bikes.
with 40 years of offroad riding experience if i were to buy a bike suitable for me as a big bloke, that bike would be a Rockshox air fork equipped Surly Krampus.

I like the Krampus, so very many frames/bikes to choose from. The Head angle and seat angle are almost identical to my Stache 7.

@joebristol

I don’t think the Fox ctd dampers are meant to be very good. I’d prefer a grip or grip 2 damper.

The Yari RC damper isn’t great (motion control) but does have the one compression adjust:

The Lyrik rct3 would be my choice if I had to have a lockout I think. Personally I don’t stand up cranking a lot climbing so one bike has a Lyrik ultimate rc2 and the hardtail has a like ultimate rc2. Both are lovely forks to use.

Can’t comments on pressure in tyres at your size / weight as I’m only 5’9 and 75kgs. I typically run 25 psi on rocky fast stuff and go down to about 23 psi on more natural stuff. On full on slow winter tech slop I sometimes go down to 18 front / 20 rear. Both bikes have a Rimpact in the rear.

Thanks for the advice, it’s still all a bit over my head. Perhaps my understanding of lockouts etc is wrong. I do very little standing whilst climbing, I don’t feel comfortable doing it. A decent fork that I can stiffen when climbing with 140mm of travel (if I go for the Big Al frame). I don’t have loads of money to spend so value for money and used is probably my market.

@dc1988

As Joe says, the Fox CTD forks weren’t good and they soon dropped them but the newer ones are much better but tend to be more expensive than Rockshox. Manitou make some good forks at a more reasonable price but they’re much more rare.

Thanks!

These responses have all been very helpful, thanks everyone!

@misteralz

I’m 6’3″ and my regular rides are a Scandal and a Piglet. Both of them were ‘as and when’ and ‘grab a bargain’ builds and I’ve snapped quite a few rear spokes on the Scandal as it’s only running 28 spokes. Never had a problem with the 32 spoke wheels on the Piglet. Drivetrain stuff I’ve never had a problem with.

I know some carbon frames have a weight limit that I could never get under unless I became long term bulimic.

Thanks! Thinking back, I have snapped a spoke or two on my back wheel but they are also 28 spokes.I must say, the Scandal is really growing on me!

@droplinked

I’m a couple of inches shorter and a similar weight. Frame an other components shouldn’t be a problem, but a reasonable set of wheels isn’t a bad idea.

Other things to consider for a heavier rider are:

Tyres: Need more PSI to stop the tyres folding over and feeling wobbly, but too high a pressure and they lose grip and deflect of rocks. I find tyre inserts great for enabling me to run lower pressures, and adding support to prevent tyre squirm. DH casing tyres help, but are heavy and draggy.

Suspension tune: Most tunes are aimed at average weight riders, so you may need to add a few tokens in order to stop it feeling too harsh over smaller bumps.

Brakes: I typically run the next size up rotors than my mates, riding similar trails at similar speeds. 220/200 vs 200/180 etc

I’ve only had two wheel issues which were to do with weight. First was with the stock wheels that came on a 2016 voodoo bizango – rear wheel pringled going off a small drop. Second was on my gravel bike with cheap second hand road wheels running too much PSI going over a speed bump – snapped a spoke.

Thanks for the advice, I was planning to size up the rotors. I’ve never played with the air settings on my Stache, I should probably learn how it works huh?!

@duncancallum
That is a nice looking bike. Don’t know much about Orbea but do some research.

@chestrockwell

I’m 6,2 and 17/18st. Can’t say I’ve ever really worried about my weight being a factor when buying bikes and all of them have been fine, including the stock wheels. Given the choice I usually buy Hope based wheels.

Currently have an On One Whippet + Ragley Trig and both are fine with my bulk. Pace RC627 frame lands today too!

That is good to know, thank you. I love the sound of Hope hubs! The On One Scandal is on my maybe list also, looks like a lot of fun. Happy new frame day! Do you swap frames a lot?

@joebristol

You only really get Bob on a hardtail from the fork if you stand up and start heaving about I find. If you desperately want a lockout the only issue with that is that’s a feature mostly on xc type forks – but if you’re big you probably want a chunky fork on the front so it doesn’t feel all noodly.

I wonder if a Fox 36 Rhythm with the grip 1 damper / Yari RC might be a good option as you have a single compression dial on the top then that you could just wind round your it’s stiffest when you effectively want to lock the fork out. It’s a bit of a crude option though.

Alternatively pickup something like a Lyrik rct3 as that has lsc adjustment for its open setting but has an option to quickly form up the fork independently from that.

Wheel wise I’d get something custom built probably – get some dt swiss ex511s with 32 spokes built onto your choice of hubs. The usual mid range options are Hope Pro4 / DT350 / Bitex.

I don’t see why any of your drivetrain bits wouldn’t work on a modern hardtail – isn’t that 11 speed (so not that old anyway)?

Thanks for the advice, I’ll admit I am clueless when it comes to Forks. I remember the Stache 8 which was the model above mine had some Fox 34’s? That had a dial for C,T,D. That was the bike I test rode but I couldn’t afford the jump up so went with the 7 and the forks were/are nowhere near as good as the Foxes felt. Never got round to upgrading though!
Yeah, the new drivetrain bits are a 1×11 setup although I need a chain ring. The Stache has RaceFace cranks that I like.

@dc1988

Older parts will work fine, I’m still 10 speed on my hardtail as I don’t need any more gears. You should probably steer clear of super lightweight wheels but DT Swiss do some very solid wheels that are still a competitive weight (number of spokes doesn’t necessarily mean stronger). What forks are you currently running as you shouldn’t really get much bob from a fork on a hardtail, its usually the rear suspension that suffers or are you climbing out of the saddle?

The forks on my Stache are Recon Silver Solo Air TK, 120mm (4.7in) travel, they weren’t the best when the bike was released so 9 years later they are probably Stone Age! It has a lock out switch that sort of works but it still moves. Maybe bobbing was too strong of a term to use.
The tapered steerer and and 51mm offset are modernish but I don’t think I’d get away with running them on a Big Al for the short term seeing as that frame wants 140mm?
The Bontrager Duster TR wheels have held up well but they are non boost.
I tried not to climb out of the saddle.

I really like your bike. I am leaning towards a Big Al frame myself. Can I ask how much your build cost? I just want to know what I’d be looking at before I commit.
Thanks

@docrobster

Any boost frame and an adapter for the back wheel.

Are there any pitfalls to using an adaptor?

Replying to specific people/posts on this forum is fun!…..

@chakaping

I had that bike, with a fork upgrade it was great fun.
Maybe have a look for earlier Nukeproof Scout 290 frames, or Orange hardtails around 2016 or 2017ish?

I do love the big, looks very XC these days though.Good call on the Orange frames, back when I got the Stache, the other bike in the mix was the Clockwork. I don’t know much about the Scouts but the frames look like they are well priced!

@Scienceofficer

I think you’re going to encounter a fair bit of incompatibility with modern frames and older parts.

In your shoes I think I’d sell it on and finance a new HT. You can get some decent complete Ti bikes from planet X for not very much for example.

I was hoping I’d be able to use the forks and wheels on something. I’ve already (2 years ago before illness) bought a XT/SLX 1×11 upgrade kit and SLX brakes. If I can get away with the forks and wheels I think I’d perhaps need new cranks although the RaceFact ones on the Stache are still in good condition.
For it’s time, the Stache was quite advanced with the geo and tapered tube.
I do like the look of the Scandal on Planet X though! Any reason you specified Ti?

@snotrag

I had one of those too, with the Green race face cranks, it was great.
I would also go down the sell and replace as a whole route personally.

That Stache 8 with the green cranks was the one I test rode, it was amazing, really should have saved longer for that version. The forks were so much better!

How much would a 2013 29er get? It’s in good condition and totally stock.

Boost adaptor? That’s a new one on me, I will look it up!