It’s been around 6 weeks I believe. They were replacing the full frame so we stripped and sent it off and now they’re just replacing the rear triangle, which is fine but don’t like the changes halfway through! Also, as it’s anodized, it’s looking really dull yet the rear triangle will be sparkly.

It has been a pretty hellish time so far. If I didn’t have other bikes I could use in the shop, I would be mad. Worst thing is that I was going to sell this to a friend, but have now lost the sale, and it’s going to look superb with a brand new back end and old looking front end!

Been meaning to do that – I haven’t received official confirmation yet but I think it is £1399. I will put it up as such (or simply put it up as a deposit situation so folk can secure for when they come in at the end of July).

As they say – small Whyte 901 – all you ever need. One of our customers bought one for racing and ended up using it all the time. Left his £3.5K full susser in the garage!

WOW! I don’t know how folk do it – my Superstar lasted 7 weeks (it was a few years to be fair_, whereas my XT ones were lasting between 11 and 14 weeks. I gave up, bought a Chris King and it’s still going three years later. Even if it had given up after a year or two, I would have got my money back. I know it seems ridiculous but they work for me.

Loving the Covert. We got tons in this year because it sold so well last year. Everyone who bought one swears by it. Really should put one into my demo fleet but the cost makes my eyes water. Bandits are due in around 3 weeks I think – we ordered most options.

Aye, mine hasn’t been replaced yet either – broken right through the drive-side chainstay.

Easy, round here – Stirling – just wish the weather was good.

Magical, I’ll have another look at DFDS and see what’s possible…

I used to live in Heidelberg and visited Freiberg a lot but had fallen away from biking at the time so never investigated. I’ll definitely check out the Schwarzwald in general in that case. It’ll be good to do a lot of our holiday in Germany so I can get the German speaking back and my wife can practise – Swiss-German is too dissimilar.

Thanks very much so far…

I meant north-east Switzerland.

Covert, Pivot Mach 5.7, the new Yeti (yum?!), Mondraker Dune.

Worth getting two, as mentioned. I’ve had serious miles out of Vredesteins before but they’re not known for it – they’re best for keeping you on the road as opposed to Pirelli Ditchfinders.

Look 695 without a doubt in my mind.

Race – Pronghorn XC. Fastest bike I’ve ever ridden but the steepness may get to you as your one bike.

Trail (perhaps winding out your U-Turns) – Morewood Zula or Pivot Mach 4. Pivot is a DW Link like the Turner suggested up there so works astonishly well and might mean you won’t miss your hardtail as much…!

We’re in Stirling and don’t get too many. Much further north is really bad however.

After our recent trip up north, we confirmed that we had the best riding too!

Easy to find this Lower Diabaig to Craig’s bothy? Been trying to find a route for the last wee while (I’m pretty hopeless to be fair). I’ll search for Torridon on here as you say.

I’ve been informed that this is pretty sweet:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33754653

Eh? They’re great, that’s probably why – every customer has come back raving about them.

We’ve got some on a deal but not 2010s unfortunately.

Sweet, thanks, that’s great.

HEY! I’m no trail centre fiend, in fact, I HATE them but Laggan’s not pish! It’s the only one I can say I actually like. But hey, maybe I should miss it out in favour of stuff we haven’t done before…!

What njee said – discounts are based on how loyal folk are to us. We reward loyalty and obviously from a simple financial perspective – the more you spend, the more discounting.

If a customer has bought a bike then we offer them a great deal in free gifts and discounts. If we ever get deals then we pass them straight on.

That said, if you are a new customer to us, we would always give you free stuff if you’re buying a bike. Discounting bikes is difficult because the margins are usually pretty dire on the brands we have.

Jon, can you get back to me about my frame? I have been emailing and calling since last Wednesday and really need to start the process in getting this sorted.

Well, it’s supposed to be getting fixed so I’ve backed off from my need to spend money I don’t have at the moment. I still haven’t heard anything from that department though so I’m starting to get a little annoyed. Still hoping….

All the models are named after music and yes, they are “trying” to be Italian I suppose?!?! Their own brand kit is called Barelli for instance. That said, they are proud to be British and they state they are British on our in-store banners and on their catalogues.

Been going over a year, good set of guys. Got considerable backing from players who have been in the industry forever. Lifetime warranty on frames. Mostly concern themselves with road and XC racing but that will soon change. Took them into our shop a few months ago and the Moda Stretto road bike sells like hot cakes in particular. The Nocturne Ti road bike/tourer is especially tasty.

Class act overall.

Yes, my broken Ti 456 is still sat in the shop and I still don’t know what’s going on after two days of phoning and emailing to two separate email addresses.

To be honest, it’s actually given me hope – maybe it is possible to run a bike shop if this is the kind of thing that happens to folk spending over a grand on a frame online.

I’m REALLY sick of constantly ringing, hearing “unexpected level of calls” and leaving messages. Did I do something to annoy them?! I’ve been perfectly civil so I would hope someone would at least send an acknowledgement.

OI! Ox – we sell American Classic Victory wheels too!

Not good Crispin. I know I’ve got a vested interest in saying this but I would only buy a bike from a shop. I spent much of my day calling the company the frame was bought from to no avail. Obviously I had no choice in the case of this frame plus there were no decent shops on my doorstep before but my time is pretty precious.

Thanks again for all the advice.

What I’ve done (surprised because I don’t break bikes):

Gary Fisher Big Sur (new frame after crack left BB hanging off almost!)
On One Ti 456 (still no answer after emailing and calling all day so don’t know yet)

What I’ve maybe contributed to (bikes I’ve ridden as little as once in some cases):

Cube Fritzz (chainstay broken right through)
Yeti ASR-5 (chainstay broken after a few rides by the customer)

Someone got there before me -I’d go for Whyte T-120.

Like I say Si, you are a real salesman! If I have to get a different bike, it’ll be one I stock this time…!

Forgot to say – my pic looks pretty similar but I don’t know how to grab and put on here – it’s on our page at the top:

http://www.facebook.com/FlyingFoxBikes

Si – you’re a special salesman but I have a shop so there’s got to be some advantage to this! The Cove rep was just in so checking prices on a Hummer. However, I’m superpoor so will just see what On One says when they get back to me…

Thanks for all the posts guys, looks like it’s perhaps not the end of the world after all!

Smartwool every day (literally). Love them.

Lammergeiers are in Europe, there’s just not many of them and I think they were mostly in Spain according to an article I read in BBC Wildlife.

Kite or Honey Buzzard maybe? Just a guess!

I tried lots of options then I got a King. I was going through BBs between 7 and 11 weeks. Haven’t touched this one for 4 years so far…

I’ve ridden both and I’m a dealer for Lapierre but chose not to take Ghost! I found the Ghost quite heavy for what it was and the suspension more bobby than I like. While it took out every slight bump, it had a really low bottom bracket.

All of it opinion, both from me and my colleague but someone else may find them amazing…

Why don’t you just try some on?!

Intense Tyre Systems do one – we got some in and they’re light, kevlar and pretty cheap. Think it’s a System 3.

We had one and I had a few rides on it. I just didn’t see the reason why everyone loves it (although it had a 120mm fork and couldd have done with more). I didn’t find it any faster than a Zesty and certainly not as accomplished downhill. I found a Pornghorn 150 blew it away up and down (albeit with a Fox 160 fork) and a Pivot Mach 5.7 is slacker, plusher downhill and doesn’t bob.

However, I’m in the minority. Everyone likes different things and I sell Yeti so believe me, I want to like them.