My experiences are aligned with much of the above.  While it’s sad to see some long running shops close (nostalgia and sympathy for owners/staff), it’s inevitable when others are providing the service I want cheaper.

When re-introduced myself to cycling 15 years ago, I quickly learnt that bike shops in West Yorkshire were mostly very expensive compared to online offerings and/or mechanically inept with of focus on service that implied they were doing you a favour.  Add to that I have to physically travel to said shop (which often open 9am to 5.30 pm in the week and close on Sunday) it’s not compelling.

Buy online from wherever is cheapest, do all repairs and maintenance yourself.   I’m not the target market for a bike shop, and I suspect many are just like me.

Retail is always changing, however the internet isn’t new, it’s just consumers who have grown up only knowing the high street are becoming fewer and those who have grown up with online retail are more becoming dominant.  Online now has few barriers to entry, a smart phone provides all you need.

My Alpine rode well, but after 4 warranty replacements within 12 months (head tube failure, swing arm cracking twice and a weld splitting) I came to the conclusion that they are so badly made that they arent worth the hassle.

The frame alignement, welds and finish were awful.  I’ve since riden Specialized Enduros, Nicolais and a Trek Slash far harder than I rode the Alpine without issue.  And it was noisey.

Ah ok, well i did wonder about when the season was over there.  Assume its a late April/September season for Finale?

I’ve ridden in Spain (including Malaga area) alot, its def a safe bet in Winter.  I have to balance bike holidays with beach holidays, so Finale is also an option for June.

The issue of PEDs is cycling is clearly troubling and obviously has significant implications for those cheating and those cheated.  However, in cycling PED abuse doesn’t physically affect those who are cheated, i.e. they are physically unharmed.

PED use in contact sports like boxing, MMA and to a lesser extent rugby, ice hockey etc.  Have an additional consequence that an athlete abusing PEDs to make them faster/stronger are likely to hit harder, therefore not only cheating an opponent, but potentially increasing the risk of harm.

I raise this because if you were to have equality of participation across sport, where inclusion in male or female events was based on indentification as apposed to sex, how can you apply a consistent approach?  Males who have transitioned are likely to be significantly stronger than females who have not.  Testosterone has a huge bearing on muscular performance, female athletes from a number of countries in the 80s and 90s were proof of this, and testosterone is still regularly used by both male and female athletes today.

A person who has, at some point, been subjected to a level of testosterone will benefit from that exposure indefinitely.  Lowering levels of testosterone does not reverse previous effects entirely.  Things like bone density, size, muscular structure are all affected.

Males who have transitioned or identified as females should be exluded from participation in female competition.  A solution would be the creation of another category so competition can occur.  Many sports have weight, age, height catagories, would a transitioned catagory be so bad?

AHH ok Alicante here.  Same sort of terrian though!

Where in southern Spain are you?

There are peolpe on here who do the Leeds chain gang? It’s a small world!………

Expect it isn’t, I appreciate you might not want to admit it to yourself but in a country where 60% of the population are over weight or obese, ebikes and the generously proportioned go together like pie and chips.

Trail centres are pretty well suited to ebikes even if that wasnt the intention.  People that ride ebikes are likely to be a combination of time poor, unfit, inexperienced and maybe abit high on the BMI scale.  Trail centres have cafes, are easy to navigate, not especially challenging technically and often have “escape” options.  Ideal for your ebikerists.

I don’t want to confuse you further, but getting there early means you don’t have to worry about those who might be slower on the downs (because you got there early, so it’s generally empty).

The technology is enabling access to trails without requiring any qualifying skills. Usually a cyclist would have to ride a bike to get fit, gradually allowing them to build up awareness and technique along with fitness.

An ebike allows someone to bypass all that and just get out there, removing all entry criteria and allowing the rider a delusion of fitness.

Trick is to ride early at trail centres and avoid the ebikers as they waddle to thier full english breakfast.  Or ride more technically challenging natural stuff which doesn’t seem to appeal to most of the ebike community.

Couldnt get the MRPs when I bought mine so not an option. I had a converted Lyrik with a conception coil conversion which was ok.

Only other option is a fox 36 with a push coil conversion, but it’s another £400 on top and I’d assume if voids warranty.

Ohlins are made by X-fusion I believe, with an Ohlins damper.

I have them as well.  Ride 4 to 5 hours a week on them, maybe more.  I always do lower services regularly anyway.  Apparently the Onlins seals aren’t very good at being left along time between services.  But as I do them often mine have been fine.  I have always done frequent services on Fox or Rockshox.  These are as easy to do.  Ohlins recommend 10ml in each leg for lower lube.  I put in 20ml.

I wanted coil forks and ohlins were only option. Mine are 29 rxf 36.

250lbs? That’s a very heavy “carbon Enduro” bike, alot of “kit” or a rotund chap as the rider.

If it’s the latter, then it makes sense you’d enjoy the ebike and be so enthusiastic about your choice.

Gravity is both friend and enemy when given such a mass to act upon.

Oh no @geex you have descended far, far further than that.

Hi @geex i dont have firm figures for the last 30 years, but in 2018 so far its just over 60,000 meters, which is fairly typical of the last 5 years.  (i took little pleasure from the meters gained commuting, but they def help with the fitness).  Do i win anything other than your admiration and applause?

I think they are reasonably priced for what they are.  I’m sure Pole would warranty stuff but I’d rather not test it.  It’s such a new process it’s abit of a leap into the unknown.  Plus they aren’t a huge company, if they had a few Warranty claims it might affect thier ability\willingness to process a claim, plus you’d be shipping it to Finland.

I really like the bikes, the geo and builds, but I’d wait until they are in generation 2 of the machine.

It seems that some want to separate out the physical conditioning elements of riding a bike, so choose an ebike.  Surely that detracts ffrom a significant part of riding a bike.  Especially a road bike where it’s 99% about the effort of pedalling.

I appreciate some just like being “out and about” with no effort, but I don’t understand the aversion to putting in effort and building fitness.

Surely the health benefits are a pretty large part of the appeal?

I don’t think I’m part of the target market.  My bikes are always oritented to the descent, and are generally 34lbs as a result, but I like pedalling them up.

I suspect @geex will be getting a mobility scooter next as he can go just as far as he can walking, but he’s less tired and enjoys it more as a result.

Obviously there are going to people for whom an ebike offers a great solution.  However if youre choosing one because you can’t be arsed to pedal it says something pretty fundamental about you.

They look great, I seriously considered one, but the brand new manufacturing process coupled with the direct sales model from Finland made me abit worried about being an early adopter.

@geex awesome!

Ebikes aren’t a bad thing, technologically they are very interesting.  As I said above, the ebike extends a bike brands market opportunities to cover those people who wouldn’t buy a non-ebike.  Britain in particular is getting fatter.  People are generally unfit and it is becoming endemic.

If you’re a bike brand not offering ebikes, then you’re selling to a shrinking market.  Bikes are fun, but to make them fun (especially a mountain bike) you do need to be fit and commited to living a lifestyle that maintains that fitness.

Ebikes are highly attractive to the bicycle industry as the 35 plus age group has disposal income and that’s generally the water shed age when being overweight and obese overrakes being a healthy weight for that proportion of the population.

I think trail centres will see as an increase in traffic through ebikes, simply because the profile of an ebike user would suit the characteristics of a typical trail centre (low effort to navigate and menu of predictable technical features through trail grading).

I say this because unless you have a condition that you cannot change, you’re likely to be on an ebike because you’re keen to cycle but unable to enjoy it without the motor (through lack of fitness, time, or poor health/high weight).

Ebikes are a quick fix for fitness not skill.  I suspect most technical trails won’t see much ebike traffic, especially where steep, narrow, rocky, or DH trails are concerned.

My point wasn’t to deride society, just pointing the economics.  If the population is getting fatter, then if you only sell “traditional” bikes you’re selling to a shrinking market.

Ebikes are a product strategy to cater to the market.  If you don’t like which part of the market you belong to, ditch the take aways big boy!

Ebikes will certainly become a huge part of a brand’s portfolio.  With 60% of the UK population either overweight or obsese ebikes present an opportunity to increase product sales to a larger market.

Clearly there will be people who select an ebikes due to an unchangeable health condition, most though buy them because it makes cycling accessable without effort associated with a “traditional” bicycle.

In the last 20 years a further 10% of the population has entered the overweight or obsese category.  Poor diet and lack of excercise the main factors, it’s possible for most of those people to make choices now to live a healthy life.  They clearly don’t.  Ebikes won’t change it, just make it possible for people to access cycling without effort.

The more overweight and unfit the population become, the bigger the ebike market.  Eurobike was dominated by ebikes this year.

People like easy.  Take aways, ready meals, ebikes are feeding that market.

not the most original concept…….

Home

I have a G16 with boost rear, set up as a 29er.  Running a 2.5 minion dhf on the back does result in a slight rub on the chain stays under hard cornering loads.  It is only slight though, I have it Heli taped so it hasn’t rubbed through that.

Switched to a 2.4 minion dhf now.

I’d disagree, normalised power is going to be significantly affected by gradient changes, especially if you’re not pedalling much or very hard on declining gradients.

If you really struggle to find a consistent flattish gradient for an hour’s effort, you can always do a hard 20 mins effort and take 5% off to give http://FTP.  I find this is pretty close to my 1 hour power.

You can always do the 1 hour effort on a trainer as an alternative.

Both of those jobs are DIY jobs.  I can’t think of a single job I’d want the LBS to do.  Doing it properly at home is just that, you know it’s been done correctly with care and not some hamfisted bodge by the Saturday lad.

Bearing puller kit, 24mm socket, circlip pliers, Allen keys, and a rubber mallet are all you need for the jobs you mention.  Fork oil, slick honey grease and a good assembly grease along with the frame bearings and you’re good to go.

The tools would probably cost similar to the LBS doing the job once.  If you buy them not only can you do the job again you can do other jobs with them.

Just to add a counter view, I recently changed my hoses on my tech 3 e4 brakes from jagwires to hope steel braided.  It was a doddle and shortening them was straightforward using cable cutters.

I went with the G16 in XL.  Running it as full 29er with 216×63 shock in 222 position.  BB is 345mm, head angle must be near 62 degrees which makes me abit concerned for forks bushing life.  A to C of fork is 568mm.

Does anyone know the maxle size needed to replace the stock bolt-thru for the rear, I know it’s 12×148 but is it 182 or 188?  I suppose I could just measure…….

So far so good, just need to sort out a water bottle.

It climbs much better than I thought it would.

So I want a long 29er.  G16, G15 or a Pole Evo link 158?

Does anyone use 29″ wheels in the G16?  Thoughts?

Thank you!

Ahh thanks for the offer, my folks live in Sheffield so might take you up on that! Im 6’2 with short legs and a long torso.

I used to have an Helius AM 26″ with a reach of 440mm, the Enduro is 470mm, but the seat tube is 520mm. It feels OK, but i could do with a lower saddle on the steeper stuff.

I also want to use 29″ wheels.

It is most definitely a breach of the Data Protection Act. Medical data is actually classified as Sensitive Personal Data and release of it in the fashion you describe would be a breach of the act.

If you believe a company has breached the act, you should report them to the Information Commissioners Office. Their website has a process for doing this.

If you look at their report for who they have fined and why, you’ll see large and small businesses.

I have the 2018 link on my 2017. I’ve got it set in the low position and it’s fine. I have a ttx coil on it with coil lyrics. Am considering coil rxf ohlins forks though, as it’ll all match then……

I’ll second Espuna Enduro, Pitu is very knowledgeable and the area is fantastic. No tarmac smooth bike park stuff, but lots of amazing single track.

3 Alpine 160 swing arms, 2 front triangles, in less than 12 months, after the final replacement frame i sold up. Orange were good about it, but i wouldn’t buy another.

Your endcaps are likely to be the torque end caps for newer RockShox forks.

Anyone know when the 2018 linkages and yokes will be available to buy for the 2017s?

Anyone know when the 2018 linkages and yokes will be available to buy for the 2017s?

I have the conversion for my Lyrik 29. It does work and i dont get harsh top or bottom outs. Richard was good when the initial sag wasnt as requested, he sent me a bigger spacer to increase pre-load. The spring rate was just too soft and i had total radio silence about that. The spring is a domain spring, so i just bought a firmer one. Works fine now. If there was an option from TF i’d have used that but there wasnt/still isnt. I suspect Richard has a shortage of springs as RS don’t make them anymore, getting hold of them isn’t easy.

The damper is designed to work with an air spring, but its fine with my coil conversion, i might get it tuned/changed when i do the next service.

I would’mt say avoid CRC but, he’s a French guy, in his shed in France, using Facebook to communicate. Its fair to say dealing with issues etc isn’t straight forward.

Chainline, is it possible to test the 29 G16 set up anywhere?

It’s abit of a departure from my 2017 Enduro 29 in terms of HA, reach and chainstay length.