I don’t see these guys as villains, they’re just ordinary, vulnerable human beings doing what they need to do to protect their livelihoods.

So how do you see the guys that choose not to dope? :roll:

Sorted a really dodgy OEM Float RL for me in time for a race – reputation totally justified!

I think you’re better off sticking – but if you must get new wheels, get the American Classic All Mountains over the Mavics. Wider rim, stiffer and the same weight. Very good tubeless system too…

I didn’t envy Hannah Barnes doing the Transvesubienne on 29lbs of Gyro.

Did hers really weight that? Mine’s 29lb (real and verified) with a Hans Dampf/Nobby Nic combo and a dropper (1×10 admittedly). Racier wheels and tyres and it’s 27lb…

I did the Wales Coast to Coast non-stop on 28.5lb of Superfly and the bike weight was the last thing on my mind…

Regarding a shorter travel 26er Orange – as mentioned, the ST4 was exactly that. It was brilliant and much like the Commencal Meta 4. Problem is, it was barely any lighter and most people didn’t get it.

It seem to have worked in 29″ guise as there’s a decent weight diff and enough of a geo difference between the Five29 and the Gyro (Five29 is a good 2-3lb heavier)

Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Gyro go the way of the ST4 as everyone buys Five29s regardless of whether they’d have more fun on a Gyro…

I did 1-to-1 with Clive, very good! I think he’s normally Scots based but has a lot of Bristol connections which is why he’s able to do FOD.

If it’s south west you want, try Sam Fowler at Pedal Progression: http://www.pedalprogression.com/

My wife has had a few years off from riding due to baby, when she returned I stuck her on my 29er FS (she’s quite tall for a woman, and not much shorter than me) and enjoyed it immensely.

All this crap about needing to ‘do your time’ :roll:

It used to be that you ‘had’ to do your time on a hardtail, now it’s 26″ it would seem. While I can appreciate the merits of learning the craft in the purest way (if you’re serious), most people just want to get out and have some fun. If a full suss or a 29er increases that enjoyment for them, I’m all for it.

(Says the guy who’s been riding 18 years, mostly on hardtails with small wheels).

I was comparing A shop with A website.

Shop needs:

The shop itself – online = warehouse
Shop Staff – customer service teams, warehouse staff
mechanics – graphic designers and web programmers (or spend on outsourcing)
Bills – affects both.

What the online business saves in not needing a premier location that a shop would goes straight in the extra wages needed for IT bods, SEO work and google adwords etc.

When you look into it there is actually very little difference.

(i’m not talking about bedroom sellers, but businesses that are there to make money and pay staff)

The main reason internet sites can afford the smaller margins is more in larger target audience than less overheads.

+1 Been there done that.

1 shop vs online that is…

Page has been pulled already :)

The comment I was unable to post would have read…

Yes, last year 122 cyclists were killed in road traffic accidents, most of those were individuals that were riding single file. What does that tell you? Riding in groups is safer, it might be an inconvenience, but it’s safer and 2 a breast is not the law. Stop trying to push your petty grievances as some ‘for the greater good’ safety thing.

Are you deciding for her when it’s safe to overtake?

No, I image they were deciding for her when it wasn’t safe to overtake – subtle differences…

Try replacing the rear only initially. I rarely run matching pairs (currently 2.35 Hans Dampf up front and 2.25 Nobby Nic rear). Even in the summer and bone dry, I’ll quite often run something like a Ralph or a small block 8, with a big fat 2.35 up front for fun.

The rear tyre is the far bigger penalty in terms of rolling resistance anyway…

More bike washes. Last year was taking the pee abit, and caused friction at water taps in the camping areas, and turned the stream in to a bike washing area which isnt really on.

I’ve never raced or crewed where we didn’t have a mobi-style washer.

More showers. There were less than previous years…and they didnt work till late Saturday. (ok I know that bit was out of their control)

It’s a bike race in a field. I generally rely on wetwipes/embracing the grot/use the bike washer (brrrr).

Considering the size of the event, regardless of the entry fee, providing these kinds of facilities at all for that many people really is something. As above, I assume they’ll go wrong or have silly queues and so go prepared.

With the right tyres they’re a very fun challenge. If I’m fortunate enough to have something like a Hans Dampf on, they’re good fun!

Generally you should be thinking about what’s after the roots rather than the roots themselves – I generally try to unweight the bike and focus on the half decent bit of trail ahead of them where I can plant/chuck the bike into.

Another one I find is that if you can ride them higher up and closer to the base of the trunk where they’re wider then that helps. Generally it’s not the tread that slips but if you get enough root in contact with the tyre carcass. So the narrower the root, the more likely it is to get between the nobbles and slide on the carcass. Baring that in mind, I find tyres with a more MX style tread pattern (Blue Groove, Hans Dampf) tend to go better on roots as there are less horizontal lines/gaps all the way along the tread.

Obv 90 degrees if possible but not always possible.

As far as airports go, Schiphol is pretty nice…

The Jam – Greatest…

Like Emma Way… (not really, of course)

You would though, wouldn’t you…

No cage is a deal breaker for me too.

I’m surprised at this. Anytime I’ve ridden anything that might count as what most people might accept as “All Mountain” riding, I’d not be expecting a bottle to even remain in it’s cage.

daveR – yes, that be me :)

Well no, you’d need to be blindfolded for the test to work – you volunteering?

Got it now, ta!

Nothing received yet…

people seem to be frothing at the keyboards about it!

Yet you keep ignoring the people responding rationally with solid points, and you’re the only one who’s resorted to all caps and bold.

Go and buy whatever you want, no one actually cares. It’s the coming on here and actually trying to justify it as somehow morally ok that is annoying people.

I ALREADY HAVE A BRAND NEW CERVELO R5 BOUGHT FROM AN AUTHORISED DEALER!!!

So buy the Hong Fu or something similar, or an alloy Kinesis or something – I really can’t see how you can continue to think you justify buying a counterfeit frame.

Trekster – not a suprise given the Five29 has more travel and ‘bigger’ intended use. Trek have got a Remedy29 coming out which will be a better comparison to the Five29.

The Gyro is much closer to the Rumblefish.

Sounds like the OP just wants the knock-off Cervelo and our blessing then…

For what it’s worth – for general trail riding, I actually preferred the M-109 to the T-129! The lower front end (mainly due to the shorter fork) but still relatively slack geo meant it was much keener to get turned in and was happier to be hustled about.

This was just round Cannock and I’m sure if I was in Wales on a big rocky descent, I’d have preferred the T-129. My point being, give the M-109 a go – hugely and unfairly being overshadowed by the more aspirationally-travelled T-series.

You can run what you want but the Wolf Ridge is a bit of a monster bike and the 2.1 monorails are neither wide or particularly aggressive.

I’d be looking to stick a Hans Dampf on the front and a Nobby Nic on the back personally (they’d add a lot of weight and drag but you’d be able to use the bike properly going down). Depends on what kind of riding you do of course but as I said, the Wolf Ridge is pretty hardcore.

I assume it’s a bit like this:

Or is it an older style one?

Yeah I mean, I still ride for fun but I try to be conscious of something I need to work on.

Currently I feel like my body and bike positioning is good but I know I’m still prone for cheeky back pedalling instead of forward pedalling to swap feet in a sequence of turns. And I’m also prone to a tiny comfort touch of the brakes mid-corner, which I’ve been weeding out this week.

Actually, you’re ignoring half the thread that it saying, “if it doesn’t matter, why not just get the nude one?”

Every ride

Coed-y-Brenin is not particularly tyre fussy from my memory. I’d generally be more worried about sidewall protection and the width of the tyre than its tread profile tbh.

I’m surprised you’re running 2.1 Monorails on a Wolf Ridge in general though…

I don’t think anyone is doubting Hong Fu but then they’re not in the business of marketing knock off frames.

Anthem X1 but you’ll be lucky to find one. Tallboy and Superfly should be up there on your list. TB will obviously be a frame only and classifieds job on that budget. In which case, check out a Gyro as a frame only option too

Just get a naked frame and get some decals done! You’ll get a lot of stick for it, and if you don’t care, why care about having Cervelo on it in the first place?

Tbh, sounds a lot like 29er first timer technique coupled with poor setup… there is an adjustment period and if you’re not getting the bike over and you’re braking mid-corner, the 29er wheels just exaggerate what’s happening on the 26er but to a greater degree.

That ‘understeer’ is normally a body position thing and mid-corner braking which causes the bike to try and stand up and run wide in the turn.

For what it’s worth, when I get back on a 26er I tend to override the thing, crossing the front up from manhandling the bars too much. It’s just different…

I’ve seen a few 1.4 non-TSi Fabias with nice spec so I’m getting very tempted by that. Reliabiltiy reports seem to be good too? I think they look smart, if a fraction bland I guess. My current ‘head’ choice anyway…

That said, I’ve just spotted a really tidy Volvo V50 1.8 petrol!

I think I’d always custom build now. Off the pegs are usually evenly specced across the board… But I’d quite happily take Deore/SLX group and some average finishing kit and then go ballistic on the wheel budget for example which you just won’t get on an off the peg. Maybe it’s a 29er thing as I never used to be that fussy about wheels on 26″

Would deffo be doing the Maths on a Canyon as a donor bike first though!

tehan: who would be best to contact regarding reviews? I’m currently writing up Hope’s IBR but quite keen to cover a SRAM Spiderless option… email in profile.

See if you can try a Tallboy with a 120mm fork. Superisingly capable and if you tuck a Hans Dampf up front (it’ll fit in a Rev/F120) it’ll certainly surprise you. See also the Gyro…

“Anything but 650b” – managed to pick a rider who wasn’t riding and Donny had a mare in round 1.

Blenkinsop was an inspired choice and having Barel and Mosely helps a bit :)

I’ve tried them as it was suggested they might benefit me in terms of fit but I just ‘felt’ down on power all the time – whether or not I actually was, who knows but it didn’t feel nice. Still got them on one bike and I hate riding it – should probably swap them out :|

Arrived! Very tidy little offer!