Forgot to mention, when I joined the forum, I had a Honda Hornet 600, hence the name 😉
Prior to that, Yamaha FZR400 Genesis Ex-Up.

My pride and joy, along with mountain bikes and road bike!
Just love two wheels…….!!!

August bank holiday at Cadwell Park for some BSB action!! RIP Ben.

Get well soon Gee.
It’s amazing the number of people who have broken collar bones or had serious injuries at Thetford, when considering all of places mountain bikers ride Thetford is not technical but just goes to show.

I was sat in the back of the van joking to my mate that ‘this is just like last year’ at 6.30pm watching the drizzle coming down and then at 2.30am saying goodbye to drive home, ‘just like last year’!!!

It just says to post them by recorded delivery. Would be good to email as most bills are online now and much easier to show proof of sending.

No need for full-suss at Thetford but the most important thing is that you enjoy it!
I live 10 miles from Thetford and ride there weekly, always on a hardtail.
The is more skill in ‘pumping’ and standing up through the wavey sections than the type of bike. Thetford is about technique to be fast and avoid ‘thetford back’!

Thankfully there was a mention of wearing clothes!!

I would be interested as a keen photographer and cyclist but will be at work. Need to earn money to buy a new lens and some new tyres!!

Carbon forks are fine if used with a single speed!!

Shame to hear about the end of the line for the Soda. As I said in another post, I love just looking at my bike, love riding it and now knowing that there will be even fewer in existence just makes it all the better.
Can’t beat not seeing another bike like yours and everybody asking questions about it.
From another angle, what happens with crash replacement / warranty?

My two girls –

Sometimes it is about dreams and goals rather than facts on paper. Personally, I have always wanted (rather than needed)a Ti frame, I just get a real buzz everytime I look at it or ride it.
I have always wanted a Fireblade, way to fast for the public roads of course but I have always wanted one.
At least when I get older I can regret owning them (probably not!) rather than regret not owning them at all !!!

Will be watching the Bury stage start (stage 8 I think) next Saturday, and then in Top Gear fashion race the boys to Diss. They will have twice as far to go…………….

I am sure that Cy will be along soon to confirm or deny.
Just glad I have mine and after riding it again this morning, really glad 😆
Be a shame if it were true mind.

Personally I would go for a singlespeed or as above, build up a cheap geared bike. Alfine hubs seem to get good reviews but also seem very expensive for what they are.

Never like the idea of a carbon shaft below my arse……!!! 😮

One day in a remote location (where else would it happen!)the seatpost will give and impale into your inner-thigh. A little extreme I know but bleeding out miles from anywhere isn’t for me.
Alu posts all the way.

Not quite a Soul but these are my girls………….

We should now turn this into a picture thread of bikes!! 😮

Just back in from the garage and I have 19 tyres!! I do swap tyres for conditions and have even changed tyres mid race (D2D) to suit.
Normal practise is, training tyres / race tyres and summer / winter tyres.
Also on both bikes, so fair bit of swapping but IMHO does make a difference.
Gives me something to do whilst the wife is watching ‘come dine with me’, ‘location, location, location’ etc…………..

To be honest, for £230 I would go to On-One and buy a nice steel frame or even a scandal.
There are carbon frames that are good and there are carbon frames. I wouldn’t be happy on a cheap carbon frame.
I have never owned one so can not offer direct feedback but have owned an Inbred and a Scandal and rate them highly.

You need to put the file in the ‘courses’ folder. CRS files work much better than GPX files.
If you do google search on ‘garmin 705 guide for dummies’ there is a good website.
Also, you can use bikehike.com to convert your file to CRS.

5′ 10″ and ride medium, really nice ride and feels very comfortable. I have kept the bike std from purchase and it just rides really well.
For the money you can’t go wrong.
Give them a ring, they are helpful and will probably recommend the medium as they did for me.
For what it is worth, 29″ inside leg.

Don’t discount the spark, awesome bike. Have you thought about the epic? I have had 1 spark and 2 epics, prefered the spark in al honestly. i test rode the anthem on two occasions and bought the spark and epic on both occasions.

Thetford hasn’t been the same since! Part of my local riding as well!

Long day, took us 11 hours of riding a few years back. Was a very good day.
Was wet when leaving Winchester which didn’t help as it meant more clothing!
Devil’s Dyke is about 65miles in and I would compare the last 35miles with the first 65miles in hardness and energy.
There a few water taps along the way in farms and yha, worth giving your face a wash to freshen up.

Specialized Epic
Giant Anthem
Or consider hardtail

look here

Might help

If the rest of my team wasn’t off I would of been up for this.
As a keen cross-crountry racer and photographer this is right up my street. Cotic soda crossed with Nikon D80 for the day, happy days!

Nice one. Nothing better than building a bike and it riding really well, huge buzz!

That is the nicest looking ‘factory’ bike I have seen for a while. Very good vale indeed considering the spec.
Will have to remember that for the future!

‘UK bike’ meant in the terms of not the Alps, North Shore Vancouver, the places where natural trails are big. 100mm is plenty for the vast majority of UK riding, but totally agree, it is all about having fun and enjoying what you’re doing. Don’t do it for someone else, you ride for your own enjoyment.
Me, hardtail everytime but as having owned an Anthem, really rate them.
If I were to be limited to one bike, it would be a Scott Spark 20, a Giant Anthem or my current bike Cotic Soda (100mm set-up).
Just get and ride, having lots of fun 😀

There are grades of routes at trail centres. Cwmcarn has an excellent x-country route, for which the Anthem is perfect. Downhill routes are ok going slowish but not really for me, so the Anthem is perfect.

All that extra weight to carry uphill, no thanks, Anthem everytime. Makes for a good all round UK bike to be honest.

3 souls and a pair of forks for the price of a soda!

I have a Simple and a Soda, so almost the same. Simple is brilliant, Soda is sublime. I havs had Stuntjumper hardtail, Spark, 2 x Epics, Scandal and rate the Soda as the best bike I have ridden.

Longer bolt and bigger hammer done the trick! 😀

Any ideas on the main bearings?
The bolt undoes easily but what do you need to get the tube out to release the rear end?

Thanks for that. I have managed to replace the link arm bearings now but can’t remove the main pivot bearings.
The hex bolt comes undone but the metal sleeve/tube remains through the pivot. Am I missing something here?
It would appear it needs to slide out, which also means removing the front mech?

XTR everytime

Sweet

@Pedalhead – What 29 Ti have you got? Very tempted to switch from 26 to 29

I got some gloves and lube in some triple layer and glued box rather than the normal jiffy bag. Box is now in the recycling bin but most be more to post.

Top work boys.
I’ve ridden there before with gears and that was hard in places, especially the road climb out of the carpark at the bottom of the batch.
Would like to try the singlespeed there but all my mates ride gears so not so much fun. Locally and racing at Thetford is ok and I can beat most of them on the singlespeed 😆