Well the Helion has arrived and looks fantastic! Can’t believe how much you get for £60 these days compared with the £150+ you had to spend before building it yourself 25 years ago when I raced as a kid.

Took a lot of will power not to power it up and blast around the house while he’s in bed but now I know it works I shall save the pleasure if the first run for him!

Can’t wait for Christmas Day now!

Dan’s the man! Great video even though most of that course looks utterly un-rideable to most mortals.

A mate of mine has done the TE twice. First time he was sitting just outside the top ten after 3 days but this drank some water from a stream and got really ill. It was very hard work and almost put him off riding for a while. I think they changed it a little second time around and lessened some of the transitions and although he crashed and mangled his face that time, he really enjoyed it!

I think they both require you to have done a certain number of events before letting you enter don’t they?

Well done that man. Work hard and play hard. That’s the way it should be.

The more I like into the ‘what other bike should I buy’ conundrum, the more I realise that my Bronson is pretty much the perfect bike for what I do. Couldn’t do (well wouldn’t enjoy doing) whistler uplift weeks on a hardtail, but the Bronson can do that and it’s still light enough to ride up anyhill and with a change of tires and the suspension in lockout mode, would get me around on the road if needs be.

Brant – YHM!

Plenty of food for thought – thanks all. Need to get some test rides organised I think. Am now thinking I should give a ti hardtail a try too.

I’m 6″ so assume I’d need a large. There’s a nice 29er Lynskey in the classifieds but I liked the idea of being able to use my Enves on it… Explosif looks nice.

aracer – Member
I think at £50 you’re just about into proper rechargeable battery pack territory. I’ve My 7yo son’s got one of these which is a bit over your budget, which is proper hobby grade kit.
http://www.wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/171047/?gclid=CKKYrZuNrMICFfQatAodBhYArQ

If you shop around you might find something similar for under £50.

That looks perfect! Budget was a plucked out of this air to be honest so £60 for that looks like a great deal. I started racing 1/10 scale indoor cars about 23 years ago and have many happy memories of going to the local club with my dad. I like the idea of a kit to build but think 10-11 years old is a better ago to be looking at those.

I’ll he’ll have a ball on Christmas day now I am sure!

Great idea for my car mad 7 year old. Are there any with rechargeable battery packs like the proper Tamiya/Kyosho ones I had as a teenager? £50 or so is the budget. I guess I could just buy rechargeable AAs but they usually lack power compared with Duracell and the like.

sprocker – Member
Banshee phantom is worth a look 105mm rear and up to 140 on the front. You should be able to build a decent one for 3k.

Now I do like the look of that….

Hmmm, just started googling Ti 29er hardtails… This could get expensive!

moshimonster – Member
Sounds like a Camber would be ideal. Maybe with a super lightweight build rather than the more chunky Evo version? Or taking that even further, maybe an Epic?

I sort of converted my 2010 Epic 26er into an Evo by fitting 120mm Reba’s! Guess I could do the same again with a 29″ version…

What do people think of the Fuel EX 29er?

deanfbm – Member
As above, stumpy would be a direct replacement for your bronson, so then you’ll be cutting back to the camber evo, just picked one up, rocket with massive capability, so reckon any 110-120ish capable 29er is still going to give your bronson a run for its money.

Also as above thinking you’re into 29er HT category for something significantly different that will compliment what you’ve got.

That or sell the bronson and get an actual big bike.

What riding do you actually do?

I have toyed with the idea of selling the Bronson and getting a 140mm 29er and a proper DH rig, but to be honest I don’t think I’d use the DH rig enough to justify owning it. I ride Swinley a lot and this is where I think the 120mm ish 29er would be ideal as although I do like to session the fast bits and play in the jump gulley, most of the time it’s just pedalling! The Bronson is so light and pedals so well though that even if it’s a bit slack, I don’t think I’d be any quicker on my mates Stumpy 29er FSR and it wouldn’t be as much fun in the air.

I ride Aston Hill quite a lot but don’t really find I need anything more than the Bronson for that and always like riding back up again for the training. I also do uplift days a few times a year at FOD and BPW where again, the Bronson is ideal and then an annual trip to Europe where I might occasionally yearn for a DH rig, but like to do big ‘enduro’ days mainly (where again, the Bronson is ideal!).

What I want is a bike to use on the muddy 2-3 hour winter rides where the prospect of grinding the XX1 cassette is too painful and although as I type this I think a slack 29er HT is sounding more and more ideal, I wonder if maybe a 100mm 29er frame but with 120mm forks (or a Camber!) might fit the bill perfectly.

It’s good to talk!

Even an alloy Stumpy Evo will have you questioning what the Bronson is good at.

Hence why I don’t want to get something like a Stumpy Evo! I got back on the Bronson yesterday and instantly preferred it to both the bikes I had just ridden, even at XC stuff, but it cost more than both of them put together and I fancy having a cheaper bike for winter duties I think.

Haven’t ridden a 29er HT but didn’t like my last hardtail (Whyte 19) as it just gave me backache!

thooms – Member
They’re too refined – not too powerful.

This to a certain extent. Arguably a car can’t be too refined – why would anyone prefer not to be in a quiet and comfortable environment. However that does mask speed very well. I took a friend out for a blast on the autobahn recently and gave it some beans. Asked him after how fast he thought we were going and he guessed a good 30% lower than we had been.

Unsure I’d get a super saloon again as you do need to be going at a serious lick to feel like the car is even trying and I do often yearn for something lighter and rawer when on my own. However, when I’ve got the wife and 3 kids it really is just an effortless way of getting anywhere and they do love hard acceleration, even though I think they’ll never be impressed by much else in the future having got used to 560bhp!

numbnut – Member
here’s a good video to warm you up….

Wow, she’s certainly could warm me up!

Thanks Stevo – I’ll look that up.

Is Yoga or Pilates the best one to start off with? I have been cycling for 20 years and always had pretty crap flexibility. I started doing Karate with my kids 2 years ago and am really enjoying it, but am finding that my crap flexibility (even in my wrists) is holding me back now it’s getting more serious.

I also started boxing 6 months ago and the coach has commented that I need to work on my flexibility.

Time is a scarce resource so I am unlikely to be able to manage more then one session a week realistically – am I going to see any benefit from that?

Unsure if you can read this on FB, but I met a guy at Swinley who had one on his bike so asked the same question – think he may post on here too:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SwinleyforestMTB/permalink/883776064980243/

Now that my 34s have been transformed I am very tempted to try one although I have never been unimpressed by the standard shock. Seems to do everything I ask of it.

Well just popped into the local Evans and did a city centre in work shoes test ride on a Fuel EX 7 29er… actually quite liked the bike as a whole – didn’t feel overly heavy at circa 30lbs and the rear suspension felt lovely, but the Float 32 Evolution forks were horrid! Very sticky feeling with seemingly no damping at all (tested off kerbs and by hopping around etc so where forks often feel OK even when they suck on the rough stuff). I do fear I have been spoilt with my current bikes though (the Epic is a 2010 model but has Reba Team forks with BlackBox damping and are super plush)…

Amusingly the assistant initially told me that the Trek Fuel EX had a chromoly frame, before glancing at the spec sheet and then saying it was platnum aluminium but still light as the tubes are hollow…. bless!

Might need to just treat myself to something shiny and carbon!

11 months old now and not a creak in sight/earshot so all seems to be well on that front at least!

moshimonster – Member
911 no
911 Turbo yes
R8 yes
If that’s the case then R8 V8 = no, R8 V10 = yes
At least be consistent.

It’s a tricky one and maybe exclusivity plays a part. On my walk from the station to the office I go through a posh Marylebone square and can confirm that a 911 is the single most common car in there and Porsche the most common brand by some margin! Don’t get me wrong, I love 911s and hope I can get a GTS as my next car but I don’t really consider them to be supercars whereas I probably do consider even the V8 R8 in that category.

daver27 – Member
simpler route would have been get them fixed under warranty, flog them and buy pikes.

That was considered, but given the lack of love for them on the internet and the fact that you can buy new ones for £399 from CRC at present meant that it wouldn’t have been a cheaper option and being a tart, I love the look of the kashima forks! No creaking yet and they’ve taken a hammering – when does that normally start!?

tenacious_doug – Member
My understanding is that the changes Mojo make to upgrade to 2015 spec are only £40 on top of normal service price, so from that perspective it’s pretty good value.
If you consider you can pick up 34s for as little as £350 at the moment, it’s more tempting to take a punt on them for building up my new bike.

That sounds about right. I think a service was circa £100, the change to a float cartridge was £60 and then the custom tweaks were £40.

Either way, the forks and bike are transformed and I have stopped checking out the price of Pike’s and turned my attention to getting another bike!

njee20 – don’t know why I don’t ride the Epic more really, it’s just that the Bronson is so much more fun and get’s around Swinley at a faster pace generally. I rode the Epic there for the first time in about 8 months a few weeks ago and just didn’t click with it again. It has always felt a bit on the small side for me and after I lent it to a mate last week who loved it and asked if I’d sell, it got the new bike mindset underway!

Maybe a 100mm 29er, the Bronson and a DH bike would be the perfect combo….

Singlesteed – unsure I’d want to add any weight to the Bronson – I flipping love it, especially since I had the 34s tweaked by Mojo and they now feel like Pikes! However, having largely only ridden poncy, XTR etc equipped bikes for the past X years, I think a low spec 29er would annoy me and so a 25lb 29er does have a lot of appeal.

Stu – hadn’t considered a fatty at all TBH – saw some out in Dubai last month and was rather intrigued. Hadn’t seen the On One bikes until now – please tell me yours has the pink tyres!? Maybe I need to try one…

Thanks for the input. Hadn’t seen the Smuggler before – that looks very interesting indeed! There’s a very well priced Trek Fuel EX 7 29er in the classifieds but I think it weighs circa 31lbs so I think it will feel very lumpy after the 26lb Bronson.

Bump.

gogg – Member
Looks like a sweet set-up that he’s got, now to convince the wife that I deserve a “week off”

I had to buy a new house to get my pass and some twunk has just written off her car so I’m hoping my letting her choose what she wants I’ll get my pass for next year in early!! I normally only do 3-4 days in the Alps but thoroughly enjoyed the full week this time as you really do get into the zone as the week progresses.

Plus its a great location to take the wives and girlfriends, leave them by the pool/town and go riding. Everybody is happy

It’s a pretty quiet part of Portugal to be fair although if they just want to sit by the pool and chill it would be fine. Roughly equidistant from Lisbon and Porto (2 hours drive or so) and about 40 mins from the coast.

You’re a braver man than me taking away the wife AMD the girlfriend!! :wink:

I usually go to Les Arcs or Chamonix but fancied a change this year and went to Portugal – quick right up here but in short, it was amazing! Different to the Alps but just as much fun and about half the price at present. Probably a bit hot in July/Aug but worth a look:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/wheelers-mtb-holidays-lousa-portugal

I have XTR trails on my Bronson, but in Portugal the other week I swapped bikes with our guide for an afternoon and his Saracen Myst had Saints on it – I couldn’t believe just quite how much more power they had. It took me a few runs to dial into them as I kept locking the rear at inopportune moments!

Although I have used the reach adjusters on mine, it was only when I first set them up so I don’t think you’ll miss the ability to do that tool free.

We chose to make it so DH orientated but there is masses of pedally singletrack if you are so inclined.

I mainly posted as it’s a viable Alps alternative for about half the usual prioce

Quick bump for those not awake at 1am!

Think I read on mtbr that mojo are doing it.

I did an FOD uplift on my mate’s Bronson last year which had the 2013 34s on and they were very divey. I have the 2014 Talas 34 CTDs on mine and they are greatly improved and very impressive. I have ridden Pikes and while I feel they have better small bump compliance, the difference doesn’t justify the change. I think you can get the 2014 damper fitted for £50 which is a must – I am sure you’ll be very happy with the improvement.

having it attached to the chassis doesn’t always work!!

I use the TLD speed doctor top and really rate it – chose it As it is Leatt compatible but do find it a pain to remove without a zip when I’m sweaty!