Consultant on Saturday morning then staring longingly at the bikes all weekend followed by physio on Tuesday.

Harumph. Have fun.

Uppy downy seat posts are the greatest thing known to man, it’s only a 185mm and the bash is bigger to cover the 36 tooth middle ring, as I like to go wikkid awsum fast.

You failed to notice the biggest faux pas of mismatched brakes, thankfully now changed to a full set of hope tech M4’s with matching floating rotors.

Just for big dummy, and because I'm an incorrigible show off.

Sorry for the iphone quality pic, the length of the brake hoses, the poorly lined up valves and the messy CD collection. Could also do with swapping the soul frame to a gritstone BFE for the pure goth effect.

Yep. Or at least I did. All changed now.

I’m of the opinion that there are only 2 ways to do it. Subtle or all out.

Subtle 1. All black soul with orange bars. It looks like Florence Welch.

Subtle 2. Green inbred with silver cranks, pedals and finishing kit and white highlights. saddle, grips and rims. (unfortunately still a work in progress).

All out. Neon green Blood, glittery blue rims, purple bars, white brakes and pedals. soon to be updated with yellow grips and orange chain guide.

The rules should be:

1. Never do ever little bit you can in the same colour it’ll look far too early 90’s, one big statement is better. Bars or chain are good.
2. It has to match perfectly, similar colours are never acceptable.
3. Never use red or gold. Too easy.
4. Tyres are too important to just buy them because they match.

Have a look around at some of the fixies and BMX’s anything happening there will eventually filter down to the world of mountain bikes. Even Moustaches.

Cheers chaps, at least I'm broken normally. I'm already resigned to at least 8 weeks off the bike, I've already missed a riding holiday and had to pull out of mountain mayhem which is quite annoying. But, physio appointment on monday and another visit to the consultant next saturday so I'll hopefully get more info soon.

Time off the bike is giving me time to think up stupid plans about trying solo 24hr races. Probably best I get better soon.

Damn, that's not what i wanted to hear.

was I right, although it's STW so it's quite likely you've got a Cotic soul.

There was supposedly a whole batch of black medium frames (about 2 years ago) that came from the factory that had paint in the dropout, most people don't notice because the hub files it away but for some reason pro 2 hubs don't. It doesn't sit fully in the dropout so check the marks on the paint work to see if it's seating in the dropout properly.

ooh didn't see this one

and again

Is it a medium black Cotic soul? Some of them have a small blob of paint in the non driveside dropout that stops the wheel going in fully. Mine had exactly the same issue, ran a file through it and it was all sorted.

Is it a medium black Cotic soul? Some of them have a small blob of paint in the non driveside dropout that stops the wheel going in fully. Mine had exactly the same issue, ran a file through it and it was all sorted.

Was meant to be doing 6 days of South Wales epics interspersed with drinking plenty of delicious beer with my buddies. I'll actually be seeing an orthopaedic shoulder specialist and hopefully getting operated on and rebuilt after my confidence out weighed my skill at cwmcarn 2 weeks ago.

Hello fellow Barnesian. I'll keep my eyes peeled for them.

parts bin inbred

[/quote]Isnt a 37lb coil sprung DH only one kind of missing the point of it?

[defensive mode] Without doubt for similar money and weight I could have a full on DH bike and I would probably be faster but the main limiting factor to my riding is bravery. I’d rather be pushing myself at 7 to 8/10th’s of a bikes potential than be a passenger on a DH bike at 4/10 th’s. I’m sure DH bikes are a lot of fun but at the moment where I ride and how I ride doesn’t require one. If the time comes when I develop riding god skillz (and the girlfriend lets me) I’ll splash out and get one and return the blood to general duties. [defensive mode off]

Not actually tried riding this one up a hill yet, it's coil sprung and has duel ply tyres so it's pretty heavy at 37lbs and she's set up pretty soft for DH fun. The air sprung one I demo'd rode acceptably up the whites level climb but in comparison to the Alpine 160 I tried on the same day it was awful going up. The downs were immense fun (it seems to pop and fizz and wants to be jumped like a BMX) but I'd never consider using it for long days out in the hills. I haven't even considered taking it to Swinley for a short blast yet, maybe when it dries I'll give it a go.

Great bike but not for all day riding, unless there's an uplift.

5'10" here and ride a 15".

Hello team captain [waves].

Right then if I understand this correctly I need to bring everything I own that is even vaguely bike related plus a BBQ, my dirtworker, cakes, some new mud tyres, a sense of humour and definitely no bacon.

Next choices. Singlespeed or 1×9? Rigid or front sus?

of course it stands!

Sweet. Bring sunglasses. She's no shrinking violet.

If the offer still stands from the other place (thread about Esher shore) you're welcome to have a go on my Blood (15", coil sprung) to see if it suits. It really is bloomin' ace.

Huw

In the process of getting beefed up (and yes I know, the front tyre is on the wrong way round)

It's been used for everything from xc racing to uplift days and is currently my go to bike for the majority of my riding.

I've used Halo twin rails for about a year on my fixed commute bike. 8-9 miles a day including occasional fast use on the Thames path (lumpy dirt tow path). They don't roll quite so well on road as a pure race tyre but I've not had a puncture yet so it's a fair price to pay.

Matt black works well with orange

Neon green Blood with plasma blue wheels.