Up until a couple of years ago most of the (Halfords) Voodoo frames – Bizango, Wanga, etc – had sliding dropouts. I’ve got a steel Wanga 26 frame just waiting to get rebuilt SS rigid for the winter.

I forgot about crash replacement, thanks! Have spoken to Specialized UK and emailed pics so hopefully that’ll be a nice discount.

Thanks, will have a look at those.

In all honesty, get the best Calibre Bossnut version you can stretch to, preferably one with a dropper post, and just get out and ride!

Just get the AM9 😉

I know it’s SRAM (my preference anyway) but for £1k I’d be getting this: https://www.merlincycles.com/merlin-malt-g1x-apex-1-gravel-bike-2020-150729.html

Full carbon fork, hydro discs – just a shame about the colour!

I’ve got a 2016 GT Grade en route from Hargreaves Cycles as they had loads of old models being sold off cheap – worth a look.

2020 Kona Unit/Unit X doesn’t look a million miles from that.

Vaguely surprised Bontrager hasn’t had a shout yet…

And Fat Chance and early Salsa.

6′ on a Large here and I’ll echo what’s been said about the headtube – it’s very low! I’m running several spacers and 35mm rise bars on mine. 120mm dropper, but could run a 150 (which wasn’t available when I bought the bike).

Brilliant, that helps loads – although not really as the one I really want is only in a Medium! Still, it’ll save money..

Cheers!

Anyone else? Thought everyone rode gravel bikes round here.. 😉

As you’ve now got a 10t smallest sprocket vs. the previous 11t, you can drop to a smaller chainring to compensate for the lack of a 46t.

10-42t = 420% range
11-46t = 418% range

Edit: what he said!

Thing is, you don’t know whether these failures are people riding everywhere in 34/11 in Turbo mode at massively low cadences, overheating the motor and stressing the entire drivetrain or not.

Also OP, no disrespect, but from your username I recall your posting history of not really working on your bikes yourself, being reliant on a (less-than-stellar) mechanic, and trashing everything in sight really quickly. I’d say that right now an e-bike probably isn’t for you.

Appears not.. 😔

Quite like my Morvelo R.A.D. shorts.

Not tubeless, but Schwalbe Land Cruiser?

Running Eliminator Grid 2.6 f&r on my Aeris and I think they’re fine. I’m not that handy on a bike though, so ymmv!

Given that the Specialized Diverge with Claris is £900, that’s a bargain right there!

Damnit, why are none of these bargains near me! Got up to £600 waiting for a large gravel bike but nothing around Aldershot/Guildford area.. <hint, hint>

Got a sliding dropout steel Voodoo Wanga with a pair of On One rigid forks that I keep thinking about building back up as a SS hack for the winter.

Worth looking at a Bird Zero 29? 80mm quoted static BB drop (297mm static height with 130mm forks and 2.6 tyres) – nice and low!

To all those saying about tyre size, etc – remember that BB drop and BB height are technically different; BB drop is not affected by tyre size, whereas BB height is.

Is the only way you’ve calculated BB drop by subtracting floor-to-BB-centre from floor-to-axle-centre, or have you set a straight edge between the axles and measured from normal to that to the centre of the BB?

Does the manufacturer only quote BB drop on their geometry table?

I’d be having a look at the On One (Planet X) Big Dog GX 29er – seems like a great bike for sub-£1k.

I’d say what you’re after would probably be a Banshee Spitfire – described as the DHers trail bike. Not too long, not too slack, but long and slack enough. Supposed to be a really fun bike to just razz about on.

Edit: If it’s the right size, I’d be all over this – https://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/2657707/

There isn’t really any such thing as “Freeride” any more, not in the sense of how it was. 180mm travel bikes are properly all-day pedalable if you really want to, and proper DH bikes are light enough that they get used for what used to be freeride.

Whereabouts are you? When the lockdown eases, see if you can get a ride on some of the new-school bikes as I think you’ll be surprised.

As has been said, 65deg is pretty much bang on the money for a trail/enduro bike these days.

As the usual recommend-what-you’ve-got, I’ll go with Bird again and say to have a look at the Aeris 145. Can run it with the stock linkage and 150/160mm forks for trail duties, or stick on the 160mm linkage and run 170mm forks for mini-DH stuff. Should be able to nudge one for just over £2k now that the Aether7 has been released and people are jumping ship to that.

I’ve been eyeing up picking up a cheap gravel bike but not at the prices people are asking! Guess I’ll wait until the lockdown ends and the used market is (hopefully) flooded..

TranzX have some: http://www.tranzx.com/product_10_dropper_post.html

Plenty of cars need hundreds (if not thousands) of pounds’ worth of repair work when out of warranty – do people only ever buy cars that are still in warranty..?

Regarding range anxiety – remember that with a Levo you can use the BLevo app to input an intended route and it will manage the battery life such that you don’t run out. Can’t recall if the Mission Control app can do it as well, but you can customise the assistance percentage and permitted motor current for each level of assistance too.

On the flip side, we bought my other half a used (out of warranty) Levo a couple of years ago and it’s been fine. Granted, it doesn’t get ridden through the winter in horrific conditions but she’s had no problems with it.

The motors aren’t some impenetrable wizardry – they use belts, gears and bearings – and are assembled by normal humans. If they can be built by people, they can be repaired. Batteries can be taken apart and repacked if absolutely necessary. Depending on how technically-minded you are, of course, YMMV..

Ionate Films’ VAST is on YouTube as well, flippin’ brilliant film.

Isn’t vapour blasting (which a lot of places do now) an alternative to chemical dipping, as it’s much gentler than normal shot blasting?

Cheers for the suggestions. Messaged Superstar and they’ve sorted out an order for just the short pins, so all good.

Personally, I’d say:
SRAM NX Eagle 11-50 cassette
SRAM 12sp chain
Shimano SLX 12sp mech & shifter
Praxis Steel 104bcd WaveTech chainring

Job done.

Shorter travel + progressive geo + value for money = Bird AEther 7 (or potentially the upcoming AEther 9C)

Also, if you go 11-50T cassette then you can resize the chainring to keep parity with the lower or higher gears without losing as much from the other end. https://www.bikecalc.com/gear_ratios

You can go SRAM 12sp if you like – SX/NX Eagle is 11-50T and fits on a standard Shimano freehub. Plus it’s all steel, so it’ll last.

Apparently the Shimano 12sp stuff is very good, so maybe XT/SLX 12sp shifter/mech, SRAM chain and cassette, and then whatever chain ring you fancy (I use steel NW for durability as it’s only a minimal weight penalty).