I found that it felt more natural to run my saddle about 4 inches lower when I switched to flats from clipless – partly because of the reduced shoe/pedal height and partly because it felt more natural to move the bike around beneath me a lot more.

DH3 will be fine, DH4 a bit less so but I reckon it should be ok. All depends on your skill level really! The XC Red Run downhill is really good fun though, definitely worth repeated runs.

Gutted to miss the Enduro Expert that went for £1700… :(

Got one recently, love it – nice and small/light. Screen’s easily scratched though but has great resolution. Battery life is nearly a couple of days with WiFi and 3G on permanently. Standard keyboard sucks so get Swype. Camera has an illumination LED not a flash, HD video is only 720p but looks good.

^^^^
This.

You’ll need cleats for the shoes too.

I’d agree with the advice above – have a 2yr old Boxer X Spaniel who is more than happy to laze about the house most of the day. If yours hasn’t torn the house to shreds through boredom then I’d say you’re worrying unnecessarily, especially as there’s two of them to keep each other company. :)

Yet another vote for Smudge’s light…

Upper generally has a little bit of float whereas the lower typically doesn’t.

Looks pretty good for £60

Light, fast, XC, steep angles?

Cube Reaction GTC Race?

Bit over your £1000 benchmark but rather tasty…

Santa Cruz’s sizing chart suggests that someone of 5’10” (like the OP) is a borderline fit on the Medium Butcher, which has an ETT of 571mm – shorter than the 16″ Five’s 582mm btw… ;)

Not a Five I know, but at 6′ I’ve ridden both Large/19.5″ Trance X (610mm ETT) and amd Medium/17.5″ (585mm ETT) – in photos the Large looks better but I know which one was more fun for chucking about…

Yup, Boxer X Spaniel, 2yrs old now but started him early at about 4months with very short/slow ones to get him used to the bike. Echo what everyone else says about keeping an eye on them.

Great fun though, best riding buddy ever!

Get it VAGCOM’d first, chances are it may well just be a boost leak. Check the rubber joining hose that goes from the plastic pipe at the back of the engine bay to the inlet manifold – heat from the engine degrades the rubber. How is it power-wise? Does it run ok when first started then go into limp-home mode (no power) if you rev it over 3K?

VAST

So ordinary people don’t find mountain bikers weird, with their odd clothing, language and customs…? ;)

It’s the people who go fox hunting that I can’t tolerate. A cull of rightwing toffs would be most welcome

Quite. I don’t agree with the entire sentiment, but it is mildly amusing to see the pastimes of the establishment being legislated against.

Except that the vast majority of people on hunts are ordinary people, not “rightwing toffs”, who work full time in ordinary jobs and just happen to enjoy riding horses.

The difference in riding between drag hunts and “standard” hunts is the same as the difference between trail centres and exploring natural terrain btw.

http://voodoo-usa.com/bicycles

Doesn’t have the Wanga though unfortunately…

Yet another recommendation for Smudge’s lights and especially his customer service.

So are those OS bars? Might have to get one if they are…

I can add another satisfied Smudge customer to the list – bought just before Christmas, speedy delivery and all was good. Went to go for a ride on Boxing day and the light was intermittently turning off – turned out to be a faulty connection in the battery pack. Emailed, not expecting a response for a couple of days, and he emailed back half an hour later, at 10:00pm on Boxing day!

Got the battery sorted in double quick time and even threw in one of his new rear lights by way of a goodwill gesture (and it’s ace).

Will be getting another one for the OH soon hopefully. :)

I know it says max size 30mm but do you reckon it could stretch to OS bars?

See this a lot with people with dogs who are too powerful for them and will overpower them when on the lead. It mostly stems from poor/non-existent training (ie. dog thinks he’s boss, not the human). Not good as it gives the rest of us who take dogs out responsibly with bikes/where bikes are a bad name.

FWIW, mine only runs after my bike and is never aggressive towards people, plus he’s clever enough to keep out of the way of wheels!

BBG aluminium, less than a tenner each inc. postage from the US.

I can’t believe that an IT dept couldn’t figure that one out! They should have been ashamed of themselves…

Automatic timer switch on the monitor for their PC, set it to randomly switch off for a minute at a time during the day.

That A2Z adaptor allows you to use a 203mm rotor (which you have) on Post Mount forks designed to run a 160mm rotor with no adaptor (which yours are), with an IS caliper (which you have).

Yes?

Full suspension. I rode stuff at a speed I never thought possible on a Spicy I demo’d.

Again: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/a2z-adaptor-pm-to-is-160mm-to-203mm-ad-pmf203-prod17641/

;)

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/a2z-adaptor-pm-to-is-160mm-to-203mm-ad-pmf203-prod17641/ ?

Superstar type 5 is for a PM caliper to IS fitting.

Most of my rides are solo, less than two hours and 10 miles from home, so I generally carry my phone and car keys only.

I always find it amusing how worked up people get over what is essentially just people riding bikes in woods…!

If you have money and want a nice bike, buy one.
If you don’t want to spend lots of money on a bike, don’t.

Whatever bike you have, if you enjoy riding it, you’re doing it right.

:)

Yup, had nasty fork judder using them with Juicy 3s so replaced them with the Vibe ones which cured it.

Not really happy with the Juicys, hence the upgrade – I am hoping that the Formulas will be significantly better than the Avids!

Demo’d a Spicy with the RX1 brakes last year and that was 180/180, and they were the best brakes I’ve ever used which is why I’m going for Formulas, but I appreciate that the K24s are a different/older model so may not feel the same or have the same power.

Giant Reign?

Definitely don’t limit yourself to women’s specific bikes – my OH at 5’6″ is on a Med Camber Elite and loves it (felt waay too cramped on the Med Myka FSR and Sm Camber due to having a long-ish uppper body and arms).

Item # 190581718945 is the same but with a BIN of £48

2012 YT Industries Wicked 160 SL?

http://www.yt-industries.com/en/bikes-2012/wicked-160sl/

BOS shocks, X0, carbon rear end, Reverb and under £3k…

Any of the usuals – DC, Etnies, DVS, etc – should only be £25 a pair from TKMaxx.