I’ve just bought an On-One Whippet for exactly the sort of riding you describe, as an alternative to my 145/160 Aeris. Have a spare set of 120mm Revs I can put on it to make it a bit more MTB if needed.

Surely if every high-end e-bike was such a rip-off, someone with a bit of financial backing could come in and sell an equivalent spec bike for £1500, no? 🤔

You know what, I’ve tried to help but I’m out.

I get that, but the bikes that are intended for the sort of riding you want to do (general trail) don’t weigh sub-25lbs any more! To get that sort of weight, you’re looking at much more race-focused bikes, which won’t be as suited for general trail riding.

Honestly, it’s like rocking up to a car forum and saying:

“Right, I haven’t had a car in 40 years; I want something for general everyday driving but it must weigh under 1000kg.”

So everyone says:

“Well, cars have gotten a bit heavier, but honestly it doesn’t matter as they’re so much better now regardless.”

They you ignore that and insist on some arbitrary number that isn’t relevant any more, someone says “Well, the Lotus Elise weighs under 1000kg but it’s not really the most suitable car for the driving you want to do.”

See what I’m getting at here?

sorry to anyone who thinks’ I’m being a bit dismissive of your suggestions, but there’s literally thousands of different bikes out there,

And this is why the people who have been riding MTBs all of the time are telling you NOT to get hung up on weight. At least respect our advice enough to listen, eh?

Forgot about the Spur!

OP – watch this and see if this is the sort of thing you’re after:

Trek are Vauxhall. Perfectly good bikes but I just don’t like them. Image problem – somehow a bit boring, a bit stale, a bit cardigan (keeps you warm, but oh dear)

Trek are like G.M. They do have some decent high-end stuff, but they are generally the epitome of mediocrity, with a bunch of brands that don’t seem to make much sense.

Trek = Chevrolet (big, flashy things that ultimately aren’t any better than another brand)

I’d say Trek are FIAT – bought out several niche and high-end brands (Abarth, Lancia – see: Klein, Bontrager) and reduced them to either a shadow of their former selves or a generic parts brand.

Can’t find anything about FIAT ruining a professional’s career because he called out their top athlete for illegal practices years before they admitted it, then never apologised though…

Can you tell I hate Trek?

so everyone else is quite happy with tonnes of plastic bagged dog poop going into landfill?

What do you think happens with the millions of soiled disposable nappies every day…?

There were quite a few ‘freeride’ bikes around, they tended to be upwards of 30lbs, and were fun for an hour or so, but then just felt sluggish once you got tired.

That’s not just the weight though – suspension kinematics and shock technology have moved on so much that a 32lb bike with 160mm of travel doesn’t feel like you’re pedalling through treacle any more.

I have the 13mm and the Roundlock through the Double Doofer. You wouldn’t want to drop it on a frame, I’ll say that much..!

Also

Could 27.5″ wheels be put on a bike designed for 29″?

Not a chance – your BB will be way too low and you’ll be visiting Pedal Strike Central constantly. In fact, a lot of people think BBs are too low regardless, but crank lengths are getting shorter to compensate as no-one under 6′ needs 175mm cranks off-road anyway.

Modern bikes are waaaay more capable than old stuff used to be, at the expense of immediacy of steering (read: uncontrollable twitchiness). A current model trail bike is capable of most stuff a DH bike from the mid-00s was, with the added bonus of being able to ride it uphill as well.

27.5″ wheels appeared (they’re actually closer to 27″ in reality) because designers hadn’t really figured out the geometry of 29ers properly – now that most 29ers come with shorter offset forks, better balanced geometry, etc, the traditionally perceived downsides have mostly been mitigated.

It’s not just the flywheel effect that makes 29ers faster – the angle at which a larger diameter wheel impacts upon obstructions is shallower so it’s marginally less likely to get hung up, and so on.

We can talk about the theories being this endlessly in all honesty, but (and I know we keep saying it, and it’s difficult to do so with lockdown, etc) you really need to go and try some modern bikes out to see what you like the feel of. I have a sneaking suspicion that you might actually just be better off finding a used version of your old Stumpy and just buying that.. 👍

As for ‘durability’; aren’t the CEN tests way in excess of what is necessary for a bike frame for the vast majority of riders?

Maybe, but everything still has to pass it regardless..

I think if you’re wanting LBS backup, then the brands you’re looking at for XC FS bikes will be limited to:
Giant
Specialized
Trek
Scott
Cube

None of which will do their short travel bikes in anything other than 29er – and there’s a reason for that.

I forgot about the Giant Anthem as well; in fact, I think that might well be your best starting point given how well-regarded they are for the type of riding you want to do.

Standover on my large is about 760mm, measured vertically in line with the saddle tip. Scaling down I can’t see the small being much less than 680mm but I’ll measure it when it arrives.

44 with 23 years left on the mortgage..

Retirement..!? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Part of the reason that bikes have gotten heavier is that they’re a lot more durable now than they used to be, and have to be to pass the requisite CEN testing. Once you’re actually out on the trails, 25lbs vs. 27lbs isn’t actually a huge difference, and anecdotal evidence shows that a little more weight and solidity actually contributes to a more stable ride.

Have a look at the Canyon Lux CF, Trek Top Fuel, Orbea OIZ, Scott Spark RC for starters.

From your comments and descriptions, I’d say you’d actually want to steer clear of anything with more than 120mm travel tbh. Compared to your old bike you’ll think it’s heavy, slack, ponderous and slow. Something along the lines of the Specialized Epic Evo, as suggested, will be much more your thing.

@stevextc – some of your attitudes and opinions of and towards violence on this thread are very worrying, I have to say. As in, needing-professional-help level of worrying.

You say that violence needs to be normalised because it’s the only language some people understand. Did you stop to think why that might be? It’s because people like you, a generation before, taught them that violence was the only option. All it does is push it on down the line.

To be honest, I don’t know why I’m bothering – you genuinely don’t want to understand the issue and won’t take on board that there might be a better path out of this than “might is right”. Isn’t it about time we tried to be better?

Be able to let you know in two weeks when my OH gets hers.. 😁

@onecheshirecat – good spec there 👍 thanks!

Should be fine – chain inner dimension hasn’t changed.

I’d be really interested to see a full spec for that, as dropping 2kg off the total weight is pretty impressive.. 🤔

The Boardman is so far above the Raleigh it’s not even a fair fight..! Good find, I’m sure you’ll love it 👍

Mine arrived the other day – very pleased with it. Bone stock, straight out of the box it weighs 11.47kg without pedals, or 25.29lbs in old money. Will be swapping the tyres for lighter ones, and the SX Eagle kit for GX 11sp before it turns a wheel.

I hate the MIPS wobble – have a Specialized Ambush Comp with MIPS and its fine.

@molgrips, yes, that!

I’m not surprised women are scared if we’re teaching them that every man is a potential rapist.

That’s the beauty of populist media driven policy.
You can ignore every actual fact except for likes and clicks.

FFS, how are we still not getting this..!?

Women are not scared because of the media – women are scared/cautious/fed up because of their actual direct experiences of being harassed, groped, intimidated, threatened, etc. by men.

Those of us who are not women, we DO NOT get to tell women how they feel about it. That’s part of the root of the problem – men assuming that they know better that the people who actually experience this behaviour. Just like white people don’t get to tell BAME people how they feel about racism.

We do not get to say “but statistics”.
We do not get to say “but violence against men as well”.

What we do is we listen, and we try to understand, and we do what is asked of us. It might feel uncomfortable to feel that we are not doing things right, but damn it, it’s less uncomfortable than what women have had to tolerate since forever.

“It’s like a situation where one person has been beating another with a stick for years. The person with the stick is afraid that if they stop the beating and drop the stick, the other person will pick it up and beat them back. But the beaten person just wants the beating to stop.”

Bird Zero: AM 27.5 or 29er

I’ve actually found a pair in the spares box in the garage but they’re missing the M5 T25 socket cap bolt that fixes the shifter to the clamp – a trip to the LBS at some point might be in order..

On One:
Scandal – Alloy 65deg SRAM GX 130mm £1399
Big Dog – Steel 65deg SRAM GX 130mm £1399
Bootzipper – Steel 70deg SRAM SX rigid £899
PX Jack Flash – Alloy 65deg SRAM SX 130mm £799

All 29er, all showing as in stock. If you want something sooner than later it’s a good starting place.

Whippet – Carbon 69.5deg SRAM SX rigid £999

29er, in stock from 26th March. Mine arrived yesterday and it looks great – OH ordered hers last week and has an allocated build date of the 27th.

Any bike where the cable routing has obviously been designed purely for running the rear brake on the right, meaning that to run it on the left results in awkward-looking hose loops. PUT YOU BRAKES ON THE CORRECT DAMN SIDE AND DESIGN IT THAT WAY!

Along with the cycling analogy, I think this explains it pretty well..

On one Whippet

This. Full carbon rigid XC 29er for a grand. Add suspension fork of your choice if required.

Mine hopefully arrives tomorrow – can’t wait!

This might help explain how it aligns and connects?

Torq for me, never had any gastrointestinal issues with it.,

Would something like this help?

I was going to post almost an identical adaptor…
https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/2229-blister/switched-13a-adaptor-3-way/dp/PL09501

To those who have the black – is it a matte or gloss finish?

eBay, wait for a £1 Final Value Fee offer, and offer shipping @ £45 – I think you’d be unlucky to get less than £900 for that in the current climate, maybe over £1k.

Why is it that you think the Sonder is 650b? It’s 700c, in case that sways you?

“700 x 50mm or 650b x 2.1 tyre clearance”

I’d be going for the Camino personally; in fact, that’s what I was going for before I decided to get an O-O Whippet..

I recently shipped a full bike that I sold on eBay.

Went to Halfords and begged a full-size bike box plus fork spacer, disc protector, frame foam, etc – just said it was to ship a Voodoo, but tbh they were happy to give the packing away as it saves them from disposing of it.

Chain on largest sprocket, front wheel off and cable tied to frame, bars off (remove stem faceplate) and cable tied to frame, folded card in disc calipers, foam wrapped over everything.

Used Paisley Freight as everyone else was ridiculous prices with insurance, or wouldn’t insure at all. £42 inc. VAT and £500 of insurance cover.

I know it might be a bit trite, but I’m going with my other half..

Her father died when she was 6 months old; her stepfather ended up having to have a restraining order as he became obsessed with her to the point she had to have a police escort to school, the situation causing her to leave with virtually no qualifications; one of her half brothers died at 10 from cancer, the other was born with Hirschsprung’s and took his own life five years after his younger brother died; she suffered several years at the hands of an abusive ex.

And yet has come through all of this and, through sheer hard graft, has just been made Head Of Technical Communications for a global automotive engineering firm. I could literally not be prouder of her. Tbh, also proud of her mum for still going on with life after all of the above as well. They are both an inspiration to me.