I went to John Lewis fully intending to buy the XM5 model a month or so ago, I listened to both extensively (currys and John Lewis usually have them on demo)

They do sound different. I preferred the XM4 sound, this had nothing to do with them being cheaper. If they were both the same price I’d still have gone for the XM4 model

I had this dilemma about 6 months back. Ended up with a Trek procaliber XC bike, very fast. Only time a gravel bike would be quicker is top end speed on the road.

I felt the drop bars and lack of suspension would he too limiting and uncomfortable for me personally.

But depends what your background is and what you like riding.

However I do still see the appeal so hsve recently picked up a decathlon RC500 and plan to fit some 35mm tyres on that for mild gravel 🙂

I’m sure they sold a cheap ish gravel bike also.

They have released the AM bike since this article which is a carbon version, with very similar specs.

I have an aeris 9, I really like it. Built up with a coil, Zebs, ex511s and hope V4s. Light it isn’t, but when you point it down it’s mega

It does pedal very well, but not what you’d call ‘spritely’. I had a jeffsy before, and getting up and ‘sprinting’ was enjoyable and rewarding, that isn’t the case with the aeris.

But some of that is likely down to my choice of parts and build spec.

I have a galaxy M51.

It’s great, battery does 2 days 😁 7000mah capacity

I’d probably just be looking whatever was local and second hand lightly used, with a decent spec.

You’ll get much more for your money.

I have a Thule XT 2 bike rack I’ll be selling.

Not sure I’m allowed to mention it on here?

Been used a couple of times but I’ve changed cars so using a roof rack now (can’t fit tow ball to new car!)

If you can get the bike to invisiframe, they’ll make up a kit and install it for free
Then they can then stock the kit and sell it to others.

Dropping my bike in soon for them to do as they dont have a kit available!

Mine was dispatched yesterday and now arriving today according to APC tracking.

Bird did call yesterday and update me, said that the 180mm Linkage parts are delayed (no huge issue for me, but I had one on order for possible future use)

So hopefully bike be here this afternoon.

I’ve gone for XL at 6ft4, 34″ leg. Demoed at tweedlove last year and rode a few other bikes since then went back and ordered one of these!

Excited for it now

@Shackleton (unsure if tagged correctly, but with reference to above question!)

I went for a RS super deluxe ultimate coil.
assume because the new model has recently been released with the hydraulic bottom out adjuster they still had old stock to clear.
I emailed to specify I’d like the most recent shock fitted which they agreed to, they did explain it may cost a touch more though.

I ordered an Aeris 9, 10th March.
Been radio silence since until chasing them.

I did ask them to get hold of a 2023 shock, which they said would be 15th May – Fine I thought. I didn’t want a 2021 shock fitted on a new 2023 bike which is all the website offered for coils.

Called Friday 19th May as heard nothing from them since they took payment back in March – shock had arrived with them and bike was allagedly 4th in line to be built, told it would be built and arrive by the following Tuesday (23rd) and if not Wednesday(24th).

Nothing further heard, those days pass and I call again on 25th.. Told its 4th in build queue (not sure why still same position) and due to bank holiday it will arrive Tuesday or Wednesday (30 or 31st).

Those days rolled around and again zero comms, and no bike. Not a single update has been received without nagging them for it – you’d think after saying it’ll be two days then it wasn’t they could at least drop a brief email explaining a delay.

Called again 1st June (third time), explained I’d called twice above and that I just wanted an honest answer on when my bike will be available. Not just ‘Oh itll be two days’ and a repeat dissapointment again.
I was told the owner (Ben?) is away, they are super busy and are trying to get a fleet built for Glencoe (I assume demo or hire bikes?).
He confirmed my bike was still waiting to be built and he’ll print the order now and get it into the build queue, I then got an email confirming ‘my bird is nearly ready’ and should be 3-5 days further.

My experience has been rubbish, I’m not sure how they’ve won the awards they’ve won for Customer service. Maybe when they were smaller and had a better customer focus, seems things have changed.

I paid very early to get it in the build queue, and that was now 3months ago. it was ‘pre order for may delivery’

If I don’t see a bike by Friday I’ll be cancelling. It’s been a shambles and the fact they seem to be trying to churn out a demo fleet before the bike I ordered and paid for 3 months ago leaves me a touch peeved.

Rant over!

YT jeffsy.
Top spec ones are 160mm front and rear
Still pedal pretty well with the right tyres and suspension set up.

Never seen the knock block cause frame damage – and trek sell thousands of bikes with the system installed.
I suspect they’ve probably done a fair bit of testing on it and stress analysis!

I use Altras for running.
Zero drop and wide toe box but they still have a proper supportive sole.

Would recommend them

Wrap some sandpaper around it between the strap and filter, gives it extra grip and usually works for me. Might crush it a bit before giving way but usually come undone

Or screwdriver through side but careful not to hit the fitting it screws onto

Wouldn’t surprise me if they haven’t upped the spec.
Bikes are just expensive currently….
That’s not a Norco specific thing unfortunately!

I don’t read it as a guaranteed 30%, they value the trade in bike.

They have a price table with ranges here;
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/services-advice/bike-trade-in-pricing-tables.html

Or is this a different deal you are talking about?

I quite like some of the Evil bikes and also Forbidden.

But in reality once you hit a certain price point/spec level they become much of a muchness and most bikes are very very good these days!

I really like the look of these.
We have CX5 and its been great, I’m sure these will be much the same just a big step up in every way.
That inline 6 will be lovely and bet they don’t half shift.

Not sure what lexus offer as an alternative, imagine they do something similar but maybe different price point.

In my experience the Japanese stuff is much better than any of the German stuff for reliability and ownership experience.

Swift sport.
We have a ZC31 which is a fun little car, the newer ones look awesome.
Budget dependant really !

Not sure you can rule out the whole of Europe because of a few narrow minded idiots as per above post links…

With regards to the tyres you’ve listed I’d imagine it’d be negligible, we ran some all terrains on a hiace as the RWD set up would get stuck on a wet field.
Biggest completing was slightly extra noise, but the van was very noisy anyway!

Salaey sacrifice you don’t need to claim any relief, pension payments are ‘sacrificed from your salary’ before tax. So you don’t pay tax on the contributions.

Relief at source is when pension payments are taken after tax, pension company will then claim 20% and you’ll have to claim the remaining 20% relief by phoning HMRC and telling them what you are contributing. They will then adjust your tax code.

Also companies only have to base the % contribution upto a maximum of circa 44k, another sneaky way they end up paying less!

Why anyone thinks people having savings for retirement isn’t a good thing seems crazy to me. It’s a disaster we are heading for.
People need to work out how little they will actually have to live on from contributing the minimum amounts- it’s not a lot at all. Or alternatively work until they are 85

Stick a rack on the CRV, it’s gonna be nicer to drive and more reliable than any van.
We had a LWB HiAce and it got annoying driving it everywhere, so have a CX5 which is great.
More reliable, more comfy, quieter, more economical, rack on the back for bikes and massive boot for bike gear and kit.
Money saved we just book a hotel/B+B rather than sleeping in a cold damp van. 😁

I gave up in the end. Messaged them directly and they were no help.
Absolute black do an oval but was slow postage and quite Dear.
New bike arriving may, I’ll just put up with the knackered chainring on it for now. It’s just annoying listening to it grumble along!

E13 stuff has been dire, most of its had issues and been slow to fix or get spares! Will be avoiding at all costs in future!

Mazda every time.
Avoids the premium pricing of the German product, which will likely be less reliable but they have somehow maintained badge appeal and a cushy interior which draws people in.

Those mazdas 2.0 petrols are pretty bullet proof and will be a good car.

To be fair – if a company approached me wanting advice for £10k a day, I’d likely engage with it also.
Have they broken any laws here?
Or just people don’t like them earning extra money and the whole anti political agenda playing into it?

I have a procaliber 9.7 and really like it.
Use it for gravel/bridleways/XC loops and general exploring.
I weighed up the options available and the extras you get on the 9.7 made sense for the price increase, but I guess it still is a £500+ jump.

What didn’t you like about the whippet?
Stock build is a bit meh. But lighter wheels and fork upgrade makes them much better.

We have a Mazda CX5 petrol
Does low 40s MPG, Comfy, lots of rooms for gear/bikes/stuff.
Known to be pretty reliable.

Yeah, we could have got a mazda estate. They have the same MPG figures and same CO2 emissions (give or take 1 G/Km). They aren’t as plentiful to find for sale second hand – and if you are anti SUV but buying brand new vehicles then you need to rethink your stance on how environmental that really is.

We also like the increased height for view, ground clearance and loading/unloading.

Could we get away with a 25yr old 1.0 petrol yaris? Yeah, probably. Along with 90% of other journeys and people could, even chucking it into a garage for every issue it would still work out cheaper than depreciation on a new supermini eco box.
But people like nice shiny new things, so reality is we aren’t all running around in reliable old cars. Consumerism innit.

Realistically I have a 25yr old CB500 I commute on, but I could do that on a 125 which would be more eco/planet saving. But the 500 is a nicer thing to be on, and I’m happy with that compromise.

It’s all down to personal preference, and all this nonsense about banning them/penalising them somehow is ridiculous, in my opinion.

Jeez.
Giant customer service/support just seems absolutely bottom tier, this along with the last thread where they were stipulating silly rules to keep the warranty valid.

Good luck resolving it OP.

Also to add – https://m.pinkbike.com/news/yt-unveils-capra-and-decoy-mx-uncaged-9-models.html

Current capra is threaded BB anyway

I’ve dealt with the UK guys for warranty.
They were slow back for a cassette claim back I had back in 2021 but that was a parts shortage so they couldn’t physically get it. Otherwise I’ve found them good. They answer the phone quick and reply to emails swiftly now.

They’ve always been helpful with any tech questions also.

They’ve usually got good stock of bike specific spares (rear axle recently which they sent over night, wasn’t warranty though).

My jeffsy is PF BB. 2019 model but same as current frame.
It’s a doddle to change, takes the same time as unthreading one. Never made a single creak or noise.
Eats through bearings due to 30mm crank spindle, but that’s not a fault of PF more the silly standard.
Wouldn’t let it put you off 🙂

That might be my next bike sorted. Some very good deals with that…

I’m 6ft3/6ft4. Roughly 95kg. Currently on a XXL, Wouldn’t want any bigger. The capra I rode was XL and didn’t feel too small.

It’s not that the jeffsy can’t ‘handle it’. It’s that having ridden the bird and capra, they are more enjoyable and seemed to suit the riding I’m doing more. I’m thinking a mega may be similar but in stock (Birds availability is lacking) and not quite so spendy vs a capra.

Maybe it’s a mix of parts spec, geo, wheel size and the resulting package in the jeffsy.

Yes, with some new brakes (the guides aren’t that great, and the DPX2 has never felt great for how ive used it) and a coil it’d probably be better, but that’s towards a grand I could just put towards a more purpose built replacement which I think makes more sense. Also at XXL the jeffsy is significantly more ‘flexy’ then the straight enduro offerings. I also don’t like the E13 cranks as it eats bottom brackets with the 30mm spindle. So another desired upgrade.

I’m kinda set on replacing it as you can tell…

Ah okay my mistake on pricing.
They’ve jumped up then, just before Christmas I picked one up for my partener with Rockshox 35 and GX for 999. Shows how up and down the pricing is.

Swapped the 35 for a Reba RL straight away, the 35s are okay but unnecessarily chunky and made to a price, quite heavy also. They aren’t really a XC fork as such.

They are a great deal at a grand.
Unheard of to get anything else for close to that money with a GX groupset.
Especially with suspension fork (albeit only a rockshox 35, bit weighty).

However, it isn’t any sort of special deal… they are regularly at that price.
Its just the smoke and mirrors pricing strategy they use.

Bronze ones all gone now, they are the best colour also!

Large in stock for same price also

It’s always been claimed its underfunded, can’t help but feel however much money is thrown at it it’ll never be enough.
It just seems a mismanaged broken system really?

As good as it can be in a lot of scenarios.

Anything more bedfordshire direction?
(Sorry for slight hijack)

No idea what the bike is or what it’s used for.
But you’ll knock a bit off your top end speed obviously with the smaller chainring.