My son and I rode all the blues and reds we could find. Definitely worth looking at Trailforks to extend the official loops. We took the climbs easy and he most enjoyed the red descent via Carl’s Lane, Spooky Wood, Pie Run etc — a great variety of trails, all still in pretty good condition. The new Twitcher red is already knackered and not so much fun.

We stayed at the Riders Retreat at the bottom of the hill. Nice room, good food, bike wash and storage, and super convenient. Also great advice from Murray.

Glentress is well worth the drive from London and Gypsy Glen is definitely on our list for next time.

Thanks so much for these pointers everyone. Very useful!

Definitely thinking of taking him down Carla’s Lane and Truong as an intro to off-piste. Not sure where Skullduggery is though?

Anybody bought one yet?
Was thinking of a Sonder Signal Ti but it is out of stock.
Fireline looks decent apart from no dropper option and tyres.

I’ve had my Codeine since May. Full build from Planet X. Stock seat was horrible. Changed grips for Superstar ones with orange caps to match the logo. Made a real difference to the overall look.

Ride:
Codeine is now my only bike and it does great for local XC as well as the steeper stuff in Surrey Hills, Alps and Scotland that I bought it for. Overall, according to Strava, I ride everything faster than on my old Trek Fuel EX and Blue Pig. Also it’s surefooted, soaks up the rough and is quiet, especially compared to the Trek. Best of all it gets me down stuff I’d never have tried before, and makes things that once frightened me into fun.

I do find that, if I’m not riding well, not aggressive, not looking far enough ahead, the big wheels don’t like really sharp corners. But even on 26ers I’ve always found tight twisty stuff and switchbacks tricky. And if I’m riding well it’s all good on the Codeine.

Reliability:
A very wet, muddy trip to the Alps in July took its toll.
Running the tyres tubeless at about 25psi I managed to dent a rim. Bent it back, moved up to 40psi and no problems since. Ideally, I’d prefer softer tyres though.
Also, after the Alps the wheel bearings were knackered. Bike wasn’t jet washed. Three months: that’s rubbish!
LBS couldn’t source replacements and said SRAM hub bearings are too small and soft anyway. So, Hope hubs now installed.
Chainset all still good, little wear, shifting not quite as efficient as Shimano but no problems. Not looking forward to replacing 11-speed cassette though.

Overall: an excellent do-it-all bike.

@DeeW
Thanks for the routing advice. Mine’s off to the Alps next week.
A couple of years back in the Alps a friend’s brake hose, which went under the bottom bracket on his Specialized, was severed. Never seemed a sensible place for any cable or hose to me.

Brant: please let us know ASAP about those hangers. Could do with one by Friday to take away…

My full build Codeine came with rear mech cable routed under the bottom bracket, and hanging quite a long way down, too. I want to change this.

Just checked on the Planet X site and the bike there looks like it has more sensible routing. Can anyone post a close up of a better routing?

Also, anyone added a bash guard to the X1 chain set? If so, which?

Anyone who’s gone tubeless on the stock build – what rim tape width did you use on the Pacentis?

Seems to be a Tweed Valley thing with Codeines…

On holiday with the family here this week. Innerleithen Red today was my first proper ride after lots of GT greens and blues with the kids. On Strava, on the Codeine (full build from Planet X), I knocked chunks off my previous personal bests (set on my 26er Trek Fuel EX) on the downs – and uphill, too.
The bike is giving me confidence to hit stuff harder and faster, with amazing control and grip. And despite monster trucking through the rough, it’s playful and agile; easier to get into the air than my Trek, nimble fast and slow, and just a lot of big-grin fun.
Thanks very much Brant and On One.

Guess that settles it.
Thanks.

Brant
What about new pre-orders?
Do they get built 21 days from order date, or 21 days from you receiving the frames?
Thanks.

Those “tubeless friendly” TL28 rims. What does it take to set up UST tyres on them?

Also: I think the spec is 160mm and 180mm rotors. Does that seem a bit small? If you were taking this bike to the alps…

And thanks.

Currently got a Blue Pig and an 08 Trek EX8. So yes, totally different.
Both with 130/140mm forks.
Felt a bit under biked in the Alps on the Trek!

Mmm. Found a few videos of the Hip Line. Looks fun. But I imagine it doesn’t look quite so easy when you’re there.

I am riding the Blue Pig. So far only on speed humped roads, but it should get a better work out tonight.
But I can’t ride the Mmmbop to compare.
Northwind: why do you say the Bop’s better than the Pig?