Another “yes”

£800

To me, without a warranty, it wouldn’t be worth any more. As a reference point, six months ago, old stock (2008) 5-Spots were being sold off at £800 via an “agent” straight from the UK distributor.

If you can stretch your budget, Singletrack gave its “Recommendation” to the Gore Oxygen SO – it is meant to be less thermal than most softshells and so more versatile. On sale here (£90): http://www.primera-bournemouth.co.uk/Template.aspx?prodID=4526

I am trying to resist the temptation to buy one

Washing my “waterproof” shorts with normal detergent definitely made them un-waterproof. Fixed with Nikwax though.

Sugoi Firewall 220 got a good review in Singletrack

Reduced to £65 here: http://www.cyclesurgery.com/1027621/Sugoi-Firewall-220-Bike-Jacket.html

You probably need new bushes to get rid of the play. I had a nightmare getting hold of any in the UK but you just need to ask the time distributor

I’ve not ridden the Tracer or 5 but have ridden the Edison and its slightly more XC brother, the Golden Willow. Both are great bikes. The adjustable geometry works brilliantly IMO and make them a lot more versatile than most bikes. it you are going to race XC I would definitely go for the Golden Willow though – a bit lighter and more XC oriented than the Edison. Both with go uphill and downhill brilliantly courtesy of the 7 degrees of adjustment of headangle you get. Test one out before you decide on anything – if you can’t find a test bike near you (where are you?) Roger, the distributor, will sort you out.

I have no connection by the way, just impressed after a few days of test riding

What is the difference between this and the other Ventana FS 29er, other than the extra pipework?

Looks good, by the way. I am sorely tempted by a 29er FS, if funds allowed

I like a wallpaper off the old STW site

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=56230499&noresize=1

LOL at Scruff’s photos

I use a NN as a front tyre in all conditions on all surfaces. As long as you have at least 30psi in it I have found it pretty good. As already said, it rolls quickly and I haven’t had it wash out on me yet. It might not be so good for heavier (I am 80kg) or more aggressive riders though. I would say they are worth trying – you can always sell them on if you don’t get on with them as they are generally popular enough to offload through the Classifieds.

PS Under 30psi it is a bloody menance (tubed) as the sidewalls collapse. I have some nice scars to prove it

I agree. I can’t believe anyone spends £700+ on a set of forks. When I needed longer, 20mm axle forks I went for a set of 2nd hand Pikes (about 6 months ago). Cost me £250 and I thought that was a lot! I’d ride rigid forks rather than spend £700 on suspension (well, actually I’d find something 2nd hand or get one of those forks off Merlin above)

I am 6’3″ and I find I have a bigger-than-average stack of headset spacers under my stem. I also use high-rise bars on my “toy” bike:

I haven’t had mine long but love it. I got mine brought over by Jungle from the US – apparently the last Large they had so I didn’t get to chose the colour. Hearing-aid beige, I mean “Sand”, wouldn’t have been my first choice but hey…

Taken at The Wall at Afan – the bike was awesome there.

When I was investigating buying mine someone on here, I forget who (sorry!), mentioned that you had to be “on your game” to enjoy riding it and that it would “punish you” if you weren’t. I am still not 100% sure what he meant but I have found it awesome fun when riding it flat-out but a bit hard work if I am not. Of course the obvious solution is to ride flat out everywhere! I don’t do all-day-rides but if I did I am not sure this would be the bike for the job. But for a day’s blasting round a trail centre or similar is it great. Oh, and I ride it at 140mm everywhere.

My build is Pike Airs, mostly XT groupset, Deus crankset, DT5.1s on Pro IIs, Thomson post and stem, MonkeyLite bars and MG-1 pedals. On my inaccurate bathroom scales it was just over 29.6 lbs

I am 6’3″ so to me it feels like a little toy rather than a long downhill bike, which is exactly what I wanted (the Large still has a seat tube of less than 18″ and a horizontal top tube of 23.5″)

Swiftacular – some similar feedback from acjim just now here: http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/strong-short-travel-frame

I’ve had 2.25″ on my “normal” hardtail (ie 26″ wheels) and currently have 2.4″ on my rigid 29er. Both have been fine. They are sufficiently fast rolling that you shoudn’t have any issues with a 2.25″ and not so wide as you should have chainstay clearance issues unless you frame is very tight for tyre clearance.

I’ve never had a squeaky Thomson post (only had 3 mind you) but I’ve had a few squeaky saddles.

Regarding the egg-shaped chainring – can anyone confirm if this is a result of the fabled “chain growth” with VPPs? In fact, I will start another topic (as this is hijacking the OP)

It seemed very straight-forward when I did it. I used a hole-punch to make holes in the inner tube to pass zip ties through – the holes are pretty big but I hoped they would resist splitting. In reality I suspect this isn’t an issue and anyway it is cheap and easy to redo. Other than that, hold the inner tube up against your forks, cut and zip tie

In a low gear over bumps I find it feels like I have egg-shaped chain rings or something. I have put it down to chain growth with the VPP set up but I have no idea really! But the four-bar frames and others I have tried (non VPP) didn’t exhibit this “feature”

Swiftacular – oops I mis-read your post.

I would love a 4x wonder how it would work with the wotans?

I don’t find mine too slacked out at all with Pikes (517mm axle-to-crown) so I would have thought Wotans (540mm axle-to-crown) would be fine. The slacker the better 😉 And you could always wind them down a touch if it steered like a barge, which I doubt it would.

I_Ache, didn’t you have a Blur 4x before? The funny thing about them is that someone else told me “you have to be on your game” with a Blut 4x. At the time I didn’t understand what they meant, but I do now (ie you have got to ride it at ten tenths, otherwise it just feels a bit…hard work. May be that is the slack head angle, who knows…)

Looks good.

It isn’t a 4X, by the way e.g. it hasn’t got the extra gusset-thing:

Yep. I use an old seatpost and a hammer.

jfeb – thank you. you have just saved me replacing the cv joint on my passat…. [:D] Cheers,

You’re welcome 🙂

If the abs sensor is broken the ABS light comes on and stays on.

Smee – No one mentioned the abs sensor. We were talking about the abs ring, which may or may not have caused the OP’s brake pedal judder.

Christ – do you people know nothing about driving…..

LOL. Just read what is being posted better.

Racing Ralphs are surprisingly grippy and as fast-rolling as you would expect (I use 2.4″)

FSA – Orbit XL II is all you need and will set you back only £30-ish

The ABS ring is what the ABS sensor uses to determine if the wheel has locked. Have a look at this link: http://www.reluctorrings.com/symptoms.php

I have never changed one but have heard it isn’t too bad a DIY job apart from the fact they are delicate and easy to break when replacing.

neverfastenuff – your garage should know what it is 😉

Altura Attack Extreme just got a “Singletrack Recommendation”. The material (React) is apparently similar in technology and efficacy to eVent but more robust.

You can get it for around £100 so a bit more than your budget eg HERE

Otherwise the Pace eVent or dhb eVent jackets are the cheapest but are still £100

neverfastenuff – A broken ABS ring can cause the effect you described.

You braked too hard for the conditions, the ABS kicked in. That’s what it does

– classic know-it-all STW stuff

Edited to add:

Symptoms of a broken ABS ring HERE

is ABS a standard safety device

No it’s not. It varies from car to car. It is entirely possible that the ABS on your car cuts in more readily than on others. In reality I suspect most mainstream cars have similarly sensitive ABS.

my brother has a 320d Tourer. Nice car. Boot is not that large though – certainly I would expect to have to fold the rear seats down to get a bike in the back. The 320d seems like a great comprimise of performance and economy.

Not sure about Newicks. White Spirit leaves a residue behind so isn’t ideal for cleanin g disks. Not sure about surgical spirits. Isopropyl alcohol is what your really want or, failing that, Meths.

Thanks guys. I will investigate a leaky caliper – joy.

hhahahahahahaha 3 psi……You guys kill me sometimes.

5psi is the difference between the sidewall of a NN on the front collapsing under cornering and chucking you over the bars and gripping perfectly (25psi vs 30psi) – I speak from repeated painful experience. I imagine 3 psi is noticable in some circumstances.

50% of the trails are boggy, I would say. all still rideable just a bit slower and a bit harder work than “usual”

You can get more alcohol per pound than White Lightning! Why did no one tell me sooner!

On the “pro suspension” side, if funds allowed I would get suspension forks for my rigid bike (but would keep the rigids just for a change now and then)

I have a rigid 29er which I really like (in addition to my FS). The main thing that annoys me though is having to pull over on rooty, bumpy downhills to set the “bigger boys” past on their full-sussers 😉

Virgin + recorder is larger capacity (or was when I got mine a year ago). On Demand is awesome. If you want Sky Sports it is cheaper to get SKY, although you can add it on to Virgin + too. Virgin + has only 1 HD channel (BBC HD). Virgin Broadband is generally better (speed and customer service) than SKY.

It normally closes at 7pm but as already said, you can park across the road. Oh, and if it closes after you are in, you can still get out!