I have a Scandal albeit in 29er flavour. I know what On-One describe it as their wheels-on-the-ground-racy-frame but it seems perfectly capable as a more all-round frame.

Have their been any frame failures?

I suspect Pikes on a Scandal will be great fun 🙂

because its " the best trail entre bike ever"

But mine isn't a "proper" 4X bike (Blur 4X)

Time Z Freeride

or

Time Z Control

I am with PP on this one. If you don't like living in England, move. You have 26 other countries in the European Union to move to tomorrow as long as you have a passport. No hoops to jump through. Just pack you bags and go.

England is not perfect and I have thought about living elsewhere too but I suspect I would trade one set of compromises for another.

Anyway, you take most of your problems with you.

I think you could have fitted a larger TV in that room!

The bike will probably be great fun. I had a set of 115mm Rebas (QR) on a Trek 9.8. It was a rocket.

Easy to remove – open computer case, probably undo a couple of clips (should be obvious) and unplug the cable(s). To attach it to a laptop you will need a USB external hard drive case – you need to make sure it is the same type as the hard drive you remove e.g. SATA. It will say on the hard drive. Should only cost you a tenner for the case from ebay etc.

I run my Blur 4X as a "trail" bike although in reality I don't think the Blur 4X is a "proper" 4X bike. It is definitely on the short side for all-day rides but I have spent 5 or 6 hrs on it without too many problems. If I were doing more than that I would just stick a slightly longer stem on and live with the compromise. The Blur 4X has a steep seat tube so seated climbing is fine. The only thing I want to add is an adjustable seat post because to make sense of the bike on the fun bits and the downs I tend to have the saddle quite low and it is a pain in the @rse stopping to lift it up to a more appropriate height for climbing.

Looks great. Very tastefully colour-coordinated!

I was there two weeks ago. Massive site but it has a few more "tucked away" areas which are quieter than the "fields" which resemble a music festival. You can heard some (reasonably distant) traffic noise from the A35 and I did notice a few planes landing/taking off from Bournemouth airport. But Mudeford beaches are only 15-20 mins away (rather than the 5 mins they claim!) and you are right in the New Forest. I didn't do any riding there so I can't comment on that.

Avon beach (nr Mudeford Quay) is nice with decent coffee place/cafe/shop (plus a life guard if you/kids fancy a dip!)

So the On-One hubs are DMR Revolvers? Good to know.

Mines not a slot drop out and is a 29er but what the hell…

In completely standard form.

I find just watching that scary.

Great stoppie at the first hairpin!

Is it designed to be run like that or should it be full-length outer? if the former, that is pretty crap.

I can't see any reason not to go to full length outer though, apart from having to resort to zip ties to secure it.

I'd put gears and Rebas on the Scandal and buy a Swift for SS rigid fun.

Or if money is no object, build a bike up around a Niner Sir9 – never ridden one but they look lovely 🙂

why has he changed his marketing strategy, he used to have that corner of the market sewn up!!

LOL

Gore Ride-On. I have had one set for at least 3 if not 4 years.

I would suggest looking for windproof rather than waterproof gloves. Very few gloves are actually waterproof and those that are (or claim to be) tend to be pretty hot/sweaty and so no good for this time of year. Actually I second domino above and would just use normal gloves but if it is cold and wet I do pull out an old pair of Gill gloves that have leather palms but a windproof neoprene backs. They are great but unfortunately don't make them any more.

I also have some Endura Full Monty gloves. Definitely not waterproof but almost completely windproof on the backs. They might suit you.

Not had any experience with fitting BB's to Inbred but this is one of the jobs I hate. For some reason I find it far too easy to cross-thread, fit them the wrong way round etc!

So Ardents work OK as a front tyre then Sam? I have only tried one (2.25") on the rear so far.

Racing Ralph 2.4". Amazingly good all-rounders albeit at a price.

I've got a Scandal 29er and although I haven't raced on it I would imagine it would be perfect. But then I am a 29er "believer"

Do Santa Cruz do any sort of discount on crash replacement frames? If not there have been a couple of older Blur's (03/04) going on here recently and you could always replace just the front triangle. You could even get the replacement powder-coated and restickered.

Personally I would just ride it though.

Depending on how "noob", Penhydd should be fine for a start (I agree about missing out "froggy corner or whatever its called"). If the OP is keen for some more, I would have thought Whites is perfectly do-able. I have only done it once but don't remember anything too scary or requiring particular techical ability.

Road House (great film but even I have to admit it is "a bit" cheesy)

To be fair, that particular bit of pavement isn't ideal for cycling down (and I am far from goody-goody-two-shoes about pavements, traffic lights etc). It is quite steep downhill, narrow and well used by pedestrians.

That said, I would much sooner have the police doing some proper policing.

Ugly but functional. Used to have one. Happy to have an inline one now 🙂

Used shims loads. Never had a problem.

I had something similar after replacing a chain and it turned out to be the chain jumping on the cassette. The cassette didn't look worn but after I changed it the jumping had gone.

I used to have bar ends on a Race Face carbon bar with metal inserts. They were fine until I crashed quite heavily and the bar end pinched in to the carbon fibre. Excluding crashing, they were fine though!

If you don't fancy Winstanleys, Wiggle do Hope Hoops with DT rims (4.2 or 5.1) for ~£225 (less if you can get hold of one Wiggle voucher per wheel)

If you have particularly long fingers, Endura Full Monty's are good. The padding isn't too obtrusive either.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Endura_Full_Monty_Long_Finger_Gloves/5360019023/

I do find the thumbs a tiny bit short on mine though but I do have odd shaped hands (full fingered gloves are always the wrong shape for me)

Bit of inner tube attached in each corner with a zip tie. Took all of about 10 minutes to do. Works pretty well too.

I am not sure the primary factor in road bike sizing is inside leg measurement tbh but if the bike is only for the odd pootle with the family I guess sizing doesn't really matter too much

Hard to say, for example it depends on the length of the top tube of the bike in question. There are various "fit calculators" online that do a reasonable job of sizing you up for a frame e.g.

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO&INTRO_LINK=NOREDIR&CLEAR_RESULTS=TRUE

So how are the future Ragley ones different in shape to Midges? It appears as if the flat sections in the drops are less flared – is this correct?

I wanted a set of those Esigrips but they are just too expensive when you factor in shipping from the US ($18 from memory!) Good to hear you like them – are the fat versions as fat or fatter than Oury's?

Basic advice but make sure the bead is sitting in the centre of the rim, not seated against the edge of the rim.

Tip to tip is 685mm

Excellent. While we are at it, expected weight?

And is the forward sweep section longer to counter the extra backward sweep from being wider (than you-know-what bars) ie you won't need a longer stem to compensate

Something new coming.

What width Brant?

Thanks Drac