Just for context, the two large shops I worked in, 5k mountain bikes represented a tiny fraction of overall sales. I hope there are boutique stores out there who do well from that sort of thing, but I don’t know of any.

An average shop might sell 5 bikes like that, per year if they are lucky. Never at full price. The more boutique or exclusive the brand, generally, the shittier the margins are. If we assume most shops will carry 3 main mtb brands, and those brands might have 3 main models, and you’ve got 3 sizes…..there’s 27 potential options for a demo bike to buy. Or, they have a 1 in 27 chance of buying in the correct demo bike for you. And if anyone so much as bimbles down a gravel path on that bike it’ll be worth little more than cost price.

Just be careful not to snap the lever off the RWS, as it’s easily done.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I had a woman on a demo day argue for half an hour that she shouldn’t have to give any details at all, much less credit card details before we allowed her 15 year old son to demo a £4995 Spicy 916 for free.

She then pissed off with her friend for four hours leaving her son alone. I had to take the bike off him after watching him fail to wheelie for half an hour. We ended up taking pity on him and giving him some sandwiches as his mum neglected to leave him any food. In fairness she was a fat ignorant **** rag and not everyone is so obstinate or stupid, but that might give you some idea of just how much of a frustrating waste of time demos can be.

Another punter who was present on the same day ended up buying a previous year model of one of the bikes he demo’d which was on sale online.

Demos are an expensive, time consuming, resource draining process for most lbs’ and regardless of what “you” might be like, most people who demo bikes just want to rag around on someone elses new bike so they can tell their mates how crap the latest (insert brand) is.

A bike can only ride as good as it’s frame geometry allows and most of them have been pretty woeful. Any I’ve ridden felt too high and too short, rode much like a Lapierre to me. Nothing special, quite terrible in some instances.

Of course that’s totally subjective, my opinion might be different if I’d accidentally spent £5000 on one. Finish on some of the frames I sold was nothing to write home about either.

The new Nomad looks to be on the money geometry wise though.

The feel of the bike is secondary to how fast it is for him as a racer/team manager.

Retrodirect

For racing! This!

One problem though is that 90% of bikes claim to be the best and the fastest, and that seems to be what sells them, irrespective of whether that’s what people actually want. Or think they want.

If there was a bit more openeness or clarity, ie a company said “this bike won’t win races but it’s fun and comfortable” or indeed “this bike will win races but it’s a pig otherwise” then there might be a chance for more daring design.

Perhaps it’s a symptom of a young sport/industry where we haven’t yet got much maturity in terms of branding. Every manufacturer seems to be trying to sell every customer a super car, when perhaps a lot of people need a cruiser.

Northwind
Mitch Gruffalo’s crashed one in a downhill race a couple of times, do we have to spell it out for you?

Yeah go on.

Superficial

The Enduro 29er is the most successful Enduro race bike; it’s extremely fast and ca

In what way is it the most successful Enduro race bike?

alanf – Member

Brooks Cascadia are a hybrid trail/road shoe.
They are comfy and offer good grip off-road while not being uncomfortable on road

I had a pair of these. Hands down the best “all round” trainer I’ve ever owned.

Put some sealant in. It’s silly not to.

freeagent – Member

Are you –

A – a Sex worker
B – a South American Gang Member
C – doing a long Stretch inside

If you answered yes to any of the above – get a Tat on your hand.

Times change, and I think your list needs updating. Allow me

Are You –

A – a Hairdresser
B – a Barista
C – a Sandwich Artist
D – a Supervisor in a Supermarket….
E – a Male model
F – etc etc
then get a hand tatoo.

beaconjon

would a pair of Crossride’s be much of an upgrade?

No. Pretty much a downgrade.

It looks like a mk1 nissan navara, circa 98/99.

I see what you did there.

Would it not be much cheaper just to get a narrow / wide chainring?

*edit. I dunno why I phrased that as a question. It would be much cheaper to just get a nw chain ring.

freeridenick
They also climb much better at 150mm

How so?

So it’s decided then, most enduro (#endurosohotrightnow) are pretty fugly, everyone’s got a difference of opinion, most people just like their own bikes and everyone else is wrong. Right?

Dave

Rene Wildhaber?

I meant, wouldn’t need subtitles for an American audience, so basically anyone who isn’t American.

I suppose they had to focus on him as he’s ‘Murican, and sponsored by Redbull. All the other top guys who don’t need subtitles are sponsored by Monster.

Try it. Tubes inflated outside the tyre go up to huge sizes so I’d say it’s possible.

scotroutes
Folk in Scotland have infants too.

I know for a fact that the Scotch spring up from holes in the ground, fully formed, complete with beard, kilt and surly demeanour. I saw it in a documentary once.

rene59

Your kids will survive the midgies, we have kids in Scotland too. They can run about all day, midgies are easy to outrun.

I don’t think a two year old and a one year old are going to up to much running. Hence the question.

trail_rat
lucky for me – they dont bother me so long as someone else is near by….

I am that other guy. Whenever I’m out somewhere and midges or flies are about I get eaten, other folk get ignored.

qwerty

I see that a few companies (Orange, Singular…) don’t offer a small (15″) option, but do in 650b. Where as people like Niner do.

Is it more correct to spec frame size along with wheel size for shorties (a bit like cranks?)

Niner don’t offer a small 650b option because being exclusively 29er is their USP. More and more companies do seem to be stopping production of small and xs 29ers in favour of 650b. I suppose it makes sense, taller rider, higher centre of gravity, bigger wheels, more stability and more bb drop to lower the cog. Smaller rider, not such an issue.

Personally I’ve never been a fan of 29ers. I found that the hard things which I want to master in mountain biking, cornering, pumping, drops, jumps etc are made more difficult and less fun by 29ers. And the easy things, rolling over roots and holes, are made a bit easier. They’re certainly not for everyone.

Thanks for the replies guys. Would I be right in saying that near rivers and lakes might be a bad idea for accommodation too?

jonm81

1. Did any of you feel like this and did things improve? or,

I wouldn’t say I felt the same, I certainly wouldn’t have put it in terms like that, but I can empathize with where you are coming from. I think as a man, you can feel like an outsider in the whole process. During all the scans and appointments we went for with our two I think only one midwife spoke to me or even acknowledged my presence.

Then you have the birth, which feels like you’re in a scene from a vietnam film. And then the baby is just clamped onto your wife and you’re probably hopelessly inexperienced with babies and intimidated or worried by the responsibility. It’s a massively emotional, stressful and difficult thing to take on board.

GrahamS

Lights help too of course, if it is anything other than a bright summers day.

Even on a bright summers day….lights.

As for high vis, that puke yellow does tend to blend in quite well around twighlight. It becomes a kind of muddy orange, like a lot of other colours. Reflective on the other hand, would be the way to go.

This piece of shit.

Snapped in half after about 6 weeks. In a way I was glad though as it was dire. Partly my fault though as I knew it wasn’t right for me but got suckered in by the looks.

guystabler – Member

Bit of a thread hijack but how breathable is the jacket?

Pretty breathable. You do feel a bit clammy in it if your sweating for a few hours, but it’s by no means the worst out there.

The big hiking/climbing clothing makers have more breathable offerings albeit a bit more expensive.

reubena
Hi
I’m wanting to build a DH rig a cheap one but with rockshox boxxers and shimano Saint
Any frame/wheels/other bits suggestions please!

I’d recommend getting as close to a full bike if you can. If you already have boxxers then that means you can find a frame with, say Domains for example, take them off and move them on.

You should be able to pick up something relatively cheap. The likes of Nukeproof Scalps and Yt tues complete bikes have been doing the rounds for a few years now and weren’t pricey to begin with. If it’s for racing or “proper dh” you should avoid the likes of old freeride frames as they will have geometry that’s less useful for dh than many modern 160mm bikes.

Good cycle-specific stuff has a long tail to cover your arse, has reflective detailing, and is designed to sit well with your arms stretched out for the bars.

GrahamS

But if I am buying a buying a jacket specifically to use when I am cycling, then why would I not buy a cycle-specific jacket?

I don’t really understand the objection to be honest.

Good hiking/climbing/fell running jackets have longer sleeves for climbing, same as cycle specific jackets. They’re cut for mobility, have pit zips, helmet compatible hoods, quite often have high vis detailing…the only thing they lack is a drop tail, which, when you really think about your body position on the bike and how many times you’ve come back from a ride with a muddy shuck, isn’t really that important.

I’ve had my share of premium cycle specific jackets and I’ve come to the conclusion they are over priced and under performing compared to jackets from the likes of Montane, Mountain Equipment, Rab, Arcteryx etc.

BigDummy
Vulpine are a bit pricey but “normal looking”.

Swvre is again expensive but a proper jacket-jacket.

£250 for a wax jacket to wear on the bike? Is this a London thing or what?

You could spend £150 on a great lightweight shell jacket to put over your regular clothes on your way to the art gallery/coffee shop / coolest gig.

Madness. He’d get more for deliberately running over a cyclist.

I used Royal Minus for commuting last year and they were okay. I really don’t like any padding to my gloves at all on the mtb though so only used them in sub zero temps off road.

Reasonably durable for a Royal product too. I found them to be water proof enough for my needs but like most things, if you’re doing any sort of activity your own sweat becomes as much an issue as anything else. If you’re out in a deluge you might want to consider something like the castelli deluvio.

I have two pairs of the sealskinz grippers linked above and yeah, they are water proof but horribly sweaty.

thursdayshirts

Think I’m just a tight git, Looks like I’m going to have to shell out for some decent compound tyres

Super Tacky HR

Is £20 really that much to spend on a tyre? I mean, you’ve wasted your money by buying those Contis. Buy cheap, buy twice as they say. Considering it’s the only part of your bike that touches the ground it’s probably worth spending a tiny bit more on.

charliemort – Member

What is DTD?

Love the way people on here expect you to be able to decipher acronymns!

I presume it means day to day. As in, “Day to day I like to argue with similarly pedantic keyboard ninjas about the relative frugality, or lack thereof, of boring cars”. :-)

thursdayshirts
I was hoping someone had found a magic tyre for much cheapness that was awesome on roots or at least had experience of the baron vs an other tyre in those conditions

Try and pick up a super tacky maxxis. They aren’t far off Black Chilli despite what the price tag says.

It’s a good tyre but I don’t fancy running one front and rear unless you regularly trudge through deep mud for long, long loooong periods. Something like a maxxis beaver on the rear would compliment it well.

hora

Technique?

deviant

You’re not going to find this magical tyre.

bigjim

does anything really grip wet roots? wet rock yes, but slimy wet roots?

Technique is important but in fairness to the OP those tyres are shocking. Awful, terrible pieces of cheap nasty shite. I tried them briefly on a friends bike, he insisted just so I could see how bad they were as he was complaining about them all day, and narrowly avoiding crashing.

For context, this guy has multiple race wins and a few national titles under his belt in XC and DH has podium’ed at several Enduros.

Power hose it good. She’ll soon be clicking again.