Well they do three (five if you count EI) versions of the spicy this year, and I think there were 4 last year. You could help people to help you by identifying which models you are most interested in and the prices you can get them for.

As far as I am aware Lapierre lengthened the tt a bit and improved stand over clearance for 2013 along with numerous spec changes. How much value you place on those things is largely up to the individual.

I think (someone correct me if I’m wrong) but for every product you can buy, there is a much more expensive “boutique” version or similar product that costs more because has more brand cache, or has x,y or z. After much deliberation I got a sony smart phone free on a contract, and to me it literally does everything an iphone does – but I’m not paying hundreds for it.

On the flip side of that, I love a bottle of Innis & Gunn, it probably costs three times as much as a can of tesco lager. They do the same job too, but I prefer the more expensive one. My choice.

thisisnotaspoon

If (big if) conventional off road motorbikes were banned from areas like the Peaks, then these would be very popular.

If law makers can ban motor bikes, it wouldn’t be very difficult to ban electrically powered motor bikes. In fact I think it’d be debatable whether they could be allowed anywhere a motorbike would be banned , especially if they aren’t pedal assist.

So if these were popular, and someone came up with a race series for them, they’d cease to be pointless in your eyes?

People race lawn mowers I believe, so no. A race series alone doesn’t validate something. It’s a lot like a segway, or sinclair c5 I think. Just because it exists, doesn’t mean it’s useful or relevant.

svalgis

Replace the 32t with something bigger. Problem solved.

Decreasing ground clearance and putting your chain ring in the firing line.

9-tooth is pretty tight, it’d wear fast and could be pretty inefficient too.

For the amount of time you’d spend in it I doubt wear rate would be a huge concern.

thisisnotaspoon

Not pointless just not a mountainbike.

And that’s what makes it pointless, for mountainbikers at least . If mountain bikes had never been invented this would be great, but they were. A 2k full sus is a fraction of the price, a fraction of the weight, no electrics involved, never needs charged, almost certainly faster downhill and is capable of riding all day long if needs be.

thisisnotaspoon

It’s not more pointless than a CX bike is sitting halfway between a road bike and a XC bike. It’s halfway between a mountainbike and a MX bike.

I disagree, a bicycle with an engine, petrol or electric ceases to be a bicycle, it just becomes a sh*t motorbike. A cx bike is just the job for cx racing or light fast off road riding.

It’s a flawed bicycle, or a flawed motorbike. Anyway you look at it, it’s flawed.

As much as I like 1×10 I am a bit disappointed by XX1. 32 x 11-36 would get you up virtually anything short of the steepest slipperiest climbs, and anything below 32 up front results in spinning out too easily.

The cassette just seems pointlessly big, I’d far rather have seen a 9th at the bottom of the block, anything bigger than 36 at the top just seems silly.

I think Honda have a similar product that’s been around a while. Oh and it’s £1000 cheaper. And goes much faster.

Northwind – Member

Saint shifter is a lot nicer than XTR IMO- doesn’t have that vague “1 shift or two” feeling.

Rear mech for a bike that’s going to see hard use- I’d put XT on it at most, it’s going to get whacked. Saint is tough but expensive. Zee maybe makes most sense.

Cranks- unless you’re massive, don’t go OTT on cranks, there’s fairly few quality cranks that won’t be up for the job and you don’t really need the weight penalty. I ran SLX on my dh bike, no bother.

And yeah, big cassette- very little drawback to it, and if you want to pedal a hefty bike with sticky tyres up a decent size hill you’ll be glad for it.

I would agree with pretty much everything Northwind has said there – Saint shifter feels incredible, and it’s ergonomically far nicer. Then again, it’s heavier and more expensive.

My XT shadow plus rear mech lasted two rides – a fairly innocuous crash wrote it off so I went for zee which appears to be much tougher, metal switch as opposed to plastic etc.

bruders338 – Member

thanks jimjam that does make sense but i wanted to keep with an 1×10 set up can i achieve this with the XTR

Yes you can.

svalgis – Member

XX1 crank, Zee rear mech, XTR shifter and cassette if you can afford it.

I haven’t checked it out but I would presume XX1 would have a strange bcd and probably designed to work with it’s own chain and maybe bb. I can’t see any point to using it unless you have the full xx1 set up, it’ll just make it awkward and expensive to get chain rings for.

I’d be inclined to avoid Saint and E13 downhill cranks on an all mountain build. DH cranks are pretty heavy and overbuilt, yes they last forever and feel nice and stiff, but I think you should save weight everywhere you can within reason to keep the overall weight of these bikes down. SLX, XT and XTR cranks are more than up to the job. I’d go XTR if you can afford it.

As for gear ratios – I would recommend a 34 or 32t ring up front and an 11-34 or 11-36 out the back. Unless you’re a real beast I’d avoid 11-28, and chosing it just for the sake of a ss rear mech makes no sense imo, especially when you have zee, slx, xt, xtr options. If you really wanted to you could fit a zee short cage to say, an xtr rear mech to give you less chance of twisiting it whilst still giving you up to 11-36.

I’m a big fan of 1×10. I’ve had a single ring up front for a long time now, getting on for ten years I think, with the exception of a trail bike I bought last year, which had no iscg tabs so I left it 2×10.

I think having the granny ring improved my endurance a bit, in that I never gave up or got off and pushed any more but it was rattly, irritating and it just felt like cheating so I made a concerted effort stay in the big ring, then I bought a new bike with iscg tabs and went back to 1×10 and I can generally clean every climb.

With regards set up

watsontony

best answer is….. it depends

pretty much sums it up. 36 x 11-34 feels best in my opinion, but can be a bit tight for very steep climbs for extended periods. I think any adult man should have the strength to climb pretty much anything with a 32 x 11-36 set up, but I find it a bit spinny, probably the best overall compromise though. It’s really a question of how long you can sustain your effort for.

I’d go for an 11-34 cassette and play with front chainrings if you need to.

A load of rich toffs complaining because they have to contend with people much richer than they are.

I’ve got a 2002 2.0L na legacy estate. Great car and a worthy replacement for my beloved Hilux. I can get one bike in the back whole, or two sat on their handlebars with the wheels off – room is tight and an impreza wouldn’t have the height for this.

The car feels great, very solid, very predictable and can be driven fairly fast. Mine is LPG too, which makes it a bit cheaper to run, but the lpg lacks a bit of ooomph for proper driving and my set up needs looked at as it can be a bit spluttery on full throttle. As a petrol car it is very very thirsty. I’d imagine single figure MPG might be possible if driven with enthusiasm. Despite that, I’m currently diverting all my mental energy towards figuring out how I can afford a twin turbo gtb.

It could just be your pad and rotor combo juddering. On the other hand it could be fork bushings.

I’ve been switching between my icebraker merino base layer and my various synthetic ones with my Endura Helium. I was slowly starting to think my Altura winter baselayer was better than the merino job until I stuck the merino on again for a 4hour ride in close to zero degrees with a serious windchill.

The icebreaker merino felt warmer very soon into the ride and shortly thereafter I’d forgotten about it. I then wore it on Monday passed – nearly 3 hours in the driving rain, gale force wind, on top of a mountain, miserable conditions. I was wearing my merino icebreaker with an Endura Helium jacket, nothing else up top and my upper body felt pretty much spot on despite being soaked. My lower half with synthetic liner shorts and Endura MT500 spray baggies were soaked, cold and saturated. Freezing in fact. Each to their own.

Drying out time is much better. Stiffness is similar, grip is good but now quite 5 10. I own both and generally grab the vans.

The guy Gareth. What he said was, for the most part pretty true. How he said it – pretty cringe-worthy. He crossed the line when he starts clapping the taxi driver, but seconds earlier the taxi driver almost killed him.

It’s a shame he had such a prominent part as his attitude/persona didn’t come across well and would have been seen by many cyclist haters as indicative of cyclists being arrogant w*nkers. no doubt the programme makers chose him quite deliberately.

The courier race sequence was completely unnecessary and just sensationalism – they could just have easily included a clip of people in modified cars breaking the speed limit on public roads. Tiny minority etc etc

I would question the logic of putting a coil shock in that frame. It’s pretty heavy and a coil shock will add a lot more weight, already pretty duff for pedalling and no matter what damper you put in it,, it’ll never be a dh bike.

I’ve had a DHX air myself a few years ago and I swore blind I’d never have another air can because of it, but that was until I tried the current crop of RP23’s. They are really a fantastic piece of kit and blow previous gen stuff out of the water and better than a lot of older coil shocks too. Worth considering.

As close as you’re gonna get.

Please case some landings and let me know how you get on.

DezB
If you’re a brand-whore, gnore this: Dare2Be. Just as good as the pricey ones.

Just as good as the branded ones apart from all the falling apart they do. Poor fitting, poorly constructed, cheap quality stuff. I have owned two which fell apart.

Definitely consider the Ghost AMR. Trail bike of the year in various test, coming out tops against Trek,Spesh, Giant etc. Have owned one they are awesome.

Is this another tongue-in-cheek bit? Or can I just chalk it up to hyperbole?

Take your chinese light down to your local bike shop and compare it to a maxx-d.

Northwind

If you could go to Decathlon and get a bike for £300 that performs the same or better than many expensive bikes, this’d be a great analogy. You seem to be a bit behind the times though, it’s been a while since the chinese lights were just a low-quality, cheap option.

I think you missed the point of my post, it was tongue in cheek, and more about peoples perception of worth/value etc. Some people will never see the value in something more expensive than what they have. There are plenty of people out there who doubtless believe their Carrera Banshee or similar is as good as a bike many times the price, and while they are okay they simply are not comparable with say, a carbon nomad with full Bos suspension.

There’s no arguing with the fact that chinese lights have made night riding accessible to more people, and they do deliver a lot for the money. But there’s also no arguing that their claimed lumens are grossly inflated, their build quality is shoddy, reliability is seriously suspect, and the chargers have been known to explode.

Compared to an exposure product for example they are inferior in every way except price, just horrible tat I’m afraid and nowhere near as powerful for quoted lumens. Some people don’t mind paying for a quality product that is a joy to use, lasts, has great warranty and after sales support even if does cost a bit more.

How the hell are brands that make expensive mountain bikes still in business? I can get a double expension mountainbike from Decathlon for £300.

If I worked at Santa Cruz, Turner or Ibis I’d be sh*tting myself.

How about some 2012 TLD moto from crc at £55.99?

I haven’t seen the group test you are referring to but I am assuming 880 grams was for a UST trye?

I’m sure you realise 880 grams isn’t downhill weight for a 26″ tyre much less a 29er. 880 Grams is about the normal weight for a middle of the road 2.25 26″ tyre. I think my single ply 2.5 high roller weighs about that.

Interesting feedback guys. I think I will have to (reluctantly) buy some when payday comes around again. And here was me thinking all I needed was an Endura Helium and some sealskin socks and maybe a few more base layers to get me through winter.

Just one thing to clear up though

brant

I went out in my bodyboarding neoprene gloves on Sunday for an hour on the road bike in the wind and rain.
They were great! Caught my mate up who had some £80 Rapha gloves on and she said she had frozen fingers.

Did you at any stage feel like your fingers/hands were swimming about, or did you lose sensitivity of grip on the bars because of that? It actually says on the description the Castelli ones are not in any way breathable and your hands will sweat, but it’ll be cosy, like a kangaroos pouch.

ads678
I’m using some Endura windproof ones at the moment. Kind of neoprene, and they seem to work pretty well. keep my hand warm and quite dry as well surpringly. Seem pretty well made as well.

Think they might be Endura Dexter or someat.

I know the ones you are talking about as I was also trying those too, but they are completely different, the castelli ones are just pure neoprene it would seem, no other fabric, barely anything other than rubber grippy stuff on the palm, quite different construction from virtually any other bike glove I’ve tried, more like a wet suit glove, but with a much better fit. Might just have to buy them and see.

What do you consider a “heavy monster” or a “downhill weight” 29er tyre?

mikey74

Cheers for the info. How does the Vans sizing compare to the 5-10s?

I take a 9 in my normal shoes, a 9 in vans and a 9 in 5 10s. Pretty normal I’d say.

I am now on my second pair of vans gravels(s?). Anyway, I also own some 5 10 impacts, and a pair of 5 10 Red Baron Freeriders and the vans are usually the shoe I go looking for if they are dry. The grip is comparable to 5 10s, they are much lighter and don’t get as sodden and heavy. They dry out more quickly too, but that can still be a right wee while.

They are stiff enough for pedaling all day in and the build quality is on a par with 5 10. The upper is pretty tough and water proof, though this time of year it’s usually water/muck running down your leg and into your shoe that’s the problem.

They only negatives I would add are that when new, the top of the tongue can rub/annoy the bridge of the foot on extended out of the saddle climbs, and if you ride in areas with heavy clay and are off the bike, the clay can become compacted into the sole, meaning little or no grip. Almost never happens though unless you are digging and riding.

Most boots, approach shoes and trainers are pretty awful on flat pedals especially when compared with 5 10s.

If I had to recommend an approach shoe though my merrel shoes are 3 or more years old and still going strong though having climbed many a mountain, they’ve been all over the world with me. I’m not sure of the model name but they look like moabs.

What type of riding op? XC, DH, something in between? I am currently using a WTB Moto TCS AM. It’s a dual compound spike, fast rolling in the centre with nice soft shoulder spikes.

I’ve not rated WTB tyres in the past, took a punt on these and so far I’ve been amazed. Roll really well, well enough for 4-5 hr rides and all out grip is not far of a wet scream. Fantastic piece of kit.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. My plan was to put whatever phone I get, rugged or not into a case…incase. So I guess it should be tolerable. Anyone using xperia care to comment on the battery life.

hora

My 2700 is in a worse condition than yours!

Pics or it’s not true!

AndyF1
I have the Sony Go smart phone,and it`s been wet and droped,so far so good. However,i would not class it in the same league as your previous phone.

What’s battery life like Andy?

mikewsmith
I have the otterbox defender case. Turns any phone rugged.

Is it drop and crush proof?

Jamie, I looked at the defy but if i recall, all reviews seemed to say it was a bit old hat, is the defy + brand new?

Spudly, a guy at work has one and I think it’s massive.

My Exposure Diablo is on it’s 3rd winter now. No external batteries, no problems, and it’s piddly 900 lumens is strangely much brighter than my several of my friends supposedly 1100/1200/1500 lumen chinese lights.

The current version has 1200 lumens and having seen it, it’s definitely much brighter than mine. £180 might seem like a lot but considering mine has outlived a hope vision 2, vison 4 and several chinese lights it’s not much for hassle free nightriding.

I various cheap alternatives before taking the plunge and I am very glad I did as everything else was just a complete faff.

hora

I ride a 09 Enduro. Front too high/bike still too tall even after 2 offset bushes.

Too tall or too steep? The mega is definitely slacker and lower than an 09 enduro but the front end will sit a bit higher unless you are stilling running those awful spesh forks. However……

hora

Want a longer travel version of my old Blur 4x- sit in/lower

…..it’s not in any way reminiscent of a Blur 4x to me in any way.

There are so many bikes in that class, where would you start?. I’ve ridden a few megas, and most of the other main contenders. If you have any specific queries I might be able to answer.

Nope. You may need fluid in there to seat non UST tyres though, it’s a good idea anyway as it’ll seal small holes that otherwise would cause a flat.