I have a big head and found it difficult to get helmets to fit properly so I endorse trying them on before you buy, but the Specialized tactic I eventually bought in large fits really well and is very comfortable

I believe that the lifetime warranty is for the original owner- not transferable- hence the need for a recipt. Having used Trek's warranty (same company as GF)three times for the same frame I can say that they were very helpful but they did require a copy of the recipt EACH time the LBS claimed on my behalf.

Did you pay by credit/debit card? if so you could use that as proof of purchase?

I would do but all three of the carbon frames I have had broke….

I have Elixir R's on my Trek with 180mm rotors. They are very good- fantastic bite, good modulation and very powerful overall. Certainly compared to the XTR brakes ( 180mm front rotor) on my Litespeed they are more powerful yet similar modulation. I have not had any issues with fade. A friend has CR's on his Gary Fisher Rosco and he completed the Passporte Du Soleil plus two other full days in the alps with no problems at all- he has uprated to 203mm disks each end which may help with fade?

I am 6 2" and have a 20" 2008 Five Pro. Suits me perfectly, found the 18" just a bit cramped- but I do have a long back and arms. Went for the Talas upgrade and have never regretted it. I also use the lockout fairly regularly. Also had Hope headset, Thomson seat post/fizik Gobi, Thomson stem and Monkeylite bars upgrades all for £50 ( inc. Talas) above list. Dealers often do have deals available I think

Ay Ups

I have Elixir R's on my Trek with 8" rotors. They are very good- fantastic bite, good modulation and very powerful overall. Certainly compared to the XTR brakes ( 8" front rotor) on my Litespeed they are more powerful yet similar modulation. I have ridden a Lapierre Zesty with formula Oro brakes- and I preferred the feel of the Avids, although they were very good. I Have had the Trek for 6 months, still on the original pads, no other issues. The guy with the Lapierre has had the bike for four months with no issues and he has used it a lot, including Mayhem and the Passportes du Soleil

I had the same issue when I had frame fractures(3) in space of 8 months- Trek warranty dept. were extremely good and very fair with warranty for replacement frame(s) but I stripped frame each time and rebuilt myself to avoid charges. The first frame was 18 months old- perhaps at 6 months they might help with rebuild costs? £60 seems about the going rate for the job. I should say that they were carbon Top Fuel frames not alloy EX

I am 6'2" and have the 19.5. It has a very long effective top tube and so I changed the 100mm stem for an 80mm and it now fits me perfectly – very pleased with the bike overall

Yes they do, when I had a problem with a part for one of their lights that a mate of mine had lost when I lent it to him (I had asked them to let me know how much these parts were) they sent replacements FOC by return , all communication done by e-mails returned almost immediately. Fantastic service

I can speak from personal experience about the problems/advantages of carbon frames. As I have posted before, I have had three carbon frames, all of them failed, all at stress points where elements were bonded together. None of them failed catastrophically- I noticed a crack in the paint on the first two and the third stared creaking (I was paranoid by then and discoverd another crack just below the rear suspension pivot point on the seat tube hidden by the rocker arm). The frames themeselves were fantatsic to ride when in one piece- stiff in the right places, flexible in other directions to give a smooth ride. I believe I was unlucky as I know of two other people with Giant carbon full suspension frames that have lasted four years with a large number of “incidents” between them and one of these has to carry quite a lot of weight..
However I now won’t buy another carbon frame – and none of my mates will let me any where near theirs!

Thomson £50 on Merlin. I have two and I like them a lot

The one on my Orange 5 had to be sent back to Mojo under warranty as it developed a fault after six months- first 3-5mm of travel seemed to lose pressure and damping, then ramped up to ‘normal’ for the rest of its travel. This made the suspension clunk in a similar way to a loose pivot bush. No issues with the warranty, LBS took it in on a Saturday morning early and I had it back on the bike by Wednesday afternoon- full marks all round. Incidentally the rebuilt shock seems much better than it ever was before – smoother though travel etc, so it may have been slightly faulty right from the start?

As I said, the trail is flat, wide ( 20′ + at that point), we were all well to the right as they would have seen it and the way they went behind us was onto what is effectively a 10′ wide firetrack/made up path so another foot to one side would have been safer. We are careful not to get in the way if we can avoid it- either to other bikers or the numerous walkers who were also out on the same path that evening. I just thought it unnecessary and actually a bit rude. We saw them coming from a long way off and presumably they saw us so they could have asked us to move if they thought we were in the way?

I have an A4 Avant – great car in most respects, and has proved quiet, relaxing to drive and very economical-its a diesel. Servicing and spares are eyewateringly expensive if you go to an Audi dealership, but most can be serviced at your local Skoda or Seat garage at lower labour rates if still in warranty(I wouldn’t take a quattro there though…) and there are plenty of non-franchise specalists about.
Practical downsides? has less room in the back than my mates Skoda Fabia estate, certanly a lot less than a Focus estate, have to take the front wheel off my Orange 5 to get it in the back.
The above comments apply to last model (04-07) the new one has more room in back as it is nearly a foot longer

What do you mean by ‘quite soon after they were available’? You need to get them in the post within a couple of days I think…We received e-mail confirmation on the Wednesday after entries opened (e.g. 3 days later), cheque cashed 13th March. Other mates got their confirmation either the same day or the Thursday.

We realised fairly soon,looked at the map and route card ,saw there were some interestingish bits ahead and then finally took a short cut to rejoin the 50k route when we decided mates on the 50k route might be waiting too long back at the school. It was a nice day to be out on a bike… Did just over 70km in the end

A garmin is only as good as the operator- I speak from personal experience. I thought it was playing up and followed the flock at one point- it was right and I wasn’t….Baaaaa. Still I enjoyed the extra 12 miles that this lapse provided for me….

Is if from an Orange? (guessing from the name!). Mine failed on a seven month old Orange 5 – replaced with Hope S/S and my LBS claimed the difference in price back from Orange and Race Face. Took a few weeks but got some money back under warranty. Now very happy- with the RF I had to take the seat post out and drain water out after every wet ride or wash ( no pressure washers, just a garden hose) and it still seized solid, now there is never any water in the seat tube.

There have been some other threads about this recently- I amd 6’2″ and I find a 20″ fine- others prefer an 18″ – I just found it a bit too cramped

Blue ( well, I like it…)

use an allen key and turn the adjusting screw on each side all the way in the “-” direction until it won’t go any further

What do you want to use it for? I think my Five is great for the mixed riding that I do- slightly harder work than some up the hills but very reassuring downhill.

I had a problem with incorrect pedals sent- matter was sorted very quickly with very good communications(although haven’t had the postage back as agreed yet but I did only send stuff on Wednesday!)I’d use them again

I’d second the Orange grips – I have now bought two extra pairs for my other bikes and they make a huge difference

I amd 6’2″ with about the same inside leg as you – I have a 20″ and it is great for me. Tried an 18″ as a demo and whilst it rode really well I felt a bit cramped and was advised by the dealer to go for the 20″ and I have no regrets at all. Whichever you buy you’ll have a blast.

I weigh 85Kg, 6’2″, what I mean by XC is cycling on the local trails which vary from fireroad style tracks to quite rough/rocky sections including small drops. The speedisc wheels are the OE for my Orange 5 – WTB ‘All mountain 20-559/537 ERD’, the Race Lites are disk only with DT swiss hubs. What I wanted to know really was whether anyone knew the diference in the weights of the rim ( and therefore the inertia) and if the DT swiss hubs are as durable as the Hopes

Last: cable end cap
Next: 80mm stem – Bontrager?

a) 3
b) A few
c) 1 – peak detached when having first off mentioned in a) which cut my nose a bit
d) 0%

I agree it is about risk assessment- I personally assess that it is extremely risky not to wear a helmet (well, barking actually)- just like it is very risky to go off road on your own. Therefore I wear a helmet and when I see someone else off road on their own especially at nght or without a helmet I think ‘what a silly billy’ (or words to that effect), acknowlege that they are far braver than me and just hope they get back in one piece. But if they wish to do that’s fair enough, although I have a paramedic cousin who would argue and does, often, very strongly that it is very selfish to do so considering a bad potentally preventable accident can affect people other than yourself

I came off and managed to hit the side of my head on the only rock for 50m last year. The crack was loud enough for my mates 100m away ( yes as usual I was at the back of the pack) to get very worried. The side of the helmet just above my left temple was scored but not broken, the foam was crushed and partially split. I am convinced that if I had not worn the helmet I would have been very seriously hurt. None of us ever go out without helmets. On a related matter, I only ever buy Specialized helmets as they have a higher penetration protection standard than most- Snell B-90A. They may not be as good looking or efficient or trendy as other makes, but again I was sure glad I had one on that day.

the fox manuals suggest approx 95psi for the fork, the pressure in the RP2 depends on the bikes geometry- I have an RP23 on an Orange 5 at the same weight as you and it needs 210psi, but the same shock on a Trek EX needs ‘only’ 160psi

YGM

what size are you after? I have a 19″ Giant XTC team in mint condition if you were interested.

I ordered a pair of Shimano M540 pedals from the 500 sale- no problem I thought , excellent communications explaining they had been sent – arrived today a left M540 and a right M520!!- Website is currently showing out of stock on the M540’s….

I bought a 09 reba from merlin at 100mm and asked my LBS to look into upping to 120mm (reasons too complicated to explain now) and they said no it wasn’t possible- the forks came with spacers but only to reduce to 80mm and the damper unit wasn’t long enough – perhaps as they were OEM?

just make sure that you are at the front of any group so that your falls provide entertainment for everyone else. It’s no fun to fall without an audience…I speak from personal experience. The best one I had whilst learning SPD technique involved sliding on my back head first down a grassy slope still clipped in with the bike in the air. This was fun until I hit the gorse bush. Much amusement for the guy behind.

I would just like to say that my dealings with Trek over frame warranty issues have, after a small misunderstanding to start with which led to a delay sorted eventually by my LBS and dealing with Colin direct, been excellent- we have ended up with a solution that I am very satisfied with = one happy customer in the end

If it is just the bite valve, I take mine off after each use and put in the cutlery basket in the dishwasher and it comes out fresh every time. I dry the bladder each time using the new drying kit that holds it upside down which allows any water in the tube to run out( provided that you remember to open the valve). Had the system 18 months and no black stuff anywhere

I only have the stealth (sorry, not what you asked for I know!) but I find it fine – seems to take quite a range of temperatures without being too warm. Whilst I have been OK so far, three out of the five people I ride with who have the stealth have had to have them replaced under warranty due to seam failure, one of them twice…. Up till now Endura have been very good about replacing them without question but the last one was a struggle it was only when his LBS stepped in that it was replaced.