It looks quite polished to be a prototype to me – carbon and painted? No doubt it’s a Santa Cruz with that rear triangle though. Also has the single sided chain-stay.
Very interesting, surprising if they do totally change the suspension like that – pretty much all the current range they have is based from the Nomad.
Looks like a new Fox shock too?

Done it a fair few times this winter, last was when it was raining heavily at the start of March. Was good fun. Some big ruts but plan ahead and you’ll be reet.

Also there’s a fair sized hole on the final section, the bit after the corner, so watch out for that it could swallow a wheel pretty easily, keep right I think..

Usually solo rides or uplifts so never really take pictures.

Fort William Slalom – absolutely glorious weekend!

Ard Moors, another cracking weekend.

Was a belter. Tyres are shot, double puncture and the pads are worn to the metal but wasn’t heading home early on such a nice evening!

Used the Premier Inn each time we’ve gone. Never had a problem, first time we went it was small but they’ve added extra rooms on as BPW brought so many people in – as said above they are fine with bikes in the rooms.

Yes. Built up my hard-tail for similar reasons, was trashing the full-sus riding through winter slop. Ended up riding it way more than I thought I would do, couldn’t be without one now.
It’s just as fun locally as the bouncer – don’t get me wrong I love my full-sus, it is faster and it goes with me when I’m riding ‘bigger’ or unknown terrain, but my hard-tail has a proper bit of character and never fails to make me grin!

Looks great, enjoy it.

I got a dispatch email yesterday evening, with royal mail tracking link. Cheers for the heads up OP.

Sorry, it’s on instead of a Monarch Plus.
Haven’t used a none-piggy back shock on this bike so not sure, can’t be much different though? On the whole it’s pretty similar to the Monarch plus, nicer initial and better at repeated hits, though I haven’t had long on it to be fair – few trails and one uplift at Revs, but I like it so far.

Well I went for two, seem to be respected so worth a go. Order two and it’s free postage, rude not too.

Are they any good? All the reviews I’ve found just say ‘good all round tyre’.
Anyone care to expand?

I have a Kage, was an experiment on my Nomad – got it pretty cheap on Pinkbike so stuck it on instead of my Monarch plus.
It’s pretty good, similar to the monarch in ways, but nice and sensitive, the initial stroke is really nice in comparison. Not put a huge amount of miles on it yet, but got the spring weight sorted – 550lbs (had to buy this from Jenson USA) and I run the compression quite far so it pedals pretty well too.
I like how it’s very much fit and forget.
I would go for it if your bike suspension lends itself to coil.

That said, if you’re a tinkerer the Float X2 looks to be the one.

You need to go read up on some English history

Hopefully Ivar and The Great Heathen Army make for a good story

I know, it was said in jest. Looking forward to the next series for sure.

Yeah really enjoy Black Sails. Production has seriously bumped up for this series. Not quite sure how the last episode is going to go.
I like how it’s got real historical pirates in it.
Hell on Wheels is pretty good, though it did lose it’s way towards the end I think. Is Frontier on Netflix worth a watch? I still haven’t watched Deadwood either.
Vikings is great, echo the above that it sort of dragged on but it looks to be gearing up for the next series – The Vikings surely in line to get a kicking soon??
Oh and, Lagertha all the way.

You can ride to Setmurthy Woods from Cockermouth and push/pedal up for a selection of DH tracks. Not too severe and fun on an enduro bike (when I last visited a couple of years ago).

Heard good things about this place, one of the sections on the next ‘Slice of Pie’ was filmed there.. I believe..

I like that. Like the idea of a jump bike just not sure if I would get the use out of it. Hope it serves you well & good luck!

I use this offering from Decathlon.
I have a bottle on the cage and fit spares into it. Pump, x2 tubes, levers, small box with quicklinks, multitool, leatherman, my phone in the side pocket and a waterproof in the other side mesh pocket.
Seems to stay put but you do need to do it quite tight. I’ve used it throughout winter and it’s been great, will probably have to go back to my hydration backpack for longer rides this summer which is annoying!
For £9.99 it’s a good shout.

Recommend what you own. Pace RC127[/url]

Really love mine. I give it some hammer. I think it can run 150mm, I run 140, but has a 31.6 post.

Oh right, I might be ok then. I might be getting it confused with Shimano mineral oil.. the RS stuff is like a watery red/brown?

Just a lower leg clean/new fluid doesn’t take long, 30 minutes depends how clean the legs are..

Think I’m going to do mine soon, out of interest how often do you guys change the seals? Any tell tale signs to look for to see if the seals need changing? Also, is it worth buying the Rockshox grease or tf tuned equivalent?

That P7 looks great and is a decent price for sure, have they even changed the frame for 2017? I notice this too which is a pretty good buy with a reverb.

My previous SLX and current Zees suffer a lot from wandering bite point, I’ve re-bled them countless times now. When they work they are good though. My 10+ year old Hope M4s, having been rebuilt by Hope, are so much more consistent and every bit as strong. That’s where my money would be going.

Vikings, Black Sails and Fortitude too, if it’s on there.

It depends what trails you’re riding at the uplift venues?
You will want more than 130mm travel to do the bigger trails at Antur, Revo & BPW. I’ve seen people on hardtails on the blacks and ridden my hardtail at Antur on the red&blues but it’s not great and wear/failure of components is going to be higher not to mention wear on yourself!
If you’re sticking to the blues/reds then look at lower travel.

Looks great. Though a bit biased owning a stealth hardtail myself.
Looks like a (lot) longer & slacker version of my Pace.

Quick thread hijack.. apologies.
I have some 0w30 oil from last summer, the colour has totally gone from it, it’s like a weak red/brown rather than the vivid bright red it was new.. is this safe to use or am I best getting a new bottle?

I have a Lezyne Macro duo which I got with an MBUK subscription.
It’s really good. Seems to last on the first mode (enduro?) though I agree it isn’t the brightest, 400 lumen max.
It’s been durable for me, had it 2 years now and still going strong. If they upped the lumens I would get another no doubt.

Could be pressure..
I had intermittent oil light issue on my diesel Fiesta, the pick up pipe to the turbo was blocking with sludge from the sump (don’t get me started) it trashed the turbo in the end, replaced and cleaned the pick up lines and all was good. It was the 1.6 tdci engine; I imagine yours is the 2.0l?

I’ve been riding with this “Hip-Bag” from Decathlon this winter.
I have a bottle on the frame and manage to fit a surprising amount into this.. (x2 tubes, pump, chain tool, multi tool, leatherman, and a little box of spares) including my phone and usually a rolled up waterproof in each of the side pockets.
It stays put, the straps need to be up fairly tight and I tend to wear it a bit higher on my waist. I haven’t tried any others so not sure what to compare it to, but I’m pretty chuffed for £9.99

I never got my 10spd shifting right with a 11-42 Sunrace 10spd, was going to buy a new mech but then prices are so close now that I just went full 11speed (sram nx mech & shifter, sunrace 11-40 cassette)
It’s a lot better shifting wise, as the prices are so close I would just go 11 speed.
Don’t bother with the NX shifter though, seems a bit suspect to me..

Local loop over the moors to some newly discovered trails. Proper slippy after some heavy rain Saturday evening.
My Shimano brakes with the wandering bite point made for interesting riding – has anyone successfully resolved this issue?

You will get used to it. Sometimes I feel like this but head down and focus on your riding and it’ll go.
Seen some awesome nature scenes at dusk/night, half a dozen deer drinking from streams, owls catching things etc

Had this on my Pikes, sent back and replaced under warranty. Something about bushings.. bit weird but I got a new set of forks in the end.

I had this on a rear tyre, warped the tread. Sent back to Maxxis via place I purchased it from and they replaced it. Was only a few rides old.

My original pair lasted a month or so, was replaced by Tenns directly. That pair then lasted another month. Cheap but not really good enough. I suspect on the road or in less muddy areas (can you tell me where these are?) they will last longer.

Madison Addicts, the proper waterproof ones, are far superior but then do cost more..

DMR Vaults are terrible. They are too thin.

Rather odd. Done a full year on my vaults and they are still spinning freely. Not just luck as a lot of friends have them and no complaints either. Wouldn’t hesitate to buy again!

Sorry to hear.
Our Lab is 12 and her legs were going, ended up getting some medicine from the vets. She has it every morning and changed her completely. She’s still going strong – definitely worth exploring that option if you haven’t already.

Apparently I do not qualify for this promotion :(
Guess someone used it? If anyone else has one spare give me a shout.

Saints are pretty poor. Small and the ball bearings are a pain to change.
DMR Vaults or Burgtec Penthouse Flats. Ran Vaults for most of the year and got some Burgtecs for Christmas which feel great too.

Up until recently I only had the Nomad which does everything you require. I’ve ridden all the uplift venues you listed and more and it was faultless and super fun. I’ve since got a hardtail though, so use that more locally and when the weather is utterly crap. But the Nomad is pretty damn good at everything. The BB seems pretty low to me though so I would demo if you can, or maybe just learn to time your pedal strokes. Be careful second hand though as the bearings seem to be pretty dear for the Nomad, though it’s free bearings for life if you’re the original owner. You can also grease them regularly which will extend life.
If you’re near the North West or ride North Wales you’d be welcome to a pedal on mine, it’s a large.

Ride your bike. Do more uplifts. Worked for me.