I have ridden mine, with 140mm forks, at FOD on all tracks, chasing friends on more DH type bikes.
To be fair FOD is quite tame by DH standards (IMHO) and better suits a trail bike than full on DH bikes.
Cwmcarn has also been done and stretches the bike a little more.
Not sure it would be much use at UK Bike Part.

A fox volume air spacer reducer works well on DH days, allowing you to soften the shock set up with more ramp up towards the bottom end for big hits. I tend to swap the spacer in and out depending where I ride and what type of riding I am doing (is an easy job).
So far having done some fairly big airs (10ft +), nothing is a problem, but I am only 72kg in riding kit so doubt I am putting that much stress through it.

I have sessioned a hip jump in the Surrey Hills which is fun to land sideways which you can tell flexes everything, frame, wheels, cranks, it all bends, bike has taken this mis-treatment fine and is none the worse for wear. Its like a failed whip, with the cool shape in the air achieved just not the getting back to straight landing!

I keep getting tempted to chop mine in for the Santa Cruz blur TRC wondering if the VVP link would make the bike subject to less pedal induced bob, which the Yeti does suffer a little bit with, also the SC is lighter, but getting the ASR5C solves that dilema.
Hope this helps.
Is my fav. bike I’ve owned so far in life and have ridden a lot of brands and owned a fair few.

Mine feels so low on BB height that whilst have only run with 140mm forks, the amount of pedal strikes makes me think running at 120mm forks would be a nightmare ! ??

Slackens head angle nicely with 140 fork and makes the bike a right ripper.

Tom – hope it all goes well, would be there were it not for having to be at home minding the children while wife away on her 40th piss up weekend. Bummer.

Please post again on stw any future events.

Cheers
James

Real shame, his public persona is very likeable.
Clearly an a-hole in private.
Reminds me of Louis Theroux in getting people to open up and reveal themselves, he did a very good show about Steven Segal where through sheer perservation he managed to get into his home and see what a nut job Segal was.
Has made for difficult reading each news article that updates on his behaviour, what a nasty piece of work.

Had 1st generation Lefy model on an old Canondale carbon 100mm frame (lovely bike). The fork was really plush, but blew through its travel very easily. That said it was a plush single pivot 100mm Xc bike.

I can vividly remember that going no handed, needed bike leant over to right handside, marginally to balance it out.

Did it affect handling, off road, no.
Normally only went no handed on tarmac and then in-balance of bike could be felt.

Think I’ve tried most pedals of the exotic variety.
Canefield Crampons probably rank as the worst ever IMHO. Bearing life was super short, raised axle made itself felt where its higher than the rest of the pedal – but they did look uber cool!

Podium point one’s are a very nice pedal, but again limited bearing life and a total pain to change the bearings, even with Podium’s own tool. Having owned 2 pairs and changed a few bearings, including friends I sold my 2 sets.

Easton flatboys appear to be the longest lasting pedal going, are very heavy, but very nice to use, slightly concave design (which upon reflection seems to be a good detail to ensure any pedal you pick has). My LBS have an old set of flatboys as loan pedals and I think this is a good endorsement of how hardy they are and without need for much TLC.

Penthouse pedals are good/robust in all ways, but again like the Eastons very heavy.

I recently tried Loaded pedals (6 bearings per axle) – crap bearing life.

Nukeproof make good pedals, yet to try the Superstar, but appear to be rip offs/copies of Nukeproof pedals. Would recommend Nukeproof as having pretty good bearings and nice size/shape of pedals.

Currently I am using DMR valuts, having originally started with DMR pedals around 10yrs ago, am dead impressed with them. Main feature is they are big, so if you have big feet or want a pedal you can find again after a jump, they seem a good choice. Decent weight, Bearings so far seem ok (mine are only 2months old). Nice choice of colours. Would say in bad winter conditions the massive platform of this pedal will work wonders for keeping shoes gripped on.

Shoewise – I’ve used Shimano’s flat pedal shoe for years, recently changed to five 10’s and must concede the five 10s are far better at gripping, but do have a firmer sole with slightly less feel.

I have the GF3 and G3 as well.

I now solely use the powered zoom pancake lens – X- its called.

means camera remains pocket size friendly (as it does with 20mm or 14mm pancake). The powered zoom goes from 14-42mm, focuses super quick, have achieved some cracking shots with it. Is only lens I now use, having sold on the others.

Must admit much prefer the G3 camera to the GF3 for whats it worth.

I am quite generous by nature, but would have to describe it as p.poor.

Even my wife commented that the presenters/guests appear to know nothing about bikes (Merx excluded from this comment who was genuinely interesting to listen to).

Commentator is poor to crap (not saying I’d do better) but think just about anyone could.

Piece on the mega some how came across rather flat and missed the obvious buzz that this race must create.

Having tried 2 go’s at this “I’m out”.

Tasso,
I have both lids.
The Xen does have better ventilation, which you can guess just by counting the reduced vents on the Feature, however in use, I feel no hotter wearing the Feature over the Xen, the vents work well and the lid does exactly what its designed to do, offer a lot more coverage. I’d now be concerned going back to a Xen, given the protection isn’t as all encompassing.

I have bought a POC Trebec lid this week and am about to sell a Feature lid thats had minimal use (I have 2 feature lids so I can leave the Exposure Diablo light bracket on one).
Its a medium, in excellent condition, probably only used 6-8 times tops. Its in Titanium icon colour – a sort of ti frame colour – is quite understated and makes the helmet look smaller in this colour.
Would accept £38 including postage if interested.

Please email me:
jamesparsons@halifax.co.uk
if you’d like it.

Bose operate a fixed price repair scheme.
Having just used it for father in law’s Bose lifestyle cinema system cost was about £120 + VAT.
Worked very well, dropped item into local Bose dealer, returned 2 weeks later and working fine.
Appreciate sounddock value means you’ve bought 50% of the dock again with a repair.
iphone5 is about to change the connection jack to a smaller design, so if you use an iphone for music and think you may get the next generation iphone maybe wait until its known how apple intends to allow use of sound docks with the existing jack with their new generation iphone.

I have the Bose sounddock II in our bedroom and remain pretty unimpressed. Is harsh at high volume, lacks true stereo separation, is pretty average, but big money with Bose name on side.
I have a Denon M38 solo in my office plus some monitor audio book shelf speakers and the difference between the 2 is massive. The Denon unit can be picked up quite cheaply, similar money to sound dock then add some speakers and actually enjoy decent sound. The Denon unit has been a whathifi fav. for years.
Hope this helps, all intended constructively.
My sounddock will be the only Bose item I ever buy.

Will be no problem at all.
New shadow+ (with clutch system) mechs worth a consideration as reduce chain slap greatly, so in event of using granny and lower section of rear cassette, controls chain to much greater effect even when mech is at extremes of operation angles.

The £5 charge is well worth paying, without doing so through gritted teeth, the place is well maintained IMO.

There are 2 Xc loops, marked with coloured arrows on trees (either red or blue) the red route is a surprisingly hard work out. Is about 5miles (from memory, visited last month and rode this with a local) with lots of short very steep climbs. Is a very good warm up.

Most fun is had from the dual track and 4x track, suspect a 9yr old would thoroughly enjoy both. Neither are intimadating and all parts of the tracks can be rolled.
There is also a pump track to find, which works well but often has standing water (has been built below ground level so suspect will always suffer with drainage issues).

No north shore remains which use to be a fun part of chicksands, the DH track is pretty mental and beyond me.

Hope this helps.

Sadly, the tool is a must, you can remove all bearings minus the tool, but fitting the smaller ones would be, I’d say, impossible without the tool.
I gave my Podium fitting tool to hei hei on this forum, as he still has the pedals and I am done with them, not wanting this agro again.

Def. liking the vaults, not very bling, but a massive platform that inspires confidence.

Snap.

same experience here.

Great pedal (aside from bearings issue). Have lovely feel, nice and light, really grippy.

But the 3 small bearings on the axle are a chocolate fireguard.
They haven’t really got much of a chance of long term survival, their size means they are weedy.

Swapping them is a right faff, the removal tool, which you could argue is ambitious in being called this, does remove the larger bearing by the collar of the pedal, but the 3 smaller bearings need drifting out with a small flat bladed screwdriver. They tend to get stuck and its a real butchers job removing them. I think I probably got around 6months from the bearings. A Replacement set is about £25 from memory, the fitting tool was £20. After replacing the bearings (in 2 sets of podiums I had on 2 bikes) twice I gave up.

I’ve tried most pedals. Avoid also Canefield crampons, their bearings were worse (if thats possible). Easton flat boys last for ever (heavy thought, like Burgtec penthouse).
Avoid Loaded AMX pedals – bearings didn’t last 3 months (albeit a day at FoD in wet weather doing uplifts probably gave them a lot of abuse).

Currently on DMR vaults, seem really good, very large platform, slightly concave, very grippy. Reasonable weight, bearings seem good so far and much easier to change when they do wear out.

I think the key difference is how you like your suspension to feel.

The 575 is designed to allow you to run a plush set up with a good amount of sag (if you want).
The asr5 can’t really be run that soft/plush, it works best with a set up that leans towards being more firm than plush.

That said the geometry of the asr5 lets you pretty much get away with riding anything (with 140mm forks). I have just used mine for an uplift day at Forest of Dean (albeit Fod is fairly tame as a DH venue), likes air time, handles big drops well, but cruically will then take in a long distance Xc ride happily.

In recent years have had 3 bikes (DH, full suss trail bike and hardtail), the asr5 has made me reduce to 1 bike as really does do everything well.

Hope this helps, am big fan of the asr5 is my first yeti having ridden most brands of bike over the years.

Best piece of kit in recent years IMHO

KS and Reverb both very good.

Bike is easier to ride downhill with saddle out the way.
Moving the post to a half way spot between usual climbing saddle height and full on drop often makes techy single track easier to ride.

Couldn’t live without one now.

Warning – when they go wrong (and it will) this is mighty anoying, often with saddle stuck down.

Rode the uplift Tues of last week – which was within the week that rained solidly.
Other than surface puddles which after a few runs disappeared, it rode surprisingly well. Even Mr Rooty was do-able.
I used Conti Rubber Queens black chilli compound rather than anything more mud specific and was impressed with how well they gripped and coped.
It was a cracking day, MBUK were also there, but not on the uplift.

Don’t let the weather put you off, the tracks are quite hard packed, just a top layer of filth to cut through.

Showers and bike wash on site, so easy to get clean for journey home.

The TRc remains a “what if” bike for me.

If your finding it faster than the ASR5 – it must fly!

My purchase of the Yeti is literally the reverse of yours, was intending to get the TRc, then saw the Yeti and thought, similar angles, geometry, etc and half the price and thought worth a punt.
Have been amazed what I can get away riding on it, jumps/drops probably much more suited to a 6″ travel bike. I run a 140 fork.

My only complaint with the Yeti is climbing, its quick, feels light, but the shock set up seems quite crucial to get right. I have recently got the fox air volume spacer in my air can with very good results.
I suspect the VPP link must prop the TRc up a little when climbing, without needing the shock to be the prop.
Agree the BB of the Yeti is very low and aware TRc is similar. You get use to it and handling is superb as a trade off when being so low.

Please do post again (as remains a consideration for me) after you’ve ridden it more.

Lovely looking bike. What weight is it?

I recently got a Yeti asr5, instead of the Trc having considered both.
Be very interested to hear your observations between the 2, as the Yeti was your previous ride, and to me, they are very similar frames (VPP link aside).

As per Doug, I have the same camera (albeit the GF3 now).
I also use the LowePro 60AW, its a slight squeeze but does work and is well padded. I then put mine inside my camelbak.
Just in passing, I have the new powered zoom lens, which starts off as small as the 20mm or 14mm pancake, but then extends once the power is switched on – is excellent, is their new X-type lens series, really recommended as keeps small dimensions of camera intact.
here is link:
http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/popup/pressrelease/x_lens.html

Is rideable – just IMO.
Going up hill feels like your riding on sand in terms of the resistance. It snowed a bit last night while riding and added about another inch of snow as a result.
Grip is hit and miss, the compacted snow strangely gripped better than the virgin snow.
geetee – omitted to mention the cold snapped his crank clean off!

I have had my ASR5 (alloy) for about 2 months now.
It replaced a turner 5spot dw link (fitted with angleset and CCDB).

My goal for swapping was to achieve a lighter weight and something with less travel, with most of my riding being around the Surrey Hills.

So far, I am deeply impressed with it. I have a second bike (ragley ti hardtail). When I had the choice of riding the turner or ragley, I would more often pick the ragley, since getting the yeti I find thats my first choice, its got some hardtail like vibe going on, with 125mm rear travel and a set up that favours a firm suspension setting (the Yeti 575 is the bike to buy if you prefer plush feeling suspension).

I worried (wrongly) I might break the carbon swingarm, liking my jumps and drops (albeit I only weigh around 72kilos), but so far so good and have ridden a genuine 4-5ft drop to flat (Judges seat for anyone who knows surrey hills)without any breakages.

I use a 140 talas fork, but have never used the reduced travel setting.
The suspension design does bob when pedalling (single pivot design) which took some getting use to, you dont really feel it, but you can look down to the shock and see it moving loads. The turner DW link use to pull the chain taught under pedalling loads, so this does feel quite odd, but the bike climbs technical rooty climbs better as the rear wheel moves more to hung the ground and maintain better traction.

I recently took the bike to chicksands and it turns out to be an excellent 4x bike, manualled brilliantly over the doubles/tripples there and has a nice low BB for good cornering. The bike sits so low (even with 140 forks) that again this prompts a firmer set up with the shock to reduce pedal strikes.

I have 1×10 gearing, crossmax ST wheels, XTR brakes, xtr drivechain, carbon bar, dropper post and it weighs just under 26lbs which seems really good for what the bike can handle.
This is my first yeti frame, have always fancied owning a yeti and am well impressed. Sorry to waffle, hope comments are helpful.

Don’t forget a chain device is needed, I use the E13 XCX, but believe super star do a cheepy rip off for a fraction of the cost which MBUK recently said was very good.
The new XTR rear mech with the clutch system would be another option, albeit a costly solution for not dropping the chain.
I think you always want the lowest 1st gear, regardless of climbing talent. I use a 1×10 set up on both my bikes. Each have a front 32t chainring and a rear cassette with a 36t 1st gear. This tends to be fine 99% of the time. A light bike helps, anything under 26lbs seems to favour single chain ring, anything heavier and you start to miss the granny gear.
Go for it, I have used 1×9 set up for years, well before it was trendy and means you spend more time riding, rather than changing gears.

I have just acquired a ASR-5 (ali frame).
Its replaced a Turner 5spot DW link.
Wanted something with shorter travel and a bit lighter. I ride the Surrey Hills mainly.
This bike does seem spot on.
I originally fudged the suspension set up. I had a CCDB on my turner and set the bike up plush.
The ASR has a very low BB and the design expects the shock to be set up reasonably firm, the shock tune on the 2012 kashima coated RP23 is for the mid stroke to be a bit firmer than usual, means you also need the forks a tad firmer than usual to balance with the rear.

As a result its not a bike that rides particularly comfortably, the 575 is meant to be the choice to make if you want a plush ride.
It has taken me a few rides to gell with the ASR5 but I now love it.

I usually prefer riding my hardtail (ragley ti) and this bike, being as light as it is, makes me want to ride this the most.
Head angle is quite reasonable at 68, suspect using a 140 fork lowers this to 67.5 which feels about right until you get onto mentally steep gradients.
I am keen on jumping/drops and am hoping the swing arm will standup to some abuse(?) it doesn’t seem to flexy and I use only a Qr rear, equally I am only 70kilos in weight.

I’ve wanted to own a yeti for a longtime and am now pleased to have realised this goal.

This is sounding better after each post I read.

I am running spez. purgatory 2.2 on my full suss. and have recently swapped out to Spez. storm control 2.0 on my hardtail – albeit not that impressed by the latter so far, not as much grip as say maxxis medussa or panaracer trailraker, albeit equally not as draggy as either of the aforementioned.

Depending on what you mean by older properties….
If you simply mean Victoria, with slate roof. Most Insurers will still accept this within their underwriting criteria.
Postoffice is a good recommendation I can offer, not a big name in the insurance market, but decent service, good prices and getting bigger by the day.
M&S seem to consistently get good press, albeit heard there prices have recently seen a big hike.
Halifax/Lloyds TSB Insurance remain good middle of the market people, reasonable service, decent prices.
Avoid the direct writers, Direct Line, Churchill,etc tend to be hard work if you ever need to claim.
If your in something Grade II listed, 15th century, or earlier, etc. then your choices will be quite greatly limited.
Brokers maybe a good bet for finding something half sensibly priced.
have heard good things about NFU, hear they are cheap, however no first hand experience.
I work in the insurance industry, hope this helps.

Rob – brilliant, thanks for confirming.
With scope to ride DH track, will take full suss.
Am taking camera to hopefully capture some decent riding shots, will post early next week with results/thoughts on the place.
Thanks to all for comments.

I had checked out the DH tracks on the web, I like my DH days (forest of dean, cwm carn, UK bike park, etc) however person I am riding with likes to keep his wheels on the ground, so suspect will only do Monkey trail, but time permitting may do it twice, or session any good bits.
Is it reasonable to be able to do monkey trail, then a DH track, assume your pushing to the top, is the DH part of the centre close to the Xc trails? Would be fun to stick the full face lid in and session a DH track for the last part of the day.

Thanks guys for the heads up.
I have no great expectations for massive climbs, and quite like rides which are flatter so you have to attack the trail to get most out of it.
A cafe half way round sounds civilised!
Am leaning towards full suss if lots of braking bumps to give my lower back an easier time. Are there any jumps/berms/fun bits?

Super smooth riding, awesome looking venue, really nicely shot vid.
Good job sticking this up for our viewing pleasure.

Great stuff.
Will leave you to ponder and come back to me.

Sofitel is very nice. Middle of the road pricing, but looks/feels up market.
There are 2, one near the “fun bits”, other in North of Dam square area.

Recently acquired a 2005 1.6 model, is brilliant. Drives nicely – as most fords do. Had recent service and no probs. Very comfy driving position.
Kids love it, as has tables on backs of front seats so they can have picnics on them.
Isnt much longer than a normal focus, is mainly just taller, so getting bikes in would still needs wheels off, etc.
Also removing rear seats is mega faff, when folded down they sit quite tall, so load space isnt as good as you’d expect.
Assume for that price/mileage you looking around 2009 model.
Towbar would put me off a little, what has it been towing? isn’t really a towing type of car/or engine meant for towing.
Hope this helps.

In relation to the OP question.
The USB port only allows recording off source.
I have 2x 2011 model Panasonic TVs, which have freeviewHD & Freesat HD built it. They have the USB option to record, but its pretty rubbish in use.
I still run a separate PVR set up for recording.
I use a panasonic blu ray recorder with 3 tuners and 500GB harddrive.

I am about to move on a 12month old Humax Foxsat-HDR
Has FreesatHD 3x tuners, so can record 2 shows and watch a third.
Has 500GB hardrive.
Is pretty much best PVR for freesat on the market.
RRP £220 (source Amazon)
To spare misery that is using ebay, I’d take £125 for a quick sale. This includes postage (standard parcels incl insurance).
If your/anyone is interested, please email me:
jamesparsons@halifax.co.uk

RV- I like you work in the insurance industry.
Like you I question the value/worth of surveyors report.

At a high level there seems to be 3 price points on surveys for a new purchase. Mortgage lenders – worthless piece of paper for their own benefit only, middle of the range survery circa £600 – again worthless, then full structural survey circa £1100.
Even the latter isn’t much help. Will the surveyor lift carpets to inspect floorboards for rot/woodworm.
Will the heating system be fired up/tested.
Will he check the DPC/DPM, check for damp? Will he go into the loft space?

If your spending some reasonable dough on a property, I think these days I’d commission a drains survey (CCTV circa £175) which will show if the drains are leaking/root growth and are indicators as to what the subsoil around the property maybe doing.
I would ask someone you know who has knowledge of using a damp meter to check for potential problems with the DPC – this is likely in building stock of the age your considering.
Lastly, I’d find a reasonable builder friend and ask them to look round, they are more likely to offer an opinion, RICS qualified surveyors wont say anything which could come back to haunt them, in terms of advice.

If the property has been extended, building control would have been involved, regardless of whether it was an extension which required planning consent or not. This should give some comfort that the new bits are up to scratch.

Bottom line, this is your biggest investiment (usually), you can’t do enough to guard yourself against the what-if’s. If you would sleep better having had a survey done – do it.

As a cheaper consideration, an early on-one 456 with the de-kerf inspired chainstays is a blinder of a ti frame.
I think wanting the sliding drop outs will limit some of your options, wouldn’t it be easier to use a chain tensioner and give yourself more options to pick from?
I have a Ragley ti, 16″ frame, which is cracking. Probably best frame I have ever owned, I recently did 27miles on the North Downs in an afternoon ride and came back feeling fresh and without back ache. I hit most of the jumps I’d do on my full suss. too.
That said its a more longtravel hardtail, sounds like you want a middle ground of Xc and some ability to ride hard.
So back to first suggestion of the original on-one 456 frame – really gentle to ride, nice short chain stays for snappy handling, lots of stand over height. Real class frame for less than usual ti frame money.
Hope this is of interest.
I have read lots of reviews on the Whyte 19 ti from a number of different sources and everyone seems to love them.

Agree, excellent article written by Moody. Somehow finds the right words.

Has been my fav. rider for this season, with my usual loyalty to Rossi starting to slip. Was at Silverstone this year.
Last weekend he got 2nd place at Philip Island, his best position of this season. He did seemed to be getting tider as a rider which is what he needed to then be a serious contender.
crash.net has some nice messages from fellow riders which are sobering to read.
Complete bummer, beyond words.
I was waiting for a 1st place on the part of Sic before end of this season……crying shame wont see this happen now.

Did the exact same injury last year.
Same hand, same fingers.
I broke my smallest finger at the end knuckle and ring finger at the middle knuckle.
NHS strapped them together for 5 days then said take this off and move them about.
The little finger remains the worse, like yours doesnt quite want to go straight, occasional pain when typing.
I flex my hands the reverse way, interlocking fingers to stretch the joints, this, done regularly, seems to help loads.

1st Zodiac – proper creeply thriller and based on true story.

2nd Jackie Brown, love the mood of the film, excellent music, perhaps best supporting role ever by Michael Keaton.

3rd Road trip, the grandad taking viagra and knocking over ornaments with his boner, stealing the blind school bus. Jumping the bridge, never fails to make me laugh until it hurts.

Princess Bride – is class. (the sword fight where he annouces he is in fact right handed! – brilliant).