The Geometry of the Sherpa and P7 are definitely on the shorter side of the norm these days, particularly the Sherpa. The Sherpa is more of an old school XC/Trail 29er and I’d think it would feel out of its depth pretty sharpish in the Pyrenees because of its shorter wheelbase and steeper head angle. Really for me it would come down to the Pace or the Cotic, the Switch9er is just too expensive for a 631 frame, no way I could justify paying more for an in theory inferior tubeset.

I faced the Pace/Cotic decision recently, admittedly between a Soul and the new RC627 rather than the Solaris and RC529. I went for the Soul as I owned a BFe before and it just had more wow factor for me. The sliding dropouts on the Pace, while a nice feature, did make think that it was one more thing to go wrong, and I just wanted the bike to be simple-ish and reliable. Not regretting it so far, the Soul is amazing. The LS geometry felt super-long when I first sat on it, but it is such an agile bike for something with this long a wheelbase, it just feels mentally stable at speed yet has the agility to jump/hop/slide on to another line. Haven’t ridden the Solaris but I would personally lean towards that, but to be honest I doubt you’d be disappointed with either bike. But of those listed, I’d definitely be choosing between the Cotic and Pace, rather than the others.

Pretty sure they were standard (44/46mm) on the 2018 ones, my 2017 certainly is standard

Had a Lezyne Strip Drive for a couple of years now and it gets some serious abuse on my MTBs through winter, it cakes in crap, given a quick wipe, re-charged and does it all over again. Super bright for on the road, its never fallen off, even when ridden on some pretty rocky Black-graded trails and it just gets on with it.

Used them for the last two years on a custom built set of Pro 4’s and Arch MK3s and they’ve been spot on. Went for a 28h build to save a bit of weight and help compliance and *touch wood* I’ve not had any issues yet. They’ve been on my Whyte T130 and are now on my Cotic Soul for winter and both get ridden pretty hard round North Wales and have stood up to a big coast to coast from one of Scotland to the other and back again, so they’ve had their fair share of abuse. Would be my first choice if I was to build another set of wheels again, great value, tough, light and build up really nice. Highly recommended!

Cheers chaps :)

I’m running the wheels off my Whyte T130 at the minute (I’ll just swap the wheels back onto the Whyte when I want to ride that instead). They’re Stan’s Arch MK3s on Hope Pro 4 hubs with Sapim D-Light spokes, decently light at 1700ish grams and have been rock solid, they feel awesome to ride as well, a nice damped feel rather than being super stiff. I went with a 28h build to keep the weight down and not make them overly stiff. Tyres are Maxxis Forekaster 2.35’s. They’re pretty good for most things, they do feel a bit sketchy sometimes on wet, off-camber rocks, but they roll really quickly and are last really well so I’m happy to live with the compromise for now, though I might change the front to a 3C Minion DHF I have spare in the garage.

Eventually I do want to invest in a set of wheels specifically for this. I’m tempted to go for some Hunt Trail Wides as they’re a bit wider and I might try 2.6 tyres in this and they’re great value too.

I’m annoyed by the GX Eagle cranks though, as the finish has already worn in places after one 11ish mile ride, which is pretty shit really! I got a bargain on some Truvativ carbon cranks earlier this year so am keeping an eye out to see if anything pops up, they’re a tad lighter, and the finish is a lot more durable. Other than that though, this will be staying as it is, specifically built it up pretty much exactly as I wanted in the end, I had planned to cut a few corners like the brakes and bar/stem but just thought “ahhh **** it, I’ll end up changing them anyway” so just went for it, I just keep telling myself it’ll save me money in the long run and to hell with it for now!

Decals on the tyres aren’t lined up …

But they do line up with valves… ;)

That is not going to ride nicely. Scott actually fit a 140mm fork to the entry level genius and that doesn’t feel great, so even with an angleset a 120mm fork will feel horribly unbalanced. Over-forking a bike a little bit generally works, but under-forking can only be bad in my opinion.

Geometron G13 stands out as the main choice. Was very impressed when I rode one earlier this year. I sized down from a longest to a longer frame (I’m just over 6ft) and it felt great. Only downside was lack of a water bottle mount. Had it not been for that, I would have been extremely tempted by one.

7Mesh Recon is available for a bargain price direct from them at the minute, best I’ve used by a mile.

As above, save for some Hunt Wheels. I had a set of Switch MTB hubs a few years back and the bearings were not great. Not a bad wheelset, but not great either.

DUB bb uses the same tool as Raceface BSA 30 bb’s, I bought one from my LBS as they had them in stock (Tweeks)

Asked for the Pantone colour of the top tube decal on the Mercury/Orange Soul and Paul emailed me with the code. Drop them an email, I’m sure they’ll get back to you quickly.

Just to be contrary, could I run the RX4-SH calipers with standard Shimano MTB levers (SLX)? I’d like a nice pair of silver calipers.

Had been wondering this myself, I really don’t see why not. Bear in mind though the RX4 uses smaller pistons than E4 so power probably be won’t be as much.

Fox don’t usually discount until well after Christmas on current MY stock. Your best bet is to phone around smaller shops and see what they’ll offer.

@benpinnick, that would be much appreciated if you could! In my search for an answer I did a 36 with an E4 caliper fitted with a 180mm rotor so looks like it would work. A V4 would foul I would have thought

Sorry to go slightly off topic OP, but @benpinnick can you confirm if the e4 caliper is fine with the latest RS Revs with a 180mm rotor or does the caliper foul the lowers?

Yep, PF30 has an ID of 46mm. Surprised Hope didn’t do a headset to be fair!

Hope make one, part number is BBPF468324SSN

https://www.hopetech.com/product/press-fit-pf46-bottom-bracket/

As for the headset, haven’t the foggiest!

Thanks for the input all, have bitten the bullet and ordered a Cotic Soul in Mercury/Orange :) Will post pics in the Cotic Friday thread when it arrives!

Progress. By the sounds of it, around the time you stopped riding I was running 34×36 1×10 on my Ibis, which I then bodged to 34×40 and then went 34-42 when 11-speed XT came out. My Whyte T130 came with X01 Eagle 1×12. When I first saw the rumors of it online I thought it was a joke. I mean, 50t seriously? I was even tempted to rip it straight off the Whyte and stick with what I knew. Boy was I glad I didn’t! I don’t like to use the term “game-changer”, but it really is ace! I can still run a 34t chainring and have more gearing for speed and lower gearing for climbing. In fact the one time I’ve run a double in the last 7 years was for a C2C challenge and with Eagle I have more range in a lighter, simpler package.

Besides, I honestly think 11-speed kit from Shimano and Sram is genuinely shit. The Sram stuff just feels cheap and nasty (even the “expensive” stuff) and 11-speed Shimano just feels like it was rushed, XT in particular. Having been a Shimano fan for years, I wouldn’t put anything but Eagle on my bikes these days, despite thinking very much like the OP to start with. You don’t have to run it, and yes, to start with it looks a bit goofy, but try and get used to seeing it and you’ll wonder why you ever doubted it.

Don’t think there’s any brakes that are perfect at the minute, all seem to have some issues! Old XT M785’s were he dogs but are like hens teeth new now :(

I liked the Guides that came with my T130 but while they had tonnes of modulation and reasonable power I’ve seen way too many sets with sticky pistons or levers, mine included, so never fit and forget.

Wouldnt bother with anything Shimano above Deore level these days, though no experience of the new XTRs yet. 4-pot Deores seem to be getting a lot of love.

I swapped my Guides for Hope Race E4s and have little to complain about so far, reliability has been faultless and while they can squeal a bit and with 180mm rotors they’re not the most powerful, but overall I’d struggle to pick any real faults. They look great, have legendary reliability and will just keep on performing for years to come. They’re expensive but worth it in my opinion.

Yeah spotted that, but I can’t do finance or cycle to work on it from HiBike so that puts it out of my price range :(

Ahhhhhhh f***! Just when I’d settled on a Cotic Soul as well! Now, how to find the money…

7Mesh Strategy sounds perfect for your needs! I lived in mine last winter, wore various base layers of differing thicknesses depending on the weather but it was great. On sale on their website at the minute, got another one myself they’re that good!

Thanks for the input guys :) I’m leaning towards the Soul, just think it will suit what I’ll actually use it for more than the Mantle, plus it works out cheaper as I use the wheels out of my T130 for a while and the frame is much cheaper too. 0% finance for 6 months as well is tempting, something they don’t offer on the Pace. I did like my old BFe too, it was just too small and I built it up pretty heavy, think my mind is made up!

Thanks for the input all :) Ben_H is right, the stock Mantle builds are very XC, I would be building it with a 120mm Revelation a dropper post, so basically the kind of build you’d see on a Honzo. Headangle with a 120mm fork is the same on both, it’s just the other angles that change between the Mantle and Honzo.

Has anyone else ridden both the new MK5 Soul and latest SolarisMax? Be interested to hear your thoughts :)

Interested in this as well, looks ace on paper!

Budget is frame only. The Solaris did interest me, but again without riding one and just looking at the numbers, it looked even longer than Foxy and the 444mm chainstays put me off somewhat as well. I do need to try and get a ride on one. I’d forgotten about that new Ibis DV9 as well, but they’re waaaaaaay to short still. Shame as I loved my Mojo HD :(

budget is up to around £700-£750, ideally less if possible (I can get a deal on the Genesis, but it is more than this)

Marin for me, though I do ride Degla twice a week most weeks! Before I lived up here I always thought the Marin, Penmachno and CYB were better (and still do to be fair, Degla is just so convenient!) so I’d pick from one of those. The Degla Cafe is great though, but the others have better trails. Degla feels very man-made, but it is cut to sh!t at the minute, some of the braking bumps in sections are insane! There’s a few blown-out off-camber corners that need some attention too, they’re lethal in the wet!

https://www.tweekscycles.com/uk/sram-gx-eagle-x-sync-jockey-wheels-inner-cage-srmss8087000/

Well, it seemingly works! Just need to fit the new cassette I ordered as the chain was borked, but the GX Eagle Cage/Jockey wheels seems to work fine with the X01 mech. Got the newer style of jockey wheels too so hopefully all will be well with the world again now!

Rear mech & shifters are in stock with Madison, so can’t imagine it will be too long before the rest arrives.

Sadly mines about 6 weeks out of warranty, so not an option :( should have the kit tomorrow though along with a new black X01 chain and cassette, have sent the chainring for warranty as it really shouldn’t have broken a tooth, gone back to the original 34t Eagle ring that was on the bike from new, going to feel weird after 6 months on an oval ring!

GX Eagle kit order, will report back if it works! Hope it comes with the new style of jockey wheel!

Had a few bits of Endura over the years and the quality is ok, but the cut is pretty poor. Religiously ride in 7Mesh gear, yes it’s expensive, but the cut is beyond exceptional, it is incredibly durable and it has a nice, understated look to it that is about as far away from glorified MX pyjamas you can get (Yes I’m looking at you, Fox, whose quality also leaves far too much to be desired!)

Excellent news, cheers Ben!

I’ll be honest I hadn’t inspected it in a while, it’s been so dry up here I’ve generally just ridden it and chucked back in my Duff Monster bike bag after a ride, but prior to Saturday it had been shifting fine all summer

All C2W scheme providers take at least 10%. On full price bikes most shops will just take the hit, but on sale bikes expect to pay this on top. Discounts on bikes have super aggressive this year, shops won’t be making much money at the current 25-35% off you’ll see on most, and they need to cover their cost. You’re still making a saving over RRP, it’ll still be a good deal.

Usually go for the ultimate edition, but then I’ve had every Forza game since Forza 2!