Can’t comment on the ceramic ones, but my foray into the std angle tech one would leave me very wary indeed (it has play after 2 rides – my old XT lasted 2+years and I normally even get the notoriously poor SRAM GXP ones to go for nearly a year!). I think the main problem is the sealing, even though I fitted it with liberal quantities of waterproof grease. I generally like SS stuff as well.

Should add I have a 2.25 Ardent on my other bike, and I like it in the dry, but absolutely hate it in the wet! I will leave these tyres on all year round as can’t be bothered swapping them once they’re mounted and ready to go (UST)

Okay, thanks guys. From your comments then, an Advantage might be a better bet and faster rolling? My mate runs the Crossmark Advantage combo, but it’s hard to judge them because his bike is quite different to mine. I don’t want to sacrifice too much speed…. I know, moon on a stick etc!

That would be great, will be in touch!

Felt like I had the place to myself today – apart from when I passed through the cycle centre area.

@ Tollah : Think I met someone you know up there last week! Spent the morning trying to find some elusive trails that I know are there but can’t seem to locate them just wasted a lot of time riding aimlessly and staring at my Garmin. Any chance of a tag along one sunday if you are out and about?

Weather seems to be better than forecast here in Gloucester. WIsh I was there and not here at work. Think the riders will get off fairly lightly rain wise. How wet is the course looking?

Lol! Ross, if it’s minging I’d ride the hardtail. Good luck mate!

My tyres might as well have been as smooth as babies for all the good they did me!

I have symapthy for those that had problems with the cold, but I can’t help feeling it was a little naive to go under-dressed, particularly given the conditions at the start and the warnings on the roughride website. I was cold and saturated even with waterproof trousers, lycras and padded shorts, jersey, base layer, berghaus waterproof (ditched my biking one on the day as this one much better) and seal skinz socks! At the start I was tempted to remove some of my garments as I felt a bit over-dressed, especially as some were in lycras and short sleeves! As soon as over the top of the first hill and the wind hit, I was glad I didn’t.

Someone will be along to explain this is a minute, but I’m pretty certain that the 2 aren’t interchangeable. I think it hs something to do with the springs in the mech coupled with the amount or angle it moves for a given amount of cable pull… or something. I am interested in this too, as I run 9 speed X9 and have no intention of stumping up for 10 speed in the near future!

I swear by my tubeless tyres, but would have loved to have been handed an easy way to swap out my front mounted Crossmark yesterday! It was interesting handling to say the least… First time I’ve done it and thought it was a great event, in spite of the rain. I hope the guy that took the tumble is okay.

I think the Santa Cruz Nickel is fairly slack for the travel.

Isn’t there a recommended rider weight limit for the ASR, or am I dreaming that? Assuming you aren’t a ridiculously huge bloke, I reckon you’ll be okay :)

That’s exactly what I use. I find them great tbh, really loving the Aspen although the Exception series seems to have a particularly thin sidewall – tore mine on a rock on about the 5th outing and couldn’t fix it so replaced it with the standard folding for a small weight penalty. I am pretty easy on components so this was unusual for me – could have been bad luck I guess. I run 2.25 Ardent front and Aspen rear, although I reckon the 2.1 Aspen might just be my perfect tyre – will try a pair at some point in the future. The Ardent I have grown to really like, although it took a while to get used to the way it gives and bites when you lean it. I don’t trust it at all in slimy mud conditions though – I have had inexplicable wash-outs in these conditions and find it very unpredicatable (and I normally ride Crossmarks 2.1 on my other stead all year round so I don’t mind a bit of squirm in the damp!). For big volume, easy rolling and nice grip in the dry I can’t imagine you’d find a lot better – as I said, I particularly love the Aspen, it even seems to work well in the wet and mud, which is weird as it seems to have very little tread!

mtbmoto – my experience of TFT couldn’t have been more different to yours. I spoke to Tim both times that I’ve called them, and he talked me through the benefits of what I wanted for the results I wanted to achieve. I think they’re a great company.

I got my RP23 Pushed, and frankly it made a considerable difference to my Superlight. Most noticeable is when you are carrying some speed, it feels much more controlled and doesn’t blow through the travel as it did before. As I was getting it serviced anyway the extra cost didn’t seem too bad and I was interested to see for myself if it was worth it.

if I had the dough I’d get it done on my 575 shock as well, I think it would be even more of an improvement on this bike.

This thread is useless without pics.

lol at this! Surely you don’t actually care!?!

Had a good spin round the FOD today, and bluebells are definitely out in force!

Re. the new XC trail, I must admit that I am not sure I like what they’ve done with it, although I’ll reserve judgement until it’s open and bedded in. It’s certainly knackered a few little bits of trail that I used to really like, and I can’t imagine how riding on that gravel stuff could compare to negotiating layers of roots. Oh well, I’m sure it’ll please a lot of people, and it just increased my resolve to find more new trails and improve my loop – which I did today with great success. I don’t believe I saw another mountain biker in the 3 hours or so I was outside the Sallow Vallets area!

Re. the above – I meant seatstays, not dogbone!

I’m still trying to get the optimum set up for my 575 rear shock, but FWIW I switch it on and off all the time when riding. The pro-pedal jacks the back end up quite significantly (I believe the 575 frame is designed to optimise this) which makes it very firm when engaged. If you look down you will see the shock “sits up” much more in line with the dogbone when the pro-pedal is on. I tend to engage it for fire roads and long or steep climbs, but then mostly leave it off.

Have you had the bike long, perhaps you will adapt if not? I have learned to live with the low BB on my Superlight (which I realise is a very different bike). I have gotten used to timing my pedal strokes and now do it mostly without thought. Does still happen sometimes though.

Lovely, thanks Jamie.

@clubber, cheers, that is useful to know.

Re. my ot post: browsing history?! – you gotta be kidding me lol! It does claim that the bloke earns $73/hr though, and I have been looking at jobsites recently…. yes, that must be it!…..The relevance of the image is lost on me though. Assuming you can’t see it, but he is slumped on the floor of a bathroom, and it appears that someone has shaven a smiley face into his butt hair.

I bet it’d be great – I’d get one if I had the spare dough/time to ride it.

OT: is anyone else getting the ad with the picture of the bloke with the shaven arse?!!! That’s really put me off my dinner.

I promise that I’ll go away in a minute…. but, can anyone tell me whether the 605 has a “marker” facility – say if I spot an interesting looking trail but don’t have time to explore it but wish to mark the location for future excursions?

Wow, lots to digest. Thanks for all the advice and opinions. I wonder if I might give the 605 a try, given that we are unlikely to use the Clubcard points for anything else. I don’t quite follow the Open Streetmaps bit – do you download map graphics and info to the Garmin from there? Sorry, I really am a bit of a techno dinosaur :)

I should add that I really like the idea of being able to recall rides, as I have a habit of finding new trails when out and about, and then never being able to find them again!

Well, the clubcard points would practically pay for it – there is the option of a 707 too, I think. Definitely open to suggestions for other bargain items though!

Thanks guys, that’s useful information. Think the 800 might be out of my price range to be honest, but are there any decent alternatives that people find effective off-road (Garmin or otherwise)?…

The Old Race Track was looking pretty poorly on Sunday, think it might about survive though.

I’ve got limbs like matchsticks and would second the DHB recommendation above – no lexperience with Gore though.

Moderation is key here. Our little one (2yo) watches a little tv, some days she gets none, other days (say, if she’s poorly), she might watch an hour or two. Quite often if we’re watching she tells us she wants us to turn it off! I don’t see the problem with it myself, but then we don’t generally have the TV on much anyway.

One DVD my daughter seems to enjoy is “March of the Penguins”, although she doesn’t really like the bit with the seal. We don’t just plonk her in front of it though, me or the wife will sit with her and respond to her comments, or make our own as we watch.

I’m potentially up for this. Please email me some details. :)

Fair play to you for getting it as you wanted it, there’s some interesting kit on there. Hope you enjoy riding it!

I ordered a stem bolt from CRC and couldn’t believe it when it turned up in this

I always leave my X9 mech set at the smallest sprocket when I leave put the bike away, and I’ve not had any problems with the spring tension. Someone once told me that this was a good idea re. the spring tension thing.

Smoke/Dart combo… you know it makes sense!