Is that the 429 Upgrade Bikes are selling off?

Hei Hei is another of interest….but how to they weigh in? Always assumed they were on the beefier side of XC?

Carbon frame is around 1950g if I remember correctly. Fairly similar to Scalpel, Supercaliber, Lux but a bit heavier than Epic EVO or Oiz OMX. Actually my aluminium frame wasn’t bad either, within a couple of hundred grams of carbon frames I’ve got now.

Well that’s tax fraud. Problem is proving it without having pay or payslips. First thing HMRC will do is ask for payslips. If you can prove it then in any normal times HMRC employer relations are usually only too happy to send inspectors to audit the business. Currently dealing with this sort of thing myself.

Mine went to NIC and EO complaints down the bottom

Wasn’t the fishing industry loosing £1m per day? £23m should cover until Saturday then.

Google says on average that’s 7%

So still £900 extra

Maybe the extra unnecessary layer of cost having a distributor here rather than Ibis doing it themselves? Should get lower prices, better availability and service by cutting out 2pure.

Didn’t recognise many names there, although Michael Ashley sounds familiar? 🤔

Cannondale Raven

I think the Bontrager Mud X has been discontinued? Shame if so, used to like it.

The Barzo seemed a bit sketchy to me. Maybe because the compound is quite hard? Probably okay in sandy mud but didn’t like it for slippery clay or chalk.

Currently got the latest Purgatory on the rear of my winter hardtail. Seems surprisingly good for traction. First Specialized tyre in years that doesn’t piss sealant from the sidewalls. Otherwise Forekaster…

Sort of like calling a Dyson a Hoover, but in reverse. SLW2 don’t seem to be on the same level as BOAs, and the customer service certainly doesn’t compare, although I’ve yet to have one fail completely.

Signed. Although where does one find these unrecorded rights of way? Haven’t come across much that’s not on OS maps here. Apart from a bridleway that’s there one side but not the other on the East Sussex/Kent border.

Has it actually snapped or has the end pulled out? If there’s enough left on the reel you might be able to fix it back in place with a knot or some glue.

Is she stoned? Or suffering from a loss of brain cells due to a recent blow to the head?

Good lord! Some companies do take the piss. For the bikes I’ve had it took more than 6 minutes just to get the bike out of the box and protective packaging off, assuming there is any.

I keep thinking the current crop of suspension Oranges must be too low at 320-330 depending on the model? But not read any complaints yet.

Only bike I’ve had a problem with so far was a Whyte S-150. Forever smacking the pedals even on flat-ish singletrack. It’s no lower than other bikes I’ve had, higher than some. So as above it must result from travel, sag, anti-squat, the way the suspension moves and length of the bike. Leaning rather than steering longer lower slacker bikes through corners must also have an effect.

I believe Niner still sends a frame and parts separately. Not that we see many here of those here.

This time of year is usually a bit of a battle because of the weather. But add on the lack of group rides and anywhere even slightly drier meaning driving and yeah it’s getting a bit tedious. Plus the hoards of people out in the middle of nowhere that would usually be doing something else if not for the lockdown.

In summer I actually prefer it locally and there’s plenty of places to ride from home. Now it’s a swamp. Each year it seems to get wetter. No sign of a dry period, or snow, or much frost. All of which were fairly regular a few years ago. Last year we had 6 months of rain, exactly to the day. Not quite that bad so far. One thing that has gradually improved is local bridleways getting surfaced so there’s more winter route options now, albeit usually with no consideration for drainage so they don’t last. Suppose it could be worse.

Was just looking at their latest models. First one named Wyatt, hmm interesting, swipe across to the next named…Earp!

Had an answer from Trek, increases are Brexit and logistics.

But fear not, I’ve heard Brexiteers will be more than happy to cover the difference for everyone else.

Christini?

Rear tyre gets very close to the seat tube on the Actofive and Yeti.

Nicely handled by the Lefty!

Last Crank Brothers I had were a lot better, no bits fell off, bearings are good quality now. But kept finding either my shoe would slip forwards while trying to clip in and/or the mechanism would roll over inside the cage and not catch properly. No doubt someone will say my technique was wrong but that just doesn’t happen with Shimano for me. Would like to give Time a go, find out if the float helps my knees.

Up 14% from when? There was a big hike across the board from when I started looking at road bikes in say April to when I picked it up again in November, but I think this was the due to a big spike in demand and a big fall in output due to COVID.

Within the last few days/weeks I think because I was looking at a Procaliber 9.7 which has gone up £280. Which is more like 11% but still annoying.

Don’t Hayes products (including Sun Ringle) have a two year warranty?

Any kind of time cards or clock-ins for proof? Or another employee to back him up?

Nice! Makes that step up at 1:28 look easy. It was new last I was there and didn’t quite work up to it. Although in my slight defence it was absolute monsoon weather all that week. Went somewhere drier the following years.

Guess there is an advantage to our side loading bin lorries after all. No arguing, bins always in a particular place on one side of the road for the mechanical arm of death to hook onto.

Defrosters, warmest I’ve had and with the best ankle closure. Not keen on the current colour and they can squeak if rubbing against cranks with clear tape.

After problems with the first pair of Northwave Raptors shrinking I recently got a second pair, since they were a size bigger and half price. Stiff, very comfortable, no sign of shrinkage. Bit of a gap around the ankle, which I’ve got GripGrab Gaiters to remedy (annoying to get on but highly recommended). However it really shouldn’t be that difficult to design the ankle without a gap, my old pair were fine and Specialized managed it. Also had the SLW2 jam up with mud, just needs cleaning out but not experienced this with a proper Boa in eight years.

Also happened to get a pair of discounted Fizik Artica X5. Comfortable, very nicely made, great to walk in with a proper rubber sole. The ankle is quite stiff but seems to be slowly breaking in. I had to stitch the tongue behind the zip in place because it just slid round to the side. Pair about 160g heavier than Northwaves. Not particularly stiff considering they’re apparently carbon reinforced. Zip leaks slightly but nothing that’s going to get feet wet. I expect problems with the zip in the long run. Slightly behind Specialized and Northwave for warmth. Cleat slot too far forward IMO.

Are Shimano MW5 sealed at the cleat? Heard maybe not but perhaps someone can confirm.

weigh in the 22 to 25 lbs range. That’s what similar bikes used to weigh 20 years ago

Well if you insist on missing the point again my hardtail 20 years ago was a 19 lb xl scandium Scott. WTF happened lol!?

I think rather than fixing it you may have missed my point. Which is almost every way of making a bike more capable adds weight. 4 piston brakes, big rotors, huge cassettes, wider bars, wider hubs, stronger rims, bigger tougher rubber, longer frames, bigger bearings, clipless trail pedals with a cage that in many cases literally does nothing.

Not everything necessarily needs to add cost but incrementally bikes have gotten heavier. These developments are great if you need them, but many riders don’t and are overbiked with all these little things sucking liveliness from the ride. Which is the point Guy was making.

I agree with Guy’s article. All else being equal I’d prefer lighter, within reason. More fun and less tiring. Seems like every part of a bike could be made more capable, longer lasting or better in some way, but almost always resulting in more weight. Cumulatively it all adds up to dull, draggy and overbiked in many situations.

Reminds me of a particular local bike shop about 10-15 years ago. 50lb downhill bikes lined up row after row. There’s nowhere in hundreds of miles with terrain to warrant a bike like that. And yet bikes that could barely be pedalled (I tried one) sold like hot cakes to riders that never took them anywhere near a real mountain. Presumably because they looked good in a magazine under the likes of Steve Peat.

There’s also the issue of lazy designers. Seen a few bikes lately where absolutely no thought has been put into weight or even basic structural analysis that would show certain areas of a frame don’t need to be built like a tank. Even carbon frames. For example the latest Trance X and Stumpy Evo frames are 2.5lbs lighter than some comparables, without going crazy.

Well that’s a new one for me. Unfortunately it’s so stupid I’ll have no choice but to fail to understand if anyone says it in real life. On a whole new level to ‘analogue bikes’ and ‘fossil cars’.

The moment I opened the article and saw the name I knew what was coming. He’s very well known at the MTBR forums, where he frequently comes up as a perfectly insufferable character.
The guy has a remarkable career, but instead of inspiring he prefers to non stop criticise everyone who’s not in the exact same page as him and often with a good deal of nonsense.

Was just scrolling through to post similar. He takes nice photos and presumably builds a good wheel but many of his posts really don’t come across well. Not that he doesn’t raise a few good points. I can only imagine his blood pressure seeing Peaslake on a Sunday.

Where is this bridleway?

Cranks the same length for both bikes?

It was a lighter bike that had a better pedal response.

This. I think 2lb of bike weight, particularly rolling weight, make a bigger difference than 2lb of body weight. Also worth noting a 29er will require more anti squat than a 26 to get the same pedalling response, further increasing the Orange’s suspension advantage.

No one has mentioned spoke count yet. I usually find more spokes = less power lost.

I’ve spent ages looking for answers on this sort of thing. Most recently when it turned out my new lighter and shorter travel XC bike wasn’t faster at anything than my trail bike. Thought I must be imagining it at first until I rode them round the block one after the other. Sure enough the trail bike pulled like a Saturn V by comparison.

Interesting. I’d like to see a new Swift. Perhaps Singular could buck the trend and not do a slack and stiff as a plank lump of lead…just a thought.

Peregrine does seem a bit pricy at £1k. My last Swift frame, fork and ebb was £400.

I have noticed some Surly fat bike tyres like the Nate leave quite recognisable patterns. Also older Continentals like Mountain Kings with the small triangular knobs.

the negative PR of this will be worse for them than the potential gains

Exactly. I also suspect potential Knolly customers are more likely to hear about this and take notice than customers for other brands that have taken similar actions, Specialized for example. Many of those looking at a Knolly will research online and this will come up straight away. Whereas most buying a Specialized still just walk into a shop. Anything online will be buried sooner and they won’t have as much interest in brand image anyway.

Sort of puts me off buying a Knolly. Not that I would anyway. Low anti squat that pedals like a sponge and a slack actual seat angle, which it now appears they thought was worth patenting!?

Bit confused as Pinkbike/brain mention the Carbine, which differs from other Intense models by having a bent seat tube that joins the BB, not downtube?

42c Resolutes on WTB i25 rims to begin with and now Spank Flare with DT Swiss tape. No problems.

WTB and Stans don’t use the same measurements for tubeless compatibility. Stans should be tighter. Possibly Mavic as well although not 100% sure on that.