Thanks all. Sorry I didn’t mean Transmission, just conventional 12s.

It makes sense to favour the chain/cassette working well together so will stick to SRAM or KMC. Good to hear about 11s cranks.

Retired at 51 but other people dying had no influence. In fact statistically OP you’re very unlikely to die early.

On the other hand, excess frugality is as bad as excess profligacy IMO.

All about balance.

I have had some Troy Lee for a number of years and they’re excellent a compromise between resilience/protection and lightness. Sorry not sure what model as the branding disappeared a while ago.

Edit these https://www.ktmonlineparts.com.au/part/lusty-industries/527003201

I guess the Raphas are only light because they don’t protect or resist.

No love for the Shimano dropper lever ?

Plenty from me. Better than the Oneup V2 I had or than the Fox.

Its main issue is that it’s too cheap. People often associate price and quality with dropper levers.

If you take advice please make sure you understand how much the “independent” advice is going to cost you. Some seriously expensive advice out there for stuff that can be basic and in the public domain.

Whereas I’ve found the opposite. Due to big wheels and curves etc, Crossovers are so small inside compared to outside.

I can’t remember particularly big wheels or curves robbing any interior space in our Xceed, Karok, Tiguan or 3008.

They were all space efficient for their footprint compared to hatches or estates we had, some at the same time.

We have the Xceed which is one size down. The beauty of those small crossovers/SUVs/whatever is the packaging. Interior space is great for their footprint, unlike equivalent estates that require more length to achieve the same volumes. Might not be a problem of course but personally I prefer a shorter car even if it means it’s higher. They are particularly useful IME when needing to stand a bike upright using the dropper to anchor it to the ceiling, which I can’t do in estates.

I thought the thread was about who is running one bike rather than a place to list bikes owned. :-)

I never owned more than 1 bike at a time. But I don’t commute nor enjoy road riding.

In fact I dislike the idea of having more than one bike. I have a “special relationship” with my bike ? and it would feel like being disloyal even though I change often.

I dislike off the shelf bikes so my bike is very personal to me, I have put it together so there is a bond between. I agree it sounds weird though.

Currently enjoying the company of a Ragley Big Al that does everything, which means trail riding for me, whatever that means.

In fact it’s a keeper as I don’t even see the point of FS anymore, nor electric.

^^ thank you. Merlin are out of band shifters now anyway so that’s a choice easily solved lol

XTR shifter is cheap on merlin £60, feels so much better than deore/slx or XT

Very tempted to upgrade my SLX shifter.

However is it really “so much better?

What’s different? The SLX shifter seems fine in isolation.

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I find small SUVs better for MTB transport duties compared to estate but I agree it’s subjective. The two key benefits for me is that they are shorter than estates and have *some* off road capacity and I don’t mean they are off roaders. Often really useful to park in rooty forestry places before riding.

I fit a big 29 bike standing up with front wheel off in Tiguan MK1, Karoq, 3008 and currently Kia Xceed, which is a sort of coupe / SUV fusion thing and the best of all of these, particularly in 1.5t DCT.

A longer dropper slammed to the frame?

I think you’ve answered your own question. People don’t realise Shimano make one. The One-up is very good though, just functionally no better but probably better finished what with the softer rubber pad and the machining.

Yes I was thinking that about a 2.8. Probably not needed depending on rider’s weight but nice to have that option on a hardtail!

Shimano MT500 is brilliant at around £20.

Very smooth and effortless, good ergonomics. Comes with inner and outer.

Not sure why it’s so cheap. Even a I spec EV version of needed.

Fitted a 2.6 at the back of the Big Al which is officially rated up to 2.5, although the Rekon is not an aggressive tyre.

But still plenty of clearance so I reckon, pardon the pun, even a less shallow tread 2.6 would be fine.

Really happy with SLX 12. The rear mech is supposed to be fragile but I have failed to break it. Shift is brilliant. Might consider XTR chain if it improves longevity. But why would it? (I actually run a XT 12 cassette and chain).

A riding buddy has been running a NX groupset from new ove the past 3 years amd he is super pleased with it too. No adjustments, very little wear and no issues.

It’s possible that we are at a point where both brands make equally good groupset. They must be heavily benchmarked against each other.

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The value of adjustable travel droppers!

I won’t tolerate any post showing out of the frame for some weird OCD reasons. It has to be slammed.

So lucky to have got those cheap £60 Trans X dropper, 170-200mm.

It happens to be perfect at 200mm but so much flexibility otherwise.

I see e13 do it too with their Vario.

No retail UK travel insurance will cover you if your trip didn’t start in the UK. (some corporate policies will).

Bank ones are not necessarily rubbish.

Mine is free with HSBC and is provided by Aviva. It’s very generous.

^^ yes. Good price.

I wonder if the 10% off is stackable with the £40 off for first order?

It would then work out at £690.

CL a pain but I could live with it.

Wheels are just the final gear, so the bigger the wheel the better the ratio for transforming power into speed. This is why 1x with it’s tiny front ring is a silly modish fashion.

I don’t understand this. If I compare the x1 12 speed gearing to my old triple, there is hardly any useful difference.

And that’s before the benefits are taken into account.

To me x1, which I started in 2010, has massively improved my enjoyment of riding MTB. I would put it on a par with droppers

It’s because your wallet has been made much lighter.

😂. That certainly should be a factor.

But the net cost was zero courtesy of the CRC crazy prices. I sold the frame for more than the new cost of the Big Al frame for starters.

In fact I think the new bike made a little money.

Fair enough! I was running Rekons on 2.8F and 2.6R on the Commencal.

Now Rekon 2.6F and Nobby Nic DD 2.4R.

Is the contact patch similar in area at the same pressure between the 2 bikes, albeit of a different shape?

I can agree that very tight and twisty trails might not suit the bigger bike.

I am mostly talking about effort rather than technical or handling ability so far.

But you’re right, perception and reality may be quite different particularly as the Commencal was very stiff so perhaps I used to be more fatigued/battered than with the very comfy Big Al!

Another vote for the Sweet Protection jerseys off Stif at £10.

Sweet Protection Hunter SS Jersey 2020 – Black

I have their shorts when they were £20. Incredible quality, that’s probably as “good” as Bourgeoisie wearing Rapha stuff at a fraction of the price even when “discounted”.

These are not really warranties . They are insurance.

The two are not mutually exclusive. An insurance company can underwrite a warranty risk.

For instance, the BMW extended warranty is underwritten by Allianz. So it is an insurance product indeed that offer warranty benefits.

I normally only run DT Swiss out of habit as they don’t make cheap wheels, not even the latest 1900 which are now ratchet.

I also ran V2 Trail Wide which were as good, quite a lot lighter and totally reliable.

BUT perhaps the key difference is QC where DT Swiss may have high consistency where Hunt haven’t which may explain the mixed feedback.

I paid £140 for the pair of new M1900 in the Wiggle closing down thing which helped my decision 😂

Climbing the Lion’s trail from Steyning bike park to the SDW/Chanctonbury ring is a great technical and challenging climb.

Occasionally, ATS come up with lower prices if on offer. BC use them for locally anyway for fitting and I trust them not to bugger things up with the wrong torque.

I would give your indy local tyre place a chance to beat them too, you might be surprised.

People who parralel park in the street at the end of a parking area and leave half a car length between the front of their car and the end line.

Or people parralel parking exactly in the middle of an area big enough for 2 cars.

FFS

@breninbeener

It’s home made but I can make one for you for £169.99 delivered.

Or you buy a cheap Evoc replica from Merlin.

https://www.merlincycles.com/evoc-multi-frame-pack-281129.html

Gob smacked at what people pay. Maybe I have a very safe postcode or a tiny house but never paid more than £200 Inc legal cover and emergency assistance. But I religiously switch every year and get hopefully most of the soft money through Quidco or Topcashback.

Be very wary of multicar or multirisk. You might assume it’s cheaper but check the cost of individual covers at renewal .

^^ that sounds about right.

Meanwhile after dropping the Camelback last year I have now dropped the hip bag and I am totally unicumbered. It’s very nice to ride bagless.

Rekons or Wicked Wills.

2.6F and 2.4R works well in 29 for me.

Nice frame. The geometry is very similar to my Big Al when fitted with a 140mm fork.

I had a YT Izzo to which I fitted Fox 36 in 140mm. It was still close to 13kgs and was a brilliant trail bike. I sold it as HT works better for me but my Big Al is not lighter.

Current SLX chainset is H2 and pretty good/light/stiff. Really happy with mine.

Yes should work. There is also a handy gearing calculator online that lets you input both config to compare before and after.

https://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=22,36&RZ=11,13,15,17,19,21,24,28,32,36&UF=2215&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=KMH&DV=teeth

You will be surprised how little you lose and how much you gain from a cycling enjoyment pov