I went for Easton Haven 70mm on my 2011 Anthem. Just right for me. The original Giant 110mm stem lasted just 2 days on my bike. Don’t know much about the Thomson stem I’m afraid but should be a good un with their reputation. You’re lucky you haven’t got overdrive 2, that would be a dealbreaker for me.

It’s a shed.
It’s 2 or 3 minutes extra work for a thief, and they know what’s in there now.

Sorry to wee in your shoes

Fortunately paranoia is not part of my life.

Great news, except you’ve told the people who stole it that there are more bikes to steal from exactly the same place…

Its like Fort Knox now!

Grey is the new err…purple

I like insipid bikes, nothing too garish for me!!

I use 123-reg for domain registration.

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this ^^^

Research and common sense is the key.

If people have the money to buy one then so what? There isn’t a gun to anyone’s head. Whatever floats their boats, even if it is an electric boat anchor.

Not everyone wants a 125 moped!

Very nice!……but epic reflector fail. 😉

I’m glad the pads tell you its a BMX, otherwise I wouldn’t have known. 🙂

If it ain’t broke……..

Not much on a bike requires 28nm of torque mate, you’ll want a smaller one than that.

K-Force Light carbon cranks do, which is probably what he wants them for (or similar) as he says in his post.

That torque wrench should be fine not terribly accurate but you don’t want to spend on a super-duper wrench just for this one job.

Don’t do it. It’s a perfectly good SHORT cage 1×10 mech.

I hope a risk assessment was done for those!

About a year or so, but my mind is being affected already. I feel for you. 😉

Your sort aren’t welcome here.

Thank you for you’re excellent advice, but I’m afraid this time I’m going to ignore it. My post was simply a comment on the often fruitless “what xxxx should I buy” posts that are so common here. What socks. What arse grease. What stem. What screwdriver. What tyre. If people find it difficult to assimilate information and come to a decision without the often misplaced advice of the collective then I bow down.

Buzz1110 good luck with your quest, but you now have extra eight bikes to consider due to the advice given to you. I’d still have a Santa Cruz, wanted one for about 25 years but never had the spare money.

Has the heat got to you nigelb001!! or you on the Russians?,all I ask for was which would you have,bit of advise!!

Ok, Ok, I’d have the Santa Cruz and so should you….

….or a Giant

Can’t believe why people have such difficulty making their own decisions.

Makes you wonder

I’ve got three girlfriends in mind which should I go for?
Julie, 5’4″, blonde, 36 chest, from Essex
Kylie, 6’4″, ginger, BIG, from Scunthorpe
Ting Tong Makadingdong, 5’10, beard, from the Philipines.

Are any of the three bikes green, if so don’t go for that one.

Well look what you’ve done, its a mess!

And you wonder why the Welsh detest the English. But hey, it’s all being said in jest, isn’t it?

Hmmm. Tad expensive.

You said good! So it must be Manfrotto or Giotto, though not necessarily carbon. I don’t use a monopod but I have two Manfrotto tripods that have bounced around in the car on a daily basis for 15 years – still as good as new. I call that a good buy.

Total of 19 cars in 42 years in our household. Nothing very exciting over the years except the Lancia Fulvia HF which was a beautiful old car to drive but I spent more time under it than in it. Those marked * were mostly driven by my wife.

Austin A40
Ford Escort mk1 van
Austin 1800 (land crab)
Lancia Fulvia 1.3 HF Coupe (crippled me financially so…)
Fiat 127
Fiat 127
Peugeot 305 (worst car I ever owned)
Austin Maxi
Rover 216 Vanden Plas
Fiat Panda
Ford Escort Mk3*
Mazda 323 Familia
Mini 998*
Audi 80 Avant
Mini Mary Quant Designer*
Mazda 323F
Smart City Coupe*
Volkswagen Passat TDI Est
Honda Civic 1.8 VTEC

Smart and Honda currently owned.

I find rear view OK but not brilliant. 3/4 view is not so good but its liveable with, I’ve driven worse, I’ve driven better. Bonus is that when driving at night the headlights of a car following at a reasonable distance behind is mostly blocked by the spoiler bar so no dazzle even though you know its there.

Not normally a fan of GT bikes but that looks really great, a nice clean build, I got a soft spot for a polished frame. Did you repaint the Bombers?

Oh Dear! 34-36 but then I’m not a sensible driver, lots of fairly short journeys and often with two bikes on the roof. 🙁 Motorway 55-65mph – I don’t know how to do that.

Can’t go wrong with hope at all but the new shimano’s just outclass them! Could always try the new deore’s – for 30odd quid can’t go wrong

I’ve got a bike with Hope Tech Evos and another with Deore 596. As good as the Deore’s are there is no way they compare with the Hopes. Now, I haven’t tried XT or XTR but probably never will. All this stuff about Hope customer support experience is rubbish, set them up as you are supposed to and they are fit and forget.

I use Tech Evo M4’s on front and X2’s on rear, both with 180 Hope floating rotors. I certainly don’t feel the need for 200 rotors, the braking power and modulation is that good.

You have to remove the display when using XT. If you strip off the SLX mount and display the fixing should be 2 bolt. These pictures might help you to see if SLX will fit.

If you order them up from CRC you can try them for fit and send them back if they don’t.

Looks like an upgrade to XT is in order 😉

Simple search. Look for Hope Shifter Mounts.

Check the centreing of the rotor between pads. Even if they look centred and have been done by slackening caliper, applying brakes then tightening, it can be out. If one pad hits the rotor first can bend the rotor slightly and cause squealing.

Also glazed pads can squeal. Remove pads and sand lightly with fine wet and dry. Then replace.

Perhaps I’m used to the look of 29ers now but some of the 26er Anthems above look like Bromptons!

Memory loss problems? Deep in the history of mountain bike folklore, all bikes were like this.

My singlespeed is absolutely stealth.

My FS has Crank brothers hubs so don’t need a bell.

My Mongoose Deuce Pro hardtail clicks from headset and headtube, but part of the adjustable head angle set up, they all do it. But it has Shadow+ mech which makes up for it.

…otherwise nothing as I keep everything well adjusted and lubed, but I am amazed at some of the clunkin’, rattling monstrosities I hear on the trails.

…..then getting some tips from other riders it seems there is a lot of conflicting information out there.

and you’re expecting something different on here? 😉

Great bike, 2011 X4 upgraded with Hope/XT/Cobalts/FSA K-Force – nice and light.

Would go 120mm when current forks wear out.

Currently 100 Fox as when bike bought, but if I were to replace it I’d go 120.

Deore 596 – don’t bother with second hand and do listen to your LBS re Avids.

Vintage Surf Green

Must be distressed though – bang it all over with a chain.

Aah superlight compared to what? That is light for a Titec. I got 31.6 one with a secondhand frame a while ago that weighed 440g but it would have survived a nuclear explosion. Titec >/= Heavy = do your homework!

Ive got the Haven on my bike. Its not such such a solid lump of stem, but still stiff as hell and lighter (a bit as long as you don’t compare with the 35mm Havoc.

I use the Haven Mag stem / black faceplate and the matching Haven Mag bar. Look really cool together but also reasonably light and stiff. The DMR bar won’t match. Finish on the Havens is superb. Its not a particularly wide bar at 711mm, but wide enough for me compared to the 680’s I had before. I tried a 780 bar on another bike but finished up chopping to 730. Some like wide, some don’t.