A very well known ruin/landmark if you’ve ever been to Glentress.

Seaton Delaval Mausoleum and the crypt underneath it.

Granted it doesn’t quite meet your budget but the Santa Cruz Nickel ticks the boxes. 120mm rear travel but can be run with 200×57 rear shock to give 142mm of travel. Up front is fine with anything between 120-140mm. The app linkage pedals very well. It’s bombproof and the geometry is pretty sweet (very similar to the Blur trc). Frames can be picked up for £3-400. You can even squeeze 27.5 wheels in if you want to although it doesn’t ride as well with 27.5 wheels in.

I have both X-fusion Slant and RS Pike on different bikes. The Pike just shades it in terms of overall damping quality (it’s very good indeed). The X-fusion for the money is fantastic though. All the fork you need for 95% of the time. It’s basic as it only has rebound but it’s reliable and simple to service.

As above, sounds like you want a Whyte.

Ticks the boxes:

http://whyte.bike/gb/models/commuterroad/rd-7-road-disc/suffolk/

JCL – Member
Those Storm Controls are outrageous. I wish they were 2.3″.

Specialized do the Hillbilly. It’s a DH carcass so quite heavy but they are great mud tyres if you want a 2.3 spike type tyre. Work a treat tubeless as well.

That’s the one kayla1

andyh –

Used to use the Bike Place up at Cowgate for stuff I couldn’t do/didn’t have time for before they moved to Bellingham. Anyone know where the mechanic went as he was great (he was telling me he was considering a job from Aldi a few weeks before the shop moved).

Dave who you talk of is no longer in the bike trade. He did indeed take a job with Aldi. I know this as I was the other mechanic/shop bitch at The Bike Place. I really enjoyed my 5 years at The Bike Place, shame it went ‘tits up’ but the place just wasn’t sustainable for a number of different reasons.

Zee! When are you ever over braked. Power and modulation in spades. Much better than Deore, I own both. Deore are great but they don’t have the power or control of the Zee especially in very steep techy situations. Still a big fan of Hope tech 4 as well but Zee are better value.

Junkyard makes a very good point about Hopes.

Great write up and pics. I’ve done sections of this route but not the whole route as one. That’s going to change pretty soon though, now on the, ‘to do’ list! Got to agree about Warnscale, it’s a brutal descent made even trickier when it’s wet. The route is worth doing just for this descent alone. Top marks fella.

Got a Croix de fer 30 on order, was due 21/12/14. That date has now gone back until the 18/1/15. Not sure if this date is valid for all pre orders but I did get my order in reasonably early. So check with your LBS if you have one on order.

As for value, getting mine at trade price and on the bike to work scheme, so that’s about £700

Try Embers. Excellent fit and the merino quality is also excellent. Not the cheapest but good quality kit never is. Better than Howies in my opinion although I do like Howies stuff. Way better than the Endura merino I also own. Not tried on one kit.

Not liking the Zesty Will?

PeterPoddy has a point. I also work for LBS, a slightly bigger one with 6 shops. Lots of the staff own Genesis bikes for the reasons PeterPoddy points out. The shop I work for also does Specialized, Giant, Focus amongst others. Hardly any of the staff own these brands. It’s nothing to do with the staff deal we get either as we get greater discount on Specialized and Giant. Simply put, Genesis are great looking, very functional, great riding, good value and just a little different. Looking forward to my Croix de fer 30 turning to go with my Fugio and Volant.

I’ve got Spyre brakes fitted to the CX and they are great with plenty of power. Have ridden HyRd’s which are also great with even more power and feel than the Spyre. Got a set of the new Shimano Hydraulics on order which I’m hoping will be the ultimate solution to braking performance and looking good.

So many good rides this year but two in particular stand out.

1. EWS at Tweedlove. Cracking event with great riding, craic and weather.

2. Torridon loop while on holiday in the Highlands. Again cracking weather. This time a solo ride with the Coire Lair descent really standing out.

Here’s to 2015 being an even better year!

Just gone from Hope Tech M4 to Zee. Both great brakes with similar sort of feel. Zee shade it for power though and they come in quite a bit cheaper.

As the guys above have said the Magic Mary excels in the loam, mud, wet root, wet rock situations that it was designed for. I’ve had mine out on big mountain loops up at Torridon recently and it performed really well in the numerous rocky conditions that I encountered. Having said that if you ride rocky terrain a lot then I don’t think it would last very long due to the nature of the tread pattern. I prefer a 2.5 Maxxis Minion up front for big mountain days to be honest. Also find the super tacky compound that Maxxis use to be a little more sticky than the Trailstar compound. The Magic Mary is definitely not a trail centre tyre either, it’s total overkill for that.

Got a CCDB air CS on my Rocket with a X-Fusion Slant up front. Bike rides great and doesn’t feel mis-matched. The CCDB does outshine the fork in outright performance though. I reckon for an adjustment and true performance match then either a BOS or Pike would be the forks to go for.

Ok, it’s 150mm at the rear but it is 160mm up front. Still loving this bike.

As always video kind of flattens the trail out a bit. That vid gives a pretty good idea of what the ‘golf’ stages are like though. Fortunately race day was considerably drier. At around 4min 20secs on the vid is definitely steeper than it looks, having said that 3G is probably one of the mellower Carberston trails.

Here’s some helmet cam of a mate riding part of Stage 2, Jawbone.

Loved the 2014 EWS and will definitely be entering (or trying to enter) the 2015 EWS. The drop out rate over the weekend was crazy though, so think twice about whether you’re up to the task. A lot of people who wanted to enter didn’t get a place but a lot who entered didn’t finish (many dropping out on day 1).

Zeeeeeeeee………unless you really NEED the tool free adjust.

Seems a little too cheap to me.

getonyourbike – how does the new G150 ride? Maybe interested in one of these myself. Has the new frame design resolved the flex issues of last years bike? I’m guessing the front and rear suspension feel much better matched as well with the better rear shock this year. Any feedback appreciated. Cheers.

Bikediscount.de are doing them for £161.04 plus £5 postage. Usually 48hr delivery.

http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/zee-disc-brake-br-m640-b-set-86999

A praxis works bb converter should do the job. Upgrade are the UK distributor so most LBS should be able to help.

https://praxiscycles.com/product/shimano-conversion-bb/

If I’m looking at this PDF correctly then it appears the Hope do a bb that allows 30mm axle cranks to fit conventional threaded bb’s.

http://cdn.hopetechnology.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/BBSelectionTable_Finalweb.pdf

I have not tried the Butcher/Clutch SX combo but I do currently have a Hillbilly and and Purgatory grid set up tubeless on Stans Flow rims. All running fine. Also got a Butcher control on another bike set up tubeless running fine.

Try again I reckon.

I would go with something more robust than a specialized control tyre. Good tyres but I reckon you want some tougher sidewalls. If you are running Purgatory tyres then at least look at the grid version.

If you currently have cup D fitted then you’ll need cup F to run a tapered fork on your frame.

Does anyone know how many Rockets were actually made in the first batch? I’ve been loving mine for the last 18 months or so but I definitely feel pretty lucky to have got one in the first place. There can’t be that many of them on the trails at the moment. I’m not sure I would have waited as long as some of you guys have for a new frame but those that have waited are going to get a really sweet ride.

Edinburgh Bike Co-op in Newcastle have a pair.

TRP Spyre are very good indeed. Lots of power, easy to set up, easy to change pads, look good, light weight. I have nothing negative to say about them. Maybe the new shimano hydraulics will blow them out of the water but they will cost a lot more when they finally get released.

How are you liking the Slants on it brunse11?
Do they match the poppyness of the rear?

The Slants suit the frame very well. They sit high in their travel and have a nice progressive feel. I’m yet to find a situation they don’t really like. Great forks for the money. Might try them at 150mm some time, currently set at stock 160mm travel.

a bubble of excitement

That’s a great way to describe the Cotic. Engaging, fun and exciting to ride.

The lesser spotted Cotic Rocket in the wild although it’s not the elusive UK origin species

Wysiwyg – same email that is in my profile, cheers.

Just join the queue and order a Rocket. Have been loving mine for the last 18 months 🙂

Ah, right. Purple Orange Five with white fox forks. Red and blue Berghaus top. White and pink fox flux lid, googles. Blonde hair.

Wysiwyg – I don’t think Angie will mind. If you’ve got several of her just post a couple of choice pics. I guess the Berghaus kit will be good since she works for them.