A lot of crap is talked about patching tyres… I carry a standard external patch kit- bits of “string” and tube of goo, plus CO2 cartridges. These are very reliable if fitted right- they can leak air but they rarely fail completely, BMW’s “40mph and 200 miles” is purely from lawyer paranoia, liability protection. The most important thing is that if a patch does fail, all that happens is you get the exact same puncture back, some people talk like it’s a death sentence.

Once I get home I replace with an internal “mushroom” plug- the reason being these are 100% reliable if fitted right- they’re vulcanised in, but also the air pressure forces them into place- there’s no way they can come loose as long as there’s air in the tyre.

The only exception is big punctures with lots of carcass damage, and sidewall damage. Oh, and I don’t like to patch near the edge, but that’s just a personal paranoia. Probably 3/4 of the miles I’ve done on motorbikes (70000 or so) have been with at least one plug in a tyre, including trackdays ;)

Depends on your idea of general XC, the Carrera Fury’s absolutely untouchable for value (£400 currently, comes with £250 worth of Tora 318 fork! Better’n you find on some bikes costing twice as much. Named parts pretty much all the way through (either 317s or Singletrack rims ferinstance) but it’s more a trail bike than pure XC, it carries a bit of extra pie because of its stronger build and 130mm fork. But if that’s not a worry it can’t be beat. TBH it’s a bit ridiculous that it wasn’t in the MBUK test, they’ve gone away and recommended a far inferior bike as a result.

I used to go on holiday up those parts most years when I was a kid, stayed on the banks of loch earn… Killin’s lovely, hope you’re braced for the endless onslaught of tourists :mrgreen:

Put it this way, if the coater doesn’t know how to prep a bike, you should probably look elsewhere- there’s plenty that do, and you’ll probably get a better result. Powdercoaters really vary in quality and results.

Yeah, I had the exaxt same decision… I had a go of the Soul at the glentress demo day and tbh it just felt perfect, but it’s a lot of money. So I was looking for similiar alternatives, and obviously 456 comes up. It’s a full lb heavier, if that bothers you (it bothers me, I’m still recovering from a busted leg and 6 months on crutches so light is good). And the finish isn’t as good either I reckon.

But at 130mm the geometry runs really similiar to the Soul- half a degree slacker or thereabouts, top tube for mediums is a quarter of an inch longer, and I think the chainstays are about a quarter longer too- and of course you’ve got more options too since it’ll deal with a 160mm fork if you decide you want that. It’s a tricky decision. But the Soul just felt perfect from the first moment and I don’t want to risk missing whatever that special ingredient was. After 5 minutes on it I was more comfortable on it than I am on my Scandal after about 4 months.

So, I figure screw it ;) I’ve been looking for a used medium inbred or 456 just to try in the meantime, though. I might still do that, still kind of doing battle with the whole idea :P

My legs are dead the day after a ride- I can’t even commute 3 days in a row- because I’m still recovering from a big injury, but I just recently started using the SIS rego recovery drink and it does seem to make a big difference. My local tescos sells the bottles (10 doses I think) for about £7, so it’s cheap enough to try out, no great loss if it doesn’t work. It’s not especially nice, but it’s not disgusting either.

I’ve got Merlin XT/717 on mine just now, I’m a cack handed knob but I’ve still not bent them. Went with centrelock for the lighter weight… I’m pretty light though at 10 stone so I don’t give them the hardest time, but they’ve proven themselves more than strong enough for me so far. Can’t fault Merlin’s build or service at all.

I do wish I’d gone with 719s if I’m honest, just for the width- despite what it says on the websites Mavic do rate 717s for up to 2.3 if you’re running below 50psi, but I like the 2.35 Nevegals. oops.

GT I-drive XCR? Bang on £1000 from Halfords, won the last MBUK/WMB group test for £1000 full suss hands down…

“The current i-Drive 5 is the best all-round suspension bike GT has ever made, and one of the best available anywhere for high traction, high trust riding. We found that it was more than light enough to upgrade to any top line spec you’ve got your eye on too, which makes this very well equipped entry level version even more of a bargain”

Yeah, just looking for a frame here… Going to break my scandal up for the first build on the soul. For now at least, hoping to throw a bit more cash at it later in the year. Well, thanks guys, I guess whatever shop will actually offer a discount gets the prize… Otherwise straight to cotic.

Ah, cool, cheers… I was thinking it’d have been further up, the last section of blue climb on the way up to spooky woods has turned into a huge mess of sharp rocks…

I’d not actually priced this yet, most of it’s off of ebay and bikeradar. Frame, £70 (On One Scandal)… Forks, £170 (Revelation 426 dual air) off Bikeradar. X9 shifters and rear mech were £40 on ebay. Easton EC70 bars were £30 on ebay (yeah I know, second hand carbon but I’m not dead yet). Seatpost, Raceface Next SL carbon, £50 off Bikeradar. Stem is a DMR Conrod, it seemed like a good idea at the time, £2 off ebay.

So I was doing pretty well til I got the wheels, XT brakes, SLX chainset and XT cassette and front mech new :P

Hey, out of curiosity where did you puncture?

Shimano say not to. I ignore ’em and use finish line in mine, because it’s what I happened to have lying around. The bikehut stuff will almost certainly be absolutely fine too.

Ah. But why is it easier to balance at very, very, very low speed than it is stationary? Can’t be the gyroscope effect because there’s so little of it…

I caught myself singing out loud the other week. It wasn’t even anything remotely appropriate, it was an emmy the great tune. Hardcore!!1!one

I had a wee bit of bad attitude off people the first time I went to glentress as I was still on my cheap carrera, it got some smart-arsed comments, but by and large I’d say people there are fine- generally folks are quick to pull over if you’re fast, and say thanks if you’re fast, and when we’ve had mechanicals or crashes usually people do stop to check. There’s always going to be knobs but I still reckon they’re in the minority.

My brother has a Revolution Courier Race, which I’ve been using for the last few months… Lovely little bike, weighs basically nothing, does the job. I’ve never liked drop bars, this rides like the mountain bikes I grew up on.

Wellgo’s MG-1s are really good, and stupidly cheap- I know people sneer at Wellgo but they make most of the other pedals recommended in here ;) The MG1s are very similiar to DMR V12s, only lighter and more reliable. With 5 10s I doubt you’ll need more grip, I’ve ridden on these in trailies on my way to a trailbuilding session and they worked fine, 5 10s are overkill frankly.

There’s a feller trying to sell a Prince Albert on here just now, check the classifieds. Surprised nobody’s mentioned the Cotic BFE?

I wear a Hex, kind of wish I’d gone for a Xen sometimes but it’s still a good, comfy, protective helmet. I’ve got a Bell Faction as well but it’s just sooooo hot, it’s become my winter helmet.

A mate of mine wears a Met Parachute, which is one of the sort-of-full-face XC lids… It looks a bit odd, but I do like it, people make the mistake of treating it as though it’ll be as protective as a DH helmet, which it isn’t, it’s more an XC helmet with a bit of extra protection, and it does well for that. He’s already very ugly and terrified of becoming even more hideously disfigured.

North of Scotland should be great for road riding… (I only road ride to work and back, for everything else I have an engine, but routes like the bealach na ba to applecross are pretty incredible on 2 wheels… it’s genuinely alpine)

How cheap? Decathlon Rockrider 6.is shockingly good for £360… Not as good as it was, it’s dropped to X5 instead of X7 but still.

“Well you could have asked and we’d have let you. It wasn’t why I went (you don’t put 1.3kg tyres on a bike for a demo day), but it’s always nice to get people slinging a leg over things. As it were.”

Balls. I thought it’d be too cheeky to ask so I bottled it! Never again, if I see it again I’ll grab it straight from your hands without so much as a by-your-leave :lol:

Nothing wrong with the Tesco ones, no doubt folks’d be happier to pay 3 times as much for a logo… But I’ve had a set in my scandal and a set in the road bike for 6 months now, only one puncture, despite them being waaaay overstretched in the 2.35s on the mtb.

They’re made by Tioga… Should do the job just fine.

Chaos if you want a 2l reservoir and smaller, less noticable back- still space for a proper man-size pump, toolkit, tubes, waterproof, fleece and some food. Or Mule or Havoc if you want a bigger one.

I was sorely tempted to nick your bike when you left it in the lapierre tent :mrgreen: Was going to pop over and say hello but I had a Cotic Soul demo booked. One Scandal for sale :wink: