Seems to be 3 left @£215.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225384722139?hash=item3479f9eedb:g:LOYAAOSwrB1j1qb7

Saw those, but wondered if the 27.5 will take a plus tyre?

Scratch my earlier suggestion, they appear to be sold out. And no wonder at that price

Not sure it will fit 27+, but if it does I would recommend the rockshox revelation.
Currently to be had for £234 on eBay at alpkit outlet

Very much Barzo/Mezcal combo

I have one each of those in different bikes. Chris King is a no brainer. Followed by Hope, then cane creek.
I’ve replaced the bearings in my Cane creek, but never in my hope or ck.
The Chris King is sooo bloody expensive though, but as has been said, if you’ve forked out for an Arc, might as well go all the way

Just completed this swap for my mate on his Bizango. I pursuaded him to part with £234 for a 130mm Rockshox Revalation (Ebay Alpkitoutlet). Not C2W though.
Needed a new headset as the Raidon steerer is a straight and the Revalation is tapered, but found one on wiggle for £15 or so.
He says its changed the bike very much for the better.

I would have thought they were the same hub. I haven’t really looked at them side by side yet, will have look tomorrow. As I say, the 2 different wheelsets are like chalk and cheese in terms of hub volume.

I received my alloy xc this afternoon. Very quiet. About the same as the dtswiss 370 hubs I have, if not a little quieter.
I also have a pair of the carbon xc wheels. By far the loudest hubs I’ve owned. I love them! No need for a bell.

A very timely reappearance of this thread, as I have just bought a set of the silt alloy xc for my on one whippet. I already own a pair of the carbon xc and I’m very impressed.
Was going to buy a set of Hunt Xc race as they’re just down the road from me, but couldn’t resist the £100 price difference.

Jezkidd
Free Member
I have a Fairlight holt on order. I’ve spent a fair bit of time looking at a sour pasta party too, both of which are steel

Also have a Holt on order. Hopefully be a decent mile muncher of a bike for longer rides.
I own an On One whippet which I love for nice easy xc riding. Can recommend.

Thanks chaps, much appreciated

Can you not stop messing about with your childish jokes? Its a Sirius question.

My only problem is that I’m going to need them on my other bike

Funnily enough, the thought did cross my mind.

First ride on tech 4 e4 today. Tons of power and tons of modulation. Took a while to get them dialled in to what I wanted but they’re superb!

devash
Free Member
2,000 miles on my current threaded BSA DUB BB. Some people on here must ride in some horrible filthy wet weather.

Yes, i do. But still no problems since swapping over to Hope BB. Guess I must have got a dodgy batch…. ;)

Dub are renowned for short service life. After my 4th went very quickly, I gave up and put Hope on with the adapter kit. No problems since over the last 2 years.

susepic
Full Member
+1 for Truleigh Hill, it’s horrid, and one of those featureless 200m, straight ones with a horrid surface

Both Streat Bostall and West of truleigh hill are grim, I’ll give you that. But nothing compared to the glorious pain of Absolute B****rd aka the tank tracks just off the SDW. Never gets easier.

Im looking to do it this summer. 12 hours is about the best I can hope for as a mere mortal. I value my knees too much to try singlespeeding in general, let alone trying Amberley Mount on a SS.

Great bike, great build. You’ll love it. Bloody cheap for that build too. I’m guessing alot of that cost was postage from the far flung corners of the world!

I am 5ft 9 with short legs and a longer body have a large Spur.

I took it out this morning after riding my winter hack for 2 months (on one whippet) and was reminded just how fun and capable it is.

Thanks OP, just in time for my new build.

@susepic Went out, managed the Clayton climb in zone 2. Quite happy with that. The ride was infinitely less boring along the top of the downs than on the road too
Enjoyed the ride much more today.

@john_l but Clayton hill = people in cars. I hate riding roads with a passion. A fair amount of our group have had near misses locally and it just puts me off completely.

@snownrock exactly how I feel!

@susepic it’s not training as such, just our regular riding tends to be at this level. I’ve just got to try and get up top as slowly as possible and slow down when I get up there too. I’ve been conditioned into years of ‘getting the horrible climb out the way as quickly as possible’!

@robertajobb thanks for the reply. I wasn’t expecting to have adapted to the training within 2 weeks, but wanted opinions from seasoned long distance riders be sure it was a worthwhile training plan in the first place. The idea of a basic 80/20 split of very easy to very hard makes a lot of sense to me. As does doing more focused easy long riding. I guess I get my share of intervals in my normal riding.

@n0b0dy0ftheg0at the most local climb to me is Ditchling Beacon. The climb I used yesterday was Streat Bostall and I was in zone 3/4 the whole way despite being in my easiest gear (30×46 for reference). At the top of the climb I was in zone 5. I wasn’t trying to hurry up there either!

Just going to have to learn to plod. And ride solo more.

Thanks for the varied responses. Unfortunately, I don’t have a turbo, so no indoor riding for me, although it does look a lot easier to stick to the zones.
I think the reply that resonates with me the most is @crazy-legs idea that many riders only ride at one speed/effort level. This is true for me.
I’m going to try to embrace the slow z2 and do more solo rides. Just got to find some z2 ways up onto the downs….

Bunked off work

The reply above is fair comment. The standard rule applies- buy the bike for the majority of riding you do. If you’re managing to get round the Surrey hills/ occasional trail centre ride on your current bike, then pretty much any modern bike (within reason) would be an improvement.
It’s all about the level of compromise. For the record, the vast majority of my riding is South Downs, and I ride an on one whippet and find it to be a great bike for xc riding. Would be even better if I added a dropper post.

If Planet X do cycle to work, then my other suggestion would be for a new updated Scandal. My friend rides one for the exact riding you describe.

Rustychain
Free Member
This offering caught my eye the other day and meets your criteria.

https://www.galibier.cc/product/courchevel-storm-waterproof-cycling-jacket/

Thanks for the heads up, was looking for a new waterproof and I like galibier stuff. Hopefully be as good as the rest of the bits I’ve had from them.

Currently running my V2 with a 140 pike. Been an excellent ride for 4 years. Never felt the need for more travel.

I second the Whippet suggestion.

FWIW, I’m 5 foot 9 with short legs and I’m on a large. I demoed a large and it felt a bit long, but I was coming from a 2017 5010, which was (and still is) small by comparison.
Stuck a 40mm stem on, and it’s absolutely spot on. Awesome bicycle.

Oh, and it’s perfect for the southdowns/ stanmer park. I’m just over the hill in Hassocks and thats where I ride mostly.

Whippet has my vote. Fantastic bike. Maybe not at the current price though. Or colour for that matter.

I would be doing the swap with @benpinnick

Binley Mega Chippy?

@Mjsmke It’ll be a no to ikons for SDW. I’ve had a set on my lightweight xc bike and they’re cut to ribbons. Got sealant coming out in 3 places. They’re holding for now, but as soon as they fail it’ll be back to mezcal/barzo combo.

*Not so stealth add* I have a brand new 10-52 derailleur/cassette/shifter and chain for sale in the classifieds…

As has been mentioned above, Specialized grid casing tyres have always worked for me. I’ve yet to have a sidewall failure (awaits catastrophic failure on today’s ride,😂), and I ride SDW for a fair proportion of my weekly miles.
I prefer an Eliminator upfront and slaughter rear. Both 2.3. Rolls well, reasonable weight but tough enough to withstand the flint. I also had a ground control grid which rolled really well, but took it off for winter as it had zero grip.

I use Mezcal/ Mezcal or Mezcal Barzo combo on the odd occasion up there on my Whippet but not sure Id trust the sidewalls on a one day sdw attempt. Not used them enough to comment to be fair.

Buy buy buy! I use mine for commutes, southdowns xc, flat bridleway bashing, and everything in between. I just couldn’t bring myself to buy a drop bar gravel bike, so this is the perfect compromise.