Picked the bike up this morn, Im suprised at how small the 18″ looks with its sloping TT! & it ‘feels’ lighter than the 29.5lbs claimed weight. The graphics look really good too.

I will defo be changing the standard bars (how big is that rise!)& stem (flimsy) & will be buying a 30mm seatpost as i dont like the idea of a shim.

Cant wait to get back home after work!

Mine comes tomorrow. I can’t wait.

Richie – what size is yours as I’m 5 11 and ordered the 18

Chisel, i was actually looking for a Cotic soul when i stumbled upon the alpitude.

Your build sounds good I too am going for the SLX double but with revs instead of the pikes. & i would also be considering the gravity dropper.

Would you say the genesis is a better allround ride then? or is it not as XC focussed?

I have already thought about the stem length as im wanting it for general XC use as well a playing about, so i think a longer stem will be my first purchase (ill give it a few rides though to see what i think).

Thanks for the pointers Richie

Sounds good, it was a spur of the moment purchase and have only started to research it after buying.

James – What forks do you run on yours?

Chisel – Have you weighed yours? Mine is the same spec as Benji’s so think it should come in just under 29lbs.

Does anybody own this bike?

Air, shocker! Ha

One reason for selling is that ididn’t loose any money on it. But the main reason was that I’m off to sierra Nevada in June and wanted to take something a little bit burlier with more travel + I didn’t fancy my carbon framed beauty being mishandled at the airport

I had one. Only just sold it last week end (I sold it to my mate who was I was trying to get back into mtb’g, he rode the bike round penmachno loved it and bought it)

Just so you know mine was built up quite light with crossmax wheels thompson stem and post & w i d e riser bars. It weighed around 27lbs built with pedals.

I would say its the best XC bike I have ever ridden. It had all good qualities of a hardtail going uphill with added traction(I never used propedal as there is zero bob). And when pushed downhill it felt like it had more than 4.2″ on the rear.

When I bought it I treated it with kid gloves, but over time I realised it could handle more. As long as you realise its an XC orientated bike and dont start hitting 6ft drops its a great bike.

All sound good, i’ve just bought the book mentioned above and i think ill use Waterside House as (like you say) Parkfoot is a bit commercial (last time i was there it was full of chavs). Thanks

I bought a MTN MORPH yesterday, as im not tubeless anymore I have started to get at least 1 puncture per ride. I was fed up of my blackburn mini pump so plumped for the above.

Yes, I got another puncture & yes the pump worked 100x better than the blackburn. The fold out footpack worked well (stand on it) and the ‘proper’ handle made a massive difference. £25 well spent I think.

I’ve stopped at pooley bridge before, that is where we were considering to stay. Idealy we wanted not to drive too far from where we were camping so Ambleside might be our choice.

Can anybody recommend any ‘natural’ routes or a guide book which they have used and found to be good. We have only got two days and want to make as much use of our time as possible.

Ill second one_happy_hippy’s comment. I just use my Sigma 24-70 2.8 only downside is that its massive and heavy.

Blazing Saddles in Hebden Bridge, Not Stif (leeds) though.

Pace rc405. I’ve tried everything. I don’t ride my other bikes much now!

no pikes ot sold.

Very nice, we have booked to go in june and cant wait. Did you go tubeless?

S4R

I’m sticking with my first plan my legs are also tired from a ride yesterday and I woke up too late to make it there for 9. Gisbun it is then.

Have a good ride.

no, matt is my neighbour. are you the kid dropping the tool off a few weeks ago?

By the roundabout off keighley Rd, I was going to go play out on the big bike at Gisburn tomorrow but i think ill give that a miss. Where you from Taka?

I might have to join you all then, I only live in Oxenhope and only know 1 route in Hebden Bridge. Embarrasing

Just out of interest how long will this ride take?

All i’ll say is crate train your dog, my dog never pooped inside. Which is good, as you dont want to slip on a poop when you get up in the morning!

bomberman- I know, its quite annoying really as many a weekend ill be driving off to ride, but if I spent more time looking into rides around me id be laughing!

I was shown round a route near where I live, Oxenhope/’shoeshine’/cullingworth/St Ives/Harden moor etc – 19miles.

Did Llandegla on Fri and after today I realise I prefer natural routes/singletrack.

Considering I live in oxenhope I cant believe I have been missing out on great singletrack right on my doorstep!

Cheers sootyandjim for the offer but I dont trust that kind of carrier now! I dont know if you ever found yours to be unstable when in use, i did. I’ll be pleased to see it go.

I went on Friday as my lass like it there. Its not techincal but it’s fun if you ride it fast.

I have 2 roof mounted Thule carriers, one is the version where you take the front wheel off (which I cant fault) and one where both wheels stay on.

After 3 yrs of trouble free use the latter came a cropper on way to Llandegla on friday as the middle bit that holds the bike upright decided to fail and the bike fell over while I was in the fast lane on motorway!!

Luckily my missus’ meta fell into my bike, it made a right ding and after noticing that about 10 cars behind me flashing we realised something was up. Im off to Halfrauds tom to buy another like the one I use for my bike as I think its are safer and makes much less noise.

My tyres say min 35 i run them at 30, no probs at all. Fire XC BTW

Usual loop ‘over’t hill’ @ Hebden Bridge, cant wait aint been out since Thursday!

Digital photography by Mike Hemsley is a good starting point. Big hardback book with clear instructions and does not get bogged down in details & only costs 7 quid.

If you start messing around with photoshop get Photoshop pro photography handbook by Chris Weston & Adam Juniper which is ace.

Defo worth getting. I played it constantly while I was off work with an injury. The map is huge and its the most challanging game i’ve played in a long time.

Ill second EA70 low rise, I have them on both my bikes. I would not buy anything else. cheap @ £35 and about 240g, really strong too!