Bit of inflation there, I paid £359 for the 24+ 5 months ago. 

A friend of mine works for Forbidden, I can link you both up if you want to find out anything specific. Also I have a 150mm air shaft for lyriks, let me know if you want it.

I’ve only just found this thread, glad it finished the way it started, if a little delayed. 

25mm gorilla tape did mine just fine. 

I once bought a specialized camber that had the bars on the wrong way. Stem was ok, brake levers were correct but his arthritis meant that he was comfier with the elbow angle of the reverse bars (EA50’s iirc)

he also had these mental platform/pad grips to support his wrists. Maybe this kid had the same affliction?

It all depends on what you like doing, I had this S!ck Wülf set up with 27.5+ wheels, 2.8” tyres and 170mm Yaris and it was an absolute riot,

I very much liked pointing it downhill and smashing into stuff.

whereas I also had this Big Dog set up with 150mm lyriks and I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much because as much as I tried just to be a middle aged mountain biker with “an edge”  I kept riding it like I was on a DH bike and didn’t get much out of it. It wasn’t even especially average with the 130mm forks that came on it.

So basically some are good and some are bad, but if you get the chance to ride a 62° head angle hardtail with a low Bb and long back end, and long forks give it a go because they’re epic

I thought the shittty weather was for indoor riding at the skatepark? 

@captaintomo you have Mail/PM about an air shaft.

I thought this might be an @joebristol thread to find out what to replace the front tractor tyre with!

Pleased to see he’s getting on with the jump bike, looked awkward as hell at the skatepark but looks very natural on the pump track. Love to see it.

Full loop manuals next?

I’m still a bit annoyed that I hesitated with the Mega until it went to £600 meaning I had to get the Sommet. I’ve only ridden it once since it arrived so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway!

Give it a chance with the right size wheel before you make your full judgement.

I came to my (admittedly 29er) 2020 Sommet the same time you did, also from a hard tail with long travel forks. Granted it’s not my first time with such a bike but I found it rode just right, pops and jumps how I want when I want – and that was with basically no suspension setup because my shock pump was leaking so it had “enough and that’ll do” pressure to stop me bottom out, haven’t touched the damping really, just made sure it didn’t ping me off.

but basically from what I can gather in the few times I’ve ridden it is that it’s an ace frame, handles the downhills well, jumps nicely over roots and rocks and as you say, pedals really well (even with me on it…) so get the right wheels on it and you’ll be laughing.

ps, it’s not a very long bike at all, so you can’t even blame that, it’s just longer than your hardtail which if 26” is a few generations older than the Sommet. I had a 2017/8 Primal that I ran 27.5 and 29 at various times and this is every bit as fun as that was, just doesn’t hurt my back so much.

Agree on the gripshift, my nipper had a Kona Makena last year with gripshift and it was crap – his hands weren’t nearly big enough to use it properly whilst staying in control, and he’s a big kid.

Rapid fire all the way.

Welcome to the club!
got Ralph his 24+ for his 7th birthday and it’s been a revelation for him following on from his Frog, sitting in rather than perching on the bike has helped no end – head angle, big tyres and good brakes all help the stability and confidence.

We run his tyres at 12psi but he’s massive so sub 10 should probably be fine for your daughter.

This is on Yer Tiz, he had a blast.

In my experience of

A) dirt junping

B) downhill

C) BMX at skateparks

D) this thread,

it doesn’t matter what you buy him.

BMX is VERY different to mtb, but dirt jumping is very different to DH. Your kid is clearly a skilled rider, better than I was at his age but from what I’ve seen he can be a bit picky. I managed perfectly fine transitioning between my DK General Lee, Stab Deelux, On-One Gimp (that’s where Pimpin Gimp came from) and my Haro DM24 cruiser back in the early 2000’s so your boy will no doubt be fine on whatever. He’s a talented kid. But…

Through reading this thread it seems he gets stuck in his ways and won’t try certain other things if he likes what he likes, until he tries them that is, so maybe see what you can borrow or have a go on locally.

DJ bikes are pretty alien if you haven’t ridden them before, BMX bikes are even worse (cruisers are the worst of all worlds, sorry Joe!) but with time he’ll get on with them ok. See if you can avoid fads – no need for wide, low bars on a DJ bike for example so get him comfortable on whatever cockpit he has.
If he’s going to the skatepark and wants a BMX then what is he going to ride? If it’s just jump lines get him a longer frame bmx with larger tyres. If he’s going to be throwing spins on the mini ramp get him a street bike.
Don’t get him a race bike.

Also, don’t discount outdoor trails – some of the best summer evening and weekends  I can remember as a teen were on DJ bikes at the trails, the best weather, the best people and just chilled flowy days on nice hand built doubles. Not to be sniffed at.

Personally I’d buy him a DJ bike with 26” wheels, single speed, 1 brake, riser bars about 680/720mm wide.
Don’t get him anything from a decade ago u less you know the provenance – they get battered!

Then when he realises he prefers jumping to racing you can sell all the expensive nonsense and get back on with your weekends on the motorbike ;)

I remember in about 1998 I matched my red ART stem with some red Panaracer tyres that I got from the Bike show – that was pretty shocking looking back.

Never been one for anodised parts so that helps.

Price dictated mine, both times.

Last November I wanted a bike, On-One Big Dog for £850 on C2W was a bargain.
This July, wasn’t really looking for a new frame but you buggers had to go and post a PSA for CRC and boom, a 160mm Sommet frame arrived at my house for less than £400. Was inevitable really, you can’t go turning things like that down.

He’s in the same box as Chris Porter and Paul Aston. Yes, they have been very good at making things work for them, and yes they ride fast – but I have fun and I don’t need to go to extremes or spend £9k on a bike to do it.

I bet his Dorrado forks are incredible, and I bet I’d be no faster on them. People like him interest me, I love that they do what they do, it’s just not for me.

Same spec as my big dog was, wheels are ok, tyres are crap, grips and saddle are cheap and uncomfortable.

Gearing is very crisp.

I found the forks crap, with dangerous (in my opinion) damping performance when riding at speed on very rough trails, they’re not the worst fork I’ve ever had but I’d decided after 3 rides to swap those.

otherwise it’s a solid spec for £900, I’m a serial part swapper but I had no reason to swap the wheels, bars or stem when I did, contact points and tyres were all that really needed changing to make it a passable ride.

You say she’s happy with 2 foot drops, get her on Insufficient Funds, the faster you go the bigger they are but the actual face is less than 2 foot I reckon. Easily one of my favourite trails there – huge tabletop jumps at the very bottom though which ruin it for me but you can roll them or just lane on the top.

I think she’ll love it.

I’ve had very few new bikes, had an Apollo Kalamunda in about 1992, Giant Boulder in 1996, Vitus Zenium in 2019 and On-One Big Dog in 2022.

I’ve had about 40 bikes since 1996, maybe more, I’ve built some new bikes with probably 95% new components but there is always something, even if a saddle, that’s second hand.

Helmets arrived today. Enduro lid is lovely, fits nicely (I’m 57cm and the ML fits like a glove or err, a helmet)

The full face is right on my cheek bones though, also feels incredibly light weight.  It sure I’ll keep it, will try it with the other pads in and see if it makes a difference but suspect it’s just the shape.

My other full Face is a Giro Switchblade which is more open and whilst it tries to pull my ears off upon removal it’s not too tight when being work – assume that’s due to the polystyrene construction of this one.

Probably this if you for a small

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/nukeproof-mega-297-alloy-frame-grey

What a great vid! Thanks for the share.

I‘be ordered a full face and open face lid, left my helmet on a bike ride when I went out with the nipper a few month ago and only have my slightly too small giro switchblade at the moment which although comfortable to wear feels like it’s ripping my ears off when I take it off. Hopefully the endura lids fit so I can sack the Giro off.

Prices are all over the place. My Sommet was £369 I think and it’s now £319, the Escarpe was £320, £399 and now back down below £350.

I was super tempted by the mega at £520 but it went to £600 by the time I got brave enough to tell my wife I was buying something else I don’t need and that settled me on the Sommet.

It’s a bargain really even at £609, but £500 is a great deal!

and @joebristol it’s on my list of things to do. School holidays and childcare very much getting in the way though.

Finally built my bargain frame up, can’t wait to get out on it.

So it’s full GX eagle.
Superstar V6/Element wheels.

Tranz-X 200mm dropper (thanks STW)

170mm Lyrik RC2s

I don’t think it’s any heavier than the Big Dog to be fair, and having sold that for £170 I basically have a nice new enduro bike for £190. Can’t argue with that

@joebristol I know a lot about DH bikes and I think it looks ace too.

Those that think it looks weird, it’s because it’s a DH bike, designed to be ridden whilst standing and attacking not sat down and pedalling. Wheelbase will likely be shorter (or very similar) to an equivalent enduro/trail bike and it’ll sit taller overall due to the suspension travel. It will ride booooootifully though.

He’s come along way since those earlier Fury’s, they were hideous to ride compared to the last one and this session will be.

@_tom_ this is the 290 chainstay, doesn’t curve much – assuming the 275 isn’t a million miles off you’ll probably be fine unless you run really wide tyres

Parcel force weren’t perfect on my delivery either.
dispatched Thursday, processed Friday. Out for delivery Saturday – I ignored that – I’ve never had a parcel force delivery on Saturday that I didn’t pay through the nose for. It was then due Monday with a delivery slot, I wasn’t in so chose to delivery 2 working days from then. I make that to be Wednesday, they do maths differently in parcelforce so it didn’t move from the depot until thursday. No time of delivery though, Sod’s Law it would probably come while I was on the school run. As it happened I ran into the driver in asda car park and he was happy to give me the box after I’d given him a few details as it saved him driving down the lanes to get to us – he’s a good egg!

The frame (Sommet) is lovely btw, was immaculate. Headset seems pretty rubbish but it will do. It’s mostly built now and I can’t wait to get out on it.

If you happen to buy a cheap lyrik or Yari (which would be a lovely stiff fork for the frame) and they aren’t the right travel (they never are when they are cheap) I can sell you a 150mm air shaft for them – it’s now surplus to requirements as I bought the Sommet in the sale and will be putting the 170 shaft back in my forks :)

Was tempted by the Escarpe, Sommet and Mega – tricky one because I only need the Escarpe (I don’t even need that) but for £40 extra I could have had a Super Deluxe with the Sommet – trouble is for less than £200 extra I could have a carbon Mega…

anyway, it’s gone up now and £600 is still a bargain, it’s just less attractive than £520. So as I don’t need a full sus frame I’ve settled on the Sommet for £360 with the Super Deluxe shock. I’ve got a 170mm shaft for my Lyriks and everything else will swap over.

£360 is ludicrous

Just to close the thread out – standard +20mm PM adapters work fine, you just need a ball headed hex key to secure the rearmost bolt.
my adapters are unbranded, probably Toby and Theo or whoever they are from eBay, sort of angled so they set the calliper at an angle rather than just lifting it out 10mm. Job jobbed.

now to bleed them, OEM SRAM G2R’s apparently don’t have bleeding edge so I’ll be pissing oil on the garage floor later no doubt,

I hardly ever watch YouTube, I didn’t realise it could be so entertaining- that was a great vid, thanks!

I’ve just found 2 +20mm adapters in the garage so might whack em on and see how it goes, a cut down hex key might be required for the bolts but we’ll see.

@joebristol I’ve only got a 180mm on the front at the moment so with my +3 stone that I have on you even a 220mm rotor light not be enough!

A week over there of lift assisted trails and he can ride more in a week than in a month over here, longer and more gnarly trails will give him an immense boost of skills in a short length of time.

trouble is his uk trails may well bore him upon his return

Looks like a grand day out, good luck for the race!

If I’ve been out for a pootle it’ll probably be in about 8, if I’ve been on a proper ride the back wheel will probably have been off to put it in the car so it’ll be left in 12 because that’s what it will have been in to put the wheel back in.

maybe I’ve got too much faith in mech springs, but I can’t see it having much of an effect

Number 2 is made up with his Vitus 24+. He’s 139cm talk and I’m not sure I’d put anyone much smaller on it – as pointed out earlier the BB isn’t as low as the cannondale Cujo or the Whyte but he’s just about comfortable on it. Saddle at riding height he can tip the bike over to get on and off and when he’s on it and going it looks great.
Forks look suspension corrected so can always upgrade at a later time.

I used Royal Mail/parcel force when I had to post something high value out that way, arrived about 3 days later all signed for and happy. Wasn’t cheap mind!