It’s my sons 7th birthday on Sunday and there is a new Vitus 24+ in the garage for him (well, 2 actually but that’s another story) because it seems to be the best trade off in spec, weight and BB drop. He’s 1.4m tall and his sister has a Wild 24 that he still doesn’t look hugely confident on – maybe it’s a little long – will report back on how a kid his size suits it once he’s been on it.

PS, get the colour they want too!

That’s exactly what I did with my Bird last year, had 36’s and a DHX2 on it and figured I’d never get the money back so put some rev’s and a Delux air shock on it for peanuts and got back nearly what I paid for it.
You won’t get the cost of the upgrades back if you sell with the AXS on it – you might not even get it by selling separately but if you can make the bike “cheap” you’ll have a much better chance of selling it, and then selling the components.

I have the steel version, a Big Dog – I decided it needed more 1990’s about it so I upped the travel and went for 150mm travel Lyriks, it’s pretty amazing down hills now, done a few 15km rides with my son on roads and gravel paths and they haven’t been problematic for that either. I’d get whatever your budget will allow

Sounds like a great weekend experience for you both Weeksy, he was about 30 seconds behind the elite women seeding time (all I had to reference at the time) which sounds bloody incredible!

That photo is superb

How does he get on with the jumps after a full run? I’m usually breathless just watching on Redbull I can’t imagine having to hold on and pedal after 5 mins or whatever it is of having the shit beaten out of me by that trail!

You don’t look like you’re jumping, you stand upright and pull the front up but there doesn’t appear to be any pumping or spring from the bike – sort of dead sailoring it if I can say so without being rude.

How high can you bunny hop the cruiser? Maybe try a load of bunny hops to see how you get on and then transfer that to the jumps, a rigid bmx is way different to even a hardtail mtb so you need to relearn the basics to get anywhere.

Mine is smooth but slow, it sat on my work bench for 2 or 3 months whilst I ordered a shim – is it normal for them to be slow? It’s compared to a Selcof off an On-One which was equally smooth but a little faster to full extension.

I’m undecided between the Vitus 24+ and the Nucleus 24 for my son, he’s a tall 6 year old (size of an 8 year old I’m told) and is 7 in 3 weeks so it’s new bike time.

I prefer the concept of the 24+ because of the simplicity and it being lighter than the nucleus, but the nucleus has a cassette and freehub instead of a 7 speed freewheel.

Nucleus is also currently cheaper which is nice, but he doesn’t need suspension forks so I wonder if it’s a step too far.

I’ll probably just flip a coin when I get around to ordering but they both look superb to be fair.

Your priorities are way off, the van can wait – update us!!

I’ll never get a mechanical when cycling to work – I’ve seen enough Jeremy Vine videos to know that cycle commuting makes you feel obliged to cycle into danger and pedal faster rather than brake when someone might start to drive near you. I think I’d rather drive.

Good luck with the biking!

Huge fan of the second hand market, I’ve got a set of red Lyrik RC2’s arrive today that were a little over £300, I’ll need to change the air shaft to suit my bike but they’re leagues ahead of anything I’d have bought new.

Even if you don’t buy my 35’s I’m still going to do the aggressive forum thing by insisting my way is the right way :)

Good luck in your hunt

I like to think they’d be cheap enough not to require one

If you can take boost spacing and a tapered steerer I have some 5 ride old RS 35’s about to be taken off my bike, currently 130mm travel but adjustable up and down internally.

Will be cheaper than either of those options. DM me if you’re interested.

I bought one on the PSA but wasn’t paying attention and bought a 30.9 when I needed 31.6 – will buy a shim at some point but the work bench test suggests nice smooth operation.

Huge fan of my current On-one Big Dog. Often found for less than £1k on the PX website. Lovely bike to ride, wasn’t out of place at BPW the other week either.

In the future you’ll have forgotten all about the race but you’ll still have that photo and you look good in it – so that’s all that matters.

Don’t forget that as he gets heavier and you pump up the shock you’ll need to increase the rebound – it’s the same as a coil ;)

I’m sat on a bench outside the BPW cafe right now looking at the mud on my bike, I’m not looking forward to the clean up!

Fast people (and I’m not suggesting you aren’t one ;) ) typically like slow damping.

I remember Chris Porter thoroughly ruining my patriot in about 2002 when he tuned the shock like he did it for his racers at the time. I hated it :) I like to feel my suspension moving so I’m not much of a damping fan, slow enough and safe enough is fine, everything else is unnecessary but… I’m not trying to win a race.

You already know my thoughts on the bikes Weeksy because I’m an ex DHer but:

1. Imagine suggesting your son would be better off on an enduro bike because an adult professional can ride Fort Bill on an Enduro bike!

2. I think it’s superb you’ve got the spec matching on the dh bikes, nice to have same setups for the spare bike.

3. DH bikes are always more fun when they pint downhill, so if you’ve got one, and your track is going downhill you should be riding it because dual crown forks are better than single crown forks. Always. Even when they aren’t, they are.

I look forward to seeing him riding his enduro bike but I won’t care as much as when he rides the big bike :)

I picked my Big Dog up for £850 in November with GX and 35’s, I don’t think id have paid an extra £650 for AXS and Pikes, but as a standalone deal it’s a Billy bargain.

Big Dog is superb by the way, buy one if you can!

I can’t believe you ride a Giant WYSIWYG, you should have stuck with the On-One Gimp I traded you for a Haro DM24 in the early 2000’s – that wouldn’t have cracked in such a silly place.

I sent my V3’s back about 3/4 years ago when they did the same thing. It was an assembly issue which I offered to resolve but Neil wanted them back to make sure it was done properly.
I think he said they found one of the beating wasn’t properly seated but either way I had them back in a few days and all was good.

My new V6’s seemed similar albeit much less stiff for wont of a better word, but I rode them on the weekend and they were perfect. No resistance at all so I figure they have tight seals or something.
Just send them back, they’ll sort it swiftly.

I think I’ll be at FOD, plodding about and doing some skids.

I’ll be there with my mate George – I’ll be on a dark blue On-One Big Dog, I wear a Fluoro green gilet/jacket if it’s damp and a black jersey if not, orange/purple Switch blade lid.

Say hi if you see me.

Poor form from Giant there. I once had a chainstay replaced by specialized on a bike I didn’t buy new or have any documents for.

Also, ref the seatpost moaner up there – doesn’t even look to be 2” out of the frame in my eyes, the top end is irrelevant.

Are the Boxxers air?
Spring type can make a huge difference, and damping does too. I’m a rockshox guy, never really been a fan of Fox, I know they’re good forks and World Cup winning equipment but I feel at home with RS. Even from the very first pair of Van 125’s I had in 2003 or whenever they came out.

Maybe he’s the same with X Fusion, his confidence and skills grew with those forks and that’s the “feel” he needs to be comfortable.

I’m sure (not sure, sure, no money back guarantee) that Boxxers are “better” in most ways, but if they feel different that won’t actually matter. Racers are a weird bunch :)

I’ve just sent you a PM about some you might be interested in.

And paint cups, strainers and consumables.
Mega hardwearing finish on the frame though. I once gave a mate a a cannondale chase frame that I’d painted in a two tone Candy finish when I was messing about – took him hours and hours of sanding to remove the paint because he brother wanted it polished.

It won’t be cheaper but it will be better. Last time I painted a frame it cost me about £120 in materials between the 2k primer and clear, and 2x different pigment colours.

Given how many wheels they’ve delivered in this thread alone your review of “useless” seems a bit out of order.

I’ve never had anything but good dealings with them, superstar and DPD alike.

Whichever is cheaper then. I doubt most can tell the difference

that’s the mindset I took after my tyre thread the other day. Used to love some highrollers 2’s so just bought a pair of them, they were good enough when I rode shit bikes so should be good enough now!

I hope it’s a mistake as I bought some Elements the other day due to isotopes being sold out!

They only have the 2.6 MM annoyingly and I’m not trying to go that wide.
I’ll find something, anything will be better than what I have right now!

Hope you’re on the mend, saw on Insta the other day you had covid – hope you recover quicker than I did last Jan.

I’m not riding with you until I’ve got some semblance of fitness, I nearly died on Monday! Put on nearly a stone since the summer and have done so little exercise since the same time I’m useless. Been on a steady programme to get back in shape though so we’ll sort something out for Spring.

Ta for the tyre advice, I’ll see what I can find.

I take it from this post you’re actually going to ride your bike rather then just make it all shiny and pretty at home in your garage? 😝

Sorry Joe, missed this yesterday! Yes, basically I had such a blast “just riding” at Rowberrow on Sunday that I can’t understand why I don’t do it more often – there will be a real sense of irony in me using this cheap bike significantly more than any of my more expensive ones over the past few years!

I’m not really a tart in terms of matching tyres – I’d draw the line at gum wall front and black rear – but I did had a grey sidewall rear and black front on my Bird and didn’t like that. Happy enough with different brands.

I’ve not had much experience with Schwalbe, but a friend I was with on Monday had an MM front and HD rear and looked to be struggling more than I did so I’d probably err with Maxxis on the basis that I’ve used them for years, I just don’t know what all the labels mean!

Trying not to bankrupt myself with new tyres so odd’s at either end will probably make more sense as you can’t find matching tyres in any online deals! 😝

I run assegai front, minion DHR 2 rear for that sort of thing. 3C exos with cushcore Xc inserts.

Presumably in 2.3 size?

Neil, your pricing is mad and we’re happy to take advantage of that!

And the vomit

Any idea how crumbled up biscuits and cheese straws affect them?

Back on topic, my helmets usually last a good few years with minimal use – last replaced a tree damaged one (low branch, lack of attention) in 2020 and I noticed today the “new” one has a chunk of polystyrene missing on one of the low bits at the back. Not likely to be a problem except I don’t know how it happened, and assuming the worst, I.E it fell off a shelf and someone else put it back, I’ll replace it.

Was after a set of isotope V6’s but they were out of stock so settled on elements. 23mm internal isn’t as wide as I’d usually have but I think I’m going to focus more on trail riding this year than the gravity smashing I used to do I’m sure they’ll be ok.

The V6’s are absolute crap, I bought a set for my daughter about 2 years ago, the bushes are so tight on them that even 200+ road miles on my bike and another 50k or so of off-roading hasn’t loosened them up.