Have they maybe made the take offs steeper to slow down riders that cant really jump? They’ve taken away the speed and hope and its more skill based?

Really quiet this afternoon, shame there’s no practical way of allotting times to the bookings

yeah i’m unwilling to divulge specific numbers due to paranoia regarding employees of said bike shop being present on this forum and putting 2 and 2 together

I’m sure that any bike shop employee that’s only yesterday been emailed about an invoice query on a rock and cable damaged frame they had in for a £114 frame build up that they later refunded will be totally unable to put 2 and 2 together from the information already provided…I mean they all blur into one, don’t they!

This sounds like a judgmental question, but given the other options out there I can’t get my head round why people continue to willingly give top money to a company with such a high failure rate? Back in the day it could be forgiven, but these are all fairly mature technologies now and whilst other manufacturers have bad days, Yeti, anecdotally at least, seem to have more than their fair share.

trail_rat – changing the fork, which is now the most attractive option, has no bearing on the wheel’s warranty.

krixmeister – thanks for digging that out – the hub I have looks too small to accept a 15mm sleeve and bearings (they would be tiny) but should the enquiry with Focus regarding the fork fall flat, I’ll see if WMS can provide the bearing sizes.

Toby – Unfortunately the bearing has a smaller outer diameter to a front 350 hub (and also the Focus’s DT R24s hub) which means the end caps foul the hub. The bearing’s internal diameter without the 12mm sleeve appears to be 15mm which means the axle physically can fit through the bearings but without the sleeve in place there’s no retention of the endcaps / possibly more potential for lateral play/force on the bearings.

dangeourbrain – Yes, possibly after market fork if all else fails – sounds bad but it has to look ‘ok’, which the admittedly potentially dangerous hub solution would have.

paule – No doubt doable for someone with the knowledge but it’s also got a RAT axle to make things harder and the fork “dropouts” would remain 15mm which I guess also means custom hub adaptors.

trail_rat – The only parts of the wheel not covered by the lifetime warranty are two extremely common DT Swiss bearings – theoretically you are right but as the wheels are basically Specialized and fitted to lots of bikes I have a degree of faith that parts will be around for a while. The issue going forward is that the Focus’s standards, 15mm and post mount will limit it to MTB parts…which admittedly is not an issue most of the time.

Thanks all, sounds like a non starter, would never trust it…I was thinking a disclaimer would probably be required by the shop which is never a good starting point!

Yeah, the rim is 21h, so basically no after market hub options, especially for a 15mm axle.

I’ll give Focus a try on the off chance that they have any 2017 forks (12mm and flat mount) but think it’s time to retire the Cayo.

Carbon Rondo HVRT? Looks aero at least, adjustable geo to address some of the issues above….maybe not gravel enough?

I’m not sure I can unsee the brake caliper fairing though

Thanks all

Yes, he’s precious hence his wife doing her due diligence!

I think She’ll go for a 561 from Halfords, just so they can return it easily if there are any clamp issues / he has other ideas!

Thanks Brant, I’ll tell her to err on the side of caution with this one

The first video has a kind of stop motion feeling effect to it, or as though it was filmed in reverse.

I also like the carbon sticker slapped on the aluminium swingarm.

I’ve just opened one of the plastic bags in order to try on a top and it absolutely reeks of body odour. They are going to get an email biffing for this one!

Worth checking the stuff you’ve ordered even if you already know it fits.

I weighed a large frame, with RockShox Deluxe, Maxle, Hope seat clamp and headset cups at 3.4kg. Most builds use the same parts as you’d spec on a 160mm travel bike so I’m not surprised by overall weights.

In terms of ride,it feels very stable but not super lively until you start pushing on a bit, which is as you’d expect given the geo numbers.

I bought a similar build during the last Superstar discount, though with brass nipples / 148mm rear hub. In case anyone is interested, the weight with stickers, no rim tape, came in at 1743g.

I’ve had DT Swiss / Hope hubs before and found the DTs to be better sealed and less draggy, although I have not used the lastest Hope hubs.

If the problem that needed solving was how to find a way to have your bike rub against wet, gritty neoprene whilst on the bike rack, I think we can say that this is a success.

That just made choosing between the Aeris 120 ad 145 difficult, I can’t imagine that the weights will be much different.

Particularly enjoyed the ‘client’ backstory, which adds a new twist to the over priced ebay spares bin special genre.

Longer stem? The head angle numbers don’t look too racy and an angleset will shorten the already short top tube.

Uppers to lower ratio looks a bit off on this one:

Sliding dropouts and a chain tensioner?

What options do you need to select to build this up as a £1,665 complete build?

The 120 is designed for a 130mm fork, so a 140mm fork would be fine – there’s more variation in the axle to the crown measurement between forks/headset stack than the difference in travel.

Also IMHO the difference in travel between 120 and 140mm is negiable in terms of what a bike can do, the quality and usability of the suspension is more of an influencing factor than the outright travel.

It’s all fun and games until your chain snaps

It’s always difficult when you want things that you aren’t prepared to pay for.

Wouldn’t this make a lot more sense on the front?

Focus Cayo 3.0. THe Ultegra hydros are light years ahead of previously cable disc’d bikes and the RAT axle is easier to use than a QR.
I went for post mount due to my early concerns about the new standards (brake callipers are basically revised XT) but flat mount seems to be sticking. Axle standards aren’t a concern if you buy versatile wheels.

The nearest, fairly tame, offroad riding spot is about a 10 mile round trip on cycle paths/canal paths. The CX bike is a perfect compromise; it makes the trails more challenging and doesn’t put loads of pointless wear on the MTB.

and would need a new rear wheel.

Having looked into this myself previously, I think the PG 1050 (Apex) offers the best £/kg. If Planet X have made a mistake with their sizing, as the rest of the text would indicate, then this is a good deal:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CASR1050/sram-pg-1050-cassette

This is not a thing.

If you want to create a magical gap to ride in, you have to wait until everyone else has got out of the way. You want something, you wait – I’m not.

The Focus Cayo is fairly racey IIRC.

It’s not so much that they’re a cheap frame, it’s more that they are a nearly worthless one.

You haven’t mentioned the time/day, but descending Carding Mill Valley could be more hassle than it’s worth at weekends due to walkers.

Edit: would do shorter Long Mynd and Eastridge if only visiting area once.

Could get more interesting if she trades it in or sells it to the bike shop.

I’m really enjoying riding mine, potential issue aside, I think it’s a great frame. Running it massively mismatched with a 150mm fork + external headset, but as we all know, it’s unlikely to fail at the headset first!

If it lasts 1-2 years I’ll be happy, would have lost more than it cost in depreciation in that time on nearly any other new FS anyway.

I don’t see that as polishing a ‘turd’, higher mid range kit on a higher mid range frame.

Save your £20s, buy a bigger bike shed.

Weight is not always clear cut. For example, for certain front mechs, SLX weighs less than XT and only 5 grams more than XTR.

They’re formula hubs if I remember correctly. Not sure on spoke counts but probably 32 per wheel.

Rear is 135mm x 9QR, front 15mm axle.

Theoretically, couldn’t you run a 650b fork? The difference is 12-15mm unsagged? Some axle to crown heights vary more than that for the same travel. Are there any major differences in crown offset?

I’d report it.

Get on strava, I’d bet that you can even find their names.