Hi,

I have a 650b Bandit since Jan, it is extremely good and I am very pleased with it, I got it from Don at Kustom Bikes and he was brilliant to deal with.
I came from a 26in Bandit as my previous bike.
In a direct comparison, they are equally as good coming down hill, the little bit extra travel on the 650b helps on bigger hits, but is not noticeable otherwise, on the flats it is the same a little bit better rollover and i find it a lot better on the climbs, it has a slightly longer top tube and the shock tune is a little better.
On the shock I find small bumps great but big jumps it tends to blow through the end of the travel, so air can kit and i will have it retuned at some point, but that is the only minus point.
Frame is very well finished, stealth dropper routing and it is a fun bike to ride, the harder you push it the better it is, equally if you want to mince then it doesn’t feel slow or wallowy, so good if your knackered too!
As said above I got rid of all my bikes and ride this for everything now, it’s never found wanting.
I built mine easily to under 30lbs with nothing special
Pikes @ 150 , Zee&XT brakes and 1X10 drivetrain, Superstar wheels the new Evo with Pancenti rims which have been bombproof and very nice.
Reverb and haven bars and stem.
Here’s some pics. not sure how to re-size them!
Any questions feel free to ask.

[/url]IMAG1536[1] by richen987[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[/url]IMAG1539[1] by richen987[/url], on Flickr[/img]

are you weather dependent then? 😀
see you there, I may be out earlier if anyone else is around.

i have semi internal routing on my transition, seems fine, was a doodle to fit, keeps it cleaner, less cable to rub on the frame, looks nicer, seems like a win if the routes are good and can take full outer housing.

yes should be there

OP enjoying a quiet ride on new bike

yes

ace, see you later

Andy, when I had my Nicolai i had all the bearings and bushings from psyclewerx in Bristol.
I think there is a UK Importer now so you can probably get everything from there.

edit: here you go
http://www.nicolai-uk.com/index.php/technical/spares/

there is also a bit on there about tightening up the bearings as they are adjustable. may be worth a go.

yup.

love it!

Hi I have a 27.5 Bandit, I really like it a lot, but i would say that as i own it!
I had the 26in Bandit before which was also a great bike too.

It definitely descends very well and is very quick to steer and corners really well, holds nicely in the air and is very easy to bounce it round.

It does climb well too, better than the previous one, it is by no means as good as a hard-tail but is still pretty stiff and climbs well in or out of the saddle. I have the new Fox CTD shock and in trail mode there is little or no bobble, on the road in the climb setting it is solid and that is also good for fire-roads too.

I think it is a pretty good bike, certainly lively and nimble and will handle anything/everywhere.
Size wise they are good too, they lengthened the top tube a little to enable you to run a short stem and lowered the front end a bit whih helps. I am 6ft and ride a large. fits well.

I bought a frame and shock and built it up with parts, I don’t think the full bike represents good value for money, the spec is not amazing for the price and no-way competes with the Canyon in that respect.

I built up with Pikes, reverb, 1×10 xt/zee drive-train, superstar wheels and it cost a lot less than the full builds would have done, a lot of shopping around was done.

here is a few pics.
(obviously shot in the local crackhouse vicinity to give it the authentic STW weeds/pointing/door/floor combos 😀 )

I bought a set after Christmas on Pacenti rims, so 3 months of use, maybe 250-300 miles in some pretty grim weather we have been having and they are still spot on.
Hubs spin nicely, haven’t done any maintenance or even cleaned them other than the odd hose down after a ride.
They have more of a buzz than a click, went for a steel freewheel as I have had problems with aluminium ones before.
They are not as good as my old DT Swiss wheels but they are much better value for money.
good value, well built and seem pretty good so far.

shouldn’t it read
“The Re-release of RS-1”
I thought their first ever fork was the RS-1
seems like they have sacked the fork naming guy and are just re-hashing old names for new forks now.
Still looks interesting.

whoop! I am in!

Not this evening I am afraid, have a good ride

Too funny

in there like swim wear. see you later.

How much of a swamp is it at the moment?

to be honest it’s the fallen trees that make it challenging

Possibly the worst performance so far of a decidedly poor season.

Good work Nic, if even half that happens will be good. Have sent an email.

I believe the rainbow stripes version has sold out already

yes

I received a 2014 27.5 Bandit from Kustom Bikes, there were stickers,zip ties, cable guides, clips and touch up paint was also included, warranty card and manuals, axles etc.

sounds like it is luck of the draw as to what you get.

Been wearing contacts for 25 years for football/cycling/sports and daily use definitely worth persevering for the better peripheral vision.
Will take a while to get used to them but the advantages if you can are worth it.
Buy some decent riding glasses to help with the wind which will help with the streaming eyes.
I use Oakley fast jackets for MTB and radar for road.
Mainly for the transitions lenses which seem to be better on oakleys than other manafacturers I have tried.
I find the closed framed glasses steam up too quickly so worth getting open frame glasse, I also use divers Google demister spray to help with fogging up, but of its really cold and your really not not too much will help you out there.

Edit, also worth trying different brands of contact lenses as they all have different make ups and allow different amounts of oxygen onto thee eye which can affect comfort
Levels.

Dave and Ian at Lordswood last Thursday

should be there.
have to set off later now i have bigger wheels and arrive places faster 😀
so may be really early or really late depending on whether or not i get my timing right 😆

Hope all goes well nixie.
Ben I have your tube and levers , I’ll leave them in nics garage for you.

if you can’t laugh at yourself etc etc
cheers see you later on.

i am only beer as cant ride due to finger, cant get it wet and it’s bloody sore.
if you fancy picking us up around 7 or whatever time is convenient to you, happy to go for a beer 🙂

Hi Matt, no worries about the bleed kit as I bought one the other day as it was cheap.
I could go a lift tho if your passing the end of the road?
no worries if not.

I’ll be there for beer, not riding due to severe and debilitating injury 😆

I can pick you up on the way through if you like?

Wish I was tall 😥

I bought some off of Matt in the classifieds last week, turned up prompt and was pretty decent tape, went on nice.
He has an advert on front page at moment

Eat clock, genius

Edit . its important that no one eats clock

WorldClassAccident – Member
I had better replace the 3 Hobgoblin I pinched from the fridge last night. Spitfire okay for the replacement?

put some dark food colouring in to make them look like real dark ales and no-one will notice 😀

should be there, not feeling great, will text if not coming.

alabama hot-pocket

ever so slightly wrong.

Good work. Nowt better than winning stuff for free !

Transition, Banshee, Nicolai (I think)

Currently at $98k insane

I have had a belroy for a good couple of years now,certainly not cheap but the leather and stitching is immaculate, really well made and showing no signs of wear at all, well thought out design which just works, nice features and hide away pockets, I have a pocket book slim, personally think they are good value for money