A friend of mine tows his boy up the hills with his e-bike using a couple of inner tubes tied together.

There is a UK distributor for these now. He’s not long set up so seems to communicate via Facebook –
https://www.facebook.com/marinobikesuk/

Probably stamped on the cage will be either GS or SGS. GS is medium and SGS is long cage.

As above, any 10 speed Shimano shifter will be fine. Can be picked up cheap second hand.

What width rear tyre are you using?

It’s just a 2.3 High Roller. 2.35 Magic Mary on the front.

What width rear tyre are you using?

It’s just a 2.3 High Roller.

What width rear tyre are you using?

It’s just a 2.3 High Roller.

For the Enduro the 650b yoke was 5mm shorter so had the same effect as MOAR offset bushes. It could only be used on the large and xl sized frames though, otherwise the wee brace on the seat stays hits the back of the seat tube.

For me it was a cheap way to get the geometry I wanted. For others they like the roll over of the front and the easy turn in on the rear, but not sure I can really feel that. Some proper scientific back to back testing might be needed, but I’m not too bothered about that aspect. I’ve had full 29ers for the last 4 years.

Had similar with XT 10 speed and found what I needed on bike-discount.de

Be careful though, I needed to order 2 separate parts to swap I-spec to bar mount.

I knew it was a high and steep bike, which is why it’s ideal for mulleting. Must admit I only rode it once in stock form, but out of all the geometry stuff, I feel BB height the most so knew I wouldn’t like it. Nice and low now.

One thing I manage to get away with due to my short body and long legs is the slacker seat angle. I just ram the saddle as far forward on its rails to get it back to normal, or close enough anyway.

Just measured the BB properly and it looks nearer 331mm off the ground. Feels great in long, fast corners.

Check Whyte Bikes website. They sell them direct and show the various sizes. I got one from them for my Nukeproof Scout frame.

Yeah, the Dirt Mag article talked about that, but a bush was £12 and the 650 link would have been £70(?) and the BB is good and low as it is. I figured it was marginal gains for the additional cost.

Orange Switch? No bottle space though, not inside the triangle at least.

What’s your reason for doing it? For me it was to get the geo where I wanted it rather than any benefit in wheel sizes front and rear.

As mentioned above, the Stihl 2 in 1 is a brilliant piece of kit. So simple and works so well.

£170 at CRC, but 2018 27+ version, so not sure if that covers either end of the spectrum of 29 and 27.5.

EDIT – sorry, they’re air not coil.

Cranks on the base level Sentry are not through axle – they’re on an old style BB with the cranks bolting on to that, so you might want to budget a set of better/lighter cranks and BB too.

You need these alu pistons. Aluminium doesn’t swell like the rubbish plastic that SRAM seem to use. Swollen plastic pistons jam, hence the not returning problem.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALUMINUM-ALLOY-BIKE-BICYCLE-BRAKE-LEVER-PISTON-FOR-SRAM-GUIDE-LEVE-REPAIR-KIT-UK/202706182204?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Trek Top Fuel or Fuel
Specialized Camber or Epic
Whyte
Canyon
etc. etc. Tonnes of stuff available.

Depends if he wants more racy or more traily style as to what you might want to hone in on. Any clues? I’ve no idea what a Spearfish is like.

Thanks all. I can get a new Giant for £90 from Winstanleys (Giant dropper doesn’t seem to get great reviews though) but have also been offered a OneUp, so hopefully I’m sorted one way or the other.

Cheers, John. I’m basing it all on a Brand X, which is kind of pointless now as it won’t fit. I know the OneUp is good value in the whole scheme of things.

Did look at cable conversion of a Reverb, but it was the same price as a second hand Reverb from memory (about £70?).

I’ve got a large Nukeproof Scout 290 frame from 2016 that I was going to photograph and put on classifieds this weekend if of any interest.

I believe that the V1 moved the outer of the cable, whereas V2 moves the inner like normal. Not 100% sure on that though. I guess you’d need to change outer more often on V1 as it compresses and that.

Thanks for replies.
Tried Three a couple of months ago with their AI Cube at £24 a month, but we were too far from their mast. An external antenna may have solved it, but just went back to slow broadband instead. Vodafone mast is really close so should be OK. Anything is better than current sub 1.5MBps!

Have also since found that the Huawei B525 has the RJ11 port, but it’s a gateway so I can plug in a phone and use the minutes included on the SIM contract (as also mentioned by CraigW above). Win!

What tweaks have they made to the latest version?

I went to White Room back in June 2009 when bikes were still short, high and steep and I didn’t die. It was most excellent, in fact.

Edit – I think Anchorman was kinda the theme of the week for some reason…

Alps 2009 by Steve Milne[/url], on Flickr

Very good. Easy to contact, easy to understand bills each month, meter reading reminders, etc.

Imagine it’s a 2nd hand car that you’re selling/buying privately, especially as you’re going to view it. How would you do that?

Marin Alpine Trail worth a look. £3k for the 8 and £2.2k for the 7. Longer and lower than the Slash.

One Up doing droppers of 120mm to 210mm for between £165 and £210 which sounds like great value.

2016 290 in large here – I’m 5’10” and a bit with long legs. Fits very well, but I swapped the 50mm stem to a 35mm as I felt a bit too stretched on climbs (note long legs = short body). I believe the newer versions are a bit more compliant on the rear, but don’t know if they changed the geometry much. I ride it in the same way as my BMC Trailfox (150mm f/r) and it gets me into a bit of trouble with only 130mm on the front, but very capable. Big rear tyre with an insert would help get rid of those nagging feelings of whacking into stuff at full sus speeds. I use mine when the weather’s rubbish or when I’m out with my boys. Or just for a change. Lots of bikes similar, but the Scout does seem good value.

Clearly a Norwegian Blue.

Anyone know where to buy wide rims then? The kinlin ones?

Go back to page 1. Wzzzz posted a link.

I paid £4 for some bum bag thing off eBay and it’s fine. Big enough for tube, CO2, small pump, multitool and a couple of mid-ride waffles. It’s got a nice wide strap so doesn’t cut into me. 3 or 4 separate sections for phone, tools, etc.

No idea why people spend silly (like more than £15) money on a bum bag for riding in.

Is this just so you can do more than one at a time?

I had one too – I think my profile pic is me with it! Bought from Cowleys in Northallerton. I used to race it (badly) at the summer series races at Northallerton and Teesside Airport.

Mine was chrome and the chrome bubbled and came off on the forks. Had all the gear that was good but affordable like Suntour Power Stem, Araya 7X wheels, Dia Compe MX brakes, Elina seat, etc. Sold it for £50 to a bloke on Croydon around 2001.

I know a few people who’ve had electric installed…and don’t use it as the costs are prohibitive.

Exactly my experience. In a large kitchen, tiles, resistive mats, 6mm of insulation underneath. Graphing our power costs was quite an eye opener, so it was only ever used on the very coldest days.

How do you mount battery to the helmet or does that trail into backpack/pocket? Wondering if 244g (light + battery) is too heavy all on the head anyway. I currently put battery pack in my bumbag and trail the cable up my back and over the helmet, but would prefer an all in one unit like a Joystick type, but much cheaper!