http://flatoutcycles.co.uk/santa-cruz-blur-xc-carbon-20-5-mountain-bike-frame-31497?fee=5&fep=5755&gclid=CP7Y1-aY778CFSvpwgodo50Anw

£799 for a full carbon frame. Nice.

Back pain could be from bar height, seat position in the rails etc etc.

How about a carbon Santa cruz Blur XC? you can keep all your stuff from the yeti, but have a new frame which will tear it up and still be very XC. There must be some carbon frames knocking about.

Camber evo?
Tallboy with 120mm forks

Asr-5?

ah beat me to it! ;-)

what about a Minion DHR 2? Works for Graves..

If, if it stopped moving up and down the movement would come from the shock mount so it’s not like it would seize and become a death trap..

I really don’t see why people are having such a problem with the design. Its a rail, going 4mm in either direction, yes some mud will go in there, which will add some weight, but I dont see it being particularly temperamental to service/clean.

I want a bigger bike, thinking a GT Sanction, or Kona Process..

New ones on the kona website today.

I have the i23 frequencys on hope hubs. Loved them so much I bought a set for my 29er too.

I have a black pair with no holes in the top, for camping and around the house, they are super comfy but you will be a laughing stock if you use them out and about.

140mm forks on it. A longer travel one must be around the corner soon. I do hope they dont give up on Aluminium, some mere mortals cant afford £2+K on a frame..I know everyone keeps saying about the Mud issues, but the link is only moving about 4mm. and i’m sure a neoprene guard will be designed by someone to stop build up.

St4 – 1x specific, short chain stays, low and slack geo, 120-130mm fork up front, zip up and fly down. A solo for people that don’t want a solo.

I think the ST4 looked great, orange should reinvent that.

I read somewhere they were working on an enduro bike with the rail suspension design. Might be that…

I used the clamp on my bike stand to hold the yellow blocks as I dont have a vice…works a treat.

I would invest in a set of cable cutters, make life so much easier than using a stanley, and mine were £12 from a hardware store. They look exactly the same as the pedros/park ones..Considering the amount of times you will have to trim new brake/gear cables and shorten new brake hoses, its worth it, and one of my favourite tools.

You should look at Sospel near the south coast. bBeautiful countryside, amazing riding apparently and you have some nice towns nearby such as Antibes/juan les pins/nice. Transprovence do guided tours of the area too..

I use Specialized sip grips, one lock on is much better for me as I like to use the grip right at the edge of the bar and get pain from two lock ons. The std sip grip is thin but really nice grip with a half waffle design, they do an XL one which is thicker. Or maybe raceface half nelson?

Get some pedros tyre levers, best there is.

No experience but if your budgets up to £150 id be looking at Vango. Usually get some good ones in sales. Trusted name, decent quality rather than taking a punt on an Aldi one. IMHO..

I wouldnt put the forks at 150mm, warranty wont cover it, even if its out of warranty, Yeti have said they shouldnt be run with that much travel. And I believe the Carbon ASR is 130mm max..
I havent ridden my ASR5 in the Alps but done the Blacks at Bike park wales and it coped pretty well.

Kudos to Roverpig..

I absolutely love my Solaris, its a keeper for sure. Looks great, angles are great, Ive got 120mm forks and its pretty capable for what it is. Id consider a custom build, you can spec it exactly as you want and probably come in cheaper..

Marzocchi 350CR? They are 140mm or 160mm. Easy to drop the travel apparently and will be a burlier fork…

WTB Frequency +1

Thoroughly recommend the WTBs, Run them with tubes but they are a proper tubeless rim. Good weight vs strength ratio. Get the I23s rather than the I19s unless its just for XC.

Heres mine.
[/url]bikes and van by 55b7bb821ed24e40ecaad9db375d2e57[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Medium frame. Im 5’9
Rockshox Sid RCT3 120mm
WTB I23 frequency rims on Hope Pro2s
Shimano SLX/XT
60mm stem
20mm rise 740 Renthal lite bars

[/url]SURREY HILLS 5 by 55b7bb821ed24e40ecaad9db375d2e57[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Its awesome.

[/url]SURREY HILLS 5 by 55b7bb821ed24e40ecaad9db375d2e57[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Love my Solaris. Lots of fun. You wont regret it.

Id go for a Spitfire out of that lot, It can take a bigger fork up front so would compensate somewhat for less in the rear and as you say will be a bit lighter.
Id also look at the GT Sanction, standover and top tube length is supposed to be roomy, and Dan Atherton is tall so the large should fit well, but its not out for a few months…

There doesn’t seem to be many reviews of them yet, but ill be getting a set and sticking them on the front of a GT Sanction when its released. Ride io have done some testing and rated them highly, and Steve Jones has been testing some so expect to see a review in Dirt very soon. They have the potential to be a real Pike alternative Imho..

I have two powerlinks on both my chains, no probs.

Kona process 153? They are a bit heavy but you could get frame only and build it up, or swap our the standard wheels and tyres, go 1×10 and it’ll be under 30lbs easy.
what about that new Canyon Strive?

Purgatory Grid? Will give that extra protection on a tyre you know you love?
Ive been riding Maxxis Beavers 2.35 Exos on my solaris, and they have been ace so far and work in far more than just mud. Roll well too.

I believe there is a fee if you dont use all the money on the card and want to get it off in the uk afterwards.

RL- rebound with compression to Lockout.
RLT – Rebound lockout and threshold
RCT3 rebound and compression with 3 positions too – open, firm and locked.

I too have the RCT3 and its great and worth the extra. Found the damping abit basic on RLs.

Sram ones work fine, I broke one and swapped it for a clarks one and that doesnt, was making the chain jump in the smallest cog, just got 2 KMC ones for £4.99 at halfords and they do the trick too.

I love my Flux, just got a 2nd for my other bike and I find them better than spoons. £19 from Freeborn cycles too.

Yeah they got abit funny about adding more people as they started getting randoms just trying to sell stuff all the time.

Anyways heres a map of the trails, hope it helps.

[/url]Puddletown map by 55b7bb821ed24e40ecaad9db375d2e57[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Sid 120mm RCT3s.

[/url]Solaris on the bridge by 55b7bb821ed24e40ecaad9db375d2e57[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Puddletown is abit of a maze but find someone riding, there’s always a few about and ask them where the good stuff is. If you head for the highest point in the middle of the forest theres some fairly obvious trails starting from there. Lots of good technical but fairly short runs. Have fun!