what trail bikes are snappy, lively and not hopeless doing a bit of dual slalom/4x fun?

Ones that are too small for you 😀

If you’re going down that route then look at older (less slack) frames.

If it doesn’t have serious protection then tubeless – a god-send round hawthorn cutting time. Also good for sucking up fishing hooks 🙂

There’s no way it’ll do that range of travel comfortably, the frame may be strong enough, but it’ll have been designed at 110; increasing the length of the forks will have a noticeable impact.

Are comedy one’s banned..??

I should bloody hope not!

My 2 favs from BITD (before I grew up 🙂 )

160-130mm travel

The handling could be gash at 160. Have coil Pikes (shortish a to c) and at 140 my bike’s only good for drops, for anything else 100 – 120 is great.

pivot m4x

Ooo you beauty! If you happen to be flogging that at any time I’d sell my children for it 🙂

These days I normally choose to as it’s part of my “uniform” that gets me in work mode; when home I shed it and become myself again 🙂

Was once told years ago I had to wear a tie on a day I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt (not a good combination in my eyes); it doesn’t matter what shirt you’re wearing you have to wear a tie – I was told. Turned up the next day in Hawaiian shirt with tie. It didn’t go down well.

superdry does seem to attract a certain agegroup.

“Superdry is cool” – a 14 year old girl told me.

It’ll be my 1st – SS MTB on the 50k. Hopefully it’ll be dry.

The only thing that really holds me back from the Bolt is the BB pivot

Loads of these kinds of frames have a concentric BB – it was something that made me rule out a lot of potentials. As thepodge says though I’ve never ridden one 🙂 I defnly mash the pedals at the start of descents and wouldn’t mind experiencing the real-world difference and knowing if I’d feel like I was on a pogo-stick.

You might recognise these from TV/Film/Adverts – favourites on Classic FM

Big orchestra:

Awesome pianist:

I’ve got a Rampant, it’s a great fun bike but can be a struggle as an all-rounder as you can’t fit a front mech. Mines a short (I’m 5′ 8″) with a 50mm stem and with 1×9 steep climbs are a bitch 😀 +more for technical climbing. Just gone 1×10 with 2 lower climbing gears, but not used it yet – hoping I won’t have lost too much in the smaller cogs. Quite a lot of the struggle is down to a short reach, but I’ve survived the climbfest of the Dyfi Enduro on it.

I looked through loads of similar and the only ones that ticked all the boxes for me were this and a modern Spesh SX, but seeing as they don’t come around too often rampant it was. Costly and does have some bushings issues (although not very bad), but suspension design is v. good in the chop & for pedalling and does drops & jumps nicely. Very strong for its weight. Descends well, but with a pretty short wheelbase there are times when I’ve felt I’m approaching going a little too fast. SX is claimed to be more stable; Rampant to have more pop.

Would love to have a go on some similar bikes to see how they compare – have seen few frames come up at decent prices, but it’d be an expensive waste past-time 🙂 Most tempted by Meta 4xs – seen a few recently & think they can take a front mech…

Sorry, misread. What Stoner said.

I preferred my raleigh commando

I had one of those! Not tried a covert, though so can’t give an honest comparison.

I have tried my best at home to make the best coffee I can and I am there, now every coffee shop disappoints so I do not bother.

This is pretty much my experience, but do get the occasional one that suits me – am working away from home ATM, though – in Chippenham. If CountZero would like to tell me which his favourite shop is I’d like to give it a go.

Riding for the 1st time today in 4 weeks after rupturing a kidney and fracturing ribs brought a BIG grin to my little face

Which suggests to me you don’t listen to (probably never have listened to) Radio 3.

Worng! It’s my go-to station when I can’t take R4 any more. You know, those unbearable times when John Humphries or The Archers are on.

Who else had to look up “recidivism”?

Good word BTW – I’m gonna struggle to get that into a conversation, though 🙂

Radio 1 – MBUK; for the hard of thinking

Radio 2 – MBR; dull, middle of the road

Radio 3 – Not sure there’s a magazine that up its own arse? Maybe Rouler, but never read it.

Radio 4 – Singletrack; informed, intelligent, self-satisfied.

Kerrang – Dirt; Wiiiiiillldd – yeah \m/

I don’t drink coke and neat Bacardi is minging, but stick them together and it’s a recipe for success. YVWPV*

*Your view will probably vary.

Could be worse

I love a bit of hip-hop me! For extra shame I’ve got it on vinyl 🙂

The council part of Kibworth then

Your mother!

Apparently when the sewerage pipes were laid the Harcourt side wanted their own separate system so their “doings” wouldn’t be sullied by the inferior poop of Beauchamp 🙂

Also, there’s different entrances to the church depending on how self-important you are 🙂

Used to live in Kibworth Beauchamp; it’s a lot nicer than Ashby de la Zouch 🙂

Co-codamol – very hungover

Valpolicella Ripasso – hairy dog

Craig Charles F&S Show – bit of a tool; great record collection

Gas – ‘Nah Und Fern’

Not heard of this chappie before – very nice!

Somehow I was aware of the offending article but oblivious to the boycott! 😕 Good on Liverpool!

replace the bearings without taking the cups out, correct?

Correct. Been using one for about a year and NDS bearings now starting to go – easy replace. Have been advised to pop them out and re-grease every 3 months to prevent creaking, but I’ve never noticed any so far.

I’ve been away with someone who did similar and lost a load of knobbles in a few runs.

The saints should be good, but there are quite a lot of clicky ones around apparently.

Crab curry that turns out to be a dismembered crustacean with hot sauce on it, very difficult eat – especially when crackers and crab fork aren’t provided!

It transpires I was missing a “Wave Washer for GXP to PressFit Adapter” which wasn’t well explained in the exploded diagram.

It looks like this:

Big thanks to Hargroves for sorting me out and giving me some good maintenance advice (mostly, do some )

Agree on Galaxy, very versatile, handles well and good mpg. I only have a rear seat in to help prop bikes up 🙂

of course it’s about the bike

The people I know who are “all about the best kit” hardly ride and spend lots of their spare time navel-gazing.

The best riders I know, and the ones who get the most out of it, have got the most battered bikes.

I’m not saying you’ve got it all worng, but would you really prefer a bike that looked the tits but you didn’t enjoy riding over one that looked like crap that gave you endless fun?

For me its all about the riding. Of course a nice bike helps, but even a whole bike that “looks daft” could be a winner

I’m all about the kit being the best it can be

So it is about the bike!

gnarpoon sounds like lady-parts with teeth

Ghetto. Don’t even say it till you’ve been to India 16th century Venice

Sessioning, allowed. Sectioning, verboten.

IMHO the downs, although good…ish, aren’t worth doing the ups for

Now, if you had your forks sensibly wound in you wouldn’t struggle so much with easy climbs 😉

[/stalker]

Nicely done wysiwyg 🙂

Guess it’s off to the LBS for me…

Cheers for the reply – no spacers in there. Chainring also looks dangerously close to the chainstay, which suggests, maybe, there should be a spacer?

It is a bit of an unusual set-up; does she have a bling ring? It bolts straight to the crank arm with the spider removed and may not be helpling things 😕

do more of what hurts and you will get better at it

Rob likes this!

Focusing a lot on technique will also help – riding as smooth as poss. will rack your body less and should work out better than just trying to go faaaaaast.

mtb in leicester

Bit of an oxymoron; have lived there for the past 6 years and often wondered why…

Fineshades & Wakerley Woods are worth checking out, not the most challenging, but trails go from very family friendly to a bit more than most most kids could handle.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/englandnorthamptonshirerockinghamforestfineshadewood