I have ridden it a little SS and I thought it was surprisingly good, but it wasn’t very hilly. Love the idea of climbing walls in a low gear though. Fun is the thing I’m really after.

Well, I never knew there was a climbing centre in Tolworth. I used to work in the building next to it in my Bluepoint days. Will have a look into it.

Kilo: I probably know you, as I know others that go from Morden to box. Do you have a route of the twiddly bits?

Cheers.

Thanks for the replies. Some good ideas there. Never thought of bmx – could be fun.

Cheers.

Those eBay ones that thisisnotaspoon linked are brilliant. I have loads – it’s like a bat cave. Mounted them on a bit of plywood and screwed them to the wall.

Thanks for all the advice.

Just out of interest, any idea what would happen if the brakes were used with standard discs? I realise that the pad would rub on the spokes, but would this cause issues other than less efficient braking? I can see now that the pads are really deep compared to standard pads.

Cheers,
Sam

Re the discs, I didn’t know that so thanks. I do have the discs, heavy things that they are, and I was planning on using some lighter ones Perhaps not. The pads are standard size though, so is it just the calliper that is an odd shape?

What about shimming the calliper up to align properly?

Thanks, feeling better about them. Out of interest, if the seals are past their best, will they fail catastrophically in an explosion of brake fluid and blood, or just gradually weep out in a more predictable way?

And yes, the winding in and out becomes a bit second nature after a few lever-to-bar moments…

Cobble monster in London. 90k of city grit, cobbles and sun. Different but fun. Oh, and cotic demo. Great weather!

Market Harborough festival of cycling 100k on Sunday. Riding the roads I frequented as a 15 year old on my Raleigh Maverick 15 speed. All on road, bit worried about the distance but should be a blast from the past!

Still riding steel, but drop bars and 18 gears now – still a bit retro and 32c tyres not that much thinner than the ones on the Maverick if I remember correctly…

Clean Escapade:

After an Escapade:

Another vote for fenwicks fs1. Buy one litre for 10 quid, makes 10 litres. Nice.

Edit: yes, it used to be pink and now is green.

Very keen on the large stooge. Anybody have any updates on when they will be available?

Sam

Hello all,

Has anyone managed to compare the new swift with the old? Be interesting to hear the differences.

Cheers,
Sam

Doesn’t come with a steel fork, which is a shame. From my point of view at least!

From what I’ve read on this thread it seems that the dune is a fairly good frame and fork combo. If I did buy one I’d almost definitely upgrade lots of bits.

The question is, is the frame combo as good as something like a salsa beargrease? I could get one of those and upgrade a couple of bits and suspect I might end up with a better bike.

Riding a fixed gear is a great way to get a smooth pedaling style. Spinning at 180rpm down hills soon makes you adjust.

Crazy idea, but how likely would it be to fit a retro shimano 8 speed drive train to a fat bike frame – dune specifically? Maybe not the triple, but a double or just the rear mech? Crazy? Sure is.

Might try the river with t’family one day. No hills is good!

Seems there are a few cheeky off-pisters around. When I was on sacred ground for hoof and foot I came across quite a few people, some astride horse, and all were friendly. I do slow down to virtual standstill when passing and bide my time, so the non-aggressive approach normally seems to pay off. It was only about half a mile in total looking at the map later.

Saw a group of cyclists, one on a very bright retro Klein, on one of the horsey gallops. Seemed friendly enough and not causing any trouble.

Great stuff. Seems it’s limited but just googled that singletrack and found this:

http://extremesportsmap.com/uk/spot_details.php?spot_id=2407

Might be worth a look next time I’m there.

So the calibre dune is available for about £540 with all the discounts. Do Go Outdoors usually have a 10 percent offer every month, or is it likely to be a while before that discount again?

Quite tempted by it!

Epicyclo – best thing I’ve read all week!

But, that’s nothing. When I were a lad I got up to 46mph down Weston By Welland hill on me Raleigh Maverick (15 speed)(!). My snake pegged it way before that happened though.

As ever, great advice from everyone. And, as ever, the eyes start wandering up the price spectrum. Is the on-one fatty at £899.00 good value? Seems that slightly better sourced than the Dune.

Both look good and nothing else really comes close for the money. I really need to try a Fat properly off road to see what I think.

The question is, will my 3 inch 650B+ Singular Swift be good enough?

Sounds good. Are the tyres that bad? Seem to be vee rubber in photos. That dune looks good too but a bit more dosh. Guess the f and f and wheels add to the cost.

Thanks, all. Got some good ideas there. Comfort is king/queen. Off to London bike show today to hopefully get summer more ideas.

Sam

Thanks for all the suggestions! Lots to think about.

Loop from Reigate hill. It was mainly mud but good fun!

I had a look at some fairlights the other day at swift cycles, particularly the faran. I was very impressed and will hopefully be test riding in a few weeks when they get my size in. They are nicely finished frames with that elusive Goldilocks geometry that I’m hoping will fit me just right.

The quality of the build by swift was also very impressive, and the staff are incredibly helpful and friendly. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the Liverpool Street area.

@ElShalamo: Yes a Cotic Escspade mk1. Just thought I’d see how many alarm bells I could ring. Good bike. Got the medium for shorter reach but I get a bit of toe overlap with my size elevens. Will be trying some narrower tyres soon as it has knard 41c on at present.

I do like the tripster atr though, but can’t really justify the outlay on the frame.

Always liked the GT Grade – very striking in an odd sort of way. Rode the alloy version and liked it, but not the graphics. I expect the carbon is great.

Looking at replacing the little used road bikes soon for something more versatile and the GT keeps coming into view. Wish it had more tyre clearance. The Cotic is a pretty good all-rounder though so just some different wheels would probably work.

Just stumbled across this thread. Here’s a pic of my tripster atr.

Clearance on the cotic? Massive – takes them easily.

Escapade running Stans Grail rims built on novatech hubs. Really nice light wheelset built by Spokesman. Had to get an axle converter from bdop as the qr moved in the dropout under braking.

Leaning towards a stooge now. I built a cotic escapade with 41c knards last year and that is surprisingly capable on smoother trails. Maybe the swift might be a mountain bike equivalent of that so too much crossover.

I see. I think I’ll give it a go with b+ tyres and hope it does bumps better. Stooge very tempting though. I should probably not look too hard at the Jones…

Northern monkey? Not ridden it but seem videos and it doesn’t look that tricky apart from the jumps. Is it a bit like Barry knows best? Yoghurt pots? Ive done stuff like that on inappropriate bikes – part of the fun – but it’s always slower. Maybe a swift with b+ would be just the ticket…

A Jones is a whole different world. Which one have you got? Does that handle the rough stuff well?

A pink one! I’m tempted by that colour, but I don’t think the kids would understand. You just had have lived through the late eighties/early nineties to appreciate that colour I think.

Looks like I need both. Dammit.

At over 6’1″ I’m pushing the boundaries of size on the stooge, and space-consumption according to shorties, but it has been said that it can be a reasonable fit.

Thinking I’ll probably build up the swift, ride it like a loony and see what I think. What could possibly go wrong?

Thanks for input. Have wheels already, and all bits – just needs slapping together.

Gotama: how would you describe the swift?

Sam

Surly cross check with alfine 8 gearing here. Used for towing trailer and now tagalong. Works a treat, can take a beating and doesn’t mind getting a few knocks.

Be good if it were one or two sizes bigger! Funny thing is, it’s got the same stack and reach as my medium escapade which is on the small side of just right for off road. Hmmmmmm…