Having seen one of the trail/enduro bikes in the flesh at a recent group ride in FOD ridden by Charlie.  I can confirm it looks lovely in the flesh.

Don’t feed the trolls Nicko 😂

I meant to post exactly this up.  I purchased a pair of their trail wides and had a problem with the freehub.  Had a replacement sent to me the following day.  No questions asked.  Proper impressed

Maybe it’s just the yellow colour or maybe just because I hammer mine through the winter FOD slop.  Who knows, but it’s very, very thin. I knew that they had pretty shoddy longevity to the finish when I bought it.  Not that I’m worried about it.  It’s a mountain bike and a winter bike specifically.  The bigger issue for me is Whyte putting the bottle mounts too low in the frame so you can’t actually fit a bottle!

Mine seems to fall off at the merest glance 👀

Same for me, Paint on my hardtail is shocking!

Nope, me and my mate were chatting about it this weekend.  Heard nothing!

Or out on a walk up the hill.  She now happily walks off the lead and always comes back on call.  So super chuffed with that

Here you go, willow with her best mate…who sadly is more interested in YouTube.

I have a pair of DT XM1501 which I absolutely love, super fast engagement.  30mm rims are tough and only now (year in) do I need to get the wheel tried up.  I’m pretty heavy and unforgiving on wheels and kit in general.  I also have a pair of trail wide hunts on my winter hardtail.  Initially the bearings in the freehub failed very quickly, but I suspect this was a duff batch.  Hunt were fantastic at sending out a replacement freehub.  So far so good now, not noticed any flat spots or dents just yet.  But reserve judgement until I actually get around to cleaning the bike (it’s a winter basher after all) engagement on the Hunt hubs seems good, the overall package seems great value to me.  It’s worth noting I could by nearly 3 sets of the Hunts for the RRP of my DT Swiss xm1501’s

Nearly bought an XT 12speed set up at a nice price this weekend, before remembering I needed to factor in a new freehub at £60.  Lucky I didn’t as I have just found a massive scratch on my shock that needs sorting, so gear set will have to wait.  But for me, I have never really been impressed with Eagle.  Gear range is nice and when it shifts well it’s spot on , but it can be temperamental.  I went through several GX rear mechs before buying an XO1 variant, which was much better.  Shifter feels OK but  not particularly good quality.  Not sure where this claimed ‘eagle longevity’ comes from? Perhaps people don’t ride that much? Also running a SRAM cassette is missing some of the best parts of the new Shimano 12 speed system.  Which if you are not aware of, I would recommend reading up on!

As for not needing the range? I don’t understand this , you just need to adjust your chainring size accordingly.  So you’re utilising a good comfortable spread of gears.  If you’re running a 28t chainring with a 50t rear cassette then you are very rarely (if at all)going to use the big ring.  But if genuinely people don’t need the range because a) they live somewhere flat/barely ever ride or b) believe they have Chris Hoys legs then great.  You get to save ££££ on buying new kit. Doesn’t mean we are all the same!

Just saw some ramped up social media campaign featuring brant, with some British made jeans.  Has he stepped aside again?

Wales never fails, prime conditions today around South Wales Valleys!

To be honest I’m super chuffed with our 16 week olds progress.  She understands no, has a great recall and all of the basic commands as well as sleeping through with no accidents now.  The mouthing is very common, especially in Labrador’s. She has, what looks like 2 new teeth coming through.  Best thing we have found is Antler chews, she will sit and gnaw on those for ages.  In fact if she gets nippy if you say a firm ‘No!’ Go get your chew, she disappears off to find her chew.

we have been socialising her regularly (I grew up with dogs) so she is starting to learn some manners on that front.  Like I say, I’m really happy with how Willow is progressing.  She has bags of personality and intelligence in spades!  I do miss (and she will never replace) the absolute stupidity, comedy and compassion of our old Boxer though.

That’s amazing!  I must say we have been lucky with Willow.  She took her first walk today off the lead.  Her recall has been excellent, she is sleeping through with no accidents now.  So other than the constant biting, she is a dream.  Understanding the poor mite is teething like mad at the moment.  We start obedience classes next weekend, but seem to have already ticked off 3/4’s of the syllabus!

This Christmas has been mega with a puppy, can’t wait until willow is old enough to crack in with some distance on her walks!

Amazing!  Teddy looks gorgeous, albeit I’m aware all to well that they may look cute on the outside but reality is often somewhere removed!  Good luck Twistedpencil!

Same for me with Nano’s had a couple of sets last set lasted about a month.  Pair on my wife’s bike have lasted years, but it’s probably only had a months worth of summer use in that time.  I would buy them again. Burgtec are my favourite but I also run Hope F20’s with titanium axles which I’m enjoying.  Also have some Blackspire pedals which are lovely things, grip and platform is great but I’m not sure about build quality.

ps. wider rims and geo changes have vastly improved 29ers in recent years, so tyres dont seem to squirm as much

i think what you mean is they have improved “bikes” it’s not specific to 29ers.  Certainly tyre squirm isn’t. For me better thought out and designed tyre structure coupled with wider rims and in some instances inserts has changed the game in recent years

Raffles are lotteries if you have to pay to enter. If we could come up with something that satisfies section 14 of the gambling act 2005 then it could be worth doing.

I understand that, I remember the early days of the DBC on Facebook where south coast suspension fell foul of running a paid raffle which didn’t meet the requirements.  But there are loads of businesses running quiet profitably in different sports/hobbies running similar.  I wouldn’t suggest copying DBC, but something similar would be a good income stream I’m sure.  Plus the added benefits I mentioned earlier.  Maybe worth investigating in new year?

Mark, FWIW I think you guys did/do a great job with the Christmas giveaways.  Like you say the megasack was won by a subscriber.  I can understand why they would not want to be active on the forum!  Fair play to you and the team for rustling together some great prizes!  Personally the videos one were pretty poor and annoying, but you could skip through to find the answers.

on another note red lotteries and raffles, have STW considered running a prize raffle style event? Like that of the Dream Bike competition on Facebook? Maybe not on that scale but a weekly/monthly raffle with a set minimum ticket/ROI on prize purchase price.  Could create some fresh members/subscribers and some important revenue for STW?  Just a thought

I’ve won a couple of prizes from STW in recent years.  It’s always worth entering, in fact of all the MTB competitions STW always strikes me as the fairest/acts with the most integrity

I got on fine with the aggressor, better in the summer months for sure.  But it’s by far not the worse rear tyre in the world.  But tyres are very much personal preference, I hear and see people using a DHF as a front tyre I found it bloody lethal! I got a friend who runs Nobby Nica front and rear year round, I find them woeful in any condition.

lads only rode the HD5 in the races around the marketing launch of it

that’s not right. Lewis Buchanan raced the HD4 most of the season before switching to HD5.  In fact 2/3 of the Elite Ibis team ran HD4/5 (Bec and Lewis) with only Robin Wallner running a Ripmo

The U.K. importers of Ibis doesn’t even have a demo bike at the moment, believe the first batch is sold out everywhere.  As a big Ibis fanboy, I had enquired about demoing one.  Not looking likely until at least end of Feb I’m told

I think the point is Mark, that if I am looking to buy a new bike and no what I want in terms of Geo, travel, wheel size, suspension platform etc.  Why compromise? Sure try different things (hence being interested in the RC295) but having ridden 130/140mm 29ers for a couple of years, if I go back it will be with at least 150 f&r.  With 160 being my sweet spot, I see no negative from a personal perspective.

One of my highlights of Christmas Day was watching Binky finally stripped for paint! It’s been a fantastic project, but like others have said I can see it dragging out until at least this time next year

Because experience tells me that’s my sweet spot, remember I have owned several 29 140mm bikes.  I need something I can use in Morzine in the summer as well as South Wales steeps.  For me 160mm ticks my boxes placebo or not.  To be honest It would likely be fine, but i see it more as a trail bike.  Which would always have me wanting an enduro bike in the quiver.  When I reality the additional travel and appropriate build spec has no detrimental effect in my view and when spending the kind of money I would to get it to how I wanted, not sure why I should need to compromise on my wish list.

I have been running a KMC 12 speed chain and it’s been flawless, I have broken SRAM GX Eagle chains  with plates cracking.

Absolutely loving true PNw Loam Grips at the moment.  Seem to be lasting very well, super comfy and not ridiculously massive

LOAM GRIPS

Have you seen the photos of the production bike Ogden? The prototype lineages and rear end look like it was…well a prototype, the images of the production bikes look much much nicer.  I would 100% buy one if it were slightly bigger travel

Its not really a copy of the Fargo either, so much as it’s a copy of any other bike.  Personally I don’t get the whole gravel bike thing and that Evil makes me feel a bit meh, what is the benefit over say a decent cross country 29er? Just a collection of compromises as I see it, but happy to admit I’m wrong.  My friends who own them absolutely love them.

Guy is releasing his review on Sunday I’m told.  Looking forward to it, just wish this bike had more travel!

I’m not really sure what the Question is then Weeksy.  As you have had some great responses.

Hob Nob is right in what he says session if a trail that isn’t just riding a purpose bike trail centre is the beat way to learn, it’s training and is needed to improve skills in different formats at every sport. Riding somewhere you ride all the time is great but you are only going to improve riding that trail. Dropping BPW even a few times a year is unlikely to really sharpen your skills, just highlight your shortcomings.

It has been suggested that you upgrade your fork travel to modernise your bike to somewhere near current trail bikes by a former whyte dealer (10mm extra fork travel and an Angleset to slacken) but it seems you don’t want to do that.

so like I say it seems like you want to be convinced which bike to buy, which in itself is absolutely fine…I enjoy those threads as much as anyone.

So reading behind the initial post and the follow up replies, basically what you asking is what enduro bike with screw fit bb do people recommend under £2k??? Because it sounds like you have made your mind up already

Happy Monday everyone…this little arsehole decided one of my suits looked better with a massive hole in this weekend:

Not sure that additional travel is a skills compromiser.  It brings additional challenges, things like longer bikes being slightly less direct and slower to turn.  Generally bigger bikes weigh more so require more speed/better techniques.  Sure you can plough through things easier, but that can be full of risks as eventually you try and steam through something which was bigger than expected.  That said I also don’t buy into the ‘130mm trail bike is all you need’ comments, it’s so subjective as to what and where you ride.  For me my 160mm bike is all I need for Proper gnarly South Wales off piste stuff.  Also plenty big enough for any trail I’m willing to ride at BPW (all reds and few of the blacks) but also is manageable around trail centres and FOD off piste trails.  It will also be coming with me to the Alps this year and be raced across the U.K.  In fact I doubt there is anywhere a 130 trail bike is noticeably faster than my Mojo HD4 if things like tyres are set up the same.

Yep, SantaCruz Hightower.  Wife signed off me building what I believed would be my dream bike.  I absolutely hated it chased my tail changing bits to try and make it ‘better’ including shock upgrades, different wheel sizes etc.  Lost thousands when I sold it.

Onza, I’ll check later for you.  But they have run loss of prototypes over a prolonged testing period.  I had a very near OTB this weekend with mine fitted so I’m pretty certain as a result I would’ve used all of my available travel.  Also it fits the same as other mudguards just bolted rather than cable tie so Think its a moot point

I’m not sure why fork bottoming out would have any effect on the mudguard?? It doesn’t move! Or am I missing the point here??

Running 27.5, couple of the lads run them on 29ers though and equally as chuffed with theirs…as for mud, been riding off piste in South Wales!  I believe it’s called welsh gold..or something like that!

EGF, sorry to read this.  It’s easy to take forget how lucky I am when she eats shoes, bites me or does something even worse.  But she is a lovely dog and full of life, I just know long term we will have some great adventures.  The hole our last dog left has been so huge that even if willow is 10% as good a dog as “Tessy” she will be irreplaceable.