dont mean to patronise but make sure you get the right weight. you can often find good quality stuff on ebay pretty cheap too.

id settle for any of the above, stuck at work with a bunch of teenagers who cant be arsed to do anything. they are watching christmas chart stuff on tv so im observing from a distance!

lol rocketdog

i admit i did do that once, it was a point to point ride with the second half being loads of road work through the dales though.

you still adding them up then mama?

(waits to be tarred with the same brush as hora, ton, mama etc.)

cant believe im on a par with ton! how many years you been riding tony? for me its about 20, since i was ten. so thats only (!) 2 per year on average, though some years i bought none.

road bike that i used offroad, shook me to bits!
dodgy tourer with fat tires cos i couldnt afford a mountain bike
raleigh mustang
emmelle cheetah
diamond back sorrento
giant cadex 3 (2nd hand)
marin palisades trail
marin bear valley
marin pine mountain
univega steel thing
univega alloy thing
haro full susser
gt lts 3
azonic ds 1
coyote dual
gt i drive
giant atx
sunn bmix
sunn bmix
kona stab
cannondale f600 (still got)
santacruz heckler
norco dj thing
santacruz superlight
whyte 46
rocky mountain blizzard
yeti 575
ellsworth epiphany
gt peace
santacruz chameleon
santacruz blur 4x
marin rocky ridge
orange 5

33. ****! did i win? thats not including any road bikes that didnt get ridden offroad or any bmx either. including roadies and bmx, 42.(!)

got to be ton, hands down! then mama, then hora.

gutted none of them ride the same size bike as me, id have been a penniless but proud owner of many great bikes by now!

wow. just wow.

perhaps we could all learn something from kaesae here.

someone else will have to decide what though cos im stumped.

i heard the crank bros one was low

the olde hope ones broke if you ran them on the tight side. at least they did for me. always good on the warranty though.

go for mostly black/white/silver with maybe something like blue, purple, green bits here and there. look at some bmx/dj type bikes to get some ideas, they seem to get the colour coodination thing better than most, dmr in particular. if it were me id avoid the obvious seat qr, headset etc colour matching cos everyone seems to do that.

i wouldnt normally do colour coordination myself but hey, if you are going orange then you may as well go all out.

blur 4x and chameleon. not got a santa cruz fetish or anything, in fact i felt a bit embarrassed owning a 'boutique' bike, i much prefer an 'everyman' one. id have either again in a heartbeat though, cash permitting.

ton, mama, i like the way you two play with bikes, wish i had the cash to do the same. i dont think ive seen many bikes either of you have had that i wouldnt like a go on (provided i pretend tons wheels are the right size!). my problem is i always go for posh parts, if i settled on slx level stuff i could afford to swap around more often i guess.

ditto both of the above. hope new ones are better, salsa are thought of as the best by some though.

cant find it on the site now but it used ot be there. sure it was 3.4 for the ti, 3.7 for the alloy and 4. something for the steel

look at the marin rocky ridge too, very similar shape but no ebb/ horizontal mounts. teeny bit more give in the stays too.

it is a marin though! ive had both and my heart likes the cham more but being sensible it would be a hard choice. marin is a lot cheaper!

i used to ride a blizzard and whilst it was never set up as racey they are definitely more old school xc arent they? bluepig is 4 1/2- 4 3/4 lbs i think, mmmbop is sub 4lbs though and you would get that alloy playbike thing going again.

a bit of copper grease in the threads of the fork and lightly smeared the length of the axle works well. i like mine done up on the snug side for peace of minds sake and often find that backing the end nut off a turn or so helps the axle get through the hub.

the rutland cycling ones are probably grey imports/OE i reckon. i asked my lbs if they could price match or even get close, they said not only could they not get close, they couldnt get stock until 2010. still, at £315 im not complaining!

Good deal on 09 Maxle revs

not bad,better deal on 2010 maxle revs

the 09 maxle revs are basically pikes with rev uppers, the 2010 ones have a completely redisigned lower leg hence the greater weight saving.

i got s pair of 2010 150mm revelations from rutland cycling for £315 (as did a few others off here). they are knocking them out at £350 but you can get a 10% off voucher if you hassle them on facebook. they are wicked! ive got them on one bike and pikes air 454's on the other and they are just as stiff but are a bit lighter. same internals and all that which i get on well with anyway. good buy IMO.

i demo'd both, went for the five though as id thought i would from looking on paper. slightly slacker head angle, longer wheelbase, lower bb and the maxle rear end all added up to what i wanted. id have happily had a heckler though, great bike. what suited me might be the opposite of what others want so i cant emphasise how worthwile a demo is. its very reasuring to KNOW you picked the right one!

i think as long as you took pics/ video and posted it on here/ youtube it would be fine

can i join the sag wagon please? swine flu followed by chest infection means im not at my best!

i really considered one of these earlier this year but decided against a demo because i knew the handleing would convince me to buy one and i didnt want to take a chance after the reported faults. i know they have sorted it now but its a lot of money so why take a chance?

didnt the brake mount warp in that magazine one too? i dont want to join the witch hunt, in fact i want to be persuaded the other way but i think it might take some doing.

oh, its definitely better looking than a five (and i ride a five).

genesis and boardman are popular bikes for the cycle sceme cos of their bang for your buck. something slightly more tough would be an orange crush or a marin rocky ridge. it isnt a problem to pay a bit on top of your voucher so do a bit of overtime and treat yourself :wink:

oooh fancy matching pedals! well done that man, pretty and fit for purpose without being top drawer; perfect winter ht IMO.

no thats not bad at all really.

blackspire stinger didnt work for me, not on this bike anyway. ran one on a blur 4x and it was fine. i dont work in IT and the only sled i own is a plastic one. i thought we were talking about bikes?

out of personal preference i climb in the middle ring, a habit i got into on my blur 4x cos it climbed so bad in the granny. once you adapt your technique its not so tough, even on flats.

i dont use an mrp1x, though i hear they are pretty good for xc racer types. i run an lg1 and its great for the peaks etc. ive stil got all the gears and stuff for if i go somewhere that the climbs might break me (alps or something).

as i said before its not for everyone but for some of us there are benefits to setting a bike up this way, so for you to suggest that because you dont like it then it must be wrong or that a persons job dictates how 'gnar' they are kind of misses the point. thanks for trying though.

a bmix van halen! i used to have 2 of them, a red one as stock and a chrome one with a pair of judy 100s, red magura rim brakes, profile cranks with the trickest chainring, dx pedals, azonic bar and stem and red saddle and grips. killed the red one by ovalising the headtube beyond repair and traded the chrome one in against my first dh bike. i need to hang on to bikes and save up a bit longer!

i separated the crown and steerer on a pair of old manitous, something sx, not sure what! within a few months i snapped a pair of judy dh's which also broke the frame (gt zaskar). a year or so later i blew the internals out of a pair of monster t's on my old stab (almost took my face off, good job i was wearing full face and goggles) then a couple of years ago snapped the dropouts off a pair of rc41s then killed the internals on my dads rc39's. that was it till a few weeks ago when i cracked the steerer on my wifes recons showing her how to 180 to fakie out off the patio wall :oops:

thanks chipps!

simon, perhaps because most people are having too much fun to stop at the good bits? thats always how it is for me anyway!

nope, though id guess it would either be a 70 or 90. phone your local dealer and ask, i bet they would swap it to whatever length you wanted FOC anyway.

tinsy is that yours?

of the sheffield variety:

i would personally recommend trying a reluctant half link chain on its own before looking at tensioners. ive only set up 3 SSers so couldnt speak with any authority but so far ive not needed to use any tensioning on any of them.

if your chain line was good you could probably get away with it. my only concern would be if you dont have iscg mounts then it would have to be on your bb cups. the amount of torgue you put on it may make it rotate or stretch/ damage the threads in your frame.

dropout tensioners can of course shift too but it you are runnnig them on a frame with a replaceable mech hanger then the damage is less significant i guess.

can’t see the point of a single ring for anything but a DH, 4X or Jump bike

or a trail bike used on rocky stuff where the chain bounces off lots?

the weight difference is marginal at best

front xt shifter, cable and outer, front mech, xtr granny ring, straitline bash = 510g

e13lg1+ = 200g so nearly 3/4lb saved,

mrp1x = 58g so 1lb saved.

its not for everyone but there are benefits to setting your bike up this way. i love not having to coast after rocky stuff now ive fitted a chain device. no matter how tight i ran the chain or what bash and dual guide i tried it just didnt work. good for a bit of extra leg strength too, especially if you tend ot ride shorter distances over the winter; it encourages you to attack climbs a bit more.

i will be refitting my granny for the alps next year though!

sunline v1? raceface atlas am?

love the second one thurman, did a similar thing with a sliced inner tube and zip ties. noisy and lumpy but saved me a 20 mile walk.