shit looks like women are DQ.. shit shit shit

long grips. yeah roundy arch – older rev.

i’ve ridden a Pitch, and found it a bit of a sofa.. i.e. comfy but bit dull. hoping the Guapo (when i finally get it together) will have more life to it. it may be very similar. specialised are a bit common round here 😉 but yeah, spesh are solid bikes and those bikescene prices are fair.

El Guapo is too much bike at 6″?

maybe an FTM carbon?
http://on-one.co.uk/i/q/FRTITFTMCARRS/titus_ftm_carbon_frame_and_monarch_shock

135mm travel, seems good.

it’s the new 138mm standard.

nah, it’s just bad QC.

weren’t old X0s the ones that were crap? they didn’t recommend using them with sintered pads – not sure, there was some dodgy ones. old Rs and current 5/7 are best imho. totally reliable for me. i’ve said before, look at any issue of Dirt in last 2 years, they’re all on elixirs, and no reviews complain..

both my sets of avid elixirs working perfectly, one just getting sloppy in lever from so much use. could all you haters please put yours for sale i need a 3rd set for new bike 🙂 cheers.

if it’s an old reba (up to 2009?), no 2.1 is max. a newer one (2010 or later?), yes. arches very different on newer forks.

interesting. i’d start by maybe putting the old bars and stem on new bike.. reduce them variables 🙂

i think maybe being “too slack” can appear twitchy as the tiny movements you’re used to making to keep balance become bigger movements and it takes time to adjust.

i was not super impressed by CyB.. partly it was very wet, and wrong bike setup, but.. it just didn’t flow nearly as well as I like. lots of trails are too narrow to get any speed. felt like a chore. actually enjoyed the blue there more haha. i love Afan btw.

^ sounds like Nant yr Arian would be more my thing 🙂

bugger! this is a big bike to ride uphill without a granny.. how much would you need to shave off the tabs to run double, 2.5mm or something? there’s always seat/chainstay/bb mounted devices but i guess bb mount ones won’t work with the tabs there either?

another thing for EG v4 brant: offset the iscg a bit?

need a set myself, will probably get Elixir 5s 180/160 for £134 from merlin.

SLX BR-M675 are cheaper from germany, but do they have any modulation? the shimano ones i’ve used before don’t, not sure if these are newer or any better.

well.. that was better than anything in the olympics (probably).

liked the “uglier than trying to cook a burger in a trouser press” comment too.

generally consensus i got when looking at this a week ago: EG better going up, Mega slightly better going down.
Titus has Spesh Horst Link, can’t see how you’d get a better deal from them except for those Pitch frames when they were £500 or whatever, not sure any left?

video of this please? 😀

nasty crash swiss lead guy into barrier!

wtf is up with the commentary.. BBC guys don’t even know what country a rider is from n/m his name.. no timings, no idea.

not sure how £1000 for a basic looking frame is cheap. that looks like paying for a brand.
this Kona with RP2 for £320 is cheap. jees the frame is almost “free”.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=74538
no idea if it’s any good :p

EG/NP Mega seem to be where it’s at for value 26″ long travel FS right now.. never ridden Hustler, perhaps it has some magical qualities that justify that RRP..

yeah you should be able to get a -1.5 at least.
just avoid the FTM alloy? i didn’t realise, and nearly bought one, that bike had problems (high failure rate), maybe still does?

Gotten so bad I’m selling loads off and just hanging onto a project Xc frame and parts, awaiting some sort of miracle to happen to heal me again

that’s the most depressing thing i’ve read today 😥 good luck.. hope you’re seeing suitable doctors etc?

Flying Snake. from the reviews:

“There’s no need to use this cable if you have full-length outer routing, as it’s key features are the full length inner sleeve and light weight.”

they do sound good though… i’d just use whatever is cheapest shimano outer with stainless inners.

ah, Jamie and i both wrong! so it will scratch, but shouldn’t show much as so close to metal colour. btw rocker doesn’t match rest of bike. and shock could be white imho. but these are niggles, it’s bloody nice.

why isn’t ano more popular for frames? it’s light, good looking, can be quite tough (thomson black) but usually isn’t.

sorry might be a coating, Jamie at on-one “I believe there is a clear coat on [super raw] that should help stop corrosion.”
hmm.

well if it was copper it’d take on a lovely verdigris.. but this might not be so pretty haha.

sorry no can build for a bit, just got while it was cheap. you’ll have to use your
imagination. speaking of which. the small white is a seriously feminine looking bike imho. even brant called it the lesbian special? i think the bare metal is suitably masculine/metrosexual. orange for posers. black for people who like scratches. all bases covered? 🙂

right so… maybe should lacquer it? some turtle wax? 🙂

it really is bare, doesn’t even seem to be lacquered. btw always annoyed me that my Whyte was painted black undercoat, then silver again. seems so pointless and makes scratches look sh*t. no idea why more don’t offer bare frames, can aluminium corrode/dull in some conditions? magnesium forks sure can.

def. private joke. pretty funny imho. though a massive cock could be distracting. to some.

yeah i noticed the same thing today. optilabs here. didn’t know it was heat. that seems.. pretty retarded, since it’s when you want them to work 🙄

nope, current monarch supposed to be as good a RPx, user serviceable and £200 cheaper.. dunno i’ll see! frame can take anything including coil if that’s your thing (not me).

should have said: weight i gave above also bare. paint probably adds 200g? and chips. some careful filing might get this under 3kg haha.

Mega.. is more DH? some QC issues i’ve heard there. and nowhere as pretty 😉

yep, sounds like the day i rocked up to Tavi Woodlands on my hardtail, expecting some kind of XC. whole place is at 45deg and was wet. felt genuinely lucky to get out alive and unhurt after attempting most runs, slowly!

yeah they are really farkin’ nice, that looks like a large. seriously amazing work for the price (usually i feel the other way around with most stuff). gonna be a bit longer before i can ride mine though.

no lacquer or anything, it’s not going to corrode i guess?

also, nowhere to put a bottle! bugger, esp. in this weather!

for anyone interested: medium with Monarch, on the scales, 3035g. only about 700g more than my Top Fuel IIRC.

great pics. what’s the fail rate with Stan’s rims, vs UST rims?

this was so bad it was really good, like watching a train wreck, or being on bad drugs.

also the kind of cycling i don’t feel any connection with.

http://www.bigmassive.co.uk/

way better price, only 3.5″ drop, sold out again!

yeah Del just edited my post thanks, i’m looking at GD, just hard to accept nearly £200 over £200 😯 for something so simple. and tbh, quite ugly :p guess i’ll have to suck it up. can’t keep doing the sending it back thing, even if 2pure (Crank Bros UK) are helpful, and they have been, keeping on repairing it out of warranty no quibbles. Forca, may have just been a bad one, but GD are proven now.

yep also got the nice FS+simple HT, but my HT is 27.2

never heard of Forca, everyone knows Joplin unreliable, Reverb are good but expensive + 30.9-31.6 only. if mechanical posts fit 27.2, i could shim to use with any bike? and swapping ain’t a bad idea since you also get the same saddle :). might be the way to go, except shims not good for frames are they? all this oil and air is too much for a seatpost imho.

this the one to get?
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=30188

costs almost as much as a reverb! hrm the temptation to get a clone..
will call on-one to see if shims kill the warranty.

hmmm! so does that replace top and bottom guides? hadn’t seen that before. does add a little rotating mass but only 46g or whatever – nothing. nice.

yer not really The Onion is it..
C+ un peu drôle

patronise much, crashtestmonkey?

scott, hey! sorry been off flirting with other trails etc, but now sun is out, QE will be back on the agenda 🙂
See you and superfli over there soon.

btw always like bent post / happy ending stories. need a new one too, Joplin got to go back for 3rd time this week and wrong size for my new frame anyways.

looks like you put on weight in France 😉

what other options did you find, i could only see the Nukeproof i linked earlier as anywhere in the ballpark, and for some reason that didn’t appeal.

don’t be too bummed though it’s still available at £600? which is a great price afaik (this frame was $2200 3 years ago?! not that it matters)
On-one may reduce price again, doesn’t look like they sold that many, maybe a timing thing..

looks like summer’s here so looking forward to riding this beauty, even if it is way more bike than i need 😳 at least not orange.. and i won’t feel left out next time i ride in surrey hills (Ibis, Ibis, transition, Lapierre.. jesus)

half an hour left if anyone else wants a Guapo, FTM, etc, various frames with 10% off the already discounted price..

Guapo with CCDB can be preordered for £720 i think, you’ll only need to wait till.. Wednesday?

http://on-one.co.uk/i/q/FRTITELGUV3CCDB/titus_el_guapo_frame_with_cane_creek_double_barrel_air_shock

use code UKBANKERS10
i went for the cheaper Monarch deal, like to service my own kit and not hardcore enough for the CCDB i don’t think.

here’s all titus frames:
http://on-one.co.uk/c/q/frames/titus

Rockstar 29er FS for £675 sounds great too, i’d probably have gone for that if i didn’t have almost new 26 wheels and fork. Guapo 29 coming this autumn? it’s like 26″ stuff is all on discount eh.