Big Bad Barry ……

:lol:

Trekster

Really need to crack my fear of getting wheels off the ground before I need to retire from biking
The fear of broken bones if it all goes wrong is a constant stopper

I honestly think you will be surprised buy just what you are already capable of with the nice and chilled pace of his guidance. By the afternoon I was launching that drop above without fear time after time (I couldn’t quite get the berm at the bottom right either but that’s cool.. one for another day !!!). Tony seems to be able to help strip away the drama from the act that would have previously stoped you from tackling the features in a trail that scare you

Schmiken a few pictures sent over

Schmiken I’ll see what I can sort out

schmiken its a medium 2009 with the bigger seat tube for added stiffness before the swap to lynskey manufacture.

perfect apart from the crack down from the seat tube slot !

I have a cracked one sitting in a box in the shed if you want to find out for yourself !

I think is a good frame, just probably best for lighter riders

Chain Reaction have Toro’s at £23.99 at the moment. I picked up a pair to try out for winter use given their good review by Single Track. They are the 2.35’s and I know you said xc but they don’t look that big to me. Certainly look a lot smaller than the 2.2 Honey Badgers I had on before.

Yes I have one. Was advised to get one with a specific domed mulching deck (not one of the duel mulch or collect options with a plug for the collection outlet) and they do work.

You can’t try and take too much off in one go though and expect the clippings to magically vanish, about a third each cut is recommended.

It seems to work just as well when the grass is wet if you stick to this rule and as you say it does save the hassle and time of empting. More importantly to me you don’t end up with a mountain of grass cuttings in the corner of the garden that never rots

Sorry if I have missed a reply but just a bump for the Stooge owners to ask if any of you have ridden or owned a Solaris and how would they compare?

My Solaris is my first 29er and I really like it but there is just something about the Stooge that looks like its a lot of fun to me !

unfortunately I’m in the wrong part of the country to make a test ride easily accessible.

Cheers for any reply’s :D

Sorry it’s a bit of a general question but how do you think the Stooge would compare to my Solaris with 120 mm forks ?

Every time this thread pops up I can’t help thinking they look like fun !

I could easily get away without suspension but I would probably only be using a large-ish standard tyre up front with a 30 mm Lite Bicycle rim.

Sorry what size? If its 26″ Baron front Trail King rear.

I used to run 2.2 Rubber Queens F&R summer and Baron F&R winter but this summer I left the Baron on the front and I much prefer it. cant really say it feels any draggier to me and you don’t have to lean it right over to get it to bite in the corners like the 2.2 Rubber/Trail/ Queen/Kings

Real world user here, or not user is probably more accurate !

We inherited ours when we moved house with a pretty expensive hot tub left behind by the previous owner.

As others have said the novelty wears off. I didn’t do too bad at using it for the first year but this year I think I’ve been in it twice.

I also drove myself mad for the first 8 months trying to balance the water with a shelf full of chemicals until I discovered a once a week one shot treatment (Aqua Finesse).

As we’ve always had it I haven’t a clue what the electricity costs are but chemicals work out to about £20 a month.

If your looking second hand bear in mind pumps are expected to last about 5 years and most tubs usually have two. I’ve had to replace one at £500 8O but got away with just replacing the seals on the second one for about £30.

Also all the clips holding in the jet heads perish over the years and fall out. New jet heads are bloody expensive at £5/£10 each considering there are 80 odd in our tub.

If you do go ahead think where your going to put it. Its never the same if you are over looked and Id recommend you buy a cover lifter, you do really want to make it as easy and convenient to use as possible or you wont use it at all!

As a silent follower and admirer of your impressive wooden erections 8O

I just want to say brilliant work well done !

A question slightly off topic but I have often wondered if anyone knows, why no 853 sticker on the Solaris as there is with the Soul? It is an 853 front is it not?

Got the CRC one, its ok, not brilliant but ok. If your going to be using it regularly I’d invest in something a bit better if it were me.

Tool Mart do pretty much the same wrench but with the option of 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch drive for the same money.

Tool Mart also sell a selection of bits for about £6 a strip.

I have a couple of Halfords pro ones for higher torques which are a lot better but then a lot pricier

With the CRC one I ended up buying a little Halfords Pro Socket set half on offer at price to get all the bits included and now tend to use the quality little ratchet from that and just use the CRC wrench for the final torqueing

Nipper plus 1000 !!!

Had two now, first time with sedation which was a pleasant afternoon off work with tea, toast and out an hour later and one with throat spray. Walked out 10 minutes after it was done but don’t be fooled into thinking you can control your gag reflex without a fight!! 8O

I’m also of the opinion that the doctor can take a better look at your insides if you’re not writhing around like a snake with its head cut off !

cambers out?

I bought the paragon matt tape for my duck egg solaris. Ended up just using it on the head tube as it didn’t seem to like sticking to big areas or tight curves and looked rubbishy.

Edit: thinking about because the matt paint isn’t perfectly smooth is perhaps why it doesn’t stick like gloss tape.

Had the same problem for the last week or two on the work computer. Can sometimes get it to work if it lets me log into my account and do away with all the adverts.

All fine at home and on my phone and the rest of the web is fine at work.

Hopefully the bosses haven’t cottoned on to where I spend all day !

not sure pikes can be reduced to 120mm?

Nothing readily springs to mind, comemcial hip hop with 66 ha but 120 on the back? Your spitfire is 140 isn’t it?
If you want more snap how about having a play with a volume kit in your shock for 20 quid and 5 minutes tinkering as a stop gap

I have the full Mudhugger pack but I haven’t had a chance to test it due to a bout of man flu.

Given the coverage it certainly looks like it will be affective but I’m not sure I would call it discreet. The rear is about the same length as an ironing board but then I suppose there’s always the scope to trim it down!

It certainly feels solid anyway.

I stuck it onto my 26″ FS without issue but also offered it up to my 29er hard tail, and it looked like it would fit without issue on that. Certainly the curve of the guard was ample to clear the tyre. I believe there are plans to build a 29er version which is going to be longer 8O but tbh I don’t think it will need to be

Cant see how it would necessarily affect tread damage but Conti recommend running their tyres at high pressure, something like 45 psi on a UST Rubber Queen. I’d imagine they would justify any sidewall damage down to people(somewhat understandably because that’s blooming high) not sticking to these recommendations and running them at say 25/30 psi.

If he’s looking at an xc type hardtail then I don’t personally think a 29er would be too much of a problem. They really do excell at that type of use so I personally think they will be around for a good while yet.

Buzzard Light Bicycle were quoting me about £550 for a wheel set based on Hope Hubs. You pay them by Pay Pal who I’ve found don’t necessarily have the best exchange rate either.

I built them myself but they are easy rims to build, you don’t need overly high tension to get the stiffness so you could get away with alloy nipples if you really want to watch the grams.

Just re checked and my wheels work out at about £420.00 so I saved the best part of £130 going down this route and have a little satisfaction riding rims I made to the spec I wanted.

I went Light Bicycle wider 29’s on Hope Evo’s with DT Comps and brass nipples, apart from the rims all standard easily available and adaptable stuff.

Came in just under £400 using Rose for the spokes and weigh 1730g on my scales.

Maybe not super super light but blooming heck are they stiff, noticeably more so than my 26″ Sun Ringle Chargers on 27mm rims which come in at 1800g.

frogstomp I bought them from next day tyres who only stock the pro version in 29 so its dual compound and sealant friendly.

Showing to be a tad heavier than the protection Mountain King Protections if that’s any help on the strength of the side walls?

Looks like the side nobs protrude out more than the kings but maybe that’s not the right tyre to compare it to then within the range? Rubber Queen maybe?

I doubt bears will be a problem,the Honey Badgers will probably bitch slap them for the hell of it

On a stickiness scale I would say somewhere between damson jam and corduroy slacks

To be fair I did point out early on in ownership I was concerned with how tight the seat clamp lever had to be done up to stop the seat post slipping. I was advised that was normal for that model and to use a carbon grip paste which I did. I tried 3 diffrent posts and with paste it still had to be so tight you could just about close it with all of them and I’m not the weakest of fellows.

I suppose I could be a coincidence that is the spot the crack developed and I did send them copies of the original emai concerns when I offered to pay return carriage for them to take a look at the damage.

A point well made wobbliscott and perfectly logical.

I appeciate there is no way they could say the design didn’t suit the material as it it could potentially open a real can of worms.

I would however like to think if I had a small company making a product with my name essentially on it I would at least take a look to satisfy my own curisoty that everything was as it should be. It’s not as if they are sending out tens of thousands of frames a year

Philxx I’m not saying all ti frames are just waiting to crack, with the right strength tubing and correct workmanship there is no reason they shouldnt last a very long time.

Unfortunately I feel its likely I got a dud, whether that be through a fault in the material, a problem with the design or tolerances in the workmanship being not exacting enough.

You may have nothing to worry about and as at least lynsky make their own frames they are better placed to revise the design with a repair.

I hope yours gives you many trouble free years as a good ti frame is a joy to ride.

Philxx its not custom just of the shelf. The warranty was full replacement within 2 years, half price replacement in years 3 and 4.

As its no longer a production model it would have been a 50% of its value credit against a current model, ie a credit of £587 if it had failed 4 months earlier.

If had had average use it would have gone well within the first 2 years for a full refund.

Sudenr its a medium. But the repair is £200 and can’t be warranted so I can’t see it has a grey deal of value now.

Paulosoxo you do have a valid point. I orginly started this thread to ask if fit for purpose is valid to something out of warranty before going back to the manufacturer. It has perhaps unfortunately escalated from that a little since the first post.

I have hopefully though tried to be fair to them, and nothing I have said is untrue. At this point whether or not it is fit for purpose is only my opinion. Only I can catigoricly know its had bugger all use and hasn’t been abused.

I was also told initaly on the first phone call when I said it was sods law it had sat in a box for most of 2012, that a fault in the metal would have gone at any time so not to dwell to sadly on that fact which also led me to belive there wasn’t going to be a problem.

I dont know, maybe they have sorted it fairly. Maybe only having to put £250 towards a replacement half the original cracked frames cost can be seen as acceptable. I was told they didn’t have to do anything so perhaps it is fair

Johnners I will try and post a picture later. It is simply a neat crack from the seat clamp slot towards the top tube. Unfortunately its gone to far to trim the seat tube down to loose it. It can be wielded, with the wield built up and a small brace put in but there is no guarantee it will hold unfortunately and its a bit more than I’d comfortably want to spend to take the chance.

I looked into getting it repaired because it seems such a shame to throw it away considering what it cost.

Sugdenr, It has completed. I have a new Solaris and headset sitting in a box which I appreciate from a legal perspective may be the end of it. I just would like to think if I sold someone something that turned out it was probably never right I would want to do something more about it.

Can I also add It’s not like I have put their name in every post to try and bump this up on google!

I can imagine some other on this site would have made a lot more noise!

I appreciate this thread probably goes against the general opinion of them on this web site. They have a reputation which I am sure is well earned, I just feel they may not have made the right decision on this occasion as we all sometimes do.

Paulsoxo I have tried talking to Cotic in a civilised manner as Jamie pointed out. I suppose that’s why I was disappointed, I just always saw them as one of the good guys. I can post the emails if you want!

I hoped they would at least want to look at it for me or think that would be a reasonable .

scotroutes, no its the run out model with the stronger 31.6 seat post compatible seat tube just before they swapped to lynskey production.

If it was the Lynskey version I wouldn’t stupidly have assumed you were actually able to ride it! :wink:

jameso, unfortunately not, much more expensive titanium other wise I wouldn’t be so reluctant to condemn it to the scrap heap!

*Though to be fair Ti or Al, it should outlive the gear cables so no disrespect to al fames intended!!*

*my realisations with hindsight only get worse!!

glupton, yes it is a Cotic Soda and pdw me being a full on mincing southerner it was bought directly as there are no dealers around these parts.

Out of interest just had a friendly chat with my employers solicitor and they suggested any act of good will outside of warranty could well be deemed as acknowledgement of defect on their part.