Dave E – I’m worried the non snakeskins will be tough enough on rock/slate and prone to pinch flats?

Cheers everyone, very helpful! Those with Racing Ralphs saying they last a couple of years/summers are you doing much riding on rock?

Cheers Steve, unfortunately On-one have sold all the Snake Skin versions. Wonder how tough the side walls are of the non-snakeskins to be that low weight at a 2.4.

Thanks, I’ve heard the Nobbly Nics are good. I’ll look into them. Not cheap though are they!

I doubt I could get a 2.25 Crossmark on a Sun Single track (31mm wide). I’m after a high volume tyre for fairly hard riding. How wide does the Ardent come up compared to a Highroller of the same size?

Ta for the advice.

Hopefully they’ll have the sense to have some nicer graphics on them. I like quality stuff for cheap prices and their pedals are great but their graphics look cheap and nasty.

Cheers PTR!

Well spotted J_me. Definitely looks like it’s been welded around the mount, the cable guides are missing too. Feel bad for whoever buys that one!

“Beautifull frame with no marks or frame damage”. Yeah RIGHT!!

I wouldn’t touch it.

Think if I had a rating that bad I’d use a friend or family members account to sell something worth that much.

Much more detailed info with The Guardian on the attack and where he was found.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-obama

They weigh bike with and without pedals! Oranges generally are a bit heavier but who cares, they’re built to last.

Defo 16″ I reckon

Thumbs up for Garburn and Walnar definitely if you’ve not done them before. Helvellyn is a good one for the challenge but obviously a lot of climbing. Descent down Dollywaggon route and Grizedale Tarn is a bit interrupted by the trail drainage ‘improvements’ but still worth it. So much to choose from that is miles more fun than any trail centre IMO.

You can get cheap luggage scales for about £5, hang the end of your saddle or a rear drop out from them. Accurate enough. Weighing yourself with and then without your bike is never very accurate, you move a bit in one direction and it’s all out.

Bought loads of stuff off them and never been given a voucher once.

Yeti’s sizing is really odd. !’m 6.1 and I’d get a medium rather than a large. Compare yeti’s sizing chart to any other- Orange site or Santacruz’s ones etc and you’ll see that what Yeti call a med is what others would call a large.

Inless you want a big bike go a size down to what you normally would.

I once saw a large 7 and it looked like a monster truck!!

Grizedale’s north face is OK, quite pedally and slow at the start but really there’s far more fun to be had on other trails around Coniston. Head to Wheelbase in Staveley or Bike Treks for some maps and local knowledge to make the most of your time. 2 laps of Grizedale is a waste your time in an area that has so much more to offer.

If you haven’t read the book, it’s great. Krakuer’s Into Thin Air is also excellent and reveals a lot about the problems/dangers of over crowding on Everest.

Sorry! Here’s the link: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/asr-7-frame-only-10-35160

Have you read this: THe comments about it being a big mountain machine that’s perhaps not as great on the tight techy stuff slightly put me off the idea of it. I think an Alpine would be a better all rounder myself.

Great isn’t it. Think it took them 5 days was it for that trip – that’s 5 day they won’t forget for the rest of their lives.

I’m sure the new models are better, I really wasn’t a fan of the SPV junk, I know riders who just took that cartridge out and left it out.

Fox maybe more expensive but metal parts last longer than light plastic ones, if that what Manitou are using. You can sell on a well looked after Fox at a decent enough price.

They had all sorts of reliability issues a few years back, Hayes were going to buy them then didn’t. I was told they didn’t even have a distributor a while back. Apparently now they have sorted themselves out and are much better but personally I see no reason to not stick with Fox or Rock Shox.

For what it’s worth, my 2005 Manitou Sherman Breakouts turned out to be the worst fork I have owned, possibly even ridden actually. Utter crap!

There’s always folk camping up around Walnar bit of a free for all up there!

£60 I assume would be the price you could get such a frame directly from the factory but yes, seems unlikely to me too. I have heard a few others say the Boardman carbon isn’t great, not just snobs either! I’d still be aware that there’s a difference between cheap carbon and high end and a decent aluminium frame could be better for the same money as ‘cheap’ carbon. .

I don’t know how a Boardman rides but according to a bike shop near me you can get ‘one of those type of carbon frames for £60’. As in they are one of the cheaper types of carbon from the far east.

Obviously they are being a bit elitist and snobbish but I got thinking whether it was worth going for cheaper carbon over a high end aluminium frame. The guys in Wheelbase in Staveley (I really value their opinions – some are v. good sponsored racers) suggested I could go for a Cannondale Caad 10. A close look shows just how nice these frames are.

Of course it all comes down to how much money you want to put into a frame versus components. Also consider how racey you want the angles of the frame to be. Some companies offer far better warranties than others too, (Trek and Cannondale apparently are v.good).

A friend has a Wilier Escape – very nice racey geometry and ride for £800. IMO that’d be v.good for the money.

ST4 would be my choice

Steve Peat used a nomad with 140mm Pikes on for a couple of years.

eh?

Chameleon’s are often noted for being a bit harsh at the rear, as are Cove Stiffees but then both get ace reviews. Bear in mind thought that these reviews tend to be with more hardcore/play bike builds than XC ones.

Something for tough techy trails that you can throw around a bit with slacker head angle:

Orange Crush
Orange Subzero
Cove Stiffee
Chameleon

Something more XC for longer days out might be best with steel:

Cotic Soul
Cove Handjob
Orange P7
Genisis Altitude…

Personally I wouldn’t call this XC list a do it all bike, but who cares about categories like that.

Awesome stuff. Interviewer: Can I come to one of your parties? Ha ha – er, yeah!!

I heard the Ti- Spoon is v. good, not tried it I’m a SDG bel-air fan.

I heard the Ti- Spoon is v. good, not tried it I’m a SDG bel-air fan.

Might try out one of these SMPs though

Apparently was on Top Gear as a star in a reasonably priced car… weird. Something about her climbing Kilimanjaro and having a kid and going to Afghanistan to boost moral…

No

Jeffus – Looks awesome. I saw something very similar at Bike Treks Ambleside last year.

Here’s another – 140mm along the lines of a Blood/ST4 design: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carlandsian/4659829183/

Thanks Jeffus. There’s so many Strange bikes made, a lot of them don’t get made into actual Oranges so I wouldn’t get you hopes up too much. With the Five AM build and the Alpine 160 having a fair bit of crossover you could argue that there’s not the space for a Patriot. I’d like to see it come back though!

There’s a black one of those so called new Patriots on Oranges Facebook page at the mo. Looks killer!

That guitar is 60 something years old the amount it’s been played it’s going to look like that. It was second hand even when he first got it.