I used a 26″ tube for my ghetto setup on 29er… also just use 26″ tube as spare on the trail, though not had to use that yet.

Ran into Danny in iCycles in Innerleithen once – genuinely lovely chap. He’d just been out for a spin down some of Steve Deas new tracks. Talk just as excitedly about riding some of my local trails as I do… brilliant.

Didn’t catch this last night – hope it’s going to be available for download/watch some time soon. I could watch that boy ride all day.

Inners!

I appreciate that I’m biased as I live here/there… and I’ve not ridden the other trails mentioned….

However, there really is an astonishing amount of tracks/trails to ride here in Inners and to top it off, the town usually has a cracking atmosphere on a saturday night when there’s an uplift on. Pretty small place, but everyone is super friendly – especially to MTBers as they appreciate the business they bring to the area. I only moved down here from Edinburgh 11 months ago, but always loved the atmosphere the place had when down here for a weekend’s riding before.

Good, friendly, local bike shops to give you pointers on which trails to check out too etc.

Something to do with Borders telly apparently… think Hels was being interviewed at some point.

Could probably get a second hand Cannondale Prophet or SC Heckler for that sort of money. I’ve just built up a prophet with similar build (Lyriks and X9) and it’s marvelous fun. Would suit everything you’ve mentioned in terms of riding.

Yep, I got one… looks like this:

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Santa Cruz Superlight[/url] by StoooPotter[/url], on Flickr

Love it.
Running 120mm bolt through rebas, 725 bars and 70mm stem (slight change from the pic), tripple rings, light rims and tubeless tyres… and an uppy downy joplin post.

Brilliant bike – fast climber… sprints out the saddle well due to stiffening up of the rear as you put the power down. This is a single pivot trait which I happen to like a lot, but some don’t. Very capable descender if you keep it stiff and strong where it needs to be, hence the bolt through forks.

I live in Innerleithen and there’s very little here I won’t ride on this bike. Cracking ride for all day epics and marathon rides too – which is mainly what I use it for.

I started a similar thread just before I bought it to see what folk though – you’ll find that here

I got my frame second hand, but over all it’s brilliant value and I’d happily buy a brand new one now if I was in the market. Def worth having the RP23 shock IMHO.

I reckon a 100mm – 120mm bike is about right.

Also, I find XC Race bikes a bit too steep and stretched for both trail riding and also for endurance races. for long distance stuff, I find I want something comfy, efficient and relaxing to ride. after 6 or 7 hours in the saddle, your head gets tired, so you don’t want anything too twitchy. IMHO.

I rode the EX last couple of years, did the 2010 strathpuffer and Kielder100 on it, amongst other events. Liked it a lot. However, Last autumn I decided I wanted somthing a little faster feeling and so swapped the frame out for a SC Superlight. I’ve got that built up with the same 120mm reba Maxle forks, 70mm stem and wide, low rise bars. I’m really enjoying this for general trail riding as well as long distance stuff.

Keeping things light where you can, but stiff where it needs to be, means you get a bike that can rack up the miles as well as pin it on techy singletrack trails.

If you want to stay on the small, economical side of things… I can highly recommend the Skoda Roomster.

Pretty cheap for a good condition car. We’ve got the 1.4 3 cylinder diesel engine, does 50-60mpg depending on the trip. Has removable rear seats… loads of head room in the back and boot, making it really easy to get baby in the car seat in the back without having to lever them in under the roof and potentially bang em on the head.

You’d struggle to get 3 adults in the back comfortably, but you could get 2 kids in there and prob 2 bikes.

I frequently take out 2 of the 3 rear seats, leaving 1 for the nipper’s seat, and get 2 bikes and the baby buggy in the back and loads of bags etc.

Had it a year and been proper impressed with it. Most practical small car I’ve seen.

However, we’ve no plans for baby number 2… if we did, we may want something bigger for long bike trips. You may want more luxury too – in which case the octavia estates are really good value. Modeo estate’s are nice too.

For me though, even with a big boot, estate’s are still a faff to put bikes in. With my roomster, I can roll the back seat forward (or take it out), take the front wheel on my bike and wheel it in rear wheel first, with the saddle at full height. It’s brilliant.

I used to have a VW van, so thought going to something this small from that would be tough. Had to do it for the family and commuting reasons though. So far, no looking back. Really is a great wee car.

I’m 5’8″ I ride a medium Cannondal Prophet, med SC Superlight (my 26ers)… and a 16″ on-one inbred 29er.

Mix of 70mm and 80mm stems and raceface atlas FR bars on all those.

Oh and meant to include the cannondale RZ-120 in that last too. Seems to be very well liked. Not ridden one yet, but desperate for a test ride.

Keeping your Lappy Spicy all coiled up as a play bike, Sounds like a 100 or 120 rear and 120 front travel bike would be spot on for the second bike… run it with shortish stem and wide bars to keep it playful. That’s basically my setup. Currently riding a SC Superlight, paired with a SC Bullit – which I’m currently swapping for a cannondale prophet (with 160mm forks – all coiled).

As recommended above + my own:
Trek Fuel EX (had one, liked it a lot)
Orange ST4 (looks just the job, old version a bit flexi for me, not ridden the new one)
Santa Cruz Superlight with 120mm forks (currently got one, love it…. could build up something really nice with that budget)

Dirtyrider… is that an MX or std prophet?

aye – suspect the MX version would be ideal… but beggers/choosers etc.

Doug… I’ve heard rumours about running a 200×57 shock to increase the travel a bit… did the rear tyre hit the seat tube on bottom out?

Stu_N and SwissTony: They look like my kinda build. Looks great like that!

I’ll be on a low cost second hand frame, so not too fussed about warranty.

I’ve got my SC Superlight as my main trail and all day bike. This is gonna be out and out play and enduro race bike. Living in Innerleithen, it’s nice to have a bike I can just head out on and hit any DH trail I fancy and then pedal back to the top on. Quite looking forward to this now 🙂

Wicked – I’m doing the Innerleithen winter enduro at the end of the month… should be a good warm up for this series.

Will def be doing 1st 3 rounds.

Jase…. that’s a great idea… yes, I want to see a spreadsheet. And, maybe, a Venn diagram.

Yep, link required. Name and shame!

I’ve not seen the Superstar one up close, but I’ve got and on-one and I’ve also got the sunline XC-1 stem, and they’re identical apart from the graphics. Both lovely, fairly light, stiff feeling and well made stems. Been running them for a good while with no bother at all.

My 2 main bikes are

Inbred 29er, with 100mm forks and alfine 8spd rear hub…. mostly a winter and nasty conditions bike.
Built this up last autumn and mostly ridden just this since….

and

Santa Cruz Superlight, with 120mm forks, wide bars, short stem and a bunch of tough but light parts and an uppy downy post. This is both my fun, go anywhere, ride anything bike as well as my long distance, comfy marathon bike. I love this bike and wouldn’t be without it, or something similar.

I do also have a SC Bullit with 160mm lyriks on it for play bike duties. If I didn’t live at the bottom of the hill in Innerleithen, then I doubt I’d own this bike.

Sorry again… can’t convince the rest of them. It’s still a no.

Whitesox…

Not quite peebles…. Innerleithen, but trails are better here 🙂

Discount you say?? Half my lot are now interested… obviously getting closer to start time, warm and comfortable is sounding tempting.

Give me a shout on email today and we can discuss. stuart.potter AT mac.com

Cheers
Stu

Starting to warm up across the country quite a bit now – I reckon there’s going to be a good thaw, leaving plenty of mud in the woods. If there’s thick ice on the fire road now though, there’s likely to still be a bit around on Saturday.

I’ll be mostly riding my SS lookalikey On-one 29er… that actually has an alfine hub in the back. If you had the right gear, I can see big advantages to SS for this event… but I remember those climbs starting to hurt even on a geared bike last year at about 3 in the morning.

Latest course updates etc are on my thread here:

Strathpuffer update thread

I’d agree with trail_rat – about 4 laps to a set is a good guide. Laps took me around an hour.

If your team is fast, you could be on for 2-3 sets of pads then.

Yeah, think it’s going to be a wet and muddy one… any snow/slush left on the trails will be gone leaving a sea of brown after the first lap.

Still, 5c should feel positively balmy after the last 6 weeks!

Afraid it was a no from our lot mate.

Here she is… though has since had the 80mm stem replaced with 70mm, carbon easton bars replaced with RaceFace Atlas (725mm) and wheels replaced with 819 tubeless for stiff and lightness.

[/url]
Santa Cruz Superlight[/url] by StoooPotter[/url], on Flickr

I’ve got a santa cruz superlight setup with 120mm reba maxles on the front. About a 68 head angle I think, 100mm out back. Riding with a 70mm stem, wide bars and uppy downy post. Perfect for pretty much everything. Fast on the ups and heaps of fun on the way down. Reckon it sounds right for what you’re after.

I considered the new ST4 too… looks great, but not all that light and quite pricey compared to the SL.

I’ve used the one on Rose St (Master Tailors I think) quite a bit for suit and shirt alterations. Nothing to complain about. I was recommended to go there by my Tailors (Walker Slater on Victoria street) when I wanted some shirts altered that they hadn’t made me.

Few of us going up… 2 pairs. Might be of interest for the Friday/Saturday night.

I’ll check with the others and get back to you ASAP.

Yeah – I saw his Laggan post and hoped he’d respond here with his Puffer findings 🙂

Just entered…. considering it an easy warm down event after the ‘puffer.

Should be fun 🙂

I’m a fan of the bobble… but run my hats bobble-less as the wife doesn’t like em.

prob worth giving mojo or TF a call… they’ll know what’s what. Also, if not serviced since June, and it’s been ridden quite a bit, it’s quite possible it needs a service again.

Could be worth a look Hora…

The Polish might even fall for your tactic of … “Please sell it to me cheap. I know that’s the price, but I don’t have that much money, but I do really want it, so can I just buy it for less?”

Gotta be worth a try 😉

I like it.

Had a beautifully scenic spin around inners today… so quiet, so pretty. Here’s a couple of pics

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IMGP2008[/url] by StoooPotter[/url], on Flickr

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IMGP2007[/url] by StoooPotter[/url], on Flickr

There’s not much snow in Innerleithen. There was a light shower on Thursday morning, but none since. Pretty dam cold though.

I reckon inners trails will be rideable. Not much traffic on them, so shouldn’t be too packed down/icy… Glen Tress may be different.

I rode Inners red on Wednesday night and all rideable up to the shortcut on the minch moor climb… we took that as it didn’t look fun trying to get to the top of the hill.

As mentioned – Innerleithen is all clear. I was in a big XC group on Sunday and we even did some off-piste stuff. All great fun, though natural stuff is pretty muddy n slippy.

Only annoying bit of snow we hit was on first section of make or brake after top road… couple of inches on all the doubles in the trees meant you couldn’t really pin that section.

Yep… really wanted to head west this morning, but couldn’t drag anyone else out and didn’t fancy the drive on me tod. Should have posted on here, could have met you over there mate. I’ll know next time 🙂

You live over that way then ? Gimmi a shout if you’re over inners way at any point