Once you have ridden extensively with AXS then cable shifting really does feel archaic albeit not superseded.

It’s not essential tech though and cable shifting still remains just as precise and easily maintainable.

It’s purely a cost | affordability focus & trade-off.

Best way to approach the discount is simply say you are currently looking at options and pricing with various shops. It’s finding the balance of acting like a serious buyer but not 100% committed to buying on the day there and then.

Most sales people will get this hint and proactively offer.

If you know the shop and/or are more proactive and direct on your haggling you can just straight up ask.

Negotiations if over the phone rather than in person should be direct too and straight up ask for best price.

Getting discounts on bikes/frames/forks is pretty easy. Components however, it’s much harder from independents unless they are the competitive ones.

Yer their prices have gone up but there aren’t any realistic alternatives that I would trust in the price bracket they sell for.

Anything carbon, esp front & cockpit end, where failure results in face plant; saving or quibbling over cost should be the least of considerations.

Due to a mid-ride snapped x01 mech the other weekend, one of our riding group had to swap out on trail and the only spare between us was a deore 12spd mech.

He reckons it performed better on his 10-52 x01 cassette than the sram.

I suspect his x01 was on the way out for some time; that and the prospect of the deore vs long walk home.

Worked fine though.

V Brakes or any kinda rim brake tbh.

Also, elastomer forks…..

Whyte 901/5/9 are the best UK trail orientated hardtail bikes ever made. At the stage I’m struggling on my 2020 901, I have to get the Hightower CC out.

Sales on these at the moment are crazy. £999 for the 901. Or a bit more for the 905.

They are long so L is good for 6’2.

Ah you’re looking at a 2019V1.

I would spend the extra for a new one.

I recall 2019/20 V2 changed geo.

Whyte 901 can be found for £999 instead of circa £1800 at the moment.

Nothing better really for that money. The geometry on these is superb, very long reach so don’t oversize.

The 27.5+ with the 2.8s give the same outer rolling diameter as 29s but at 15 psi are super plush.

https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/bikes/hardtail-mountain-bikes/whyte-901-mountain-bike-2023-satin-bronzegoldheather__389859?currency=GBP&chosenAttribute=W9012MV5&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtamlBhD3ARIsAARoaEzCJgLQuNfzL4zHz_0L-FcUqf96ezBVeEJ9sfiCK852N8wod3_RmMUaAmA5EALw_wcB

The bike is a bit knackering on long XC rides

These Ragleys are not really traditional xc in the sense you seem to be seeking, especially at 140mm.

Best bet is to demo some more xc focused bikes around the 23-25lbs weight with 100-120mm forks.

That will give you a really good indication of the direction of travel for your purchasing.

New bike (loads of bargains at mo) or lots of xc focused upgrades.

Or, you may find you don’t enjoy a more purist xc focused experience at all.

You really do need to demo for an answer.

All the people I ride with have different bikes, travel options, specs, geo & sizing preferences etc.

Out of 22 people no one has the exact same bike. With several having 5+ bikes.

I would say that you would most enjoy 130/120 or 130/110 moving from your current bike.

Last time one of my bird orders was delayed, I called them on the phone, got profuse apologies and a fairly generous gesture of goodwill upgrades.

One of the few UK dealers/makers that are still really responsive to telephone calls and care about their customers without the need to hit up social media to get a response.

Pics of new bike / final closure of outcome?

“Add a little water” : do we mean add a little water to the trangia burner itself?

To the methylated spirit in the burner yes.

Experiment to get your own mix right but I would go between 1:20 and 1:10. It’s interesting how much you can add though before it’s hard to get a good burn.

Only once in your burner too, I’ve never premixed and added to the trangia bottle.

If you need a Trangia, you need one. Weight and bulk is irrelevant when one needs to Trangia.

Cheaper to buy the all in one set with kettle usually.

Add a little water to reduce soot.

However; Do you need to Trangia?

Lots of cheap generic gas stoves available and gas burners (official and otherwise including for Trangia) which do the job, until they don’t.

Not sure they were ever intended as Mountain bikes tbh.

That’s what they used to go wherever they could, it’s not like most roads back then were anything more than grass, mud or gravel tracks.

It was only 25-30 years ago mountain bikes were now what are essentially gravel bikes.

Classic steel frames, 1.8-2.1 tyres if lucky, rigid forks or maybe a smidgen of travel, narrow flat bars with huge bar ends. All pretty rough looking.

I had the below first time round (not my pics), I rode the same trails on those that I now ride on AM Full Suspension or Hardcore Hardtails, albeit faster and in more comfort now.

The raleigh activator was everywhere in the early-mid 90s. In terms of mass produced over saturated ugly bikes that prob wins by volume….

To be fair, questionable designs go back a good 150 years with the penny farthing.

And going back 200 years with the Klein Mantra V1

I’ve used both Nukeproof and Deity composite pedals for years.

Light weight, great grip, nice low profile, pretty bomb proof and so cheap when on offer I keep a shelf full in stock so if end of life it’s a simple swap out without wallet war £ pain.

Perhaps Ian/Giant could gift him a full membership by way of apology..

Gary Fisher’s Joshua were a thing of beauty at the time and also super light weight compared to other full suspension offerings. The URT design did give some float when standing.

This was the era of the Whyte, Cannondale Super V / Raven and Proflex though.

looking back now, it hasn’t aged well, especially in the more garish colours.

Thing is, at least they’re being honest, and it’s obvious they never intend to stand by their warranty.

They could have easily said “we’ve inspected it and we believe the damage to be caused by an improperly installed seatpost”. That might be questionable, but it wouldn’t necessarily mean a future boycott of all Giant bikes.

It’s not the warranty claim rejection which is the main contention now; rather the stated admission and revelation that owners can’t work on their own bikes without requiring an Authorised Giant Dealer to do it.

You’re right, they are being honest, especially in regarding that their warranty is meaningless and impractical to adhere to for owners.

In the event of a frame failure and in rejection of a claim under warranty, under UK law you can very cheaply bring a claim against the retailer and given the unfair terms evidenced here one would be very unlikely to lose the depreciation from the settlement too.

Thanks for confirming @stwhannah

@wysiwyg that CS chat is pretty condemning

I am sure @ian@giant will be inundated in tags and emails over the next couple of days but one of your Exec team may wish to speak extensively with your dealer network to see if, especially with your very established retailers selling the mid to higher-end bikes, they are happy with how this represents Giant as the brand they sell and most importantly how they themselves present and represent Giant onward to customers to secure sales.

I think you may find at best, they present Giant and it’s support including warranty, somewhat over optimistically in view of the tangible responses shown by your cs agents. At worst, a significant disconnect and they may feel they are misrepresenting the brand and overselling their own offer.

Best outcome for Giant is they establish this is simply a miss communication or misunderstanding of how their Customer Service Team interprets and enacts their warranty terms with the Customer and isn’t meant to be representative of how the dealer network engages and applies customer centric pragmatism.

Or if this is a clear change in direction with the limited warranty longevity and impossible to adhere validity, the brand devaluation pitches Giant with the cheaper options and direct to customer offers rather than Specialized, Trek and others which are much more pragmatic and customer orientated in these matters.

Has anyone confirmed poster Ian is definately Ian B at Giant UK.

That aside, should there have been a substantive and disadvantageous change in warranty terms, and/or unfair and unenforcable conditions under UK consumer law; this could potentially expose Giant to a group litigation by affected claimants (inc the ones in this thread)

So how does this work with Giant’s frame only sales, even when appreciably a very small % of purchases?

Can’t build, can’t ride…..just hang in the shed to admire.

Your legal contract is with the original retailer, not manufacturer. Thus if you want to bring an affordable claim through the courts (‘small claims court’) you need to go after them. You can name the manufacturer in your claim too though, nothing stopping that.

Does anyone know if Giant’s warranty has changed substantively? I had a 2015 Trance 1 and I don’t recall these terms then.

What type/cost of bike?

We plan our rides and pit stops to fit in round the bikes these days after thefts from cars, vans, lockers, all mainstream locks plus other losses out of our riding co group during cafe/lunch breaks etc

Bike cost more than £600ish, its not worth leaving

The current ones ie 21/22 era have a decent functional spec, ride really nicely and not overly heavy c30lbs with pedals.

Really decent and comfy ride imo but not enough to pull me away from the whyte 90x series.

GT got it well dialled with these bikes. Good frame fit across the size ranges too.

Being offered one at a decent price then go for it.

Primera Bournemouth (Cannondale dealer iirc) on charminster road, Pedals Ferndown, Bournemouth Cycleworks or Rockets and Rascals.

All good reputations from personal and friend’s experiences.

@andydunne12

They are travel adjustable via the rockshox all travel spacers.

The fixed spacers that come in them can also be cut down to increase travel.

It’s possible you haven’t put the spacers back.

If you can afford it, pay for an MRI privately. The consultants appointment and MRI at your local Nuffield etc may not be as much as you think.

Once in the system, they are much better at referring back to NHS for expedited treatment if needed including physio etc.

There are various private hospitals that will do MRIs within a couple of days of booking.

Pricing c£250-£500 inc consultants report/onward referral round here.

Have you been riding the same giant trance for 10 years or a giant trance but upgrading to the newest model periodically?

If the former, the transition to modern geometry and spec is a big change and sizing + comfort is very bike/brand dependent at your height. Some mediums would fit, others a large. On paper analysis won’t provide the full picture.

I would emphasise the importance of demoing bikes.

If you were coming from a c2019/20 onwards trance you would have a better idea of how you get on with current geo.

Z2s I tried (loan bike) were 2.65kg.

Poss diff between oem and retail?

@danmac in normal use, I don’t notice any real substantive difference with the 35s over a pike select. Decently stiff and pretty compliant on bumps. They just weigh 2.5kg compared to the pikes 1.9kg.

The 35s had a bit of stiction at first but a strip down, re lube and fresh oil sorted it.

The pikes are better forks but as always value and cost comes into it.

Absolutely brilliant for the money if you can still find them around £300ish but weigh a tonne. Heavier than my Rockshox 35 Gold which I didn’t think would be possible. Slightly more compliant though.

For the current £550ish price point, unless they come on the bike I would spend a bit more for Pike selects which are notably better.

No harm will come of it but it may not offer the perfectly honed setup.

Accounting for fork sag and actual variances when seated/riding and the real world diff is prob negligible.

Can you reduce the rear shock length/throw cheaply to compensate? Depending on shock?

There is something very refreshing about riding a xc orientated bike after the modern trail / LLS focused bikes.

Unfortunately there is limited choice this year though, with the preserve of available pure xc bikes starting around the £1.5k-£2k+ bracket.

Sonder Dial and On One Whippet look to be the best options although the Whippet is pretty heavy given it’s frame and fork.

The Giant XTC SLR 1 is looking nice if you can find one in size.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/xtc-slr-29-1-2021

@benslatt

The cost for creating a new opening in the load bearing wall could vary from c£2k-£5k depending on builder the final rsj beam required and amount of remedial work to make good ie plastering, electrics etc.

The window to french door c£800-£2k plus door.

Structural calcs for that circa £300 each.

Building control will also need to sign off on works and this cost will depend on locality. You can also use an approved independent building inspector. Again allow up to £300.

I would find a builder that has a structural engineer they use rather than sourcing separately.

A decent builder team could do that work in a week.

Whyte sell them direct, if unsure which type you need and don’t have a local dealer who can advise whyte respond pretty quickly via email.

https://whyte.bike/products/dropout-hangers

I browse this forum in a window mode usually whilst watching YouTube on my phone. Everytime the ad slides in it pauses my YouTube vid and starts playing.

Even with that minor technical disruption, I don’t mind. I dont subscribe to singletrack so if this is what is needed to provide revenue it’s a fair trade-off and contribution.

If you mean increasing reach with the angle of back sweep then you want the Renthal Carbon Fatbar V2s at 7 degrees rather than Nukeproof at 9 degrees.

I always use Renthals, it does make a difference.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/renthal-fatbar-v2-carbon-riser-bar?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&sku=100629469&kpid=100629469&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Shopping+-+All+Products&utm_medium=base&gclid=CjwKCAiAhbeCBhBcEiwAkv2cY2S4LrDTaWwGMZSwYGxGj5-VUdfLQQVfSpFvf2i1u_odyHy5dvPpMxoCBU4QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

@hb70

Cheapest Bird Aeris is circa £2.6k but trying to spec one up with parts in stock for preorder takes it over £3k at the moment.

@igm

Stock on the boardmans doesn’t seem to be available anywhere. A common theme with a lot of brands and bikes though.

@ElShalimo

I would go 29er for the use you have described. Still very much a personal preference and ideally you test ride both. I could say go 29,someone else may say 27.5 etc etc

The Marin Rift Zone, regardless of spec weighs as much as a small moon. Good bike though but not xc in the way a giant anthem 29 1 is (£2.8k).

In many ways the bike in a 2k fs budget is purely determined by what is in stock at the time for this year. It is such popular budget for full sus not much stock about.

I would say sonder cortex NX is your best bet by a country mile for spec, support and availability once order book opens.

https://alpkit.com/products/sonder-cortex-nx-eagle

Be quick at £300 this won’t be in stock for long

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/27-5-mountain-bike-st-100/_/R-p-306832

Nor will this at £325

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/mountain-bikes/carrera-vengeance-mens-mountain-bike-2020—yellow—xs-s-m-l-xl-frames-427734.html

Prob best in budget and by some margin compared to other brand offerings.