Selected whyte dealers are getting 905 v3s at the mo.

Having spent some time riding the various v2 90Xs this season, the 650b+ 2.8 maxxis tyres and geometry on these result in that rare perfect sublime bike. Climbs like an ibex too despite weight penalties. Smooths out the trail at @20-25psi.

Riding co..’s have the 650/29 zeros with xtr/xx1 + a raft of other specced out trail HTs and we each have our preferences. Nothing duff really from the quality & boutique brands but all different enough to need demos before committing.

That would look great somehwere like Bovington tank museum where they create the real life @home historic style dioramas as part of their displays.

I would suggest these @£215 @550g if you move over to a DUB bb system. It’s the Truvativ variant of sram so more component neutral if you have a shimano group (it’s effectively the new carbon 2021 GX). They come in 170 and 175.

https://r2-bike.com/TRUVATIV-Crank-Descendant-Carbon-Eagle-DUB-black-1×12-X-SYNC-2-Direct-Mount-chainring-32-teeth-BOOST-170-mm

Or Truvativ troy lee branded @£320 and @470g (ie X01)

https://r2-bike.com/TRUVATIV-Crankset-Descendant-Carbon-TLD-Troy-Lee-Designs-CoLab-1×12-Eagle-DUB-BOOST-X-SYNC-2-Direct-Mount-32z-black

Otherwise shimano SLX/XT/XTR. XT 8000/8100 is price palatable at around £150 with chainring and XTR about £360 with chainring.

Yer Biketart have solid customer service.

Is yours a dual push lock ie scott TwinLoc, are they just the wrong way round?

It’s an easy fix, depends if you are comfortable doing it?

You can order the Truvativ Descendant carbon dub crank for c£210 shipped from R2-Bike. They weigh 550g and look like the new GX Carbon Crank (same company anyway). Their Sam Hill version weighs the same as X01.

There are boost and non boost variants. I ordered a boost one out of curiosity at the weekend and it arrived today. Bang on weight and the profile of the arms looks like the new GX Carbon from the pics.

https://r2-bike.com/TRUVATIV-Crank-Descendant-Carbon-Eagle-DUB-black-1×12-X-SYNC-2-Direct-Mount-chainring-32-teeth-BOOST-170-mm

This came out to retail pretty quick from the initial announcement. Mantel had stock over the weekend of GX and X01 so I ordered a combination of both. Epicly fast delivery as usual.

In hand, the new lunar grey colouring is quite a step up in styling.

It has antagonised my riding buddies profusely tonight because it’s a) new, b) not out in the UK and c) out ranges their recently upgraded XTR groups. I have now accended to the Ibex status of climbing impossible gradients.

The new b screw adjuster tool is definitely better than the previous itteration.

It rides and shifts as well as the last gen 500% range XX1/X01.

@Darra8

I’ve got that Maxxis 2.8 on one of my Whytes.

Running at 20-25psi (tubeless) makes a massive difference.

Yes, recently after a notice before claim action from my solicitors.

No doubt 6pot w 300mm disks will become the latest industry trend now. Brings those face plants alive…..

I’ve had mixed experiences with most over the years inc eu and uk based. Merlin have always been great though as a uk supplier and 100% track record for me.

Having a really disappointing run with Biketart at the moment on a big order, whom, despite an audit trail of guaranteeing in-stock next day etc; 10 days later have failed to dispatch and finally admitted no stock following an ebay escalation.

It’s the dishonesty I don’t appreciate and by marking as dispatched on ebay to prevent cancellation & default.

I understand and appreciate covid / supply chain issues etc so there was no need to be anything other than transparent, which they weren’t.

I picked up a Whyte with these on this season.

Mine are the Gold 35 2020 27.5 boost version which comfortably take a 2.8 Maxxis + tyre.

They weigh 2345g with the through axle (qr version). Yes that is 2.345kg. Good for keeping the front end down on the Uber climbs though.

They had a lot of stiction from new.

I stripped them down using the official service guide, cleaned, greased and changed oil. Silky smooth now. Very easy to service too.

They are adjustable travel and achieved with the all travel spacers so no need to change the innards.

Mine came with a 30mm spacer for 130mm travel. Can either cut to achieve 140/150/160mm travel or replace with ones from the all travel kit (£15ish).

Bar the weight, these are a great fork and at this price a total bargain.

On normal riding, difficult to distinguish from my pikes or revelations.

Buying from a shop still means you are the first owner.

Regardless of demo use etc, it’s just shop stock until then.

Essentially it may be ‘shop soiled’ but from a manufacturer perspective, your receipt date is the first day the warranty commences and the bike is transferred from stock to customer.

Actually, a simple resolve is to speak with HMRC. They are really helpful in these matters at a) explaining it all and b) identifying issues c) clarifying actual tax liabilities

As for a tribunal, based on what you have presented here I personally wouldn’t proceed further.

What is the planning reference number and which planning authority is it?

If he is the freeholder of the overall plot, he will have a prescribed right of access.

As the leaseholder, depending on undertakings and lease period you may not be able to purchase the land in perpetuity but add use of it to the lease.

It’s not necessarily straightforward and difficult to offer further advice without reviewing deeds/leases but easily resolvable with enough fee.

Timely question, as I type a MTB riders group just went passed the cafe I’m in. All nice £££ bikes, riders looked late 30s to early 50s and 1/2 were eMTBs.

@ the op, you do realise legally your ‘agent’ will be liable for this in the absence of contracts and/or some very specific terms which are missing (verbal or written) with the shop (packer/shipper) and original seller.

The assumed liability is with you then your agent and any legal proceedings would soon establish that.

Be careful, the shop will have recourse against loss of reputation however should naming and shaming occur.

Best option to stop the rattle is, providing you can reach, to inject a small amount of silicon sealant into the area of frame and let the object catch on it. Then leave to dry.

Just pick a low modulus non acetoxy sealant.

It may just be some loose carbon from the manufacturing but personally I would want to find out what it is. A small piece of something solid would make quite a rattle.

Whilst more prevelant in America, proper male TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) is available privately in the UK and there are a few clinics about.

I know a number of people over 40 and 50+ who this has been life changing for in both physical and mental health.

The frame is the same but the Anthem 1 is noticeably lighter when I tried them, close to 2lbs lighter iirc due to finishing kit. The 2 is still one of the lightest of the non carbon trail xc bikes on the market and the 1 improves further on that.

The kit on the 1 is much better plus you get eagle, pikes and the carbon wheelset. The 1 climbs and decends so fast it’s nuts.

You can push more money off the 1 to get it down a bit further than currently offered btw.

Is it me or is this the first year Whyte full sussers have had to go on firesale and for such a prolonged period? I have been offered 20+% off by my lbs for at least 6 weeks now.

And to answer the original question, the T130 is by far the best of the UK centric trail bikes albeit not the lightest. At the wheelbase price for the RS it’s a no brainer providing you want Shimano over Eagle.

@andybrad Cycling is a very efficient mode of travel. Getting fit from it takes a lot of intensity in the training. You can easily cycle a fair few miles casually and not really gain much in the fitness. Or conversly if you are new it’s fairly easy to overtrain on distance/duration because you feel you can go further than you should.

Also, you cannot out train a bad diet or lifestyle.

Clean up the diet and lifestyle in parallel and this may be the key.

For cycling 5-10mins daily cycling flat out over 1-2 miles may work better. It sounds like your 10-15 miles are too much and your muscle recovery needs 3+ days.

Don’t rely on cycling alone to get you fit or change your lifestyle. Unless you are training seriously then it needs to be part of a wider fitness regime such as gym classes or P90/30X Beach Body type DvDs will also help motivate.

Brisk walking daily for 20-30mins will also help.

@nickfrog

Have a look at the Giant Anthem 2018s (650b) this year. You can get an Anthem 2 for £2k or less with some negotiation. They ride really well. Like an xc bike and a trail bike in one. They are also a good few lbs lighter than the trail bike competition and feel noticeably so out and about.

Otherwise the 2018 Cannondale Carbon Habit 3 at £2k is a bargain if you like more classic geo.

Biggest bargain at the mo on more progressive geo is the Marin Hawk Hill 3 for 1699£ at Rutland Cycles if the geo suits.

My view is if riders truely need 1×13 they need actually a 2×10/11 setup.

However if people just want it because….then good for them and it’s great to see smaller companies continuing to develop drivetrain products for mtb.

Benefits of hydraulic over cable, maybe.

I always chuckle at these threads; where it doesn’t seem that long ago 100mm travel and 2.2 tyres was still pretty hardcore accompanied by some pretty steep head angles and 680 bars.

20 years+ and 60mm travel was all you needed

But to answer the question, some modern xc frames have pretty relaxed head angles which allows installing longer travel forks to work ok.

It’s always a bit of a punt though as even with decent sag, handling may not be sublime.

The main operational issue ime is rear tyre clearance, especially on non boost xc frames.

Ok it’s predominantly USA but take the numbers of posts for 29ers in that forum vs the others from the screenshot below.

The issue with the initial push of mainstream 29ers a few years ago was that the majority seemed to carry forward 26″ geometry at first so they legitimately felt dead. Gearing was also often wrong on low end bikes. Niche makers fared better and imo Trek were naturally the best big brand offer.

First 29er I owned was a Trek Stache (2014 29 version not 29+) and that was a sharp as any other bike at the time. Helped by the 51mm fork offset.

There was clearly an initial push back from this era a few years ago where 29ers seemed to suck at all bar roll-over and comparatively the 650b brought the trails alive. Weight penalty was also prevelant.

Now geometry has definately progressed to a stage 29ers from most brands are brilliant. But so are 650B as they too have matured.

For cross country their is little reason not to go 29er. For trail and fun then either 650B or 29 and ultimately which ever works for you but yea the good 29ers now are really good.

27.5+, now there is a dead duck…

This is from the perspective of a casual rider with friends and colleagues who spend loads on bikes and gear for recreational purposes only.

I have a few legacy bikes and an 8 year old 26″ that gets periodic upgrades.

I, when riding, change my main ££££ bike every season. I usually buy a previous season on sale so at most depreciation is a few hundred. Rationalised thought process on this is that no major service or replacement components are ever needed so total cost of ownership is pretty low.

It also reduces risk of theft as off season (later autumn to spring) I don’t have expensive bikes around.

There is no performance, competitive or race merit to me changing, I just like a new bike.

Evans have the trade in a banger bike for ££ off at the moment and Hargroves Cycles have the spend and save. Most independents are offering 10-20% off at the momemt too it seems from my recent hunting.

This gets the 2019 Stuntjumper FSR Comp at c£2250

I had a go on one the other day. Bit heavy in the Alloy version but it’s an awesome bike and you don’t feel the weight.

Alternatives such as the 2018 Giant Anthem 2 or Trance 2

BIRD Aeris or Whyte T130 and the S is now down to 2.2k in some shops.

The 2017 Piglet on sale is out of stock as it is a sold out end of line product.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you.

With CRC at the moment, prices aside it’s more a case of will it turn up.

XT always falls closer in value once into the component lifecycle. At refresh pricing is usually a bit further apart or XT has new tech SLX doesn’t.

At RRP there is of course a much bigger differential.

The Marin looks like it could have been taken from a MBUK photo published in one of their mid 90s issues.

Doesn’t look quite as bad in real life and the spec is good.

The Bird has more progressive geometry amongst the mix.

Isn’t this from the early 2000s?

The Revelation RC, tried them on a Whyte 905 recently as are the standard spec on 2018.

My view is they are noticeably better/stiffer than the previous revelations but not quite as good as the pike overall.

I would recommend getting 1) private physio/osteo/sports injury recovery clinic treatment which sadly you will have to pay for but is infinitely better than NHS and will improve your recovery outcomes considerably. You will also get access to various pain management and cortisone injections. £300-£500 could be sufficient which isn’t a lot in the scheme of things.

2) as part of that pay for a custom wrist / arm brace to enable riding where it will support your wrist properly in suitable positions. Anything from £100-£300 roughly for one of those.

Most if not all EU steel bikes frames and components, whilst experiencing a bit of surface corrosion won’t rust through. Very old frames can have poor quality steels or high ferrous content which will but most this side of the 60s are fine.

Steel parts can rust and seize up which is a pain and unsightly.

Frames get pulled after being underwater for years and are, albeit corroded ok. Many bikes live outside all their life.

Protection does inhibit corrosion to help minimise seized parts (seat post etc) and preserve aethetics. It’s worth doing but not really necessary.

I got the 2015 Trance 1 a few weeks ago when it was on offer from pedalon at £1800. At £1700 from Paul’s its a steal.

Running as 1×10 with the sunrace mx3 11-40, SS chain ring, SS nylon pedals and renthal fatbar carbons it weighs in at 26.7lbs everything else pretty much stock including the dropper. Given what it is capable of transversing I am happy with that.

For the money it is a solid choice. Only slight let down is the revelations over pikes.

Next code likely to be close to pay day / may day bank holiday if normal trend ensues

Loads of good PCP deals but you need to find the dealers who deal and get prepared to negotiate.

If buying new, use carwow.co.uk as I have found the dealers who sell/make offers on there to have the best finance deals too.

So many variables without knowing your budget and what you need it is difficult to advise.

Yep that’s the part.