But I am wondering why it says go ape on the face?

Indeed… Or why they’ve written ‘BAPE’ above that?

Enjoyed reading that, ta!

SDW is definately on my todo list, think I might aim for 2 days and do it with my riding buddy.

Have fun Tony- I love the final descent on the verderers, so easy to carry loads of speed on!

Thanks for all the comedy replies! Cheering me up no end.

In all seriousness I am really considering a mega- the value proposition is hard to ignore.

I want to do either the mega avalanche or some uk gravity enduro races next year so whatever I choose needs to be suitable. (and yes I know someone did the mega on a rigid-singlespeed-29er with a bell and toe clips but that doesn’t make it the ideal choice)

Oh dear. Too much money, too few bikes.

Yeah I guess that’s how it comes across.. but my point is more that the bike industry seems to be trying to extract more and more cash out of us yet not getting the basics right; Availability, sensible component choice(Tyres you change out of the box), honest warranties (The lifetime warranty that actually lasts 5 years when you have a problem).

Where’s the value for money on new bikes? Having 3 to 4k to spend on a bike should get you something that is top-tier quality, backed by a decent manufacturer and warranty and isn’t going to be totally outdated in a year.

Maybe I’m just asking too much and forgetting that these bikes are really luxury items.. I’m not expecting a real answer to this post.. it’s just a rant 🙂

Picky I know but the top tube cable routing on the mojo does my head in. It shouts ‘afterthought’. Look at the routing on the Spicy 916 for how it should be done. Also, 67deg HA ?

Thanks for the offer Nick- I’m a ways from you though unfortunately!

Hi Kev,

Drop me an email about the frame please!

Matthew DOT c DOT Austin AT gmail DOT com

Thanks!

You need 30ml of 10wt green fox oil in the sping side lower leg and 5ml of blue fox float fluid in the air spring chamber just for lube.. You’ll need a 26mm socket to take off the top cap so you can access the air chamber.

There is a big thread on MTBR about it, although I don’t have a link sorry.

My (Limited) understanding is that there is a foam ring (Like the one below the lower leg dust wiper seal but much smaller dia) on the air piston designed to keep the air seal lubed. However what actually happens is over time as the fork moves through it’s travel the ring wipes lower leg oil into the air chamber. The 2012 forks do away with this and replace it with some sort of updated scraper seal I think.

Simply job to drain the excess out of the air chamber.. the trouble is knowing it needs doing in the first place!

CRC only have shops in ireland IIRC.

Also I don’t believe they have test bikes.

Think I’ve convinced myself the large is the way to go.

I’d love to test ride both.. anyone got an idea where I can do this? (Short of ordering both from CRC and sending one back – seems excessive!)

I’ve not got a set of Carbon Havocs but they’re definitely on the shopping list- a make you can trust, the right width, respectably light, expensive but not overpriced..

Ordered sunday, was dispatched today. It’s not fast, but thats CRC and they do have a large sale on at the mo so I’m sure they’re busy.

Nasty story- Hope they catch the low lifes. Doesn’t sound like a one-off sort of thing, I imagine they’ll have another go with someone else.

I don’t know the trail- were you out in the hills away from the towns or was it easily accessible? (Just wondering how the 3 guys would have got out there)

So I went for a ~10mile ride this evening with the serviced air can.

OMG.

Servicing the rear air can is my new favourite thing I’ve done to this bike and that includes fitting a reverb and changing the avids to shimano brakes.

There is so much more mid range support- the bike no longer wallows in the mid travel area. It makes climbing an absolute breeze and doesn’t seem to have adversely affected descending performance- the shock is just as supple over bumps etc.

I’ve got a theory on why there is an improvement.. on the FOX air can there is a small negative spring chamber directly after the external wiper seal/quad ring assembly- over time dust, grit, water or even air will get into the negative spring area past the wiper seal. Anything getting in to this area will decrease the volume and hence increase the pressure of the negative spring- causing the shock to sit lower in it’s travel for a given ‘set’ air pressure. Hence the wallowing and general poor performance.

So if you have a FOX air can and it’s been on the bike 6months or so… definitely do a service on it.. you will not regret it!

Some more pictures of the frames and full bikes here;

http://www.chainreactionhub.com/mtb/360-first-look-nukeproof-2013-mountain-bikes

Double post

*confused*

They’ve made a mistake there… 80 – 90psi is much more like it!

Ahh- thanks for the heads up!

Cool! My friend had his gopro on for a few runs- ill see if he’s got any good footage 🙂

Andy – you almost certainly have what I had. The lower leg lube oil (30ml) works its way up into the air chamber which should just have 5ml of blue float fluid in it for lubrication.

If you’ve got green lube oil coming out the air cap then this is your problem.

You need a 26mm socket to take off the air top cap (Once you’ve let out the pressure) and then drain out the fluid. Replace with 5ml of float fluid and also put 30ml of lube oil in the lower leg and if it’s anything like mine it will feel like a totally different fork. Mine is now considerably more linear but still ramps at the end as it should. Last weekend at Antur Stiniog I was using full travel finally and the fork felt much plusher.. previously I reckon I was getting 80-90mm travel out of a 120mm travel fork.

Nice one; saw you up there on Sunday.. that copter looks like a few quid’s worth!! Looking forward to seeing the full video.

Is this just a hobby or are you shooting for a magazine or the centre?

Ahh yes, I assumed the RL fork- i.e. open bath. Didn’t actually realise you could get an F-Series FIT… every day’s a school day.

I gave up setting the sag on my fork- loads o’ stiction meant I ended up with about 4psi to get the correct sag. I set mine to the recommended pressure in the end and fiddled 5-10psi either side until I was happy.

No low speed compression settings on an F-Series Fox..

That does sound like a lot of pressure, I’ve about 85psi in mine.

Check the air chamber isn’t full of lower leg fluid like mine was- this reduces the air chamber volume and makes the fork very progressive preventing you from using full travel.

Well admittedly it’s not a bite-your-hand-off-and-call-me-Susan kinda bargain, but what other aggressive 160mm bikes are there for that? You won’t get an alpine 160 with ccdb for £3600, or a nomad, or a mojo hd. Not to mention nuke proof stuff is normaly fairly heavily discounted so it should be a chunk less than that… Well that’s what I’m hoping any how 🙂

Bike radar are saying £3600 for the am with ccdb, 170mm lyrics and 1×10 X0. Bit of a bargain! Guess it’ll be ~34lb in that config?

Dave- can you drop me an email please. Matthew DOT c DOT Austin AT gmail DOT com

Just as a bit of a follow up I rode the Slash 9 and really liked it- however I didn’t really like the price! I missed out on a good deal and was not going to purchase a year old bike at near RRP out of principle- especially one that is already so expensive and imo a little overpriced.

Looked at the 2013 Trek Slash offerings but they’ve switched to a Fox 34 which has a shorter axle-crown measurement making the bike steeper, less stiff and only ~200g lighter. Not to mention they’ve kept the same RRP which does nothing for the value proposition!!

Anyway, I’ve just seen the pictures of the 2013 Mega and it looks amazing! 1×10 drivetrain, CCDB shock and a 170mm air fork.. all for £3600 rrp. Could be the next bike although being heavier/burlier than the Slash which I think I could have run as my only bike I think this might have to live alongside a more trail suitable bike… either that or perhaps I could get dual position forks and a monarch air shock to swap to for big days out…. hurmmm, options!

As well as buying shiny new stuff check the basics- make sure your headset and wheel bearings are in good order. Any slop in your headset will cause the most horrible vague feeling in corners.

I’ve got the 380mm model and I can slide it all the way down into the frame without problem. I’m 5’10”.

You should definitely consider a Trek Fuel EX…

On a totally unrelated note; http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/trek-fuel-ex-8-2011-185-black-vgc-full-bike-oxfordshire-reduced

I run a 2012 rockshox reverb on my 2011 ex8. Fits great, not had any problems with the cable snagging either

I’m really liking the new hydro formed look. Looks classier and definately more expensive. Let’s hope the am full build isn’t going to be 4k.

Big changes for the mega this year then, 160 or 130 rear travel and hydro formed tubing. Looks like they’ve steepened the seat angle too which is nice- will be good to see proper pictures though rather than just renders- having said that it does look nice.

If its the same price as the 2012 bike it could be great!!

Thats the blue run on google earth

I was there Sunday as well, myself and my riding buddy were both on trail bikes so stuck to the blue (if you’re used to the usual trail centre fair then blue is more akin to what you’d expect from a black run). Had loads of fun although suffered a rear puncture from the sharp slate (in hindsight a 2.25 Nobby Nic was probably a bit on the weedy side!)

Will definately go back!

Had this at coed y brenin today- put a ~5mm slash in the rear tyre (2.25 nobby nic) on the mbr trail. It just would not seal- the sealant in the tyre was just topped up yesterday so nice and new. Didn’t have a tubeless repair kit and didnt really want to stick a tube in as I didn’t have a rim strip to use. Rode down the fire road 20mins back to the centre with about 10 psi in the tyre- when I got back to the carpark I pumped it up again to find the bloody thing had sealed!!

I guess sometimes riding it is the best way to get it to ‘nit’ together

Going tomorrow! Can’t wait, forecast even looks good at the moment 🙂