Very interested in this post. As the others say, you can go for a longer front fork, bigger volume tyres with lower pressurs, shorter stem, softer grips etc.
Some time ago I got myself a very nice Ti 29er hardtail in the hopes of doing away with my 26″ full susser. After 18 months I still can’t bring myself to ditch the full-susser. When the trail gets bumpy and fast, even a titanium 29er hardtail gets bouncy and scary; whereas 105mm of rear DW suspension on a 26″ bike sucks it up and rides with confidence.
Oh btw. Faboulus looking green – Luv It! :D

Did a Wessex 100 [miles] charity ride on a 26″ hardtail fitted with Continental Contac Sport tyres a few years back. It was hard but I reckon those narrow bald tyres helped at lot.

My bruv and I both have DW Fluxes. His has 120mm Sid with 15mm bolt-thru, mine has a Revelation Maxxle converted from 140 to 120mm. Chris reckons the Rev is w-a-y smoother and I agree.
Incidentally I have a 100mm Fox F29 on the 29er hardtail and I don’t think it’s anything like as good as the 120mm 26″ Rev.
Forgot to mention: Chris says the Black box 120mm Reba Maxxle was really good but he got rid of it cos the mud clearace on the bridge was too tight and used to get jammed up. Does anyone know whether they’ve improved that in the last couple of years?

The Soul is really excellent. I ‘upgraded’ from a Soul to a used Soda on 07. I was in love with it’s light weight and ride but discovered it was pretty wobbly downhill – and had some near misses. When it was stolen, I was too poor to replace it so I went back to the Soul. I was surprised to find that I preferred it. I’ve not ridden the latest fat-tubed Souls though so I can’t comment on those.

LOL – Thanks Guys. I think I’ll follow the second suggestion. Now where’s my Black & Decker? ;-)

Is that the Singular Swift fork you mean? I hear the Salsa Cromoto is slso good. Nice tubeless wheels will help too.

Great Video – looks Excellent. OS Grid Ref for San Marino Start?

My bruv and I will be visiting our buddy in Wigan and riding Rivington this coming Sat 13th. Apparently he’s been sussing out some more killer offroad for us. I’ll keep an eye out for your light as I LURVE CAKE! :D

I seem to wear out entire drive chains (all the bits) too quickly and I’ve been reccommded to run two chains. I just got a KMC X10-L and plan to run with my PC1051 – regularly swapping over. Time will tell.

Also – Nothing today (well TdF Mountains obviously, and perhaps a bit of Wimbledon….Sabine Lickmyclitty vs the French Frump…may the best babe win!). Isle of Wight with Newforce tomorrow – see you at the Ferry, Ciderman! :D

My LBS is reccommending the Rotor – apparenetly they have on that accepts 24mm XT cranks straight off. Haven’t tried it myself as my planned Spearfish deal fell through.

(http://www.rotoruk.co.uk/PressFit.html)

I like Cav but I’m glad we’re not experiencing the Murray-Mania syndrome. It’s a tough race and quality will out. Personally I’m a fan of the all-rounder type of rider (like Thor Hushovt) and I’d like to see the rules set up to favour rider with all the skills and to partially neutralise the overwhelming team dominance of the event.

pjm84 – Member
Geoff?

Yes Paul – Geoff Sher…. :-)

There’s a wheel builder in Southampton who re-rimmed a set of wheels for me. He charged £30 per wheel, and was able to recycle the old spokes. It would have cost a lot more if I’d needed new spokes.

Cheers guys. I have removed my SRAM PC971 AND PC991 chains and restored them with the same link numerous times in the past with no problems. I’ve done the same with a PC1071 on a couple of occasions. So I treat the sram links as re-useable.

You Haven’t said which is the nearest bit of the SDW for you. I like to ride bits of the 2012 Wiggle South Downs Epic 44 miles course. The best start point for me is Funtington (near Chichester). Most of the ride is NOT actually on the SDW, but it’s lovely stuff with some challenging climbs (well they are for me LOL). If you have the 25000 OS Chicester map then you can modify to suit you. I’ve got the PDF file of the 2012 course map if you want to email me.
Tim (Southampton)

I alwys look with envy at those peeps who post saying their drivechains have lasted multiple years and thousands of miles. I ride twice a week in (New Forest/Southdowns/Newforce/DRR bike club routes). I am a ‘sit and spin’ type guy too. I find my XT/SLX bits last about 8-9 months and then they start skipping.
I use XT shifters (highly reccommended)
SLX cassette, SRAM chains (1071/1091)and XT or SLX mechs.
I’ve just got the new SLX Shadow Plus Clutch rear mech and I like it – so you could try one. There was a post on here a couple of weeks back reccommending bargain shadow plus at Merlin. I just got mine there, so you might have a look and see if they still have ’em for 39 quid.
I recently tried TA Specialites Chinook chainrings in a double setup but they lasted no longer than my usual XT rings.
I’d love to get some longer lasting bits if I could find ’em.
Good luck dday, but I’m guessing a new chain will skip on a 1 year old cassette.

Pussy Pump with transparent plastic cup gets my darkside working just fine!

Cheers for that tinsy. Yes – you’re quite right: comparing the new HG62 with my old SLX shows the superior manufacture and mud-clearing of the SLX (and XT). I’ve saved myself £15 this time but this thread has opened my eyes to what I was getting for the extra £15.
As mentioned earlier, Merlin currently have both XT and SLX at £39.95 and the HG62 at £24.95.

Rather surprising variations.

I got: 375g for the SLX HG81 (inc lockring) and 459g for Deore HG62
both at 11-36
My kitchen scale is a John Lewis £13 digital btw (I did check it at work and it’s accurate to the nearest gram.

PS. The best way to be kind to your knee is probably to reduce the size of your chainrings.

Well I’m not going to bother swapping to a superstar lockring LOL, but thanks for the tip on KMC chain. I’ve got a SRAM 1051 this time but next time I’ll give the KMC a try.

I am struck by the 120g difference between the HG62 and XT cassette though. I am just about to replace my knackered 11-36 SLX with the HG62 (experimental cost-saving measure) so I’ll weigh the old SLX and add the result on here later.

Cheers Peeps!

Brilliant – I’ll check up on all that. Any reccommendations on the ultimate tough durable chainrings for double that still shift well?

Cheers guys. Any chain devices for doubles?

Blimey that’s a bigger difference than I expected. However I paid £24.95 for the HG62 from Merlin. They had the XT and SLX for 39.95.
Any more info?

Changing front rings Dan. Yes I’m hoping the clutch mech works some magic – chain device would be belt and braces.

just wondering if those marathons will run tubeless on an Arch 29er rim?

I was at dinner on Sunday eveing with a keen biking couple and the chap was all doom and gloom about his bikes becoming obsolete. I suppose there is some threat to the resale values, but if you like the bike, and it rides well then why not keep riding it? It’s tempting to regard your current bike as a down-payment on the next exciting thing, but you have to say to yourself….I got this bike to ride it – not as an investment! It will have been worth the money if you’ve had a long and happy life together. I spent a bit on my 2010 Flux with 1.25 headtube, and 26″ Revelation fork and Stans 26″ wheels, but it makes now sense to dump my 26 inch bike for peanuts in order to spend a fortune on a 650b frame/Taper Fork/650b wheels – because I may not be able to get 26″ fork spares, Maxle hub spares, 26″ rim/spokes, 1.125″ headseats in 10 years time.

Don’t worry Pete – nothing so brutal that it can’t be done on a hardtail. (| wouldn’t be so foolhardy myself, but I’m sure some nutters have even done it on cyclocross bikes).:D

Tim – are you looking for yourself or to plug a hole in the market?

Yup – just wanting an even more perfect bike (as usual LOL). :D

You godda reeel purdy mouth! :D (ahem…and by that I mean ‘nice looking bike’)

Hard to believe there are £2500 bikes specced with a Recon. The poor old Pound must have sunk low indeed. :(

Well yes captainsideburns, my El-Mariachi Ti with 100mm F29 – covers the ground faster than my Flux, but on the other hand, I have crashed recently on descents in the IOW and South Downs. Thanks very much for your ideas everyone – I’m taking it all on board.

Yes it does feel a bit like that – doesn’t it? I wasn’t sure in my case whether is was Virgin or Eurosport making the scheduling errors but either way – it did NOT do what it said on the tin. GRRRRR!

Thanks Deft – I’ll have to brush up on my Italian but I got the gist. :D

Fantastic – enjoy, but try not to get a separated shoulder like I did on my last visit!
Tim :D

Wow – thank you everyone! :D

Highly Amused at all the replies :D, but let’s take pity on the poor OP (Belly). I’ve got some tough clear plastic stuck on the down tube and various strategic bits of my Flux. Can’t remember what brand it is, but I got it from Ride Bikes in Parkstone Poole. Why not google them and call them up?
Alternatively you could throw away your Whyte and get a titanium Salsa Elmariachi :wink:

Well, not quite what I asked – but thanks guys LOL. :D
I’m thinking we already have a Hope 2, a Hope 4, 3 Hope batteries between us so swapping out the Hope 2 lamp for a 4-LED lamp makes sense.

I don’t know what the wheel size is. However, it seems to me that if Turner need to produce somthing to suit all sizes of rider, and the Burner is 650b, then isn’t it most likely the carbon Flux will be 650b too?

To be fair the El Mar is steel and will be heavier and you won’t get a new one for a grand unluess it’s a special offer.

Realistically for new at £1000, you’re prob looking at the scandium On-One (Scandal) – you’ll prob get Rebas and SLX which would be a good package for a grand these days.

If it turns out the aluminium rides a little too stiff you can always swap out to a Cotic/Singular/Salsa steel frame later. I saw some real bargain El Mar frames at Triton Cycles recently.

A few years back I bought an Orange P7 which was a fantastic package. At the same time I bought a Cotic Soul frame for Cy. I sold the P7 frame for an excellent price. I ended up with the exact Cotic build I’d wanted and saved £250 on the cost of building it from scratch.