Thanks. I'll give them a call. Much appreciated.

Not going to get involved in this fight, but can I recommend this. Got given it for Xmas and it's a very good read. Might give the OP an alternative view of things, as it was written by a Marine.

Available on Amazon if your interested (flippin link thing won't work)

A couple from a walk round Fairfeild in the Lakes in 2008.

OP, pretty much in the same boat. Looking to replace a set of Juicy 7s* and everybody I've asked has given me a wildly different opinion.

Stuck between going for hopes or formula, but opinions seem to vary between completely amazing and complete rubbish.

Meh. Might as well just flip a coin. Always take mag articles with a healthy pinch of salt as well.

*whatever you do don't buy avid juicys, real pile of smeg.

Thanks for the replies.

@ finbar, z1ppy and other. Yeah Bonhus do look good, but I was kinda looking for a set of P handled ones. Partly because I'm a bit of a bike tart, and partly because I wanted an 8 mm one with a longer shaft (oo-er) that had a bit more leverage to get XT pedals off a bit easier.

@ pedalhead, yeah if I had £70 to spend, I'd just buy the Park ones.

@ bikewhisperer 8O you snapped a hex key ! Wow, you must have been going some dude. Or are they really made of cheese ?

But I think I'm going to go with Notter and go for the Icetoolz. Look pretty good, and I could do with a T25 torx for rotors. I let you know how they get on.

Thanks again for the collective input, appreciated.

Electrician will be shortage industry in future as hard apprenticeship programme.

Sorry to interupt, and deviate slightly, but is that true ? I only ask as I'm doing IT stuff because no one would take me on as an apprenctice spark as I was too old (30 and a bit). I did all my papers (well, nearly all of them) at my own expense, but was told I needed "time on site", which I couldn't get…because I needed experience to get work. Gave up and went back to IT, but would really like to go back to doing electrical work again. Don't know how I'm going to do it.

IT stuff is ok, but it does depend on what you want to specialize in. Some areas are a lot more interesting than others.

Hi all btw.

Pretty much going to echo what snakebite said. Got an O9 EX8 and love it. It will take on (almost) anything that you throw at it, up and down hill. For a 120 mm travel bike it feels like it's got a lot more in it as well. Pretty light as well considering it's the alloy version. If you're thinking of an all day bike, it should definitely be on your list. The only thing I didn't like was the 100mm stem, too long, swap that out asap.

A bit further away, but what about Cypus. Did two days riding with these guys.

Great guides, good warm weather, good trails, not too expensive either. Much better than cold, damp England at the moment. Feel free to mail me if you want more info.

First post on here btw. Hi all.