E5 works as standard runs a 130 revelation which is only a few mm shorter than a 140mm fox.

Whyte E5s are available frame only at a decent price.

Anthem X is another option but 140 is probably pushing it travel wise and they are also sold out for the year @ giant and have been for some time.

You will need some internal travel spacers, think they come in 20 and 30mm flavours. Obviously if you want to drop to 100mm you will need 2x 20mm etc.

Most of the details can be found here:
Clicky

Just pick your forks and there will be a changing travel section for it.

Its simple enough job to do, all id suggest is that if your ordered some travel spacers get a couple of the crush washers at the same time, only cost a few pence and worth changing when your done.

SORRY!

Delete me please 😀

RS Prices should drop in the next week or so. Fishers have just put the majority of the forks on a mid season promo so you should see some good offer prices popping up shortly. Weve got good numbers of Reba/Rev and Pike coming in, not set the prices yet but they should be back on a par with 08.

Without getting involved in stans/tubless/build quality etc debate which usually occurs on the ‘what rim’ threads I find that XM719 Discs offer the best weight/strength compromise for AM use.

Not ‘the’ widest but ive been very pleased with my Spank Spike 777s. Very impressed with the quality of finish weight and stiffness, which almost makes up for the lame name.

Weve not really slowed up at all (touch wood).

On a par with the same period last year, which is a shock as in early 08 we were shifting boat loads of discounted Marins. The real high end stuff has slowed a little bit, mainly custom builds due to the price of parts but this has easily been offset with increased sales in nice commuter/road bikes as alternatives to the car. Whether this is the case or just some way of making a justifiable purchase I don’t know.

One problem is availability, UK Distros have been cautious with numbers this year expecting a slow down but it just hasnt happened and so were already getting very short on various 09 models which wont appear again until Aug/Sept.
Specialized are out of all Allez/Tarmac/Roubiax/SX Trails/FSR XC Comp and many others.

Giant are totally sold out of all TCR/Anthem X1/X2 and lots of bread and butter stuff, Marin have lots of kit sold out for the year too.

Down to this there is no real need to go shafting prices on many items as its basic supply and demand. Some companys/bikes are suffering sales wise for 09 but I guess were not in too bad a position due to the number of brands we carry.

Dont worry, i cant work it out either 😆

Ive seen one of these down at the eBay warehouse (we don’t do them in store). Frame isnt amazing and the brace for the rear disc brake and dropouts look like they’ve been designed/built by a monkey but for £300 with a full alfine and hydro discs its certainly great value as a commuter bike.

Id love to tell you the orange looks better in the flesh, but id be lying 😀

IH Bootleg?

Manitou Minute Elite TPC – 20mm ??

CRC Have the 140mm version down at sub £300 at the moment, bear in mind that Manitou A2C is low compared to Fox/RS so the 140 minutes are only a teeny bit longer than a 130 revelation.

Clicky

Ive got the MRD TPC’s on my 4x bike and they are superb, steer clear of the absolute damped ones though.

Nope.

Yep, all the same RRP (£285) which makes the Stans ones very very good value. Weve got them all in stock apart from the Flow’s which are due in about 2 weeks.

Ooops.. basically what Graham just said (his form of measuring sounds like it involved a tape so will probably be more accurate than mine). 😆

Just had a rough measure up with the i900 im selling 😉 and my Thomson layback. I900 seems to provide about 5mm more layback but you could obviously adjust this out on the saddle rails.

Bearings seats ovalised?

Had this happen to an Aireal hub a few years ago that had had a very hard life. Usually pretty easy to tell i.e the bearings are very easy to fit/remove.

Spank Spike 777’s on the DH bike here: Very impressed with the finishing quality and weight, enough to make me make my first move away from Easton bars on any of my bikes in about 5 years.

5.5.2 probably offers slightly better overall value.

Really like the Commencals infact ive just built up a Meta666 as a play bike and its a real toy so its a bit of a shame that Merlin are killing off the brand so quickly 😐

I was looking on fishers as they are the distributor 😉

YGM anyway.

Still showing with an SRP of £195.74 (no hardware) on the fisherb2b website. Also showing in stock.

You can pick up a 08 Dawg Supreme for less than a 09 Dawg let alone a Deluxe!

That sizing from wiggle is a bit off. We shift a lot of these and usually find the 18 to be 5’9-5’11 and the 19 to be 5’11-6’1 although this is dependant on body proportions. Im 5’10 have stupid long legs (35″) and feel best on a 17.

Not generally a Kona fan but the dawgs just work.

and expensive 😆

Its been confirmed as a model now in both ‘S’ and ‘Pro’ specs. No pricing yet or confirmed delivery date but its going to be towards the tail of of this summer.

As mentioned above the XTC is in a completely different league to the MTX/Taffy range. Id probably still plum for the Hotrock between those two, its very nicely put together, is very cleverly specced, fits well and looks fantastic in real life.

They are in relatively short supply at the moment, next batch is due in on Wednesday so there should be some free stock in shops by the w/e.

Other thing that might be worth a quick look is a 2008 Kona Makena, lovely little bikes and can be had for £150

Why not go for the middle ground and get Arch’s? I run them on the 4x bike with no issues at all.

*edit

Ah your probably looking at HH Wheels in which case they only offer 355/flow. Sorry 😉

Ive ridden probably 90% of the mainstream 5/6 inch bikes now for 2009 for decent periods of time. Obviously anything full sus is hugley down to personal preference and setup. But so far this is how i can sum up:

Most Fun: Marin Wolf Ridge range: simply an absolute riot to ride

Best Value: Cant beat a Pitch Pro but thats really an 08 so id go with Trance X2

Biggest disappointment: RM Altitude – climbs well, average at best for everything else :o(

Best Custom: Turner 5-Spot – stunning bike.

Best of the Peg: E120

What would i buy? Was very very close to buying a E120 Team but ill hold out til 2010 for a E140 :o)

Dont see why not, they clip onto the damping rod pretty tightly.

They are all this sort of shape:
_____
\       /
|       |
|       |
/ ___\

So as long as you have the wider sections top and bottom to spread the load i dont think you would have any problems.

They used to make 20mm spacers so you could run 100/120/140/160 but im pretty sure they only have 30mm ones now, worth an ask though.

Yes, it does reduce the a2c. Used to run some at 100mm myself on the 4x bike, nice and simple to fit, if you do it all upsidedown you shouldnt even need to replace any oil.

Absolute horseshit.

Frame only margins are usually much smaller than full bikes (which are also pretty low) certainly compared to everything else in the shop clothing/acces etc.

Im not going to give concrete examples as everyone here is on different trade rates and its generally frowned upon. But i can confirm that whats been given by your ‘insider’ is absolute tripe. 🙄

Your warranty is through the shop you purchased them from. As mentioned above most distributors/service centres wont deal with Joe public for warranty issues and you will need to go through the place of purchase.

Its a possibility they are OE forks from merlin so thats probably why they are trying to avoid dealing with the issue themselves with windwave..

Had my HH ZTR 355s arrive on Thursday. Arch ones are due in about 2 weeks.

For anyone interested the 355s weighed in at 1660g (with QR front adapters).

Had a pair of 08 Minute MRD TPC 100mm on the 4x bike for nearly a year now, no issues what so ever. Nice and stiff and internally bang on. TPC damping is lovely.

My old Socom was unusual!

Was actually a water transfer wrap (sound odd but was incredibly hardwearing). Intense got a couple done as one offs by these guys:

Clicky

Bloody expensive though!

I just bought some of the Spike 777s in the polished finish. Very nicely finished bar. Only 35g heavier than a EA70 and a lot wider!

Probably gonna trim them down a tiny bit as im use to sunline 737s but these matched my biancos perfectly 8)

Dooge – Yeah its up on the top section on Mont Chery back in 2005. Wish i still had those forks!

Bikey One:

Cheeky Monkey:

Know its a while ago now but my suspicion was correct.

Both of our stock 09 Rocky Ridges are fitted with Float R QR15 forks.

Must be one batch thats come through specced with the wrong ones.

Sell it to Daffy 😈

Loving that Syndicate 4x 😀

My old Socom will always probably be number one purely down to rarity (and coolness!) of the finish it was supplied with:

Really liked my tazer too, and its probably the bike i regret selling the most.

Still its replacement is nearly finished:

New cranks/tyres/bar&stem and some white lowers and it could be the prettiest yet.

All my xc bikes are ugly 😆

Official spec is 32 VanR QR15.

Ive got a sneaking suspicion the 09 ones we have in stock though do however come with a 32 Float R QR15. Ill check tomorrow 😐