Ok thanks. How are you finding the 909 by the way?

Its great, really chuckable. Lots of grip but I think thats mainly due to a lower BB rather than wheel size, when compared with my old C456 anyway.

2015 model has pikes which I think will make it even more fun.

Im the same height as you at 5’10 and have a 909. If the T130 is going to be shorter then I would go for the larger frame and at worst run a short stem.

I was going to say he looked fit as a fiddle going up Holme Moss yesterday.

hmm… T130 looks nice..sounds like a few manufacturers may be going 130mm travel this year.

Yep, the new whytes are starting to come through, saw a 603 in green in the shop today. New colour schemes are pretty good too. I dont think the spec is going to change massively but the frame might have some minor mods on the new G150….or haggle on a 2014 model as there are a few around still.

Bang for buck I think they are fantastic.

Well, as said above by others, stripping and cleaning out a freehub is nice and simple, far easier than I thought. Im pretty certain the problem was the big sealing washer as the whole freehub came off sooo easily. As I had it apart I thought I would clean it all out, so took pawls and spings out and degreased and using paper towel, cottons buds cleaned out the rest of the unit re-assembled and re-greased. Perfect, all sorted.

Only shame was the clay and crap on the SDW route this morning and the 100+ runners who set off 10mins in front of us. Ive never had so much clay clogging up the bike that even trying to push was impossible. So ended up having to carry for quite a while. That and the amount of water around after last nights down pour put an end to this months attempt. I bailed at QECP but the rest of my mates carried on, big up to them. Just ran out of energy and willing. Will wait until its a bit drier and try during the week as the SDW gets pretty busy with events at weekends (should have thought really).

Thanks again to everyone on here for suggestions.

Cheers for all the help!

did think about that, but knowing my luck I’ll get it all apart, and then have problems getting back together and stressing out in the garage until all hours. Im lucky I could use one of my other bikes, but really want to use the 29er, so will leave as is and sort when I get back.

Good old you tube for video’s on how to do it though, brilliant.

Deffo the G150. Very fun and capable but at the same time I was impressed with how it went up hills with all that travel. 5 will need more effort pedal wise IMHO. Pikes are fantastic though and a must on either build.

Different beasts.
Swinley will make to smile more as it flows better having large chunks of purpose made trails. Good mix though with some nice down hill blasts and jumps.

QE for climbing, off camber trails and roots, chalk and loose trails.

Given the weather recently, Swinley would be my best bet for fun today.

thanks everyone, sounds like early days as all systems have their limitations. I guess an improved or alternative technology may be needed. Rubee technology from visible assets looks interesting in that all the data can be stored on the tags with very good bandwidth. again it all comes down to price point but I am sure we will see improvements now that such multistage sports are getting more and more popular

Have a look at the Orbea 24 inch kids bike (dirt i think).
Its lighter than the spec bikes and really well made. Comes in around £250 new.

RFID technology seems to be the most common and/or best fit. Nothing that special TBH, lots of stuff out there on it by the looks of it…quite interesting.

Was thinking more along the lines of tag/scanning based systems as I dont want the hassle of manual timings….been there done that in the past.

you may have problems getting hold of a 905 as I think they have all sold with no more coming through until the 2015 bikes come out in August/sept. worth phoning around though as they are great. I’ve got a 909 which is the same frame as it’s really chuckable and fun

I’ll try playing with the tuning, but it feels WAY MORE stiffer than it was a month ago….eg something has significantly changed despite nothing being fettled with.

For the sake of a small amount of upgrade cash I would go for a pike and get Loco to reduce the travel to 120mm. That way it future proofs itself residual wise and means you can always upscale back to 140mm on future frame if required.

Reason being that the Gyro is not an XC frame. Alot more burley than the competition and is really good on fast singletrack. If you want proper XC go for a carbon HT.

Just MHO

Yes use them regularly. although the shop is only a year old both Tom and Ant know their bikes and have both been in the business for years and years with a huge knowledge across many brands. their after sales is fantastic and flexibility on builds is great. Now they have expanded into next door they have the room to take on more stock which will be good. I was only up there this morning grabbing a new pair of spd’s. what frame do u fancy?…… my favourite is the grey bandit hanging on the wall. it would build up into a really nice stealthy bike with pikes and a black xt set

Gotta a 2013 CTD fox here and doesnt dive on my 26er…really plush. Must have been lucky I guess. Having said that, have just ordered pikes for the 29er…as I think they are a better deal especially around the £500 mark for RCT3 solo’s.

^ Glad its made you smile, it does look cracking

For those getting wound up by X1 vs XO1 debate, its Friday take a pill..preferably a Codiene….:)

Spec on website is X1. Doesnt really matter what the picture is to be honest as I bet the T&C’s relate to the written spec when you press the order button.

Give them a break, its a cracking deal as it and Im now even warming to the colour blue…which I never thought I would.

On-One Codeine – with a pair of pikes…..job done. Will do everything you need it to do and more. Either buy a complete bike or build up from a frame only.

Has to be 1×11 or 1×10 but that would be fine for what you need.

If I had the cash thats what I would be buying…..but the other half has capped my N+1 to N, but I dont blame her….for once.

definitely go 29 at your size and for the type of riding you want to do. Plenty of choice out there. If you can stretch to a self build then go with a Cotic Solaris as others have mentioned or if you can go Alu frame then that opens up a huge world of fun at the 1k price point.

Thanks Buzzard, looks good apart from the fact they cant create decals, which is a shame as I need some doing and cant get hold of any originals so need some copied :(

Im surprised I even got a stage 1 time, thought I had DNF’d the lot.
Just spent 3 hours in A&E with suspected clavical fracture, but after several puzzled faces, it ended up only an “ACJ” tear, which is basically the ligaments that join the clavical to the shoulder. Nice bone like lump at the end of the collar bone though :)

Well done all, some impressive times in there.

^ as above, great idea doing an Enduro in the dark. Great atmosphere and lots of smiley faces from all those who finished. Unfortunately I crashed out on stage 1 and smashed my shoulder up. Nothing broken but now home and showered its ceased up and even trying to pull up boxers is a mission…ho hum serves me right. Thanks to the two guys who picked me up and got me out of the way of the others :)

But from practice, there was a proper mix of trails. Dont personally like the off camber rooty stuff on some stages but it goes with the territory at QECP, but overall good fun. Transitions between stage 1-2 and 2-3 were easily done in time (eg many with 10mins to spare). Transition from 3-4 almost caught out a lot of people, so perhaps some tweaking for next year.

Free beer and lots of friendly people from all different walks of life was great. Amazing mix of bikes and big kudos to No. 49 on his on-one fatty….went REALLY well….infact I reckon it would be my weapon of choice for next year if Brant can sort out a carbon one for me ;)

Next up, someone needs to arrange one at Swinley….would be great fun in the dark!

^ as above or do what I did and get a cheap bike (eg lower end components) but with a good frame which will last on 0% finance. Mine is now a year old so paid off, and once the parts start to wear out I can upgrade. So went for a bottom of the range Spec Allez with Sora and will upgrade next year with 105 11 speed. Have already upgraded the wheels which has really helped.

Worth demo’ing road bikes as the position and comfort varies alot between bikes unlike MTB’s.

Im signed up for it online, but havent managed to find any info on times etc for Sat. Ive looked on the website, facebook page and there is very little info that I can see. Any ideas anyone?

Have gone 1×10 this weekend with Hope’s 34t retainer ring on my old XT triple cranks and added a hope t-Rex to my 11-36 now making it 11-40. Did a three hour ride this morning with some very steep hills and coped fine. It was great not having to worry about changing on the front and now means I can run my reverb remote underneath on the left hand side which I couldnt before.

So for a smidgen under £100 I converted from a 3×10 to 1×10 and it took me around 2 hours to convert (including having to drill out a crank bolt that had rounded). Slight B tension adjust and that was it.

Really worth doing, and didnt struggle anywhere near as much as I thought. Yes you need to keep momentum on the climbs but just means a little more concentration and the odd bit of standing up.

Perfect :)

thanks everyone, have also found ladgecom tr90’s for £15 which are very similar to the Bolle’s with a bit more protection/padding under the eye.

yes now in 650b. I run one on the back. don’t come up too big but reasonable for a 2.1

Ive got some mavic 650b tyres on at the moment, and although not mud specific they worked very well a few weeks back in the gloop. Pretty much as good as a spec Purgatory I used on my 29er for grip.

you can get the new all black rockshox revs for £400, possibly cheaper from the german sites. Very nice forks and easy to maintain.

Have a chat with Danny at crgmoto.co.uk
The Gloworm 4 cell battery is FANTASTICALLY made, with LED indicator, totally waterproof and very compact. Best battery pack around IMHO

wait until the 650b carbon covert comes out next year.
Or go for the orange and black ALI frame now and then trade up next year to carbon in team colours…nice :)

If I had the cash thats what I would do.

Have both XTR M988 and XT versions and there is very little between them. XT is more than good enough and use the different for something else on the build.

Indeed, Bridgepoint Capital was involved with Fatface also. A float is normal for these kinds of investment companies as they want to get their money back and some…normally significant amounts. Given the expansion and amount of sales to AUS and alike, I think Wiggle ended up adding warehouse space in other parts of the world to speed up delivery. Or were at least planning to.

I know one of Whyte’s test riders who currently has a G150 with interesting spec. Raves about it!

Whyte’s builds are pretty good value for money (im currently riding a 829 and a 909) and due to the good reviews (T129S, 650b hardtails) a lot of their stock has sold out again this year. Agreed, they dont make shed loads, but it at least keeps residuals up where as the larger brands used to just saturate the market then offload at 30-40% off at the end of the year. What I have noticed in the last 12+ months is that even the larger brands arent building quite as many and the sales are no where as big as they were 2 years ago.

I had a crosstrail replaced under warranty as it was clicking really badly and basically the plastic part of the hub had come unbonded from the alloy part. You couldnt see it move but under pressure there was enough to make a nasty creaking/clicking noise.

Even the 2011 and maybe 2012 carbon ASR5’s didnt havent dropper guides, whereas, as above the ali ones did.