I have the same mentality, but this is a perfect example of where a credit card is useful.

You dont have a credit card?

I dont think its a fair comparison. You were looking for an item that is in high demand this time of year and is probably in especially high demand this winter given the conditions. Im guessing most bike shops that are part of a chain try and stock a range of products but unless they have a shop big enough will be limited to what they can stock.

You have the option to buy a whole heap of them, try them on at your leisure and take them back so dont really see what the issue is whether it’s Evans or any other bike shop?

Not sure how helpful this is but I demo’d the (non evo) camber carbon comp 29 and the (non evo) stumpy fsr 29 comp carbon, back to back a while ago.
Both bikes rode really nicely but the differentiating factor was the stumpy was much easier to pull the front wheel up (and it had a longish stem). Id put this down to the geometry on the stumpy being slacker.

I think 29ers are always going to be more difficult in this respect for the reason you stated above but if you can get away with it a short stem and wide bars do make it a fair bit easier. In comparison with a 26″ enduro I found I needed to alter my perpective on how I ride, the 29ers arent quite as easy to pick up and move around or pop over stuff but they just handle everything in their stride albeit in a slightly different way.

Bit confused OP, so you were online and saw Evans were a stockist but you didnt then go onto their site and see what instore or warehouse stock options they had?

I’ve just bought some 3/4 bibs from Evans, went into the shop (its on my way home) and they only had one pair. Staff member was very helpful and told me to order as many pairs as I liked, try them on and bring back the ones that didnt fit or all of them if I wanted. So I did, 7 pairs on a credit card, kept one, took the other 6 back and the money went straight back on my card, whole process took 72 hours?

I know lots of people have had bad experiences at Evans but in this respect they are great (IMO).

I got Continental Sport Contact 700x32C on crests with no issues. Not sure how theyd go on gravel but good commuters.

Spank Oozy (all mountain / trail), 1800g quoted in 29″ guise, lighter than Flow EX and can be had for about the same money?

Again, no experience of the Cube but love my Clockwork.

I bought it because the geometry seemed more trail focussed and less XC, therefore find it very comfortable for longer rides. I’ve ridden it on everything from canal paths with the family to all the stuff I rode my old enduro down, it seems very capable (despite the rider!)

I think a number of people on here (myself included) have built them up from a frame which seems to offer a good way of getting a good spec and saving some money.

Just bought a pack of “M-Part Self-Adhesive Cable Guides” for my reverb hose. No idea if they are any good but read a few decent reviews.

Paedophile Pedalophile

Fixed that for you! 🙂

kimbers – Member

its also a question of sustainable riding

swinley forest is now closed to bikes for the next 2 weeks (at least) due to trail damage!

Just the blue route I read?

CBMotorsport

My post was not meant to be taken too seriously and you do have a point but it also raises another point that some context would be good. For instance London is a big place, where are you, what is your idea of “near”, how far are you prepared to travel, what sort of riding etc.

Apologies if I come across as a grumpy old f*rt, (I dont mean to) but I dont get these ‘where to ride’ threads at the moment?

It’s winter, there’s been so much rain I would imagine “Noah” will soon become the No.1 baby boys name for 2014, everywhere is saturated and muddy! Pick somewhere and go expecting to get very wet and very muddy!

Ive ridden the Surrey Hills every week and had a few trips to Swinley, guess what, they’re all incredibly wet and muddy!

No offence like….!

Yetiboy

Just dropped you an email, as in about 2 weeks I will be selling an immaculate, low mileage E61 (LCI facelift) 530d M Sport Touring with FBMWSH and BMW Warranty.

I do like the natural singletrack on the Surrey Hills, we’re pretty lucky to have the variety, but it is nice to mix it up with some of the other built trails, especially this time of year when its a mud-fest and trails like this are a welcome addition. There are people that like to go out and ride a variety of trails and there are people that spend all day going up and down BKB without ever experiencing some of the great stuff within a short pedal! Thats life!

Back before droppers were popular, I could never work out why, when following my riding buddy he appeared to play with his balls just before every descent, then I realised he had a lever operated dropper 😀

Sanny – Specialized Rime

Sorry to hijack, but been looking at the Rimes as replacements for my Tahoe’s which have done well but are now starting to fall apart.

Be good to get your thoughts on these too?

cable gunking up/jamming/freezing etc + no extra clutter or weight.

Have to disagree with this, been using a reverb for the last 2.5 years, never had to do any maintenance on it and never experienced any of the above?

Dropper post without a remote lever is next to useless, half the time by the time youve realised you want to drop the post, you dont want to be taking your hands off the bars!

Lots of updates on FB, look for “All Biked Up”

If you dont already do it, start researching what you need for night riding! I found its the best time to get out once nipper is born and with luck your other half wont mind as chances are she and the baby will be asleep! I started when my daughter was born nearly 2 years ago and now its an essential part of my week.

OK that out the way the general thing is 30% sag and have at least 1 token inside (bigger lads get 2 tokens in).

Just fitted mine and was reading this thread with interest but now confused again….what the heck are tokens??!

I was previously running Ardents 29 x 2.25 (in the dry) and replaced the front with a Beaver 29 x 2.25 and would say the volume is the same.

Some info here, Im using it on the front and really like it.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/225-beaver

As said the fire road sections are the worse, muddy and running with water in places, but the rest is as expected this time of year!

Been the last 2 weekends and still had a great ride. Be aware that if there are diversions in place still some of the signage is poor unless you know the trails well enough.

Specialized small-fry. Great rotary retention system on the back means easy to get good fit and she never complains about wearing it.

Nearly bought a frame on ebay last night. I was good and didnt bid but some one got a bargain, £800 for 2013 carbon stumpy evo 29er frame, headset and rear shock.

Add some pikes £550 and some hop hoops £400 and your well on the way to a superb bike without spending silly money

Doing something similar to this only using an 2013 FSR carbon comp 29er frame (non-evo), Pikes, Spank Oozy wheelset and has come in at about £1300 less than a new Evo. Last couple of bits to go on to complete the build but cant wait to try it out!

Most of the good bits are still open (bar one or two), the fire road sections are pretty muddy and very wet, there is a fair bit of standing water on the man-made trail sections but it’s still firm underneath and rideable as you would expect. Well worth a visit.

Edit: As said above some of the diversion signage is pretty poor unless you know the trails so takes a bit of working out. To be honest if they improved this it might help stop people from going on the closed bits as it’s sometimes hard to navigate.

Had completely the opposite experience at Swinley on Saturday. In places the diversion signs werent that good but we didnt see anyone riding any of the closed bits. We got asked several times by people for help in working around the closed sections, (where the signage wasnt great) and there seemed to be plenty of other people who know the trails helping out those who didnt. We actually commented on how friendly and helpful it all was and that nobody was on the closed bits.

All good advice above, just get back into it slowly and start out taking it easy etc and work back up to it.
I broke my collar bone back in July and ended up with a plate and 6 screws. Was off the bike for 8 weeks then started back doing gentle XC rides to get some fitness and gradually built back up to more technical trails as my confidence came back.
When you start back, the injury and fear of falling is always in the back of your mind, then it gradually diminishes,then one day you will get to the end of your ride and you will realise part of the reason you had such a good time was that you hadnt even thought about it….job done!

I was also there today, a fair number of diversions at the moment and wet and muddy in places. Still had a great ride in the sunshine and conditions no worse than anywhere else so don’t see the problem!

My brother had one which I borrowed and there was no room for my knees when I was pedalling? Ended up riding like John Wayne!

Have a look at the Spank Oozy wheelset too. I went for these over the hope/flows in the end as they were a decent amount lighter and great reviews.

Yep, gotta be orange…

Think you were right to be cautious, I had a similarly odd enquiry when I was selling my “XL” carbon enduro last year. Guy rang up, said he and his girlfriend had started cycling and he fancied getting into MTB. So had a chat with him about the sort of thing he wanted to use the bike for and what the bike was designed to do, all very vague responses, clearly had no idea but gave him the benefit of the doubt as he was a “newbie”, then I asked him how tall he was, turned out he was about 5’9″, so told him he probably couldnt reach the pedals!!

Been up to ride Cannock a few times now with mates and have always stayed here:

http://www.willow-end.com

Trails are only a short ride from the door, Glenn and Tina are really friendly, great food, they will store bikes and have a hose pipe! Plus pub down the road! Definitely recommended.

I think the bike hire place in Swinley opens again next month so could be worth hiring some hartail MTBs for the family just to try them out and see how you all get on?

Rode the “blue red blue” route on Saturday morning and the best bit of kit I could probably have recommended would have involved a hull and oars!! Great fun ride though and we had the place to ourselves!

According to their website, the returns policy states “proof of purchase” which to me would not be limited to the receipt. I know for a fact my local evans are happy to take a bank statement printout as proof if the receipt is lost.

“Any item including bikes (but with the exception of food, videos, DVD’s, face masks, RideIt! events and software) can be returned to us for any reason provided it has not been used or fitted and is returned in its original packaging and with a valid proof of purchase.”

Been running 2.25 Beaver (29er) for a month or so now. Got fed up with lack of info from Maxxis UK so ordered a pair from the US so I had them for the start of the wet weather. Cost slightly more with small customs payments and RM handling fee.

I had been running storm controls front and back but wasn’t happy with the grip levels on the front. I know no tyre is that good in very muddy wet slippy conditions but the storms just seemed to ping off everything (even at low pressures) and werent very confidence inspiring on techy descents.

2.25 beaver on the front is superb, a revelation compared with the storm and much more confident on wet roots and rocks. Am trying it out with the Storm on the back and it seems a very good combo.

Exo casing is quite heavy (750g ish) but the added volume is a bonus on the hardtail. Size wise it comes up about the same as my 2.25 Ardents and is definitely bigger than the storm 2.0.

Tried it out today on wet mendip clay and wet rocky rooty descents through woodland and it was great. Also shed very well too.

Highly recommended when they’re available.

Thanks, post to post 180 ordered!

Now have a 2.25 Beaver up front and initial impressions are its a massive improvement.

Clink – I didn’t think they were out yet?

I couldnt get any sensible info out of Maxxis UK about when they were going to be available so ordered from the US. Apart from a small customs fee and PO handling charge they werent that expensive and I like having the extra volume on the hardtail plus EXO carcass.

Also dont understand why Maxxis couldnt get this wet weather tyre out here in time for winter?