5’8 on the XL?

Agree these frames are great value for money, not much difference between the evo and non evo ALU models just a slightly modified shock link and extra 5mm rear travel. The carbon evos had a slightly reinforced seat tube.

I’ve had 2 of these bikes both XL and 6’5″, if you’re over 6′ you’ll be fine.

There’s a place at Richmond station that do Surly and Salsa so might have a demo bike? No experience of the shop though sorry. Im passing through tomorrow so will have a look if I can.

https://roofracks.co.uk/Thule-Products/Accessories/T-Track-Adapters/

And yet thule list options for both the 2008-2011 passat CC and the 2012+ model, as well as Google image search being full of photos of CCs with roof bars?

You dont need locators or fixing points and not all cars have them. Just get the thule roof bars and remember to clean the bits of the roof before you put them on?

Thought the Passat CC was a sort of 4 door coupe?

Why can’t they be fitted?

I’ve done the trip 8 times now and this would be my advice.

– If you have the time to stop over then do, it breaks up the journey and even a few hours in a proper bed between flights makes a huge difference.
– If you don’t stop over take a change of clothes and use the airport terminal hotels for a shower and change before the next leg.
– If you can afford to then upgrade your seats. Qantas premium economy is superb and is a proper half-way house between economy and business, (note: not all airlines do premium economy and some routes into Oz don’t use premium equipped planes so you might end up flying into Sydney or Brisbane then doing a short internal flight)
-Most airlines now let you pay an additional fee per journey for legroom seats, however a lot of these are over wing exits and there may be age restrictions on the people they allocate them to, best to check.
– Avoid booking seats near the bulkheads as these are generally allocated to families with young children/babies
– Unless you book all journeys on one ticket with the same carrier the internal flights carry a smaller baggage allowance so just be aware you might get stung when you put your 23kg+ international allowance bag on a 20kg internal flight.
– Lastly, use a decent travel agent for your flights, the last 3 times we’ve been they got us better deals than we could ever have found ourselves.

I’m exactly the same, winter riding is totally miserable for me, not because of the wet and mud but because the cold air triggers my asthma worse than any other tine. I found it especially frustrating this year as had built up a reasonable level of fitness (for me) only to struggle on pretty much every cold ride. I also find if I have to use my blue inhaler too much it gives me the jitters and makes me feel a bit crap.

Went to the docs just after Xmas when it got really cold and he was great. As a fellow sportsman he understood my obvious frustration and put me on a steroid preventer inhaler (the brown one) to try for a month.

Effects were almost immediate and basically haven’t had to use the blue one at all even on long hilly rides. It got to the point half way through the trial month where I would see how well it worked by going out from cold straight up a big climb and putting in a lot of effort, something that would usually see me wheezing and giving up. Not only do I feel good on the rides now, I can always take a full breath in the cold and have been thoroughly enjoying riding.

I’m not a doctor but it sounds like this may also work for you. Beauty is when it warms up and I don’t need it I can just stop using it.

Warns, thanks for your detailed reply. I really would have purchased the Spesh instantly if they had my size, I’m currently in email exchange with my local Specialized concept store, it seems as though there are no XL’s left at all in the enduro range for the 2015 models. I have found a 2016 Enduro Comp 29er murdered out (stealth) which has Pikes on and looks incredible. The Stumpy looks awesome too and I have just found one for £1700!

Regarding the Alps, what kind of terrain was the 10% you had difficulty with

simo – no problem, I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a difficulty with a specific type of terrain in the Alps, more that after thousands and thousands of feet of rough, fairly technical descending there were a couple of times when I thought it might have been nice to have a little more travel.

When I put it into perspective, for the type of riding I do in the UK, (more technical trail rather than jumps/drops/gnar) the mid-travel stumpy is all I ever really need. Even if I went to the Alps every year, it’s still only 10% of one weeks riding when I felt I might like to have a bit more travel.

That said I still have a hankering for a 29er Enduro and if my numbers come up then I would have one just as an Alps bike!

Which year stumpy are you looking at?

especially with bike and boats on the car

Cant speak for boats but pretty sure you dont pay extra for bikes on the car, you just have to have book a high space slot rather than the standard one and there are fewer of these.

simo,

Not sure how much use this is but I’m 6’5 and 15 stone and my brother in law is the same height and about 17 stone. We’ve both ridden XL specialized bikes, one alu one carbon and never really had an issue. My stumpy fsr 29er has been carted about all over the UK, natural riding, Welsh trails centers, BPW uplift days etc and last year a week in the Alps without any problems.

I found the stumpy was enough bike for 90% of the time the Alps, (week with the White Room, lots of very techy trails, black runs etc) and 100% of the time in the UK for the type of riding I do.

I think the Enduro mentioned before for £2k is fantastic if you can find an XL otherwise the new 2016 stumpy is well worth a look too, it now has shorter chain stays and slacker head angle like the Enduro.

Dont be afraid to do a but of haggling Im sure you could get something for your budget.

An XL Orange Clockwork 29 would suit the job and can be had for about that budget.

Had a Mk1 3.2 V6 DSG Coupe about 6 years ago. I loved it, amazing sound, felt quicker than the R32 that replaced it and on a long run sometimes saw as much as 36mpg.

After we bought it, we drove it for 2 weeks around Europe, from the Uk, down through the Alps to the Italian Lakes and back again. I would have another one in a heartbeat. Comfortable, (I’m nearly 6’5″), great boot space, (bought loads of wine back from France) and easy to fit bike racks too, (not that I ever did).

Nothing ever went wrong in our ownership and servicing was pretty cheap. If I was to buy another I would be tempted to get it inspected but prices are very appealing at the moment!

Personally I also prefer the styling on the V6s over the 1.8s, larger rear spoiler, deeper front skirt and honeycomb exhaust surround.

Couple of pic on the way to the Stelvio Pass.

Faulty wiring leads to electrocution at the first puddle?!

If you want shoes that work well with XT trail pedals then the M089, M163, M200 range all have 2 wide bars that run along each side of the cleat that are designed to sit on the two flat (silver) areas of the pedal each side of the clip. In my experience this combination works well but there is not much pedal float. The downside is these shoes are not really what you would call grippy, in as much as they dont have a rubber cushioned sole.

If you want to use grippy shoes then as above would recommend the M647 pedals instead, then any of the trail shoes that have a more conventional rubber sole around the cleat.

Also worth bearing in mind how big your bike is versus the width of your car if you’re going to use a rear rack.

Are cheap pads a false economy?

In my experience with XT pads, yes! I now only buy the OEM ones, (GO3S I think) they are fantastic and last really well. For example I’m 15 stone kitted up and after a week in the Alps I only just had to replace the rear set, fronts were fine.

jointhedotz – Member
I have the attack 360, @ 6’2 the xl fits like a glove and I’ve not noticed too much hood flapping either and it’s adjustable by drawstring. Does a decent job protecting against wind and light rain too. I’d buy another quite happily.

What chest size are you for the XL, is the size chart accurate?

We had an afternoon on ski-mobiles up on one of the glaciers. Brilliant fun!

2012 called, it wants its thread back, (oh and you missed out all the plus size and fat sizes too).

but does beg the question why on earth don’t they come with some form of built in/replaceable protector?

Streamlining of production costs? It’s an extra thing to align and fit. Any impact damage can be blamed on the user as has been demonstrated here.

2016 carbon stumpjumpers now have a rubberised guard in that exact spot.

OP – First up, it’s a lovely (and clearly expensive) bike so can totally see why you’re a bit upset about the damage. That said, I think most people, (whilst not all experts) suggest there has been some kind of impact and I would have to agree with that. Having previously owned an Enduro, unfortunately on these frames it’s a pretty exposed area and not only prone to strikes by debris or rocks but because the bend in the down tube is forward of the chainset it can also be the first thing to hit a log or similar obstacle if you dont happen to quite get it right, getting over.

If I were you I would check out the repair option and the rock guard as this seems to be the lowest cost, but maybe also go back to spesh and ask how long the crash replacement option is open to you. If, in a few months time you have the money for a new frame and want to go down that route then it’s still an option.

Lastly, is it covered under accidental damage away from the home on your house insurance? Could be another avenue to pursue if it is.

Then, a few months ago he had to add 15km to his cycle commute from work because a magpie kept attacking him, drawing blood.

Ever wondered why Queensland is the major global consumer of zip ties?!

It’s a good look!!

When warns jnr was born there were only 2 rules:

1) No baby talk
2) Never ever ever ever mention there is a place called Peppa Pig World

Four years on and all is well! 🙂

Yep, last year I pulled into services on the M4 eastbound (or maybe it was the M5 north, can’t remember) and there were 2/3 beaten up old skoda estates, each with a slightly rusty, battered looking, 26″ on-one hardtail on the back, being driven by middle-aged slightly paunchy men dressed in a mixture of gear from decathlon and sports direct. I looked at them/you and thought – you’re obviously from STW but I’m not going to say anything.

🙄

Spesh Smallfry are very good and have the same sort of internal cradle fit with ratchet knob on the back like the adult versions. Makes for a very good fit.

Conditions in the Surrey Hills wont be much better than Kent at the moment.
Otherwise easiest thing to do is park in Peaslake, (car park at Walking Bottom) and ask for advice or tag along with one of the many groups who will be there. A very small number of the trails are holding up to the winter, the rest are a muddy mess like everywhere else.

Have to agree with Mr Smith on this one. I have an Evoc Bag and have used it for an XL 29er hardtail to Oz and back plus my previous XL carbon stumpy fsr 29er to the Alps and back.

The XL stumpy fitted fine, just needed to take the rear mech off to get it in but would advise doing that anyway in transit.

thanks otdsr, that is a bit clearer, (apart from the bit in the text for the 1×11 where it refers to it as 2×11 and as having a long cage!)

On the plus side the picture of the 1×11 version looks like the one I was about to order so I think Im good to go!

No wonder i’m confused!

Trouble is Id have to factor in an XD driver for the SRAM cassette hence why Im looking at this way round.

For 1×11 with GX, it seems to imply a long cage version of the SRAM GX rear mech is needed? Is this right?

Thanks, I’m not surprised there is already a thread I just cant seem to find it!

My wife is from Oz and we’ve been back many times, last year we were there for 6 months and so I decided to take a bike as we were going to be travelling all over and I had time to ride. It was completely amazing getting out to places and exploring the countryside and even just doing some local rides for a bit of exercise. Travelling for that amount of time with a young daughter it was well worth it but we had time and didn’t need to rush but I will say it was a fair amount of hassle, e.g. going through airports carrying all the bags, bike bag, pushchair, car seat etc. Getting a hire car big enough!
If you’re going for 2-3 weeks then you need to have a think about whether its worth it vs borrowing one?

I took an Evoc bike bag with an alu 29er hardtail and it was brilliant, as well as the long haul flights it went on several internal flights and got thrown in and out of plenty of cars/hire cars etc with zero issues. Bike with minimal kit, shoes, helmet, camelbak was about 28kg I think so not a huge amount left.

As others have said, make sure it’s clean, (don’t need to worry about new tyres just scrub them up) and make sure you declare it on your landing card as they are pretty strict and get really peed off if you don’t. Customs guy was really friendly, checked the tyres, commented on how clean it was and we were off, took 15 seconds.

Snakes, as I said I think we’ve been back 8 or 9 times and in all that time I’ve only ever come across one snake, (that wasn’t splatted on the road).

I had ridden up this trail and my left leg passed within 12″ of it on the grass, it wasn’t bothered by me and I stopped, turned round to take the picture before it slowly went on its way. Big bugger too!

What time of year will you be going? This could play a big part in how much riding you actually do.

Dont have this one any more either!

Don’t have this any more but also 6’5″ (XL stumpy fsr 29er)

Or a “what tire” thread… 🙄

Dog Tag have a couple of options for competitive cycling.

Bit hard to say for sure, but it’s highly possible that XL’s will be too small so would maybe look at brands that offer XXL?

Pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but if not there are plenty of credit cards out there that don’t charge you a fee for foreign transactions, especially not within the EU. I originally got one because they are great for going on holiday where you can pay in Euros for example and just check the exchange rate on the VISA website for that day. Now I find I use it more for online purchases where paying in Euros saves me a few quid over the GBP conversion carried out by paypal, the host website or whatever.

Have a look on money supermarket or such like. Very handy things…