I’ve just bought an rc127 frame as I wasn’t bothered about boost or extra long geometry so was tempted by the bargain price. Not built it up yet so can’t comment on the ride but it looks well made and the paint finish looks particularly robust. Not sure whether it’s changed now but on this one the decals are over the lacquer. Good for me because I wanted to change them but that might not be for everyone.

Hmm so much for that idea. The x fusions have sold out. The search continues.

Thanks, that’s given me all the reassurance I needed to go with the x-fusion. They get great reviews but wasn’t sure whether to go with the RL or rough cut version. I’ve ordered the rough cut ones. A big saving over similar rockshox or fox so I hope they’ll live up to the hype!

Wow, what a lot of varied responses, I’m glad I asked the question.

It seems like some people find the shifting on 11 speed a bit less positive than 10 speed and I remember thinking this when changing from 9 to ten. This my main concern really so as long as I can get the shifting to be as good with an expander cog as without then I’d probably stick with 10 speed. That way I can use some of my existing kit replacement parts are cheaper.

Someone’s selling a solaris max on ebay for 1450 with very nice build kit that looks to be in good condition. I had my eye on it for a while until I decided to go something different instead. Might be worth considering if you’re not opposed to the 29 inch wheels fitted.

If you’re looking for moderate yet modern geometry in a hard wearing frameset it might be worth looking at the Pace rc127+. It’s what I’ll be getting when an xl is available and if you’re looking for any other sizes there are bargains to be had at the moment with big price reductions. I’m not too keen on the whole plus thing as I think it can be a bit sluggish on long hills with really wide tyres on but the maximum tyre width is either 2.6 on a 27.5 wheel or 2.3 on a 29 so that’s going to suit me fine. Built up with decent wheels and an slx drivetrain it should fit your budget too.

The Pace Rc129 boost is now in the frame too (pardon the punn). Apparently there’s an xl version coming so might wait and see how that looks. Have emailed them for details.

You’re right. I missed that. The search continues. I wonder how big a problem the different hub spacing on the frontier would actually be. Would I be very limited on wheel options?

Hmm. The Sonder Transmitter looks like it could be an option too as it could be built as a 29er. I think the geometry and weight probably lends itself to being a good all rounder too. Having compared geometry the solaris seems quite extreme so I’m not sure how good it’d be uphill and similarly with the tarn due to its heft. The Sonder Frontier looks good in a similar way to the Tarn too but I’m put off by the weird boost spacing.

Just came across the Orange P7 29er. I ink this old also enter the running. The bike I most enjoyed was my old Orange R8 although it was a size too small so this could be the perfect replacement.

Looks okay but I was thinking of running a 120mm fork rather than the 130-150mm suggests. Perhaps that would suggest I should be looking at a more xc frame.

Fair comment but at the moment I think the biggest weight saving I could make would be from myself so it needn’t be an xc whippet. Heart says solaris but wallet and brain says tarn.

I see what you’re getting at but am hmx genius frame it’s 4 times the price.

I see merlin have the kinesis phase frame heavily discounted. It’s 27.5 plus but does that mean that it would be okay with 29s? It looks like a well thought out frame but I’m not sure about the bent top tube, it looks like it’s already been crashed.

What size is that? I’m not too familiar with current bike weights but is that a lot for a hardtail? I thought my old conmencal meta was about that 🤔

Basically I’d like something that I could ride for 3-4 hrs on trails similar to a glentress black whenever the opportunity arises (becoming less frequent now the baby has arrived). I miss the immediate pickup and simplicity of a hardtail so want to get back to that as well as generally having a bit of a bike cull to clear out the garage.

My cannondale trigger and Caad12 will be going so my two bikes will be a caad x and whichever hardtail I decide on so I’d like it to allow me a wide range of mountain biking that is focused towards trail/xc rather than serious dh. I’ve no interest in racing but would like to feel that the bike encouraged me to push myself. Perhaps the tarn is too weighty for that but as has previously been said, perhaps hanging lighter components off it could make for a nice balance.

Thanks for that. I’d be interested to know which light weight 29er you’re looking at? I’m definitely thinking of 29 wheels and would build the tarn up from a frame so would be looking to keep it reasonably light but is there another frame I should be looking at?

Mk5 mondeo is what I’d be looking at. I’m sure you’d get a lot of kit for your money, they drive great and the room inside for people and luggage is enormous. They’ll be relatively cheap to maintain compared to the premium brands. Probably not what the cool kids would suggest but I actually think they look pretty good these days too.

I can’t believe that anyone would seriously think it was okay to accept 250 pounds from the pocket of a former employee of a company that they’d felt had underperformed. To take the money in order to fix a problem with a completely different bike having sold the initial one whilst claiming to have no issues with it truly is underhand. Not too late to do the right thing and give the money back, unless you’ve already spent the money on some cheap upgrades for your new bike from Planet X / On-One 😉

I changed my brakes on my caad x for trp hy-rds. They’ve been good and although quite pricey they’re much cheaper than switching to full hydraulics. I had bb7s on a mountain bike before and they were alright, a lot better than the renders on the Caad X which are truly awful. I think it’d be worth having a look into the hy-rds.

EBay is the place to go it’s infinitely cheaper than b and q or the likes and there’s a lot more choice in terms of different styles.

I think that was the name of the hotel yes. I was on a family holiday with my in-laws.

I did a route from Malcesine past Riva last year which took in some of the Giro route and it was simply amazing. I think it was only 40 or 50 miles but there was some serious climbing involved. I could dig out the route on strava if it’s any use. Gaining so much height and looking down to the lake before descending into the valleys was one of the best bits of cycling I’ve done.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>I would agree that the lakeside road is not great but if you ride in Britain it is certainly no worse and it’s unavoidable if you want to get to nicer routes. It is a legal requirement to have LEDs on your bike for those dark tunnels so it might be worth mentioning that. Also, I would suggest going out early in the morning as the heat in the day is pretty extreme and the roads are much quieter too. </span>

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>I hired a bike from cafe xtreme who were helpful enough. They do road bikes, mountain bikes and ebikes. You can take the cable car up to do some amazing mountain bike trails but I wouldn’t even consider trying to bike up the mountain to do any routes because you’d be exhausted before getting to the start of anything decent. </span>

He’s a lucky guy to get to ride out there. I’m so jealous!

I started out on campagnolo khamsins then onto zondas which were miles better. I then went to hand-built archetypes on miche hubs then to carbon rims on Novatec hubs.

The hand-built wheels were okay. They went out of true quickly though so took some maintenance. Bearings were good and lasted well.

The carbon wheels are great as they’re very light but braking is nowhere near as good as alloy rims so they’re only suitable for dry rides. Additionally I’m not sure the seals on the hubs would stand up to much of a soaking but they do run very smooth.

For that reason I now have another pair of zondas for general use. They just can’t be beaten for stiffness, low maintenance, smoothness, weight and value. I remember someone saying you would only ever need to look at 2 pairs of wheels – zondas for training and boras for racing. I’ve no experience of boras but to be honest if you only ever had zondas you’d be doing fine. I’ve got carbon wheels for bling only, I’m under no illusion that they’re any better than the zondas in fact all in all they’re probably worse.

I was going to suggest a caad 12 with zondas. That’s what I have and it’s a brilliantly light and fast bike. Not sure if it’ll be the cheapest option as caad 12 frames are pretty popular still but it’d be worth it.

As long as it’s not a carbon frame you can take it out and put it back in numerous times with a headset press/extractor. I’ve made a tool to do this easily from a few cheap bits and pieces from b and q. I’ve just fitted another one on friday which is why it’s fresh in my mind.

If it was fitted correctly with plenty of  the loctite that is supplied with it if be really surprised if it was able to move inside the frame and cause a creak. <span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>Are you sure it’s the bottom bracket creaking? I’d check all of the other usual suspect like skewers, headset, bars and stem before going down that route. </span>

Ended up fitting the 73mm fsa sleeve conversion with an XT bottom bracket. Easy to do with a bodged together diy bearing press and works a treat. Relieved to be able to use reliable bottom brackets again

Does anyone know if these are the right bearings to replace the ones that come in the fsa bb converter fitted in the trigger 4? I tried googling the code on the bearing seal and this was as close as I could find. Thanks

http://www.wychbearings.co.uk/MR24377-2RS-Enduro.html

I would just go for something simple like clarks. They’re cheap and work a lot better than the ones that came with my dura ace groupset. I’d avoid expensive ones like that which claim to have some coating with magical powers. In the case of dura ace the coating just clogged up the cable outers and made shifting a lot harder .

The flat is on Birchwood Place. It’s 10 mins walk to the uni and 5 more into town. There’s a nice park 2 mins up the road and lots of nice cafes on perth road. Check it out on Google maps and email me if it’s of any interest .

I actually have a flat to rent in the West end of Dundee but it really depends on what you’re looking for and what your budget is. I’d agree with others that the west end is where to be. Personally I’d not go for Whitfield. If you want a short commute then the outlying villages are nice. Newport just across the bridge is nice and quiet but with quick and easy access to the city.

If you end up needing a temporary place to stay while you look for something more suitable then my 1 bed flat might be an option. It’s going to be available from 1st April.

I gave it a go but thought it was pretty poor to be honest. I can see why it wouldn’t have lasted long at the cinema. I’m not really sure what it was trying to do or if it was meant to thought provoking but it certainly wasn’t particularly entertaining. It has made me want to go and watch Sunshine again though so something good has come of it. A good PSA if only for that.

I started a thread and didn’t return to it recently because I couldn’t find it again quickly. This updated forum doesn’t always show my forum activity in my profile which is annoying .

I don’t even n<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>eed to click the link and I know what is. Absolutely brilliant!</span>

Thanks for the help. I’ve sent you an email redmex.

I seem to remember Saffron frameworks making some ridiculously nice bikes. Also Feather. I’ve no idea what either ride like but they look great .

If I was looking for a hardtail I’d be tempted by the ritchey that’s in the classifieds just now. It’s a lovely frame that has been very well kitted out and would leave some cash to upgrade bits and pieces.

Yeah, I’m thinking this will only be for formal occasion and did have a fur one in mind.

Interesting designs but there’s no way I’m cool enough to pull it off unfortunately.

Thanks. I’ll check out of there is anywhere local and try and get fitted.

Thanks for the link to the sporrans. I’d not considered anything that was all leather but some of them look pretty good.

Is that jump on the red run at Comrie? I always worry I’ll land short on that one. Looks like he doesn’t have that problem