Monster, Monsteur, Monstour , 26/29+ and Expedition and Adventure bikes

Yep. Your Rawland was certainly in my mind when I picked up the fortitude. I wanted to be able to commute the 12 miles into work in the rain on the road, but also be able to blast down bridleways and towpaths. Considered a proper cyclocross, but the offroad is too compromised (compared to my full bouce moutainbike heritage).

#localrides

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This sitting at my workplace....

But it's not mine!
My mate ordered one too, and his was in before mine......mine should be there in a couple of days though :0)

thinking about the new marin pine mountain 1 for next year. What is all this 27+ about? I was just getting my head around 29er..

Same circumference as 29er, wide 650b rims, bigger air volume = lower pressures = more grip and comfort. That's the theory anyway. Can be retro-fitted to some 29er frames, albeit using smaller 2.8" tyre, not true 'plus sized' ones of 3" and above.

I fancied that marin, but fancied the trek more! The marin is also 32lb stock, which shouldn't bother me, but it did......plus, I couldn't find anyone who had actually ridden one before.....and I know I like my buddy's krampus.

Marin sounds pretty heavy, I guess I need to try it first - are they out yet?

That trek is awesome but doesn't look like it has any mounts? That's one thing I like about the marin

A1 condition Awol X Poler with road tyres going here;

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/275722/#comment12577766

One of the other blokes I work with has just received his cycle to work special....

Specialized fuze 650b+ ..... It's very nice!
(Not letting me upload from my phone.....)

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3 colleagues all buy 650b+ adventure bikes in the same week....this craze is taking off!

There's another one to come too!

I made a good argument about the 'free money' angle with bike to work!

First ride on the trek stache 5 today.....

Fuuuu...., it's a whole heap of whoopass!

The bike is way better than my skill levels are, and I was actually getting decent air in epping! So, so good.........

Very happy!

Awesome! Really really really great looking bike.

Cheers fella.....it rides even better than it looks!
It's so comfy, yet not flexy at all.....I'm a big unit, but can sling this around like a little BMX. Light, snappy, and doesn't feel like aluminium for my poor old bones!

great! Nice MTB.
Now throw a shitload of mudguards, packs and bags on it

It's in hand bud! :0)

This sounds very interesting!

http://ravn.rawlandcycles.com/#ulv

It does. They are brilliant bike designers.
Though I think that norse lore thing they got going can be a bit much.

diggging this also

True, I'm hoping it's a bit tongue in cheek. Both of those sound like awesome bikes, but the Ulv I could possibly more easily justify. The Ravn would be like a very upgraded version of my drop bar MTB

One thing I can't get my head around is a dependable gear shifting system for drop bar MTBs. Sti's seem a bit flimsy for back country touring, Gevenalle only work from the hoods, which isn't ideal for dirt drops.... bar ends aren't compatible with the new batch of mtb groupsets as far as I know.

Lovely bikes but awful customer service by the sound of things. There are a bunch of guys who signed up ages ago for a 650b frameset based off the Ravn but then got told after they'd paid their money that it was changing to a complete bike with disc only brakes and 26" Wheels. Few people had dramas getting their money back it seems, and now it looks like it's back to 650b! The Google groups Rawland thread put me off putting a deposit down.

I'm no so convinced it's all bad play on the company's part. I've seen that thread, if you're putting down a deposit before the R&D is complete then you have to accept it's going to be subject to design changes. Sad to hear some people had a hard time getting their money back, but that's exactly the reason I'd not buy a frame before it's designed.

Microshift BS-M10 are designed to work with Shimano mtb 10sp components:

http://www.microshift.com.tw/BS-M10_Shifters.html

One thing I can't get my head around is a dependable gear shifting system for drop bar MTBs. Sti's seem a bit flimsy for back country touring, Gevenalle only work from the hoods, which isn't ideal for dirt drops.... bar ends aren't compatible with the new batch of mtb groupsets as far as I know.

I like the MTB trigger mounted under top of bars approach. Think of it as climber button placement. Probably useless for technical trails, but should be super for back road cruising.

In fact I have already all necessary components to put 1x10 type 2 setup on the rawland, just need the free time. (will probs wait till after winter tho)

That is so good. I don't usually like Trek, but that has got me pricing them up for next round of C2W.