South Downs way, end-to-end, TBC

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So very jealous of the campers, need to get my stuff found.
Also, woken up at 4am because some dude is seriously angry outside our flat... \London can do one.
But Hyde Park was quite lovely.

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Fotos.

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What size would I need?

I would say just get a nice hardtail and keep maintenance low.

I have thrown together a nicely specced 631 genesis high latitude 650b bike with 120mm travel reba, hope wheels and 1x10 xt for <£500. I'm 6ft2in and it fits perfectly. Very welcome to try it for size if you like.

I'm doing south downs end to end with a few mates next Monday, will tell you how it handles the terrain.

He asked for the perfect bike for the kind of riding we were doing - a steel Hardtail isn’t it

Although there is something to be said for simplicity and the recyclability of it

Large

Those forks look suspiciously not upside down...

And it’s a bit cheap

One of those bikes where if you genuinely needed it you’d be paid to ride it

this one has sick fades!

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Specialized-Epic-Expert-29er-Mountain-Bike-2018-XC-Full-Suspension-MTB_109350.htm#

Bargain

So the Scalpel SE would be a good generalist type bike, for a big heavy lump like me?

https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-GB/tallboy

Go for something with 120mm of travel at either end.

+Upside down forks and a dropper?

Scalpel SE is 115/120

It's basically the old Tallboy

@Dammit

So the Scalpel SE would be a good generalist type bike, for a big heavy lump like me?

Well, it would be representative of a type of bike to consider - light, 29er, enough travel for anything except really, really serious stuff, geo that's easy going enough so it feels safe but good enough when you need to climb. That you can get two bottle cages or a frame bag in it is pretty cool too for a full susser.

But there are other options, I'm sure cloud9 or SBC could help you out.

SBC?

SBC cycles - my understanding was they could get niche stuff in, maybe Santa Cruz but I'm not sure if they are an official dealer.

I guess the trick is to buy from someone who can help you out when you can't / don't have the time to fix it. But this falls down completely when even places like Soho Bikes are unsustainable long term.

There’s also cloud 9 which has some fancy brands I think.

Whichever has the most niche standards for #marginal gains then complain on the internet when nobody is able to fix it when it breaks

Has Dammit bought a new bike yet?

Oh, and are the remaining SDW'ers still going?

Is buying second hand MTB kit really analogous to simply setting fire to money?

I had fun yesterday, but I’m not quite ready to drop almost 4K on a bike to have more fun.