Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

I have bike envy.

Any northern types heading to steel city DH, either as a rider or a spectator?

Kinda tempted to go watch.

Pictures of the trail rebuild look amazing. I am going to stand on a corner, drink a responsible amount of beer, and cheer everyone who passes or crashes.

Oh my days, the trails are running absolutely perfectly right now, get the fuck out there and ride!!!

Also, yes to SCDH (spectating).

Also for the northerners - if you've got nothing better to do at the end of September, the red rat rampage is running this year and generating funds for the eyam pump track: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/258621/The-Red-Rat-Rampage

Have signed up for the medium version, mostly because I’ll want to ride there and back and that’s another 40km on top.

Bit Niche but for anyone in Aberdeenshire and want to fund awesome trails being built, it would be great if you could throw a few pennies here

Bit of chat here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czOJtIPysR4

Buttons pressed on a new bouncy bike....

Which one?

Speaking of bouncy, had a look in the fork on my girlfriends bike (which with no air in can be completely compressed) and it had one green token in it, against a max of four - so I don't think it was that which is the issue. I'm not sure what is, however.

Giant Trance X 2. Should arrive next week along with a few bits I'll be swapping out straight away

Anyone fancy a trail ride somewhere on Monday? Surrey or swinley or something. I still get lost out in Surrey. I haven't ridden MTB since going out to swinley with a few of you, just fitted some cranks and realise I have to start actually riding dirt this year.

I'm not sure whether I should post here or in the touring thread but I'm really keen to have something similar to this bike in my life, mainly for riding and camping on Dartmoor.
I can't afford a Jones so what are some similar bikes out there?

First xc race of the year today. That was a shock to the system!

Any rigid or hardtail MTB would be a good starting point. I'd look for something that'll run 29" or 27.5"+ if you want similar to the Jones. 29"+ is a bit niche and less widely available these days.

Genesis Longitude, Sonder Frontier, Brother Big Bro, Pinnacle Ramin, Cotic Solaris all options.

Stooge, but they are pay, then wait for production to happen, doubt you would ride it this summer.
Really like my scrambler, can feel quite quick and stable downhill, but should also make a nice off-road tourer.

There's a pre-order live for Scramblers at the moment. Should arrive in the summer.

http://stoogecycles.co.uk/product/scrambler-pre-order/

Thanks, I'll have a look at those options. I'm leaning towards 27.5+ as I love comfort over most other considerations as I'm getting older.

Yes Stooge is a good shout. Thanks.

Where did you race/ how did it go? My first was an absolute disaster but I guess that’s the point of early season races!

Absolutely heaving in Peaslake today, eebs all over the place. Can confirm that coil forks feel sooo much better on rough rooty stuff

First round of Sport category Central XC at Checkendon. It went surprisingly well. Started at the back of the grid so had to come through a lot of traffic. On that course that means biding your time in the trees and then just sprinting on the field sections to clear as many riders as possible.

By the time i got near the front 3 riders were gone and there was no catching them (one punctured out later)

The 2nd group was big and really well matched. Wheel to wheel racing. I loved it.

Was on for the podium but legs and brain let me down in the last 5 min and ended up 7th (i say 6th, but timing chip disagreed)

All in all excellent morning out. And front row gridding for round 2

We’ve now moved to somewhere with proper trails 5 mins from the front door and I think it’s time for a proper mountain bike. I’ve a 29 wheel set and slx group to transfer over - I’ve been riding local trails on my big-bro and think a dropper post and front suspension is as far as I’d want to go.

So far I’m leaning towards a @Dammit inspired RC529 in the new green - is there other things I should be looking at in that price range? I like the look chameleon too, but have a silly attachment to steel.

Disclaimer - I know nothing about mountain bikes

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The 529 is a fantastic bike, I think. As a steel hardtail it's not alone in the market, but the company behind it do (I have direct experience of this) very much stand behind their product, and they're nice people. Plus, if you like the colour...

I have a Cotic Solaris Max frame in size large going spare. It's in great condition bar a couple of sections of paint rub. Pretty comparable to the RC529 with a 140mm fork up front. Can be set up with a 120mm for a more XC feel, or 130m for somewhere in the middle.

It's in a silver "mercury" paint job that makes it look like stainless. Like this one:

It's hanging in the shed, but if you're interested let me know and I can get some pics / think about price. Would include a hope/FSA headset and hope seatpost clamp.