MF's (not actually that) Niche Fleet

I'm just not into droppers, for the riding I do I can get away with just running the seat a bit lower than usual and that gives me enough room to move about without the need for more cables and moving parts to go wrong.

I don't know him, but I know of him. His Mk4 build that was up on Pinkbike was the bike that made me pull the trigger on my own!

Any photos of the Mk1 would be a lovely addition to the thread if you had any?

Yeah his MK4 was cool.

I couldn't live without my dropper now, don't know how you could have one then revert back ha.

Only have the one picture. Was a few years ago when I owned it.

1 Attachment

Had an epic ride out on the Stooge today chasing the fast XC crew around some of the classic Dartmoor bridleways and gravel stretches on one of the hottest days of the year. The Garmin clocked 28 degrees on the way home. Peak heartrate of 192 too!

Couple of photos of yours truly dropping out of the final section of 'Widow Maker/Rim Wrecker', where one of the others did actually crack a carbon rim (unironically), and another of the view.

3 Attachments

Rode some new trails on our Tuesday Night MTB group ride last night, around Burrator Reservoir. I've ridden it loads on a road bike, but never ventured up into the surrounding woods before.

Felt very like a mini-Squamish in a weird way. Lots of slabby rocks, steep chutes and thread-the-needle-type lines to hit. Very enjoyable. The real reason I mention this is because my favourite trail of the night is called 'The Never Ending Handjob', which I found most entertaining indeed.

I've decided I'm going to be quite sad to see the Orange go (when logistics finally work out and I, and the buyer, can finally meet to exchange).

While for 90%+ of my off-road riding the Stooge is all I need, I had a 10% ride on Tuesday that really made me think I ought to keep it, but I can't justify 3 bikes and I know the a CX bike will get far more miles than the Orange. I can still get my single-pivot fix on the Patriot, which technically belongs to my eldest, but I'm pretty dissapointed that I never really felt as strong a bond with the Alpine Five as I'd hoped I would.

Hey ho, that's bikes for you. Makes me realise just how bloody good the Mk4 is to be able to cover the ground (figuratively and literally) that it can. It handles anything from proper steep singletrack, to bikepacking and big gravel loops with such aplomb it's pretty amazing.

A change of heart: the Orange stays.

I rode it out with the MTB guys on Tuesday and (having not ridden it for a while) I was reminded of just how fun and capable it was. So I'm keeping it.

As such, I called off the deal that was going to be done next week for the Kinesis, and insread turned my attention to finding something nice, but also cheap-ish, to join the club more on the road. Nothing really peaked my interest on eBay, so I dove into the murky waters of Facebook Marketplace.

There were a few options locally. A nice CAADX that would do the trick locally, but the owner sounded a bit shady for my taste (and wanted too much money for a 10 year old canti CX bike), a nice Merida Reacto alloy aero road bike with full 105 which was really nice too, but something caught my eye...

It firstly caught my eye because it was purple. As you may guess from the way I built up my Pipedream, I am a sucker for purple parts and bikes in general. A bit more research and messages with the owner turned up a solid reason for sale (and a thoroughly nice couple to boot), some pretty blingy components (sub 1000g wheelset anyone?!) and all round pretty good condition. A few calls were made and we agreed to meet up to check the sizing. I was worried it'd be too big so went in with trepidation.

And it fitted, and the price was right, and the purple was good, so a deal was done and now I have a Specialized Roubaix for my road bike itchings, mismatched tubs and all...

Pics incoming in due course...