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

I might, if they had any steerer tube :'(

I have to agree with this. I love my steel hardtail but its still rough af on most trails I ride. I read this typical marketing bs on the Starling website

But the biggest factor to a smooth bottom out capability in Starling frames is the compliance of the steel frames. There’s enough ‘give’ in the frame to acts as an extra bit of top-end suspension.

I had a blast on a mates Banshee phantom yesterday 115r 130f travel and that thing absolutely rips and was the most fun I've had in the woods in a long time. Far more capable going down than i am. I loved it to the point I'm already keeping and eye out for a nice second hand full build. Fits this breif despite being on the short travel side of trail you can really rag it. A fair bit heavier than what I'm used to but it felt like a really tough bike. Not mega expensive and appear available. Worth a look. I'd have a Yeti sb115 or an Epic evo if i had the funds.

if carbon MTB frames are so reliable and repairable, why do you never see an old one out on the trails?

You don't ride with me enough?

You'd probably see more if the bike industry didn't keep changing the way various bits of them are fixed on.

Also suspect things like pivot fixings go out of manufacture way before the frame reaches EOL.

you never see an old one out on the trails

You don't ride with me enough

He meant the bike...

yours is barely 6 years young!

lozzles

Go to France, Spain or Italy where they less fashion conscious and away from the bike parks you can't move for slightly older guys in lycra on 10-15 year old 26" carbon XC bikes

Euromamils are god level, put AndyP to shame

Andy has more style though

@Dammit and @anyone else
I have one day on a weekend soon free in Annecy area. I have access to a car so can go anywhere.
If across the border in Italy is better, that's fine too.

Want to rent a bike, and do a load of rides with a chairlift, as this will be a new experience.
My level is more "red trails at Peaslake" than "neck protector mandatory"
I enjoy getting my value for money so would want to do a lot of different runs in the day
Where should I go?

cannot believe you wrote your requirements without using the word downcountry

lol, this phrase has been rattling around in my head, but I don’t really understand what it means!

unrelated but do you work for Heidelberg the printers?

I do not.

If you don't have the luxury of being able to afford multiple bikes, get the most flexible one.

This is where I’m at, I think. @platypus I have a number of your posts screenshotted on my phone and a steel hardtail is a v sensible choice (especially tempting as ss-able). I am pretty sure the Germans will laugh at me though, which I am not ready for.

Thanks for all the replies, sincerely. Having done some more reading, the canyon neuron seems to have been largely superceded by the spectral. I am heavily leaning towards steel though for the feel and just because a canyon doesn’t feel particularly exciting.

@ platypus In my experience hire bikes are scarce this year - it might be the case that that will define where you go. If you want to get as many runs in as possible then I'd go to Chatel, or Les-Gets/Morzine.

Chatel, in my recent but not super current experience is brutal in terms of braking bumps - but if you're hiring a full DH bike you may not care.

I only know the PDS region though, so probably not the best person to ask.

This is where I’m at, I think. @platypus I have a number of your posts screenshotted on my phone and a steel hardtail is a v sensible choice (especially tempting as ss-able). I am pretty sure the Germans will laugh at me though, which I am not ready for.

Not that I'm in any position to comment with my really quite heavy aluminium enduro bike, but my girlfriend has a Vitus enduro bike and a Moxie Pipedream, the latter being a steel hardtail and the former a 160/170mm full suspension bike.

Her enduro bike is significantly lighter than her hardtail, despite being obviously more complex.

Chatel, in my recent but not super current experience is brutal in terms of braking bumps

Same with Les Deux Alpes a couple of weeks ago. No rain has made the trails very difficult to maintain this year and dusty conditions mean more skids so more braking bumps. I suspect most of the bike parks across the Alps will be similar. The more natural the trail, the better the braking bumps situation.

In my experience hire bikes are scarce this year

Whereas L2A had loads of Enduro and DH hire bikes, most seemed to be fairly decent Commencals. Nothing steel though, so if one is worried about crashing....

No need to worry about crashing a Commencal, it'd crack long before then...

I am in the alps next week and obvs rain is coming

Yes, end of the week I think, be interesting to see what that does to the trails - they were bone dry when I was out there four weeks ago and I don't think they've had rain since.

I'm going to head over to Morgins which I think will hopefully be less blown out than the main runs.

If you're in Annecy go to La Clusaz.
Bike shops aplenty by la caisse.
Some nice trails, blues and reds. All the bigger jumps and table tops are avoidable.
Iirc not mega busy either, not yr usual (Brit) tourist destination

You could have a look at Specialized Epic.
With the Brain rear shock it feels like a hardtail, albeit one with a soft back tyre.
I used to have an early one and I really liked it, only really struggled on big jumps but I wimped out long before the bike did
Not to everyone's taste though

Where should I go?

Straight to YouTube for this instructional video

https://youtu.be/voNqjCAy6Sg

Steel is heavy and for hipsters.

hippysters, thank you.

Lies.

They're all riding e-mtbs now. Carbon though, so your point kinda still stands.

But steel is still betterer.