To all you 29er's out there!

I've gone off Marin over the years tbh. Also, I can get trade price on a Merida. ;]
I'm just as mean to all of my bikes...bikes are made to be ridden in my opinion no matter how expensive they are. :]

I'm just as mean to all of my bikes...bikes are made to be ridden in my opinion no matter how expensive they are. :]

Me too.

It just upsets me more when I get them back to the workshed, dinged.

Well it may not be the carbon model, but I finally have some dirt wheels again for the first time in almost 4 years! :]
The good thing is that I can now use this bike as a platform for getting my position dialed ready for when my place comes up in the English build queue,,,,and find my dirt feet again. :]

Scott, you should come out MTBing with Dancing James et al. At the moment my "90s MTBing biking was better" rants are a bit one sided, it would be good to be able to make James suffer in stereo.

What width tyres are you all riding in Swinley? My front one seems very narrow and didn't fill me with confidence last time I rode.

Once I'm sorted in the new flat and have built the new workshop I'm gonna try and make it to some rides with you guys...I need to find my feet again in the dirt, it's been too long! :]

I was also going to suggest a trip up to Scotland to ride a couple of the seven stanes routes if anyone was up for it?

lets go and invade Scott in the midlandlands or wherever he has relocated to (it's not in London)

Ed. i think i have a 2.5 on the front

Thanks James, I'll order some tyres now and will be riding from the 2nd week of January onwards (not in London til the 6th).

Next term I'm going to sort my work out so I actually have some free time.

lets go and invade Scott in the midlandlands or wherever he has relocated to (it's not in London)

Yeah, cos the midlands is a MTB mecca! :]

Shameless photobombing coming up. I've finally got my 29er dialed in, complete with new Velocity P35s on Hope hubs, other blue hope bits, Thompson stem and seat post, Formula Oro K18 brakes, On-one Scandal frame and On-One carbon fork. Weighs the technical amount of bugger all, and rides amazingly. I'm now sold on the fat rims idea, the P35s are so much better then the WTB Speed Discs I had on there before, even running the same WTB ExiWolf 2.3s.

Just to give you an idea of how wide the P35s are.

Still plenty of room to go bigger, trying to get some Racing Ralph 2.4 at the moment.

Having a MTB again has also given me the chance to use something which has been sat in my parts box for months and is definitely one of my favourite little bike parts ever...my Siren bicycles 'FRED BARS'. :]

What width tyres are you all riding in Swinley? My front one seems very narrow and didn't fill me with confidence last time I rode.

Racing Ralph 2.4s here which I really like but they struggle in mud.

I've had this bike all of two days and I've already changed the saddle, grips, added bar ends, fred bars, TT bars, and just bought some new forks. :]

Pics!

I'll post a couple when i have the rigid forks and have them fitted. They'll knock about 3 lbs off the weight in one go. :]
It's nothing fancy though...just a stop gap.

lets go and invade Scott in the midlandlands or wherever he has relocated to (it's not in London)

Ed. i think i have a 2.5 on the front

I very much doubt this is true. I'm running a Rubber Queen 2.4 up front, and I think that's the widest/highest volume tyre among our "crew". I would definitely recommend the Rubber Queens, they seem great (although I don't have a huge amount to compare them to).

If you want something large up front , I hear that the WTB Weirwolf 2.55 is good (huge).

I'll aim for something around 2.3/2.4 then, I'm a bit low on funds so I'll see what's in the sales.

Those p35s look amazing. Jelly.

I run WW 2.55s on blunts and they're ace for the non clogging soft stuff. Might stuggle with UK mud though. Personnally I feel low tread designs shed can mud quicker. But they're no substitute for a an out'n'out mud tyre.

I used to run Panaracer Smoke and Dart tyres, both 1.9.

Strange how these things go up and down in size.

From what I remember they cut through the mud very well, although things could get floaty in extreme conditions

I'm quite enjoying the challenge of making a cheap, entry level bike more suitable for my needs.
Last night I moved onto the drivetrain of the Merida.
It had a mix of bottom end Shimano groups but with an XT rear mech, 27 spd.

I stripped it down to my preferred 6spd set up.
It now has a shorter cage sram 9.O sl rear mech, an x7 shifter, no front mech/shifter, and a single 32t chainring with a bash guard made from a 38t ring with the teeth filed flat. :]
This system has worked well for me in the past. I tend to ride it pretty much like a singlespeed, on one or the other of the middle 2 gears, with bigger than normal jumps to a couple of high gears for the road, and a couple of really low gears for any extreme changes in incline.
I set it up so the mech is pulled right out on the biggest cog, as I'm rarely on it, which means on the middle gears the chain is still under enough tension to not be flapping around.

After being on silent singlespeeds for so long I found this was the only setup my ears could cope with. :]
It's kind of a 'best of both worlds' setup for me...light, fairly quiet, with a bit less to go wrong, but with a bit less mashing on the bigger climbs, and a bit less spinny frustration on the roads.
Once I can afford it I'll switch to a 34t chainring.

I'll post some pics once my forks arrive and I get them fitted.
It makes quite a change from working with top of the range parts. :]

Here is a shitty night time shot of the Merida with it's new rigid forks, new saddle, new drivetrain, and new handlebar setup...just needs the 34t middleburn hardcoat ring now which should be here tomorrow.
I'll take a couple of better shots once I have some daylight.
It's turned out pretty decent for an entry level bike...mainly because it's now about 6lbs lighter. :]

that look real awesome, it's very GDR...

My favourite part is the Fred bars, which let you mount the TT bars further back and higher up than normal. :]

Looks good. Have you lowered the font end? Needs drivetrain pics!