Matthew62

First of all….good choice on the Zesty. Second things second you should definitely bring spare tyres if you're going to Morzine and don't skimp on casing thickness. I presume you'll be doing mainly uplifts so weight shouldn't be an issue? I've ridden a lot of tyres over the last 2 years and nothing has impressed me as much as the Michelin Wild Rock'r2 Advanced (catchy name I know). Double bonus that they're French and they are the tyres Lapierre now spec on their Spicy's. There's still 26" versions available here: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/michelin-wild-rock-r2-advanced-reinforced-tyre/rp-prod116032?gs=1&gclid=COTsv-WpzsYCFeJl2wod1fAK0A&gclsrc=aw.ds They are intended as a dry weather tyre so will be perfect in Morzine (they were developed and tested in France) but I've been using them for the last year as they're incredible. On the rear it's such a grippy tyres when leaning over but rolls well due to the low central section. On rocks the grip is just stupid, I've never ridden another tyre like it - you can really feel it bite in helping you to slow down in loose conditions with such predictability. They can ping ever so slightly on really slick roots compared to a tyre with a more traditional pattern (such as a WTB Vigilante - which I currently use on the front) but for a thick carcass tyre they're also pretty light. The 27.5" ones come in at just over a kg. Magi-X compound is recommended for the front and the rebound is so slow, and Gum-X for the back. I've always ran mine tubeless at low pressures and on everything from trail centres, to natural and Innerleithen DH trails I've not managed to burp or rip them or find any negative whatsoever to be honest…. they also look sweet on the bike!

That looks absolutely awesome, and the photographs are brilliant. The muted colour palette is perfect and the trip sounds like a great experience.

Couldn't grab the panorama right now but this is a pic as of now from my desk.

Ah sweet, i'd do that! It's grand for getting your bike around the expo village. I did the same last year and will be doing the same again this year (possibly riding one day, spectating the next). I'll probs ride the trails as well (not the course obviously) and then pick and chose some spectating spots so will have my bike with me. If you're there on the Sunday in the village you could probably just head to the Nukeproof/WTB stand as we'll have our van there. Should be room for your bike in it if you did want to ditch it for a bit.

Sunday will be the day to be there, that's when they're racing the Glentress forest and you'll have the podium at 6pm. The expo village is in Peebles and parking will be a bit mad but I got parked on the road out towards the trails fairly easily. They'll be somewhere you can sling the car. Or bring your bike, park out a bit and pedal in!

Where is that pal? Are you heading over to Peebles next weekend to check out some of the racing?

I would, sounds like he was being a knob. You can tell when someone is a time-waster and I'm sure you came across genuine. It's not like you told him to post the item minus the £50, just take it as a deposit so it's strange to refund it when you clearly explained the situation. I'd message him fairly calmly but explain he'd messed you about a lot and you'd tried to do everything to acquire the bike fairly. Then end "fanny-yee!"

What about just a small top guide? The Blackspire Ein Fach ones are good and come in either direct mount/ISCG (05) or clamp mount: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/s?q=einfachx Glad you're enjoying the bike. P.S. You know you have to tell the story of sourcing the frame now...

That's not a narrow-wide ring is it? Surely not?

I have the same 335 Dot and it's one of my only non-Fender electric guitars. They do sound bloody great for the money but there's no denying they do have a cheap feeling. That being said I don't think the Gibson equivalent feels that much better. The sheer amount of lacquer on the back of the neck annoys me every time I play it, and the toggle switches etc have a naff feeling. But….when usiusally playing wobbly-bridges Fender's the feeling of getting a humbuckered hair tail guitar is such a simple pleasure and it does have a great tone when cranked up. I ditched the strings off mine straight away and put something heavy (13's or 14's I think) on to purposefully make bends and noodley moves much more difficult to keep it having a nice straight, deep authentic tone. I always find the headstock takes a dive any time the necks not supported though…how about you?

I still think that inside line of the 3 sort of 'drop-option' lines is a dick. I struggled to see how you' ride that with pace and it always caused me to think twice (and almost cry). The way it drops in to the sharp left I think is a really bad bit of building in comparison to the middle line.

You couldn't put confidence in something an entire market is adopting? It is very annoying yes, and I suppose we're at a time when manufacturers are making incremental increases in performance rather than monumental leaps. I'm not sure if this is in some part down to how good things are at the moment. There's lots of very good product out there at the moment at a variety of price points. Shimano's very soon to be released XT 11 speed drivetrain is testament to this, but I wouldn't put things like this down to just messing about. It'll purely be to stimulate the market. Manufacturers need to sell products to keep in business…someone like Sram, they were the first to 11 speed and everyone loves it. Their suspension is now 1st rate and even their recent generation brakes are actually quite good. No company is ever going to just stop progressing but it's frustrating when it means parts are no longer compatible with one another. One thing I have seen though during the last couple of years where I've ramped up the amount of time MTBing is how whiney MTBers are (trials riders are no different) and whenever anything comes along that's different there's no end to the moaning. As I mentioned earlier, the furore of 27.5" is only just about quietening down, yet I still hear day on day "26 AIN'T DEAD"….and similar such anti-hype mutterings. Largely, it doesn't matter though…if you like your bike and you have fun riding it then stick at it. Who cares what measurement your axle is….if you're happy keep on keepin' on. Just don't moan incessantly that these companies who have brought us such good products could have arrived at this without development and continual tweaking. It's just part and parcel of it.

Not really as most frame manufacturers and wheel manufacturers have adopted Boost as being "TheThing" so everyone will be doing it. A load of BB manufacturers have already got their BB's ready so Sram certainly won't have the monopoly.

I know, this one is particularly depressing and it IS being adopted as the new standard so most frame manufacturers will be following suit. The particularly annoying thing about Boost is that if effects chain line so new cranksets and bottom brackets are required. I dare say frame BB shells will be widened as well. As bad as that is there will now have to be Boost compatible forks to accommodator the wider front axle so new forks also... I imagine many spacers will be made to make up the extra few mm, but then that's no different to 135mm wheels with adapters to take them up to 142mm so again, I don't entirely see why it's needed. It'll make custom builds difficult or someone like me who's just built up a custom bike and may well upgrade the frame next year…. well they'll be no such thing as a straight swap as other than a seat post not much else will be compatible.

That's a bloody good price though! It is just a cassette tool btw (in case you already had one). I must admit although nearly all of my bikes have centre-lock hubs now I still don't particularly like them. I get the reason for them, but on the off-chance they do come loose on a ride, there's not many people carrying an adjustable spanner and a cassette tool around with them. Wood's right though, MTBing is becoming increasingly frustrating with changing standards. 27.5" was just about to settle down and for a brief few months everything seemed calm again, now 'Boost' has come along (the most confusing MTB change to date I reckon) and that'll mean big and very annoying changes for the next model year.

There's not. There's Shimano centre-lock and that's it. Shove up a pic if you're not 100% sure…but you can either get a centre-lock disc or get a centre-lock to 6 bolt adapter. DT Swiss make them. Probably cheaper just to get the correct mounting discs. They're about £15 on CRC for standard Shimango ones.

Commission ain't it! 94k's worth after basic, seems pretty standard practice for most car salesmen….pull your finger(s) out lads.

Fair play pal, looks like some epic schlep. I need to do the WHW, some of my colleagues were considering the double. I bet the climbs were fun with that CCDB on! Also thick-thin would have saved you those drivetrain issues

It's finished. (albeit I got sent the wrong dropper).

Is it the Quaker preacher story in 7 Psychopaths?

It just seems that you don't understand the very established and widely acknowledged policy. I will agree with you that it is a bit of a stupid one but most people understand Challenge 25, so your point about being 32 without photo ID is a moot point. Chances are they won't mistake you for someone under 25 then. They thoughts you looked under 25, you don't have ID, the transaction ends there. It is the employee that will get in to trouble so some guy on minimum wage isn't going to risk potentially his job for your light beer. I think everyone here has probably fallen victim to it, but it sounds as though you acted like a complete ponce about it. It's annoying, but it's the way it is, when you failed to produce ID you could have just chosen to leave then and go to Sainsburys rather than try and pull rank (and fail) on a supermarket employee.

It's not about the number of gears, it's the range…. and unfortunately you don't get such a range on 9 speed setups when running a single ring. A simple double or triple setup has a bigger gear range than any 1x11 setup so it's not about the number of gears at all. I've used 10 speed for a few years with a single ring and the mountains I get to ride here certainly can test you (3.5k ft of climbing on Monday) but if you're riding for 5-6 hours + it's amazing what saving the legs on the odd climb can do to keep you ticking over for the rest of the day.

YOU'VE ONLY GOT 9 GEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Ross, it does not have boost. Nothing does yet thank you very much! It does have 11 gears though, and they're not Sram……. #kenthefuturepal?

Can't go wrong with a 414, I think the Zesty's rode better than Spicy's with the 2013 models. My friend had that exact model and was a flyer on it. There should be pics of a 2015 Lapierre in the next week or so once my build is complete.