Tom Booth

Sound advice and very much appreciated Matt. Cheers. Choice is definitely between the Alpine 160 and Zesty 427 after a second look today. I can see the pros and cons to each so I'm really struggling on this one.

Been thinking a lot about the 26/650b argument and lifespan. Checked crc outor a comparison on tyres. I know 26 has been here since the dawn of time but there's 250+ tyres against 37ish 27.5s. I'll probably be massively wrong but I don't think 26 is going anywhere for a while. I know what you mean thouatt, every advert in MBR is for the latest 27.5" bikes. They're pushing them hard.

Surely Snapierre would be more apt? My heads a mess. Lolol. Heart says orange, head says orange/Lapierre.. But Matt makes a good point, what's the future of 26"!?

Mostly harsh trail and brief stints of downhill. It'll have the odd xc run but I've got the 456 for those runs. I keep looking at Santacruz but for a similar spec bike, they are a fairway outta my league.

I mean this in the coolest possible way Ben, I've no idea how you could ever post in the angry thread about depression or being down when you can ride a bike like that. Awesome stuff man, that fakie to over the rail was just pure powerhouse.

That's kinda more what I was getting at with the Lapierre, focused. The orange felt fantastic, solid ride and great point and go kinda feel but the zesty felt abit more 'whippet' like, like it would do nearly everything the orange would, just faster but quicker to spank you if you dropped off. That's good about the sizing, I'm 6'3 so a 19" alpine should be more then adequate. The comment about 'not their purpose' was aimed more at the xc side of things. I guess they'll be abit too heavy and slack for the xc work but still capable. Can't have it all roads thou I guess. That nukeproof looks a grand piece of kit, but I dunno if it's just that stretch too far for my budget. Another bike that keeps catching my interest is the cube fritzz 180 race, very similar spec (maybe better infact)to the zesty and alpine and similar pricing. Might try and get a tester in the next few days and see how I feel over the weekend..

Cheers for the input lads, much appreciated. As it stands I've test ridden a spicy 327, a zesty 427 and the orange alpine 160. The zesty and spicy where 2 very similar beasts in my opinion, the orange a very different animal indeed. The lapierre felt very nimble, quick and fun to ride. I felt they weren't the most forgiving of bikes thou, more for the dedicated rider rather then the Sunday chucker.. The orange on the other hand felt very relaxed, very confidence inspiring, seemed to take it all in its stride and be quite forgiving. I liked that quite a lot. It felt very sluggish thou in the bike park I tried it in, very similar to my 456SS. I kinda liked the feeling but at the same time I dunno if it'd get tiring letting the bike work while you just hang on. At the minute the orange is my bike of choice given what I've tried, but another lapierre test might skew that thought. Matt, what size 5 did you have and how tall are you? Alpine 160s geo is kinda similar to my 456 in top tube length and standover so should be a comfy ride with a 40-60mm stem setup. Budget is around £2500, I'll stretch for the right bike thou. Bikes gonna be used for mostly chucking around red route runs, cannock chase, the odd run DH and a fair bit of xc. I know the last bit is abit of a leap away from their purpose, but it'd be nice to still go the odd 25-30 mile bacon cob run with the local club.

Cheer Ross, much appreciated.

No worries chap, are you looking for a more trials orientated bike?

Yes, perfect indeed.... It's been a great bike, I'm 6ft4 and about 16st so it's defiantly upto the job.

Test rode a medium sized Orange Alpine AM 160 today, rode soooo soo nice. Definite game changer, if it was a large I think I'd own it now.

Some massive bellend on a roadie just f**ked me off, massively. I followed him through a housing estate to shortcut through to my house, at every junction he didn't signal, nor make space for any other road user. I know on a bike your within your right to make your own space, but riding 3ft away from the pavement in the dark without signalling at all is asking for trouble. Plus constantly undercutting rolling traffic REEEEEALLY f**ks me off. After playing cat and mouse for about 2miles I finally turn onto my street and drive to outside my house, I swing my car into the road to get an easier angle to reverse onto my drive. This guy on the roadie has followed me down my street and while I'm reversing decides to ride behind my car with its reverse lights on. I beep my horn and give a 'dafuq?!' kinda signal, to which he gets off his bike and starts shouting and waving his arms around. I finished my manoeuvre and got out the car, he started ranting about car users have no patience with bikes and everyone's a fanny etc. so I enlightened him as to why I beeped and he decides to shout even more. I told him I'd followed him for a while, seen no indication of where he's going at all and how stupid it was riding behind a reversing car. His reply - 'you should always anticipate a cyclists actions'. What the f**k does that mean?! In the end I got to wound up with him and told him I was a keen cyclist and that hasn't turned me into a massive twat. I don't get it, every downhiller, enduro rider, xc'er, even most recreational commuters ride on the roads sensibly and use common sence. But ever road rider I've ever met, seen on the roads rides like an absolute twat with no idea of how to ride on the road! Lycra does not make you invincible. [/rantover]

Got up at a half deecent time this morning, got out out on the bike and cracked off 25miles of good woodland trails I've never been on before. Just had a mental hot bath now it's time for tea. Day well spent.

Haha, stupid auto-correct.

Surprised nobody quoted so it's here 4eva. My ex died her hair bright in your face red once, it was unbelievably hot for about 3 weeks, then it started going abit bleached out and stuff and she just looked a mess. Get up on tha' thaaang while it still looks good boyo.

Cheers for the advice chaps, I'd hadn't seen Dez and Brett's posts about yt/canyons till now. I test rode the Lapierre yesterday and fell in love with it. So plush and just felt solid and the so fitted me beautifully. From what I've read they pulled the spicy a few years ago and this is its return? Cheers for the help so far thou guys, keep it comin'!

I was looking at fat bikes the other day and I'm sure one had a tryall rim on as standard..

Cheers for that, I'll check em out.. Lapierre spicy 327 looks a good tool too..

I enjoy my 456 looooads and love hooning around Cannock chase but I'm longing for a full sus long travel (130-160mm) beasty to hammer. I've got a fairly decent budget and want some good kit for my moneysss. From what I've seen, cube seem great bang for buck over £1500, most seem fitted with xt/slx group sets and fox shocks front and rear. After a few evenings looking around is there anything anyone can see a miss with the cube sting 140pro? For the money it seems very well equipped http://www.tweekscycles.com/bikes/full-suspension-mountain-bikes/cube-sting-140-pro-29-full-suspension-mountain-bike-2014 ) I've known a few people with hard tail cube bikes but no full sussers, most have joy with them but it's always good to get a few more opinions.

http://www.earthporm.com/man-tries-hug-wild-lion-wont-believe-happens-next/

Do I get any royalties or anything for that R-Bird ??

BOOOOOOOM. Headshot.

Some of the riders I go with on a Sunday morning have been slack for about 2 months but tomorrow's looking like a good hack to Sherwood pines. Stoooooked.

Started building the lego vw splitty at about 8pm and I can't put it down!!

My relief got out of bed about an hour ago and she's like a bull in a china shop. No lie in here...