Feature: show us your rides and get your 15 minutes

**James McKnight** · 30-11-12, 11:09

Hello devout BM followers!

We're still settling in at the new office in Monmouth and dreaming of getting out on the trails this weekend. There are singletrack rides, the Forest of Dean trails and countless other options for great riding, not to mention the ride down to the local watering hole!

But all these different styles of riding need different bikes, don't they?

We want to feature some of your 'do it all' mountain bikes as part of a regular feature on BM... Hardtail with knobbly tyres? Downhill bike with triple chainring? Or simply a tidy and practical 140mm trail bike that is your darling.

We want to hear all about your bikes here - post some info and a photo of your steed - and the most interesting will be featured on the front page for the Big Wide World to speculate over!

Thanks.

JM

**Jen J** · 30-11-12, 12:02

Hardtail with knobbly tyres? Downhill bike with triple chainring? Or simply a tidy and practical 140mm trail bike that is your darling.

*checks bikes*
Nope, don't have any of those...

**Stan** · 30-11-12, 15:00

Well I'll go first, here's my FS:

dirtyyeti

Bought immediatly on iphone literally whilst on a test ride - on an ASR-5. Its the result of much testing at 120mm after I made a prior mistake buying and assembling an Intense Tracer I couldn't get on with. I tested most 120mm's avaialble on the market and this was by far the best for me.

And here's my HT:

ego3

The frame was a 40th Birthday present from Mrs Stan. I wanted to build it light but simple without breaking the bank so A/C's. Sids and XT 2 x 10 are the build, weighing in at 22lb approx.

Both bikes have been raced and get used regularly, as does my road bike right now....

**James McKnight** · 30-11-12, 15:11

Originally Posted by Jen J

Hardtail with knobbly tyres? Downhill bike with triple chainring? Or simply a tidy and practical 140mm trail bike that is your darling.

*checks bikes*
Nope, don't have any of those...

Any other bikes?

**PaulHaysom** · 30-11-12, 16:26

My Trek Slash 8 has been solid. Changed up the Elixir 9 brakes as they were so unreliable - the new XO Trail brakes have been top notch so far though!

Also put some Hop/Stans wheels on and 795 bars with 50mm stem. Good for the trails, enduro racing and downhill!

In the mega:
_a.jpg

And when it was out of the box:
_ab.JPG

**Jen J** · 01-12-12, 12:27

Originally Posted by Jen J

Hardtail with knobbly tyres? Downhill bike with triple chainring? Or simply a tidy and practical 140mm trail bike that is your darling.

*checks bikes*
Nope, don't have any of those...

Originally Posted by James McKnight

Any other bikes?

Yes, three others

The beautiful Rosie - she does now have purple brake cables (and Dust caps!)
Phone pics 078.jpg
Sirry, the everyday workhorse - goes anywhere, including some rather rough tracks that maybe it shoudn't.
Phone pics 156.jpg
And my gorgeously shiny new Saffy, the plastic bike.
577502_3819477654633_1508407538_33292852_1649858714_n.jpg
Although if the weather gets any colder, I may see if I can borrow this for riding round Manc in the ice and snow.
IMG00339-20101205-1231.jpg

**Dalesman** · 01-12-12, 13:01

Good to see its a user friendly forum.

**hyltonenglish** · 01-12-12, 17:04

Heres my Do it All Bike

Pretty much does anything you throw at it!IMG-20121103-00044.jpg

**Jen J** · 01-12-12, 17:24

Originally Posted by Dalesman

Good to see its a user friendly forum.

Errrrm, may just have been user error

**James McKnight** · 03-12-12, 11:47

Going well so far!

Jen, Rosie looks like some bike! I want one.

ASR-5 I couldn't agree more, great bike.

Trek Slash I would like to try one, I hear they're pretty special too.

Cove hardtail, now there's a proper bike. A fellow guide rode a Stiffee for years when I was working for a firm in Spain. Never any issues with the frame (wheels and pretty much every component turned to dust on the other hand) and the trails were more than a little brutal. He also rode miles and miles of tarmac, went to the BMX track now and then and wobbled home from the pub daily on it.

Any more do-it-all bike out there?

We're going to post a review later in the week.

Thanks,

JM

**serge the seal of death** · 04-12-12, 21:56

SO do it all bikes, something i have always been into, from my early days of riding Aston Hill on my GT Avalanche with Pace rc36s XC forks to my current bikes. Now i love a bargin, or to be more precise i have never had much disposable money. So my bikes reflect this, my main hardtail and bike for years is my Planet X Armadillo, with massive tyre clearance it was on 50% at planet x when i bought it, the follow on from the Compo and the predecessor of the 456, with stupidly high BB it is a hoot on rocky terriain and can take massive tyres, it really is as strong old boots, and looks slightly similar, built up with old XTR andnew XT, it just keeps on going, DSC_0017.jpg

**Lord Greenville** · 04-12-12, 22:11

IMG_0293.jpg
The much missed S/S
IMG_0582.jpg
The H/T
IMG_0558.jpg
T'Spark

**serge the seal of death** · 04-12-12, 22:22

and my ebay steal after tracking the bike through the magazines, the importer, then the ebay shop it was passed to when the the importer dropped the line. me convincing the ebay shop that they should sell me the bike and not list it, my dream bike brand, and the second rotwild i have owned after an RFR01, my brilliant rotwild X1 which i got for £650rotty.jpg

**serge the seal of death** · 04-12-12, 22:23

all photos taken tonight in minus 2 after my night ride on the planet X by the way

**Nobby** · 05-12-12, 09:11

My ageing AS-R still does everything I need it to. Changed a bit since this shot but in view of the weather.....

**RODNEY HILL** · 06-12-12, 20:11

DSCF1062.jpg DSCF1067.jpg DSCF1068.jpg DSCF1069.jpg DSCF1085.jpghi
this is the bike i built this summer
i had the forks & crankset off a specialized enduro 08 in my cuboard then saw a commencal ramones frame on ebay an decided build my self a hardtail to try off road, only ridden full sus before lol
bought lots of the bits secondhand off ebay
this hardtail has 150mm of travel which drops to 110mm fore the climbs
think this is a one off
riden in dalby forrest love it

**Mister Bump** · 07-12-12, 12:01

This is my current ride although it doesn't get ridden that much at the moment. It is a Genesis Fortitude Race frame built up with 1x10 XT with SLX crank plus XT brake levers and XTR callipers. The wheels have been swapped for 29er XT tubeless. The low front end and fairly low weight make this pretty damn quick and great fun for throwing about despite the bigger wheels. I just need to find more time to ride it.