matthill1971

@enduro29erHack: I'll give you one! First ever ews in Rotorua he didn't put his bike on the shuttle properly. It fell off, we picked it up, took it up on the next shuttle, having the driver call ahead to say we had it. Got it off the trailer and he snatched it from my wife's hand and stormed off without a word. Yeah, super friendly guy!!

Don't forget Air New Zealand is a lot cheaper if you book your extra bags online before flying, depending on the route, from memory, $150 becomes $95 (I.e. NZ - Canada) for international and $50 becomes $30 for domestic.

@smuggly It is an investment, your second paragraph says it is, it's a good investment in your mental health and well being.

Hellybelly. Are any of the guys you know riding their Banshee's in the 26" setup? I'd be interested to know. I have a Commencal meta am and am thinking about a change but with upgrades over time it's running Pikes and Enves and xx1 and like all things 2nd hand is worth nothing to sell. Banshee has just come to NZ and building one in 26" with my current spec and changing it up to 650b as time goes on is pretty appealing. I'd love a yt Capra and have a friend in an EU country to ship to but the availability is too long a wait. On Enve wheels, I have them and like them but broke 3 no name carbon rims before them so I'm kinda psychological scared re carbon rims, should have gone Stans flow again, if break an Enve I will, a set of Stans with hope hubs is cheaper than one Enve crash replacement wheel build without the mind f#*k.

NMK187 After many uncomfortable mtb saddles (I've had the same fizik road saddle on five road bikes now, very comfy) I've found my current SDG Duster to be really comfortable, you can do long rides day after day no problem and compared to some other brands it's not expensive.

A lot of people when they see my wide bars think they are too wide and can't understand it. I went from a 760 Nukeproof to a 780 Renthal, I never felt comfortable with the back sweep of the Renthal. Now I have 800 Enve DH (which measure a bit wider than 800). They feel really good. I rode my mates bike the other day, it has my old Nukeproof bars on it, and they felt really narrow. To me wide is good but getting the right rise and back sweep for you is also important.

'Their' own geometry, and here I was reading all the mistakes in the EWS posting and thinking Pinkbike needs a new proof reader!!!

The other side of this is the women that question why they need specific geometry and will be happy to have what is a very popular bike in the Bronson form. Why are a lot of people here, and bike manufacturers, saying women need there own geometry? There may be a need for an XS small size but what else? Should women not have slack head tubes and steep seat tubes? Does every guy in the world have a long torso and need a long top tube and is every girl short and needs a short top tube? Has my wife made a huge mistake and got something wrong with her because she loves her 'man's' Nukeproof Mega with 760 wide bars and 1 x 10 setup? I don't think so. I'm not saying I agree with Santa Cruz strategy here, I'm not really sure, but I do think that the specific geometry argument is as ridiculous as the complaints about the Juliana 'brand'. If someone goes to a shop in the hunt for an AM bike and can buy an orange Bronson, a black Bronson or a teal Juliana then good on Santa Cruz for having the option. This comes from someone with who has never owned a Santacruz bike so has no brand loyalty to them. In fact my bike of choice, Commencal, seems to think a girls model is necessary.

Nice looking golf course!

I read it the way it is, a guy from 'the group' doing it over and over, I agree with RC leaving him on the trail, some people don't learn. This world of ours has been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator where the least prepared or laziest (insert your word here), in any situation in life is where others are forced to lower themselves to, leaving him is a good lesson. Everyone should have a couple of tubes, repair kit, tyre (tire if not in NZ!) boot etc. I've given plenty of tubes to randoms on the trail, but mates in our riding group who have been told time and again get to walk, then they come prepared. The comments about karma and broken legs etc, you people need to grow up, that's a different situation altogether.