Maybe its early, maybe I am stupid, but whats this a picture of?

Pleased to see a review - I am on the lookout for an 853 frame.

Oh - and dare I ask - if it were your money - Pipedream or Genesis?

Its the crud catcher, mounted on the downtube bolts, viewed from slightly below and to one side.

BTW, get to On-One.co.uk as they are doing a run of 853 Geared Inbred frames for a shockingly low £250. They were last time I looked anyway. If I didn't already have 'Soul' I'd buy one. In fact, I'm tempted to buy one anyway byt the wife would give me a good dry slap.

Looks nice.

BTW, get to On-One.co.uk as they are doing a run of 853 Geared Inbred frames

Twice now I have nearly bought one, but they only have Pink ones left and I am torn on the subject of pink bikes.

I *really* like the look of the Soul, but its just a bit too expensive.

Might mail Brant and see if he's planning any more 853's.

Rspray Mr commie?
Prehaps you could beat them down on price after all only DK would go pink!.

Kona Explosif is a very nice frame XC, sliding dropouts too for when you fancy a Rohloff or SS ;-)

I aint respraying a brand new frame.

My current short list is:

o Charge Duster (Tange Prestige, not 853)
o Explosif
o Sanderson Life
o Soul and lie about its cost.

[edit]

o Dialled PA 853

o Somthing else, still looking around.

Have you seen the Sanderson in the flesh XC, it's a work of art. I emailed them and they were very helpful too.

Nope, haven't seen one in flesh.

It does look tidily made on the website though.

Get in! Mailed Brant.

Brant had a single, red 853 inbred in 18 inch left.

Its mine! All mine!

Ooh!! Spendy Spenderton!!!

What forks you getting ?

;-)

Forks.... hmm.

Either re-use my slightly shagged '03 MX Pros or if I am feeling slightly less pikey I will get some Tora's.

I need to kinda sorta do it on the cheap (i.e. less than a grand).

Will stick to RaceFace post, stem, bars. If I can afford it - evolve cranks, ordered a SGD Bel Air from Brant too.

Wheels will be the subject of a new thread very soon......

Brakes - hmm would like to stick to XT so I only need one sort of pad.

Transmission - SRAM, possibly X7 to save a few quid.

*unfeasibly excited*

The Mrs will kill me.

I have an Altitude 2 as a test bike from work this weekend. Looking forward to having a blast about on it. Haven't ridden a steel hardtail in a while.

Nice one X-C!

*must resist temptation to see if there are any 16" left*

Don't On-One also do SRAM stuff? I'm sure I got my X-7 shifters and rear mech from him?

In terms of the fork, I think the 853 Inbred has the same angles as my Slidy Dropout inbred, which feels OK with a 105mm Marzo plugged in. It can (allegedly) take a 5in fork, but then a 105mm Marzo is only about 15mm shorter than most longer forks anyway.

Easy there 4AM! I have to break the news of this purchase to my other half on the eve of our anniversary.

It may take me a while to slide all the other bits past her watchful gaze.

I will try to time their arrival to coincide with Boden / White Co. and Cashmere deliveries, that way they may go unnoticed.

Stealth and lies, stealth and lies.

Tell me about it. I buy most bits on my Egg card as I have a monthly DD to pay off £40 a month and the wife never sees the statements (password protected online).

I have everything delivered to the office and leave it in the car boot under a pile of rags until she goes out, then rush to the garage to fit whatever it is and dispose of the packaging.

If only she knew.

BTW, I think I need some counselling. I have a geared inbred converted to a road bike, a slidy drop-out inbred built up as a singlespeed, a Cotic Soul with a £1,500 build that is Sweeeeeeeeet, SO WHY THE HELL DO I FEEL COMPELLED TO BUY ANOTHER STEEL HARDTAIL FRAME JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE A BARGAIN AT £250!!!!!!!??????????

We all need counselling, I've decided to bin all credit cards...