NMTBD. The orange is bacccccccck. Sorta :)

[weeksy]

Well it's not a KTM, hence it being in the Cycling section.

As you know i've been mulling over the 'what bike' lately and i ideally don't want more bikes for myself so i need the 'swiss army knife' of bikes.

FuelEX8XT by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It's a Fuel Gen6 and yes apart from the colour, it's the same as the boys Gen6. Which is of course how i know i'll get on with it in terms of bike and sizing lol. I spent the day on his testing it and really loving it.

The plusses over the Gen5 of Crusts/mine
Slacker head angle.
Better forks and shock
better geometry
Non-knock-block
Threaded BB
Full internal frame routing
in-frame tool storage

minuses
brakes (will be swapped with the ones on Crust/mine anyway)
Weight, it's a chunk heavier
That's about it.

All round it makes a lot of sense and is arguably the more ideal bike for a decent majority of my riding without going to something too insane that i won't be able to enjoy riding locally. I've got a spare wheelset which will lighten/quicken it up locally anyway.
When i bought the boy his at Xmas that dealer couldn't do the price on C2W but this one could now at the right price and the C2W takes it down to £1300 purchase price new (RRP £4200 lol). I can flog the Gen5 fuel for £1000 which makes it not far off a £0 purchase. That's for a brand new and in warranty bike. So a win all round i reckon.

"yeah but what about Dyfi"...
Well i had his one at Dyfi before he'd even ridden it.
IMG_20250118_110432 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It was great and happy, although i'm not convinced the tyres worked the best there. But i've seen him on the bike and the tyres and trust me they work fine and dandy.

Just got to wait for them to put it in a box and get it here now. I'm excited.

[Mr Moofo]

What happened to the need for a downhill bike?

[weeksy]

What happened to the need for a downhill bike?

I'd argue I'm riding the best I've ever ridden in terms of skill and speed, but the reality is, I'm not good enough to need or use one
A bit slacker, a bit bouncier, that'll do nicely

[weeksy]

The world may be turning a bit Scouser in a shellsuit

DMR Bikes asked if we'd add one of their invisiframe kits onto my Fuel (or indeed his Fuel, maybe even both).



I do like trying to keep the guys who help us out happy, so one of these will be going on.

It's arguably a been teenager for me but hey, i'm not complaining

[MingtheMerciless]

My mate had a DMR, he’s a very good rider but every now and again the bike would become displeased with him and fook him off into the scenery with extreme prejudice! No warning, just your leaving via the balcony. He sold it after a year.

[weeksy]

My mate had a DMR, he’s a very good rider but every now and again the bike would become displeased with him and fook him off into the scenery with extreme prejudice! No warning, just your leaving via the balcony. He sold it after a year.

The boy has a DMR Sect dirt jump bike which he flies on. But obviously it's a very very specific tool for a job. They don't make a lot in terms of bikes nowdays, but the Sect is nicely enough put-together IMO.

DMR though as a group have been amazing for him/team and literally send anything and everything we ever ask for, no questions, no debates. They've been an amazing bunch for sure.
I don't know how keen he/we will be on the actual aesthetics of the wrap, its a bit lairy for me but i'll do it for DMR just because of how they've treated us.

[weeksy]

BIke due to arrive today

Decision time on what brakes i sell/swap/keep. The Code RSC will go on the new Gen6 for sure. But i've then either got a set of Codes or a set of SRAM DB8 for the older Fuel that's being sold. The other set then stay as emergency spares. We've already got a set of Code RSC for his DH spares, so these ones are just spare spares lol. The Gen5 Fuel (Crusts old bike) is currently running the standard Codes, i'm not actually sure i can be arsed swapping them lol. It's a faff routing them on the Gen5 as the frame isn't sleeved and lets just say it's not the nicest job and can take an hour easily lol.

After that it's just a case of getting some frame protection on the new bike, a bottle cage and a mudguard. I'm hoping the Ridewrap kit arrives today and i can fit it later for settling overnight and be ready to roll for tomorrow.
A quick bit of Tubeless Fluid will need throwing in of course, i don't do tubes.

[Mr Moofo]

Just for the record
A) what bikes do you currently have?
B) Which one(s) are being sold?

[weeksy]

For me personally.

Trek Fuel ex8 Gen5 (Crusts old bike), which will be sold
Trek Fuel ex8 Gen6, (new one arriving today) which is staying.
Orbea Rise, currently getting new motor.... it may/will/possibly be sold because of replacement motor

[Mr Moofo]

What happened to the old motor in the Rise?

What happened to the Status (or was that last month)
And the Boy Wonder's bikes?

[weeksy]

The Rise developed 'rattle' over every single bump, the motor spindle has lateral left/right play in it which me and LBS think is a bearing issue.

The Status was sold 4 months ago when i bought Crusts Fuel off him.

The boy has
Session 9
Trek Fuel ex8 Gen6
DMR Sect DJ bike

He doesn't in truth ride the Gen6 often in winter as 99% of the time he's on his DH bike, but over spring/summer when he can get out in the evenings that'll change a fair bit and he'll put in a lot more time.
Arguably i could have kept the Gen5 myself and used his Gen6 at times, but i'd prefer to let him have his bike as his and there are times like this weekend etc where i'd like to be on something a bit 'more' and he'll also be on his Gen6, so we can't both be

The difference between the Gen5 and Gen6 isn't THAT massive... but it is deffo better at certain aspects that are somewhat important to me.

[weeksy]

IMG_20250314_124247 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[Numnut]

Very nice!

[weeksy]

it now has the correct brakes fitted.

Someone at either the factory or the shop fitted the seatpost really crappily, the bracket is keyed so the spacer for the bolt can only go in one way, unless of course you force it in and fuck it all up lol. So i've repaired that as well.
Then i had to trim the dropper inner at the lever end which was sticking out about 4" and longer than the actual lever itself... it's just laziness really isn't it.
Lastly was reconfiguring the canks/BB, they run e-thirteen and it's like almost a DUB with the adjuster, well, if you actually sort the adjuster.

I'm not sure i even want to know if the tyres have tubeless fluid in them yet

[Mr Moofo]

Time to sell it !

[weeksy]

The wheels came with tubeless valves installed, which is great, but zero fluid in there, not a bit. Never been in, both tyres clean inside
I don't mind tubeless, or tubes at a push, but tubeless without fluid is daft.

In some ways I'd prefer it as now I get to use Stans instead of some gloopier thing shops like which is probably cheaper lol. But if if fine out in an hour as planned, I was potentially walking home.

[weeksy]

IMG_20250315_115443 by steveweeks59, on Flickr

You got to love Treks. They're just a really easy bike to get on with. Within seconds of getting on, they're just a nice simple thing to ride.

[weeksy]

IMG_20250316_141304 by steveweeks59, on Flickr

Fab day out at Cwmcarn, the Trek is excellent. I did notice the boy has his bars tilted forward compared to mine. I'm going to try both and see which I prefer.
Bike did everything really well, although the rider was mediocre as always and I struggled to stay with a mate. I know he's quicker than me but I lost more than I expected on a few sections. I did ok on some though.

A chunk of climbing on already tired legs was pretty hard going. Its a hilly place. But I do need to get fitter lol.

[weeksy]

Another tough day on the pedals on Saturday. This time it was at FoD where as you may be aware (for me anyway) the Ebikes really work exceptionally well. But i don't have the Ebike i have this one lol.
Downhill, i couldn't be happier (apart from a noisy rotor) and the bike performs brilliantly. I rode some of the usual things, some things i don't ride too often, but the bike was superb.

The elephant in the room of course is uphill where i think Crust may be wanting to kill me now. LOL. The difference between the Eebs and the manuals is just astounding.. But i can only pedal at a certain power and speed.
Now is the time to get back to working on my waistline again and getting fitter, so i'm working on that... but lets be honest here, i'm not going to drop 3st and 20 years
So Crust has to put up with it

[crust]

You were going well, however - my times up 'Pedal to Push'

9.38
2.38

I think we can see which one was the last one, on my own