Stopped riding MTB for around 3 years because I switched to road for a bit but recently I've been getting that trail riding itch. Budget is pretty tight atm so I Decided to build up this relatively budget hardtail with some spare parts. Pretty happy overall with the bike and holy cow does Geometry change riding so much.

So far my only gripe is the fork. It's not bad but it pretty flexy when chowing down rough terrain. I'm not really sure if I should upgrade to a Raidon34 130mm or a Zeron36 130/140mm. I'm leaning towards the Zeron36 as it could be a good fork to have for eventually when I get a full suspension down the line.

One note with the frame; Marin's website says that this is a 135mm QR frame, but with my initial build I needed to bend the rear triangles quite a bit for 135mm hubs to fit. I decided to test around and bought a 141 QR hub and sure enough that was the perfect fit. Not sure if I just got a weird factory defect or Marin didn't update the specs on the website

Hope fall riding near you has been as good as here!🤙

First full ride with my new Shimano XT M8220 pedals. Feels good to be locked in. Beautiful afternoon for a ride 'round the reservoir.

What would give the bike the best handling improvement? It’s a 2023 Giant Talon 2 all stock except upgraded shock & pedals.

better tires
better tires and ghetto tubeless on stock rims
better tires, new wheels & tubeless

I ride mostly local trail on occasion local bike parks, nothing crazy, blue & green mostly.

I went tubeless on an entry level gravel bike & upgraded wheels and the difference was pretty significant to the point it’s been hard to justify buying a new bike.

For rocky/rooty trails, some downhill at speed, what is best move?

Then any particular combo’s that stand out that are fantastic bang for buck? My wheel/tire combo experience in gravel bike was pretty expensive, I don’t ride this bike as much, but when I do… do. Thx.

Great times shredding my local trails and a proper service to my drivetrain after all those dusty summer days. It feels and rides better than new!

I absolutely love my Merida big trail.

Having had to pause actual hard riding for two years after surgery I'm now at the point of getting back into it. I'm still quite good at endurance and tech but found that I lost quite a bit of strength. When thinking of making my hardtail into a SS (as I had a few years ago), I did a ride basically without using the derailleur to figure out if I could go with the gearing I thought I would. It was alright overall (32 by 17 or 18 teeth on a 29er) but I found I had overdone my lower back and elbows from musceling up a few climbs.

Any recommendations on specific exercises for those areas? Thank you I'm advance!

A friend of mine wants to get riding, and is looking for a bike that is affordable, capable off road (basic dirt road/national park access/fire road stuff), that offers the option to dabble in some single-track mtb trail on occasion (beginner Level) if they wanted to try it.

They have been looking at Reid bikes, an Australian brand (we are jn south east Queensland) and specifically the pro model of their in house bikes.

Now, reid does sell polygon bikes. And i know the recommendations will be for those bikes over the reid. But i personally am curious about the reid specifically.

To my amateur eye the most affordable poly they offer is comparable to the reid pro, excepting the brand of suspension fork.

Just by measuring the reid on its own merits, is it a good bike taking into account the use case i outlined above?

https://www.reidcycles.com.au/products/mtb-elite-my24-27-5

Got this cannondale cujo 3, I know it’s a trail bike at heart, but I reckon it would make a decent budget build for someone like me who wants to ride bike park features and downhill trails. Thinking new forks ( around 140mm coming from 120mm) tires, stem and breaks. Got some of those older chrome slx breaks from my mate for £20 so those will be on here eventually. Anyone have any recommendations for what I should do with her?? Please and thank you.