N.E.U.F. (New Eccentric Ultimate Frame) Medium 90mm 6061 Aluminium 2.7 kg/5.94 lbs with shock absorber
X-Fusion O2 Air Shock
RockShox Tora 318 Motion Control 100mm Forks 2007
Truvativ Blaze Power Spline Chainset 22 x 32x 44
Hayes HFX-9 Hydraulic Disk Brakes 160mm
Shimano LX Rear Mech 2007
Shimano Deore Front Mech
Rockrider Comp 600mm Low Rise Handlebars
Rockrider 6° 100mm Stem by JD
Rockrider 29.8mm Seatpost by JD
Fi’zik Nisene Sport Saddle
Wellgo 823 WPD pedals
Rockrider Comp 32-hole rims by Rigida
JT D041/D142 hubs
2mm stainless steel spokes
Hutchinson Bulldog Tyres 26" x 2.10"

First modification list carried out on January 3rd 2008 ( the MTB disease is still with me):

Bike cost now up to £862.

I'd already swapped the XC 100mm stem for a proper (i.e. minimum length for precision steering) 50mm Truvativ Holzfeller item and the handling, especially on jumps or more importantly landings, was instantly improved. Also, this stem was able to scythe through the seatpost on Terry H's Fusion Floyd and still have plenty of it's own meat left (rubbing together on the way to or from Guisborough recently).

Initial weight was 30.36 lbs from the shop, largely due to the incredibly light wheels and XC frame. Fitting the parts above in it's first upgrade (of many?) brought the weight down to a very healthy 27 lbs. It also gave me an extra inch of front travel which I'm using as sag, as I like loads of sag to match my face and it has the side effect of making an even plusher ride out of an already comfortable bike. The back end works very well, although it only has 90mm of travel, and must be due to the efficiency of the eccentric swingarm pivot whereby the front attachment pivots around a 75mm diameter cylindrical steel bearing a bit like a hamster's exercise wheel, like only the French could dream up. They must share Citroen's design team. Or they're just a bit eccentric.

First Report on the bike:

Nobody likes to admit they've bought a dirt pile. Happily, for Arthur S who's just bought one himself, I'm not going to either! In reality, these things are easily worth what they're being sold for. The MBUK test I referred to above was very strong on how they thought Decathlon were undervaluing their Rockrider 6.3. I can confirm that the same applies but even more so to this one - it's superb. But NOTHING is perfect. So here's a truth or two:

1. The bearings in my rear hub are getting a wee bit noisy. They're a nameless Taiwanese brand so no big deal, although the wheels themselves are so light I'd consider fitting decent lightweight hubs as I do my own wheel building. Or I may just thrash the last bit of life out of them first because it's the only one of my bikes I can't get the rims to run tubeless on!

2. The Hutchinson Bulldog tyres are summer only, and fantastic in dry conditions but total crap for wet roots, mud and icy snow. They forced Arthur to curtail his snowy Thursday ride on 3rd January '08 and I know exactly why as I still have one on the back of mine. I ditched the front one when summer ended and should have dumped both.

3. The front derailleur cable is badly routed from the front underside of the downtube (used to be a Crossbar in my day) to the gear lever, being led across to the wrong side of the headtube resulting in a very tight bend around the front of the bike up to the lever. The ultra-stiff standard Shimano outer cables don't help much, so I shifted it when I fitted the new forks and handlebars and it's much easier to change gear now.

4. The standard handlebars were a bit narrow and straight.

So there's the truth, and just like Shredded Wheat, nothing added or taken away. It really is a great bike and from what I've seen in the 3 main MTB magazine reviews (I read them all), you still need to spend at least a grand, probably £1500 to get near this specification, performance and weight. Buy one for your other half but don't tell her and keep it as a spare!