I stole a bike

Very nice.

Most carbon bikes don't do much for me, but the Izzo is a great looking thing.

Looks very much like my bike...

Don't worry though, mines definitely still in the garage 🙂

It's easy to change the air spring, I did it recently on a Fox 34 and it took maybe an hour and I'd never done it before.

Thanks dc. You're not in Sussex by any chance? 😂

Jim, how do you find the bike?

A few hours north I'm afraid!

Have a look at the service manual online and some YouTube videos, just take your time, follow the instructions carefully and you'll be fine.

They really are lovely looking bikes

how much labour is involved in upgrading the fork spring to a 140mm

Is it really worth the money and effort for 1cm ?? 😉

Like!

Probably not worth it Desperate but you know how it is with the tweaking disease in winter. The shaft is £35 and I might get half back selling the 130mm and if I can DIY as suggested.

On a another front, there is a grip shift style RS remote to lock the shock on the fly. Problem is the outer cable is far too long on the bars. Do you guys know if I can simply shorten like I did for the rear mech or does it need the shock removing?
If it does I might remove it altogether but without the remote in place will the shock be in closed or open position by default?

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Ooh, I've got that on my old RM. Yeah, you can shorten it just like a gear cable. Pretty sure that without the cable it just acts like a normal shock adjuster - the return spring on mine is in the lever.

Cheers DB. Just done it, it was quite painless indeed!

Jim, how do you find the bike?

Honestly, I don't ride it much these days as most of my riding is from the door, and I live on the edge of London so my gravel and road bikes get more love.

That said, it is fun to ride and very capable - I'm definitely the limiting factor, not the bike.

Oh, and I swapped the grip shift lockout for a bontrager drop lock dual lever thingie - that way I can use my preferred grips...

That's a beauty.

Did you ride it yet?

Honestly, I don’t ride it much these days ..

Wanna sell? I heard somewhere that they are a good second hand buy 😀

Did you ride it yet?

Ride it? Why on earth would I do that? I just cleaned it! 😂

On a serious note I only ride when the mud recedes nowadays.

I have ordered a 2.6 Rekon for the front and a 2.4 Ardent for the rear as the 2.35 Forecaster look a bit timid.

Fitting 800mm bars too as the guy cut the 760mm down to 735mm. It's not bloody 1992 😂.

I like the idea of dropping the Gripshift thing, it's not bloody 1992 😂

Now with “proper”tyres, Rekon 2.6 Maxterra front and 2.4 Ardent rear.
175mm fox post slammed.
800mm carbon bars and 50mm e*13 stem.
Got rid of the shock lock remote thing.
Pedals are provisional…
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Tidy that! Where did you find such a bargain @nickfrog ?

Hi Ogden. It was on eBay but the guy had never cleaned it so took photos of it filthy. Starting at £1,400 and BIN at £2,000. No bids 2 weeks running. Also he put £17 for shipping.

It was only 30 miles from me so I explained with the fees and actual shipping cost he would have netted less than £1,200 even if someone had bid at £1,400.

He took my £1,200 picked up.

I stripped it down and I am confident it covered very few miles, between 50 and 100 miles probably. I regreased everything, hubs, BB, headset. Feels quasi new.

I was lucky.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225995721123?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=qhmxio4eqts&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=QP3HdVkhTHS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

After a bit of advice. I am quite tempted by the entry level Lyrics with the cheap Rush damper at £265 on CRC.
The motivation is that they are 140mm and a much more modern and beefier chassis than the 130mm 34s I am 85kgs after all 😂.I am also used to around 65deg HA too and I would be close to that then.

I read that the FIT4 is not a particularly nice damper either. Would I get £250 for those forks on eBay/Pinkbike?

Any views welcome on this wholly unnecessary change.

If you're fitting Lyriks to an Izzo, even if it's a bargain you've bought the wrong bike for what you're doing.

I'd say the current fork is better. Don't get fooled but the need to up size your fork, 34mm was big enough for everything a few years back.

Fair comments although a trail fork on a trail bike for trail riding doesn't sound too out of place?
I'll probably buy the Lyrics but ride the Fox 34 thoroughly first to see how it feels, when the weather turns.

Hmm, yeah, my old Instinct has Grip 34s and have been absolutely fine. It's 130mm travel bike too.
I've been happy with them - until my last trip to BPW with my son on a proper Enduro bike. Trying to keep up with him, my hands were chattered to hell and I really wanted a bigger fork (not more travel, just chunkier and less erm, chattery!). The 140mm Lyrik would've been a good swap.
That was the only time the 34s felt out of their depth though, so I guess it depends on what riding you're doing with the Izzo.

Good point. Basically I am a one bike guy so it's got to do it all from just "normal" trail riding on the South Downs (although that includes Steyning bike park which is 20mn from mine) to BPW to long days on the SDW which is more XC than anything.

If you’re fitting Lyriks to an Izzo, even if it’s a bargain you’ve bought the wrong bike for what you’re doing.

I'd agree with this.

Fox 34s are plenty for a 120mm travel bike.

The Izzo is not a 120mm travel bike.

Please tell me more about buying the wrong bike thing, I don't understand.

I am not considering a 38 with 170mm. I am just considering a very small 10mm travel increase and a fork that is 200g heavier because the Lyric happens to be available at at seemingly low price.

Sorry, but I'd still say that 34s are plenty for a 130mm travel bike and are decent forks. 85kg shouldn't be too much for them either.

I'm not sure you'd get much benefit from the faff of swapping over the forks for 10mm extra travel on a good bike that you got for silly money?

I am sure the 34s would be plenty most of the time. But then again it depends what you do with them. It looks like Desperate found their limit in an environment where I will be riding too. In fact it even looks like YT themselves are quite happy to fit a 36 140mm on an Izzo frame. https://uk.yt-industries.com/products/outlet-sale/606/izzo-29-uncaged-11/

A fork swap is not much of a faff TBF, takes me about 30mn at worst. As for how little I paid for the bike, to me it's more like an incentive to spend a bit more 😂

I'll try the 34s at Steyning and see what happens.

Happy to take the bike off you for £1300 if its the wrong bike 🙂 I'm 84kg so more suited to the current fork.

😂

I am already in profit then. Perhaps I should go for a high end Lyric.

I am just considering a very small 10mm travel increase and a fork that is 200g heavier because the Lyric happens to be available at at seemingly low price.

It’s not just 10mm of travel, it’s at least 10mm difference in A2C measurements also. So you’re raising the front end a minimum of 20mm, reducing your reach, slackening the STA, etc.

And that Lyrik is worse than the Fit4. Which is saying something.

Thanks good to know about the A2C. Will check.

Have you compared the Fit4 to that Lyric yourself?

Good to hear about the Fit4, is it that bad?

Edit. Looks like A2C for a 140mm 34 is 554 vs 551 for the Lyric 140. So 10mm travel gains 7mm A2C.

If the Fox 34 is the previous gen one (without the rounder arch), then I used to have that with the Fit 4 damping and I'd say it is adequate for that kind of bike - but it could be improved on.

I swapped to a 130mm Pike Select+ (charger 2.1) and I find that considerably stiffer and better damped.

I suspect the Pike is the sweet spot, out of the big brand forks. Lyrik would seem overkill unless you're particularly heavy or very fast.

Yes it's the old non rounded 34.

Pike 140mm would be ideal indeed but serious money with a "proper" damper.

PS I am very fast but mostly by accident.

Pike 140mm would be ideal indeed but serious money with a “proper” damper.

You could get a cheap Revelation (same chassis) and one of those "Up" damper upgrades, they seemed very well regarded in a thread on here the other day.

Looks like Alpkit still have them:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225949133760

130mm travel is fine for a bike like this IME, but you could change air shaft later if you really wanted to.

Sounds good thanks but will be around £400 when finished for what is presumably the "old" Pike chassis on the Revs. I am not super bothered about the travel, the CRC forks happen to be 140mm, which may be a bonus.

At this rate I might just steal my son's 36 and reduce them to 140mm and fit some new 160 Yari I have. He might not notice 😂

Definitely bought the wrong bike, now with 36 140mm. And the chip flipped on low. Needs shorter cranks, which are coming tomorrow.

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Can you stick a -2deg angleset in there as well? Or does it have an integrated headset?

Looks great anyway

Cheers. Integrated but 65.5 HA now, at least in theory, which should work well for my trail use.

Bike looks spot on, though not sure how much use that rekon will be on the trails around steyning atm 😀.
Keeping my eye out for an Izzo myself, but every one I’ve seen recently has been just a few hundred quid below the price you can get them new.

You're right that Rekon would be no good down Steyning now indeed!! But then again I have stopped riding in mud a few years ago, which might be a problem this year as it's going to take all bloody summer to dry!

If you’re fitting Lyriks to an Izzo, even if it’s a bargain you’ve bought the wrong bike for what you’re doing

I dunno, i ran a 140mm 36 on a 2019 spark tuned and it was an absolute riot up and down.

Indeed, even YT themselves think the frame is suited to a 36 140mm Ohlins with aggro tyres on the Izzo Uncaged 11. It's obviously a slight departure from the original brief but why not?

Another Weeksy in the making :d

I haven't followed the Weeksy thing. Tell me more, got a link?

I haven’t followed the Weeksy thing. Tell me more, got a link?

Fellow forumite who endlessly fiddles with bikes for improvements, then sells every few months for another better bike...

That's what I have been doing over the past year, damn. I have built a brilliant Big Al for very little money by getting all the silly PSAs on it. Still unridden and it was going to bey bike for at least the rest of the year but I'll probably sell it while it's new 😂.

I am retired so while I love riding when the weather is nice, it's not my main sport, tennis is. But it's probably my main hobby as I love the build, the fiddling, the tweaking and nauseam. A hobby with profit, my wife calls it.

Another eBay bargain? I was after a 170mm with a 30t to replace the GX 175 32t.

£53 new.

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Looking schpot on!