Full bounce

I rode round on a 98 fsr for years and used to think it was ace, i now ride a boardman team fs and the diference is immense, air shocks are so plush, disc brakes that work, and wonderfully smooth gearing.

The direct selling companies could be a good option...most of them are pretty damn good bikes too.

The big improvement I think in FS bikes has been shocks and forks...the early FSR rear end isn't that different to what Specialized sell now (demo excl), pivot positions have been tweaked but it's fundamentally the same system. But better angles and shocks mean they feel like much better bikes.

As mentioned, air shocks are massively improved. I know a lot of people aren't fans, but my DHX Air has been great so far.

Interesting. The slight niggle is that in order to get the Boardman for £685 or so is that I have to use it more for journeys to and from work than not. This works out about 360 miles per year during winter months (15 miles per week, about 6 months of the year), and the summer would be riding my motorbike into work. Unless I forced myself to take the train more. And then there's the issue of leaving a £1k mountain bike at the station all day long, even in a sleepy village.

If I don't go down that route, I can get a 15% discount off bikes at Halfords, and might be able to pay for them with the vouchers I get a 10% discount with. My spend on them is unlimited, whereas I am restricted to a bike costing £1k on the cycle to work scheme.

dont let the name bike2work fool you into thinking you have to actually bike to work its just the name of the scheme, when i did the scheme the first time i think i went to work 5 maybe 10 times at the most and nobody said a word to me about it.

Regret that because of my job, I do have to respect at least the letter of the rules.

Cycle to work scheme what's that all about then ?

Taxpayer funded bikes, basically. If you ride to work rather than use fossil fuels for that journey, the government gives you a tax deduction for the cost of your bike, subject to certain conditions. And it has to be a scheme run by your employers.

I had a 2007 marin mount vision with xt and fox float which I thought was brilliant until I rode a 2010 gary fisher full susser which retailed around a third off what the marin did and it was so much better as well.
but I got rid of the marin and bought a 98 lts so what do I know lol