My next trusty steed...

Once upon a time, about a couple of months ago, after a training ride I jumped into the 4WD and reversed it straight into a tree - the only stupid tree in the entire car park! Normally, so what? The tragedy was that my bike was on the rack; so the tree and car instantly became the slices of bread in my bike sandwich. The result was one mangled wheel and a cracked frame :-(

To me this was no ordinary bike - this was my carbon fibre Giant MCM Team – my pride and joy. This was the best hardtail, in my very humble opinion, on the planet – light and fast.

Fortunately, with some tragedies there can also be some cause for joy and celebration. I had thankfully insured my bike and the insurance company have decided to kindly honour their commitment in paying me the replacement value. So I have spent the last couple of months performing extreme due diligence in finding an appropriate replacement. There is one major requirement for the new bike having competed in this years Mont 24 - it must be full suspension - my butt says so!

In the end it really came down to a number of very nice bikes: the blur, the 5.5. EVP, the epic and the 575. In the end I have chosen the Yeti 575 for its clean lines, its 5.75 inches of rear travel, its relative price, the great handling and almost hard tail cross country feel that it has for all its plushness.

Now all I have to do is complete the savings to make up the difference between what the insurance company will give me and what the bike shop would like me to pay, then go and take delivery of my next trusty steed...