Hello people who entered last year’s Weekender.

We want to do a little ‘web debate’ about what sort of bike copes best with the Weekender (and what tyres, setup etc). What bikes struggled where/when. What bikes flourished where/when. Etc etc.

We’d like to get info from people about what they rode last time and how it coped. And what they’re riding/changing for this year’s event.

So… what you gonna bring? :]

Will be riding my Areil 2, standard apart from UST wheels and different stem, may get new bars and sort forks and shock if I get time.

Not that it makes any difference as have only had time to ride 3 or 4 times in the last 6 months due to the business,young daughter and house that needs work, be sure to say hi as you all blast past me on the Xc! 😳

Old Orange Five with Pikes, Mountain Kings the first year, Advantages last year. Clipped in. It was fine. Would be taking the same bike this year if I wasn’t out with an injury. Only change I’d make would be some kind of dropper post which would be nice for the XC.

But really, it’s not the bike, it’s the rider, innit… People usually just seemed to ride a bike to flatter their strengths. One of the cool things about the event is the endless debate about air vs coil and travel and angles and tyres and then Ali Clarkson comes along and take the win in the downhill on a hardtail…

I reckon a long/medium travel hard tail should be the bike of choice. I have ridden up there a fair bit over the past couple of years and it is pretty well suited to a good hard tail. I use a Genesis Alpitude which has survived the abuse the quarry can give a bike very well.

It can be tough on tyres and chain rings, highrollers seem to work for me pretty well up there. I see a lot of people with punctures in the quarry and find loads of discarded inner tubes (hate it when people just drop their rubbish like that!). Tyre choice might be as important as choice of bike. Brownbacks race last week Tom Bell had a good 5 min lead and then he got a flat and had to drop out, don’t know what tyre’s he was using.

Also see a lot of people snapping chains during the races, short steep downs followed by short steep ups seem to result in lots of gear mashing for some.

I think the loop we have planned for the xc race would benefit from an fancy up and down seat post type thing. I don’t use one myself but I could see being able to get the seat out of the way quickly for the downs and then back up for the climbs being useful. But would it be worth the extra weight?

End of the day it’s probably much more down to the rider than the bike, I can think of loads of people who could beat me on a lap round the quarry riding a Raleigh chopper with a flat tyre and one hand tied to their crank.

First year, Blur 4X with 160mm Marzocchis. Beat my mate, thats all that counts.

last year, a cove stiffee with 130mm z1 freerides and 2.35″ super tacky highrollers. 2×9 gears. the bike was fine, i was the flawed element!

this year, i’ll be marshalling again!

bit ot but what’s the deal with the XC time wise or is it number of laps? and what’s the length of each lap?

Loco – XC race lasts for as long as it takes the first rider to complete 4 laps. Once that person has finshed everyone just finishes the lap that they’re on. So XC duration is between 60 and 90 mins for all riders really.

Weekender XC course ridden and recorded. 4km. 130m ascent. 15-20 minute lap. Fun :] Anyone want to buy the GPS file? ;]

Ben, are you needing any more marshalls?

Ton – yes, we’re on the lookout. Email weekender@singletrackworld.com to register your interest :] Ta!

First year i rode singlespeed inbred with 130mm revs and bontrager ACX tyres tubeless. Second year i had a 456 SS with 115 rebas and a crossmark/ highroller tyre combo. Will use that this year.

Dont think the summer season was any better/ quicker overall, but a lot more fun on the descents. More important i think is tyres as the bonty tyres sliced on my first xc lap and then took ages to fix. Even someones tubeless maxxis EXO protection tyres were not immune on the DH last year 😉

I also got blasted on DH and XC by my friend who was on his old epic with 80mm SIDS on the front. As said above its not the bike…

First year – SC Nomad with Super Tacky DH High Rollers. Idea was I wanted to enjoy the DH without puncturing but the tyres actually made me cry at the end of the XC, they were hell.

Second year – Same Nomad but with tubeless Minion EXO tyres. Much faster on both the DH and the XC but as alluded to up there I did get a rather frustrating pinch puncture about 20 seconds into the DH ruining my run. Also caused issues in the XC.

The Nomad is really too big a bike for the event. Too much travel really and a bit too slack. Obviously it is very confidence inspiring in the DH and performed fine in the trials but it is a bit too much for the XC. The main problem there though is me as I am just not fit enough and too heavy.

This year I was planning on using the Nomad again but my new 29er might still be in with a shout yet. Either way, I’ll be using tubeless tyres again and will have a Reverb seatpost. Nomad is now 1×10 which might make it a big of a fight depending on the climbs but we’ll see.

matthew_h – you could take both bikes and make your decision after pre-riding (but before sign-on) ;]

I have actually thought about that.

Might take a trip over with the 29er before the event to see how it fairs.

Just to add, I reckon that if I could choose any bike at all I would go for a SC Tallboy with Reverb and something like an Ikon or maybe Ardent/Crossmark tyre.

Would be rayt fast that.

Last year on ST4 with Minion rear, Ardent front and Revs fork. Felt I wanted a bit more travel here and there but was pretty good for XC.. that said it was still 30lbs for various reasons.

This year I dont have the ST4.. have Nomad C, so thats what I’m going to ride. Have a Reverb post, Front Tyre – Ardent LUST (if its dry), Minion if wetter, rear crossmark LUST. Has lyrics on at present but toying with idea of sticking 150mm revs on to bring it more XCey as I still think its all about the XC if you want a good overall result.

Dont forget the hot tip from last year I got off one rider (I think he was dead last 🙂 “always fuel on black pudding and bacon before the race”