Viewing 40 posts - 241 through 280 (of 281 total)
  • The annual Mayhem – tyres and course thread!
  • cardiff
    Free Member

    Who liked the Jump I built at the Bottow of the long climb on the offcamber on the second half of the course? I cant speak now from shouting “do a whip” “Do a Skid” or “your winning”
    Epic mayhem,Agreed about the lack of shopping on offer.

    I pretty much rode past it when I first saw it so circled around the tree to have another go, I’m not entirely sure it was worth it mind as my jump was pathetic! All good fun though!

    BrickMan
    Full Member

    ‘do a skid’, ‘give it cheese’ and ‘rawwwwwr’ are my chants of choice.

    I think I single handedly ruined at least 5 peoples world cup hopes at fort bill by blowing their mind with poor spoken English.

    Dimmadan
    Free Member

    Next year, each RIDER!!!!! Should be given a token for the bike wash and a token for the shower and RIDERS should get priority and get a token back once used. How many non riders were using the facilities from where there bikes got muddy riding the campsite?

    3 jet washers for 3500 riders and waiting 2 hours to use them.
    Plus showers not being signed of by the council until 12pm on the Saturday is a joke.

    There has been some real cost cutting this year with less toilets and showers. Shame as it could of been so much better even with the mud issue.

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    footflaps
    Full Member

    There has been some real cost cutting this year with less toilets and showers. Shame as it could of been so much better even with the mud issue.

    If there was cost cutting I suspect it’s down to lack of entries / sponsorship, the whole scene is not as popular as it once was, plus we’re in a recession.

    kinda666
    Free Member

    I along with many others ended up washing there bikes in the pool..

    I stupidly left my dirtworker at home much to my mates annoyance..

    aracer
    Free Member

    Who liked the Jump I built at the Bottow of the long climb on the offcamber on the second half of the course?

    That was the one I did a running jump over holding my uni at ~9:30pm? Hope you enjoyed my efforts 😉

    Elmo
    Free Member

    Even later on (2 on Sunday morning) not all the showers were working.
    I got a nice warm one though. There were rumours they were cold earlier.

    There was stuff to buy, i guess it depended what you were after!
    We gave a load of t-shirts, caps, bags and clapping hands away though!

    Great support from Hope and Sram though(never had to go into the Shimano tent, but I’d assume they were also excellent?!)

    LS
    Free Member

    The showers were tepid just after midnight and cold by about 5am, but to be honest I didn’t care – it was still better than trying to get all that mud off with a bucket full of water 😀

    And they were red-hot again by the end of the race, so at least I felt vaguely human on the way home.

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    That was horrid and brilliant at the same time. Rigid ti 69er singlespeeds with mud tyres rock. My team mates are uniformly ace. Mud makes it harder to chat with random old friends. And that last lap was properly nasty. Still buzzing 🙂

    will
    Free Member

    Are there any official photos? Although having said that, might be hard to see the race numbers!!

    aracer
    Free Member

    Here’s the nearest I’ve found so far to official photos
    britishcycling.org.uk photos, Mountain Mayhem 2012, Pictures by Ed Rollason.
    I think those and more will be available to buy at
    http://www.edrollasonphotography.co.uk/

    (no connection, just trying to butter him up so he lets me hotlink a few 😉 )

    monkeychild
    Free Member

    That was epic!!! (not long woke up as I only got home after midnight) was solo on my singlespeed and managed 9 laps. Cheers to all the supporters you lifted my spirits and cheers to the ninja turtle who gave me Bacardi at about 8 in the morning lol.

    rkk01
    Free Member

    solo on my singlespeed and managed 9 laps

    Respect

    rkk01
    Free Member

    So…

    Which mud tyre ruled?

    My Trailrakers had loads of grip, but at 2.1 were prone to clogging.

    Some folks seemed to be relatively immune to the bike jamming mud

    neil853
    Free Member

    mud-x 2.0 wasn’t too bad except for my ‘really’ claggy lap.

    what a weekend though, struggled to enjoy it to be fair. set up we had was awesome though which made it barable, feel sorry for the people where it was their first time, i’ve done it 6/7 times now and its never been that bad, dry its a completely different event.

    johnnystorm
    Full Member

    rkk01

    So…

    Which mud tyre ruled?

    My Trailrakers had loads of grip, but at 2.1 were prone to clogging.

    Some folks seemed to be relatively immune to the bike jamming mud

    Maxxis Beavers on my 29 were good to begin with but the early clay on the first half of the course just clogged them. Moved over to the Cyclocross tyres On-one were selling and vastly improved.

    jonathan
    Free Member

    1.8 Mud-Xs FTW 🙂

    I really enjoyed my lap (yes, singular) and thought it would be a shame to spoil that feeling by going out again, so drank instead 😉

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Are there any official photos? Although having said that, might be hard to see the race numbers!!

    I have 1600 here:

    DSC_1684

    You can download them from Flickr or drop me a mail for the original.

    mboy
    Free Member

    So…

    Which mud tyre ruled?

    My Trailrakers had loads of grip, but at 2.1 were prone to clogging.

    I took some 2.1″ Trailrakers, but when everyone was coming back and saying that mud clearance was the most important factor, I fitted a rigid fork to my hardtail, a 1.8″ Maxxis Medua on the back and borrowed a 2″ Bonty Mud X for the front. The Medusa almost certainly didn’t have as much grip as a Trailraker, but most importantly it didn’t hang onto the mud.

    Some folks seemed to be relatively immune to the bike jamming mud

    I was relatively immune to it compared to some people, but can confirm that after my last lap my bike that was sub 23lb at the start of the lap was more like 40lb at the end of it. Some people’s bikes were more like 60-70lb though! The guy in the bike wash queue behind me was running 2.35″ High Rollers on his hardtail, they had become 3″+ mud slicks and the bike was unrideable.

    Rigid fork, frame with tons of mud clearance, and skinny tyres were what was required… I would have gladly gone Singlespeed too if I’d had the ability to (managed to find someone with a cog I could borrow, but not a tensioner).

    what a weekend though, struggled to enjoy it to be fair.

    Converesly, I really enjoyed myself. The only bits I didn’t like were nothing to do with the bike riding. That course, which was the same course almost exactly as the 2011 course, is a bit boring in the dry (the 2010 course was a lot better in the dry), but in those conditions it made it a lot more interesting. The lack of traction on the climbs after a period of time became a great leveller (seeing sponsored riders walk the climbs makes you feel more human).

    Anyway, number 1 top tip from now on for Mayhem (even if you don’t use them cos its dry) is take a rigid fork and 1.8″ (or narrower) tyres with you… Not having to stop to clear the bike of mud every 2 minutes was probably worth 20 minutes or so a lap I reckon.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Schwalbe 1.5″ Mud Sharks are the best tyre for those conditions. No clogging and cut through the clag and grip ok.

    inigomontoya
    Free Member

    My 2.25 racing Ralph was not great 😉 the Ron did OK in terms of grip on the front, just clogged up badly in the clay.

    amt27
    Free Member

    raced solo, did 5 laps, last one 2/3 walking as mech sheared off,
    watching some of the better riders in the solo pits, you need:

    2 bikes at least
    petrol jet wash
    pit crew

    and huge amounts of skill to ride all the mud and stop your bike clogging, momentum is king, saw this when lap2 when Josh Ibbet lapped me,

    squiff
    Free Member

    I used 2.0 Mud x front and back and found them great with plenty of grip, I didnt get clogged up like other people either, I guess i was going tooo fast for the mud to stick to me or the bike 8) , it was good fun with my 1am nite lap been my highlight as the course was at its fastest.

    I agree about other people have said about wiggle, the showers and the bikes washes.

    But i will be back next year for my 5th time

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    Anyway, number 1 top tip from now on for Mayhem (even if you don’t use them cos its dry) is take a rigid fork and 1.8″ (or narrower) tyres with you… Not having to stop to clear the bike of mud every 2 minutes was probably worth 20 minutes or so a lap I reckon.

    I’ve always taken 2 bikes to Mayhem, my normal MTB (usually a FS S-Works) and my fully rigid Ti with 1.5″ mud tyres on it. On occasions where it’s been dry to start with then wet (or vice versa) I’ve used both bikes, if it’s been 100% dry then the rigid is just there as a spare. It’s brilliant though, will cut through almost anything, tons of mud clearance, ultralight. Feel really sorry for the poor folks on FS bikes with every pivot clogged solid, every linkage holding an extra 5lb of mud.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    If I was riding in those condition I’d pick a Rigid 29″, Single Speed, Belt drive with 1.5″ mud shark tyres.

    onewheelgood
    Full Member

    The Black Shark Mud’s were absolutely awesome. Great grip and no clogging. However, as one of the wiser members of my team pointed out, whenever conditions are such that Black Sharks are the tyre to have you shouldn’t be riding at all but sat somewhere warm drinking beer. Which I though was a sound argument.

    scu98rkr
    Free Member

    Schwalbe 1.5″ Mud Sharks are the best tyre for those conditions. No clogging and cut through the clag and grip ok.

    Im not completely sure there is a right tyre. The conditions change so much.

    I had Bontrage 1.8 Mud X’s on.

    During the night the course was really wet and basically any tire was fine. But as it dried out as you needed a thinner tyre to cut though.

    But then there was also the period just before it started to rain when the course was almost a bit dry in places it might have been better to have a fatish tyre to spread your weight and hope to stay above the mud.

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    I seem to have accidentally built a near perfect Mayhem mud bike – it’s a ti copy – Setavento – of a Marin Rocky Ridge, run rigid with a 26″ On One carbon rigid fork and a 29″ front wheel, singlespeeded with an outboard eccentric bottom bracket. Weighs sub 21 lb without particularly light components, feels very slack so it stays super stable running through mud and lack of suspension makes it predictable over bumps. I ran a 1.8 Mud X on the back and a 2.0 Maxxis Beaver up front, which was pretty decent until the last super claggy lap when really narrow tyres would have been better. I didn’t even bother taking my race bike, which turned out to be a very good call. 🙂

    Blazin-saddles
    Free Member

    The winning Hope team were mainly using 2.0 Maxxis Beaver tyres if that helps?

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    While I remember, the other thing that rocked was the grip from my Mavic shoes. Brilliant and surefooted even on that off-camber stuff.

    ciderinsport
    Free Member

    Team SUMO made it home!!!

    2 teams, all singlespeed, 9 laps per team 😆 Those suits got a bit heavy with the mud and rain 😆

    Thanks to all who put some pennies in our buckets, and all who cheered us on!

    And yes… we seem to have started something – we’ll be back in 2013 😯

    shortcut
    Full Member

    The insides of my xtr cranks are a bit polished and there is a little mud collection point on the inside of the big ring – don’t the Japanese have mud and grass? Not the my hope brakes were immune.

    But it did all keep working – sort of.

    smilerjo
    Free Member

    Well the single speed is in one piece but the hardtail is in need of some tlc, I’m still trying to recover from the trauma of trying to push a hundredweight of clay round the first lap ! Same again next year ? Surely it can’t get any worse ! But that is today’s opinion yesterday was somewhat different 🙂

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    I was running 2.25 Nobby Nics on an Anthem frame with little clearence and plenty of places for mud to stick.

    Although I had plenty of grip alot of the time I just couldnt get the rear wheel to turn and was stopping every 30 yds or so to unblock the wheel. One lap I got back and people couldnt even lift my bike, god knows how much it weighed, there was a solid wall of clay attached to the tyres, and any surface of the bike.

    “The insides of my xtr cranks are a bit polished and there is a little mud collection point on the inside of the big ring”

    After washing my bike on my last lap I noticed that all the paint work had gone where the tyre passess the chain stays and seat stays just 4 nice pataches of raw aluminium I was going to post a pic today, but unfortunately I cant as it was nicked last night 😈

    The other thing I would say is that my 10 speed XT setup worked faultlessly. I remember the last bad Mayhem back in the day when people were saying 9 speed was crap and couldn’t cope with the mud (thats when 9 speed was new) and how 8 was better for mud, so I had real worries for 10,but not once did I get a bad shift or problem even, though I could never see the front chainrings or rear come to that!

    aracer
    Free Member

    While I remember, the other thing that rocked was the grip from my Mavic shoes. Brilliant and surefooted even on that off-camber stuff.

    Proper off-road running shoes FTW – definitely seemed to have a lot more grip than the bikers in the off-camber section everybody was walking after the obelisk.

    collostomy
    Free Member

    I ran Bonty Mud-X’s on my Five and had very little problems with clogging up… They were shocking over the roots and rocks on my second lap at 9pm though! Just stripped the headset and found more Eastnor mud. Tough conditions but great memories.

    rkk01
    Free Member

    Just stripped the headset and found more Eastnor mud.

    My washing machine is currently trying to digest more of the same…

    Phil_H
    Full Member

    Bonty mud x on the front & maxxis medusa on the back of my five, both 1.8. No clogging problems.
    Chain suck though, lots of granny ring chain suck.

    I had a great time playing gleefully in the filth. I don’t particularly care where we finished, just glad we did 😀

    mboy
    Free Member

    They were shocking over the roots and rocks

    Roots?

    Rocks?

    😕

    All I saw was mud! 😉

    Seriously though, skinny tyres at high pressures, even with a soft rubber compound, are no good over roots and rocks. But what little time and speed you lose there is made up for many times over elsewhere.

    I went for an even narrower 1.8 Maxxis Medusa on the back, and it’s pretty shocking anywhere except for cutting through the gloop, but for that it was awesome!

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

Viewing 40 posts - 241 through 280 (of 281 total)

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