Ive just entered the dyfi forest round of uk gravity enduro and as its my first of this event am not sure what bike to use.

I have a yeti asr5 140mm fork and reverb (26lb) or an orange alpine 160 with ccdb coil also with reverb.(33lb)

Did mega last year on the alpine but use my yeti for trail riding duties.

Anyone done this event before? Which bike would you use?

cut n shut them?

Before I was told I couldn’t ride for 5 months I was going to do this round on my 06 enduro with lyriks and an air shock. It is mainly DH orientated so I would take the big bike if I were you, the big climbs arnt timed so don’t take a bike that will excel at that.

What with the gravity bit in the name, the Alpine is the obvious choice… it’s all in the descents

Yeti if you’re brave but slower uphill, Alpine if you’re quick uphill but want a bike that lets you ride blind fast. I’d ride the Alpine but I’m not brave and ok at pedalling. Actually, just ride the Alpine, if you’re quick downhill you’ll appreciate the bigger bike on unseen trails.

Thanks guys, some good points.

The alpine is a beast on the downs, but lacks zip along the trails when I use it on say the Afan trails. I’m thinking that some of these stages have climbs on them and might loose allot of time? That’s what makes me think the yeti might be quickest overall all as is no slouch on the downs.

Would like to take both as have a practice day on the Saturday but am limited on space.

Anyone else ridden these events?

Are you in the hunt for a win? Or are you racing a mate who is about the same speed as you? Have you been training to get fitter?

If your answer is yes to two or more of those questions then take the bike that will be faster on the flat and ups.

if you have been training for more technical stuff or just want to have fun then take the bike that is more suited for tech and fun.

I’d be tempted to take both, with wet/mud tyres on the Yeti and dry(er) tyres on the Orange. On the Enduro1 series the typical bikes have somewhere between the two but I understand the Fetish Gravity courses are gnarlier. It’s a shame the CCDB doesn’t have a lock-out for any extended climbs.

If this was the coed y brenin round then I’d absolutely definitely say the yeti, if it was the innerleithen round I’d absolutely definitely say the alpine.
But i’ve never ridden the dyfi area apart from the climach-x trail so I honestly have no idea.
If pushed I’d say the alpine?

there are several vids on youtube if you search for “eastridge gravity enduro” may help you to decide.

Either will be fine. You’re there to have fun so take the one you have the most fun with.

Depends on your fitness? At the last round some of the link stages were tight for some people. I span along and made it ok and tend to favour lighter over burlier for this reason. I’m probably loosing a bit on the the actual timed descents but not a lot I reckon? I ride an Ibis Mojo HD 140 for these events which I guess is nearer the Yeti than the 160?.

Thanks for the input guys.

I’m probably gonna go with the yeti ASR5. I was informed by the organiser the loop was 32km, so not so short. Think I’ll appreciate the extra energy for the timed sections.

Can’t wait to get on the trails now 😉

dirtbiker’s spot on, it’ll depend on the actual course more than anything else, “gravity enduro” can mean ride down a dh trail or a handcut Steve D plummet, or just pedal like mad along a trail centre red, no right answer.

But, if you’re knackered at the start of the stages you’ll not go fast regardless of what you ride.

I’ve raced most of this series on my ASR5 with 140mm forks, upgraded to a sb66 (150mm forks) for the Eastridge round.
Got to say the extra travel on the 66 was definitely worth it, although everything is rideable on the ASR5. My fitness is my strong point so transitional timings aren’t a problem for me, the extra weight and travel on the 66 didn’t cause me a problem but helped on the downs.

On a big hilly loop the ASR5 may be the better option, bit comprimised going down but overall a better all day bike…..plus it’s a YETI 🙂

I may not have a choice of bike now!!

Took the Yeti to Cwmcarn last night for some DH runs, all was going well, strava running so not using much brakes…then all of a sudden puncture in the rear, on checking I now have a massive dent in my rear wheel and the shock linkage/bushes have lots of play…. grrr

If my LBS can’t work their magic this by thursday I will be on the Alpine 160 this weekend. Not such a bad thing, but I will probably be the one blowing through my ass on the climbs 😳
cheers all

The route for this weekend is up: http://www.ukgravityenduro.com/rd5-dyfi-forest-wales-8th-9th-sep-map/

See you on it!

Anyone with experience of Dyfi care to cast an eye upon the map and share some secrets?

I’ll be on my hardtail either way 🙄

andeh – you keeping up on facebook? one top tip apparently – take wet weather stuff, it stays muddy for quite a while in places over there.

I was at Coed Y and at Hamsterly this year. For Coed Y I would have preferred a smaller bike as some of the sections were quite pedally. For Hamsterly my spesh Enduro was perfect.

I saw lots of people on Alpines, looks like fun. Take that. See you there!

What’s the Facebook group called?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/110825505624163/

Stage 2 looks similar to the first descent used in the “Dyfi Enduro” while Stage 3 I think is “World Cup Descent” that has also been used in the event recently.

Expect very fast, loose descents. The odd drop, some wide tracks with multiple lines.
Big balls will help.

I read somewhere (on the Facebook page maybe?) Mr Parr saying that this round is gonna be different to all the others and that the best technique would be to leave your brain in the car park and grow a pair!

Guess I’ll find out tomorrow on my first practice lap?

I read somewhere (on the Facebook page maybe?) Mr Parr saying that this round is gonna be different to all the others and that the best technique would be to leave your brain in the car park and grow a pair!

Guess I’ll find out tomorrow on my first practice lap?

That seems like a very reasonable statement to assess the riding in the Dyfi. Lots of fun, lots of room for error and the stones there are not very nice to land on!

Well protected tyres are a must too!

I’ve ridden some of the off-piste stuff there years ago. Is this one of the stages? http://mountainbikerides.co.uk/video/15-wales/165-dyfi-forest-moel-heulen-1.html

hmm might bring the full face helmet along then as my balls are tiny

Was thinking that Kimbers but I don’t fancy a 35km/1000m+ loop with a full face. Will be taking both though!

Strap it to your pack for the climbing? They don’t have a euro-style “helmet all the time” rule as far as I know.

If you can afford a bike after the ludicrous entry fee, good luck to you.

well that was fun but damn hard going glad I made the drop in at the start of stage 4 the audience was a bit intimidating 1 not so glad I missed my start at stage 5 as my legs were done for

well that was fun but damn hard going glad I made the drop in at the start of stage 4 the audience was a bit intimidating 1 not so glad I missed my start at stage 5 as my legs were done for

I bonked like a swine on the transition to stage 5, resorted to eating blackberries from the side of the trail.

Great fun though, despite the crazy amount of fire road climbing. Stage 2 was my favorite, closely followed by 5 (even though I didn’t get a chance to ride it when I want shattered)

what a great event ! I enjoyed it right up to the point a minor slip on stage 4 resulted in a snapped brake lever and a long walk. Well done to the organisers, I had a brilliant weekend and I particularly appreciated seeing some trails that would have been hard to find otherwise

Well it was certainly a long way round. I’m very, very sick of riding up fire roads!

The stages I liked however. They were pretty wild at race pace. Sadly my bike broke half way round so I had a long walk back. Stage 5 was great though, it was like an old school DH track 🙂

Yup, another great weekend. Stage 3 gets a bit rowdy at race pace! I’m glad I didn’t ride the full loop on saturday, instead opting to skip 2 and 3, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it round the full loop on race day.

pics are appearing, no results yet

http://www.rootsandrain.com/race961/2012-sep-9-fetish-bike-gravity-enduro-series-5-dyfi-north-wales/photos/

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151377699619989.572317.515354988&type=1

anyone have a pic of the drop in at the start of 4?

hers some pics from saturday night

anyone have a pic of the drop in at the start of 4?

Yeah already put some on http://www.facebook.com/mountainbikerides

Sorry can’t do FB at work to provide exact link

well.. what bike?? I ended up taking my yeti ASR5 in the end as got it patched up (prob one of the smallest bikes there). And yes that was me at the start of stage 4 going over the bars to an audience!!

TBH – stage 4 was the only time I felt under biked. I was very pleased to be on the ASR5 on the endless fireroad climbs.

Had a coupe of punctures so higher volume tyres next time I think. Was also struggling to clip in to spds on the starts which wasn’t helping. so maybe flats?

If I had taken the alpine 160 those climbs would have wore me down. Not sure how some of them guys were doing it, saw one guy on a giant faith climbing to stage 5 late in the day(respect).

cost no object – Perfect bike IMO carbon spicy/nomad/enduro would by spot on.

I had a great time and cant wait to get on it next year.

results are up

http://www.rootsandrain.com/race961/2012-sep-9-fetish-bike-gravity-enduro-series-5-dyfi-north-wales/categories/