The ups are fine. Mine’s quicker on the technical downhill stuff – at 10

We went for try-out day at Pedal2pedal and he really enjoyed it.

We’ve now made a crazy decision and we’re, well, he’s going to race on the 27th at the FoD in the little enduro race, along with racing XC the day after 🙂

He seems to enjoy both massively… Arguably the Enduro a bit more, but his skills and strengths are more suited to XC, but riding opportunites/times/locations mean he’s likely to be more XC than DH for a few years at least.

It was great to see how much he was smiling after being out last night 🙂

and long may it last 🙂

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302293167022?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Currently debating whether to get this for my lad as a ‘grower’ … I think it’s likely to be a little big at the moment but should suit him well in 6-12 months. Looks like a nice bike with a nice spec.

Struggling to find something more suited at this sort of budget really.

Sure, i could spend £650 and buy a Whyte 403, but you know what, £650 is a chunk of change more than £350 and not sure he’d get THAT much more for the extra cash.

That is a nice looking bike for the price 🙂

It’s not bad for the price but not so good you wouldn’t find something else in 6-12 months …

I’m a big convert to actually TRYING a bike…. probably due to my short legs but what he’s riding may well change in the next months as well…

I’m working towards Jnrs next bike being FS..and perhaps just nicking his current groupset to transfer to a frame/forks/shock… but it’s probably a while away

Agree with a lot of the logic, but in 6-12 months i may not have £400 spare to buy it LOL. So i was thinking of buying while i have it spare.

I believe a lot of what your kids will ride will come down often to what you ride yourself, me being an XCer means it’s more than likely my lad will ride XC more than anything else. It’s also what he seems to have a greater aptitude towards at this stage.

I thought about an FS, but the problem i see there is a massive chunk of cost difference along with a weight increase. I can’t see us finding an FS of that sort of spec for <£800

Ah well, in the end it went up to £436 which was more than i was prepared to go, if i’m going up that high i’ll get a Whyte 403.

For that money with time you could buy/build something really good.

I got a “carbon everything” (Giant XtC Advanced) for £690 …. (which is less than buying a wheel off it new) … just putting in ebay time….
and yes with original receipts…

(Realise that more than £436 but sometimes there are unbid bargains… it was even in my town – not that I wouldn’t have driven to pick it up)

When I bought the Whyte I paid “about average £1300” because I was in a hurry…

The XtC will be sold when I get round to it to fund Jr’s next bike….

So I went into banjo cycles to look at the whyte.

Suddenly, well, errrrm.

Nice!! 🙂

Going back a few days… I’d just recommend for an 8yo to just ride as often as he wants. Don’t call it training, it’s just going for a ride, even if you might inadvertently be training by racing for various different points. Same for racing, if he wants to race then let him race. Do whatever he enjoys.

Going forward though becoming a member of a club would help massively regardless of what he eventually decides he wants to do. It’ll improve his skills massively and give him exposure to all the other disciplines of cycling. I’ve very rarely met a good racing XC cyclist who hasn’t at some point ridden/raced track, CX, road or TT. When I was coaching we had a regular group of about 40 kids. They all loved it, but only about 15 raced, didn’t stop any of them having a great time at our fairly relaxed coaching sessions.

Jnr and I raced a good few seasons of CX (he raced some other disciplines but loved CX). He was never troubling the podium but did well in the group just behind the top 3-4. The OH used to come and watch and she never saw Jnr after his race as all the kids he raced with, regardless of how serious they were, would spend the afternoon sharing sweets, messing around, rolling down hills and generally getting covered in mud. He doesn’t race at all now but all those lads he raced with are all still in contact with each other on various social media platforms. He doesn’t ride that much either, but when he does has no bother just riding however far/long he fancies.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT80K7Q4AWE[/video]

20km or so for a play at the pump track today with my lad. Lots of fun and practicing cornering

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP7Ug6kxi78[/video]

Weeksy: I still got a (currently) spare set of 140 cranks spare if you want to try….
I’m guessing but expect you will want something between the supplied 165 and 140 ….

but at least if you try shorter than needed you can see how it changes and if its worth looking for or making a set of 150something….

It’s only a 5 min job switching them over though he’d then have a 30T to try rather than the 28T but it should give a good idea how much or little benefit you might see .. sadly I’m working all weekend and probably next weekend 🙁

Thanks buddy.

He’s getting happier and happier now and I think the cranks won’t be an issue, although we may have to change the drive side for a larger front ring as he seems to spend most his time in the smallest 3 cogs.

Happy at the moment though.

Some jumping and woods practice today.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3RBJvgJHQw[/video]

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udZQTb9FqMQ[/video]

Today was Matterley for Southern XC race. My lad was gridded on row 2. Got off to a great start and was 4th into the woods on lap 1…

Woods was tricky and complex, but as they were all off quickly he wasn’t held up at all.

Sadly that was pretty much where the excitement ended. The race turned into a bit of a procession for him mostly after lap 1, he was sitting in 6th and ended up dropping to 8th but pulled back a quick lap to manage 7th. A lot of it was down to lap 4 where he lost 20s to his rivals, i’m not sure why yet, possibly almost high siding himself, but i imagine he just caught some traffic at the wrong time which held him up.

7th though is a very good result, there was a few lads we’ve not seen before and they were pretty handy that’s for sure ! One of his main rivals in the championship bailed after 2 laps which helps us and should put us 4th overall i think. Sadly though that’s this years XC finished with the Southern XC series for us as he’s got a flute concert at the Hexagon in Reading on the last race day of the season. It’s not helped by the fact it’s almost in Brighton ! Which means we can’t get back to make the practice sessions for flute sadly.

Knowing how much the fluting means to Mrs Weeksy, i couldn’t really argue a case.

We’ve come to a realisation this weekend though, if the boy wants to be more competitive, he needs to ride more, a LOT more… All the main rivals are riding every weekend, either XC or CX, or something, riding and racing… If he wants to beat them, he needs to work lots more.

Whether we’ll do that, i really don’t know.. It’s a tricky question, i don’t want to lose the fun for him, i don’t want to turn it into a chore, so, what happens next… I don’t know.

Massive thanks to Adam Buckland from here for putting the event on …. It’s an excellent time..

We’ve come to a realisation this weekend though, if the boy wants to be more competitive, he needs to ride more, a LOT more… All the main rivals are riding every weekend, either XC or CX, or something, riding and racing… If he wants to beat them, he needs to work lots more.

Whether we’ll do that, i really don’t know.. It’s a tricky question, i don’t want to lose the fun for him, i don’t want to turn it into a chore, so, what happens next… I don’t know.

Going through similar mate….
It’s his idea to race but if he want to race then he needs to practice.
If its not racing then he still needs to practice not just muck about. I’m happy to drive him to races but he needs to actually practice.

@Weeksy.
In a skill based sport (think racket sports), kids need to start out and commit really early as there is a LOT of skill development, and pretty much by the time they get through the late teens growth spurt they can be expected to compete with seniors.

XC on the other hand is predominantly about the engine, but the engine isn’t really going to start to develop properly until mid/late teens. At WC level riders are even segregated all the way up until U23s.
Based on that, i’d focus on skill development and riding/racing for fun rather than trying to chase fitness gains and results at a young age, plenty of years ahead to do that.

Are your kids part of a club with structured training sessions? Very hard to get kids to practice when they are just riding around with Dad.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now I’ve got some first hand experience – BMX racing.

Since last October my lad has been properly coached and is training every Saturday and every Wednesday night (since April). His bike skills have developed exponentially. He can pump, manual (bit sketchy still) and jump now. Structured coaching and a track that he learns to ride alongside other riders has made far more difference to his skills than just riding around with his dad.

When he gets on his mtb now the difference in skill and speed that he can hold is palpable.

Well, there’s a bit to answer here so i’ll do my best.

He’s currently doing a structured school on every other Tues with Pedal2Pedal in QECP, the reason it’s every other Tues is because it’s a 90 minute drive from home. It’s a little less coming back due to traffic easing, but still 1hr 20. The problem with this is that it’s going to change to an hour later fairly soon due to him reaching 9 years old next week, the problem is that we couldn’t leave any later really as the traffic at the end of the A34 by Winchester just gets worse and worse at that time the later we get there. But we then wouldn’t be getting home from training until 8.25pm. Which as we’d still then need to eat, it’s getting a bit complex there. He’s not been doing it that long but has picked up some knowledge.

He does the racing at FoD with little fodders, but the problem we have is that both their other school days for them and P2P are on Saturday mornings, he’s comitted to flute lessons on Sat mornings, so he can’t do either FoD or P2P schools. There’s no other local MTB coaching/schooling that we’re aware of, so we’re kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place in some ways.

BMX Racing, i’m far from against it as an idea, closest place to us is Andover, which is about 45 mins drive, so not exactly terrible, but not exactly local, however due to them being Facebook only and me not doing FB i didn’t look into it much last time, as we then found P2P coaching on here via Yak, i sort of forgot all about the BMX ideas, but it was never that high on my list in some ways.

Anyway, moving on… The whole point of this process was for it to be me and him time, the racing and results were intended to be just a quick test, but we found a certain level of ability and aptitude (maybe not quite so much this season i admit)with all of this in mind i think we’re planning on taking a slightly different track which is to concentrate more on it being me and him riding, rather than him riding and me riding somewhere else. So we’re going to keep the Tues afternoons as riding time, but will be somewhere more local like at Swinley Forest which is 35 mins from our place, possibly a few more local woods type riding on alternate Tues evenings. Now whilst i accept that doesn’t quite fit with the “training” aspect of things, it does however mean more quality time with me and him. We can spend 90 mins at Swinley doing trails, practice and skills etc, then still be back 90 mins earlier that we would be if we do the P2P stuff.

We’ve also just booked BPW for the afternoon on 24th July with Little Fodders, both me and him will be riding there. He’ll also do the next Fodders mini-enduro at FoD.

Is this the right plan, well, maybe not from a context of being the best he can be and a long term super race god… but from a perspective of being a father and son, it’s our best plan for sure.

I have a 10yr old daughter who is a mad keen climber. She competes at national level and tbh I have no problems getting her to train as much as is required. She doesn’t train, she just ‘climbs’. Even the boring aspects of flexibility and strength are actually things she does for fun because all girls like to do the splits etc. Anyhow I just thought I would give my views based on similar worries etc to yours.

Climbing is, to quote a top international coach 33% Strength and conditioning, 33% Mental preparation & 33% technique.

I would hazard a guess that cycle racing is much more based on physical stature, conditioning and mental prep than it is technique. There will be, as there is in climbing, kids who are quicker developers in their body and this will put huge pressures on smaller or lighter framed kids. Joints will be put under immense wear (I had to stop sport when I hit 30yrs old, its not nice to be told to stop) and kids/parents will be tempted to train longer and harder to keep up.

From what I have read from you on here you are fuelling a kid who has desires to compete at a good level and there is nothing wrong with that. However I would suggest you open your eyes to the possibilities of the harm you could cause.

I can only approach things from my own experiences with climbing but there are loads of risks with growth plates, muscle imbalances etc etc for kids taking part. As much as I could I looked at the kind of time scales involved with ‘creating an athelete’ and decided there were times where ‘volume’ ‘strength’ & ‘fitness’ could be ignored in favour of technique and mental strength. Ie while the kids my daughter competes with are using peg boards and finger boards, my daughter is working slabs and using techniques to improve her footwork. While they are pilling on the ‘miles’ my daughter is doing antagonist exercises to balance out her body. Anyone with the right attitude can be taught to work hard but teaching a kid how to read a situation or how to understand a situation is just as important. I watched a 10 & 11yr old working together on Saturday for a few hours. They were like 2 middle aged, seasoned climbers who understood what it takes to read a climb, work through it and top it. That takes mental aptitude and learning. away from the hard graft.

What I am getting at is although training harder and harder will be important, its possible you could put him off riding all together or even worse, hurt himself. Its just not worth it.

We approach our climbing with the attitude they are like an empty toolbox to begin with. Each lesson learnt is another tool in the box they can call upon for each eventuality. There must be other aspects of bike control, competition mentality, diet, preparation etc etc etc which you can choose to equally concentrate on as well as upping the training levels.

If its all down to grunt and determination, I suspect only the fortunate few who have the genetics and desire will be able to succeed.

Just read your last post. Father son riding more, whats not to like 🙂

Anyway, moving on… The whole point of this process was for it to be me and him time, the racing and results were intended to be just a quick test, but we found a certain level of ability and aptitude

Mate…. this is what you can never get back 😀 Completely agree and the other activities need doing anyway…

Just looking at the overall series results. Bit of a bummer really LOL.

We missed round 1 as we were at Rockingham, but if he’d done that race and finished in his usual place, he’d be sitting in 2nd in the championship now…. As it is, he’s sitting in 5th. Sadly as we’re not going to make the final round it’s likely he’ll drop 1 more place to 6th overall… But i don’t think there’s a lot we can do about that.

Assuming we go racing next year i don’t expect such wonderful results though as it’s in with the bigger boys next year in the U12 catagory ! eeeek !

Hopefully if the weather holds we may hit Swinley this afternoon for an hour or fun and laughs !

Just looking at the overall series results. Bit of a bummer really LOL.

Shouldn’t let it bother you…. or him.
It’s annoying I guess for races with grid positions but surely a wider experience of different stuff (going back to your thread title) is better than a single series?

.Shouldn’t let it bother you…. or him.
It’s annoying I guess for races with grid positions but surely a wider experience of different stuff (going back to your thread title) is better than a single series?

The series has been brilliant for his riding as the courses are so incredibly varied, different surfaces, grip levels, obstacles etc. So its been worthwhile. You also get to gauge improvements against known riders as you race them time and again.

The series has been brilliant for his riding as the courses are so incredibly varied, different surfaces, grip levels, obstacles etc. So its been worthwhile. You also get to gauge improvements against known riders as you race them time and again.

What I meant is that slipping overall series places doesn’t need to be a big deal.

Sooner of later it’s likely you’ll have some conflict or other.. be it flute or something else so it’s easier (IMHO) just to forget about the overall rankings and just take each one as it comes. I don’t mean don’t attend the ones you/he can … rather just don’t worry about overall series ranking and if school/flute/family holidays mean you miss one then it doesn’t matter.

For me this is probably a bit more forced due to work as I simply have no idea what weekends I’ll end up working but at least at this age I think that might be a good thing rather than deal with other conflicts like family holidays or such?

24 mile ride today with lots of trees, woods, bunny hopping, racing and gingerbread frogs. He really enjoyed the big day out with the guys and pushed them hard at times!

Gutted. Supposed to be at BPW this afternoon but I’m down with the lurgy. Just feeling rubbish, tired and achey. So we’re bailing.

Didn’t know where the best place to put this was, so went back to one of his old threads.

My lad is now 10 and still loving the bikes, he’s done plenty of XC racing and a few mini-enduro races in the last few years. He’s now decided he wants to do the tricky/techy stuff more after recent trips to Morzine/Les Gets and Bike Park Wales.

So we’ve progressed to this today.

Bike collected and it’s all sweet.

I spent an hour cleaning, checking sorting, lubing etc.. But essentially it’s exactly how it’s supposed to be. Bars are potentially a little wide at 740mm, but we’ll see as he’s currently testing it as we speak. Brakes have been bled and the span/reach set to somewhere appropriate.

“Wow, coming down the steps you hardly even notice it daddy”… I think that’s a win from the bike 🙂

Sizing is all good, it’s got an 80mm stem on there, so we could potentially stick a 40-50mm one on there if he feels it’s a bit of a stretch, but seems good to me.

It’s running 2×9 at the moment, which i’ll likely swap to 1×10 at some stage once he’s used to it, which will give better crossover between that and my other bikes/spares which are 10 speeds. I’ll also pick up some QR spacers for a front and rear i have here which are my Whyte spare/XC wheels just in case he has a breakage i can then get him out ASAP.

It’s tubed at the moment, but i’ve got to wait for a set of tubeless valves as i’m all out of stock. That will be done at the weekend hopefully 🙂

[url=https://flic.kr/p/29J5fkE]2018-09-06_03-50-53[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/284EXnE]2018-09-06_03-51-08[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Lucky lad.

The drive needs some attention. And what’s going on with the fall pipe?

1. Drive is fine on my side… 🙂  their side doesn’t get weeded.

2. Dunno, it’s been like that for 3 years since we moved in, in simple things i think it’s not long enough 🙂

Sadly we didn’t hit the FoD on the weekend with taff. My lad awoke on Sunday and couldn’t even get out of bed due to tweaking his knee somehow. So he’s been down on the injured list for a couple of days.

The ongoing sorting of his bike has been continuing though.
50mm stem (from an 80mm) has been fitted.
Pedal washers have arrived.

This has also just been ordered
https://www.jejamescycles.com/the-point-5-slant-full-face-helmet.html

It was easier than hiring one every time we go somewhere Technical. Whether he needs it or not, i’m still open to debate on. But he likes the feeling of security and doesn’t suffer from the heat in the same way as adults.

The tubeless valves are still not here, so we’ve still only got 1 tyre done tubeless… Although i’ve now got extra Stans fluid 🙂

Things left to do…. Hmmm Crank stuff. This is a bit of a debate at the moment.
He’s got a 2 ring setup fitted, with a 38/24 on it. Which seems fine and happy. But i would like to go to a 1X setup so i can put a chainguide on it if needed and an NW ring. But not sure yet if he’s going to be OK if i stick say a 30T on the front.
Sadly it’s also a PF30 bottom bracket, which isn’t my preference in any part of the world… So debating whether we use a PF/24mm converter to put to a Shimano/Raceface 24mm crankset.
The other part of the reasoning is that 1 side of the crank arms, the pedal thread isn’t quite right, it’s been very slightly cross threaded. You can just feel a bit more tension than i’d like in there.

You can buy a pedal tap for £6…. which is tempting… https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Super-B-TB-1906R-Pedal-Tap-Thread-RH-9-16/141698317655?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

But i worry it may actually make things worse rather than better…

My lad awoke on Sunday and couldn’t even get out of bed due to tweaking his knee somehow.

Hmmm Crank stuff. This is a bit of a debate at the moment.

The two might be related …

You can buy a pedal tap for £6

You are welcome to borrow one….  you can always get a helicoil fitted anyway if stuff goes pear shaped.

Ollie smashed a DMR V12 in a crash and managed to damage his threads.  We were booked on uplifts but the lads in Leisure Lakes bikes fixed it over lunch and it’s since been through multiple crashes and rock strikes.

There is a kids DH race @417 on Sunday btw. (which the Ardent will be fine for)

1. He’s done about 400m on the bike total, i can’t see it being related. He didn’t ride on the Sat at all as we were at Rockingham on a trackday… it’s more likely he did it jumping up/down stuff as kids do.

2. 417, tell me more…. entry/link etc ? I’ll deffo have something else on there for the weekend anyway as i want to tubeless it and the non-tubeless Ardents haven’t been easy in the past, so i’m unlikely to even bother.

Can’t find anything at all on that race…

Found it 🙂

Found it

Yep sorry … it’s not the easiest info to find 😀  I ended up doing a “10km of Cheltenham this week” search on BC.

There is a free to use compressor @ 417 btw… (if you did want to mess after)