Midweek Mini Movies

It’s time for this week’s selection of rapidly moving pictures to distract you from the massive job of singlehandedly hauling the nation out of the economic slum we find ourselves in. What harm can having a cheeky half hour of vicarious enjoyment do?*

Dusty, sunny and buff big bike riding with the second episode of ‘Chasing Gravity. It’s a trip through some West Coast riding spots (fo’ shizzle). For more information and photos of these riding destinations please visit projektroam.com and gravityrideguide.com…

Yup, Mr Dave Garland, the Chain Reaction Cycles/Nuke Proof team mechanic and man behind Stendec, has returned to make all the tech geeks out there happy. This week we have his top tips on how to set your bike up for wet races, which is full of useful advice for the ‘mixed conditions’ of British summer weather. He’s also done his magnum opus on how to strip, rebuild and set up the Marzocchi 888 RC3 fork HERE if that’s tickled your fancy.

http://vimeo.com/25977416

The Llangollen downhill track is supposedly the steepest track used in the National series and as an ex-local, it’s one of Web-boy Jon’s favourites. It’s manic, sub two minute mix of seriously steep plummeting with the odd catch berm. Here’s WideOpenMags edit from the fourth round of the Halo BDS. As well as a portable loo interview with Josh Bryceland it contains a bit of effin’ an’ jeffin’ so be careful if you’re a bit sensitive…

We’re not sure wether this video from posh cycling kit maker Rapha is incredibly atmospheric or extremely tenuous. Set to a background of Pantani’s epic breakaway in 1998 on the Galibier climb of Le Tour, some men on road bikes follow in his footsteps…

There’s been a spate of break-ins in Milton Keynes, starting with Tracey Moseley’s World Champs bike – it seems a very similar thing happened at distributor Madison, where a rather rare Saracen Zen Madison Saracen Team edition bike in red was stolen. Only six of them exist, so if you see it call 01908 326000. Here are the little scrotes in action…

You’d expect an 111 year old to go a little bit ‘strange’ and the UCI seems to be no exception. After the whole ‘UCI Approved’ road frame stickering saga, enforcing a little known rule about having to have your saddle exactly horizontal at the Tour De France and being generally quite mad without any prompting, they’ve now decided to have a pop at Chinese made carbon fibre frames, saying that they may be unsafe. BikeBiz kindly point out why that’s a bit wide of the mark. Here’s a video of Pat MC Quaid from the UCI telling Carlton Reid why steel frames were much better than carbon to keep you entertained in the meantime…

Talking of madness, we have literally no idea what is going on here. 300mm cranks? Eddie Van Halen? Aliens? It’s got it all…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAMCE4L9IIY

To finish off with the space theme, here’s everyone’s favourite astronomer Patrick Moore testing out a selection of snacks from space. He’s not a snacker but he’ll do his best…

* Well, if three thousand of you lot spend half an hour here then that’s actually 200 days worth of work lost as you all stare at the screen and let the vitally important report wait for a bit. We’re pretty much removing someone from the economy for a year. And we do that each Wednesday. Just think what the forum is doing…