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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 😯
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.
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 🙂
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!
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.
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.
Just stripped the headset and found more Eastnor mud.
My washing machine is currently trying to digest more of the same...
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 😀
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!
Saved the washer a hard job by hosing all my riding clothing off on the patio. Then washed and cleaned as normal.