I don’t like the bars hanging by their cables in the pic of the Privateer – I have, of all things, a wooden spoon in my toolkit. Screwed into the handle end is a plastic coated cup hook that I have squeezed into an eyelet with pliers, useful for pushing a rag or blue towel though, which you can then use for cleaning inside things (down seattubes, inside fork lowers, and so on…..

And then if you drop into the top of a headtube, the handle goes through but the spoon end won’t. Put through the stem and then into the headtube and it holds it all in the right place and takes the stress off the cables and hoses.

They were bungeed to frame so not under load.

Great photo

Thanks @superstu he’s a stylish lad…. but in truth, most of the buggers there are… It honestly astounds me the level these all ride at… Not just the youngsters but some of the oldies too… It’s all mightily impressive (to me anyway).

It’s all a bit quiet in the house this morning, everyone is fried from the weekend… but it’s good training and fitness (although he did uplift 4 times yesterday). This week is due to be a quiet one and then BPW on the weekend for some fun with mates. (With something else top secret on Friday for him)

It’s a little bit of calm for 2 weeks now as it’s mothers day weekend the one after and whilst it’s not been said we can’t race, it would deffo be frowned upon, so we’re keeping it clear to spend the time with the wife/mother.
We’ll obviously be out playing, riding, messing inbetween though.

I’ll be off into the garage later to clean, check, lube, sort all 3 bikes, along with hoovering and cleaning the van interior and load space… Happily though it’s less messy than usual as it was pretty dry this weekend.

Well….. I think it’s time to sack the mechanic 😀 😀

He comes in yesterday after riding up and down to test the bike “brakes feel a bit rubbish today”… I tested it too and yeah the rear was garbage.

However, he wasn’t too unhappy, so we put it down to a bit of contamination on the pads and ‘something to sort on Monday’.

I looked at it and whipped the pads out to sand them over and clean the rotor, as i was putting them back in i noticed there was something not quite right as the pads were not meshing with the rotor.
It then dawned on me that he’d been running a 180 rotor on the rear this week not a 203 lol. We had the Hope Pro4 off for repair and i didn’t want to change anything as we’d set up the gears etc nicely. So we left the ‘spare’ wheel fitted.

Obviously it now has a 203mm fitted LOL…. but the Hope has gone back in this morning anyway 😀

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2oky7yb]2023-03-06_09-46-13[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

School boy error. We standardised across all the bikes to ensure that it couldn’t go wrong. Saved on the amount of spares we needed to carry in the van

We standardised across all the bikes to ensure that it couldn’t go wrong

So had we 🙂

All his wheels are/were the same setup….. Well, right up until they were not 😀

That was the plan anyway. hahahahaha. I must have missed that wheel.

Playing with some setup stuff at lunchtime and i noticed that i REALLY dislike the chainline on this… I know i’ve mentioned it before but i was thinking “i’m sure the purple bike isn’t this bad. There’s 2 differences with the purple bike and this bike, 1 being the front chainring and the other the wheel.

I thought a bit more and i then released some of the tension on the chain tensioner at the front. It was pretty high/tight. That’s made a MASSIVE difference to the chainine. Basically when in the biggest cog on the rear (28T) it’s a wayward chainline, but you can’t move it over as the chainguide spacering it out to the 83mm. 2 spacers on the non-driveside and none (apart from chainguide) on the drive-side. I can now spin the cranks nicely in the big cog.
My other thought is that potentially a smaller chainring on the front may give me a better feel even more so. I think it’s got a 32T on the front of the purple bike and a 36T on the blue (current/main) bike. So i may come up with a plan and fit a smaller front chain-ring to the blue one. I’ll chat with the lad a bit first on what gears he’s using on the DH side of things as if he’s hitting 9/10 all the time then we arguably don’t really want to drop the front by 4T. But it’s deffo nicer than it’s been.

Rocking his new Crankbrothers shoes and pedals. Awesome surprise from the coach

Some great images there Team @weeksy

Great photos 🙂

He does seem to have taken his position on the bike to another level from earlier pictures.

Maybe just as he grows and becomes more able to get the bike working under him, rather than being a passenger but, alas the positioning – thus pics – look very good indeed.

It’s mostly down to Katy (and him). They’re all little sponges and absorb the comments instantly. If only they could all do it with school!

But she’s seeing them a LOT @ the moment and they all chat in WhatsApp too. It’s all just picking up tint nuances in each of their riding, taking it, fixing it and improving it. Then the next, the next, the next.

Even yesterdays crash was brilliant as she was recording him from the side of the trail, then showing him how and why it went wrong, he got his rear kicked out on a root, to compensate he ended up pushing his weight back, which is of course the wrong thing as that unloads the front and as he tipped in the front was light and he slid out. It was then a lesson in how to fix that next time. It’s just details details and more details. No 1 thing is the answer, it’s little bits.

The level they race at is just bonkers close, the kids are stupid fast.
https://www.rootsandrain.com/event11138/2023-mar-5-100-mini-dh-2-forest-of-dean/results/

If you see the times you’ll see how tight. He’d have got top 8 in u18 for example, he’d have won the grand vets, 4th in 19-29, got 2nd in 30-39 etc etc.
The youngsters are just rapid!

@Weeksy, which run is that new drop on? Can’t decide if it’s a goer for me but would like at least to have a look at it. Sending you a DM about a text I got from KC 🙂

It’s on Cougar Roots… If you’re going up the fire-road climb, it’s 50m over on the left. It starts just by the mound which is on the top of Ski-run V2…. but instead of going down that way, it goes over more towards corkscrew direction, then comes back over the fire-road near Mr Rooty…. then down to almost the top of the jumps on GBU.

I love seeing his style on a bike. I’m obviously very biased, but he makes it look effortless

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpnVyHPMkgc/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Weekend ended up being a bit quiet due to closures at bpw. But we may hit FoD tomorrow for some practice

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2omLqnQ]2023-03-12_07-57-12[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It appears Mrs Weeksy is giving the green light to race on mother’s Day.

It’s a trap, don’t bite!!! 😂 You’re supposed to answer with ‘no no, it’s much more important to be at home with you’!

Way too late. He’s in and entered.

Trap failed 🤣

Got some new brakes arriving this week for one of his, but still debating which bike they end up on. A mate has a set of Tech3/V4s that his boy isn’t keen on, preferring Shimanos. So we said we’d take them. But whether we fit them to the Privateer or whether they go on the 2nd Fury, i’m not sure yet. The Privateer is being used plenty by the boy and the 2nd Fury never comes out to play as it’s primary function is as a spare bike… But you’d assume there’ll be stages of the season when he comes down a hill and wants bike #2 in a DH weekend for some reason or another. Tricky little debate… but a nice debate to have of course 🙂

Will be curious to see what course this weekends race is on and what he rides on it… He’s not massively keen on Elephant Man which it potentially could be, however last race on that course he went pretty well with a 6th place so he can’t dislike it THAT much 😀

It’s a trap, don’t bite!!!

Nah! Based on the other thread, she’ll be off ragging a moto around a track somewhere spaffing @weeksy’s credit card so he cant buy a HT 😉

Also – the photos are fab. Looks like the boy is doing great. Keep it up Team @weeksy

Nah! Based on the other thread, she’ll be off ragging a moto around a track somewhere spaffing @weeksy’s credit card so he cant buy a HT

NAh, she’s going to come over and watch/join too. Which may of course mean i can enter as well 😀 but i’ve got 2 Enduro races the week after, so may give this one a miss.

Also – the photos are fab. Looks like the boy is doing great.

Thank you !!! It’s a lot lot harder than you’d think to get decent pics. Sadly the camera we’ve been borrowing for the last 6 weeks is going back to it’s owner this week, which is a shame but we’re debating whether we buy one. Obviously on race day there’s a load of camera guys who are a lot lot better than we’ll ever be at taking pics.. but on days out, we kinda need some content. I don’t post all of his pics as he throws them on Insta usually, but i like putting the odd one up.

I’ll dig out another later, which is like the one above but he’s staring straight at the camera instead of the trail.. cocky little bugger.

Also just ordred this helmet

to make some of the sponsorship agreements a little simpler in terms of pics and vids.

along with one of these

It’s never ending at times. 😀

How much messing with the Privateer are you allowed to do? Wasn’t sure if the spec was being (kinda) mandated to you or not

As long as it doesn’t detract from the overall aesthetics and as long as it goes back to stock at the end of the year, we’re OK to swap and do things.

cocky bugger.

As long as it doesn’t detract from the overall aesthetics and as long as it goes back to stock at the end of the year, we’re OK to swap and do things.

that’s pretty handy

Chatted with the lad and we’re going to fit the new Hopes to the Privateer. Depending on the course this weekend he may even race it on Sunday… (Although won’t do the brakes 5 mins before race so they can wait till Monday)

Been a quiet one this week but we may get out for a play today/tomorrow if the weather holds.

Some riding on the DH bike for the boy on Weds and yesterday was out on the Privateer all afternoon/evening. Getting some last minute training/practice for the weekend. Course announced this morning is Elephant Man. Which is good and bad, but mostly good. It’s not a course he loves, but he secured a 6/24 last time on this course/organiser so clearly he’s got decent pace here on his good day. I also think he’s riding better/faster than then. So we’ll see.
My job as always is to get him to the start line on Sunday with a working bike and working limbs… What happens after that is out of my hands and completely in his hands.

One of the big things for weekend may come down to tyre choice this weekend, it’s been raining a fair bit, so not sure yet how the conditions will play out, but we’ll be taking multiple wheels/tyre combos just in case he wants something a bit grippier on there.

Tyres will be interesting – FOD was dry as a bone but then we’ve had stacks of rain. Even Risca was a bit slippery last weekend and it’s rained pretty much solidly since then.

You’ve got a magic Mary or shorty front haven’t you?

MM, Shorty, DH22, Assegai for the front.

For the rear, pretty much the same but add in a DHR or a Disector.

I would expect we’ll take a MM/Shorty combo on one set and maybe a DH22 front on the spare wheel for the front in case he wants more grip.

In reality, i’m honestly not sure the boy cares, he just goes out and rides hard, currently on the back of the Privateer 141 i notice last night when washing it he’s got i think a Dissector or whatever it is, it’s not terribly grippy put it that way. Yesterday was slimy out on the local woods but he didn’t complain about it, he just gets on and goes. I think the tyre choices are more me justifying my job in the team than him actually wanting it 😀

Bit gutted i didn’t enter, if i’d known earlier it was Elephant Man i’d have jumped in potentially… but the funds just ain’t really there at the moment, plus i’m racing enduro twice next week.

Edit.
He’s just got up and i asked him
“Do you actually care what tyres are on for the weekend”
“No, not really… doesn’t matter”

Makes me job either a lot easier or harder, depending on how you look at the world 😀

He might not care but it probably makes a difference to his race pace though.

Dissector is ok – speed matters less on the play bike for the woods!

Which enduros are you racing next week?

It’s a very good point…. it may well do indeed.

I’ve got Haibike Enduro at BPW on Weds and then the Southern Enduro at Newnham in Plymouth way on Sunday along with the boy for his first proper race on the Privateer. In a slightly harsh turn of events with him being 15 at some stage of this year, he’s now racing in the U18… I’m sure they used to have U16 with Southern, but seems it’s U18s now. But i’m expecting him and Drew his team-mate to do OK.

I’m having a bit of a crisis of confidence/ability at the moment. Not in terms of my riding as that’s as good/bad as it gets, but more in terms of self-belief and whether i should be out there with a race number on. It’s bonkers because when i ride with mates, i’m in the higher of the group, or riding at BPW i’m catching rather than being caught… But then when i go racing, i’m so so far off the pace it’s ridiculous. I’ve got some coaching with Katy coming up, but i don’t think she can find me THAT much time lol

no pressure on the lad, but i predict a podium this weekend 🙂

Oh and tell him to get involved with tyre testing and choice, it could be the difference between winning and losing. I do get it, when i was racing (cars) i never used to adjust my suspension for track conditions, was very much just run what i brung. I am pretty sure it cost me a few places in a few races 😛

I’m having a bit of a crisis of confidence/ability at the moment. Not in terms of my riding as that’s as good/bad as it gets, but more in terms of self-belief and whether i should be out there with a race number on. It’s bonkers because when i ride with mates, i’m in the higher of the group, or riding at BPW i’m catching rather than being caught… But then when i go racing, i’m so so far off the pace it’s ridiculous. I’ve got some coaching with Katy coming up, but i don’t think she can find me THAT much time lol

I wouldn’t worry about it – just get out there and enjoy the closed trails. I’d imagine I’d be much the same – I don’t get caught at BPW etc and the only people who tend to pass me uphill whilst at Cwmcarn and the like tend to have motors on their bikes. I bet if I went racing I’d be right down the bottom of the time sheets on either XC / Enduro / DH.

I bet Katy can find you a stack of time – get her to send you some before / after videos of the cornering and then just concentrate on each change she makes. I haven’t had a coaching session for coming up 2 years and am still working on the things I was told to. Probably overdue another coaching session – might have to setup one to concentrate on jumps / drops / steep chutes this year as those are the 3 main things letting me down at the moment.

I wouldn’t overthink the tyre choice too much.
We spent alot of time in the EWS team pits looking at tyre choices and came to the conclusion that they seem to stick to the same tyres in all the conditions.

We may have swapped Abigales out if it was really bad for a Hillbilly on the front but settled on what worked best for her which were Butcher BlakDmd 2.6 front 2.3 rear.
Won’t have to worry for 18 months as she has just had her first ride in NZ after arriving Wednesday night

She has gone out with the new Butcher Grid Gravity fitted and BlkDmds for spares.

Good luck for the weekend 👍

@tracey hope she has an absolute blast out there !!!!

@v7fmp it’s a tough field with some proper quick lads out there… I think top 8 would be about nice. Higher than that would be a bonus.

@joebristol i honestly think i’ll be one of her more challenging clients. I struggle massively with coaching and struggle to do what people say. The lad just goes “sure, i’ll do that”.. I think “sure, i’ll do that” and then do the exact same thing i’ve been doing.

Is there any mud left on elephant man, last time I rode it was pretty deficient in the dirt department!

Be careful with swapping between different brands, they have a very different feel to them. I struggle to swap away from Maxxis, as have got accustomted to how they feel. Tried the spesh grid gravity in t9 recently (hillbilly and cannibal), whilst there was great mechanical grip, there was too much feedback and couldnt gauge what the grip level was when on harder surfaces.

Is there any mud left on elephant man

Not a lot in truth no, it could be argued something too draggy will slow them on the jumps and pedally section at the top. Possibly nearer the bottom, but the fast kids don’t take the ‘normal’ lines down that end. It’s amusing to watch, coming to the rock garden on the left hander, they take it as wide as it allows, then pop out of the drainage high up and skip half the issues on the next bit by going 3′ higher, then basically jump half the bottom rock garden and pin it off the last drop.

From looking what’s fitted he’s got
MM Front in Gravity compound
DHF on the back in Max Terra.

On the Spares he’s got a
DH22 on the front in silly soft/grippy
MM in gravtiy on the rear.

We’ve then got various spares we can/could take, but it’s likely to remain what we have on the wheels.