It will be difficult to self-diagnose. So a skills course or just deliberately going out with a friend to work on this aspect of your riding will help.

The solution is likely to be a mix of the mental and physical:

Looking ahead, having your weight in the right place, getting your feet right – all that stuff.

And feeling comfortable – this transmits to how you interact with the bike. If you’re tensing up mentally, you’ll likely be gripping the bars too tight and stiffening your muscles. Imagine someone’s watching, imagine no-one’s watching, visualise success. Whatever works for you.

The main thing is that if you haven’t solved on your own thus far, get a second opinion (paid or unpaid!).

Thanks, epicyclo :D

Everyone else here seems to know more about fat bikes than me (seriously) so I only commented on the bit I know about!

For singlespeed gearing, I run 32:18 unladen and I ran 22:18 at the Iditarod. It’s do-able, but probably not a good idea if you’re used to riding geared bikes.

I’ve had a go on the Moots, and it was NICE :)

I think that for small companies wanting to get their name and their products out there, it can be effective. Even to cynical mountain bikers.

I trust my eyes and my peers more than anything else when it comes to bikes/parts/clothing. My first stop is personal recommendations from people I know, but if I see something good at a race or on the trail, I might consider buying it. It’s good grass-roots marketing.

And having riders doing interesting stuff on your bikes give magazines/websites more opportunities to mention you. They might only review your bike once, but then it gets mentioned/seen in action later. That’s the kind of thing that sticks in people’s subconscious.

binners has just made an excellent argument for proper in-depth reporting, though.

If magazines are all fluffy press releases, their website are even worse. Which is OK considering what they are for… Quickly spreading the latest information. binners is right that having such information in the magazine becomes increasingly pointless.

BUT, that strengthens the argument for proper in-depth articles. Well researched and well written. That’s where spending time looking at the farce of mountain biking’s governing bodies would be good. That’s where looking at the kind of long-term experiences of riders would be important. I’d love to hear a Paxman style interview with Raceface about how utterly useless their BBs have been since square taper. Maybe they wouldn’t want to give a response – but anyone who doesn’t read internet forums wouldn’t be able to guess how terrible they are.

Probably the first half of August. SSWC is at the end of the month so we don’t want to clash with that.

It’ll be quite a bivvy trip if you ride there again, Stuart!

It’s not going to be at a Gorrick venue (not that there’s anything wrong with their races)

And like I said, I don’t know 100%, but I think the decision was mostly about sharing it around the country. We had Bristol not that long ago.

Well there is a venue and a general date in mind, but it’s not booked yet. Booking before finding out whether we would actually be running the race seemed a bit premature!

ahwiles – You can always just keep an eye on here!

Yep, it’s going to be in the South East. I sent a press release out, but since we don’t have confirmed dates or a venue yet I suppose it wasn’t a very compelling story :)

In reality, it’s probably quite like the World Cup. SSUK has been to Wales, Scotland, The North. Now it’s time to have it near London!

I’ve set up a web page and a Twitter account for people who are interested in following it. The next major step will be to announce the date and venue which will go out to MTB websites too anyway.

http://twitter.com/ssuk_2011
http://www.ssuk2011.com/%5B/url%5D

You should try again with amazing wit and insight over here:

http://www.nomeatathlete.com/%5B/url%5D

It’s well known that vegetarian riders like me can’t handle[/url] cold :roll:

BTW, I was advised to use DT Comps instead of my usual Revolutions for 29er wheels. A friend said he said he could feel the difference in flex on bigger wheels. I haven’t seen the effect for myself, but I just went straight in with Comps.

Very happy with 355s, especially with their tubeless performance i.e. simple to fit and no concerns in use.

Dr Aidan – Computer Science

But I left the cube farm behind.

I did it this year with my girlfriend who had done next to no training. So if you’re reasonably fit, then finishing (in the 2 day challenger category) isn’t too hard.

Certainly, the biking won’t be a problem for you! Just make sure you do some running/walking before the event so your knees are used to it.

Just make sure you have a plan for the finish. They failed to provide hot food or let the locals know that the event was happening. There was no camping provided so we all had to find taxis to hotels or walk a way down the road to pay for a campsite.

For the hands, pogies. I don’t know where you can buy cycling ones in the UK, but you could always try to make some.

Tablets would be lighter and (in a way) quicker. You can let them do their thing while you carry on moving. If solids are going to be an issue you can use all kinds of things to filter out the worst as the water goes into your bottle.

I’ve used an MSR Miniworks filter too, and it does produce nice tasting water but it is quite bulky and needs regular cleaning. e.g. in Wales I get about 2L of water before it really slows down and needs cleaning. Obviously, you can clean it while you’re out, but it’s extra hassle.

I’ve done that combo myself and it was startlingly easy. Lots of soap around the bead and rims, then inflate with a track pump to seat them.

Let them down again, then put the sealant in and re-inflate. The sealant isn’t to seat them, it’s to seal them so you shouldn’t put it in at first.

There are good instructions on the Stans site:

http://www.notubes.com/support_detailed.php

Don’t forget that the goo dries out after 2-3 months so you’ll need to put more in.

Truvativ chainring bolts that have allen key interfaces on both sides.

I won’t ever go back to the old style.

It hasn’t really changed my life though!

I’ve had both King and Hope, and now I have 3 sets of Hope hubs and no King. The Hope hubs engage fast enough for me – I didn’t notice any difference in engagement except between Hope/King vs. low-end Shimano.

Hopes are more serviceable, have all spares easily available, and good backup. Everything wears out, but at least Hope will get you up and running again.

I am DT-curious but don’t have the £ to try them out :)

You can train yourself to drink less.

The amount you drink is basically due to habit as thirst isn’t a great indicator of your need for water. If you’re used to sipping regularly during a ride, and you’re not stopping excessively to pee then you may well be drinking the “right” amount.

But it is possible to get used to running on less. Whether or not it’s a good idea is a debatable. Being dehydrated will reduce your performance but so will carrying lots of heavy water.

If you can get used to drinking less while you’re training, you can begin to recognise the signs of getting too dehydrated. Learning to listen to your body is key because you’re beginning to play a dangerous game.

I used to drink loads. 1L per hour on the bike and lots during the day. I have walked across the Anza Borego Desert, ridden the Iditarod Trail Invitational and The Tour Divide.

In all of those, I just couldn’t carry the ideal amount of water. So, well in advance, I would reduce the amount I drank while training. I could stretch things out so that I drank about 2/3 of what I had before – as long as I had the opportunity to fully rehydrate on a regular basis (daily, usually).

Just don’t mess about and get yourself fried in a desert with no chance of getting extra water!

I guess you dont actually ride bikes then. You just sit on board and hold on and let the big wheels take care of everything else.

29ers only work for tall people who are 6ft+ in height

Gosh what a troll or idiot.

I went though BB creaks with mine and immediately blamed the EBB. I took out the EBB and greased it, fiddled round with how tight I did up the screws… no effect.

In the end, it was the threads of my BB cups just like it would have been on a normal BB shell. If it’s still creaking, grease your BB threads. I use copper grease, but normal grease will probably do.

To be fair to it, when mine did start creaking, I did think back to standing in a river to fill my water bottles while it flowed at about BB height :oops:

I also went with JRA. They’ve been great!

Some wildly different experiences there…

I tried winter boots back when they were new and was seriously unimpressed. I’ve been using Endura overshoes since and, like Flatfish, I get about 1.5 winters out of a pair.

They aren’t waterproof – they’re neoprene so they keep you warm even when your feet are wet. I find them much warmer than the winter boots I tried and plenty warm enough for all conditions I’ve ridden in the UK. I get on really well with Specialized shoes so it used to be the only way to have comfortable and warm feet. But I think Spesh do their own winter boots now.

If you don’t have to do much walking, they’re ace.

It’s sad that people leave litter, but pick some up if you can. Then you won’t have to look at it and neither will the next person.

Going against the grain here a bit, but I’d be careful about “involving” her too much. Sure, if you can, get her to try for size etc. But if she doesn’t already ride, she won’t care about choosing rotor sizes, fork adjustments, or anything else herself.

You could argue that it’s no different than any person starting out mountain biking: You can’t go too far wrong with a £500-ish hardtail.

A couple of years after building up a small Rock Lobster for her, it turns out that my girlfriend really enjoyed riding a fully rigid 29er SS. I’m sure if presented with both bikes a couple of years ago, she wouldn’t have picked the SS.

Even within biking, I think a lot of people only do the things they’re good at. See the perennial “This year I’ll learn to jump/wheelie/proper-bunny-hop” thing that many mountain bikers go through.

The reasons that they don’t? For me it’s because I can do “normal” riding so it’s double frustrating practising the parts of riding I’m particularly bad at.

Clobber – it’s just the hub. Black Pro 2 SS 32h. The waffle about wheel sizes was really to make the point that it’s a perfectly fine hub and explain why I ended up with a redundant hub.

I’ve got another the same in my 29″ rear wheel.

I use Pro 2 SS hubs with Surly or On-One cogs. The Hope hubs do come with spacers that allow some chainline adjustment and they perform really well.

In fact, I’ve got one to sell. I had one on a 26″ wheel that was pretty worn out (years old, lots of miles). Hope replaced all the knackered bits the other weeks and I’m riding 29″ wheels these days so it’s going spare. Drop me an email if you’re interested.

Having said all that, I think Halo are probably just covering their arses a bit. SS chains don’t need to be b*stard tight anyway.

It was surprisingly good yesterday. Mostly splashy not muddy and it’s due to stay dry for a few days so the trails should be in good condition.

The reservoir area at the top of BKB is pretty churned up by logging machines, though.

Rather than hitting it to free it up, just undo whatever holds the EBB in place and ride up a hill.

My PW jammed after repeated river crossings and no TLC. I did exactly that to loosen it, then regreased when I got home. It’s been super-slick since then.

Oh yeah, and ride a 29er. Preferably a Singular[/url] :wink:

I rode it this year…

There is no cost of entry, but accommodation can be expensive if you chose to use it.

This year, Matt sorted us out a good rate at the hostel in Banff before the start. On the first day of the race, I had a serious tyre splitting problem and had to stay in a hotel for $100. It’s cheaper once you get to America, though. Some places know about the race and will go as low as $35/night. You can also share with other riders if circumstances allow.

Food costs are higher than you might think for the US. Remember the places you can buy food are pretty rural so charge a lot more than you would expect in a normal city.

Bike costs depend on your luck. I think I spent about $130 in Steamboat to change a couple of things: new rear tyre, new (SS) drivetrain.

Really, you want to take the financial side out of the equation once you’ve started. It costs what it costs, and if you need a hotel to dry your gear you’ll just want to get one.

I’m a vegetarian and didn’t have any trouble getting food. Most people don’t carry cooking equipment anyway so it will only affect you in restaurants and in avoiding gelatin. On the bike, I ate loads of sugary crap. At restaurants, I enjoyed big fat American breakfasts.

The vegan fixie girl took absolutely ages (31 days) to finish. It’s an impressive feat that she made it, but I wouldn’t say she “raced” it.

I have a US Visa because I also made a (failed) attempt on the PCT. I think the normal method (Visa waiver) only allows you to stay for 30 days. Depending on your plans, that might not be enough.

I think the most realistic account of the race is The Story of Eight[/url].

I enjoyed the film before I did the race but it doesn’t accurately portray what it is like. First off, Mary would have been disqualified under current rules for having external encouragement and for travelling along the route in the car when she temporarily gave up. Also, it makes the riding look quite boring – the vast majority is non-technical but not as boring as the film looks. The whole “spiritual journey” thing isn’t necessarily applicable. It wasn’t for me – it was a great ride, but not a life-changing event.

Race Face X-Type cranks. Utter, utter, utter crap.

They come paired with awful BBs, and the cranks themselves quickly develop play. I can’t believe they went from square taper Turbines to that cack.

Just watched it for the first time since riding it.

The film is much better if you haven’t ridden it :)

Good luck!

Have fun and stay safe out there.

I know a few channel swimmers – my girlfriend has done the Channel and the Cook Strait – and I’ve been to Dover a bit myself. Lots of respect to you, it’ll be tough, but it will be a hell of a thing to have done!

LA outdoor centres may become a thing of the past as LAs, due to cuts, increasingly seek to outsource services rather than provide them directly.

I love this governments deckchair shuffling. Anything that’s run by evil greedy external contracts is being brought in-house to be done cheaper. Anything that’s run by inefficient work-shy council employees is being outsourced to get the efficiencies of the market. Argh!

It’s a confusing time in this kind of industry!

FWIW, I do freelance work in this area. The pay for working days isn’t that bad £90/day to £150/day depending on the employer. The biggest downside is finding enough work. I’m not working today, for example, and that’s not by choice.

The more experience, qualifications, and contacts you have, the easier it gets, though.

Surly rigids are pretty super-rigid. They won’t break, but your wrists might.

I’m a bit biased, but I think Singular forks ride really well and Sam might have some that he could sell separately if you mail him.