Stay on the train to Port Talbot, ride up the Afan Valley and stay at the Afan Lodge[/url] maybe? There’s far more man made way marked trails to ride around Afan and Glyncorrwg to do!

Cwmcarn is over before you know it. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some great natural riding around there but you have to know where it is.

@slowjo We compared on Garmin as he doesn’t do Strava. By the time I’d uploaded to Strava the difference was even greater in moving time, mine had increased by 8 minutes!

Me and a mate did a 8 hour training ride last weekend, I was recording the ride with a Garmin Edge 305 and he with a 500. When we finished the ride the results were vastly different! Ok, he was getting to the top of the climbs a little faster than me but at the end of the ride he’d done something like 25 minutes and 10k or so less riding. My unit seemed the more accurate of the two as it was closer to my cycle computer stats.

5’8″ and I have two 29ers. I think the smaller sizes look better anyway! 😉

Used 26″ AC, had them for over 4 years and not had to do a thing to them apart from grease the freehub. Using Hope Pro2/Crests on both my 29ers and not had a problem so far apart from dinging the back rim on a rock. Setting up tubeless on the Crests is easy, not tried on the AC.

Try using smart if it’s an option, or every 1 or 2 seconds.

On my Edge 305, Smart Recording is for longer rides. I have 2 options Every Second, which will record up to 3.5 hours and Smart Recording for longer rides.

From that I would assume Smart Recording is LESS accurate!

Your contract isn’t with Giant, it’s with Swinnertons. Surely when you ordered the bike they should have made you aware of any changes to the spec of the bike you were buying. As far as I’m aware “subject to change” means if they change a component it should be changed for a similar quality component. There’s a big difference between tubless ready RR and bog standard Crossmarks.

I would have thought at the very least they should have made you aware and sold you the bike at a reduced price!

Used responsibly it can be a useful training tool to gauge how much your fitness has improved. For instance, me and my mate are both training for 24 solo at Twentyfour12. He’s fitter and faster than me so where as I know I’m getting fitter and faster so is he so it’s difficult to gauge how much I’ve improved. This is where I find Strava useful, I upload my rides and hopefully it tells me I have x amount of PRs.

A good example is this. I rode at Afan Argoed on Saturday, the weather was dire, high winds and heavy rain and I felt tired and slow. But when I uploaded to Strava I had 7 PRs.

Taff , Try 1 tab of High 5 Zero in 2ltrs of water . They taste nice and are good at delaying cramp

Just so you’re clear though, these have NO carbohydrates at all so where as they will hydrate you nicely you’ll have to keep topping up your energy with other things.

Yep Graham, I must admit to still feeling a little tired today. The training plan has been a bit of a chore this week and I have 8 hours MTB riding to do this weekend! 🙁 Roll on tapering!

2nd Male Solo was on a 29er Scandal (singlespeed) he didnt realise there was a cat for it, he hurt after.

2nd place Male solo was Huw Thomas who was riding a Niner, riding for the same team as me Loco Racing. He is also sponsored by Niner/Stans/Ergon.

We were 5th in Old Gits Pairs, I was riding a Salsa Mamasita and Mark a Scandal, both 29ers. Hard to say if the course was more suited to a 29er or indeed if a 29er was quicker. I was certainly quicker than previous years on 26″ but I would expect to be. For the first time in my life I’ve followed a proper structured training plan in preparation for 24 solo at Twentyfour12.

I’m totally happy with my new bike too! But it’s not the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last time! 😉

Great event I loved it!

I won’t mention the team, but did anyone else see the guy sprinting the run at the start then when he got to the bike someone else from his team rode off to do the first lap! 🙁 Is that in the rules?

Those of you moaning that the SS category has been combined with the old blokes cat – it was always like that

Not so much moaning but disappointed. I mainly ride SS and so like to race in the SS category but if there aren’t enough entries to constitute a race then I agree there’s no point in having the Cat.

Don’t mind racing in Old Gits Cat, I am 48 after all! 😉

Weather update Mr Rickon. Is it safe to leave my sofa?

Andrew, hello Are they non-USTs? I suppose I could talk to you later about it though.

Yes, non UST

Put a Race King on the back of the SS yesterday and just used a track pump to inflate. It had lost a bit of air by this morning but that’s normal with some tyres. Although, it’s not a 2012 tyre.

make sure the tyre sits in the central groove and no problem (bonty and maxis tyres on with minimum fuss)

As above it’s all in the technique, I’ve fitted 4 tyres on Crest rims today (Bontrager 29.3, Schwalbe RR and 2 Conti Race King) and not had an issue getting them on at all. Once you’ve done a few they really are quite easy.

Doing 12 hours pairs in Old Gits Cat. A bit pissed off because we originally entered into SS Pairs but apparently there aren’t enough entries so Old Gits and SS Pairs have been combined. So the Inbred 29er has been put back in the shed and the Mamasita lubed up and readied.

Same tyres I always use! Don’t think it’s going to get muddy at Bristol as the vast percentage is surfaced and pretty weatherproof. Well certainly not muddy enough to warrant mud tyres anyway.

It says today’s ride was 21,686.3km long and that I had an average speed of 10,177.4km/h.

Now I have been riding a bit more than normal lately, but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion it might have accidentally added a bit on.

Is your name Mike Hall? 😉

Andrewj, just trying to let OP know that there’s a lot more to Wales than Afan. The natural trails in the Beacons far outclass the trail centers, but local knowledge is essential

Yes I know, I live in the Brecon Beacons and have the knowledge 😉

Funnily enough, I’ll be using that knowledge to ride from home and do Skyline tomorrow, then I’ll be riding back. Should take me around 7 hours 🙂

You got to love this forum, OP asks for Afan advice and gets told to go to Brechfa!

W2 Skyline is boring as it has far too many fire roads sections.

No, Skyline has lots of fire road in it, W2 is a totally different trail which has very little fire road in it and lots of singletrack.

I it’s a tie after the match plus ET just keep playing until someone [strike]scores[/strike] dies through exhaustion.

+1

Simple in a final if no one wins in normal + extra time then the trophy stays with the current holders as no one has won it.

Or as an alternative if you are awarded the trophy on penalties there is no presentation ceremony and no medals for the players – just a matter of record that the team was awarded the trophy.

Fair play, those are just about the worst alternative suggestions to a penalty shoot out I’ve ever heard 😉

As for the course it is normally designed a few weeks before as the weather plays a big part in deciding where is safe to ride up and down.

This is why I stopped doing the Mayhem. The courses seemed to get more and more boring as the event started to cater for the entry level/team of ten/fun rider!

Why though, surely rain just makes fun DH sections more interesting, not dangerous!

+1

turps (white spirit)

+1

Is there a significant difference in the “throw-me-over-the-handle-bar” ability?

If you want to be thrown over the bars then maybe stick with the Elixir, it’s one of the things I don’t like about them, sort of either on or off. SLX have a much better feel to them, better modulation, they’ll throw you over the bars if you want but not accidentally.

However over a period of 5 months the power just tailed to the point where i couldn’t lock the rear wheel with two fingers.

I’ve had Deore on my SS for the last 2 years and they still work faultlessly. Not had to bleed them at all just change the pads every now and again.

I have Elixir R on one bike and SLX on another and there are two reason why I prefer SLX. Firstly, they are simply a much better brake and secondly, the ease of setup. Shortening the hose, bleeding, changing pads are just so easy on SLX/Shimano. Bleeding Avid brakes is just a gigantic PITA!

Rode 3.5 hours at Afan yesterday and 3 hours at NyA today. Think I’ll have a rest tomorrow!

I wondered whether you can do both and what effect it has on training, etc.

I’ve been SSing for years and usually do all my events SS too. This year I’ve started to train with a HR monitor and have been amazed at how high my HR is when climbing on a SS. I’m training for a 24 solo and with that in mind have decided that I won’t be able to follow my training plan riding SS. I find it’s almost impossible to stay in zone on the climbs and I’m simply putting in too much effort to build the required stamina/endurance that will be required for a 24 solo.

Just put the tyre in a sink full of very hot soapy water for 10 minutes and they fly on. 🙂

find ’em a bit noodly

What’s that then?

Well, it’s going to depend on what your current setup is. I’m in the process of doing this and have had to buy the following so far:-

Seatpost – 27.2 to 31.6 and clamp
BB – New frame is Press Fit
Headset – New frame is tapered

You may also have to consider stem length and bars. In my experience you may need a shorter stem and flat bars with a bit of a sweep.

to ward off any rim rot caused by Stans

Uh, what’s that then?

Had mine a few months and it been fine from the start. Bloody loud though!

Simon at Loco Tuning converted it for me. There’s a spring inside that has to be removed to stop it springing back.

I have a lever I can sell you if I can find it. I probably used it for about 6 rides before I got fed up. The lever worked fine it was the cable that kept sticking. But if the forks are under a year old you may have a warranty claim.

It’s in the lever.

I converted mine to turn key lockout on top of the forks. Got fed up with constantly having to fix/service it after every ride.

When you press the lever is the dial on top of the forks moving? If it’s not it’s probably something simple like the cable has become detached. The cable is just a standard gear cable which you can replace yourself.

I’ve used some hard wood between the washers and the cups just to cut down the chance of maybe damaging the cups.

Sounds like just the right event for September and literally just up the roads from me! 🙂

Ok this is my experience of metal sheds.

Firstly, unless you mount them on a wooden floor they condensate really badly. So bad that your bikes get wet, you open the doors and it rains on you. I believe you can counter act this by sticking polystyrene tiles to the inside but it sounds like a huge faff to me.

Secondly, they look ok when first erected but dent really easily and look like crap a year in when they fade and show signs of rust.

Thirdly, they are so noisy. This can be a good thing because you’ll know when someone’s trying to rob you but if you have neighbours and you’re regularly in and out of the shed they’ll quite quickly get a bit pissed.

I wouldn’t buy another!