And finally XT at the rear mech or XTR?

If I was selectively buying XTR, I’d sooner have an XTR shifter and an XT rear mech, rather than the other way around.

This thread is why I stayed in academia and pretend to be a computing scientist.

SLX cos you get two extra chainrings to sell unused if you go 1x

Just for balance? To balance the last thread about SSC which was, for the most part, very positive? Or did I miss another one…

Is recovery actually literaly not exercising? I thought that low intensity spinning was good for recovery as you are at least pumping blood through your legs, getting ride of lactic acid etc ?

Not quite. Recovery encompasses a whole bunch of things, including training, not training, stretching, eating, sleeping, hydrating, etc.

Lots of people aren’t working hard enough for their high intensity training and aren’t taking it easy enough for their low intensity training.

Most people under-recover rather than overtrain. If you feel shit then eat more, sleep more and take care of your body (foam roll, stretch, etc).

Mismatching tyre brands is dangerous because the bicycle fashion police might beat you up for lack of style.

Long term user. Google “inverted aeropress” to see how to make better coffee with it. I think the aeropress makes good (not great) coffee but does it much more consistently than a French press. Less cleaning up too…

core – Member
I struggle with grips, I’ve got big hands, wide palms, and often the outer clamp of lock ons is uncomfortable, I’m already on 740mm bars & don’t want to go wider.

Got THESE on my other bike, one lock ring is nice, and secure enough, they could just do with being a tad thicker.

Thickness issues aside, do you feel any benefit from them over regular grips? That is, grips which aren’t “ergonomically optimised”? I’m tempted to try their GA2 grips.

garage-dweller – Member
So if ardents should I go “lust” or something else

I’m really uncool and still use tubes, so can’t make an informed comment on tubeless setup. There’s a tubeless-ready version (TR), which I guess is less of a tight fit than the UST version.

Maxxis Ardent? Big volume, good sidewalls, pretty fast rolling.

Disagree with the suggestion that difficult features should get built off the main line (unless it’s an already established trail, then I agree). Difficult features are often easier at high speed and they reward riders competent enough to hit them fast, so don’t punish them by taking them off the line.

Give less experienced or skilled riders incentive to progress by putting them at a disadvantage with the chicken run. A slight turn or climb to slow them down.

Cathkin’s not worth the ride out IMO. Head to Milngavie (pronounced mul-guy). Plenty of options for starting on the West Highland Way then coming back through Mugdock woods.

One forest has about 50+ on the better known trails, the other has around 250+. Not a huge amount of activity around here, most folk on Strava appear to be on the roads instead.

Mountain biking only here. Mostly natural stuff in the woods or up in the hills. Trail centre riding occasionally when I need my fix of fast corners and little jumps.

Strava calculate their own elevation based on the GPS trace and an elevation map. Probably because most phones and some GPS devices are poorly calibrated or inaccurate at elevation. Of course, that doesn’t always get it right too, depending on how accurate the GPS trace is.

As for distance, no idea there. Similar services tend to compress your uploads by smoothing the trace (reducing every four data points to their average, for example) which can lower the distance by removing very small movement deviations which add up to a noticeable difference over a longer period of time. No idea if Strava do that or not.

Also work on pumping – pushing the bike down into the ground through your feet. Weighting the bike like that helps it find more traction and builds speed without needing to pedal.

I like Strava for personal motivation. I want to improve on my own times, up my monthly mileage or elevation gain, and keep track of where I’ve been.

bigblackshed – Member
The slot being offset. Mine on both bikes happen to be at the front, brilliant design so the mud can’t clog it up and gunk up and scratch the seatpost. And neither of them are exactly inline with centreline of the frame, thus the seat would not be aligned straight.

Ahhhh, I misunderstood. I thought you meant the slot on the post, not the slot on the actual frame. Okay, I’m with you now.

bigblackshed – Member
As long as your preferred climbing height is exactly on one of the 50mm increments. And it’s not full of mud. And the slot is on the back of the seatpost. And the slot is not offset slightly so the nose of the seat points at your grip on the bars.

Check the article linked in the OP. You can adjust it much more finely than every couple of inches. Set the screw closest to your preferred height, then you adjust the height of the sleeve which sits against the screw, letting you get the height just right. Not sure I get your point about the slot not being offset though.

I can’t justify buying a dropper (especially since 27.2mm ones are more expensive and uncommon) that costs more than the rest of the bits on my bike and I’m happy with my QR clamp.

I’d definitely be interested in something like this. It makes sure the saddle is straight and means I don’t have to wipe the mud (that delicious Scottish mud which Northwind mentioned) off the back of my post to see the height gauge to make sure I get it at the right height for climbing. I think it solves problems which you don’t realise were problems, until they’re gone.

globalti – Member
When they say they are actually manufacturing, do they mean they’ve rented a factory and equipment and are actually making stuff like Hope do? because that’s a massive business risk. More likely they’re getting stuff made to their own design by a contract manufacturer, of which there are many in the Far East.

For some new stuff they’re doing it themselves in-house. A risk for sure, but there’s probably always going to be a demand for low-price anodised bike bits. Suppose it’s a safe bet starting with pedals given the popularity of their other ones.

Never had a problem with them and happy to buy stuff from them again.

RS Recons are inexpensive, straight steerer and quite easily available. Only seen them sold as 100mm but you can take the air spring apart and adjust to 120mm. The RL version has a better damper than the TK ones.

epicyclo – Member
I’ve had my rear disk jammed up with heather, so what would happen to a derailleur is anyone’s guess.

I’ve had a few occasions where heather has gotten stuck in my derailleur with no damage to show for it. It’s not much different to small sticks getting caught up back there. You quickly realise what’s happened and it takes a few seconds to pull it out. They’re sturdy things.

If you care about the time and distance more than the actual route you took, you could just delete that activity and manually enter a new activity with the correct time and distance (and nae route).

http://labs.strava.com/heatmap

The Strava Heatmap doesn’t show segments, or give you easy access to further information, but it does show where most activity is taking place. I use it in conjunction with the segment map to find ways of joining segments up.

Helsinki is an incredible city, lucky you! I spent some time there last October for work and would love to go back. It’s not especially cold, temperature-wise, but the wind is very chilling! It can be fairly grim towards the end of the year when the days get shorter just because there’s so little daylight. I’ve known a few folks who’ve had trouble adapting to that but those little SAD lamps are easily available and help. There’s a Marks & Spencer now so Percy Pigs are easy to get your hands on; that’s all that matters really.

I didn’t notice any anti-Sweden sentiment that mt mentioned, but then I haven’t noticed a serious dislike between Scotland and England either so maybe his/her view is skewed.

A few folk saying it’s faster downhill on FS than HT. While I accept that FS can be faster downhill (smoother ride, increased traction, etc.), I’m going to say that in this case, no-one’s good enough to reach the limits of their HT. You’re faster on the FS because you suck and it compensates for your mistakes. Most people aren’t good enough to be under-biked on a HT. I guess what I’m saying is that HTs are great but they demand more of your abilities.

I consider myself a fairly competent rider but I totally wimp out on raised wooden stuff like in that video. All in my head, I know, but it psyches me out and I become unbalanced, rigid and clunky.

Like P-Jay, I found the thick sole more beneficial than the increased grip (although that was very welcome, too). Thick sole helps dampen vibration and also makes for more effective power transfer to the pedals.

Not looking forward to the day my shoes need replaced, though. Although good shoes are worth it, £80 is a lot of money.

I got some Squirt lube last week after another thread here where most folk recommended it. I was previously using Finish Line Dry (red cap). Very impressed with Squirt and its “self cleaning” properties – had a few manky rides around damp and muddy trails and it’s quiet and clean (unlike the rest of the bike); by comparison the Finish Line Dry would’ve been long gone, leaving me with a dirty and noisy chain.

It’s a misconception that training is always difficult and tough going. In reality, what people perceive as “junk” miles are actually good for recovery and building aerobic fitness. Ride yer bike and you’ll be all the better for it.

Replaced the battery in the HRM strap? Might be getting a bit off as it runs out.

It could be that your initial measurements were too high and you’re now seeing true values. For example, my average HR is a few beats higher around times where I’ve not been getting enough sleep, when I’m stressed, or on rides where I’ve had a lot of coffee beforehand. Lifestyle changes affect your hormones and that, in turn, can affect your heart rate readings.

I’m with FunkyDunc on this one. The article at the end of the most recent issue (#98) seems applicable here: we’re naw that good that things like bike geometry make any significant difference.

Install as normal and, if you want to use it, just snap it over the bolt.

Grew up near Largs. Stringing together a good 40km XC ride is tricky, nevermind something with enough up-and-down for an enduro event. Unless one of the transitions involves taking a ferry across the Clyde to somewhere hillier…

I’m using cheap Shimano ones (Deore?) and they’re great. The enclosed cam is pretty much solid. Never had much luck with other types of skewer.

Winning with no chain is impressive as heck, but even more surprising, to me, was that he was the fastest through the speed trap! With nae chain!