My lad, who is now 11, went up from a Beinn 24 to a Beinn 26 a while back… but I wanted to get him something with some suspension to give him more confidence downhill. It’s not easy, as most entry HTs are heavy, and many don’t come in XS. In the end I managed to get him a 13″ Rockhopper, which with a short stem and narrower flat bars seems to be about right, though it’s been a challenge getting the front end low enough. Ideally I’d have got something with an air fork as even the soft spring on a Dart 3 gives very little travel as he’s so light… but that starts to get expensive. Budget for this was about £275 with mods.

If you want pimp and niche then what about Chromag Scarabs… these do look very smart and they have plenty of pin options – expensive, mind!

I have MG1s and Nanos on my bikes.

My recommendation is a C8 XML-U3 torch which is about £15 with shipping (you need to ask for Singapore Post). You will also need a mount (£2), a charger (£4), and some 18650 cells… free from an old laptop or £2.50 upwards each.

This light runs at just under 1 amp on Medium giving about 3 hours of runtime and kicks out a very useable beam of about 400-450 real lumens. It is very bright on full beam (2.4 amps… so maybe 800+ lumens) but won’t last so long. I pair this with one or two XML T6 torches (on bar, on lid) which cost £8-10 each plus £3-£4 for mounts… you get a very flexible and pretty cheap set-up, and when you are not riding you have some great torches.

A Bandit, you say? I can do you a swap for a road bike…

I’ve put the “Drink Beer/Mates’ Race” in my diary.

QECP (Hampshire/West Sussex) – Dig Days 25th/26th May[/url] to finish off our new mini-DH and enduro trails.

Hopefully we’ll also find out about our ‘Blue’ trail rebuild pretty soon.

Have you done much of the SDW? You could do Pyecombe or Ditchling to Eastbourne… that will give you a good idea of the final 30 miles, which has a number of big climbs. You could even do it out and back if you want to do 60-70 miles.

You could try “London Calling” on Facebook(request to join) or BikeRadar… someone to ride with, and they typically ride Surrey Hills and Swinley

This is what happened to the last lot of riders to ignore the archery signs:

Stay in the Park! Don’t cross New Barn Lane (which is the road you cross as you leave the Park on the SDW heading East). There should be warning signs up on all entrances to Head Down I think, so if you see one take heed or you may end up like this:

My son is now 11, and I’ve just got him an XS Rockhopper (from eBay) which is a good size with a shorter lower stem and some narrower and completely flat bars. I also looked at Mykas as they seem very nicely proportioned in XS. The XS Rockhopper as now set up is very similar in size to his Islabikes Beinn 26 S – reach and seat height – but the front end is still a fair bit higher. Hopefully it will last him a while with a few tweaks to bars and stem as he grows.

(e) and (f) take it a bit easier… jump the stuff you are confident you can jump and give things a miss if you aren’t 99% confident. No you no longer bounce you need to take fewer risks… no no risks, but fewer of them.

I have a GT Avalanche which I got last February as a ‘winter bike’ to save the wear and tear on my FS bearings… but as it has been like winter most of the last year I’ve done much more riding on it than I expected.

Bolle Axis safety glasses… very cheap, very robust, and with adjustable arms so you can sit them on your lid harness rather than your ears (if you wish).

Oh the irony… the UCI press announcement right next to the menu item announcing “Cycling for all”…

“The UCI Cycling for All programme encourages as many people as possible to take up cycling in some form and at any level. This may mean using a bicycle as a means of transport, cycling as a leisure activity or taking part in competitions (cycle-sport events on the UCI’s Cycling for All calendar).

In order to increase the participation in cycle-sport events, the UCI works closely with National Federations, governments, and other stakeholders.”

XM-L2… like this one… better than XM-L

An absolutely splendid day at QE yesterday – everything was dry and fast. The bottom of the final descent just before the berms (‘tupac’ and ‘biggie’)it now very rough… though maybe I’d just got used to it being wet, muddy and slippery.

Good to see so many riders about… not so good to see superfli’s Heckler with a crack in it.

Pivot Mach 5.7… climbs as well as an Anthem, if not even better, and has more travel for getting down again. I own an Anthem, and the Pivot is the only FS bike I’ve ridden since I got it that gave me a bad case of the “I wants” after a demo. Much too expensive for me, mind!

In the morning I’m swapping my winter mud tyres (which I have had on my bike close on a year now) for my three-seasons dry weather tyres. Almost no mud on my ride tonight, so I am ready to go faster!

On Sunday the section around Graffham Down and Cocking was wet with some huge pudddles (as in 20m)… and they have partially resurfaced the track down to the A286 at Manorfarm Down and it is closed with a diversion through a field. OK downhill – but a struggle uphill!

Ultrafire C8 XML-U3 torch… £14 with shipping (mounts are about £1.50, a charger £5, and cells about £2.50 or free if you have old laptop batteries). Mine runs at 2.45 amps FULL – so very bright for an hour – and 0.95 amps MED which is still usefully bright for 2+ hours… definitely the best torch I have. Coupled with a 501b XML on my lid and a backup 501b XML on my bars (£10 or less each) it gives me good lighting for under £50.

Who are you calling an ‘old timer’… cheek!

Can’t beat a good OS map… they are things of great beauty.

I like that you can see the 1:25,000 OS maps online using Bing Maps, and that you can use the Strava Multiple Ride Mapper to find bits of trail that others have been riding.

The Montalbano books by Andrea Camilleri (the first one “The Shape of Water” is my least favourite, so stick with them).

The Brunetti books by Donna Leon – set in Venice.

C.J. Sanson’s “Shardlake” series – Dissolution; Dark Fire; Sovereign; Revelation and Heartstone… set in the reign of Henry VIII

“The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco

Recently I’ve been enjoying Roman detectives – Steven Saylor’s “Roman Blood” etc, Lindsey Davis’ “Falco” books, and the “Ruso” stories by Ruth Downie.

+1 – “Summer Lightning” is my rehydration of choice

No, but I’m hoping they have Pivots at the Hargroves QE Cyclefest ‘demo day’ on 19th May (Pivot were there last year) so I can try one. Loved the Mach 5.7… but this year I’m planning to give some 29ers a look. Can’t really afford a Pivot, mind :(

If you can, try riding some sections of the course before the big day so you know what’s coming. If you look at the route from Winchester to Eastbourne you will see that the last 35 miles have several big climbs which will be a test at the end of a long day in the saddle.

I’ve only done the middle section myself but I will have to do the full route sooner or later.

I have 3 of the On-One 120g short sleeves which are excellent, and which get used every ride in winter… unfortunately only available in XL and XXL now. I have a couple of the heavier long sleeves – but they are not as good… too bulky, too warm and a bit itchy.

I’m a fan of torches… and this one is may favourite at the moment… good beam on medium which lasts 2+ hours easily, and very bright on full power. £15 including postage. You do need a £5 charger, a £2 mount and some 18650 cells (free from old laptops). Best of all additional lights are all £8-£15, so I run a 501b XML T6 on my lid and another as a spare on my bars (that’s £20’s worth!)

mattbee, benmotogp46 – http://kingleyvalemountainbikers.ning.com/%5B/url%5D – You can meet up for rides and find out what’s good, bad and indifferent locally.

As Scott says we want everyone to enjoy their riding. If you can help with digging, even just the odd couple of hours, then that’s great… but come and ride whatever. The reward for us is that the Park are helping us build the types of trails that we want to ride. The more people come and ride our trails the better it is for the Park, and the better it is for mountain biking in the Park. So come and ride – and buy cake!

And this time I’m going to wait in line for the Pivot Mach 5.7 carbon… one day the wife may win the lottery!

Yes… the surfacing is done by hand with chalk we dig out of the ground. We’ll be doing more of this over the next few weeks to sort out the worst bits – volunteers welcome. My recommendation is XR Muds!

The 26″ Rockhoppers and Mykas are available in small sizes – I’ve just got a 13″ Rockhopper for my 11 year old. Not sat him on it yet, but it measures up fine. They come up second hand relatively regularly – as complete bikes. We tried some 15″ womens frames and they looked OK – e.g. a Boardman MTB Comp Fi (tried the old version, not the new one).

… and if you like jumps there’s Stoughton (at Kingley Vale) – see this[/url] and this[/url]… and check them out on Facebook.

Queen Elizabeth Country Park (see this[/url]), Kingley Vale and the South Downs. Join up at Kingley Vale Mountain Bikers[/url]if you want to meet up with local riders and get a guided tour.

XML torch – T6 is good, but you can get U2 and U3 now. As JGG says that’s about £10, but you do need a couple of 18650s and a charger which will cost you another £10 (though recycled laptop batteries are a good source of free 18650s).

Most off-piste guided trips I’ve been on in recent years require the use of a helmet. No lid: no guiding. Personally I now feel safer wearing one where there are objective hazards – trees, rocks, overconfident idiots, that sort of thing… but I wear mine all the time, just as I wear my pack all the time.

Strava
Strava ‘multiple ride mapper‘ (see routes through segments, or routes for riders)
Strava export[/url] to GPX

My son had a Beinn 24 – as soon as he got it he was off climbing hills: here we are at the top of Kingley Vale when he was 8 – the main climb was 105m over 2k, which was a big step up for him.

EDIT: here’s my proud post on BikeRadar

He’s now 10 and on a Beinn 26… but he’s using the 24 for garden jumps until I get round to selling it.

18650 XML torches – about £10 each, £5 for a charger, cells are £2.50 each (or free if you can get old laptop batteries) and mounts are £1.50 or so. Start with one on your lid and one one your bars – so £40 or so with spare cells. Another £10 gives you an extra light on your bars for some ‘boost’ when you need it. Sorted!