Cash is king, once sold my EVO 6 TME and the buyer turned up with 21k cash in a brown bag, jobs a goodun 8)

If you go with a bankers draft, make sure you phone the issuing bank before letting them drive off, the bank should be able to confirm its good or not.

Another good way is to go with the buyer to the bank and over the counter do a bank transfer of funds into your account. Done this way before a couple of times, no worries.

Good luck, and don’t be suprised if a man from Africa would like to offer you payment via western union etc etc….

I have an Giant Anthem Advanced and I’m very very happy with it, highly recommended by me 8)

When I was looking to buy I narrowed it down to either the Anthem or an Epic, it just happened the Anthem came up first at the right price. Plus the Epic frame changed for 09 and you can’t just buy the frame which is a shame I think. The Anthem Advanced has stayed the same for 08 & 09.

Can’t go wrong with either IMHO.

I’ve been out to Spain with SwitchBacks, got nothing but great things to say about the company and the location 8)

I have a similar problem in my rear 240s EX1750, lots of play even though the 10mm thru axle is tight.

Where is the best place to buy a bearings from?

Cheers,

Jeff

As my dearly departed dad would say ‘I wouldn’t know whether to f*** it or fight it’ 😆

And on the flip side, no wonder DH riders wear full face helemts and goggles 😯

I give you Joanna Petterson – Pro Women Downhill and 4-Cross.

Niki Gudex from Oz, out of a score of 10 I would give her……. 😆

😆

That’s how I can feel as well during normal training, some days are absolute flyers and others well, just feels like I should have stayed in bed 😆

My race on Saturday is the 2nd round of the Maloja Syd MTB Cup in Sweden.

This week I went for a light light on Tuesday night for just over an hour and tonight I’ll go for a light short ride of about half hour. Missed my normal chain gang road training night last night as that is normally quite intense. Will see how I feel after the race if this works for me. Plenty of time for a poo come race day as the start isn’t until 13:45 😆

I mean more about the week before, not actually on the day, hard vs easy rides, food intake, etc…

This particular XC race is short so will be under 1.5 hours, the marathon season starts on the 24th May 😀

Depends on what you want to do, over here in Sweden there is a group of guys in Gothenberg who organise push up DH race days and they are a great success. Timing is done via walkie talkies and a single stop watch and they normally have a BBQ at halfway for a break. Course lengths are 30-50 seconds and they normally change something from time to time, even if it is something small. It is free to race but normally a few quid is stuck in a pot to cover the cost of effort etc.

All in all a fun day out as long as everyone doesn’t take it too seriously, last race there was less than 1 second covering 5 of the top 10 riders, of course they all realised that in reality they all could have beat each other but stop watches via walkie talkies is never accuate. But there were smiles all round, fun day out.

To do anything more serious is going to cost you or the riders money unless you have the facilities already to hand. I am lucky because the bike park I help run already has amazingly great services in place, professional timing gear from ski racing and a quad chair lift 😉 Yet I still drive up to Gothenberg to race the push ups, all about community spirit 8)

Could be Mark, sounds like the same trail, the start is just down from the lookout where the photo was taken with the mountain goat statue thing above 😆

Wasn’t the hardest route we rode like you said but it certainly felt one of the most unriden, there were hardly any scrape marks on the rocks left from previous riders 8)

For XC I reckon you could get by if you did your homework before you went and maybe visited the local bike shop for advice when there but unless you can speak Spanish it will be very hard to gain local info once there. I would recommend a few days with a guide.

A guide for us was a must to get the absolute most out of our 5 days there, plus the van to drive us about etc 8)

IM Weasel and IR Baboon rock 😆

911 trail, Malaga, Spain 8)

Or, you can always train with the old boy locals 😆 8)

We went to ride the DH stuff with big bikes but there are so so many trails out there you are spoilt for choice, probably even more so for XC. I saw quite a few HT XC guys out there riding so I’d say it is equally as amazing, in fact I would like to take my whippet bike out next time and stay in Bubion with Michael. Some of the stories he told me of the trails up there sound fantastic.

Have a great holiday 😀

Looks good dasnut but is that a drop out location thingy on the inside of the left side clamp? My dropouts are a thru hole so if that is a drop out location thingy it won’t fit 🙁

Surely someone this side of the pond make these 😕

Sorry to hijack a little, but can anyone recommend a good quality 10mm thru axle. I have the EX1750 wheelset with 10mm x 135 rear RWS thru axle but I snapped off the fancy DT Swiss plastic lever on a rock so now want a proper bolt thru axle to replace it?

Maybe someone took offense to the new northshore being built there 😯

PS – I’d also recommend stronger tyres and thicker tubes than the normal Racing Ralph type, don’t think those sidewalls would last long out there, very rocky everywhere. Maybe a single walled 2.35 High Roller type would be best on an XC bike.

Si,

There are so many trails out here its almost unbelievable, we focused on the DH side but I saw plenty of normal HT XC guys riding about. I would say there is also excellent XC out here IF you know where to find it!

About half the stuff we rode could be rode by a HT XC rider with upper average skills and about a quarter of the trails could be rode by anyone. Most of the really techy, jumpy and gnarly hard sections had chicken runs but I’m sure there are better trails here suitable for pure XC. Hence why I would love to come back on my smaller bike. Also worth considering the Bubion option as that sound like XC heaven.

Cheers,

Jeff (already planning his next trip back 😆 )

Stacks and stacks of pics, just need to shrink them and upload, takes forever.

I’m writing a full report to share our experience so I’ll post it up when finished.

We rode Malaga DH only with Michael S and possibly the coolist van driver in Spain, Lucky. However the stories of Bubion has me longing to go there now as well with a smaller bike, so many places to ride and not enough time off work to do it!

Only pic uploaded so far, me at the start of 911:

Just back from a long weekend with SwitchbacksDH in Spain, one word, WOW 8)

Michael was great as not only a very experience guide through the day but also entertained at night, cool guy. And the riding, wow, the riding… natural DH at its best, some of the tracks are just hand crafted from god himself, others by the devil 😆

Just need a weeks sleep now to recover, oh and my bike needs some serious TLC 😀

Can’t wait to go back, most highly recommended 8)

I asked the same question a couple of weeks back and decided in the end to go with a pair of 09 Team SIDs, extremely happy with them on my Giant Anthem Advanced.

Got a friend who has a few good contacts 😉

Quality of the photo is poor but my godson Leo’s riding ability at the age of 6 is fantastic 😆

And the winner was……………….

SIDs

Feel the hulkness 😆

johni – Member
I’m a Switchbacks regular. I’m too lazy to do all the climbing (I can do that in the UK). I’d rather spend my holiday descending. The van up the hill suits me and a short pedal to the start of the descents gets you warmed up nicely.

The guides generally tailor the riding to the group. It’s technical riding and fast/difficult at times but not DH. Switch-backsdh.com is for the “proper downhillers”

As far as I am aware, only Switchbacks and one other company are legally registered in Spain. Check the companies have a “Registro” and full insurance otherwise theoretically if you are riding in the national parks, the police can fine you and/or confiscate your bike (apparently).

Accomodation and food wise, the SB “casa” has been gradually upgraded over the past couple of years. It is basic but has everything you need. Some food is provided but it is intended as a starter pack for breakfast/lunches rather than food for the week.

Just what I wanted to hear 😀 3 weeks today and we’ll be riding those trails with SWDH, can’t flippin wait 8)

Riding shots:

A cold wintery shot with Mrs Bream last weekend:

Two Irishmen were standing at the base of a flagpole,looking up.

A blonde walked by and asked them what they were doing..

Paddy replied, “We’re supposed to be findin’ the height of this flagpole, but we don’t have a ladder.”

The blonde took out an adjustable wrench from her bag, loosened a few bolts and laid the flagpole down. She got a tape measure out of her purse, took a few measurements, and announced that it was 18 feet, 6inches. Then she walked off.

Mick said to Paddy, “Isn’t that just like a blonde.. We need the height and she gives us the length!”

molgrips – Member
Note that OEM forks (the ones that come on bikes) are often lower spec than the ones you buy, which is why LBSes often have what appear to be great deals on forks.

How so? Didn’t want to here that as I’ve just found a nice pair of OEM SID Teams that I was planning to buy ‘cheap as chip’ 🙁

Great info thanks all 8)

Anyone know what the difference is between an 08 and the 09 SID, apart from paint and decals?

Hmm, so if I’m going SIDs might be best pick up a 2nd pair of Teams or Race until the proper WCs come out 😉

they are noticeably stiffer and better at small bump stuff

I had a carpark feel of a pair last Saturday and they did feel nice. The stroke felt really smooth and the small bump reaction thingy of the fork was impressive. How does this feel when riding, I have read they feel a little harsher than normal, what would you say?

Over a grand = DT Swiss XRC 100 Race Ltd[/url] 😯

Carbon steerer is integral, can you buy a complete new carbon bridge with steerer?

Looks very nice, what weight is the frame with shock?

Big’un 8)

Lil’un

Thanks all.