Wouldn’t the extra sweep on the bars cancel out the extra lean forwards?

I’m no mathematician but I suspect the difference is minimal. And you might end up preferring a further forward position anyway!

Have a little look at the article in the link, it explains the importance of under rotation.

http://www.imbikemag.com/issue2/?t=Under-Rotation-Mountain-Bike-Technique&page=99

What a great little article/magazine! Wish I could go out and try it right now rather than sitting in an office…

Their cycling shorts don’t last as long as Lidl ones IME

So when you are rolling and not braking, regardless of what gradient you are on, adopt a more normal/central position.

Easier said than done, but I will try…

Here’s a question though: you’re rolling down a very steep slope with your weight back, and halfway down there’s a step. What are you supposed to do so you don’t go over the bars when the front wheel drops over the step and the front suspension dives down? If you lift the wheel or shift your weight further back, won’t you lose control of the front of the bike?

I have a 71 degree head angle and on really steep stuff I feel I have to drop the saddle and shift my weight back and down as far as I can, which is fine when I’m going slowly, but if I pick up speed at all I think there’s not enough weight on the front wheel and I tend to lose control very quickly and fall off. I hope to get better with practice.

Done it! Found some smaller molegrips and applied superhuman strength.

Thanks for all your advice!!

Can’t get molegrips to grip either…

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No, the plastic nut thing the other side is just going round and round without undoing

Ahh, so that’s what it’s called. I tried Googling on “thingy” and got nowhere…
Thanks!

Blimey, that ride’s got more segments than a whole forest of satsuma trees!

I guess creating endless segments is the only way to get KOMs in civilisation (other than pedalling really fast). Round my way, you pick a hill, any hill, and the chances are you get the KOM…

Oops, posted to wrong thread…

OK, thanks.
I did see tyre tracks on one of the *walks* 🙂

like riding outside but with the crap bits of bog and dull bits removed.

I second that 🙂

You have to do the climb, it’s tricky and it’s fun.

Pads are a personal preference. There’s nothing hairy at Cwmcarn. It’s more flowy than hairy.

It’s also quite short so you might want to do it twice.

Round my way the Forestry Commission has already cut down all the ash trees on its land to plant Sitka spruce

Presumably you’ll also need a route to Dolgellau that doesn’t involve *shudder* roads. You wouldn’t want to drive on stuff that’s been built for you to drive on, you’ll want to drive on the stuff that’s there anyway. You’ll also want to practice hunting and building shelters so you don’t have to rely on *shudder* shops, restaurants, hotels, B&Bs, tents, bivvy bags, stoves or knives, all of which have been made to be used for what they’re used for. Instead you’ll want to use something that was there anyway. I imagine you must be physically sick each time you use this forum to discuss mountain biking, when you’d much rather just be shouting at passing strangers?

🙂

Don’t forget you’ve got the Dyfi Enduro, Dyfi Winter Enduro and Coed y Brenin Enduro routes all on your doorstep too, which are more “natural” (= muddy) than CyB

I just got lost between llandaff and cardiff…

Rickon – no worries, it’s my fault for being so last minute! Your directions are probably very clear on the ground but less so on Google Maps… I worry about never reaching Cwmcarn!! Which would be all fine and well but I really want to do the Twrch as a measure of my progress over the past year.

So Floki – thanks to you too but same applies really. I don’t think I’ve got time to go wrong!!

Rickon – cheers, YGM, any chance you can do it before I leave at three???

Thanks. It’s looking like a fair old ride, not sure if I have enough time… Thinking now perhaps best to drive and do 2 laps of the Twrch!

To the OP: Given your age and experience I reckon you’re doing pretty well! Only you know whether you are committed enough to do “proper” training, but even just lots of “unstructured” riding should bring small improvements given time. At least that’s been my experience.

In my experience there are three types of rider:

Much faster than you: Generally these guys fly past with such skill and speed that they don’t even need to call.

Much slower than you: Good chance these guys will pull over anyway, but otherwise I wait until there is ample room to pass because they can react very unpredictably when you call.

About the same speed as you: Simply no need to pass on singletrack.

Otherwise just use common sense. Don’t be pushy and rude, and try not to get too upset if someone else is. Remember, although it’s a race it’s not a matter of life and death, it’s supposed to be FUN!

Thanks guys for all the advice, I’ll keep looking… Wish I could buy sthg off the peg tho!!

On One is where I started but I can’t see anything

Well, I got the KOM for a local trail the other day and I am still grinning from ear to ear. My biggest achievement for years and years.

Strava isn’t perfect, but it’s great for recording rides and training, and it’s definitely made me fitter – every time I see a hill now I attack it!

I’d take new or spare pads with you, Afan always eats mine when it’s wet

Have just been dismantling mine, and I can’t see why it would be a problem.

Either 3 or 6 – which are KOMs and which are CRs in the list?

This despite the fact that I’ve only just started experimenting with it in the last week and haven’t ridden anything in anger yet as I’m coming off an injury.

I think all mine are just because nobody else has ridden these hills yet! So I guess it’s not the quantity of KOMs but the quality of them that counts…

Have you pumped it up *really* hard? Did it for me…

I’ve got 32/20 on an Alfine 8 and I find first gear low enough for everything (I’d guess between 2nd and 3rd on a standard 27 gear setup). The Alfine 11 then adds three gears at the top end of the range, which must be very useful on road sections cos I always spin out on them as soon as they go even slightly downhill.

If you regularly use the two lowest gears on a derailleur setup, you might therefore want to go for a slightly bigger ring at the back, say 22. It’s not any major hassle/expense changing at a later date if you find it too hard/easy.

To aid comparison, I should add that I am reasonably quick (for a vet) XC/trail rider, not some uber-macho singlespeed god…

Haven’t done Skyline but descents on W2 are not at all scary, just fun!

Cannock is always very rideable but when it’s wet it’s quite puddly and fills every crevice with noisy scratchy gritty sandy bits which can be quite hard on brake pads when you’re doing your bit to maintain those mythical monster braking bumps

Dunno which trail centre that is but they really need to fix those braking bumps

I’ve just gone tubeless on an exception series Ignitor and it seems fine after a week.
I also have some Aspens in a box which were run tubeless by the previous owner.
Dunno if that helps at all…

Hardtail it is then!!

I’m also dithering between HT and FS.

I did the winter warmup event there and didn’t find it rocky so much as muddy. Is this weekend’s event on completely different terrain???

I guess it depends on how much difference you feel losing the first 2kg has made.

But here’s a question: if you get a lighter bike, pedalling will be easier, so won’t you then put on that same amount of weight yourself?!

Received, fitted, adjusted and bedded in all within 24 hours. Good call lads!

Fantastic, order placed – thank you!

Hope they come in time for the weekend…

And thanks for the fitting tips!

What I thought was 40-50 psi was more like, um, 20-25…

Erm, Magnum and FM, 1986

I always thought from all the macho posturing on here that this forum was populated with a younger demographic, but from this thread it seems like I’m one of the youngest on here. Or perhaps all the kids are out scoring drugs.