Knock the run on the head until you’re healthy enough to complete 10k in training without risking injury. It is brttrr to live to fight another day.

mikey74 – Member
I know people will point out that very skilled xc riders ride with their saddle up. However, their descending technique is actually terrible, in general. They make do, because they have to.

Pretty sure most (if not all) pro level XC riders are much better descenders on their XC bikes than your average weekend warrior on a DH bike. Guys like Fontana, Kulahvy and so on ride MX and Enduro for fun/cross-training and they are certainly not slow on the downs.

The courses you see them on have been nicely flattened out by the camera, like when you see the TdeF coverage and go “they’re not going that fast are they?”. Why not try riding an Olympic XC course and see how you manage the downhills on your full sus bike? Then try it on a hardtail, with 2 inch tyres, 620mm bars and the saddle all the way up and see how much simpler it is.

I don’t think dropper posts are skills compensators. Like someone else said, it’s a way to ensure your post is at the optimal height all the time. I’d get one if I could afford it and the maintenance wouldn’t put me off. Pro XC riders are probably not the target market, though Brian Lopes did run one when he was doing the XC Eliminator series despite the weight penalty.

NO SURRENDER!

Cannot believe how much fun the lad is having on it. Top job by you Mr. Fatherman.

Superstar 25mm did the job for me.

And I am running tubeless 🙂

David, aren’t you supposed to be writing an Ireland End to End guide? I’ still waiting for it if you are!

Jambalaya speaks the truth!

Great to hear from people with partners or experience in the NHS and some excellent informed opinions.

I would:

– Figure a way to get out of all poor value PFI deals/services.
– Create centres of excellence as opposed to several trusts in neighbouring areas providing similar services. Studies have shown that this works better when based on patient outcomes. E.g: Paediatric heart surgery.
– Get rid of the current IT contracts and use someone with actual technical experience delivering a similar product to evaluate what’s required and put it out to tender. They’re getting rinsed by the private sector for a poor product at the moment.

My DHB regulars are starting to show some wear. Bit disappointed as they’ve only been going 4 weeks.

Missus has a pair that needs to be sent back because they’re falling apart at the seams.

Have some Sportfuls that fit really nicely and the pad is incredible, but they cost quite a bit more.

Probably will stick to using the DHBs for commuting until they die. Surprisingly, I preferred the pad on the cheaper one to the Aeron Pros for mountain biking.

Have X9 on the missus’ bike and X0 tested on a mate’s bike with respective shifters. Struggle to tell the difference to be honest. Perhaps the benefits will become apparent over the long term?

@djflexure

Was waiting for a Tranny to show up. How much hassle is it to fold it away? Very jealous too.

My LG is going back to Richer Sounds. Refused to play a majority of my BDs from Lovefilm. They work fine on a PS3. Firmware is up to date according to the interface thing.

Loads of people use PS3s so if you have compatibility issues then they’re probably likely to get fixed quicker. The LG had a firmware update that made iPlayer unusable and I had to put up with that for months.

Bikeroutetoaster works fine for me. Error messages saying why you can’t use a route would be handy though.

I’ve got the UK OS maps that came bundled with it. I was hoping it worked sort of like a car’s satnav thingy.

Get some Rapha gear. Then you’ll still be stylish even if you’re sweaty.

And you can tell the “Getorftheroad” brigade that your clothes cost more than their cars and they should go back to eating cake. You pay VAT, they are probably net benefit claimants.

(In all seriousness, invest in a decent base layer, overshoes and maybe leave some decent cycling kit at work if you’re inspired to take the long way home)

Does it recalculate the course if you go off the navigated path when using GPX?

I don’t think it’s a bad idea either. I have a full sus bike and two sets of wheels. Hope Hoops on Crests for when I want to ride XC, Flow EX for uplift days, visits to DH venues, “sessioning” jumps and so on. Works quite well for me.

Lost my mates on the first night of a festival. Found my way back to our tent. Went in, said “is that you Sam?” and went to bed there when I heard an affirmative. Was woken up in the morning by a girl who was definitely not my friend Sam. Turns out she had the same name, and had spent quite some time being spooned by me before deciding to wake me up.

Road biking. Lots of it I think.

Jealous of the new Mojo owner.

Not a clearance problem with the rear wheel when you’re seated on the bike? Easily checked if you have a mate who can follow you for a bit.

Following on from someone’s post here I’ve started to acknowledge motorists who are considerate. I’ve also tried to keep down the anger when they’re not and passed it on to other commuters I know to try.

Not sure how much it helps, but I certainly am a lot less wound up. Getting angry at inconsiderate drivers wasn’t helping anyone in the end.

Wonder if car insurers giving a cyclists’ discount would help matters. Make you prove you’re riding your bike once a week using Strava or some such perhaps? Sure, it can be circumvented, but it would be a start.

Like people have observed here, you’re more likely to be a considerate driver where bikes are concerned if you’re a cyclist yourself.

Wonder if there’s a niche for a “cyclists only” motor insurer to pop up using this?

It depends on your fitness. I had a go on a frozen winter day and it was brutal and crashtastic. Pretty rooty, like all of Aston Hill, but definitely worth it for a few laps.

Troy Lees are velcro fly. I’d avoid them for that reason alone. Also, the lairy colours are great for the first ride but then they get muddy and it never comes out in a 30 wash. Just bought some Sombrios which seem fitted enough. Could have bought 2 for the price of the TLDs!

– Skills course.
– Bike holiday!
– Personal trainer sessions?

For the money you could get all three!

Whoa, the dude said no snobbery at the entrance!

Turned down Kings of Leon tickets to see I Am Kloot instead. In 2001. Free tickets too. I was a fool.

Missed Deadmau5 and the Noisettes because of ridiculous transport cancellations.

Missed Mos Def at Glaston because his Gran had passed away. Poor chap.

However, I did get to see The Pixies live. I’ll never forget that!

My Canyon in 10 months old. The only things on it that are stock are:

– Brakes (inc rotors)
– Tyres
– Forks
– Front mech
– Chain

Everything else swapped out. Grips in the first month, wheels in the next couple for some Hope Pro II Evos on Crests to go tubeless, then bars and stem, shifters from SLX 3×10 to XT, drivetrain from XT 3×10 to XTR 2×10 chainset and XT shadow + rear derailleur.

It was excellent as a first full suspension bike, but I’d probably buy custom now. Would be a different story if I were slightly taller, or longer in the legs though!

Bump for more pictures. I really need this bike in my life, but I am struggling to justify the £800 markup on the frame alone the UK retailers want to impose.

After the carbon Coverts by the way!

Passed a bike shop en route from being dumped by an ex and bought a road bike on impulse.

It was a low day for me 🙁

Cheers Col! Just need to make some time for my first ride with you guys once I’m back in The Shire. Swinley forest just isn’t the same after Spain.

A couple of us stayed in the casa by the fountain. It has a washing machine and we bought some washing tabs to use while we were there. Not a bad idea to take some handwash liquid for your tech fabric stuff.

@duner We flew BA. They penalised us for being over the 23kg limit from Gatwick, but a couple of other guys who flew BA on the way out weren’t. Our luggage was not weighed on the way back from Malaga. We flew Monarch the year before and they just sent us to the oversize baggage check in on the way out and didn’t care that we were over the weight limit. Seems like luck of the draw.

Tyre choice, well, the Hans Dampfs were great. Perhaps my Flow EX rims were a bit overkill, but I’d definitely take them with me again. 785mm bars were probably not ideal for some of the more tech sections, but I think Dave was running 800mm bars with no problems. More about skill than anything really.

I thought DHers wore full face helmets more because of the speed they were going than the size of the jumps? Not seen many dirt jump guys wear full face helmets. Still, DJ helmets are cheap (got a Fox one for less than £20), if you can afford a full face then get one. If you do any DH then you’ll be able to use it for that too.

How does it handle on the technical stuff? Like tight switchbacks and so on?

Drooling over a Covert in yellow, but it will be years before I can afford one.

– Put 2 scoops of Stans in for larger volume tyres. If you’re stingy with the fluid like I was then you’re going to have a bad time.
– Get a compressor if you can afford it and you’re having a hard time getting them to seal. Saves a lot of wasted effort. This way you can test if a tyre will go up tubeless before you add the fluid and make a mess without too much hassle.

Anyway, Hans Dampfs on Flow EX rims, Nobby Nics on Crests and Roval Controls. Would never go back to tubes. Still getting my head round how low you can run the tyres with tubeless 18 months on.

Sorry I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to all of you lads, but just wanted to say it was great fun riding with you! I learnt a ton about bikes and bike riding. Feels like my riding’s come on in leaps after just a week and Strava confirms it too! Massive grin on my face walking into work today and every time I think about the week.

I think you boys more than survived it to be honest. Looked like you were all killing it!

I’ll drop Buzz an e-mail. Hopefully we can ride together soon if you’ll have me along in the Mendips.

P.S: Dave, you’ll be happy to know I’ve dropped the pressures on all my TL tyres to almost single figures!

It’s not waterproof. You may want to remember that in case you have to transport it in a trailer!

Test rode a Specialized Epic I think. It felt great but then I realised I was trying to hand over £2k for a bike with one less shifter and a chain device and I came to my senses.

Felt great while I was riding it though. The Epic was a 17.5″ I believe.

Seems mechanic’s ordered the wrong front mech so I’m working with the triple XT front mech at the moment. Seems fine, but I keep wondering if there won’t be as much trim if I use a double specific front mech. Unfortunately, looks like I will need a derailleur adjustment too, because shifting is not as smooth as it was.

I feel like I need to give it a bit more welly with the 28 when climbing, but should get used to it soon. A bit strange not having the chain clatter about now. I need to get used to it. Bring on the descents.

A guy I rode with at FoD said the plastic thingy put a weak spot in his spokes over time. He found himself losing a drive side spoke every ride before he twigged and removed it.

Elixir 7s for 10 months. CRs for a year. They’re great. I’m not a heavy rider though.