Alien abduction of trees? The Lorax?

Where do I start – Albino badger hit my rear wheel (Farleigh); Man with beard in a dress walking through woods alone (weird – near Croydon); Old couple startled in back of car parked in country lane (I know we will all get there one day…..); Plenty of young couples in back of cars startled by bikes with lights; Owl attack – nearly taking my head torch off on third attempt; Moth Collector with bigger light than bikers – and similar to zippykona, lady at dusk squatting on the bridleway – thought `i was seeing things – big white round shape near the ground which turned out to be her as*. Next to a golf course and her friends couldn’t stop laughing. Poor woman must have been desperate and didn’t hear me.

Would agree. Keep trying the black, then extend the black to add in some of the red. Before you know it you will be round both black and red in one sitting. Then try taking on some of the hillier trail centres to mix it up a bit.

Will turn out expensive – fitted XTR on the yeti and watched it slowly get ground to nothing. 4 brake pads – gone. Have a winterized bike but took the light one for the hills and swapped the wheels to pro2’s with nobbynics for grip. Reminded me of a bad day out in wet Afan where the drivechain ends up as a very effective metal grinder!

Dry = Maxxis crossmark (UST)
Roots/Rocks = NNics
Mud/Gloop = Bonty Mud x

I switch these around depending on the conditions and have never had a problem. Tend to stick with what I know in terms of how they react in these conditions – experimenting is fine up to a point! Put most of the thought into training/experience rather than the kit now – though I still am a bit of a bike component geek……

What package did you edit it on?

Used iMovie on the Mac, which has some nice features, to edit the video.

Cheers

Try this link now – it works after fixing the copyright dispute!

Blinded by the Light

The British Heart Foundation has its Dark Peak challenge this weekend (Saturday) – there are options from 14 to 42 miles. All signposted and marshalled – route designed by RoughRides. You can enter on the day……I think it is £15.

Have 1000 on the bars an 300 on the head. If you are riding Whites Level in the dark and driving rain and you want to get down in one piece then you need more than 500. You can get down with this amount of light, sure, but it is faster and more fun with more lumens……. :-)

Hope the peaks clear up by the weekend – riding Dark Peak area this Saturday…….. :?

Sunday was glorious – put together a little vid of the scoot around the woods……

got the full xtr kit and it runs really well, solid shifting, smooth, fab brakes. would recommend this groupset to anyone. I went for the triple but have only used the granny ring a couple of times. i also have a lot of sram kit on other bikes but prefer the xtr. this said, i have not had to upgrade any of it yet so have to think about which other parts of my body to sell to afford the replacements!

I like the conundrum of being scared so want to go fast through the woods but hold back because I don’t want to end up damaged and all alone – does play on the mind – go faster or keep within limits. When I get back though – feel exhilarated.

Did one nightride through some woods – in the middle there was an eerie glow. Felt strangely attracted to it. The light was really bright. Turned out to be a guy catching moths on his own – we kinda freaked each other out!!!

Go tubeless – never had a puncture issue, no pinches and can run whatever you want in terms of tyre profile to match the terrain.

Mud X gets my vote but their only downside is that I have had two go with slices on the sidewalls. May be just unlucky but the sidewalls do appear to be a little on the fragile side. That said, I have them on my heckler and take them out whenever it looks muddy – they grip really well and can be pushed harder than you think round the bends…..

Blue Mountains – Australia

Love It! Only like it when it rains!

Lasted me about 12 months. Got the bearing tool kit, bought some new bearings and all sorted in the space of about 10 minutes. Very simple. Have these on my winter bike which gets caked in mud on every ride.

It would be good to get more info from the IMBA and, in particular, what we as individuals or clubs can do to get more out of this group to enables greater awareness and access for MTB activities. Looking at the membership of bike clubs on their website shows a very low engagement level. Perhaps we are all individual members?? I am seeing a change in the general publics perception of MTB (was a freak, then a geek, now chic!). But we do lack a single voice when it comes to really fighting our cause. So perhaps a regular article from IMBA about what they are doing to help us and what we can do to help IMBA.

Thanks for all the advice. Have to say that the responses had me laughing and crying in equal measure. Still going through with it and will check in with the results. Thoughts of commuting on the underground brings tears to the eyes!

Thanks for the advice – looks like not doing much for the first few days and then take it from there – 2 weeks seems to be the concensus.

I would say that if you have the money – go for the yeti. They are incredibly stable/stiff and, whilst they look weak and flexi, stick to the alloy rear and you will be fine. I have a Yeti asr with less than 4″ of travel and guys on bigger bikes have a real problem with the fact that it can really fly down the hills – soaks up the knocks and climbs like a goat (which the bigger bikes struggle with). I have ridden the 575 and you can feel the pedigree is the same. Not knocking the Cove as this is a great bike as well (I own a Stiffee – 8O) and you can make this up to be real light but you will need to spend alot to do this as it sounds like you are buying just the frame. Not sure about the lyric on the 575 – depends on what it comes with when you buy one second hand – as you may not want to change it. Hope this helps.

I have a pair of hope pro 2’s and a pair of pro 3’s. I would say that the 3’s are louder than the 2’s. Does this mean they go up to 11?
:-)

I guess I would rather take both full sus bikes – one for the ups and the other for the downs. my downhill will be more fun if I am not conked out by the ups. But, on reflection, the heckler will get me up OK but will be a lot more fun coming down. Also, the Yeti is ideal for XC and the heckler is a bit tougher. So – the heckler wins!

I have been a Type 1 for some time – now in my mid-40’s – and still get out and rip it up with the best of them on the MTB. Have learnt over the years how to balance Carbs/Exercise/Insulin/Illness/etc. Whilst not an exact science, getting this balance right is essential. I used guesswork for many years (not a good idea) but education and awareness have really moved on. Whilst not available to children currently, I found DAFNE (dose adjustment for normal eating) a real help. Taught me how to manage the roller-coaster of Hypos and Hypers really well so that they are now more balanced. I lead a hectic life (who doesn’t) and I always maintain that I want to be in control of my diabetes – not the other way round. The thing to be is to be positive and look for answers from others that have children with the same condition. Join JDRF for starters (juvenile diabetes research foundation) which will provide leaflets, get togethers, inspiration, etc for the young and families of Type 1’s. Cheers and good luck….

And lastly – a definite MTB favourite when doing those big open rides! :-)

Shriekback – all lined up

catch it quick on bbc iplayer as it expires tomorrow null

Cool – thanks for the advice. Will check it out. Does he do rocks?

Happened this week. Guys were on a charity ride. It was also an article in the Evening Standard today. Seems like just another day on the way to the office for those of us that cycle around London. This is in Bexley Village. Road restrictions everywhere, humps in the road, expected car speed through the village is 20mph. I think the Police indicated that they are not taking this any further and are not following up the matter with the registered owner of the car (who was not driving it). Disgrace!

carry a cleaned out section of a toothpaste tube in your repair kit. use it to stop the inner tube from bursting through so that you can get home safely. i have ridden mtb tyres with a patch for the sidewall for ages. for road tyres which are under higher pressure i would bin it and get a new tyre.

I have Pro2s on 719’s on my winter hardtail. 15mm but can be adpated to QR but to be honest you won’t want to change back to QR once you have experienced 15mm – they are so much more rigid and as quick to get the wheel in and out as QR.. Got it all from Merlin – great wheels and great service. Only issue I have had (own fault) is getting a bit to busy with a powerful jetwash so the bearings are getting a little stiff (3 years) but that is after riding in some of the worst winter conditions you could imagine.

Narrowneck Trail – Blue Mountains – Australia

carbon bars with lock on grips? is that a good idea?

I have never had a problem with Lock-ons with the FSA’s. I would say that of bigger concern would be the point at which the stem attaches to the bar rather than the grips. That said, Lock-on grips have seen me through Afan and other trail centres on these carbon bars so I have confidence in them and that’s a good thing (confidence that is).

So next up will be buying the carbon frame

Yes – I am re-invigorating the notion of ‘triggers broom’ in bike form!

Cool! Does it come in Lycra????

Suprised at the Rebas though, why not SIDs or similar (as you seem to be concerned about weight)?

Good point but, as they say, “never look a gift horse in the mouth” and the forks were provided FOC by my LBS as they are a main Yeti distributor in the UK, and they wanted to get in the new ASR Carbon frames so did me a deal!!! Either that or I am just sooo good at negotiating (which I am not!).