Nobody on here should feel the need to have to justify what they buy !

If you earn £10K a year and drop a grand on a bike you’re doing well.
Conversely if you are earning £100K a year and drop £10K on a bike in my opinion you are also doing well.

It’s all relative, if I earned £10K I would aspire to owning something better, whether of not it made me a better rider is comparable but buying a cheap bike and being happy on it is just as fulfilling as buying an expensive one and being happy on it ?
If I earnt £100K i wouldn’t be buying a magazine about biking expecting to find the contents thrifty and budget orientated, who’s ever bought a car Magazine full of shit cars and then rushed out to buy it again a month later !

I can’t remember who posted that buying a £7K bike wasn’t enjoyable !
Are you sure about that, are you speaking from experience ?

although discoduck’s turn of phrase could be viewed as slightly unrefined to some, I did find his post painted a delightful picture in my mind’s eye

It’s gone !
I must have upset a grown up somewhere ?

Think compo &. Cleggy !
Stood at a dry stone wall moaning for 6 hours to watch a bunch of professional cheaters whizz past !

And where in Wales !

CYB on Sat, Le Beast ! As I’m feeling slightly continental !

Skoda’s are pish !

My mother in Law has a V RS and its cheap and tacky inside !

I remember all the jokes from the 80’s, most of which were true.
If you have a Skoda it’s mainly due to the fact that you couldn’t afford a VW and then try and convince everyone who mocks it that it’s as good as a seat, which are also Pish !

Then you get the old, It’s made in the same factory on the same production line as VW’s
NO it’s not !

It comes down to choices, like the other thread moaning about £7K bikes !

Why ?

I’snt stretching for chicks ?

I generally hobble about the car park whilst my left quad argues with my right calf as to which one is going to lock out first 😈

It’s not actually until I get the bike upside down and attempt to get the wheels off that either if them attempt to do anything about it !

It must be great to watch ?

i could eat a scabby oss after a ride !

Kuco

Whats Normal food ?

Thats why we are all different, given the choice between a Massive Sunday roast and a Glass of Chemicals 💡

You can buy a high end Land Rover Discovery for £64K
You can also buy a KIA Sportage for a 3rd of the price, it’ll do 70MPH on the Motorway and its wheels will turn round when you accelerate. most of the stuff that the Discovery will do the KIA can also do.

A £600 Bike will do Most of the stuff that a £6K bike will do, Some people will will want to blow big money on a bike just like some folk want to throw two years wages at a Car

Its all about Choices, i dont think folk on £5K a month want to see £2K bikes any more than you dont want to see expensive stuff ?

Choco YAZOO half price in Tesco

From my experience of riding and recovery ! eat well BEFORE obviously, DURING as finishing depleted will hammer you more and AFTER as this will aid recovery.

At the end Of the day your all arguing about Supplements !
Thats what they do supplement a balanced diet. i certainly dont see any benefit from taking it and ive tried, it bloats me and if anything makes me lethargic !
Whetehr thats true or not i dint know, i’ve never had it certified by scientist, but we are all different so if it works for you crack on.

I dont want to state the obvious but you are probably over complicating it by thinking about it too much ?
You will get used to it in the end as something else will take your concentration and then riding clipped in will become second nature !

As sugested get some platform style SPD’s and back the tension right off, you will come to rely on the fact that you are attached to the bike more, and trust me when you go down you will seperate from the bike seamlessly ! i’ve had a few offs these past few weeks i had a decent one yesterday but i managed to leapfrog the front end as it washed out……..

Are these the same XT brakes that every one was trying to compare to HOPE’s poor build quality, lack of feel, no spare parts and shite customer service ?

or are these different brakes not made in a far off land with loads of free parts that turn up in the post gratis free ?

I know, I’ve held on for the Sept date, then Oct now its Nov as you say,

I plumped for one of the others and now can’t get hold of one of them either ?

I melted a hole in some shorts a few years ago,

Jeezus !

I wish I was a REAL Man !
Then I wouldn’t have had to nip off 22 Years in the Army getting pissed and gobbing off thinking ? I could be riding now not getting shot at and blown up !

Oh sorry where were we, Yes ! You know your a real MTBer when you can fool yourself into thinking that you really are that bloke you pretend to be on the Internet 18 hours a day ! EVERY Day !
Its compulsory to hate any one who can afford a Bacon Butty after filling up their Audi A6,
And become a hater of any one who dare stray from the boundary of the yokel village to ride, then realising that little red riding hood was a story to refrain narrow minded in breds from wandering into adjacent Parishes and diluting the gene pool !

Pinocchio !

Hora, dunno ? my rear is pitted and worn but the front looks mint ?

its got to be a weight / braking / traction thing ?
hasnt it ?

Agreed with the Rollers 😕

I can remember when they put caddon bank in maybe 2002 ? we used to cut across from the Old RED BULL DH run it was that good,

The drops arent that big agreed but by the time i hit the last one i’d got a bit over confident and it felt quite big,

Cheers Rob,

We saw this lone rider who went a slightly different way down caddon bank to avoid the drops which he said were “BIG”

And from memory 6 years ago……… they werent that big 😯

Have they got bigger ?

Well its funny you say that ! i rode it on Saturday and saw 1 Solitary rider when we got near the end at Caddon Bank, it was later on Saturday about 6 ish when we were finishing as we rode GT in the morning and it was Mobbed over there !

Over way too quickly though !

Anyway Innerleithen
The question is, the loamy track that leads from the Cairn at 12 ‘o’ Clock position not the official track way down, where does the loamy one go ? when linking up the downs on the fire road 2/3rds down there was a run out onto the fire road from under the trees that came from up high and left, it looked natural and sweet as,

Does any one know ?
We did mention that we might need a Local to show us the proper riding spots,

OH, Spooky Wood…………..
3 Mins 10 secs On a stopwatch not Strava

Erm,

Troy Lee Design XC Gloves !

Thats it really, just choose your colour and enjoy the quality, comfort and feel of them !

You can also wear them for riding

Ive got HR’s on as ive said in all my previous posts 🙄

Ive ridden The Peaks for A Long time and Wharncliffe etc….. anyway, the last time i rode down The Beast “Top Bit” thats a bit nadgery i scalped my 1 week old Stans Flow EX Rims with some big gouges and paint off but not a scuff on the tyres ?

Saying that im only 8 stone………. Joking 15 Without riding gear !

Cough
Cough

😳

Hora
Where did you ride to shred a DH tyre in 3 Rides ?

I rode GT red then Inlthn red on sat with a pair of HR’s that have now been on 3 different bikes let alone 3 rides ?

The rear is lacking tread in the centre section tho, i could feel it letting go in the corners a tad but then the side knobs dug in and all was well !

Route Recces, map trace, First aider, when out, if you leave from the Uni at XX time then tell some one that you will be back No Later Than XX time, leave them a copy of the map trace and if nothings seen or heard then raise the alarm and they should activate the emergency process as outlined from the recce of the route that you conducted which is logged on the map trace with ERV’s, Rest stops, obstacles etc. it sounds a pain in the arse but if you are riding in a club and you have insurance these are the things that they will want to see if something goes belly up ?

If its a Club and the same peeps are riding week in week out then write in some refresher stuff.
Say as a basic level of competance then you will be at X level by X time / date etc and tested at certain times.

Make a kit list and ensure that individuals have have the bare minimum, failure to do this results in blah blah blah ! Extra Kit like group shelterif you are venturing into the wilds needs to be distributed between the club riders,
I take groups of disfunctional Kids out in some of my spare time and thats a proper nause, not omly from an admin & legal point of view but also trying to stop them setting fire to each other and stabbing each other !

Good Luck,

Has any one got their hands on an IXS helmet yet ?

Northwind, i’m not sure what youre getting at ?

Sharkattack, i agree whole heartedly with the side knobs but still reckon Minions grip and dig in way better than the HR’s

The Minions remind me of the old Michelin Comp 16 Front & Comp 24 rear tyre combo that a lot of folk used to run before MAXXIS got a foothold on the tyre scene.

I have tried other tyres, ive got about 20 pairs in the shed of one description and another, i’ve followed threads and bought tyres, loaded the car up and driven to CYB to have the worst riding day ever on a tyre that ive not ridden on and i’m no used to which pinch flats and punctures, now i just stick to what i know and thats the High Rollers, oh and Minions which im contemplating fitting for Glentress & Innerleithen on Saturday ?

Just for Old times sake

I’m also of the opinion that HR’s are one of the best Bike Products EVER ! 42A front & 60 rear for evrything i ride, Trail Centres, Peaks, Wharncliffe,
I started off using MAXXIS tyres about 5 years ago with MINIONS / DHF & DHR, i havent used any other tyre manufacturer since.

As suggested above by some one ? theres about 5-10 degrees of what you might call “Float” which might have an un asuming rider in the dirt, you have to lean through it, you cant sit it back up and braking wont work either but it does dig back in and can reward you with some spectacular performance in most conditions. In the proper wet shitty stuff though its like most other tyres, useless……….

I have a set of MINIONS in the Garage but i’ve not used them since using HR’s

Is it 8K from the Cafe to the Adams Family Bits 😯

Me too for Mountain shirt, I’ve worn these in the arctic for several winters and they are great bits of kit, a bit too thermal for biking tho ? Have you looked at some of the Paramo stuff ?
Equally as good if not a bit better suited to biking as some or most of their kit has scalloped back hems to keep ya bum warm ?

I keep mine the back of my Landy just in case I have to go stand on a hard shoulder ???????

Hmmmm ???? I know some one who died and they didn’t hit their head on the floor ! And they weren’t wearing a helmet?

Lots of people have died, some haven’t yet ?

I agree ! Who the fuch watches XC ? Oh hang on I’ll just un clip and walk this section and make up the time on my 29er, the only thing more boring than riding in Lycra is sat watching it “In Lycra” !

And that shit kinda riding is only something you do when your not old enough to have a phone on contract, you couldn’t ride like that for 5 hours it would make you vommit !

At the end if the day don’t watch it, watch Rat Boy Bryceland on a DH bike, **** me that kid has flow !

What buzz said, the old ones are bobbins !

OK for commuting or taking the kids round the local park, I wouldn’t even ride a trail centre in them the sidewalls are like paper, grip is not that brilliant either,

I wouldn’t buy them even if you contemplating keeping your LBS in business, at the end of the day though its your choice.

I wouldn’t have thought it life saving either, if the lorry driver would have been watching porn on his lap top like most others and not noticed you down a helmet is unlikely to save your noggin,

And had you been commando the girth of the mushroom effect enlarging the target area might have meant that your head might not have hit the deck at all ?

But who will know? Only laboratory testing in a controlled environment helps to sell Helmets to the masses.

Live and let Live !

who cares if dogs are on the trails ? I dont care that sometimes an over zelous Dad takes his Ankle Biter on the trails, As long as he’s riding his or even hers bike.
We cant clean up after ourselves so why should we expect some one to pick up Bandits ? Its big out there, and its all a bit new, i’m sure the owners will get the message and itll settle down.

Until then cover your brakes, try HOPE’s theyre Modular dontcha know ! 😉

I couldn’t think of anything worse than drinking a warm chocoaltey drink with lumps of peanuts in !
Sounds absolutely revolting ?

What’s wrong with tapolina ? Half a lemon squeezed in and a lime, teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of sugar,

Home made flapjack ? Or for when your hanging out a mars bar ?

For those that insist on wasting money on snake oil try ELITE

Jeezus !

I’m shitting myself now !!!!!

It sounds like you have nothing to loose if you do get injured so if I were you I’d ride harder !

Dont bother, Theyre shit !

Eat proper snap and take on board some carbs when your riding,

I didn’t see any one there being awesome

Saw a couple of blokes with BiG DH bikes, didn’t actually see them riding but they looked good with big triple clamps and goggles and Full Face helmets dangling off the bars !

That new XC descent has a proper cheeky slight left hander in it ! And an absolutely evil gap jump in it that would hurt if it went wrong !

I remember when it was cool to go fast, now every one wants to stop ?

Next thing you know every one will be arguing about tyre sizes again or the feckless morons who dare to ride a bike with no helmet !

I went Yesterday and it was damp, greasy damp and on some of the seriously steep descends in there were treacherous !

Trying to scrub speed off without the wheels locking up was challenging, resulting in XS speed where really i should have been going a lot Slower…..

I’d be Up for an afternoon session next weekend if there is intrest ?

Tom, The Diamond back Run is almost disused now and things have moved all the way across to where the Crags are, Theres some seriously steep technical trails in there that are just about rideable

😯

Maybe we should have a Forum ride across there some time ?

Yes Dave it was off the crags ?

If your going bicicual, make sure your wearing baggies on the road bike, there’s excuses for that, there’s NO excuses for wearing LYCRA Full Stop* ! Let alone on a bike !

There are exceptions to this rule, * Lizzy AKA Green Goddess * M.C. Hammer

You could just play it safe and buy a pair of Ron Hills & Kagool but this look only works if your 45 and live with your Mum and have a comb over.