Spotted that on sunday, quite a way from the road aswell!! feckers!!

can’t help with the house in west london though.

I’ve had a pair for about 7 years that i swap between my xc and dh bike, which tells you they are robust! they are the cartridge bearing ones with the standard pins in them and yes they are chunky but they are VERY grippy and very strong. Mine are battered externally but spin freely and GRIP! All i have to do to them is replace a couple of pins and repack some grease into the bearings about two years ago.

So they get a thumbs up from me

I have a short list of two, the transition bandit and the new saracen ariel, just need to sort out some test rides and get selling some bits to fund a new frame.

I have a bottle rocket so reckon i will enjoy the bandit

a full suss 29er that can cope with big mountain riding

29er bandit[/url]

been seriously thinking about a 26 inch wheeled bandit and if its as tough as the 29er seems to be then thumbs up 😀

the best bit is he is also wearing an expensive neck brace aswell! that’ll work as intended as his helmet flys off 🙂

got one of these for my little boy in the speedy red paintjob, room for expansion not to expensive and looks cool!! 8) which is the main thing 🙂

specialized kids helmet

Looks like alot of fun to me and keep up the sweary northerness! thats from a shouty southern rider 😀

ginger mullet – somewhere near verbier
toboggan run – verbier
rheola in the wet – wales
a run in the tokai forest – cape town, don’t its name but it had baboons!
a trail on seymour mtn vancouver – again not sure of the name but was good becasue of the snow!
the brazilian – verbier
the hysterectomizer – spain
a whole load in les arcs mainly Ash’s back country stuff
Innerleithen gold run (i think thats its name)
and for a local slant top to bottom on ranmore finishing with numbskull and jims hole

or

wedgie on pitch

the theme being i am rubbish at remembering trail names :o)

a mix of fad and functional, googles are very effective at keeping crap out of your eyes and if its cold keeps you all snug and warm :o) plus it looks all factory!!

what dorkingtrailpixie said, 100m of hacked down trees my arse!! and the jump in the picture was built way before the badger arrived.

Ahh how i miss verbier and Lucy and Phil, always a cracking holiday with amazing riding!

i have a 36 talas on my 03 spot, mainly leave it in the 130 mode but wind it out to 160 for steeper stuff and bigger jumps.

(and Phil who is funniest man in Europe

its true he is :o)

Last week i got £120 for my old banger and the scrapyard even came and collected it.

I run my 5 spot with a talas 36 on the front, its an 03 and so far its been fine, i’m not particularily gentle on the bike either so for a weeks riding in the alps it’ll be fine in fact it will probably be fine for ages and ages and ages!!

rode a fantastic trail in verbier full of tight turns, exposure, fast sections, steep bits, rocky bits and general great trailness all the way to the bottom no dabs and no issues then proceeded to ride and then fall off a small bridge down onto some rocks using my body as a brake whilst proclaiming “How great that trail was!!!” cue alot of faffing with ambulances, possible rides in a helicopter and a day in the very clean swiss hospital. :o)

so maybe me?

Hello

I have a bottlerocket that i use for a bit of Dh and general titting around on. Its built up fairly chunky, 66 coil fork, double and bash, mavic 721’s, shimano brakes etc and it weighs around 38lbs. I do sometime ride it for an all day XC ride. You just have to cruise up the hills to save your energy for the downs. Its a weird bike in that for a 5 inch travel bike it weighs a ton but it gets up to speed pretty quick and i think is a good balance between dh stability and “chuckability” it jumps so well and is very confidence inspiring. Oh and feels bomb proof!!

I have also had a ride on a Blood (in verbier) and that felt very good aswell, i think it was better for pure fast Dh type stuff and could be built up lighter. Also the TT was a bit more roomy so would probably make for a better XC ride. I still think the bottle rocket jumps better though.

Try to get a go on them if you can, but reading what you want i reckon you would be happy with either a rocket or a blood.

plus 10000000000 what Jon just said.

its still there, just nicely hidden away so gets less traffic

It’s a slightly less over-built Bottle rocket with an extra inch of travel… Groundbreaking stuff

not really, a bottle rocket is a 140mm travel overbuilt “slopestyle” bike that can happily take a ton of abuse. Where as the bike above is transitions XC full suss bike with slightly slack head angle and 120mm of travel, that will probably be slightly over built as that is a transition the bike company theme.

The jump is on a trail called revelation which is just closer to the road than the blind terrors

which jump? the one that wade did?

There is also a big drop off a tiny ledge that then runs onto a pill-box, which you can then drop

is this the one where the edge is an old fallen tree and the landing is short before you run on to the roof of the pill box? slow and steady is the order of the day here, otherwise you might miss the ramp onto the pill box and hit the side of it instead :o)

the pics are mother hucker and booter, never had the bottle to do mother hucker though, not sure my little turner would like it much aswell :o)

the booter is fun and there is a little gap to the right of the mother hucker as you look at it that is fun.

I think it was kit who broke his arms? on the one over the diagonal tree, don’t quote me on that though.

that old stuff has probably been reclaimed by nature now. the problem with it was it was to close to a big posh house with a gang of ninja yappy dogs who would sound the alarm and a angry man would come running. To be honest he was a decent enough bloke just didn’t really want people spannering themselves at the end of his garden.

Was it not wade and gully?

in fact i think it was just wade that come on the ride, and on another occasion wade and gully came over and rode esher shore and did some riding with kit at the old stuff on leith (the big step down that isnt mother hucker) I expect you know which one that is jedi.

Abba zabba is the first roll in, in the video posted above, then the same video they ride into blind terror two then blind terror then across the road into numb skull which takes a different line these days.

the step down onto the road is cool even though the lip is falling away a bit it still gives you enough pop to clear the little gap.

Wade Simmons and Richey Schley did indeed jump out between the trees by the bottom of blind terror. That was a few years ago now i was still riding around on my old voodoo with judy xc forks!!

Simons new ish trail which connects up a few of the older jumps and some new stuff is a great top to bottom blast.

hello

If you are thinking of getting a coil shock don’t over look the fox van R and get it pushed for your weight and preferences. Also depends on how big and how heavy you are on stuff as to whether its worth beefing up a spot to take some abuse as you may well end up breaking it. Good strong wheels and tyres and a chain device are possibly a better upgrade if you are only doing some “gnarly” stuff every now and again.

I have an 03 5 spot that has always been built on the sturdy side, started out with a romic then a van r. Forks wise, 125 vanilla then onto a pike (kept blowing up) and now on a 36 talas which is mainly used on 130 but for anything steep getting wound out to 160. But the bike has always had 2.35 dh maxxis tyres and either 321 or 721 mavic rims on it. And its been used on dh courses, drops and jumps etc and ridden in spain and the alps alot and has probably exceeded mr turner’s recommendations for the frame. But i’m not that heavy about 11.5 stone with gear.

so after all that waffle you can beef up a spot and mine rides great with the van r coil on it, but be wary if you are a heavy weight, as has been mentioned above a 6pack/rfx is a better bet if you are more sturdy.

I have a bottle rocket as my "hooning" bike, and its great when pointing downhill, loves to jump and is suprisingly spritely on singletrack despite its weight. And it is heavy! mine is built up that way with coil 66's, vanilla R rear shock and reasonable chunky tyres and wheels which is great in the alps. But i wouldn't say its suited to a long days xc. They are quite short bikes so you can never really get stretched out. I have ridden mine round cwncarn xc and quite a few xc days in the surrey alps or warncliffe woods and its fine but hard work.

In fact reading your post again it sounds like you would be using it more like i use mine so yes its a great bike and yes i am pretty certain it would happily survive ft bill and definately be great at innerleithen, in fact if you could pedal it round the black xc at glentress some of those descents would be a blast!

funn soljam viper

I have had a set of these with the cartridge bearings for about 4years now and they are battered but still very grippy and the bearings still run smooth, very tough. the platform is nicely concaved and big! a big thumbs up from me.

2003 5spot original rockers
5ft 10
50mm stem
710mm bars
long legs short body
maybe a bit cramped for the climbs but great for the downs

i have an 2003 5spot and started with some 125 vanillas then moved to a pike which was a great combination and now have a 36 talas because the pikes kept blowing up which was a shame. Run it mainly on the 130 setting but wind them out to 160 for steeper stuff.

i have one and love it, only got a few riding pic's though. Mines industrial, no paint no stickers and chunky it looks like scaffold pipes but rides so good. Heavy though, but it rides pretty spritely especially downhill as its so easy to chuck it around.

reciprocal arrangements will cover your medical bills

Get an E111 or what ever its called now. Your E111 will cover most things in a european hospital but not everything, mainly the basic medical care, drugs stitches x rays etc. You will need to pay for any ambulance journeys and scans that you may need to have and if you need to be flown home in special circumstances. So its always good to get some insurance.

I know this as i had a slight altercation with a bridge and a ravine last summer in verbier. If it wasn't for the crazy weather the bill would have been very expensive as i would have got a ride in a helicopter, instead i got to go in a 4×4 followed by a normal ambulance which cost about £500. I also had a few scans which were also expensive so once the bills arrived at home i was happy to hand them over to snowcard to sort out the paper work and importantly pay the bills.

As others have said snowcard are great as they specialise in outdoor pursuits type of holiday insurance and £30 for a weeks cover is pretty good i think.

hello Curly

any news on your frame yet?

i hope not i paid for some brakes last week, they haven't arrived yet but i thought that the post was being slow. Maybe i'm being to hopefull 😕

hello Lucy and Phil,

looks like a fun winter trail need a canoe for the trails round these parts at the moment!!

Iain

Ive seen two snap, one which just fatigued over time, the original round tubed one which was very well used! and one of the 69'er baby blue ones where the drop outs ripped off halfway down the main dh track in les arcs. The guy who owned that bike could break anything though, he's snapped kona's, a turner, a cove, an airbourne and i believe a marin grrrr!!

my college mate Reece made that 😀

Here is a good technique,

get two THICK plastic bin bags (not builders rubble bags as these have to much friction) walk to sledging destination and fill one bag with snow and pack it in then fold over the top then place the filled bag inside the other bag so the openings are opposite then sit on bag to mould to buttocks then point yourself down the hill!! wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

that looks like a lot of fun!

Mark and his guides ride tubeless, but the other year i just stuck with the tried and tested maxxis double ply minion front high roller rear with a dh tube in the back and normal in the front. Bloomin' heavy but no puctures and you can run silly low pressures for loads of grip. Bit of a slog on the way up though 😀 every evening just pull out all the little thorns which couldn't managed to get through the extra rubber!!