Always fun when you get home and discover a KOM on some backwards little segment you never knew existed.
And hilarious 2 days later when the previous owner goes out to reclaim his KOM on a segment with <10 riders.

Isn’t an RS4 pretty much everyones dream every day car?
There’s other things on the shopping list first though, like a double garage for the n+1 bikes, and a dedicated turbo pain cave.

Evoc is good, but i’ve not had another to compare to see if its the best.
I’ve used Snowcard for travelling with bike (up to 3k i think), but you’ll have t check if they do Canada

You’ll not fit your muddy XC bike in the back of an S5

Kryton, the answer is clear.
Man up, do the intervals and have the beer as a recovery drink :-)

I always assumed that was because he runs tubulars, which never really stopped being tan-walled so it helps his tyre sponsors get their product noticed if it’s easily recognizable, a bit like Orange rollers on MRP guides.

Tubulars don’t have to be skinwall – as you say, probably just so Mr Dugast gets his name in print every time Nino’s bike is photo’d.
However whether they are made by Mr Dugast, or by elves using the finest fairy dust, they still make that lovely Scott bicycle look ugly

I’m using a bar extender to elevate light over bag (see pics from benp1 in post above)

You don’t half talk pish some times.

I didn’t say I believed it – you’d need to be an idiot to buy a bike/brand purely because *insert pro rider here* is using it and doing well on it.
But clearly bike brands believe that people do indeed buy bikes for that reason.

As a clue its impossible to do a tailwhip on a DH bike with triple clamp forks

Thanks for the education :D
Maybe when Ratboy figures that out too he’ll stop trying it on practice runs :P

They are horrid.
If he didn’t win so much i’m sure Scott would have banned Nino ruining the image of their bikes with them by now!

how long before fans start thinking SC have built a dud this year?

Exactly. If one of the most talented riders in the world can’t get down a run without falling off it cant be a very good bike right?
Not a great image to have in peoples head when trying to sell bikes.

Its a dangerous game the “too cool for school” approach in professional sports, someone is paying you a lot of money to win. Being cool ony sells so much.

Yep. If you watch the syndicate videos on youtube he also finds falling off in practice doing tail whips funny. Doubt Santa Cruz find it very funny at all.

@adsh Whilst that was the original theory behind rigid forks for the event, i kinda get the impression that now rigid forks are selected as the most appropriate for the job.
I read a write up long ago, where the rider said that for ~75% of the route his thoughts were “these rigid forks are awesome”.

Also bear in mind that with some setups, bar bag/harness/whatever can buzz a fully compressed air fork, and you end up running fork either locked out or very low sag anyway.

The problem with MTB (in my mind) that makes it really hard to progress technical skills without supervision is the penalty for failure.
If you want to try and get more topsin on your backhand at tennis then maybe you miss a bunch practising. If you want to lean the bike more and perfect weight distribution to corner faster, the penalty is falling off lots, which for (sane people at least) is not fun and hurts.

Crazy the speed folks are going these days.
Was beginning to prep for my own TD attempt a few years back, but illness decided otherwise. Back then 27 days would have seemed a realistic, and still respectable target, these days that benchmark seems more touring than racing.

I’d love to do some sort of regular MTB classes.

As a coach i always found it hugely beneficial to see players on a very regular basis as you can see how they are progressing, make minor adjustments, or bump up the difficulty as appropriate. I’ve run full day group events too, and whilst the players enjoy a full day playing, its certainly not as beneficial as breaking that time into smaller regular sessions.

Still tempted by a couple of half day 1-to-1 sessions on the bike, but its a lot of cash to invest in something where i don’t have someone watching to make sure i’m on the right track.

I can kinda see the use as a semi uplift replacement, but you are stuck with a fat heavy bike on the way down again. I’m a bit of a crap descender, but even i can appreciate how much more agile a light bike is to pop off roots etc.

As for the 30% further thing, i’d choose a carbon hardtail with ralphs rather than a 48lb bike with dragtastic tyres on.

Guess it kinda depends what biking is to you. If its a way to access the great outdoors and you really want to see more, then by all means get yourself an e-bike. If however its the feeling of riding the bike, the popping of roots, the burst of power to clear a tricky technical climb etc, then stick with a real bike.

I kinda see e-bikes as a way for the unfit or occasional rider to get out and enjoy mtb’ing, where otherwise the climbing aspect would put them off and they’d end up stuck on the sofa watching EastEnders with the Mrs. For this purpose, i think they are great and should be encouraged.

However for someone with the fitness to ride a proper bike, i can’t really think of any situation where i’d think of an e-bike as an appropriate choice.

At 14.3kg, its failed its mission as a do it all bike regardless of the component spec. Its going to feel like climbing towing an anchor – unless perhaps you are also heavy and have the power/strength to compensate.

No flaming, looks great, got a 2014 model myself and love it.
Top tip, start looking for good deals for a new rear tyre – the Robs perform fine, but really dont last long.

2nd goal much better, the kind of goal i like to see.
Ukrainian defence were (rightly) over committed looking for an equaliser and combination of a good pass and a good run punished them for it.

Lol @ that video, looks an utterly miserable way to spend a weekend.

Always behind your man or he can go anywhere. and certainly make sure he doesnt get a 2 yard start on you.
Once the ball is kicked make sure you are goal side – if you dont screw up best he can do is either head it into you, or a slow looping header over you.

Either way, regardless of the quality of the cross, as a defender, when you’ve given your man an uncontested header, you’ve screwed up. When you do it playing for your local pub team, you apologise and carry on. Professionals shouldn’t make basic screw ups

Yep, nice header, but goes back to what i was saying in the other thread. WTF was that defender doing, how can you get wrong side of your man from a free kick – epic fail.

Is Ratboy still under contract next year? Another weekend like that won’t impress team management for sure. 2 crashes in practice playing at tail-whips, a crash in qualifying and again on race run.

Gwin obviously knows something the others don’t about that track – quite dominant.

Never successfully used the Samsung TV app, tried twice, it didnt work, so went to plan B.
Tablet has an HDMI output and its Red Bull TV app works great.

And after i’ve finished a ride, i’m covered in mud, and busting for a No2 i dont want to have to get in the car and drive up the road to the ‘shared’ trailhead.

Also, doesn’t have to be ‘families’ to want some more mellow stuff. I’d happily spend a day on a 29er hardtail riding 60km of blue grade singletrack with red options.

You’d need at least 65psi in the donor tyre. Don’t think there’ll be enough pressure differential for them to equalise quickly enough to pop the tubeless one up though.

Tom really hit the nail on the head, why would anyone want to drive for hours to visit a trail centre with 17km of marked trails, no toilets, no changing, no cafe.

In the long list of things that makes a destination for a weekend trip, an uplift is quite near the bottom. If they really want to make Inners an attractive destination for a broad audience they need to build about another 75km of marked trails (from green->black graded) and some trailhead facilities.

Looking at the split times it looks like a few big names have crashed during qualifying.

Yeah, 25mph would do it, dont have long to make small corrections at that speed!

Morale of the story is don’t chase Strava segmemts (says the guy who came off at 20mph chasing an uphill segment :oops: )

#StravaIsEvil

Still sounds like a sticky valve. Both my Joe Blows do this (gave my old one to my dad).
One seems to work much better when the valve is turned to the bottom of the wheel.
The other generally gets 100psi in the head but then forces the valve open.
As per earlier post, have always assumed it was some friction between the valve head and the sealing ring of the pump head.

Stupid question maybe, but how does such a small rock throw you off something as capable as a Capra?

And from your picture up the trail the other way, how did you get off line in the first place?

How long until you ate allowed to ride again?

I cant imagine ever changing a tyre and not thnking it will have an impact on rolling resistance.
Also, it would make the forums quite dull since we would no longer need tyre threads, we’d all just run Minion DH tyres for everything

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Wheels-Wagon-Bicycle-Adventure/dp/1845965612/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51sO6GbUcxL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_&refRID=DFC8JC7VH0W36KERMP10

Doesn’t really matter where they are playing or if they are being goaded. If they can’t behave ship them back home, lock them up and and revoke their passports.

Football should be about enjoying the game (or arguing if footballers suck :P ) not about hooligans brawling in the streets.

To quote enduro-mtb magazine.

It’s also worth crediting the underdog as the WTB Vigilante and WTC Trail Boss took us by surprise in this group test, leaving us convinced of their aptitude for long-rides given their great rolling characteristics and high level of traction.

Yikes, can see those off camber sections causing a few offs if it doesn’t dry up a lot.
Crazy speed through one of the rock gardens, even Claudio surprised himself.

@Nobeer, nothing against Womens sport in particular, although given 2 recent threads i can see why you would question it. I merely pointed out 2 cases where despite them being professional sportspeople, many performances are anything but professional.

@dragon, totally agree about simple runs. Its the kind of thing taught at schoolboy level, and really shouldn’t be present in the top professional leagues.

@Taulpaul, interesting point about collective errors vs individual ones. Have to admit i hadnt considered that.