Had similar problems recently and tried everything to no avail. More of a rumble and groan than a squeal though. Then I changed the mounting bolts as the old one seemed a bit corroded, well it went away. Probably more to do with changing the alignment on the caliper but maybe worth a try.

Well done Rob, Nice big tick on the done list for you. Andy C

Having also done the event i think the criticism is unfair. It delivered exactly what i was expecting. The original web site never promised an enduro style event and was always aimed at all styles of mountain biking. The press may have over egged it but thats just what the press do.

Personally i would have preferred more cross country/longer timed stages, although i appreciate this is difficult to organise when the trails pass over different owners land.

The fire roads were necessary to add the distance and climbing to the days. It was always marketed as an endurance event, not enduro.

Still looking forward to it, the transitions are still excellent riding terrain, but chum3 has summed it up perfectly. Seems to be more dh orinentated than originally billed. Enduro bias in an endurance event. Having said that this is only in terms of the number of times stages. In terms of elapsed time the xc stages will definitely account for the vast majority of the timed ‘time’, as i’m guessing they are mostly uphill. Overall i think you will gain more time in a swift uphill than a banzie ‘short’ downhill.

Can’t wait to get there.

I’m liking the sound of this. Everyone seems to be taking a relaxed view. It will be good to meet some new faces and share the comraderery of getting through the last few days. but i bet once the flag drops on the special stages the competitive juices will start to flow.

Typically my bike had developed a rear brake squeel in the last few days. So if i don’t manage to get it resolved i’ll be the annoying rider ruining the peace.

Yep looking forward to it.

As above ive put in fair bit of effort over the summer so hoping it goes well. Still wont trouble the fast guys and girls though. Strangly its not the distance and climbing thats playing on my mind but what we might be faced with on the downhills.

As above there not been a lot of detail about the stages so im hoping for goods things but expecting anything.

Do it to scratch the itch but the result may not be what you expect. For me it had an odd effect. tried road riding on and off for 2 years but it just made me realise how much i loved the mtb. I never came back from a road ride satisfied. Never touch the road bike now.

yesterday, angmering park, sussex

On the subject of handwriting…during a recent period of unemployment I applied for a bursers job at a private school. No online applications, no cvs, they wanted a hand written letter. Took 10 attempts and untold hand cramps. You just dont do it any more. Didn’t get the job by the way. Probably says a lot about the private education system and old time values.

Baby wipes do the trick for light dirt such as on road bikes. Designed for getting much worse of off babies and gentle too. Great for a quick spruce up after a ride.

Yep i’m in. as CP says long way to go yet. i will be as excited as a 4 year old on christmas day by the time we get there. 5 days in wales, bound to get wet at some point.

As an ex bank employee the official (legal) answer is no. The bank has to be seen to be crediting the money to both parties. Countersigning cheques has no effect as all modern cheques are crossed. Countersigning only worked on the old uncrossed cheques. However the real answer is whether the cashier, or the person processing the auto deposits, is on there game and spots it. Or you have a ‘personal’ relationship with your branch and they effectively do you a favour.

Only rode that for the first time this year on my holidays. Truely sad. Down here on the south downs, since we became a national park, there is evidence of the same sort of thing happening here and there. I fear its just a brownie point exercise for a council official in claiming that they have made the national park more accessible. Certainly not more fun.

+1for disc brakes and suspension being game changers in their day. The very fact that there is still a wheel size debate still running suggests to me that the new wheels sizes , whichever one you choose, are not game changers. It they were our trendy freinds with new bikes would be at the top of hills waiting whilst us old schoollers were still puffing up the hill. I dont see that out on the trails.

I also think that those of us who have been around for a while have got sceptical of the big bike brands marketing hype. To me when i read the mags and corporste webs sites I hear the following…. you know that bike we sold you a few years ago that was the best bike you were ever going to get….. well weve decided it wasnt that great after all and now we want to tell you about this new wonder bike that reinvents every detail of the old bike.

Change for change sake. Did the old octalink bb ever have anything wrong with it. Lasted forever, stiff in a real world sense (not lab test stiff) and silent running.

My club down here definately does not do mountain bikes. 120+ years old and they only talk about road riding and tt. When I joined I was told they don’t do mountain bikes and if I want to do that I need to join the lbs rides. Shame really as I would love to occasionally stand around in the evening club room chatting about mountain bikes with like minded riders. Some how cluttering up the lbs on a saturday morning with others does not feel quite right.

Hi, back in august, on the sheep track, I meet the national trust ranger responsibile for the ring. Nice chap and was certsinly not against ridding in and around the ring except for specific parts. Basically the ramparts are out of bounds as they are worried about erosion. The particular area of concern is near the east gate where people have been riding down the rampart. To be fair the erosion here is becoming fairly obvious. Personally i would have thought most people would think it inappropriate to ride around the ramparts. It is an ancient monument after all. Segment F above is most definately a no no. The path through the middle is fine to ride. The sheep track is also fine. I also assume the east side decent is fine as this was not mentioned.

Unfortunately I’ve had to reach for the road bike lately. I’m hoping for a hard frost soon. Its seems like that will be the fastest way were gonna get back onto the downs. This time of year usually takes 5 to 7 days of no rain for things to improve. (farmers going about their business never helps either). On the upside its always nice to rediscover your ‘new’ local trails after the rain has ‘re-worked’ them.

Steyning bostal an old favourite, bexley hill north of midhurst, and any of the four ways upto whiteways north of arundel. Singleton to goodwood, two versions of that one.

700 descents in one day…… that works out at about 1 a minute. (Simple rounding maths of 700/10 hours = 70 an hour give or take). So much for mtbing get us away from it all. Much quiter yesterday. Saw about 10 riders all day.

Looks impressive. Cant wait to get down there.

Seems to be case that all rebas I have is thatyou need to run them a lot lower than the chart suggests. Im 140lbs and run mine off the bottom of the chart at 60lbs. Also you will never get the last 5mm of travel off a 100mm fork.

@PeterPoddy ah you’ve just made my day after whats been a bad day.. I’m in a similar position with redundancy looming and you’ve just restored my faith in the fact that the future can be bright and of my choosing. Yes the money might not be great but I can deal with that. I saw somewhere else that someone was complaining that the job will come with a selling roll. Again thats fine and its what ive always done. At the end of the day selling is just talking to people. Hopefully talking to people about bikes.

Roll on the future.

Another southdowns encounter near cissbury ring. A badger ran out of the hedgerow in front of me, then turned and ran directly at me. Before i could really react it had head butted the front wheel. Strange thing is we kind of bounced/glanced off each other, then it went between the wheels back off into the hedgerow. Not scarey as such because it happened all too quick but a very odd moment.

Great event guys, well done SPAM. best event of the year and looking forward to next year already.

Hi, Kevin. Bank manager here. Good to meet up with you this morning, hope you enjoyed it. That was pretty much everything i know. one or two other bits here and there but those we did seem to link up well. Even more fun when its dry and less slippery.

i’ve recently bought a zing frame and love it. its a 52cm , biult it up from bits i had about, same wheels and much the same spec except i’ve got a compact sram apex crank. comes in at just under 20lb. Not the lightest and you will one day want to upgrade the sora shifters but it rides really well. I would recomend it.

Kona is the most underated brand out there. once you’ve owned one you’ll never regret it, if you’ve never owned one … well you just don’t get it.

Yes. thought i’d have a look at the web site to see whats what until i saw the prices, heck that made my eyes blink.

Sounds like an ideal business oppurtunity to open an alternative tea room selling cheese straws.

Exactly the same for me, loving it. only frustating thing about the various times is when a non local/race whippett comes along and posts a really fast time on ‘our’ trails. for instance the fastest time on a local hill has been posted by a south african on holiday. Otherwise best gps type tracker i’ve found.

good to know i’m “doing better than you”, mate. What’s this then, some secret training plans so you can whip our arses next year ;-) Next time you complain about that next hill i shall suspect a bit of sandbagging.

Seriously though lets work something out over the next few weeks.

Thanks guys. my mistake, yes it should be 12*36t cassette. Sounds like an old school can be made to work. Thinking now it’s probably easier just to get a different sized chain ring.

That’s the 3rd time in 4 attempts now that i’ve got soak, killed my bike and had to bail out. I think its time to listen to what the gods are trying to tell me. I can’t take anymore.

pretty please

Excellent course. Shame about the timing of the rain couldn’t have been worse. Strange how some of the single recovered but the fire roads seemed to get worse as the day went on. one of the best courses ive ridden.

Got a short sleeve movistar one for 15 quid. Arrived in 2 weeks and quality of material as good as any regular make. Ordered medium, normal take a small and fits perfect. Washed twice now and colours still holding up .

yep i’m doing this one as a team of three.

Never riden down that way before, so whats the terrain like.

i’m guessing it’s chalk based, rolling hills. Not much rain forecast this week so i imaging evrything is very dry and running fast.

Been out for a while in angemering park estate, remembered today to take the camera

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ape042011(3)[/url] by Biking Andy[/url], on Flickr

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ape042011(2)[/url] by Biking Andy[/url], on Flickr

i’m also having this dilema with the frame and whether to purchase and will it work in the real world with a triple chainset. to be fait to on one is this not more of a problem with internal/intigrated BB than the design of the frame. ie is the bb just too big to allow any sensible clearance. What experience have other people got with other manufacturers, such as giant, trek, whyte, specialized BB30 and BB92 frames. Any photos of these ?