Bloody hell!!! He's either going to be one of the best BMxers out there in the future, or in a wheel chair…

At 1:35, I really did think it was going to go porno! LOL

Weather's been pants for July so far – but weather forecast looked reasonable today – Carol Kirkwood even gave hope that the west country would be fairly pleasant today – no waterproofs for me then!

Bombing off to work in my new Cervelo test team Jersey – I was Carlos Sastre for sure! Smashing up the first climb, stood up and on the drops, rarrr! Hear me roar indeed!

Then the rain came, omg, it's 2007/08 all over again! I quickly fell back into the saddle, and then very quickly I fell into 39-25, my shoes started to fill up, my glasses fogged up, my legs went lactic (probably psychologically more than anything) and the reality that I was weak, skinny englishman on a bike way too fast for him in a country with weather so far from perfect for cycling hit me like a ton of bricks.

I got to mud dock (bike shed facilities) positively soaked – why the hell do I spend so much time and money riding these stupid machines!! I've got most of my kit hung up at mud dock praying it will dry (unlikely) and my shoes socks and gloves are stuffed here at work with a few copies of the Metro!

But do you know what – got a club ride tonight and can't wait to go riding again!

As mentioned, the stiffness out back on the ST4 definitely has a limit but it's much stuff than a Commencal and only noticeable if you normally ride something proper stiff like a Five…

The ST4 is good. To the point where if they can get the back end as stiff as a Five I wouldn't not even be remotely surprised to see an ST5.5 or something…

That said, I think the ST4 works because of it's geometry and notably BB height probably as much as the linkage so perhaps I'm wrong about a longer travel ST bike…

I still got o wiggle first if they have what I need.

Ordered a Jersey today and dispatched today…

cynic-al – the winks don't make you any less of a bitch!

I'm only making observations here and discussing the topic – why are you so bent out of shape?

(For what it's worth, I ride a HT too and run the same tyres across both bikes)

30 min commute this morning which obviously I have to do again today 🙂

Go to richer sounds and pick up one of their Cambridge Audio Azur amp and cd bundles – they normally throw in some good bookcase speakers and all the cables too.

http://www.richersounds.com/information/hifisystems

System 3 or higher…

VERY Wrong mate…

Both Enduro and Pitch are 150mm I think…

It's also a tactic for encouraging drifting and can be quite fun… 🙂

Well it's ultimately a compromise, stick a fast tyre on the back for speed and to save weight and to try and kill some drag – the offset is that you've got to try and not bin it. Luckily, the rear is easier to save if it does go whereas the front is often terminal if it goes – which is why a lot of riders only put something silly on the rear.

Obviously really good riders will get away with silly tyres front and rear – I've got mates who run 2.1 Small Block 8s front and rear and always thrash me to the bottom LOL

Yeah but if you go any bigger than 2.1 on the back and you're not gravity riding, you're probably punishing yourself way more energy wise than any comfort gains…

And also, damage to tyre and rim – what kind of riding you talking about here, I'd assume 'most' riders are on a 2.1 at least and even clanging about on my Five, my uber skinny, not-really-a-2.1-are-they High Rollers have never been at risk damaging the rim or tyre…

Even if you were on a hardcore hardtail and your riding was extreme enough to warrant a 2.4 or something out back, chances are your riding is hardcore enough to warrant a 2.4 up front too!

I've been training for Marathon type events for about a year now…

I was very slim but also very weak and very, very unfit so arguable started from nothing but at least didn't have weight to contend with…

A year on of doing similar to what clubber described, riding at least three times a week and as hard as I can I've come a long way – but I'm still miles away from the front runners. I'm at a standard where I'm happy to finish in the top half, ecstatic to finish top third…

The good news is my social riding has come on miles, when I started out CwmCarn would take me all day and I'd barely get round, now I can comfortably go to Afan and ride Whites, The Wall, Penydd and July all in a day… I don't know if that helps you answer your question or not…

Taking up road bikes helped A LOT!

ST4!

110mm out back, will take 120-130mm up front, and it's a rocket ship in the singletrack!

Dez – My 2.35 Nevs are grippier than the 2.1s I also have…

I don't think people are saying bigger always = grippier but generally the same tred in a bigger size has more grip.

Actually the bigger carcass is likely to be more stable over rough terrain anyway so less skittish…

For what it's worth I'm currently running a 2.35 Blue Groove and 2.1 Small Block 8 – crazy fun!

lol – ok, HT makes sense I guess, but even on my HT I still run bigger at the front…

I've always gone bigger on the front with the logic that correcting the rear end is doable, if you lose the front end you're often toast. So I tend to run whatever size I feel I need up front and then the smallest/fastest I can get away with out back…

I can't think what the pros of running bigger on the back would be…

I do like my Athlon but I miss my Bell Sweep sorely…

I admit, XP very very rarely crashed for me and the one blue screen I had was down to a hardware failure so I can let that slide.

Never moved to Vista, will it be remembered fondly along with the likes of travesties like Windows ME?

I'm on OSX now, was forced onto it at work and have grown to love it so have made the switch at home… can't say I miss windows all that much but I never found XP as bad as others seem to

Can't believe I'm saying this as I don't like the brand, but Giant Anthem X2

I've ridden an X1 and it was frighteningly good! The X2 is only a touch heavier but a lot cheaper…

(I rode a riser/sensible stem equipped one btw)

5'10" 18" frame 60mm stem – 40mm was hella fun downhill but rubbish in the climbs…

Foxy, YGM

LOL at Chris young at 4:07 😀

"Yeah you gonna get some boy!"

There just plain isn't any compromise for road bike and learning to MTB. I'd suggest picking one, and going for it.

I actually went for a Spesh Myka FSR Expert for my wife. Risky price wise but she's really taken to it and the best quote from the first day out was, "I didn't know bikes could be comfy" lol – that was as much riding position as the rear suss.

Alright it's rubbish on road but we've got plenty of offroad riding round here from ST to bridleways and as I'm on an MTB as well, it doesn't matter.

I just really can't see a novice getting much fun out of a CX bike beyond gravel tracks…

Oh, saw the road riding thing… teach me to not read the post properly…

Still think an MTB and a set of slicks might be better…

IS she a keen rider at the moment?

I only ask because a CX bike seems like a terrible idea!

Just jump straight to the MTB – it's the long term plan anyway, and it's not like she's going to get slowed down by the bike anymore than the kids!

Retrobike.

I tend to undertake all the time but my route is unique in that it's full of lots of queueing traffic and next to no junctions for them to turn into. I tend to undertake most of the way to work (I'd never get there on time otherwise) but I just take it easy and keep my eyes peeled. If you're going to tuck and stay off the brakes you probably deserve your Darwin award you've got coming…

I don't find overtaking any safer because driver seem just as likely to pull away and suddenly drift to the outside of the lane pushing you into oncoming…

Bit of common-sense from drivers and cyclists and we'd all be fine…

Pretty tidy for £200 by the looks of it!

I hope to do this next year if I can find the funds – it is a lot of money and I'm sure within the first day I'll be cursing why I didn't spend it on a trip to the alps instead…

I have this weird thing where I hate enduros all the way through and then two days after, can't wait for my next one – it's like there's a delayed chemical high or something… *sigh*

Echo everything above, but the best thing I brought with me was the other half who put my tent up everyday, washed my bike and cooked for me!

You are an exceptionally lucky man! My other half finds supporting me on a single day event painful enough!! (Although I didn't even finish the last one so who knows how grumpy she may have got after 12 hours…)

backhander – it's cheesy riders 😛

We do a lot of away stuff but don't tend to publicise those rides outside of the forum… If I remember I'll give a you a shout next time we're in South Wales…

Ashton Court is great because most of us live and work within a mile of it so it's great for several post work blats all through the year…

Steradent.

http://www.justin.tv/golden_dragon1

Access: kers22

Is working for me…

My wife thought my old helmet looked better… 😡

I went a year on Crank Brothers. I tired Candy's and Acids, the Acids seemed to last the best.

I think they really could be the best system in terms of feel in normal riding situations – if they sorted bearing life and sorted cleat life.

That said, they're a pig to get out of in a SPD moment. Something about the lifting and twisting nature make them want to clamp tighter instead of release.

I'm back on Shimanos now but I do miss the clipping in and the actual riding on CBs (when you aren't doing super techie climbs or riding in a slow group!)

2pure – the cleat bolts are a joke btw, so shallow and far to easy to round off no matter how well you service the cleats and bolts. The hex interface need be just a few mm deeper!

*waves willy*

God forbid any of us want to actually ride nonstop and can't do that without endless changes to position on the bike.

God forbid any of us want to ride a trail difficult, steep enough or fast enough to actually warrant dropping the post.

still dont really understand these things. £60-£250 to save you the hassle of getting off your bike for a sec, undoing the QR dropping your seat and then tightening you QR again.

balmy!

God forbid any of us want to actually ride nonstop!!!!

Judging by how battered and scraped the post is on that green spesh, the i850 would be a visual upgrade!

I hate being a suspicious old bastard but spotted this on ebay last night:

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/lukeaddicott

Two Orange 224s for sale by the same guy, it's probably genuine but meh, it's how it is these days…