ta delusional, looks like i’m at the mercy of the chain reaction sizeist pricing policy then:(

Of those with the wildcards can anyone vouch for the fit? I have found sombrio quality good in the past but sizing can be a bit hit n mis. They ususlly come up big for their size but not always (it can depend on year i’ve found). I’m 32-34″, anyone else out there can confirm the mediums are about as advertised for the 2010 wildcards? Or should i size up or down?

Of those with the wildcards can anyone vouch for the fit? I have found sombrio quality good in the past but sizing can be a bit hit n mis. They ususlly come up big for their size but not always (it can depend on year i’ve found). I’m 32-34″, anyone else out there can confirm the mediums are about as advertised for the 2010 wildcards? Or should i size up or down?

Good work matey, hope it doesnae get too dirty up Rivi. Can't wait to meet her in the metal.

See you tomorrow, oh yeah might have a special treat for you too 😉

Double and bash!!!!.

36 outer means ya only drop the 44 x 11 & the 44 x 12 or 13. Tho you know this as I ramble on about it every week 😉

We'll work on getting rid of that granny ring laters 🙂

Nice looking ride mate, some familiar bits from the dentdale loop too (i.e the sink hole!!). Very vague that moor though, done it in very low 30m visibility and it is very onerous to say least.

We settled for jacobs ladder, rushup edge, mam tor today. Lots of wind and walkers but somehow still got a wee bit of sun to top up me random biker tan. Oh and the Nobby Nic held out too 😉

Enjoy Wales.

Nice pics… wish I was there 😉

Nice Matey… good to see it.. nearly there… be even better inthe flesh. Looks very slack!!!. Might be the bricks messing with my head… is it your house that is on a hill maybe.

Will dig out that 50mm Thomson if ya still wanna try it.

We made the Lakes and di Garburn in the end today tho it was rubbish…. NOT!!!. Even got be first stripey bike tan for the year!!!

Catch ya tomorrow.

G

Shoulda got some Wotans Chuck ;o)

Nico…. Do you use the DH versions on the trail? I read on Mtbr that the floodgate can restrict the std forks somewhat and they "breathe" better without it. It this just the case for FR/DH use tho and without it would they in your opinion dive thru travel. I got the impression when I briefly spoke to TFT that the floodgat might be useful for trail riding (not something I'd personally) use or at least not having it might make for a less controlled fork for Trail riding purposes?.

Very tempted by the new Lyrics just not sure whether std or DH would be best for my general trail duties and the odd DH usage. Was thinking of going fixed travel Solo Air (reduced to say 150 for trail use and then upped to 170mm (removing spacer) for the odd DH day. Would be on on my Tracer btw!!.

How about a Sinister – Ridge. Beautiful, hand welded by Frank the Welder (The Welders Welder!!), with nice CNC dropouts and detailing and 1.5" headtube. I've done 30 mile epics on mine in 140mm mode but the it will take upto 170mm forks.

http://www.sinisterbikes.com/ridge.php

I have a large 19" black one in good nick I may part with as it is maybe a bit too hardcore for me now sadly. UK retail is about £559 if you can find one, I'm looking for £275.

G

We went a couple of years ago and though you may need to hire a car to get about you can quickly get to some good stuff on the front range.

White Ranch was quite good and then there is some more rocky and interesting stuff around Red Rocks Stadium IIRC. Sure local bike shops in boulder will be more than helpful. We stayed with friends in Golden and also up in Silverthorne and had local guiding as a result.

The Colorado Trail was also fun and if you feel adventurous then you can head over the rockies to Utah onto Fruita and Arches/Moab for some slickrock and porcupine rim action :o)

Depending when you go some of the higher ski type resorts may still have some snow btw!!.

Enjoy… jealous!!!

Cheers Nick for a good run out today and a cheeky beer half way. Almost helped me get through that bog on the way back. Good to see Rivi raised a few smiles (there's life in the old dog yet…. No not you Chuckie 😉

Also cheers for showing us a couple of little bits I'd not done before. Good day all round and nice to see a few new faces too.

See yas next time.

PS Watch out or them slippery sleepers in the car park :oops:… somebody should put a sign em or something!!!… sore elbow now for sure… doh!! 🙁

My mate has one in green!! "he" loves it 🙂

Count me in, this ride tried to kill me a few years ago, I want revenge!!!.

Sunday was good fun in the snow and not as icy as the previous sunday. Had to help cars outt the snow tho 🙂

Can't believe ya never made it tonight chuck, bit bleak tho!!

Oi… the grey should cut down my bulk.. the mankini underneath should have a tucking compression effect too 😉

Either way it looks a much better prospect than Rivi right now!!

Cool pics Chuck.. it has cheered me up already. It's grim back ere.

Good to hear from you too Mark, hope your enjoying this week and making the most of that new MoonRaker line. I keep thinking of that clean no-dabbin line… its gotta be do-able… it was greeeeeat all the same tho:)

Awesome break thankyou again.

Heh… this carbon thing is catching ;o)

Weighed my 2.35 swampies (wire) and came out about 740g when I resurected em last week. Prob a couple of years old but not used last year so still plenty of tread.

Like Trailraker (2.1 Kevlar PR) generally but carcass is too small for me. For sale now 🙂

Me too, the blue seems to change intensity with the time of day/light.

I tested a light xc build (fox 32 Talas and xc rims) and heavy build (fox 36 & all mountain rims) back to back (thankyou Wheelbase and Extra/Intense – fantastic day) and really like it. Really felt like two different bikes.

Built mine up around 30lbs with Wotans, Dt 5.1 rims, etc and it feels rather good. Rode a 39 mile lakeland ride on it last weekend and a few weeks ago was at fort bill. Very versatile!!.

Still trying to perfect the shock set up to be honest so it should get even better.

I had some of these 6 months ago, they weighed 129 grams!!!. Thought something was wrong when nearly a third of the bars material (by weight) was missing but stupidly soldiered on with them.

Needless to say they lasted 2 rides. It was fantastic thinking of what mighta happened if they catastrophically failed. Anyway caught the problem and returned the bars for a refund.

Got very little sympathy or concern from the well known shop. They even offered a replacement but I pointed out I’d lost confidence in the Sunline manufacturing process and turned them down.

Very nice looking and comfy bars albeit poorly finished (got barbs in me fingers from end of bars too!). Shame really but more of a shame its taken 6 months to do anything. Shocking.

Still running carbon bars tho, FSA and Truvativ going strong after 3 & 2 years and have some nice Eastons to go on bike next. 🙂

Are they defo the lynskey versions.. can't get to hotmail to check the mailshot!!!.

What is the finish like???

Subtle!!! :o)

Oi don't be knocking the straight from bike to pool to evening wear I am championing this season. It will be very on trend, just need to get the right colour to eccentuate me body shape.

I am calling it the cham… chammy man… er um kini… shamankini… um chamkini. Yeah there the Chamkini!!!. Da dahhh!!!.

I'll keep working on it :o)

Unfortunately might be at a christening for this one so won't be able to roll out this seasons thermal Chamkini :o(

Ahh NBT!!, my hardcore race machine felt rather strange when I got back on it.

Did a bit more reading on the blue pig and I think the relatively steep seat angle (compared to other slack head angled bikes) put all my weight forward. So when I steered it kind felt as though more of my weight was creating a sort of swinging pendulum affect. Could get used to it tho. Hmmmmm.

Thanks again.

Ta for the mega day out Ton (and the wee bit of history and local folk/trail lore). Really enjoyed it and a cracking day with a bunch of cracking folk.
Nice to meet you all and particular thanks the kind fella who lent me his blue pig for the last bit of the ride. (sorry I am getting a bit old and forgetful when it comes to names). Food for thought there!

Oh and chucky you better not be sporting a full face and sleeveless top on hols…. unless ya got ya biking-shammy thong on with it too ;o)

Oi.. I heard that!!!

I plan to be there… roll on those sweet sick inducing steep sided valleys 🙂

That'd be my conclusion, the blackbox seem worth having. Friend has been riding blackbox reba's as a replacement to his pushed pikes previously and rather rates the blackbox. (for his Soul anyway)

Not sure on the new Fox Fit equipped forks this year tho. That might throw in another variable.

Thanks Si.

Hi Si

I quite fancy the Rev Team U-Turn Maxles from what I've heard/read so far. I quite like my 09 15mm Van 32s R's too and will eb keeping them for my hardtail (coil simplicity for winter) but the added stiffness, adjustability and lower weight appeals to me for my full suss.

Not sure if you got to read this over on MTBR but it is quite interesting and relatively un-biased.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=539546

If you do by chance have the odd spare set of Rev's at a good price I'd be very interested. I was sorely tempted by the 36's you did but I'm tying to lighten up a bit at the mo.

Don't forget me… we spotted ya stealth training on Sunday!!!

Cheers Chucky should be ok for it me thinks. Let me know if ya fancy a warm up in the morning (or Sunday morning) fella!!.

Only if ya take some dosh with ya.. or ya mates take pity 😉

I will be there (unless I am not… er I mean unless I am on hols 😀

Mystery smiley blokey from the pic!!!

Cool I can't wait now, pics look great… roll on the weekend eh Chuck!!!. Maybe do Witches Fri night, Fort Bill DH and 4x and Red on Sat'd then go muck about Lagan on Sunday before drive back.

Maybe I just leave bike in DH mode all weekend for a laugh… oh Tom is also considering the Stiffee for the whole weekend… camping will be fun!!!

Ta all for a top day, enjoyed it as ever and the “radler” stop (or two)was most pleasant 🙂

Ta for the Hummer spin too… er nice Mr Hummer!!! (sorry rubbish at catching names!!)

Also thankyou for the cakes Mrs Flash aand Johnie… they were mucho yum!!!.

Cheers Chuck, yup I have a blue un built up with 140mm fox van r (15mm’s) at the moment. It is a fantastic bike so far and still playing with the set-up. I test rode it before I bought in both short and long travel settings and there is a bit of a contrast. The short set-up is great for climbing and nice and zippy on singletrack.
On the test ride the long travel felt pretty similar to my ellsworth moment so gonna build it like that for a while to get a more long term feel for it (and the lower bb over the ellsworth). Like you I am keen on the idea of the new 150mm revs (low weight and the adjustment), although maybe some nice float 36’s would do the trick. Think I need to see how the 160mm set-up fairs and whether I need travel adjust.
I currently run a flush hope reducer (seemed best low weight/priced option) but a few members of mtbr have recomended a slightly slacker non-flush reducer so might swap in a 10mm lower race to back off the h/a angle another half a degree-ish.
Half of me thinks the 150mm revs and 10mm lower race would give me a good low weight flexible option. Other half of me thinks go for a slightly burlier build (36’s) and rely on my hardtail to cover off other options… time will tell :).. and some fun fettling!!!

Ahh I’d be one of the other 8 then!. Grant (the Blue Intense blokey) :)… the one who got the nice 1″ slice in me tyre after about 500 metres from the start!. Thanks again to all those that helped – that tyre boot did the job nicely. So I got to enjoy a fantastic day out riding some awesome terrain in a new part of the world for me.
I was also with Tom and Jo and then Dave (chuckie), Paul and Mick!!!.

Thanks again for organising the day, it was very good to meet new folk and see a few familiar faces too.

Hope Tom and Jo make it back home ok and Lancaster A&E isn’t too traumatic :I… good luck.

Looking fwd to the piccies!!!.

Nice pics fella didnae even see ya whip out that bad boy. Good to see ya got back in one piece and dried out ok.. I managed to get back a bit earlier than I thought but it was still a good trek!!.

Maybe one day we’ll have some of the famed Rivi STW Massive ride weather with us eh!!!.

One question tho, have ya not twisted the camera for that last pic… surely it was vertical!!! ;o)

Cheers for the ride yesterday, really enjoyed it and legs aren’t too bad today. Good work on the cakes n tea also very impressed with the slick setup. I’ll look fwd to the next one especially if you guys have got such command over the weather.

I agree with Vortex too, “that steep short bit just after the reservoir” upto the house where we met at the start was a killer for cramp first thing in the morning heh!!!.

Gingerflash – like me pic in black n white ya took too, thought you missed me!!!. Glad ya missed the bit straight after where I wobbled into a tree too heh :o)

Count me in too.. will be good to see ya riding at weekend for a change vortex ;o).