Last time I was at Glentress I kept taking wrong turns because the signage was bad and had been covered up in a lot of places by race signage. Some sections of the red trail were very broken up and washed out but I like that more natural feel anyway. As 'OrangeCrush' says above: there is a number you can call on the website.

😀 I think there's a bit of black paint on the spring itself near the top but it's not very obvious. You would think they would be more clearly labelled.

Ok thanks for the offer. I think I should try it out a bit more first and then I'll get back to you. I've not tested it on any really steep technical stuff yet. Cheers.

I was out working on my trail up in the woods behind my house. Now I'm off to buy some new forks for my bike. Almost the perfect day.

Ok thanks. I'll look forward to having a tinker later!

I'm probly buying some second hand 351's of a friend tonight. Does anyone know how you check which spring is in it cos my mate doesn't know what one's in there? I'm assuming you can gain access to the spring but is it labelled once you get at it?

I was there a couple of weeks ago and thought all the snow would be gone. There was still a lot of snow on Spooky Woods which made things a little unpredictable. I would think there will be shed loads up there now. Try checking the FC 7 staines website I think they might have trail condition reports there.

Thanks for your input everyone. I was thinking nearer £200 personally but wasn't sure about the 351 spec. My mate say's he's selling the wheel too so I might get that aswell cos my current one isn't compatible.

The fork will be replacing the Recon 335 that came with my Trance X5. This fork seems OK but just feels a bit short on the downhill bits and apparently Pikes are plusher, stiffer and stronger. They are also heavier but that's not too bad.

Cheers. I've never had floodgate on any of my forks. How vital do you think it is or would the 351's still be very good forks? What do you think would be a fair price to pay for them if they're in good condition? Thanks.

Don't forget the south!!!

The Tweed valley is really nice as is the scenery off the A7 around places like Hawick and Langdale. As you say bangin there's also the trail centres round there.

I'm considering this too and do similar riding to you. I have quite a low BB and I'm bashing my big chain ring more than I'm using it so might change. I think you can get different ratios. I was looking at SLX which I think is 36/22.

3 days isn't long. I've known a few women who've been put off by the wildness of the Highlands. If she's a city type you might want to show her the Loch Lomond area where the Highlands is basically on the doorstep of Glasgow which is a nice city (no honestly it is!). I really like Argyll as it is very varied. The Cairngorms is totally amazing with some really epic scenery. They say the Cairngorms is Britains last wilderness but you wouldn't believe it sometimes with the number of hillwalkers out there. I really like parts of the west coast. There's some really wild parts once you get up towards Ullapool and beyond. Torridon area is nice and the Islands. I particularly like Islay. There's a lot to see.

Thanks for the info, hopefully I can check out some of those routes this year.

I think cycling on most public footpaths is still technically illegal in England. I'm a little out of touch with English access laws though having lived in Scotland for a while. In Scotland you can cycle on 'paths' within reason but you have to give way to walkers and avoid causing erosion etc etc. It's basically common sense stuff and hopefully things will go this way more down south too.

To not ride the cliff paths around here would be far more criminal than riding them ever will be

Can you recommend any particularly good bits? I've done some coastal walking around Zennor and as I remember the paths were good there and the scenery was awesome. I think NT own a lot of the coastline in Cornwall don't they? I can't imagine them being too anti cycling.

I did the red route today for the first time and really enjoyed it. It wasn't raining much but I think there had been shed loads last night or this morning as there was water everywhere. The long straight bit of single track coming down the hill was like a burn but none of it looked washed out at all.

How much of the red route does the race use or does it vary? I was thinking of entering but not sure I can make it.

Good to see more trails. It irks me a bit when people complain about the Forestry Commission trails because as someone says above they don't have to do it. They maybe feel obliged to build them and it's good for everyone including local economies. I quite like it when they don't get round to maintaining them and they get all rough.

Ok thanks @rkk01. My Grandparents have told me many interesting tales about the mining and poisonings and such but I didn't realise it was still a real problem. I think I will cover my face If I go there this summer.

My Bro lives near Redruth so I think I'll take my bike with me when I go down this summer. Is the arsenic a real problem? What are the symptoms of poisoning? Crikey, no wonder my relatives are so crazy with there being arsenic and radioactive granite and stuff down there 😮

I wouldn't take this as advise because I've not got it perfected myself yet either but…..It seems to be a bit easier if you're carrying some speed as there's less time for the front to drop. You need to keep your weight back though obviously. The slower you go the more you need to do with the front end so there's more margin for error. This is what I have found anyway. Actually I have found that speed is your friend in most trail riding. There's a lot to be said for committing to the challenges that lay ahead. Most of my crashes so far have thankfully (touch wood) been low speed ones when I've fannied about and failed to scan the way ahead.

The scheme came in at a great time for me. At the time I had a Schwinn Meta GS which I got as a bargain from a local cycle hire firm and although this is a great bike I was looking for something with a bit more oomph. My adventures were taking me to more and more technical trails so I joined the scheme to get myself a full susser (also to use for riding to work before anyone accuses me of fraud lol and I do ride to work on it most days actually).

I ended up with a Giant Trance X5 which is nice. I've upgraded a few bits but kept the originals just in case some smart arse at my HQ wants to see it unchanged.

I have a similar problem on climbs. I think I've narrowed it down to the BB. It's hard to be sure but I think it's that. If I just sit on the saddle and bounce then no noise but if I apply the same pressure through the cranks there's a loud clicking/creaking noise. The BB is about 9 months old now so maybe it's fecked.

Was your mate riding a fully rigid bike or is he just a bit of a girl?

Whoops!

I'm not sure I want to risk the Morzocchi's. It seems that their reputation has gone down hill a lot which is a shame. I'd quite like a good second hand set of 140mm Vanilla R's if I can find some.

Hi. Sorry I don't have a pic of my Giant X5 (Large). Well I do but I haven't got them on a hosting site yet. I'm 6' 2" and it feels like a good fit to me. First thing I did was shorten the stem from 100mm to 80mm. I found the Giant stem a bit too long (and slightly flexy) for downhill and the 80mm stem (Travativ Team) hardly compromises uphill performance. I changed the saddle for a comfier one too. I also run mine at 30% sag @buzzlightyear (Giant shock). I find that it still climbs very well like this and is more supple. I'm going to enjoy upgrading it over time. A few people have been putting 140mm forks on theirs with good results so that might be my next upgrade.

I haven't ridden that many full suspension bikes but I would highly recommend the Trance X. It climbs very well and is so much fun going downhill where it can cope with some very technical stuff.

One feature of this bike is that it has a low bottom bracket. So if you're into riding down deep ruts and in between huge boulders this could be a problem. You soon get used to it though and it just means it's incredibly stable and good in the corners.

Lol @LittleTones. Yeah I'm poor. Thanks for the info I didn't know about these forks. Have you ever tried them? I've got some old Bombers on my hardtail and I like them.

Yeah. maybe it depends on how badly contaminated they get and by what. I was told that I'd ruined mine (with dot fluid) and that I should change them but they're still going strong.

Ok thanks everyone. I'll look at these options. I probly won't get new forks just yet. I'm making a list at the moment of what I can afford to upgrade and possible weight savings. The Revelations look like a good option so far.

I found a site called 'weight weenies' but I don't know how acurate the figures are or if they have the stats for the components you want. It looks reliable to me.

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/

I bought some knee and shin pads combined and i hate them. Can't get used to them at all. So I'm looking to get just knee and elbow pads if anyone can recommend some?

I bought some knee and shin pads combined and i hate them. Can't get used to them at all. So I'm looking to get just knee and elbow pads if anyone can recommend some?

I got some of that dot stuff on mine when i got a bit carried away with my tinkering and twiddled the wrong tit. I cleaned them up but had to sand off the surfaces of the pads a couple of times because they polished themselves. They've been fine ever since.

Im sure I read somwhere that there was a square km with absolutely nothing on it…

Yeah I saw it on the news. There's a km square and it has virtually nothing marked on it and it's in North Lincolnshire.

I usually just hose her down after a ride and I use the Mucoff chain cleaning gadget but last night I gave her a good clean using car shampoo. Is that bad? Obviously I'll re oil the cassette and stuff before I go out again.

Road biking or mountain biking? I think there's some trails in Thetford Forest. I grew up in Suffolk and remember some small hills. It kind of undulates in places but generally it's very flat. There are lots of nice quiet country roads. Although it's flat it's a nice part of the world. Fewer hills= bigger skies.

I think your much more likely to hit your head falling off a bike than you are just slipping over even if you are running down a mountain. There's always a huge risk of being catapulted head first towards the ground/big rock/tree/wall when you fall of a bike + your more likely to be travelling much faster. Have you seen some of the stuff XC riders do? Silly post sorry.

@ gab 344. I used to live in East Yorks but have never mountain biked there. Visiting there soon. Do you know of any good trails up on the Wolds or anywhere? TA.

It really annoys me. Can't they just wait. It's not like they're going to collapse from malnutrition if they have to wait 20 mins to eat is it. The less time they spend waddling around the supermarket feeding their faces the less time they spend getting in my way and preventing me from doing something more interesting. As for kids: They shouldn't need bribing with food to behave well either, try giving them a proper up bringing and teaching them a bit of respect. It's no wonder that we have such an obesity problem in this country if parents think this is a good example to set their children. The only situation I can think of that this would be acceptable is if someone has diabetes or something and might need sugar in a hurry.

Stone Roses

I've got the X5 and want to upgrade the forks. It's got Recon 335's on at the mo. Any suggestions for a good upgrade? Does it feel ok with longer forks?