I work on gas turbines as a QC/Inspector. We are mostly a bunch of introverted types and the last thing any of us would want would be team building guff. Sorry.

The back of my calfs would say flats cause more injuries, hence less safe.
I cannot think of a crash or injury, other than pedal gouges, where I’ve thought ‘that wouldn’t have happened if I’d been riding flats/clips (delete as appropriate).

My legs felt a bit heavy after Thursdays ride at Ballater but I still managed 4000ft of up at Pitfichie. It would be rude not to when the trails are so dry.
No rims were destroyed on this ride 😀

Does yesterday count? I took the day off to enjoy the good weather and headed up in the hills above Ballater. I rode up and over Morvern, around Cambus o’ May and took in a run of Mastermind on the way back to Ballater.
I can see why there is a wildfire warning at the moment, the hills are bone dry.
I’ll be heading out tomorrow, probably to Ballo Woods.
Sunday is a write off as I’m having my first COVID vaccination at midday.

The car parks at Aboyne were quiet.
I think that all the people we have been seeing out in the hills, who wouldn’t normally be there, have reverted to type and spent the weekend in the local park or their mates back garden for a BBQ.

I took my XC bike for a spin in the hills above Aboyne in absolutely glorious conditions.

The rims are whatever came with the bike, a Specialized Status so probably nothing special. The rear also has a very similar and fresh dent as well 😳
Pressure was 19 psi in the front and 21 psi in the rear. Supergravity on the rear and supertrail on the front. I tried running a few psi more on Thursday on the same trails and the tyres felt a little skittery.

Looks like I’ll have to put the inserts back in……or try and be a little smoother. 😀

I managed a fairly big day at Pitfichie trying out a new shock. Pitfichie really is rocky, I put a couple of fairly hefty dents in my rims which somehow stayed seated, well, until I went down the old DH course, spaff everywhere 🙄😂
The shock is good…..well anything would outperform the DPX2.

Mine came with no spares.
The shock comes fitted with the biggest positive spacer allowed.
I’ve not looked on the fork to see what is fitted as I’ve had no issues with it.

There is a long thread on MTBR about the Status that is worth a read.

I’ve had mine for just over 6 months and have done about 600 miles and maybe 140,000 feet of descending.
I’ve persisted with the shock for too long and have just ordered a coil. For the life of me I could not get the DPX2 set up well, it was either too harsh or horribly wallowy/unsupportive. I’ve spoken to J-Tech and had a read on Mtbr and it seems that the bike is more suited to a coil. Hopefully the coil will give the bile the support and sensitivity the DPX2 seems unable to.
I’ve just replaced all the frame bearings (surprisingly easy) as the main pivots were shagged and the rest were notchy. Hopefully the set I’ve just packed with waterproof grease will last a bit longer.

……and as I’ve said before, there is no chance I’d ride this bike on anything that didn’t have a decent gradient.

I went a wee bit further afield for the first time in ages. Couple of big descents out Ballater way.
Heartbreak Ridge is totally blown out now…sooo rough.

I wear them all year round up here in Aberdeenshire and rarely get cold feet. I also wear Giro Terraduro mid shoes which are fairly chunky and have virtually no venting.

This ugly thing. I can sleep comfortably in the back, it’ll carry heaps of stuff and fits a few bikes in easily. It is the ‘sporty’ version so gets me away from Aberdeen fast and in comfort.

I keep meaning to donate but always end up forgetting. This has been a good reminder. Just sent them some cash.

I seem to remember, vaguely, from my RAF days that the young lads had to reach about level 11 and being a little older I had to make somewhere in level 9 (I managed 12.3 and nearly puked). It was always a max effort test and I remember one lad made 13.9. This was all on my year long trade training course where we were doing loads of circuit training, running and 5-a-side, so I guess we were well trained for the nature of the test.
If the beep test he has to do is the same as the ones I did in the Airforce then 8.6 should be easy for anyone who has done any training.

Not sure, they’re under about a foot of snow.

Specialized Status for about 6 months.
At 5’9″ I think it works well for me.
I ride in Aberdeenshire where the trails are mostly fireroad up and enduro type trails going down.
It’s probably a little too slack and low for these trails, even in its high setting and the back end really can’t keep up with the front, I’ve improved this slightly by getting rid of the boat anchor NX cassette and reducing the size of the spacer in the shock.
I’m not the greatest rider, but this thing has me manualing out of corners and actually jumping stuff.
I’d definitely by another that was maybe a little less like a park bike and a little more refined.

B
and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d rather sit on a turbo trainer than actually ride on the road.

Last ride of the year was a cracker.
Modern phone cameras are amazing, these were taken at 6pm!

To avoid the snow that had fallen on Christmas Eve I stayed as close to the coast as possible. Drumtochty Forest hadn’t quite avoided it, but all the trails were snow free.

Brake hose cutter/guillotine and a barb driver.

A fraction of a second before I did mine. A robust 2, bordering on 3 according to the physio I saw. As with others I landed on the point of my shoulder.
The physio told me to stay off the tougher trails for 12 weeks or so to give it time to heal properly as another crash would not be good.
In the end I just used the turbotrainer for a few months (it was winter in Scotland so I wasn’t that fussed) and then just eased back into it.
I did it at the very end of 2018. I’ve still got the lump and it still crunches, clunks and pops at both ends of the collar bone. About a month ago I crashed really hard on the same shoulder and it seems to have held up okay.

When it points down it is quicker than my previous bikes (Radon Swoop 170 10 27.5” and a Vitus Sommet 27.5”). I can’t compare against a 29”er as I’ve only had an afternoon on one.

The Status is really hard work on steep and techy climbs. There are are couple of local climbs that I can just about clean on my old bikes that I’m not close to on the Status.

Here’s the picture of mine that I tried to post earlier.

Edit.
Ok, that was meant to be a picture uploaded from my mobile 🙄
I’ll pop up a picture when I get back from work.

I’m 5’9″ and riding the S3 size. (fits me well). I do most of my riding around Aberdeenshire at places like Banchory, Aboyne and Ballater. Most of the riding is steep up and steep down. I have done big days in the hills (2000m of ascent) with no issues.
I definitely would not want to ride it on flatter trails, I have an XC bike for that stuff.
It is really fun to ride. I particularly like the way that the rear end slides really easily.
I run it in the high setting as I think it sits too low in the low setting.

So far I’ve changed:
The tyres for a set of Michelin Wild Enduros as everyone says the ones fitted are crap.
The NX cassette as it is a boat anchor.
The NX derailleur as the ‘clutch’ did nothing.
Tweaked the rear shock by reducing the spacer size. I really could not get the shock to use more than 80% of its stroke without running over 33% sag.

Not sure about a launch, but I bought one in August.
I don’t think you can buy them on-line.

A Specialized Status a few months ago.

Tyres were changed immediately to a pair of Michelins.

NX cassette changed to a Gabaruk cassette to save a chunk of weight. It took an age to arrive.

NX derailleur changed to an XO derailleur to have some sort of clutch to keep it quiet.

Shock tweaked to allow me to use full travel (original volume reducer was too big)

Lavishly buttered bread.

I went out yesterday before the weather broke. A big day out in the hills that involved a mix of riding, pushing, clambering over boulder fields and riding down long and brutal descents.
30 miles and 6500ft of up.
I feel a bit broken today 😀.
The route was Loch Muick car park, Capel Mounth descent, up Jock’s Road, over the Glittering Skerries, down to the falls at the head of Glen Clova, our and over Broad Cairn, up to Lochnagar, down the Glas-allt-Shiel descent and back to the car park.

A few pic and videos from the guy I was riding with.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CF20TOUHW-T/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

I’m expecting a Gabaruk cassette in the next few days. I hope it is nice, I’ve waited long enough for it.

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kayak23
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Hopefully my shoulder feels strong enough for next weekends, rearranged from May, trip to Bike Park Wales

Ummm…you might want to check their site

Cheers.
The sweary face was meant to show that I knew it was cancelled…….again.

Turbo trainer for me yesterday and today after crashing at Dunkeld on Friday.
You know those days when you should just give up, Friday was one of them.
On the drive to Dunkeld a wagon coming the other way through a contraflow hit a traffic cone (one of the big ones) and knocked it straight into my path a 50mph. Thankfully it only scuffed the front of the car. At Dunkeld I was riding nervously right from the off and nearly called it a day after the first descent, but I carried on. My persistence was rewarded when I binned it on the exit of a trail and landed heavily onto my previously separated shoulder 🙄.
Hopefully my shoulder feels strong enough for next weekends, rearranged from May, trip to Bike Park Wales and Black Mountain Cycle Centre! 🤬

176cm tall.
462mm reach.

I’ve been riding a Specialized Status for about 6 weeks which has replaced a 27.5 Radon Swoop 170 10.
The big difference that I’ve noticed is the huge amount of confidence I have in the front end. Flat out fast sections don’t feel as wild and on the steeper stuff the front hasn’t felt like it is going to tuck under on me. The bike is also more manoeuvrable than the previous one, easier to manual, jump (I am crap at both though) and push into a corner.
The Specialized is nowhere near as good a climber as the Radon. I know that some of the techy climbs I like are just not going to be doable on the Specialized.

I’ve only had a go on one 29” bike, a demo of a Deviate Highlander, and it definitely felt more awkward to ride than the Specialized. The Deviate felt like it came into its own when the trails opened up and the speed increased.
I’m 5’9”. The Radon was a medium, the Specialized is a medium and the Deviate was a large.

I rode a mix of the golfie Innerleithen on both Friday and Saturday in absolutely prime conditions. I had intended to ride at Thornielee and Yair today but didn’t fancy a third night in my car. I think I was a bit smelly on Saturday afternoon…. apologies to the guy who rode with me for a short while at Innerleithen 😳
I have never seen the Golfie as busy, the path up to New York, New York was a constant stream of riders, Strava said 85 riders had been down the trail!

Same as nobeerinthefridge on the descents.
For climbing I always push harder on my own*

* I rode with the Scottish XC champ earlier this year, he was just cruising along and I could barely keep up at pretty much my max effort 😳

I owned a Radon Swoop for a few years. I’d repeat what Mattoutandabout said (and I did warn him 😀), really good bike let down by their customer service.
I’ve not used Bikediscount.de since and won’t use them again.

Years ago, before I routinely started to wear knee pads, I managed to undo a seatpost quick release with a hamstring tendon.

I still have the scar where the lever went in.

I drove from Aberdeen to Morvich on Thursday night, doing my best to avoid all the deer on the roads. Kipped in my car and then did the Beinn Fhada loop on Friday. Headed back to Aviemore for a fish supper and spent another night in my car. Today was a bit of High Burnside and Carbridge singletrack.
I was a bit smelly when I got home earlier 😀
Ace weekend.
Beinn Fhada loop is stunning.