Morevelo RAD.

Lightweight and tough. Zipped pockets. Plain black.

I picked up a new Specialized Status on Friday.

Took it to Ballo Woods on Saturday and have just got back from a day at Dunkeld.
Both days were awesome and the bike is pretty darn good for the price.

For most rides just my phone.

Anything away in the hills I’ll add a space blanket (a chunky one), some bodge tape and a few sanitary towels.

I always stuff in the car to tidy up anything minor at the end of the ride.

I drove over to Torridon after nightshift on Friday morning, got a few hours sleep and then rode the lollipop route. We got the ride and visit to the pub just before the weather turned 😀.
I won’t be doing the lollipop ride again, the added push/climb is no longer worth the bother as the descent from the Bealach is a washed out mess.
The descent to Achnashellach is still as good as ever.

Headed out past Braemar and did the out and back up Beinn a Bhuird’s North Top. A wee note to myself, the thinnest of summer gloves are not much use at nearly 4000ft 😳
Things were much more pleasant down in Glen Quoich.

I ruined 2 XT derailleurs in a couple of weeks. No problems running XO prior or since.
With XO mechs it is the derailleur hanger that bends in an impact, but with XT it seems to be the cage that bends.

Demo’d one today up in Banchory and rode at Scolty Hill. Very impressed, it made everything feel effortless.

Agreed.
My friends think this is heresy.

I’ve posted this image before, but Dakine Concepts are seriously lightweight. That is daylight shining through them! Not sure if they still do them though.

I regularly drink from rivers and burns in Scotland without a filter and have suffered no ill effect. An filter can’t do any harm though.

The two that spring to mind for me are:

Depeche Mode – Violator

Ride – Nowhere

Here’s the one I always post in these threads.

I headed over to Dallas in Moray to ride at the Hill of Wangie. The trails are absolutely awesome at the moment.

The Grapes in Stockport.

“Fancy a crisp Tommy?”

“Bugger off!”

Done

I did a fairly big day out in the hills of Aberdeenshire. Mount Battock, Clachnaben and Mount Shade.
The car park was virtually empty when I set off and was absolutely rammed by the time I got back.

Clachnaben looking from Mount Shade

Summit of Mount Battock looking Southeast

Clachnaben not long after sunrise

I’ve been feeling a little odd over the last few days (random dizziness/vertigo), so my plans to ride heaps over the Christmas break have gone out of the window.
Today was a couple of hours on a very blowy Hill of Fare in Aberdeenshire.

I was riding before sunrise on Bennachie and managed to stay out for 3 hours. Rode 16 miles with 3,300ft of climbing. Lovely clear and crisp weather.

Weather has been perfect in Aberdeenshire and Moray so far this weekend.

Friday was a post nightshift spin on Millstone Hill in Aberdeenshire. My fellow night shifter worker following me.

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Gud times at a misty Bennachie, trying to keep up with @flatridermatt ⛰️⛰️ #vitusbikes #srammtb #dtswiss #rockshox #maxxistires #magura #enduro #mtb #freeride #dh #mountainbike #bennachie #mountainbikes #mountainbikelife #foxmtb #strava #goprohero #mtblife #trailbike #ridemtb #winter #gopropicoftheday #inthewoods #scotland #explore #gopropicoftheday #melonoptics #adventure #dhmtb

A post shared by Marc (@marc.smith22) on Dec 20, 2019 at 12:29pm PST

Today was a trip over to Dallas in Moray for the first time in ages. The trails were as steep as ever 😀

I’ll be riding somewhere tomorrow, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, etc……all local.

The average age of the forum is about 50. We’re all knackered 😀

Yes, bent and twisted.

I put a wee bit more of a bend and twist in a couple of them 😩

LoveMTB on YouTube has unboxing videos.

Google ‘Shimano 12 speed derailleur twist’. He is one of the first videos.

Aboyne was very wet today.
The Forestry Commission Forwarders have made a good job of the climb up to Birsemore 🙁

In my early thirties, at Downtowns in Elgin.
I was chatting to a girl, who, when she found out I worked in the RAF and on a particular Squadron, did an about face and walked off, much to the amusement of my mates.

I think that the only album that I would never skip a track is
Ride. Nowhere.

Chain was replaced. I use a hanger alignment tool (the hanger was replaced but I checked it anyway).

Rider epic fail sorry

Probably, but I really can’t remember ever having mashed a derailleur (I can usually feel if there is any resistance and back off), so 2 in quick succession seemed a bit odd.

That model mech, combined with your frame, does seem very eager to spring itself into the cogs!

I’ll go with this 😀

Back to SRAM XO and see if I can make it 3 in 6!

Set up is good, shifted perfectly, chain is long enough. The XO I took off had scrapes and gouges everywhere, so yes I do whack derailleurs…….Aberdeenshire is rough and rocky.
Maybe I’ve just been unlucky, but neither of the hits felt enough to do this.

The replacement bit the dust today. Again it was the gentlest of contacts with something on the side of the trail and on the next pedal stroke the cage bent and cracked out of shape. I think that the cage is too spindly and soft as I’ve whacked XO mechs repeatedly off rocks and they have been fine.
Looks like my experiment with XT derailleurs is over and I’m back on SRAM XO.

I got absolutely soaked to the bone at Drumtochty on Friday but thoroughly enjoyed it.
I rode at Aboyne today and minced another XT 12 speed derailleur. That’s 2 in 4 rides 🙄. The previous SRAM XO derailleur took loads of abuse and just kept going, the XT’s seem only to need the faintest of touches to shit themselves.

Which segment is it?*

*digs out the Rocket Rons for the XC bike

Very autumnal feel to the hills around Ballater. There was a good dusting of snow on Lochnagar.

Unfortunately my rear mech ended up like this 😩

looks Like I won’t be giving SJS Cycles a call in the morning, totally minced derailleur 🙁

Cheers all.
I’ll give SJS a call and fettle this one in the meantime.

Seeing as the consensus is to fettle it and carry on, I’ll do that and see how it goes.

I didn’t know that you could buy the front plate. I’ll see if I can get myself one.
Cheers.

I’m not really sure, I heard it hit something and felt the bike hesitate a bit.

Glorious weather on Deeside today. Rode the steep’ish trails on Birsemore Hill by Aboyne.
I nearly ran into a teenage kid with his dad on one of the steeper sections of the trail.
‘He’s seen me coming so he’s going to get off the trail, nope, he’s just watching me ride straight at him, oh Crap, he really isn’t going to move!
I managed to stop about 6” short of him in the end.

I also managed to do this to a 1 ride old XT 12 speed mech. I’m not sure if I want to carry on using it as it looks like a hook for anything on the side of the trail or will not keep the chain on the jockey wheel.

Not a night ride thing (I won’t do them any more) but a place thing.
Blackwater Lodge in the Glen Livet Glen Fiddich area. An abandoned set of farm buildings in the middle of nowhere. Each time I’ve approached the place I start to feel uneasy and pick the pace up to get past it. There are pictures of the inside of the house on Flickr that make me feel uneasy as well.

daviek

Subscriber
Is that the climb to the devils staircase hairyscary?
If so it is a bugger

It’s not the climb that takes you to start of the descent, it’s the climb that takes you to the top of Green Hill from the saddle between White Lady and Green Hill.