Not to sound all stalker-ish, but I’ve just had a trawl through your post history, and almost every thread you’ve started (whether about a new bike, riding, whatever) has something about crashing in the opening post – almost to the point where you seem obsessed with it, and it is your overwhelming view of mtb-ing.

Go see Jedi, get your base skills sorted/reset, and go get some proper professional sports psychology advice. Seriously. I don’t think you’ll move past this until you do.

I’m probably going to jinx myself here, but I’ve been steadily progressing my riding over the last couple of years – including an Alps trip, and recently moving from tabletops to 6′ gaps/doubles, and 3-4′ drop-offs – yet the last (and only) big crash I’ve ever had was over 2 1/2 years ago, and it only resulted in bruised ribs and gravel rash. Even that wasn’t due to attempting anything outside my comfort zone; freehub slipped during a full-bore sprint down a trail and pitched me over the bars.

I’m an extremely cautious rider and have worked my way up to my current level very slowly, by analysing every new thing I try in terms of how to ride it correctly in order to maximise my chances of success, and a bail-out plan for if it goes wrong. I accept that by upping my game I will probably have an off at some point, but I’m satisfied that by not blindly going gung-ho at stuff I’m unsure of, I can at least mitigate it somewhat.

If you think crashing is inevitable on bikes (it really isn’t!), you should try riding horses… 😉

You seem to be really hung up on this idea of “failure” in terms of mountain biking – technical progression is not mandatory, and to not do so is not a failure of any kind…

Focus on the things in your last paragraph that you really enjoy about cycling off-road;

Time out in beautiful nature, sharing great times with friends, the adrenaline buzz and fun, the fact that there is always room for progression, the fitness and health benefits, the satisfaction at conquering climbs or challenges, escapism from everyday life, coming away feeling satisfied and refreshed, and bikes themselves are nice things to obsess over.

None of the above requires you to push yourself past your limits or do anything you’re not comfortable with. Concentrate on that, and just enjoy it for what it is. As someone mentioned, muck about on your bike doing slow-speed silly stuff; wheelies, bunny-hops, endoes, all that sort of thing. It’ll help you feel more at one with the bike, and will improve your riding without you knowing it.

If you do have an inner desire to progress your riding that you can’t quieten, then definitely get coaching – maybe not even skills coaching, maybe sports psychology?

As for actual riding, I’ve always approached any kind of step-up in ability with the mantra “Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast” – concentrating on riding as smoothly as possible within the confines of my ability has always resulted in a gradual enlargement of my comfort envelope.

Good luck, and stick with it!

Mondraker Foxy/Dune?

34m in 24.3km – offroad ride as well…!

1.399m/km; beat that!

All of my shorts have at least one zipped pocket – either side or rear – so phone (Sony Z1 Compact) goes in that. Small multitool in one of the other pockets along with a chain link and a couple of zipties. Any problem that can’t be fixed with that, or a puncture, and I’m phoning for a pickup! Helps that 95% of my rides are sub-2hrs and the furthest point is >10 miles from home. Any further out than that and I take a pack.

English
French
German
Dutch
Spanish
Italian
Romanian
Danish/Norwegian/Swedish/Icelandic
Chinese

Planet X have a couple in the sale that I’ve been looking at – the Jobsworth Mirzam and Asterion – both 4-500 lumens and £14.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/accessories/lights/jobsworth-lights

Anyone used either?

I suppose if you wanted to have categories with sensible names then you could have:
Entry
Enthusiast
Expert
Elite

Entry would be for first-timers, beginners, etc. Enthusiast for the weekend riders, people who can ride but don’t take it too seriously. Expert and Elite for the properly fast/serious lot on carbon hardtails 😉

Junkyard, can I ask if you’re just a vegetarian, or a committed vegan – by which I mean no mass-produced dairy, eggs, leather, honey, certain beers, etc? No cakes with eggs or butter in?

All of these industries are well-known for having practices that are inhumane to animals; the mass-mincing of male chicks in the egg industry, the forced pregnancy cycle of cows in the dairy industry, and so on.

Unless you shun everything made using produce from these industries, it’s somewhat hypocritical to lecture those who choose to actually eat the animals, don’t you think?

From the link above. Best dogs ever 😉

In the time-honoured tradition of recommending what you’ve got, since you’re going for a rescue it’s got to be a Staff/Staff cross. We have a rescue Staffie X Boxer (alongside a non-rescue Boxer X Spaniel) and he’s just the most awesome thing ever. Runs about daft as much as you could want, but will sleep all day too if we’re having a quiet day. Very short coat so clean and no dog smell. Loves his humans so much that he can’t lie on the sofa without having to be touching one of us. Trainable, eager to please, and has been great with our friends’ toddlers. The Boxer side does mean he isn’t the best on a lead but recall off it is superb. Anything Staff does need training out of their inbuilt desire to constantly lick you in the face (out of love) though!

clodhopper, do you have a mortgage, or did you save up and buy a house outright? Genuine question, and I’m fully expecting the answer to be the latter!

Why would the answer be at all relevant in this discussion?[/quote]
It isn’t in the slightest; but then neither is your rabid judgemental condescension of anyone who chooses to use credit to buy a bike. Buying a house is neither affordable nor necessary – a mortgage is simply credit to enable people to do just that. The sums in question may differ; the underlying principle does not.

clodhopper, do you have a mortgage, or did you save up and buy a house outright? Genuine question, and I’m fully expecting the answer to be the latter!

Utterly, utterly superb – that’s got me considering sacking off work for today and just going for a ride…

Any single bike will be a compromise somewhere, though, won’t it? My Pitch is running 170mm Lyriks and I still use it for bridleway bimbling and smoother XC rides – I just run a bit more compression damping in the forks/shock and a bit higher tyre pressures and accept that it’ll feel a bit slower. That said, I don’t like hardtails and have never had a properly fast XC bike, so I suppose it’s easier when you don’t know what you’re missing!

FWIW, a buddy of mine (I think you met him once, were test riding his Kona Entourage) has a carbon S-Works Enduro 29er and he does everything from epic all-dayers to (almost) full-on DH on it. Light and fast enough for the former, strong and enough travel for the latter.

Do you need to fit other bikes on as well, or just the Geometron? If the latter, maybe a motocross bike rack would work?

Something like http://www.davecooper.co.uk/bike-racks/motorcycle-racks

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

<raises hand> We have kebabs sober as well. Absolutely love them..

My eyes..!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252520358904

Raleigh Vektar anyone?

Just my experience, so bear with me..! Main bike is a Pitch Pro running 170mm Lyriks, with a 32×36 lowest gear. Hard work on steep climbs, but stopping the front end lifting is easily manageable. Bought a 120mm HT on a whim, it was running 3X9 with a 22×34 granny gear, and whilst it was easier pedalling up steeps in such a low gear, could I get the front to stop lifting on steep climbs!? Could I hell.. Too much torque – went back to the 170mm FS and hey presto, I can get up stuff again.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/mongooses-1985-all-terrain-bike-contest-and-video-2016.html

More info on the bike – limited edition of 5!

Not hydraulic, but Specialized Command Post. Fully up for climbing, 35mm down for flowy stuff, fully down for steeps. Can disassemble, clean and re-grease, and reassemble in ten minutes.

Didn’t change but went through a couple of hardtails as complements to my Pitch Pro – hated the unbalanced feeling of suspension at one end but not the other. Got rid of both and have a rigid SS instead.

I’m getting it almost constantly too – only when browsing here or the classifieds though; not the main bike forum strangely enough.

I’m a bit biased as a Specialized fanboi, but I’d be having a look at the 2016 Camber Comp 29er as most places have it discounted to £1500. Probably get them to chuck in a Command Post dropper for your £1600.

New bike: can’t afford one, so not an option.
Parts: cheaper and wider selection online, gets delivered to my work so more convenient. If I absolutely need something last-minute – Evans usually as I can check and reserve online, plus the OH passes it en route to work, and they’re open late.
Servicing: I’d rather buy the tools and do it myself. Having access to a full engineering workshop helps in that regard.

In short, unless it’s an emergency (which it never really is), I don’t need an LBS.

See, that’s exactly the feeling I’m talking about – that pitching forward unevenness. I run the forks on my FS with the HSC wide open (maybe one click), but a fair bit of LSC to stave off the brake dive. Just couldn’t get the (more basic) forks on the HT to feel right so ended up just winding on the compression damping/lockout so they were only active on big hits.

I appreciate the input, but please read the first post properly! It’s not about only being able to ride FS, or FS vs. HT – I was trying to see if anyone else didn’t get on with having squish at one end but not the other. I love riding rigid offroad; how many HT riders would..? 😉

Maybe the thread should be entitled “Does anyone else find hardtails unbalanced compared to rigid or FS?”

Interesting replies, but did you all miss the bit where I said I had a fully rigid? It’s not that I can’t ride anything but a FS, more that I don’t like both ends of the bike not feeling the same. I’m perfectly capable of riding without suspension, thank-you very much!

I’d suggest the Genesis Core I’m selling, but I think you’re a bit far from me..! They’re worth a look used though; good light frames, stable geo, and tend to get overlooked in favour of more well-known bikes.

Both ours are fed on raw. It’s no hassle at all once you get into the defrosting routine (which is easy enough). Wouldn’t ever go back – most mainstream canned/dry food is full of utter rubbish that can contribute to no end of behavioural issues. Kids would eat nothing but Mars bars and Coke if given free rein but would it be good for them..?

I’ve evangelised enough before about raw – do some research about what really goes into dog food and make up your own mind.

Bit esoteric, but I had a couple of the local Ebeltoft I.P.A tonight @ 6.1%abv, and very good it was too. If you’re ever anywhere in Denmark that has it on tap I can recommend it.

18g of sugar in a Twinkie, so about the same as half a can of Coke, or two of those little Haribo packs Superstar used to done out (do they still?). Not exactly ridiculous, is it now? Still, if you’re sensitive to it then i can understand the hyperbole..

Are people on here seriously suggesting that they suffered quantifiable negative effects from a bit of cake and artificial cream..? Need to get over yourselves, i reckon..

Ps. Malaysian Twiggies are where it’s at, particularly the tiramisu flavour 😉

See if you can get a ride on a Specialized Enduro 29er. Then end up wanting one..

I’ll go with contrary advice and say that if you don’t know why you want clipless, don’t bother! A good, wide set of flats, good shoes, and good technique and your feet won’t be coming off when it gets bumpy, and you’ll lose almost nothing in terms of pedalling efficiency. Just my opinion though, ymmv of course!

Tenn Outdoors?

http://tenn-outdoors.co.uk/collections/mountain

Please, please don’t support backyard breeders – get a rescue dog and save a life.

In the grand tradition of recommending from your own experiences, I’ll say The White Room. There were a couple of solo guys the week I did there; everyone just seemed to get on as a group. Great atmosphere and great riding.