ianpinder – I think I am still prefering Vancouver

Fair enough. Have not been there myself… but Canada is pretty high up my list too. Only thing I dont like about Canada is the bears… is really quite safe on the animals that can kill you front here in NZ…

I have traveled around the world, but came back to NZ (Christchurch) as it had everything I wanted. It really does depend on what your priorities are??

Unemployment was increasing for a bit, but it is reasonably low at 6%.

Pubs are open every day.

My priorities.
Access to outdoors. Proper mountains less than an hour away. Skiing, biking and tramping. Mountains here are never crowded. Real adventure biking opportunities (check out my blog for the sort of tracks I am talking about http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/ ).
Living is pretty easy here. People are easy to get on with, crime is reasonably low.

Things that some people whinge about:
Cultural stuff. (I would rather spend a weekend away riding my bike than going to a concert/art show whatever).
Housing. Our housing standards have been pretty crap. Lack of insulation and central heating in many older houses. You can get a nicely heated house, you just have to pay a bit more for it. Having said that the housing here is still affordable by your average wage earner.
Bike bits can be expensive and sometimes the full range is not bought into NZ. Chain reaction cycles will be doing a reasonable amount of business here.
It is a long way to fly to go on holiday to many places, but there is Australia and all the little pacific Islands like Fiji and Tonga quite close.

The only way to really find out if you like it is to get on a plane and find out. Everyones experience will be different. I happen to know a bunch of Brits living here in Chch…

Regarding the comments on skills coaching.

If you dont think the top guys do skills coaching you are dreaming. They will also be using video analysis of their riding (and others) to pick what is happening and where they could improve. Some people are absolute naturals and will be riding their bikes extremely well without coaching, but many people have bad habits, or do wrong things that can be fixed by having a good skills coach analyse your riding.

As for jhw, learning the skills on your own is one way to do it, but is often the long way. Getting someone to give you the fundamental skills to handle the bike correctly, along with the theory of why it works can shorten the learning process immensely.

I coach here in New Zealand. I have had riders along on courses. When they started with me, they were at the back of their group, and walking bits of the downhills. After the first course they were riding much more of the downhill and no longer taking the chicken routes. After the second course they were riding well up through the group and still improving. It is why I coach skills, I love seeing people improve and love seeing the sense of achievement when they ride things well.

Juan, I think it is quite normal for peoples overall riding to initially go a little backwards after a skills course. When riding we need our reactions to be done in the subconscious. Basically if you have to stop and think about what you are doing it is all over. When you have been on a skills course it takes some time to assimilate the information and store it as reactions in the subconscious. Until you have the new information stored you will be over-thinking your riding and not riding naturally. Once you have the new information stored and are able to use it out on the trails that is when the improvement will happen.

full fingered all the time. Short fingered are less comfy (often bunch at the base of the finger) and are a PITA to take off compared to full fingers.

I used to sometimes ride without gloves until I had a small crash and put a big gash in the heel of my hand. Riding without gloves is asking for hurty hands if you come off.

dedicated skills coaching. Find someone who can take you through right from basics. It might mean you have to relearn some of your current riding skills, and it takes time (up to 6 months maybe). You need someone who can explain the basics of where you need to be on the bike and what you need to be doing, and someone that can break this down into drills to show you the difference.

A group skills day is all very fine, but I would say that unless you have someone watching you ride, who can then translate that into what you are not doing correctly and what you should be doing instead that a group day might not help as much as some proper 1 on 1 coaching.

Get someone who can teach you the importance of balance, stance, pumping and counter steering.

Something you can do by yourself is find a pump track and learn to pump your bike effectively.

Just before you shell out for that diamond ring have a read of this 😉

Is a diamond’s price a true measure of its value?

The Diamond rings as an engagement ring tradition is basically very clever marketing (along with the marketing slogan 'Diamonds are forever"). Not that you will be able to convince your lovely other half of this, but I just thought I would let you know before you went and spent a month or twos wages on a diamond 😉

I was hoping Alpin would have come back and replied by now 🙁

A troll, or bitter?

You need to know that you will look like a clown… and people are scared of clowns.

You need to know that it is not a type of bicycle (or bike) as by definition a bi-cycle has 2 wheels… it could be classed as a cycle tho?

They are reasonably hard to learn to ride properly. Find yourself somewhere with really long handrails and learn to ride along with a hand on the rail, then a hand hovering above the rail… until you are actually riding. It takes a while to get the feel of using the backpedaling motion for braking and balance. Quite good fun once you get the hang of it tho!

Throw them in the bin and get a pair of Shimano or Time pedals. Problem solved.

TJ, the main route is sealed much (most) of the way. I am pretty sure I would have been on the same roads you were in your 4WD and there was ripple when I was there. A grader can fix that pretty quick tho. Tell ya what is awesome fun in that area though. Down closer to Arica the sand dunes are about 300m high and the sand is quite solid. We were hitting 80+ kph going down them. Is like being in an oversized mtb video game!!Mega speed, choose any line you like, and get air off any and all the ridges and lumps!

Yeh, I worked there for 2 years as a guide for these guys http://www.gravitybolivia.com/

It is an amazing journey, but not a technical mountain bike ride. Gravity has good bikes, good guides and a good support vehicle. If you are going to do the ride, choose your company carefully as there are many unscrupulous companies in Bolivia!! Gravity Bolivia is run by a Kiwi. Oh and the altitude differences are about 4800m at the start (height of Mt Blanc) and about 1000m at the finish.

If you have seen sections in mountain bike movies, or photos in magazines of the good riders pulling out spectacular moves in front of awesome scenery in Boliva, they would have been shown those places by Gravity Bolivia.

There are many other fabulous places to get some real mountain biking done over there. Many amazing trails that drop many 1000's of feet, down fantastic singletrack, through small villages etc.

TandemJerry, I have ridden that route you are talking about as a mountain bike stage race. Actually pretty numbing stutter bumped dirt road for most of the way… I also guided a group from Arica up to Bolivia via a different route where we climbed up and through the Atacama Desert. That was more interesting and much more remote! Got my fastest recorded speed on my mountain bike while going through no mans land between Chile and Boliva. 100.3 kph! I was praying that the llamas were not going to decide to wander out in front of me as crashing into one might have sent me over the barbed wire fence and into the landmined area!!

Plenty of good trails. Most are covered by the Kennett Bros bible, but as mentioned above NZ really excels at the wilderness riding. Trail center type riding you can get anywhere in the world, but the getting out to explore the old hand built mining tracks and other trails that go into the mountains is where it is at.

Have a look at this thread over on Vorb
http://www.vorb.org.nz/top-mtb-rides-t104171.html?hilit=top%20ten

If you wanted you could organise it a bit like these two did. Ask for locals to show you the best trails in each region. They had a great time!!
http://www.vorb.org.nz/best-singletracks-wanted-two-bavarian-riders-t50464.html#p1078296

For some photos + trail descriptions have a look at my blog
http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/nydia-bay-boxing-day/
http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/last-of-the-summer-mountain-biking/
http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/awesome-winter-curd-biking-mission/
http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/double-ridge-line-sans-heli/
http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/3-day-biking-weekend-croesus/

Oh and we generally run our brakes the same as you lot. Hire bikes might be occasionally set up the other way around for the tourists from Europe/America

I just picked up a barely used DMR Switchback and am looking forward to thrashing it around some trails.

I think having the right geometry (for your riding styles) and a decent fork up the front will make a bigger difference than the metal a bike is made of… having said that, if you had 2 identical geometry and build kit bikes and one was steel and the other Alu I think you would quickly notice the real differences.

That decking would be fantastic fun to play around on by bike.

Nice one on the Spot. I have one too and really like the ride!

get a good skills coach to take you through the technique… you will get better much quicker than trying to learn by yourself.

Like others have said it sounds like you are trying to pull up on bars/pedals and it also sounds as if you are too tense when in the air.

You probably need to learn how to pump the bike correctly. Getting air should be coming from pushing the bike into the ground. Think like bouncing a ball. The harder you bounce into the ground the higher the ball goes.

Once you have your pumping sorted you then need to learn where and when to pump. Once you have timing it is a case of finding somewhere with a bunch of tabletop jumps that start off small and progress through to bigger. Get your technique dialed in on the jumps you are comfortable with (making sure you confident on the small ones and can relax will give you a feel for what you should be doing). Once you have the smaller table tops dialed, then move up to slightly bigger and bigger ones. When you want to move to gaps, you probably want to go back to a bit smaller than the table tops just because they are a little scary.

Easiest way is to find someone good to teach you this stuff…

All you guys talking about convenience… how hard is it to find Chocolate milk in the UK??

Find it at every corner dairy and supermarket here in nz…

Get some high quality protein into you within 20 to 40 minutes after stopping. There is a good window where the body absorbs protein for muscle repair within this time.

A good quality recovery drink should have the correct things to make this happen…

However, you could just go buy a bunch of chocolate milk and scoff this instead. Will give you a similar result!! Even better make a fresh fruit smoothie with yoghurt…

Couple of laps of trails I helped build on a SS 1995 Rocky Mountain Blizzard (mag 21's and canti brakes). Awesome fun descent through twisty downhill singletrack. Avoiding trees and pumping the trail. Getting the 2 wheel drift on in the switchbacks by the second lap!! Woooohooooo

Oh… and it was night riding too!!

Sometimes it is sooo nice going back to basics!!

I have 2.4 RQ's non-UST on DT 5.1s with the DT rim strip and home made sealant. They sealed up and inflated just fine. There is some oozing through the sidewall… but they hold pressure fine and work well.

A right pair of Queens

Old fashioned method…

Get a big bowl and a smaller bowl that fits inside the bigger bowl

mix a whole bunch of salt into some water and put in the freezer overnight in the big bowl. Make sure you have a good volume of the salt/water slurry. Get a metal bowl and a mixer. Make sure your ice-cream mix is cool before adding to the metal bowl (mix and keep in the fridge overnight?).

Sit metal bowl with icecream mix into the cold salt/water slurry. Mix until you have ice-cream…

sorted…

Ask for a pack out of the blast freezer. If they are a half decent ice cream maker they will have a blast freezer that cools the icecream to about -20 deg C. If you wrap one of those babies up in something half decent thermally insulating, then even driving for ages it should be fine. If you get one out of a normal freezer it will probably only be -5 or -10 at the most…

The Brian Lopes book is good, but I find that many people can read what to do and yet never actually apply it properly while on the bike.

Getting a good instructor to work with you means you will get the feedback you require and they will be able to spot what you are doing right/wrong and get you to do the right stuff.

You can learn on your own, but there is likely to be a whole lot more trial and error, it will take longer and you might crash a bit more while doing it.

Bike setup can make a bit of difference, but is not the key. Where you are looking definitely helps (if you keep your eyes on the take-off ramp the whole way through you will probably bin it).

Learning to pump correctly makes a huge difference. Learning where you need your weight on the bike makes a huge difference. Being able to relax makes a huge difference. Finding an instructor that can teach you these things is the quickest way to make a difference.

If going it alone, find yourself a set of jumps that you can progress on and start small. If you are not confident of making the jump you will tense up and do things wrong. Once you have small mastered, step up to the next one etc

http://www.mtbskillsclinics.co.nz/
http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/

I have RQ's and run them tubeless. No prob getting them to hold air, but the sidewalls have been weeping a bit of clear ooze (propylene glycol from the sealant would be my guess).

However they stay inflated and keep rolling fine so I have not been overly concerned.

If they keep leaking either put more sealant in or try a different brand of sealant. I am on home made stuff… http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/diy-tubeless-goo-for-mountain-bike-tyres/

Blackcurrant Juicer (had purple arms for days afterwards).
Trained Pie taster
Spent a number of years as a mountain bike guide.
Now I mix chemicals together to create food flavours…

So, how can one foot be weighted more than the other?

You are talking about standing up, with the pedals level right? If you put more weight on one foot than the other you will end up with one pedal at the bottom and one at the top??

Ride with which ever foot forward feels natural to you!

-1 for King, unless you want to pay through the nose for something with a compromised design.

Linkages flogging out too quick and pretty crap damping/shocks have been the main down fall of these beasts.

I would expect someone to have another go at it sometime soon. With newer shock technology maybe they can get something that works better than a standard telescopic??

I would like to see Dave Turner have a go at it… 😀

renton
see i think i was gripping with my legs as well as i have rubbed the inside of my leg sore on the seatstay!!

also remember getting a bit of pain in my leading foot/leg too!!

maybe im just falling apart

Gripping the seat with your legs is likely to cause you problems as well. As soon as you are clamped onto the seat with your thighs it is like trying to ride a bucking bronco. As soon as your back wheel hits a bump it is transferred right though your whole body. If you can get stable on your pedals by bracing your feet on them you should try flaring your knees out slightly. This will allow the bike to move independently of your body, which is a good thing when riding through rough terrain.

I would recommend doing a skills course and getting someone to give you some handling tips that will give you the correct forward/back balance and get you stable on the bike.

Oh, and going to a 180 rotor and using 1 finger braking might help too. 1 finger braking means you have 3 strong fingers holding onto the bar and so dont have to clamp as hard as you do when you only have 2 fingers on the bar.

My take on this.

When you are going downhill on a bike and braking, all of your weight will be forced forward onto your hands/arms. If you can learn to brace yourself on the bike using your feet/legs you can greatly reduce the amount of arm pump/hand cramp going on.

Guys on flat pedals usually know how to do this. If they were not bracing with their feet, their feet would fly off the pedals. Guys who are clipped in often forget about working with their feet and take all the force through the hands/arms.

Try riding down an easy hill and bracing using your feet/legs while braking. You will probably have to drop your heels a little and consciously put some pressure through your feet into the pedals. If you can get this sussed on an easy slope then start doing it when you are braking going down a hill and it should take a bunch of the strain out of your arms/hands. You should not need such a death grip and hopefully can get away from all the cramping.

Check setup is equal between geared and SS. If you are sitting in a different position relative to the pedals it could be causing problems.

I assume you are clipping in, have you tried moving your cleats to the very back of the slots on your shoes??

Have you tried turning it off and then on again?

Where is the switch to turn STW off, and then on again??

I can log in and post with Chrome fine, but here is the strange thing. I am having the exact same problem as you are logging into a totally separate forum!!

It gets even better in that it is just Chrome on the laptop that wont log in as Chrome on the desktop will still log on…

I figure that some cookies or something need to be cleared, but have not yet got around to doing it.

I am about 5’10” and all of my bikes have the handlebars a couple of inches lower than the saddle (I have a long leg length for my height). I would not be worried about getting the handlebar/seat balance, I would be concentrating on getting the bike at a height that feels about right for the handling characteristics of your bike. You can probably beg or borrow some higher rise stems in different lengths out of the lbs bin for test riding. Try it at different heights and lengths before deciding.

Oh, and wide bars are good, even on an XC rig. Soo much more control and lateral balance!! I am running my bars at about 750mm and loving it. My previous bars were at 660mm and the difference in control on techy stuff is incredible!

degreasing is bad for your chain. You just need to clean all the muck off the outside regularly.

i find letting the bike dry after riding and then using a wire brush on the cogs and chain works a treat, then lube, let soak in and clean off with rag.

Degreasing washes the grease out from inside the chains bushes and washes bits of grit in. You would have to literally soak the chain in lube to get the lube back in where you need it.

Wot? No home chemists on here??

Set ya soda pop bottle up with a couple of spoons of Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in the bottom. Pour some vinegar into the bottle and slap the top on quick smart. Use a hose to connect to valve…

Instant CO2 at a good rate!! 😆

If I get bored I might even try this out one time. The good old track pump has worked every time for me so far!

Sorry. I am having trouble seeing the line 😯

Oh, hang on… I see it. Off the glacier, using the rock face as a transition before dropping onto the scree!!

I must be the black sheep. I am on wordpress.

http://mountainbikingzane.wordpress.com/

Mostly photos with stories of me riding fantastic single track here in NZ.

Couple of photos from yesterday 😉

I went 10mm thru on my Hope 2, with a 10mm QR (similar to the picture above). Stiffer than normal QR, and it was cheap as chips.

36’s are quite servicable. Depends how far you want to go really.

here is the manual http://www.foxracingshox.com/fox_tech_center/owners_manuals/06_36_en.pdf