Nicking a generator from roadworks and towing it in does seem a little overkill, thought it might sort my fitness…

Obviously riding with my lights on is the most straightforward and simple solution, but where’s the fun with that? Besides, the idea would be to make it possible to have several riders going at the same time. Lots of headlights might be a bit painful on the retinas.

I reckon rope led’s are the way forward;

Blue on the outside of berms, green on the inside, yellow at the lip of jumps, orange on drops and red for gaps… (not entirely serious suggestion)

Yup, I was thinking of about 6 lights dowlighting from trees, along with a whole load of camping lanterns and a couple of big bike lights….

I’m not inclined to bother about calculating the wattage too much, i reckon the best thing is to guestimate once i’ve seen the capacity of one light. I’m just thinking it could be a bit of fun to light up some jumps near to home, or there’s a little BMX track nearby.

Of course, I could just outline the track and jumps with rope LED’s…? That’s be pretty!

That’s pretty much my plan for next year, right there!

I’d like to do the Southerns, QECP night enduro, maybe dabble in a minienduro at some point and maybe a welsh one?

I’d love to have a go at a continental race, such as the enduro2, but finances might not allow for that this year…

My 2p’s worth:

I did a whole 12 week ftp builder in the new year and it really set me up for the summer, although my favoured target event for the year folded, (epic Cymru) and I rediscovered ale…

Last night I did my first ride since April on zwift. (Garmin bike sensors and HRM, generic ANT+ dongle and Kurt Kinetic rock ‘n’ roll trainer) if originally planned to just spin for 30 mins or so, but found myself on the ‘slope’ of the mountain climb… in the end it was a one hour ride with a 30 min block of climbing at threshold and a spin down at the end!

I had a Boardman CX secondhand last year, and it was OK- I liked the riding possibilities it opened up (gravel/towpath, etc) but it ended up with slick tyres and wasmore of a commuter. It was then nicked.

I’ve done something similar now, and bought a Raleigh RX frame and built it up. it’s a great ride, for sustrans/towpath/gravel/smoothish bridleway riding. The postive differences are:

Bolt through front and rear is much stiffer and predictable on roots, etc. (142×12 and QR15 front)
Shorter top tube is good in twistier stuff and in town.
35mm tyres (Cross Boss) are a lot more comfortable.

However, it is debatable whenever it’s any quicker, more efficient or comfortable than a rigid 29er with skinny tyres….

Though I reckon you made the right call in the morning, I went at 1, (after my planned Peaslake ride died for similar reasons) and it was in great nick! Few puddles in berms, and the off piste was a bit sideways-y but a lovely afternoon.

There’s a big XC scene in Arg/Chile and a growing Enduro scene especially since the EWS races the south. Pucon is the real centre for great riding. I would email someone like this: http://bikepucon.com/%5B/url%5D It’s 6-7 hours drive there though!

I rode in the south a few years ago, and it seems to have come on a lot recently. I don’t know much about the riding near to Santiago, but it’s a compact city and very close to some sizeable hills (the Andes…) so there should be some accessible riding. a popular Chilean MTB site is this one. http://montenbaik.com/%5B/url%5D I’ve actually just emailed them about some riding at Xmas time, so i’ll post up if i get an answer.

I will be there over Christmas, as i’ll be there with my Mendozan extended family. The post above about Mendoza is spot on, there is some superb riding on the Argentine side, but i don’t know about tours. Also, if you have the option, taking a decent bike is a lot more fun than a hire bike- they tend to be pretty poor, especially if you’d like to go with a guide for a day or two.

Great vid- makes me want to go turquoise again…

I’m sure you won’t regret it! I always wanted a carbon one, but have ended up going for a Banshee Rune on bigger/steeper stuff as my riding has changed, while also having a very capable 29er for trails/flatter routes.

I have to shamelessly add that my SB66a frame is on the classifieds at the mo…

Chilterns riders who frequent the Maidensgrove/Stonor area will have seen plenty of fallow deer in their time. Saw the full herd (?) the other week, with some very cute ickle foals braving it over the trail… (We’d stopped and lowered lights at this point, I hasten to add).

Red kites and badgers are a local fixture, and hares on the downland are a real treat. One of the best moments was following a tawny owl for about 50 metres down a bridleway, fully lit by head torch.

Good luck S’enduroers- I missed out on this as I thought I had other commitments which have now evaporated… Already looking forward to next year!

Weeksy- no problem- email is in profile when you’re free. There’s a couple of lines which ride well and other features to session- it’s not really a place to travel to, but if you’re local it’s a good spot for a few hours.

Just to add to the point about nearby ‘trail centres’- not trail centres as such, but there are some little downhill runs in Sulham woods near Pangbourne and others at Badbury near Faringdon. Both more for a ‘session’ than miles though.

I also disagree about technicality to some extent; there is often a bit of mileage between really fun sections, but a lot of the trail, ridden fast on light tyres and short travel is much more engaging!

At the moment it’s riding as well as it ever does! I’m out Thursday night and probably Sunday morning this week, if anyone wants to join. I’ve been riding the area since 2002, so I know a few routes.

I’ve been having a look at Gravelly bikes for a bit now, having bought a cheap Boardman CX last year which was great fun, until some cretin nicked it…

There’s such a a spread between the ‘Road/Gravel’ end of frames though to the ‘Gravel/Adventure/Monstercross’ end.

The BBB and the Norco Search carbon both look good, with the right thru-axles and geometry for something which is at the road-ier end of the spectrum. Are there any owners of those two who would agree?

Obviously they won’t be directly comparable with a road racing bike/frame, but comparable to something like a Defy or Synapse, with floatier tyres?

Edit- Nick, thanks for the post above, while i was typing. Goes some way to confirm my thoughts.

Slight thread hijack/diversion: I’m thinking of swapping my slightly tired carbon composite road bike for one of these shiny new carbon gravel disc numbers.

Is there a vast difference between a carbon gravel bike and a road race bike? I’m thinking for the uses of winter miles with diversions off road and the usual towpath/bridleslaying terrain. I’ve had a couple of CX bikes (Boardman CX and Kinesis Crosslight Pro3) and they weren’t as zippy as the road bike, even with 25mm tyres. (Though the Crosslight was pretty good)

Thinking of a Raleigh Roker or one of those Viner Strada Biancas off of On One.

Not been out on that part of the Ridgeway today, but the Chilterns end is fine, and if it’s OK here then that means it’s usually fine!

Well, this is the first time one of my threads has resurfaced! In the interim, I’ve taken the OH for uplift days at both the FOD and BPW. The FOD was good, mainly sticking to the main line after the Blue descent, but then lots of runs on Launch Pad, it was a great day.

Moving on to BPW was a great day, we only rode Blues, but sessioned the one with red options- (Wibbly Wobbly?) and it was great fun. Given the choice I’d take BPW, but it may present a challenge, given the cost/distance and need to book in advance.

This has made me think about going to 417 next week to scout that place out, so any further comments on that would be welcome.

Late to the party, but I wholly recommend one. I have a 2013 carbon rc, much like the one in the picture above. Mine is a complete Trigger’s broom though, there’s nothing of the original spec on it.

Currently running 120mm SIDs 1×11 xt drivetrain. If I put my light, sub 1500gram wheels on with Snakeskin Ra-Ra/Ro-Ro tyres, minimal saddle and carbon post, it’s a respectable 11kg-ish racing bike. If I put the dropper on and swap the wheels for my American Classic Am wheels with Maxxis EXO tyres, it’s a bit portlier, but a superb all day/training centre light trail bike.

I love it, rides superbly, very agile and rides great on tighter techier stuff. Bearings are a standard size and easy to change, build is robust and the mech hangers are hard to break!

What concerns me about this thread is no-one has asked the fundamental question; does your bike choice affect your voting?

Own up; are you-

A Transatlantic lover of liberalised economic boutique (Santa Cruz/yeti/spesh/RM) etc?

Fan of the upstart, eurozone protected bargain Eurobikez? (Cube, Lapierre, Canyon…)

Honest-to-goodness, none of that foreign muck Patriot? (Orange, Cotic, Stanton, Whyte?)

Having recently done two contrasting local events, Gorrick (XC) enduro and QECP (Gravity) enduro, I’d say both XC and Enduro events are very popular- there were nearly 100 riders in the Gorrick 4 lap race! Interestingly I saw a lot more bling short travel 2015/16 bikes at Gorrick than equivalently priced Gnarpoons at QECP.

Horses for courses. I’m lucky to have both. My XC bike is a short travel 29 FS, similar geo to a Camber. It does the majority of my riding. However, as I have a big 160mm enduro bike as well, then a significant proportion of my riding is steeper, techier, etc. Some days I want to do one, some the other- I’d always like to ride more on the big bike though!

Trend wise, I thought the current trend is the 120-130mm trail bike anyway? (Whyte t130, Cannondale Habit, Devinci Django, etc?) Maybe XC bikes are the next big thing though, but I’m so ahead of the curve I’ve just bought a new Enduro bike… :wink: #nuDuro

To echo the others, a great night again! Tweaked stages were great, really enjoyed stage 2. Great to put some more faces to forum posters off of here.

Pleased with my result of 20th in Vets, as this was my first ride on a new bike, and a broken chain towards the end of stage 4. @Charlie- the level is definitely getting higher, I looked back on my times for previous events and the field is waaay tighter nowadays.

I was on the very new, very orange Banshee Rune… Looking forward to Tidworth when i might have ridden it a bit more!

Before this gets derailed into a drugs thread, (which inevitably has a vast range of nuance concerning the types of drugs involved, legality, context of drug taking and frequency, plus the experience of drug taking, personally or by acquaintance of the poster) what about being honest about other stuff?

Sex? Nicking stuff? Violence? Driving offences? Not that I’ve erred in all of the above! There are some things I’d be more prepared to talk about than others though, mainly because I think it could be more instructive…

HD/HD is an option- might be sensible… Or I’ve got a Minion/HR combo too.

The joys of still being 26″…. :lol:

Looking forward to it. I was originally planning a family camping trip, but Chickenpox has intervened.

I’ll be riding my new bike, which i will have to finish building on Friday. Riding it as part of the race for a first ride could be, er, interesting…

Looking at either a Hans Dampf/Rock Razor combo or Dirty Dan/Hans Dampf… i guess i’ll take spare tyres, ghetto inflator and decide on the day!

I hadn’t checked this thread since yesterday, as I was out enjoying the revelation of dry dusty singletrack… :D

As people have pointed out, the SB66 is an awesome frame. £500 for a swingarm isn’t ideal, and it is an Alu one, being a 2012 frame.

I’m leaning towards the banshee for many of the reasons given, but also the shiny/new/orange factor… Also, a niggly point, but the SB66 has a load of different bearing sizes in the frame, so sourcing them is a faff, and the Yeti kits are pricey. I like the fact that the Banshee ones are regular sizes, and they go so far as to post the dimensions on the website!

I can’t see there being much mud around this weekend… There might be be a bit of dogcrap to dodge on the urban fringes though.

Forgot about the Rowbarge, +1 for that particular eatery on a sunny day!

You can ride on the towpath to Thatcham easily, after which the Sustrans route diverts onto minor roads for a bit, then back onto the towpath to the centre, but i bet you could steadily ride the towpath/footpath section in between with no problem.

Done it both in summer and winter; it’s better when dry as there are some unpaved sections across fields, which when dry have little ‘singletrack’ trails across them- ideal for child cyclists! There are a few gates which take some maneuvering with a trailer/tagalong, if you’re towing kids. There’s a carpark at Theale lock to start from.

Stop at Aldermaston Wharf cafe for coffee and cake on the way. (take cash) Job’s a good ‘un.

You’ve given me an idea to do with the kids at the weekend now!

Thanks Scott, Alarm set… Even if I have to buy a cheap HT frame and race that- which could be a great option!

Not been to Tidworth yet, hoping to get down there beforehand!

I’m currently nursing a broken bike and missed the tickets for round one anyway… Have the round’s gone on sale? Sold out?

The Devincis do have adjustable geometry, so make sure you look at the numbers in ‘low’ setting. The are a bit heavy for carbon, as they have a pretty robust aluminium rear triangle. bear in mind they have a lifetime frame warranty though- I’ve not looked into the small print, but i was reassured by Freeborn people that it does mean ‘lifetime’…?

Not a gnarpoon, but i have an Atlas, and it rides very confidently downhill, despite the ‘steeper’ angles.

Lots of good points here- it’s mainly the low BB that makes me wary!

I’m quite into the idea of either a Banshee Spitfire or Rune, which I’ll have to decide with some demos, but my instinct is that a slightly smaller bike, like the spitfire would be fine, as I’ll be running 160mm/26 forks. I’m not so sure about longer travel frames, as the a/c on the 26″ fork would be about 10mm shorter than the 650b equivalent?

I’d be interested to know what might happen on a Transition Patrol or a Scout… And I’ve seen some handsomely reduced Devinci Spartan frames too…

I forgot to say I’m really looking for a full-sus option, though a suitable long travel hardtail frame might be a good short term solution!

I also have a great 29 XC/trail bike, so I’m really looking for a longer travel design.

Was out last night in the Goring-Stoke Row- Woodcote area. Lots of little ribbons of hero dirt loveliness emerging from the horse-mangled-slop. Spring is definitely on the way!

I have family there and go most years, but I haven’t the touristy activities for ages, so my information is probably a bit dated! The rafting is all in Poterillos, but there are agencies in town to take you, some of them offer biking trips too, but when I went with them, it wasn’t great, but that was about 8 years ago. There is a lot of excellent desert singletrack for riding, especially leading out of Chacras de Coria and from the park, but you’ll want a guide/group to ride with.

Things may have moved on, so ask in bike shops and you might find they will do a guided ride. Also the wine tours are great. If you can find a bike which isn’t falling apart to hire, do the bike wine tour. It’s a lot of fun, and wineries like Norton have great places to do the tasting. Try to go to some wineries that don’t readily export too, such as Salentein, Flinchmann, Rutini, and one of the oldest, Lagarde. (These are all big wineries that just don’t appear in the UK much, but there are loads of small ones too)

Steak eating: I would reccomend La Marchigiana- they have a couple of restaurants, one in town and one in Palmares mall. It’s not the finest or most glam, but it is a really solid, consistently popular place. Have a ‘proveletta” for a starter, it’s a whole grilled provelone cheese with oil and oregano. In between eating steaks, have lots of empanadas as snacks between meals to keep going- (mini pastries with ground beef, egg and olive filling) there are some good cafes for a coffee and medialunas/ other dulce de leche filled sweet pastry.

There’s a load of good bars and places to eat on Avenida Aristides, make sure you drink at least one Fernet and Coke- it’s the nation’s favourite social drink, and an acquired taste… Bear in mind no-one goes for dinner before 10pm, so have a nap and go late. If you want to go on to a Nightclub, or ‘Boliche’ it will deserted until about 1am, but it will be open until 7-8am…

Mendoza’s great, I’ve not been for over a year, looking forward to going at Christmas myself!

s2a is probably running about right, the dry would have probably dried up any puddles on that? Other than that I wouldn’t risk to comment! Last time I went, there was that funny dust stuff about…

Great idea for a thread!

I’m in a similar position to some above. ^ I’ve done occasional races each year, but this time I’m planning to do something much more structured. Road miles and Zwift over the darkness of January have helped a bit, but i did my first event last weekend, Gorrick SS, which was a comedy of errors- entered Veteran Plus, as I needed to be home early. (Mistake- it’s not just a longer race category…!) Also, didn’t taper properly in the week, so after 2 laps my legs waved goodbye… Reasonable learning experience though, my plans are;

Gorrick SS
Couple of Southern XC rounds
Gorrick Enduro
Summer monkey
Epic Cymru.

Those are the firm ones, I’ll have a look at some others depending on progress: never done BBD, Okotberfest or any Midlands events. I’ll probably look at some Southern Enduros and Red Kite events too to mix it up.

That was one of those races where the first two laps felt like I had nothing in the legs, so the choice of SS was not the best option… sat in the mid 20’s and held it together for the end- 21st 4hr vets, 3rd SS (of 5…)

Sarpudillo, you came past me on the first lap- I kept with you for a bit, at the expense of my lungs! Great riding for 7th!

Just wondering, I’m entered into 4hr vets, if the weather is crap I might do SS. Anyone know if there are any issues with changing categories on the day?

In for the 4 hours. My first Brass monkeys, hoping to generally improve my aversion to winter events, if i manage to enjoy it, that’ll be enough!

Headbangers is about right- this is from earlier this year, and should probably be essential reading; Atlantic article[/url]

Also, the best response I’ve seen, from Charlie Hebdo’s cartoonist, Joann Starr: