Carbon bikes are ridden by the fastest riders on the planet on the rockiest, steepest descents.

You’ll be fine.

I normally do a few runs in Lee Quarry then head up the link road to Cragg for a circuit then back to Lee Quarry for more messing around. Lee Quarry is quite different from your usual trail centre in that there isn’t an obvious circuit, but there is loads of stuff to play on.

Rivington has some good stuff, but if I was to take someone from out of town biking in the NW it’d have to be The Peak.

Riding uphill

Tignes/Val D’Isere uplift is free and not far from Bourg.

http://www.tignes.net/en/summer-sports/the-mtb-area-1034.html

how much is it to drop the travel to 120mm LoCo?

I’d be very interested in doing this with a pair of 140mm 29er Pikes.

Pike is meant to be very stiff. Specialized spec it on their Camber Evo Expert in 120mm, but this isn’t available retail. It might be possible to reduce the 140mm to 120mm but then you’d have to factor in the cost. Supposed to be a superb fork though.

And Specialized were so determined to resist.

Loads of roundabouts

I’m pretty certain I’m going to be killed by a pink princess airhead driving a Fiat 500/Mini, who is updating her Facebook page instead of looking at me.

She might tweet about how annoying it was afterwards.

Porridge with yoghurt, blueberries and honey, followed by poached egg on spinach on toast. Washed down with grapefruit juice and an espresso.

TurnerGuy, Darn too late.

Stoner, Cheers for that. I like the Lindarets area so that’s good news. Runs off Ranfoilly are also brilliant.

Did you get over to Mont Chery? I really liked Marmottes the last time I was there.

Cheers for all the advice guys, some good tips that came in useful. I’ll find out if I’ve been succesful next week.

Off to Morzine for 4 days tomorrow. Only booked yesterday :D

Are you going to share your salary with those who help?

I’d suggest if you don’t know the answer it’s not the job for you…

Roads are liable to being blown up. Watch out for Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon.

The salary is too meagre to share I’m afraid – it’s an Apprentiship. I have a degree in Computing and got shortlisted for the job so I’d say I’m in with a decent shout. Just after some tips that might help rather than a comprehensive answer. Cheers for replying anyway.

@Junkyard – Agreed. Taken in isolation the NF trail is pretty good, but in context of what the surrounding area has to offer I wouldn’t bother.

It will reduce the axle to crown by the 10mm travel reduction

Thanks for your reply, that was the answer I was hoping for.

Jumping is undoubtedly fun – as are many aspects of mountain biking. As others have pointed out, it’s debatable if it can be considered a fundamental skill. If I was teaching someone new to MTBing how to ride, I’d have it quite far down the list tbh.

Just enjoy your own riding and don’t worry yourself about other people. Maybe they’ll be inspired to get some air after watching you soar by with a big grin on your face.

I’m hoping Shimano will come out with an electronic shifting 1 x 11

I’m 6,3″ and ride a Fuel Ex8 19.5 29er. I was previously on a large Canyon Nerve 26″ which always felt on the small side.

10m high diving platforms at the local swimming baths

This ^

Sharston baths in Wythenshawe had a 10m diving board that we used to do front flips off. I slapped my back a few times on that one.

qtip, I’ll have a look at some other stuff as well. That’s the ride that keeps cropping up. I’ll be walking most of the time because my Mrs isn’t in to anything too rocky.

Good tips, I’ll take a look at those sites. Cheers.

Incredible! I did the Passportes du Soleil route this summer and thought that was epic but this is another level. Very inspiring, thanks for writing this up.

It still gets me everytime, almost as good as Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder getting bad in Stir Crazy.

Try and ride them or something equivalent. I know this always gets said but it’s sound advice. I bought a new bike recently and 29er was at the bottom of my list, in fact it wasn’t even on my radar until I had a test ride. It just felt right for me.

Montane Prim gets good reviews, they had them in Go Outdoors for £87 with their 15% off promotion recently. Not sure if its still on though.

Rab Xenon is similar sort of thing, but more minimal and lighter.

Arc’Teryx Atom LT is a nice jacket but a lot pricier.

I recently got a Norrona Lofoten primaloft jacket 50% off on Snow & Rock’s eBay site. I’ve not tested it in the field yet but it’s stood up to a couple of pub missions admirably :D

I’ve done a little more research online about the 2013 CTD damper and it seems to be just quite poor in general. Does anyone know how I go about upgrading it to the 2014 CTD damper (supposed to be a lot better).

Mojo will upgrade to the 2014 damper cartridge. It’s around £50 IIRC.

Norrona gear is simply amazing.

Quality gear but very expensive.

BOS Deville?

I thought my Elixir 7 were good until I used Shimano SLX

Rab and Montane are worth a look if they stock these brands. Not bike specific but really good quality and are usually low key enough to wear off the bike.

There isn’t much between most top end bikes and they pretty much have all the same bits attached. I get the appeal of having something a bit more personal and unique but pesonally I’m not prepared to pay the premium.

Some people definitely get a bit elitist about it, but really when it comes down to it they’re all just bikes.

Yeti SB-95 maybe? Or Commencal Meta 29 – they have some discounted on their website.

Should mention that they’re for a 29er and the 32s are noticeably flexy. I appreciate what you’re saying about the under dampned CTD’s but apparently Fox have sorted it on the 2014s.

I’ll look at X-Fusion, BOS, RS etc too.

Specialized Stumpjumper Evo 29 and Trek Remedy 29 both fit your criteria.

There was a 1000 lumen Leyzne Mega Drive on Sports Pursuit for £90. Think that would do the jiob

You’re not going 650b though are you?

No I was looking at the new Stumpy 29er and suddenly started thinking hmmm what if. I actually really like the way the Trek feels, I tried loads of bikes and it was the one that just felt right. It suits most of riding I do, although felt a bit out of depth on some of the trails in the Alps. Not keen on the looks either but that doesn’t matter to me really.

50% ouch! My head has just turned back the other way. I’d expect a loss but can’t afford 50% on a 1 month old bike. Must stop looking at other bikes!