Seeing as the Red Lion is literally just over the road from the Amsterdam we can decide on the watering hole when we get back. 🙂
Saturday at 10:00am?

Fair enough. Similar area to last time, starting/finishing at the Amsterdam in Shoreham (2 mins from the A27). Lots of singletrack, some fun descents and decent climbs.

When I had one it wasn't painful before. Found I was using the loo VERY often one day. Then found the only place I was confortable was sitting on the loo…
That night just the most agonising pain ever. I honestly thought I was gonna die. Ambulance ride to hospital. The pain killers they gave me once I got there didn't touch the pain. Then it just went off a few hours later.
It came back again the next morning and they told me that if it didn't pass on its own in a day or so they were gonna stick some bloody tube up me wotsit…! 😯
Decided there and then it was going to pass on its own. Thankfully it did.

For the fun and thrills obviously, but also for me its a fantastic release from the pressures and hassles of every day life. No matter if its a bad day/week at work, money worries, argument with the Mrs, whatever. Ride out to the middle of nowhere, stop and take in the total silence and the fantastic scenery we have here in the UK. And then you realise how none of your problems really matter in the great scheme of things. I find it very therapeutic.

Yes, seen that but it's not particularly helpful. It only talks about rebound, not compression. Which seems strange as there is a rebound dial on the top. I understood that the shims changed the compression damping…
I'm about 170lbs so the standard set up should be ok, but I feel it needs to be a bit plusher. If I take any more air out though though it feels too low.

Going out in this is fun every now and then but its all getting a bit monotonous now. Last few weeks have been dire round here with even the main tracks (SDW) becoming a draggy claggy mess. Managed to get out yesterday though, and plan a route that wasn't too bad in terms of claggy mud. I had a great ride, although my mate didn't have as much fun. Ghost shifting, then a puncture, a naff replacement tube, then front brake problems, more ghost shifting, and topped off with a broken chain at the furthest point away from home. And then his chain tool broke. Must have really upset someone! Had to ride home on my own and then go and pick the poor lad up.

Are you sure it is not working? I can't tell the difference most of the time when I'm riding and invariably leave it in the middle setting. I read that the best way to test it was to push down on the saddle whilst off the bike. Doing this I can see a clear difference between the 3 settings. Full propedal definately extends much slower than the other 2 positions.

Anyone else still having trouble finding it? I tried my two local outlets (Tesco and a newsagents)today and still can`t find it.

Like the little endo-turn near the end. I'll learn how to do that one day. Just trying to think of any places round here that have just one switchback, let alone the loads you have there. I'm in the wrong country.

There's nothing too technical, just a bit of a rollercoaster really. A couple of the hills are long and steep (by Southern standards)but the good lady can always walk the tougher ones.
There's a Youth Hostel at Truleigh Hill, but that's not exactly what I would call nice. For that you would probably have to come off the SDW.
There are plenty of nice places, just depends where you want to break it.

Can`t really help on getting back. Living half way trains or lifts have been no problem 😉

MaverickBoy – I'll try some synthetic oil next time. Was going to use something else last time I serviced them, but it was over Christmas and all the local motorbike shops were closed so had to use the Finish Line crud again.
Do you stick with 5wt?

What order do you recomend for the shims – never felt the need to change them round but it's so easy to do I might give it a try.

Cheers

Flows.

Got a pair on my Whyte. Never found them flexy. Always worked nicely. So nice that I am constantly trying to find something bad with them so I can change them. Easy to service. Only complaint I have is that they can get a bit noisy after a while. I think it's the Finish Line oil I use – it seems to become aerated after about 10 hours of use. Doesn't affect the action though .
Don`t forget you need the 24mm hub too.

Come on then – I'm intrigued.

I like Bontys`. ACX, Mud X, the old Revolt. ACX are good multi condition tyres, and TR.
We do tend to be led by what other people tell us though, whether it be press or forums. All my mates ride Highrollers, but I am not a number!
(Er, although i do have a set of 2.25 Ardents for last summer that I got because of a mag review… Bugger.)

I ran a pair of 2.25 Ardents tubeless on mine. Felt fine at the time but then swapped over to Flow rims and the difference in tyre shape and feel was quite evident.

A local company powder coated it. Cost me £40 but then another £10 to get the powder coat out and BB threads re cut and faced… If I had checked my BB when I took it out I would have actually left it in – the bearings had all siezed.
Made the decals myself (frame and fork). Cost me about a fiver. They are water slide decals which are then lacquered over. Quite pleased how they turned out.

And I quite like 'pretty'. Better than tatty. 😉

Yeah, I suppose it does look a bit grey in that pic. I'll post a 'daylight' pic at the weekend when it's built up. 🙂

cynic-al – Grey? Put your glasses back on. It's blue!

It's a Whyte 46. Cost £40, but I'd have paid more if they listened when I told them which bits needed masking. 😕

Red and black!

Doesn`t really show it, but the hubs, pedals, head set and crank spider are red.

Urban glow. Living right on the south coast we see it looking north, looking south its just dark. Always there but as has been said above, the lights reflecting off the snow increases the effect.

South Downs above Worthing.

The pads are because the bits that are rideable are just sheet ice with a few frozen ruts thrown in for good measure…

Dropped my frame off on Tuesday to be coated blue – BS172. Should be getting it back tomorrow snow permitting.

Stans rims only need their yellow tape to make them tubeless, rather than a rubber tubeless kit. I believe the rim is designed to lock on to the the tyre better than a 'normal' rim, and as allenkelly says; they are very nice rims. Light and strong.

Marin FRS (Mount Vision, Rift Zone) '97 – '98. One of the first full sussers to get it right. Pivot position was spot on, could be built light and lasted for ages. Had mine for about 9 years, and with better forks (several Pace) and an excellent Cane Creak AD10 rear shock (plus other upgrades along the way)it was still a fantastic and light trail bike when I sold it.

Cheers guys for an enjoyable ride, despite the bloody awful weather. Should do it again in a few months when the trails are not full-on streams any more.
And mucho respect to Mark (petesgaff). With that attitude I believe you will beat it.

BigSi – Met you, Hummerlicious and a few of the SussexMTB posse a year or so ago (when you had the Santa Cruz) on a couple of Quest rides I did when my norrmal riding buddies were being lazy , but of course they don't normally take in the cheeky trails, so looking forward to this. Hope the forecast improves tho…

I'll be there as I sort of volunteered Hummerlicious in the first place… 😆
Hopefully bring at least one mate along.

Nice vid! What's the music? Liking that too.

If Bunners has no objections then that works for me too. 😀

Thanks guys. Managed to unstick it without any fatal injuries…
Noticed the other week that it had lost air so just ordered a seal kit from Mojo. I've only had the bike a year but I doubt the previous owner had serviced it judging by the rest of the bike.

Use Hitachi all the time at work these days. Excellent tools.

Come on guys, we need to sort out what's happening or there aint gonna be many peeps there at all.
Personally I don't mind where we meet, Lancing and Worthing both have easy access to the some of the best riding around here, but I'm more in favour of showing people what the South Downs can offer rather than sticking to the SDW. It might not be Wales but there are enough decent trails around to surprise a few people who think the SDW is all the South Downs has to offer.
So can we decide where, when and which route????

Personally I find not only is it the local conditions, but the rim it's mounted on too. I'm running 2.3 Bonty ACX's on both my bikes at the moment and they seem like great all round winter tyres for where I ride. One set on Flows, the other on 717's. The profile on the Flows is much fuller because of the wider rim and the tyres seem to ride better imo. They certainly hold a line better when cornering.

I must admit, I was sort of thinking along the same lines as Hummerlicious… A bit too much SDW and double track and not much singletrack.
Without wanting to hijack your ride Bunnerscj I`d suggest perhaps letting the man above come up with a route for you. No offence.

So how many is that so far?

Hey Bunners, any idea on routes yet? Worked out a possible at the weekend if not.

Having said that I don`t mind helping out if I can. Not sure of possible brekky venue – maybe Steyning. Usually tend to make up routes as I go depending on conditions etc. Plenty of choice though.