as there's almost nothing in the scientific literature about cycling biomechanics (trust me, I've looked)

Where have you looked? I just typed in 'cycling biomechanics' into PubMed and got 501 hits!

Listen to br – that video is ace

Hahaha – peoples inability to follow instructions is hilarious!

I have a Garmin GPS60 I could be tempted to sell if you're interested. Does everything you need and has the fantastic advantage of having a USB connection. will work with Google earth/map my ride/anything else that has GPX format. email me if you're interested.

Maxxis crossmark: 2.25 aren't too heavy and they're very big volume and very fast

The 'Servo-wave' feature on the new shimano brakes means the pads sit a little bit further away from the disc than other brakes, I would say they're your best bet. Unless you're a weight weenie, SLX perform as well as XTR

Hi TJ – I would be very interested to have a browse through your reference list if thats possible? Interested in reading further into it myself. Email in profile if thats preferred

Hey Fuzzyfelt, any chance you could send me the corsham route too? I'm in Bath at the moment and would be interested to have another local route to play with.

Yep thats fine. Just to breifly answer your questions; the lifts do stay open until at least mid september, and the weather tends to be pretty stable around that time too (August gets more thunderstorms). The riding is all 'Natural' with the exception of one very poorly looked after trail (it seems to be getting better the less it gets 'maintained'). Braking bumps are non-existant in Kitzbuhel. Even with the lifts, rides can include an hour or so climb to get to some of the singletrack, but most of that can be done on fireroads.
Kitzbuhel itself is a great town to visit, and in September, Oktoberfest celebrations will be in full swing!

Couldn't recomend it highly enough! 😀 I'll be around again this year for my 3rd season and I still havent ridden all the singletrack! email me if you have any specific questions, happy to help!

I listened to a Talk from Dr Kevin Reichlin who was the physiologist with Garmin-slipstream. He talked for about half an hour on the benefit/disadvantages of compression wear and the key points were:

1. They provide a measureable and significant increase in veinous return after lactic inducing exercise, but are not a replacement for warming down and stretching, just a supplement.

2.Fit is crucial: as tight as you can possibly squeeze yourself into

3. they are useless after about a month becuase they will have stretched, thus negating thier function entirely

4. If you have $10,000 to spend, buy some space legs

I broke a spoke for the first time in a whole year of use just last week. I emailed 2pure at about 10:30 on the Monday morning, and by 10:30 on Tuesday morning there were 3 spokes delivered. 5 minutes later the wheel was as good as new (like ran said, no need to even take the wheel out the frame as the nipple is in the middle and the spokes thread into the side of the rim)
As for bearings, a year and a lot of riding and they're still going strong.

Couldnt recommend the wheels or 2pure enough.

If all else fails, I'm paid to like you….

Classic!

We get a load of individual travellers come out for a week or two by themselves. It normally works great, and after the first ride up in a jam packed gondola everyone is best friends anyway! The people who come by themselves are also really fun to ride with, because you know they're here for the riding and nothing else. MTB'ers are generally a light hearted and friendly bunch – we've never had a case where a group of people hasnt accepted an individual into the mix of things.

Go for it and have fun!

cheapest way in the states would be to pick up a cheap pay as you go phone. They start at about $10, and for that some even have $5 credit included. Just remember that in the US you get charged for sending AND receiving calls and texts.
If using your iphone, you wouldnt be charged anything for hooking up to a wi-fi network, and that would work with skype.

Depends who's riding them – If its for a racer then crank up the tension a bit more, if not then I find loosening the tension creates a bit of dampening.

I certainly agree though – nothing quite as relaxing as a whole evening with your mind lost in counting spoke key turns.

do you use a spoke tension meter by the way?

another regular Dogtag user here – I have a year long policy and they're great everytime I've had to use them. I recommend them to all our customers too.

Go down the petrol station – compressed air, normally free and endless supply, just remember to bring a valve adapter with you. Much higher pressure than CO2 even, and when you spill sealant all over the place it doesnt matter (If you can deal with the looks you get from motorists when you stand there with white fluid all over the place!)

Sorry Daffy, I forgot to add that in to my calculation; the MRP is about 58g (claimed weight, I havent weighed it) so its just over 500g. I wouldnt even consider putting gripshift on my bike, cant stand it! but then both of my training partners swear by it so its down to the individual. My last years bike was a specialized epic which weighed in about 26lbs all together, so I dont think a few grams here and there is going to be felt by me at least.
Generally I'm pretty happy with how the bike is riding. Its taken me a bit of time to get the forks how I want them – a lot harder to set up than the F100's I had before, but I do like the handlebar lock out. Its not going to be great riding all day, or even for racing marathons, but thats not what its aimed for. I've got a lovely trail bike for the big days out too.

weights from weightweenies:

44t ring: 80g
22t ring: 20g
sram front shifter: 252g
LX front mech: 170g
e13 ring is 15g lighter than XT 32t
30g for housing and cable

567g

Ok dirtbiker, maybe 700 was a bit amibitous – just added it up and its more like 570g. still pretty significant though!

Starrman – I suppose everyones technique is a little different. I havent found a course where 36×11 is too small – takes a lot to spin out at that speed. Newnham park was a bit steep for 36×34 though, for that one I could have done with something a little smaller!

Pretty sure CRC have stock of the MRP guides. I actually got mine in the US, so have been using a 1×9 set up since last June. I think its great for racing – I spend more time just getting on and pedalling instead of worrying about what my front mech is doing, not to mention the 700 gram weight saving.
As for riser bars – I've already said above that narrow bars dont suit me. The tires are temporary. Havent quite decided what I will be using to race on this year. I used Crossmarks last year, but they're a bit on the heavy side. we'll see

It is pretty light; not sure exactly but I think its about the 22lb point (according to bathroom scales!).

I do actually have 2 arms, but I also like super wide handlebars. I tried skinny racer boy bars, but had to go back to 685mm Eastons. More leverage!

the kitchen isn't all its cracked up to be; theres a reason I didnt take the photo the other way around. I hope you'll note the Twinings is adjacent to the alcohol!
Those wheels do look so much better on that frame than they did on my epic last year. I'm hoping that a 4lb decrease in bike weight will be felt when it comes to racing! I've been tying it to the ground at night just to stop it floating away!

Rusty – I'm pretty sure that Crank Brothers arent concerned with anything 'ordinary' and the design seems to have plenty going for it. I agree that traditional wheels work fine, but I am a fan of people trying new things. Also, they are super bling too! As for spares, 2Pure are simply the best company in the world, so I have no problems with spokes etc.

Yep, racing BUCS (BUSA to the old guard!). looking forward to it, know nothing of the course at the moment though, but I'm sure it will be a fun weekend!

It is pretty light; not sure exactly but I think its about the 22lb point (according to bathroom scales!).
I've had the wheels for almost a year now and I love them. I could actually notice a difference in stiffness compared to the crossmax's before them, and also the freehub makes a fantastic purrrrr….

I havent found it very limiting so far: 36×11 is approx 44×13 and 36×34 is approx 32×30 so I dont actually loose too many gears. So far I havent found any disadvantages to it.

With the OBV qualification I can't work in any of the UIMLA countries, but that still leaves a lot of big mountains to play in!

I have been guiding out in Austria for the past few years and things are a little different than the UIMLA region, like Steve mentioned.

I have my SMBLA from the UK, which covers me to work for an insured company if my boss has the local OBV qualification (the Osterreicher bergfuhrer verein rad-technic qualifikation). However, that would limit me to being within 1 hour of 'civilisation' (a town), not doing over night hut trips and not going over 3000m in altitude (which is very limiting when you want to explore the mountains!), so I have now gone for the OBV as well. Its a pretty tough test, much much more worthwhile than the SMBLA. It involves navigation, first aid, biomechanics, mechanics, trail maintenance, 'diplomacy' (the course is worth doing just for this section, how tell tell someone they need to improve in polite terms in Austrian-German!), as well as general guiding tips too. You also need a reasonable amount of fitness and skill yourself; as you must complete a very technical (as is the most technical you will ever ride!) loop within 1 minute of the Examiners time.

The course is entirely run in German, however they were very helpful when there were things I didnt quite understand.

No honest company is going to employ someone who isnt fully qualified, as insurance etc all goes out the window (like Steve said). I do wish that people booking the holidays were more in tune with who offer what in terms of skill level and experience, as I'm sure it makes a huge difference to the holiday in the end. Maybe if you just need someone to show you how to get from the top of the Gondola to the bottom again, then it isnt so neccessary, but for actual guided tours and backcountry riding, unqualified staff is almost fraudulent!

Anyway, good luck getting a job this summer!

Longevity would be my only guess. I have a set of 540s and a set of XTR which were bought at the same time and used very evenly. the XTRs still spin like new with no play in them, whilst the 540s will probably be retiring pretty soon. Other than that, couldnt tell the difference between them in a blind test.

We do them!. We're set in a wonderful part of Austria, and some of the singletrack is just in-accessable unless multi day routes are chosen. Normally a two day trip will involve a whole bunch of climbing on day one, stay in an alpine hut overnight and then an almost pedal free day home again. Longer trips vary, but we can taylor them to suit.

I have also ridden most of the GR5 from Geneva to Nice. its a great route, but pretty busy with walkers in places, and I didnt enjoy having to carry all my camping gear.

Whatever you choose, make sure you get plenty of fitness in before hand as it will make it so much more worthwhile.

Enjoy!

I think ex-hire is a great way to go. We sell our Kona Hire bikes at the end of each season, and each one gets a thorough strip and rebuild, with any parts replaced where needed. I'm sure the hub at glentress would do something similar.
We also look after our bikes very well throughout the season. It works out a lot cheaper for us to take care washing and maintaining them, rather than replacing BB's and headset bearings every 2 months due to indescriminate jet washing.
Kona's are a great way to go. Neutral handling, well thought out spec, and the resale value on ebay will be reasonable as its a brand the general public recognize.
Go for it, Have fun!

Try BCH camping in Bath, just opposite the new bus station. Small but quality selection, will order in anything and very friendly knowledgeable and local staff. Support a local shop, dont go anywhere near Blacks/snow and rock etc.

Magdalena Neuner – German XC skiererer

Try Bicarb. I have some Burton gloves which sound pretty similar in make up. I soaked them overnight in Bicarb in cold water, and then turned them inside out to hand wash them using normal washing detergent.

Thanks for those links. I hadn't heard of Bikely before. I think I will be avoiding the A4 and A420, and that will probably push the distance up a bit. Doing it this weekend so we'll see if the weather holds up!

Thanks for the link. I had a quick look, but nothing quite in the right direction.
I am perfectly capable of planning the route myself, just wondering if anyone has previous experience?

If anyone wants to read a pretty good article on the causes of brake judder, Read Here

Common problem unfortunately. Good thing 2Pure are a great company to deal with, really look after their customers

take out the battery, fill a plastic bag with rice, put laptop into said bag, tie up and place in a warm place for two days. dont be tempted to turn it on in that time… time is your friend!