Well, you win all of the points at the moment as you're the only one that's even slightly managed to raise the boredom factor of my afternoon.

Urban racing must be blummin awesome though.

It needs reporting to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I'd report it under RIDDOR as a dangerous occurrence – that could have killed you or someone else.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/guidance.htm

"who gives a **** what other people think?"

I took the 160 mm forks off my HT for some 140 mm Pikes.

Big mistake.

160 mm forks are well and truly back on to stay.

It's all (everything) (all of it) nonsense

HTH

Yes

Took me a while, but I have much appreciation for him now – obviously Anchorman, but really love Elf too….and I normally can't tolerate that kind of stuff.

Now did someone say Arrested Development? Blummin brilliant that.

Overtrained?

Works red looks fabulous in real life – I'd go with that. You wont notice the scratches when it's covered in mud like a proper mountain bike should be.

Up Llanberis and down Rangers is definitely the best option.

Rangers is one of the best trails in the UK (imho!). Just awesome – fast and furious at the top with loads of nice little rocks etc to jump off, then slow and a proper techy challenge toward the bottom.

I have also been up Rhyd Du and down Rangers…but I wouldn't recommend it unless you particularly want a proper hike-a-bike across a rather perched ridgeline. I wouldn't do the Rhyd Du route if it was particularly icy/windy either as there is a falling risk.

I think if you're going up the gap you'll be alright on a rigid, but I seem to remember the other side isn't the smoothest trail I have ever ridden up so you'll prolly take a bit of a battering on the way down.

[anti-niche-question]Why do you have to go with the rigid? If you have neck etc issues, what's the point when you have some perfectly good forks to stick on the front?[/anti-niche-question]

If you were going down The Gap I'd say definitely think about squishyforks.

Undecided tomorrow – maybe Nibley to have a nosey round, Dursley, Lecky or poss Bredon Hill

FoD Uplift Sunday 😀

Love is when you put up with a whole load of bad stuff, because, no matter how bad it gets, you still come back for more…

For example, MTBking – bleeds my wallet dry, often leaves me injured/bruised/battered, ruins the environment and leaves me feeling guilty as I drive all over the UK to get to trails……..yet I keep bluddy riding cos it is the best thing in the world and I love it.

Same thing applies to partners – I've had relationships that should've worked on paper because we liked the same things/shared same ideas and all that. But it's when you are with someone who has a completely different outlook on life/love/the human condition…yet you still want to be with them. Then that's love.

It depends on how I'm running it – before this incarnation I had 160 mm QR forks with ETA on the front….if I dropped the ETA then it was fine for pretty much everything climbing wise, but with them at 160 mm it does feel a little like you would fall off the back on the really steep climbs. Certainly for the peaks though, it's been fine climbing wise.

I put pikes on it last week and took it round the Monkey at Cannock – for that kind of undulating stuff, the 140 mm upfront was great both up and down, cleaned all the switchbacks n that easily going up and was a storm going down.

With those 160 bombers on (in the pic) it's a fair bit heavier and stiffer as they are a bodged pair of coils, but, you know, I didn't really notice the weight change pedalling uphill anywhere near as much as when I changed from the light (pro-comp hubs with stans oly rims) to my heavier (pro II's on mavic 325's) wheels. I think the wheelset and tyre choice makes the biggest difference in terms of weight and climbing ease.

I do ride this bike on all day epics regularly. Mind you, I hate climbing with a passion (it's all about the downs for me!) so if your OH is a nimble XC machine and gets her kicks outta of cleaning every climb then my bike set-up probably wont suit.

In terms of harshness….I honestly cannot understand what all the fuss is about tbh. I don't have any problem with it. It's been round the peaks, ridden on DH stuff, regularly gets blatted round Malvern and I still love it.

I'm 5'3" and 8 n a bit stone.

I ride a Chammy. It's awesome 😀

Stiff is the only true way!

Chammy's are great as they are nice n short in the top tube. If she likes them peaks rocks then the Chammy is a great choice with some proper forks on the front 8)

Bombers with black lowers and red stanchions. I have got to have some of them even if it means selling a kidney.

davidtaylforth – Member

The cooler bikes are the ones you tend to sit "in" rather than "on"

like this?

All my bikes are cool when they have me sat on them.

I just don't concentrate on trails I know well so it all goes fine until I come across something that has changed and my memory no longer keeps me upright!

How about adopting a couple of guineas from a rescue?

http://www.guineapigrehome.org.uk/

Jedi for certain!

I've done two other courses myself, and have seen other courses in progress, and none of them have come close to UK Bike Skills 🙂

That's an awesome idea to get me over the 'fear of the gap'!

DON'T GET ONE!

They are not suitable for kids. They can be a handful. They are pack animals and will be lonely on their own. They can be very difficult to look after properly and expensive to fix. What's the point in making an animal suffer because your child has a whim that it wants a rabbit and will no doubt leave the poor thing to rot in it's cage once she is bored and finds boys/make-up/alcohol. Rabbits can easily live to 12 years.

I have seen far too many unwanted rabbits left to waste away in rescues (or worse, left to suffer at the bottom of the garden) because 'someone's child once wanted it for a pet' to be subtle with this reply.

My all day full suss is 34.5lb. It never feels that heavy and is pretty pleasant to ride uphill compared to my lighter HT.

My HT is currently 28.5lb – it's gonna be a lot heavier when I finally get round to upgrading to bolt through coil forks (I've had quite enough of air) and more substantial wheels and tyres.

Does it bother me? Not really, I can keep up with the guys I ride with easily enough on the up's, and the weight penalty is well worth it to have a bike that descends well.

FoD family trail as the OH has a borked shoulder. Rather challenging stuff, avoiding all the wayward kids/dogs/randomly-stopping-peoples.

Shoulder felt ok so we ended up having a nosey around the FODCA trail. Quirky oldschool mini-XC trail that.

I think perfectly co-ordinated components on my DH bike is vastly more important than everyone else thinking I am weird because I shuffle around looking like a scally as I refuse to waste valuable MTB cash on clothing/shoes/make-up.

The question remains, why are so many riders who are convinced that having the shock preload precisely set and running exactly the right tyre pressures even slower than me.

KINGTUT – Member

They are not as fit, obviously.

Yup

Or maybe don't feel the need to prove a point.

Either way, it's not exactly rocket science. In fact, it's not even science at all. Your observations would have much more relevance (other than qualitative assessment) if either

a) all the other riders in the races were milandstrailquestgrahams and riding different bikes

or

b) you took all the riders and put them on identical bikes to yours.

I guess you could, of course, always start riding a light carbon framed XC race machine, with finely tuned suspension, and see where you end up in the race stakes. 😉

Looks lovely 🙂

I saw a dab at two minutes…..that's clearly a FAIL

Out of interest, has anyone ever had a successful response from using a bell on a bike(not that I have one, honest). Tried it once on a hire bike and the people freaked out, flapped around and got more in the way than they were before.

Most walkers in Malvern seem to appreciate a bell warning. 🙂

That's good 'cos I was worried I was gonna have to come up there and show you how to do it 😛

Gels, gels, gels, and electrolite stuff and lots of drinks to make sure you don't cramp might be a good place to start 😉

Best of luck BTW!

🙂

thv3 – Member

my "stable" of bikes always annoys me.

That's bad, but I think 'quiver' is even worse.

mmmmmmmm blue

Mark – Resident Grumpy

As it happens 'bunny I'm currently working on something very much along those lines right now

Well if you want a tester….. 😉

*drops hint with sledgehammer*

Is the industry overpriced? Maybe, but then, there always seems to be a lot of people working in it that struggle to make a living. Small enterprises come and go, and it's only the big boys that really seem to weather the storms. In some ways I suspect that those of use involved in cycling are slightly skewed in their belief at how popular the activity is. Especially mountainbiking. Sure, it's growing, but how many people do you know outside of your immediate riding buddies who take it to the same level? What about at work? I rarely meet anyone who has the same passion. Most people believe that a £99 special from Halfords is more than up to the job. It's a specialist industry and as such, requires specialist prices to ensure feedback into the system in terms of new design and technological advances.

LBS's are a short-notice-lifesaver and have regularly saved me a weekends worth of sitting around wishing the postman would deliver. The amount you choose to spend is down to personal choice – over the last year I've built up a bike on the cheap (mostly secondhand), and also spend out a huge amount on components for another build (which, if I can just add, were sourced at extremely good prices by The Bike Chain, even when compared to online stores, so I am rather surprised to hear complaints up there ^ about their pricing).

Of course I'd like lower prices, but not if it means that the industry begins to stall and I loose my regular LBS's.

The best downhill bikes for small ladies…….

I think I may have possibly found mine, but it wasn't easy!

*hears loud noise on doormat*