I’ve done uplifts there before. I’m in the area this weekend so hopefully will put in a quick lap of the red trail to check it out Sat morning. Nice to know that it looks fun! Reckon it might be running a bit slower and gloopier currently though?!

Nice vid but had to turn the sound off because that music does not float my boat….

Or get the hacksaw out?!

7 But I’ve ridden a bike in nearly all of them. I bet the queen can’t say that!

Thankyou tazzymtb for reminding me of Fuzzbox!

Probably too many to mention for me: Abba, Bon Jovi, virtually any 80s pop, lots of prog rock etc etc But by my age you don’t care about the “cool” factor anymore!

You mis-interpreted. They were restricted in terms of what the race could use. Pretty much all open.

Managed to make a brew with my Jetboil on summit of Tryfan last year in 70mph gusts of wind with horizontal rain/sleet….

Haven’t you heard of thermos flasks? ;-)

For those of you with poor memories this my video of what it was like in the olden days: http://www.pinkbike.com/video/144099/

Not ridden the new version yet so can’t comment on the changes….

Here’s my report from the middle aged, mid-pack perspective: http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk/news/53-race-reports-a-results/423-2012-fetish-bike-gravity-enduro-series-round-2-coed-y-brenin.html

Thought the Enduro 1 series was the Gravity Enduro for you southerners? Not the SE but probably as close to you as some of the GEs are to me?

To answer the original question (I’ve done 6 races now): If you can ride trail centre black and the natural equivalent you’ll be fine. It’s all doable by most riders. It’s doing it fast that’s the tricky bit!

Not sure what tyre setup Tracey was running: she’s sponsored by Bontrager and her tyres just say “Prototype” on the sidewalls.

Personally I agree with the OP and with Trailrider Jim: proper UST = hardly any punctures.

Incidentally I was in the same race running UST and I beat Tracey purely because she punctured and I never! ;-)

Yep. I’ll be there…. Think I oughta get me coat back off me mate after lending him it the other week first……!

I went from Pikes to Rev’s on two bikes but still with 20mm axles. Didn’t notice any stiffness differences. Did notice how much better black box damping felt over motion control….

27.2 and colour options pretty much = KS only.

I’ll probably be flogging one soon when my new frame turns up…..

Bike park is ace. Local XC is ace. Post ride beers and nachos on GLC terrace talking it up and watching people do the drops is ace.

Rainbow mountain heli-biking is worth it for the experience and the memories/photos. Depending on which way you go at the bottom it’s a pretty tasty trail too.

I’ve been 3 times now and (hopefully) will be going back again. Some videos wot I made: http://www.mountainbikerides.co.uk/video/17-whistler.html Shed load of photos knocking about on my site too….

Yeah there will be a bit less travel. Also check the frame clearance at full travel? If tolerances are tight damage could occur!

I’m a Specialized fan. Currently got an s-works top end thing and a Vice.

The Vice is very well vented – seems cooler than the posher one?

Always use their crash replacement policy: you don’t have to crash! The helmet can just be old and they will give you a discount on a new one.

I just leave my car’s light switch in the “Auto” position and it turns the lights on and off when it thinks it should.

Axles getting a bit bigger and less prone to snapping over the years.

Freehub design changed for ProII IIRC?

More flexibility in axle conversions as the years have gone on….

I have spent anything from £30 to £100 on shoes and find that they all last between 6 and 12 months max. Even keeping them polished etc they still look like shit after a year. If I spent 3x this amount would they last 3x longer – I don’t think so and I’m not going to spend the money to find out.

I’m not adverse to spending big(ish) on suits / shirts – My last suit was £400 and I have some £50 shirts.

‘kin hell! Cheapo pair of shoes on my feet (dunno where from? Probably Next? Hmmm… Currently could do with a polish!) are years old and have plenty of life in them. What do you do?

I’ve developed a meter that measures the levels of seething regional resentment towards our Capital City. It goes from 1 to 10. Once you’re past 5 then you’re officially ‘North’.

The midlands (Leicestershire is where I am from) is north by your definition then. Plenty of resentment to the shandy swillers round here….

Traditionally we’ve always considered “The South” to start at Watford Gap services. Anyone south of there dresses like a Pearly king or queen and speaks in rhymes as I understand it…. ;-)

The midlands has never really had a border with “The North”. That one seems to be a bit vague?

<cough>Paul Young</cough>

The second one was The Smiths to make up for it!

Ask the kids at the track for advice. Probably get more sense than on here? ;-)

Don’t put both bars inside the triangle. Put one under the downtube next to the fork…..?

I think the lack of maintenance vs gears is a complete myth. Every single speed tensioner I’ve seen seems more trouble than a derailleur (and few people seem to have horizontal drop outs to avoid this?). Riding through winters of sh*te there’s not much gear maintenance with a decent shimano set up? They just seem to keep on working even when covered in crap.

The rest of the bike needs the same maintenance….

Why singlespeed?

So you can get held up by your mate on a geared bike dropping it into granny in front of you and causing you to lose all momentum needed for the steep climb?

So your mates with gears can really rip the piss out of you when your “no maintenance” bike breaks down?

So you’ve got another excuse to get off and push?

But most people do it for the “I’m much harder than you geared riders” and “look at me, no gears” reasons.

Kirroughtree and Dalbeattie are the best in my opinion in that order(doing all the black options).

Ae and Mabie are short so easy to do both in a day. Mabie is my favourite of the two.

I went from standard 3×9 to 2×10 (11-36 & 26-38 combo) and it’s fine. You loose the very extreme gears but I’ve never missed them. I can still spin up everything I could before and pedal fast enough down everything I could before

If your chain ring bolts(well its actually the nuts rather than bolts?) are too long a hacksaw can make them shorter.

I’m in the looks horrible camp too

Thing is Canadian blue trails, would be UK uber black ones.

Nah IMO they’re more like harder red to lower black ish UK grading wise

You don’t have inner tubes in your tyres!!??
HYDRAULIC disc brakes!!???

In Whistler Bike Park the rules are:

On blue trails the slower rider has priority. On black the faster does.
Obviously both have to have a suitable passing place.
Maybe we could have the same for red vs black?

They’re just a bumpy slope!

We’ve built our own shore(s) a couple of times but it got ripped down.

Got a small patch of industrial wasteland that we have to make do with for “freeride”.

Loads. Including a fully built Cove Hustler with decent spec!

And it’s not just biking. Also loads of electronic stuff I keep meaning to clear out and ebay….

I made this video as my first test when I bought the Sony recently: http://mountainbikerides.co.uk/video/12-leicestershire/419-asfordby-hill-19th-february-2012.html (all except for the timelapse bit was recorded on the Sony)

It was great fun. My recollection of the event: http://mountainbikerides.co.uk/news/53-race-reports-a-results/422-2012-fetish-bike-gravity-enduro-series-round-1-innerleithen.html

Still not sure exactly what happened timing wise? I made all the transition stages fine where as loads around me didn’t so thought that might up my mediocre ranking to less mediocre? Doesn’t appear to have and my times still don’t appear to be right? Might mean nothing really but I’d still like them to be correct.

Ibis Mojo HD in 140 travel mode.
Revelations
2 x 10 “trail” XTR.
MRP 2X chain device
Reverb
819s on Hope Evo, proper tubeless
Some bars and brakes and stuff….

Sony HX9V. 1080p at 60fps.

I would think the danger of a mobile phone use in a filling station would be more related to the numpty using it not paying attention to what he is doing rather than any technology causing explosion rubbish…. so is probably best left in place?

In fact banning their use in more places would be good!