I recon if i did all of the above i would still want to have the diablo on the helmet. It seemed that without knowing where i was going 90% of the time i was trying to aim the joystick on the helmet in the directions i thought were the best to aim for. The flood of the sixpack was great but a slightly bigger flood over the joystick (on the helmet) would probably do me fine.

They helped me a great deal looking back at it as i was getting flustered on unknown descents,getting confused and not relaxed. Instead of flowing along i felt like i was stopping and starting with my head moving around trying to aim the light to find the best possible route!

Last thing i wanted to do was ride beyond my limits,nail a tree,break something and rely on other folk to get me home. It was to get an idea of what it was all about and putting aside the over the bars moments.. i was happy how it went considering i never ride stuff like that. 2nd race in around 10 years didnt help either!

I cant afford to travel down there to practice.Up here ive also got places where ive ridden for that length of time but theres no way i would choose to ride them as fast as i could with my nightrider trailrat over the likes of a diablo thrown in with a sixpack if i can wangle a shot of them.

Last week i tried hammering local trails with some great lights and still lost the plot on where i was/what corner i was on.

I envy you managing to ride to the max with only 500 lumens.. but thats something i cant and wont do!

You should race with a few thousand lumens.. you would probably podium!

I sometimes go up easy singletrack behind the house with an electron backup to barely light the way.20 lumens? Maybe not even 10! Its enough for me to see where i`m going so it saves the power for the nightriders i have to use on full power for the descents.

If i went out riding around the Puffer i would feel a lot safer with the likes of a diablo on the helmet on full power pushing out 975 lumens than the likes of the joystick with 325 lumens (on its own with no bar light).Its just not powerful enough for my eyes riding that trail. Going back to the diablo though.. i recon i could get by with using it on its own for quite a bit of the places i ride.

The enduro at Innerleithen on saturday i had 1975 lumens on the bars with 325 lumens on the helmet. This was riding down some downhill trails ive never ridden before the race (twice in the daylight and once in the dark during the race) and all those lumens on the bars were helping me out well.I could have put it on the medium setting and would have been better off using a diablo with 975 on the helmet but for anyone that recons 500 lumens is enough for DH.. you need to race an innerleithen day/night enduro! Fine if you have a pair of eyes that are 16 years of age and you know the trails well but not too handy descending unknown downhill trails as fast as you dare with 38 year old eyes!

So for riding on your own you can get away with low outputs.You will know the limits.

Racing downhills on unknown tracks.Get 1000 lumens on the head at least i`d say.

“You do realise that the ‘we’ you refer to is less than 1% of people who ride offroad don’t you”

Exactly. So many people on here are starting to get the idea that a large percentage of mountain bike riders in this country are buying parts and tools online and have stopped using their LBS. Like the computer stuff above.. I could ask around and research what to buy online but i would rather just go in to pc world or wherever and buy one without the hassle.

creaser.. i had a sixpack on the bar and a joystick on the helmet and still wanted more! The sixpack was overkill for all the distance i wanted to see in front so a maxxd would have been fine.Would have been better off with something more powerful on the helmet though. Having used the exposure diablo before i recon it might have been good enough on its own. The joystick is fine for a backup on average trails (or on its own for easy singletrack night riding – ive managed fine) but i personally recon it would be useless for those downhill trails at inners.A lightweight headtorch with around 1500 *lumens would do me fine.

*exposures version of a lumen.. or whatever is similar to this in the other brands version of Lumens ;O)

Cynic, did you enjoy peoples comments when taking pics? Just about everyone that passed me had something funny/witty/daft to say as i took a few snaps.

I will try and get a couple of pics up tonight. Only around 5 came out though! I bottled one of the steeper sections and had to jump off. Once i got on again i came off and slapped my head off a tree falling backwards and landed on my elbow.The helmet delaminated a little.It was a road helmet but still so glad of it! Chris ball catching me up with a puncture took the piss a bit but much respect!

“That’s all well and good but why should your lbs want to go to the trouble of sending something back that you didn’t buy from them rather than just tell you to f off?”

+ 1 billion.

Sound,thanks!

Silver birch pic is great.

A pint of stans fluid would do me fine!

No lights? Ugh. It wont really matter how dark it is without lights.. you wouldnt get to race without them anyways surely?

where exactly is the race event? The carpark at the bottom of the dh/xc trails in Innerleithen?

raw 17.5 flux

Turner is on its way.Couldnt resist :O)

aye.

Good move,Notlocal!

I can only think of Dale Holmes on his bmx. Havent really followed any other sports.

Hugor, buy shimano! Ive seen that happen on many of their cassettes.

“I’d still buy a nicolai and if it had a warranty issue I’d expect them to honor it but if I’d been riding with Uri Geller I wouldn’t expect them to.” LOL.

I heard a guy on the trail screaming “workk,workkk!” as he descended out of control on his Nicolai earlier this afternoon.

Ellie.. ::ears perk::

She seems to be letting the dark hair grow through.. hope she continues and gets rid of the fake blonde hair.Cant wait for the end result. mmm.

“Without wanting to appear a snob the “feel” of an Elise can’t be replicated buy a hot hatch, even a good one”

Yeah,the basic Elise s2 i had a drive of felt so firm and planted like nothing else,but with that nice lightweight agile feel to it all that you dont feel in other faster “fully loaded” cars,or any standard hot hatch like you said.The noise behind you and the feeling of not being completely safe adds to it all! Still a pain to get in and out of without looking daft though.

Johnnystorm wrote:

“The Pug 106 is better:
With all due respect, do me a favour! No doubt that they can be made to pedal along as quickly but a well set up Elise feels like nothing else. I include Sevens in this. Also, when has a VR6 EVER been considered a good handling car? No mK3 golf has ever had a cult following, certainly not one with a boat anchor in the front. “

With all due respect,you do ME a favour,come out of cloud cuckoo land and watch the clip on the track (not judging cars on figures plucked out of some car forum where elises,on paper,will no doubt come out light years ahead of pug 106`s)

Judge the pug against the lotus before watching the vid and slate away! Afterall,what do those guys know (bar clarkson) Yes,tuning up a pug it could keep up with some of the others.. Just like the Elise could be made to pedal along as quickly with anything else. The vid clip will no doubt show standard cars.They wouldnt be wasting their time with half of them tuned up! The times and the final results are all there to be seen and read.So the OP asked why not an elise.. that was good honest answers that,once you have watched the video,you cannot knock! (and theres no point in coming back for another ear bashing if you arent prepared to go watch the video (or at least own a pug 106 to ask yourself if it really was more fun than an evo or elise ;O))
Yes,the comments on a VR6 with “amazing handling” in the same line crack me up as well.The engine still needs around 40bhp over the pug to get pretty much the same time.

Why not an elise? Well heres a few reasons..

Ive driven one and would love to own one (edit: for the looks,not much else ;O)) Not impressed with the power and thats coming out of a 106gti. o.k. theres 160bhp+ models.. but for 120bhp,same as the pug,it wasnt a good start.

Anyhows.. what do i know?

If Richard Burns and his two mates in this vid put the 106 gti ahead of the elise for handling.. then save 6k+ and buy the peugeot.

Problems with getting called a boy racer? Well its either going to be a boy racer or a hairdresser so take yer pick.Definitely spend 10 mins watching this and listen to what they say.

Golf VR6,”one of the best handling cars” gets a bit slated in this. “I`m afraid Golfy isnt going to win today!” – Clarkson. Check it wallowing like a hippo!

Besides looking gorgeous.. i cant think of any other reason why i`d go out and buy an elise after watching this,driving one, and owning a pug for the past 5 years.

Not into the no seatbelt/spike idea. You get a lousy cold.. and most likely to get a bloody eye out when you sneeze. Daft idea.

:O)

As for the stickers etc in the rear window.. earlier i had a Volvo estate packed to the hilt with luggage and three of those suck-on signs in the rear window. On the left there was a “little princess on board” and two other similar “ive got kids in here” type signs. The area to view out of was approx 12 inches.. The bit that made me grin and shake my head in disbelief was driving out of the roundabout with this car in front.. getting up to near 40mph and watching the Volvo vanish into the distance. 50? 55? god knows. Some folk crack me up.

A STWer yesterday…

Wheres the flower?!

Even with a good well matched “blip” on the bike.. ive read (some top kawasaki engine expert) that the stresses it puts through the gearbox is not good at all.He reconed you would eventually thrash it to death on the bike.

I dont mind doing it on my cars that are worth around £300 & £900. Besides,they will die of some other problem long before one caused by a blipping gone bad!

A friend pointed out to me about 5 years after i passed my test to blip the throttle and i could go down through the gears smoothly.Ive always done it since. Couldnt get the knack of it at first but its here to stay. Ive never fekked a clutch,gearbox or engine. One car i had done around 130k in it, the wee 106 diesel i had done 120k in it (around 160k before it was sold with original gearbox and clutch)the current diesel i have is now on 216k (got it with 23k on the clock) and the gearbox feels like new,never had a clutch. The other car,a 106 gti, ive put 80k on it and blipped the throttle to death down through the gears.. its due to blow up but never seems to. I glance at the rev counter when i blip and know where to blip it to for 4th 3rd and rarely 2nd.Blipping into 1st on that car no matter how well the revs were matched would put me through the screen face first down the bonnet! That car is still on the original gear box too. I`d never stop doing it.

Instead of screwing a piece at the centre of the opening like in the pic.. i would screw one at the top and one at the bottom,half hidden,so that i could screw the patch to it and know that its not going to fall through or break easily where its not supported.

I dont pretend to be naff all. I do meow at the neighbours cat from time to time though. One of the cats meows back if i do it… if i speak to it,its silent.

Cullen, you even act like a boss from time to time. “martin,you are sacked!”

but then you scurry off!

I tied a knot in the pipe once and slid the knot up and down the length of the pipe to break up the white misty crap you cant really see. I put a mild bleach in it and oh it was so manky although it looked spotless. Havent used them since. So much faff!

I hate steps.With the seat down i`ll maybe give them a go but like some of the others mentioned above.. it doesnt do anything for me either. It doesnt feel good at the time and i would never get to the bottom with a grin screaming “get in there” or “comeee onnn!” like ..erm.. a lot of folk seem to do these days 🙄

I do ride steps similar to these quite often (with the risers of the steps sticking higher than the treads) and i know my bike can do it slow no problem at all so ive got to the point now where i know its possible and i roll them a bit faster.. which,like some of the confident faster riders above have said, makes it easier.

Only problem is, you have now got this fear building up inside with all the bad thoughts going into it instead of just getting stuck into the the practical side of it. You should have hung around and attempted them with the seat right down without getting over flustered! This thread is also going to throw a spanner in the works for you.

I had a huge step fear on the steps in town here in Inverness about 11 years ago. We would do them on our Kona stinkys back then but its a two flight set up with a landing in the middle. The steps are on the east side of the Eastgate centre,Inverness. Quite hard to find them but they are at the side of the building that looks north over the supermarket. Anyone in the area should have a look/ride of them if they like steps! If you can do them on an xc bike i`d be very impressed.

SAY LOTS MORE!!

How about getting a ktm over the first gate you arrive at? :O)

I had a very short spin on this bike earlier today and its so light and lively. When i sit here thinking about what to write.. i can only say that it feels more normal than most 29ers that ive tried. You dont seem to notice the size of the tyres and the thing just floats along in silence.. You could drink a cup of tea riding this thing like you could happily drink a cup in the back of a rolls royce silver shadow! No spills,just thrills!

The track from the black cuillin down into sligichan is rocky and chainstay rippingly dodgy but not steep or terrifying.where do we draw the line in coming up with techy tracks off mountains? We could spend all day coming up with tracks like the easy descents off carn ban mor to the other end of the scale.. riding down alladins couloir!

Well you dont have a witches nose so we`ll steer clear of the nations favourite.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65460103@N08/6300235469/%5D[/url]
pumpkin ghoul martinxyz[/url], on Flickr

[/url]
cavewoman costume[/url] by martinxyz[/url], on Flickr

[/url]
wolf granny[/url] by martinxyz[/url], on Flickr

[/url]
head nurse costume[/url] by martinxyz[/url], on Flickr

[/url]
pink witch costume[/url] by martinxyz[/url], on Flickr

and a nose to go with it..

[/url]
nose[/url] by martinxyz[/url], on Flickr

I like the abominable snowman i saved to the set but it would be a bit hot to ride in!

I had to look it up just then! I have always called co2 inflation tools Instaflates.
Ive just found that genuineinnovations came up with the GT instaflate to go with GT`s new line of bicycles back in 1989. It looks like they dont do it anymore. Just microflate and ultraflate.

Sunrise not a sunset.Just noticed after all these years that i named it a sunset in the description. url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/65460103@N08/6299828181/][/url]
dig sunset garden 7_50am zoom 3488w 26 10 07[/url] by martinxyz[/url], on Flickr

Its an old pic,sorry!

Hi Doug.Still living the life BasQing in the sun? ;O)

Well i popped in to see mark @ monsterbike and went for a single ply minion.. but he only had 2.5s. It seemed quite narrow in the shop and once fitted, im more than happy with the overall girth of it.It only looks slightly bigger than the 2.25 hutchinson i had on.Its apparently 140grams heavier than what i had but i could not tell the difference with it up front. I plan to get a 2.35 for the rear.

Sealing.. Ive always been a fan on getting the rim spotlessly clean before trying to get them to seal well. I cleaned the rim down and added a lick of stans fluid around both sides of the rim before fitting the tyre (with ease) by hand.This may have caused inflation with a Blackburn trackpump to be impossible.It just went on a breeze and i could see that it was going to be a mare by hand to get it inflated. I usually manage to get them up with a trackpump but not this combo.Grr!
A quick blast with an instaflate and it was up.. although the sidewalls were showing a bit of leakage through the material. There was also a few areas at the bead where it was leaking.I pumped them up to 60psi,rode the bike around for a few mins and dropped the pressure to 30. Left it for half an hour and it seemed ok.Went for a ride for a couple of hours and let it down to around 25psi and it seems to be staying up. I only used a small bottle of stans and like you said.. maybe i need to use a little more. Ill check the pressure in the morning and hopefully itll be sorted.

Oh and the gripppp! Had one up front years ago and dont know why i stopped using them.

<Laughing at the “moving of a stump with my least used body part”

I heard about “soupgate” too!

Now that you mentioned the pressure of the tyres, it all comes flooding back just how soft they are run having “thumbed” your tyres. Rebound compared to a normal tyre was nothing. I need to get a wee spin on it some time. Maybe i`ll end up buying one before building the spearfish!