listen mate i’ve been there, really. rode bikes then went to uni and stopped doing anything. anything! well apart from the drinking uni stuff. had a five year break and got to nearly 20st.

but in the end i got to the gym, adjusted my diet and bottom line, worked hard, now i weigh 15st. yes i know still heavy but at least better. now i ride twice a week with lads that are still sometimes 5st lighter than me but i’ve got decent fitness now, enough to give them a run for there money anyway, but its all about the fun YOUR having. It just takes a bit of extra effort to get that but of fitness that will make things comfortable.

if your riding every week with those mates, your the one that will have the most improvement in the shorter space of time anyway, just got to go through the hard stuff first, an electric motor is just a copp out i’m afraid.

bomberman email me, its in my profile, i’ll sort it out

we did the beast and MBR on the first day, then the Tarw on the second, suited the weekend because the second day was shorter for the sore legs!

the whole set up is really good, showers that have under floor heating and a good coffee, what more could you want?!

no i haven’t recieved anything yet

xherbivorex thanks for marshalling again! promise we’ll try and keep you in a warmer spot this time!!!!

anyway, lets get that sun dance going so we can have a repeat of the first events weather!

new course look good, think people will like it!

bomberman – email the address on the brownbacks website and we’ll send you an info pack, yes you do get a free entry if you marshal, how’s that for a good deal!!!!!!!

you really can ride it on anything, but a full susser can be a bit more forgiving?! i’ve ridden on both however as have many other people!

http://www.brownbacksracing.co.uk has some pics of the course and links through the gallery.

climb all the way from the car park! don’t think that would go down well ha ha i think we would be linched

you get the added control with bigger rotors, yes they have more power and can be a little more grabby but you adapt to that as you go on. the reason i suggested bigger rotor for the back too is for heat dispersion. you tend to drag the back brake to adjust speed rather than to stop, this dragging in the alps could/will be going on for up to 25-30 minutes! thats a lot of heat!

My advice 180’s front and rear.

180’s front and rear would be ideal, but at least 180 on the front. decent dual ply tyres too if your planning on doing some DH stuff or at least some reinforced side wall tyres (conti protection).

shared affinity with all things outdoors, sitting down after a good ride having a chat and a beer, discussing at the top of a good climb about what to buy next (needlessly) ha ha are the good things.

Bad – people not asking if you’ve got tools when your on the trail side, people not saying hello at all!!!! people who push in ques at the jet wash there’s loads but just goes around the topic of general argogance.

Definately south. I like the climb on the north loop and yes the swithch backs are good but the descent on the south is just fantastic, so fast!

its nice to be able to do a couple of loops, then have a coffee and a chat then do one or two more? I like it.

Have to say though did the MBR route around Garburn Pass and the really did get my appetite back for good natural riding, such a good loop that one. its easy to tell yourself that your having a good ride on natural stuff when in effect a lot of the riding is boring double track. but like i said that Garburn route is brill!

i’ve had a set for a little while now and seriously nothing comes close! they are so powerful and have decent amounts of modulation. a little word of warning though they do take a little while to get used to, you really have to be more careful when going near the lever as other wise you overbrake all the time! only a small rotor needed for the back too! 😀

evening si, yeah we can do, either day i’m not bothered, where you thinking? we were thinking a dales ride?

but are these marks down to the bushings or dirt that has past the seal? if it was the bushings surely it would have worn a larger area away (removed the anodising from a large section of the leg and not just lines)

Thats what happened with mine, dirt got past the seal and put those exact thin lines on the leg, shit really. as someone on here has said, £900 for a fork and they have to be serviced once every 2-3 weeks when riding once a week?!

had exactly the same problem myself after only one wet ride, really! there’s no chance of you getting anything under warranty though as in the manual it states that stanchions are not covered under the warranty. you’ll have to let me know how you go though!

plus it says (somewhere)that the fork should be stripped every 10 hours riding!!!!! its a simple job and i’ve done it a few times myself now but its a piss take to service your forks in my case, once every 2-3 weeks!

the thing is though my mates fox floats did the same! the problem with ours is that the top seal isn’t good enough. don’t ride them until you’ve stripped them as some dirt must be between the leg qand the dust seal.

its a simple job and there’s a video on the dirt website, there’s a vid of the boxxser which as the same stripping procedure.

if you need any help finding it let me know.

got an email but took a little longer, but only about a week? i phoned up to get conformation then i got an email.

i’ll be there about 10 am

good man!!!

we’d appreciate it if you could marshal? should be a good one!

anybody else fancy marshaling? bet when you see them racing you’ll want a go!

*revised track* or have we?? 😉

i think shimano now have a really good range of brakes. plus almost every bike shop in the UK sells spare parts. i’d go for the XT’s if you can afford them as they offer amazing performance for the money. my mate has XT’s on his commencal and i have the new saints on mine.

endura MT500 and they will last you ages, little bit pricy but woth it.

nice bike BlingBling, and yes your right, just in time 😉

there’s a solution in last months MBR, involves vinegar and something else. its in the readers section i think?

egg beaters are really good for that too, mine are good but the entry and exit are vauge in comparason with shimano’s though.

2-3 years is what the manufacturers say and that how often i change mine roughly

in reference to the question – konas have been going downhill since the glory days of the late 90’s, the decals are crap and they’re overpriced with no real benefits. its a shame because the steel explosive, cindercone and original Ti Hei Hei were iconic bikes.

i think the switch towards the ‘freeride’ scene and there clump team riuned them for me and they’ve never recovered. i hop they recover as they are one of the first northshore co

i only moved because the job dictated it, quite happily live there again, well maybe not after being spoilt with the lakes, north wales and peaks riding i do know 😉

i’m up saturday with a couple of lads?

hey boro is alright don’t knock the boro! good night out as well!!!!

riding in the cleveland hills is awesome, great ayton, newton under roseberry, and guisborough to name but a few. then you’ve got osmotherley and carlton bank (carlton in cleveland) a bit further down.

there are no trail centres nearby, except maybe Dalby and Hamsterly but you wouldn’t want to walk to them!!!! the best idea is arrange a ride with some people on here or go to bikescene in guisborough, i think they do wednesday night rides and possibly sunday rides?

i make the trip home once every couple of months for some riding, nothing like your home trails and there’s nowt like the ‘red run’! ha ha

To have an active interest in riding all manner of bikes and and have the ability to talk to and maintain a converstion with anyone.

The most important thing (and one that annoys me) is that when i ask their opinion on something, i just want their opinion, i don’t want them to turn round and say ‘thats shite’.

some nice pics there rich well done!

just thinking on getting a nice new full susser and was wondering if i could do it on the cycle to work scheme, i know its possible but wanted to hear from people who had done it?

i like the ice cream van idea!

how nice was the weather though!!!!!!!!!!!! face is sun burnt to hell ha ha

There are a few entered and we are expecting more on the day, this event has been designed from the ground up to try and help people to enjoy racing both for the first time or the 50th.

so come along and enjoy yourself, thats what its all about! 😆

got the bearings already, i want them fitting, i realise that you need bearing seaters etc and could do it myself but i haven’t the time?

good man JxL!