Presumably they couldn’t pin the actual act of theft on him. Still – good to see they threw most of the rest of the book at him

As above – fine as long as you’re not taking them to the Alps or planning to use them on particularly long downhill tracks

I went the ebay route for a new bike b’day present for my better half… There are lots of WSD bikes popping up on there, usually with the description starting ‘Bought as a birthday present for my wife, only been ridden 3 times…’

spent ages looking at Mykas, but seems they are the most commonly sought after, and so often go for more than the used men’s equivalent.

Ended up getting an 08/09 Giant Arete 2 for £280 (£850 new) in great condition, and far better spec than anything you could find new – XT/Deore, Rockshox, Avid Juicy Threes etc.

Have no problem donating the occasional innertube in return for some good karma.

Can usually tell from a distance / the look on their faces whether they need any help or not.

Its paid me back plenty of times – the time my pump broke on the far side of the Marin trail one quiet evening, or when i forgot my pump doing the Mashup last year (cheers to Rich Cunningham and friends for their patience and help)

And i still owe Snakebite / Scruff (too long ago to remember which one) an innertube which was used for a sling when i separated my shoulder on the only ST ride I’ve been on.

nice trolling, Doc

Just after posting my comment above, I found this post which sums up my feelings about Road/TDF vs. Downhill (and ‘proper’ mountain biking in general) quite succinctly:

“The worlds best timetrialists[/url]”

i doubt armour would have helped barel, hill, or fairclough.

but a kneck-brace would have helped Dan Atherton.

Agreed, except Dan would have to have been wearing a full face helmet too – unlikely on dirt jumps.

Personally, I think DH is better than it’s ever been – the mix of riders and their different personalities, nationalities, backgrounds and riding styles makes it one of the most interesting sports around, especially with the limits they’re taking it to now.

And yes – Peaty is a proper legend; over 15 years at the top, and through so much change and progression in the sport.

Used to like V12s but want a bigger platform these days… love the form and function of the DMR Vaults, but went for a set of Answer Rove’s instead because they do a nice gold to match the rocker on my frame 🙂

I think it’s a great looking bike… as with their new DH frame – when you get the seatstays aligning with the toptube – just makes it look nice and clean.

I rode the Mega twice on my old Supreme 6 FR, certainly no problems there – and it sounds like they are fully aware of the troubles they had from that PB press release;

Since 2009 Commencal frames have improved their strength and reliability enormously, correcting certain faults from the past. We are able to offer proven reliable frames thanks to the barrage of tests that we use that well beyond the European standards set. We impose on our products area-specific reliability tests for each key part of the frame, followed up by testing each new platform out on the trails, in the most extreme conditions.

Numerous Meta frames are therefore produced to undergo no less then 8 different machine tests with extremely high thresholds and extreme loads. As an example, European legislation imposes a minimum 50,000 cycle resistance at a given load. We impose a resistance minimum of 1 million cycles before any fissure or crack should appear.

I’d have no problem with owning another (and i am heavy, and tough on bikes =)

Mine are from the Mega in 06/07… need a slightly more relaxing holiday in the Alps i think

[/url]
Mega Singletrack[/url] by space-scape[/url], on Flickr

you don’t get backdrops like this in the UK
[/url]
ME6B4533[/url] by space-scape[/url], on Flickr

or skylines like that
[/url]
Mega Promo start[/url] by space-scape[/url], on Flickr

Based on how much fun I’ve had with my Mondraker Foxy, I’d suggest taking a look at the 2011 Factor (120mm little brother of the aforementioned)

singletrack review[/url]
going by the above, I’d consider better tyres and a shorter stem though

take a look at this here thread

Saw a least one guy on a Cannondale with Lefty at the Ae round, most of the trails are on red grade level trail centre type tracks, with the exception of Ae which used the Downhill track for seeding and the final stage… i imagine Innerleithen will be farily gnarly too.

At the end of the day, its less about the bike and more about riding at a level you feel comfortable with – there are guys on hardtails beating folks on 6 inch all-mountain bikes, and most of the time there are routes around the bigger drops… I say give it a go, you’ll probably enjoy it!

I suspect Swinley would be nearer / quicker to get to

Not great photos… there’s a lot to be said for having experience of shooting bikes, and realising that shooting a steep hill front on just makes it look flat

Shame…. I was sure there was a photographer closer to that drop on stage 4, maybe it was just a wide lens

@Northwind – yeah, i meant to say Sunday – thought he might have come over from Glentress

I’m wondering if Ian Linton[/url] was there on the Saturday – he took all the photos on roots & rain for the Ae round.

That said – I’m sure Oliver Coats[/url] was at Ae too, but he hasn’t put any pics up…

I think the lack of free camping was mentioned somewhere but perhaps not that obvious. Don’t mind paying – it all goes into the community, and decent showers make all the difference!

Just been looking at the results and entries on Roots and Rain[/url] … Think if (hopefully) the series is a success and they run another one next year – perhaps they could look at how the categories are set up.

In the first 2 rounds, the Masters cat has been the size of seniors and vets put together, with 35-50+ riders each… And the top Veteran (CCA) put in over a minute on the next fastest in category, with Rob Cooksley putting in equally massive margins on the second place Master.

Hopefully with a seasons worth of history and results the cats could be a bit more even next year – funny how seniors is a lot closer; experience can clearly count for a lot in this game.

Green and red
[/url]
msisle[/url] by space-scape[/url], on Flickr

Green and gold… want gold pedals too really i reckon
[/url]
Mondraker Foxy RR[/url] by space-scape[/url], on Flickr

Another good weekend – made all the better by the decent weather on Sunday!

Cool to see the organisers responding to peoples feedback, and thought it was a good mix of stages and terrain (although i wasn’t a big fan of the pedally stage 2 – it’s good that fitness is rewarded equally to technical ability)

Loved the natural stuff on stage 1 (notsomuch after the diversion), stage 3 was the least interesting, stage 4 as gnarly as ever, and stage 5 made good use of the bottom section/finish.

The events might not have all of the theatre of the Avalanche crew, but it definitely has the feel of a series run ‘by riders, for riders’

I tend to see bikes I’ve sold cos I usually sell them to people I know… Sold my white Mk1 PA to a mate (who’d sold all his bikes to other friends to fund a car project)… then bought it back a year later complete with Dyna-Rod orange rattlecan job… now in process of being rebuilt with a nice forest green powdercoat.

Sold my trusty Mega-steed Commencal Supreme 6 to a chap who then broke his leg on it.. then did a lovely job of respraying it with a blue/yellow combo

@finbar – have a look on ebay… had a junior 24″ race bmx pop up in my search results yesterday; could be just the ticket

Prefer Minions.. used to run a HR front, minion rear… now run 2x Minion Fs – i like the faster rolling nature and as an all round tyre (not just the alps etc)

@chakaping

yeah 160 is a bit chopperish on the flat with the slack headangle but makes a lot of sense when the going gets steeper and more technical and the sadle goes down. For my local riding around Cannock it’s well balanced with 130 on the front, except for a couple of sections where i’ll dial out the fork and have a bit more fun on the drop and jumps.

Get a bit of chainslap, though i may stick it in top cog on the front to take up the slack (just standard 22/32/42 shimano setup at the mo) Currently using SRAM X7 shifters and medium/short cage mech. Plan is to go to two on the front; possibly 26/36 with bashguard… unsure on two ring chain device – my experience from years back is of limited benefit vs. hassle.

The pro’s preferred Gravity Enduro setup seems to be single ring and lightweight chain device up front, increasingly with 10 on the back.

Foxy/36 combo seems to work well for me – it’s a Talas so i mostly ride at 130mm locally or whack it down to 110 for climbing.

It feels massively capable – like most trail centre red grade downhills would barely test it. The parts mostly came from my old, cracked Intense 5.5. By comparison the Foxy is low and long – confidence inspiring, encourages you to get over the bars in the corners and give it some, especially having gone back to using flat pedals. The slack head angle makes you want to lean it over plenty, but I’m still catching my pedals on stuff – not used to the lower BB

Also got some wider (720mm) bars on which all aids the above.

Took it downhilling at Cannock Racers Guild on Saturday – felt very competent there too, for a 140mm bike

Getting back to the original topic (though i hear the Inners round of the Gravity Enduro will be the most DH oriented…)

This year I’m riding a new 140mm Mondraker Foxy RR frame, 160mm Fox 36s, 3×9 (soon to become 2×9, then maybe 1×9/10 if i get fitter) standard seatpost (while i get around to replacing my second CrankBros Joplin with something more RockShoxy) and a set of lightweight Minions for fast rolling and good open grip.

[/url]
Mondraker Foxy RR[/url]

Enjoyed Ae, despite the weather – glad i decided not to camp. Started on SPDs but switched to Flats after practice for the seeding run and race day. As you’ve seen in the videos, it was a wee bit slippy and off camber, and spent half my practice run trying to get clipped back in.

I was reminded how useful a dropper seatpost is – in stages 2, 3 and 4 there was an equal split of mostly flat traverse and steeper bits.

looking forward to Kielder and the last two rounds – can’t make inners, unfortunatekly

How long is the cross country route?

redness/radness

[/url]
pub bike[/url] by space-scape[/url], on Flickr

[/url]
The Uzzi (v0.5 beta)[/url] by space-scape[/url], on Flickr

Well, think I may be looking to cancel my Glentress entry – as much as i like the idea and concept of the mashups (and the Avalanche Enduros), if they can't get the most fundamental element of TIMED stage races right – i might as well just ride at my leisure and save the 30/35 quid.

from the konamashup website:

Even with intense efforts on Saturday we couldn't rectify the techincal problems with the timing, the problems we faced were a serious setback and even with the preparation and experience from previous events we couldn't solve these glitches on the day. The timing team is currently going through the huge amount of raw data and will do their best to put the runs that were correctly recorded into results. This will take a few days so we would ask you to bear with us.

Many have praised the concept of the Mash-Up, but the last three years have shown that timing this kind of event proving too difficult. We are really sorry that after 3 years of trying to improve the timing issues we are still having problems and anything less than 100% accuracy isn't satisfactory. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to everybody and assure you that we are working on an amicable solution for everyone. We will have some more news on this in the next few days.

Seriously – if you can't get the staff, can't be sure the equipment is functioning, can't be sure that the timing will be accurate – then you can't put on a race.

I've done 3 Avalanche enduros over the last 3 years, and found them to be a fantastic example of how to run this kind of race… different level.

Can't wait for Steve Parr's series next year – a proper, well organised (based on experience of NPS DH etc) full UK series!

Thanks guys, wasn’t aware of The Eagles (now there’s an opportunity for a Hotel name if ever there was one… 🙂 )

Have stayed at the Glan Aber but forgot they had a bunkhouse – they were helpful/reassuring with bike storage when i visited too.

found another option which might be a goer as well as the Glan Aber – think we’d prefer to be in Betws-y-Coed for the ‘nightlife’ 😉

cheers

I thought it was 853?

anyway – sounds good, I still love my 1st gen 520 PA, but would love to try the more svelte version… can anyone advise if it’s more compliant than the standard model?

umm… thanks – but i think you’re thinking of the wrong ‘Coed’?

I know Cae Gwyn – in fact we stayed there about a month ago… and while it is very handy for COED-Y-BRENIN…. it’s not so local to BETWS-Y-COED

(sorry for shouting 🙂

I like Arrow DSSs… but good luck getting hold of one

[/url]

[/url]

[/url]

Some cool photos – the last one in the ‘anything else’ list is of me with one eye closed… not because of the flash, but due to getting a big splash of mud in my eye at that exact same moment!

Anyone know who the photographer was standing up above the trail on top of a rocky outcrop near the end of the Darkside section (about 12pm)? Like to see how that shot came out – seemed like a good position

Very glad to read the positive ending to this one – I probably encountered you guys on my way around last night, loads of people out and about

Know that spot well – spent many a time sessioning the jump over the years. I never bother with it when just riding through tho, mostly because of the hole… with saddle up it just seems too easy to have your weight too far forward, so i just pop off the side

on a related note – i had my first crash in a long time last night. Bit like getting a rap on the knuckles from teacher – reminder to pay attention in class!

As it says on the site – times and results are provisional, so not reading too much into it at the moment (especially after comments from people on here, who’ve had results sent direct). Not that i’m hoping for an amazing improvement for myself… My times indicate pretty clearly that i need to work on fitness / climbing (assuming the time for the climb is my second, not first attempt)

Bit concerning tho to see a stage time that put Rob Cooksley in 2nd, almost a minute behind the fastest… doesn’t add up to me.

Overall tho – i enjoyed the day, but it was more down to the trails, rather than the event. Probably at a bit of a disadvantage having not ridden any of the Skyline trails before – a few emergency hucks were pulled out of the bag, and my pace setting on the uphills was off the mark.

I’ve done 3 of the Avalanche Enduros – and yeah – the organisation seemed a lot better. They spend a lot of time on briefing Marshalls, Clive Forth and crew do a great job of course preparation (not easy on a 35k loop), and the allocated start time and seeding makes the job of timing a lot simpler and more reliable.

That said – if the difficulties around the timing could be ironed out (faster, more reliable results, so people would have an idea of how well they’d done and be confident in its validity) – it would be a great day out racing against and riding with your mates.

look forward to hearing about any other similar series tho – is a great format in principle.

I’ve been running a PA as my main bike for the last 4 or 5 years (had one of the first batch), and I’d say you would struggle to find a better all rounder for all the reasons you say above.

Mostly ran Revelations recently, using it for XC, but have also had Pikes on it, racing the Kielder Avalanche Enduro with it the last two years – great fun, and more than robust enough to take some rough treatment. I’ve used it for an XC race (7 laps of a 9 mile course) to a respectable position. Not done much dirt jumping or downhill on it as I’ve had specific bikes for that, on and off – but it would take anything you could throw at it – the rider would be found wanting before the PA.

That said – I have just (finally) swapped it for a full sus (Intense 5.5, with the pikes) as I’ve got fed up with being beaten up by rocky welsh trails, and wanted a bit more skill compensation for the recent Ae enduro… but the PA will return with a fresh coat of paint come the winter.

Hope you enjoy it!

Mine IS the one posted by flamejob above 🙂

A Thule 903 – now replaced by a newer model which looks even better

Love it – sometimes can be a minor annoyance when i just want to load the bike and go, but i can fit or remove it in only a couple of minutes – and once it’s on, its staying on. As stated – done a couple of high speed trips to France, around France and back with 2 or 3 hefty DH bikes on. Reason i went for this one is because it’s one of the few i could find actually rated to carry 3 bikes of the heft of a proper DH bike… 3 x 45lbs ish

If I’m using it regularly, i may just leave it on the back – doesn’t bother me much… conscious of extra fuel cost due to weight, but certainly not the drag you get with roofbar mounted racks (as i had on previous motor)

i can’t see myself changing, and would definitely get another (detachable) towbar fitted on my next car just for this purpose