I’m not trolling in the slightest. But the bit I struggle with about Enduro races is that it’s racing trails you’d normally ride on your normal trail bike. I’m sure I’m not alone in usually riding these trails as fast as I can anyway, so why do I want to pay someone for the privilege of getting a piece of paper that says I was faster than X, but slower than Y. Just seems a bit unnecessary when you bear in mind all the faff that’s then tacked onto what would be a normal ride.

I’d point out that if you want technical timed downhills there’s another option, but appreciate that lots of people want to race without buying another bike.

Is it just Downhill for fat-knackers? Now I’m trolling.

Ironically that third option at ‘Ard Rock is the one that appeals to me the most. I’m sure the riding is fun at these Enduro wotsits, but when it comes to sorting out the ‘results’ I don’t really understand why you ignore the uphill bits.

Well I do, it’s DH racing for people that don’t want to do DH racing, for whatever reason.

Nothing wrong with it, but it’s a shame that there’s so many people that aren’t interested in trying on the climbs and we then don’t have a series of xc races where the descents are properly good fun.

If you kept the stage format, but with ups and downs scored and a points system that balances out the value in being fast up and fast down (So that being 20s faster down the descent isn’t negated by someone being a minute quicker on a 30 minute climb) you’d have something pretty cool. And keeping stages means you can set off people on the descents at good intervals so they’re not ruined by mincers.

But I need to sort myself out and get out on my bike a lot more often before I start worrying about what races are out there!

All of these would look better with the correct size wheels on them

I have Totem 2-step airs. They give you 180 or 135mm of travel, the lower setting makes the fork very versatile. I’d definitely want travel adjust if it’s for more than just downs.

I can get my hardtails in my Focus without either wheel off, everything else needs the front wheel off and the DH bike I think needs them both off.

If you’re looking at that size vehicle and second hand you can’t beat the Focus for value for money. I researched extensively and there’s just so many of them that you’ll get a lower mileage, better condition one for the same money as the other options.

Really rate mine.

Great, no idea why I’ve not done this sooner then!

If it’s been fitted and signed off then it is more than likely to be OK as it should have been leak tested and the draw tested etc.

The ‘problem’ is that the woodburner burns at a different temperature and as a result sends different crap up the chimney to the fire that was originally there. The upshot is that there’s risk that there’ll be an accumulation of tar in the chimney that you won’t know about and won’t cause you any problems until it’s soaked through the brick and destroyed the chimney. At this point the only remedy is to knock the chimney down and start again.

Unfortunately, if it’s been signed off by BC you don’t really have a strong bargaining position, but as with all these things it really depends on the individual circumstances and the people involved as to whether you get anywhere.

Yeah that makes sense. It’s for a Jekyll.

I couldn’t work out in my head if it would work or not, I looked to slacken the HA ages ago and couldn’t find a angleset and figured there must be a reason why I hadn’t used off-set bushes. I guess I just forgot about them.

That’s what it was designed for, but it’s competent to be very good fun on all but the steepest rocky descents, even if it’s not as quick as a bigger bike would be. Does that make more sense?

I’ve just taken my shock off to measure the bushes. Took longer than expected because all these little jobs begin with tidying the entire workshop and then I remembered I was supposed to swap the grips over so I did that, then I remembered that the bottom shock mount is behind the cranks so they had to come off too.

What I discovered is the lower shock mount is directly onto the lower swing arm pivot axle, no bushes, no top-hats, just straight on. So I can’t put an off-set on the bottom.

Is that the same on everyone else’s Anthems, or is it just a quirk of the carbon frames?

In fact, I’m going to go outside and measure the bushes right now and get some ordered.

Depends on the Anthem though, the proper ones they made in 2010 that were full carbon, including the rocker, are as stiff as anything and are let down a little bit by the head angles in some circumstances.

The point of the bike isn’t gnarly smashing stuff, it’s covering the ground very fast, but it’s more than capable and if you don’t use it as a race bike I expect most would benefit from a slacker angle.

I’m lucky enough to have one of the proper ones hung from the garage wall, it’s great fun and very capable, even on the crossmark tyres it came with. It’s a hoot to ride on difficult descents, but I wouldn’t miss the steep head angle for what I use it for. I’ve put better tyres on it and will probably slacken it out a bit at some point too. I won’t be putting different forks on it or swapping it for a different frame, I already have that bike.

Those German ones look great, though I think they’re too much cash unfortunately. Maybe the next bike though.

Ha ha, that Commencal looks epic. I was told the budget was ‘unlimited’…..

Those Genesis mini fat bikes look great too, anyone know what they sell for and what they weigh?

I’m not sure about wheel size, I looked at Isla’s size chart and he falls within the bounds of their largest 20″ bike and their smallest 24″ bike. I’d imagine 24″ would be less fun now, but a better long-term proposition.

Keep the suggestions coming, so long as I know what’s good I can price them all up and find the right balance between cool and price.

I’ve not had them hung long enough to be able to say. It’s no different to hanging the bikes normally, whick lots of people do, so perhaps someoen else can advise for my benefit too? Brakes are ‘off’ so should be sealed well enough I’d think, but happy to be educated.

My brakes are all XT, Saint, or Magura Louise btw.

All my brake problems seem to result from pads wearing out, the very last bit of the pad seems to contaminate the disc somehow and I end up having to IPA and torch the disc to get the brake working again.

I’ve got one hung by the QR axle, don’t know if that’s a good idea or not, but it seems OK. The hook sits under the fork leg, so the weight is on the fork and the QR just stops the bike rotating away from the wall and falling off.

Worse case it’ll bend the QR, so you could put a spare QR in there and let it bend if it wants to. Or you could hang the bike by the back wheel and still remove the front wheel to get the same space benefit. Hook would need to be lower, but the over all bike height would remain the same.

Might be a better solution as it would allow more scope for stuff to be kept under neather the bikes, but harder to get the bikes in the hooks because the wheel is more cumbersome than just the fork.

PS – I found the hooks come in two flavours, one with a fixed hook, the other the hook can rotate. Rotation is better for sitting the wheel in exactly the right place, but gravity causes the hook to drop, which makes it harder to get the axle in, so I’d get the fixed hook ones if you can.

I’ve got 10 bikes and although I have tonnes of space for them in my workshop, which is about the same size as the house, I don’t want to waste space storing largely inanimate objects, even if they are quite pretty to look at. Less room for tools and other toys etc.

So I’ve tried a few solutions and concluded that the best way of storing a bike, using the least amount of space is to get some of those front wheel bike hooks that eBay have for a few quid each and to mount them as high as possible. I quickly learned that because of the width of modern bars, 10 bikes takes up a lot of wall space, so what I then did was to remove the front wheels, turn the bars and hang the bikes from their maxles instead. This allowed me to move the hooks to within about 15 inches of each other. I then bought some large S-hooks, also via eBay, which can be hung off the headtube, with the front wheel then hung from there. So the wheels don’t cause problems. Removing pedals would make things easier, but is obviously more of a pain.

The above gets the bikes in half the space and lets you mount them higher up too. My hooks are 2.2m up, so I have space under the bikes to make a storage chest type thing to fill with biking kit, helmets etc, that can wheel out with a work-stand attached. Long-term I might investigate a winched platform to lift all the bikes up into the vaulted roof space instead, but this is a good compromise at the moment.

If you have a bit of space or some high ceilings then that could be your best bet. Two deep screw holes with decent plugs and screws to attach a batton to the wall, then the hooks screwed to the batton. I know you say no holes, but you won’t get caught and a bit of filler when you leave will sort it out easy enough. Or you could put a decorative edge on the batton, paint it to match the wall and your landlord likely wouldn’t even notice it if you left the wood in place.

Do you have a loft space at all? You could fit a winch perhaps to allow you to easily lift the bikes up and down.

That’s the setup I have after going through a couple of normal forks. Mine are 470 a-c X-Lite forks, the bike is much more comfortable on the longer forks and a good bit faster on descents.

I’ve been, thought it was really good. The uplift is quick and efficient and the track is a lot of fun. Reminded me a bit of Hamsterley, but shorter and steeper.

Of the places I’ve ridden I’d say Fort William, Glen Coe and Hamsterley are marginally better days out, first too are more of a challenge, Hamsterley has a lot more tracks to play with.

There’s something to be said for spinning your legs at daft rpm for 10 miles on the flat. I’m not sure what exactly though. I think perhaps it’s hard work because it’s really inefficient?

I found after a few rides what was initially ‘spinning out’ was just pedalling faster and that I could maintain the higher rpms for long enough that I could still ride fairly hard on the flat, so wasn’t taking it easy. For reference I was doing a 6 mile flat spin to and from the start of my regular loop. That was with 32:15 and 33:16 ratios.

I do think a lot of riders are a bit too conservative with their gears, going for the hardest gear they think they can climb, rather than thinking about the descents and flats and growing into the harder gear.

I found it made me faster on the climbs because it forces you to work harder on the climbs to get up them. Knock on effect is that you’re fitter, but I think you’d have the same effect if you rode a geared bike harder up the hills.

I did notice a decent increase in upper body strength, which will generally translate into faster descending.

Biggest difference I found was riding my DH bike. I don’t ride it very often, so don’t really work on any of the specific strengths you need to ride DH quick, but I went to FW in September and couldn’t ride the DH there top to bottom without stopping twice due to arm pump and needing to sit down. Went back next May after riding mostly SS for 3-4 months and did 8 runs back to back without stopping. You stand up most of the time on SS, which builds up your thigh strength and you work your upper body more which sort the rest of your strength out.

If you can’t get out on the DH bike much, SS is about the best training you can do for DH I think.

I have a small pump that contains a CO2 cartridge. So best of both worlds, search eBay, there’s a few out there.

I can give several cast-iron examples of bikes stolen after cars with racks on were followed. It’s quite unhelpful to dismiss this issue with bike racks out of hand.

Make up your own mind based on where you ride and where you live, but if you’re South Manchester I’d say you’d be a bit daft driving round with your bike visible.

Another thing to consider; if some idiot crashes into you, your bikes aren’t going to be insured and will be much safer in the car. I once nearly put my Dad’s car into the Loch near Fort William (young and daft), when I hit the barrier the bike moved in the back and crushed my helmet. With a rack I’d have lost the bike into the water.

The energy going into heating the disc is ‘known’, but the amount of heat leaving into the atmosphere is going to be highly variable and dependant to an extent on how you brake. You’ve also got an element of braking occurring due to resistance to the tyres rolling, both normal and the effect of smacking into big rocks or pushing into berms.

It’ll be the peaks of temperature that cause this though, not the average heat calculated from height drop.

If I were Madison I’d want to know as much about the cause as possible, Shimano will have to redesign them based on your info to an extent.

They’re FRM something or others. Some very light scandium, titanium racy things that came on a frame I bought. Was trying to sell them on eBay, but have realised the axle is a funny diameter. They cost about £500 new, bit if I can’t find a suitable BB, they aren’t worth selling.

I’ve ridden a SS chain until the front chainring was so worn that you could feel it in the pedalling. Until you get to that point there’s no *need* to replace as there’s no shifting for it to bugger up and the rear sprocket costs £3, not the £50 a cassette costs these days.

My front one started it after the Keilder 2 years ago, still not sorted. Have just replaced pads, disc and bled it. If it’s not fixed now ibn getting a new caliper.

£87 delivered for a swan-neck tow bar job on eBay right now:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THULE-Towbar-for-Ford-Focus-Hatchback-2004-2011-Swan-Neck-/201071763955?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Touring_Travel&hash=item2ed0cfa1f3

I must say mine looks far more manly with the tow bar on the back.

But my vote is still for putting the bikes in the car, my tow bar is for taking crap to the tip in my trailer.

The tow bar kit was about £90 on eBay when I bought mine. It’s an absolute doddle to fit, you simply unclip the rear bumper, unbolt the rear crash structure that’s behind the bumper, fit the kit where the structure was and replace the bumper. Feed wire into the boot through a grommet and clip to rear (non-canbus) wiring. 30 minutes it took me.

There’s a channel on the roof to allow easy fitting of roof bars too.

Personally I only ever put the bikes in the boot and lined it with old carpet as soon as I got it. Better security, less likely to be destroyed if someone crashes into you, doesn’t advertise your bikes to thieves and it’s quicker than fitting any rack.

It’s probably worthless I’m afraid.

Mine was trashing axles every few hundred miles, regardless of any greasing/rebuilding/rebushing regimes.

When I got my refund on it I had enough axles to rebuild the rear end four times, which is enough to ride the bike for maybe two years as your only bike so long as you were happy to ride the axles until they got properly sloppy. But it took me 6 months to get the last set of axles and you’re going to struggle to get any now I imagine. Plus the rebuild kits were £60 a pop.

Unridden after fresh axles and no play doesn’t really mean very much in terms of the mileage left in the frame.

Anyone do a battery case for DX type lights that fixes to a bottle cage?

Nope, definitely RQs and Trail Kings. The 2.4s ate bigger than the 2.2s, but both used to be much bigger. I think the sidewalls are a lot less tall.

The last few 2.4s I bought were the same size as the 2.2s I already had and much smaller than the 2.4s used to be. I asked about it on here, someone said they were Trail Kings now, so I ordered one of those, but they’re the same size.

Massively disappointing as the property sized ones ate awesome.

To be fair, if my bike was being reviewed I’d want to ram home the point by buying some advertising space to go with it.

Best way to get up there is to go to the top of the South Loop climb, then head straight up from there, hack through the undergrowth, climb a fence and follow the ridge. Steep but quite quick.

Hobcarton End is the best run back into the Forest, Coledale Hause is a better descent, but you then have to climb back up into the forest. Whiteless Pike will leave you in Buttermere with a long trek back to the car, but it’s pretty good fun.

It’s not an hour from Hexham though, you’ll be doing well to get there in 90 minutes.

Peters has been working with Liverpool FC recently, hopefully (as a fan) he’ll be getting more involved there as he seems to be doing a great job.

I used to ride one as my only full sus bike, it was great for what it is! I didn’t find it too bad for climbing in the Peaks, yes it bobs about a bit and is quite heavy, but in a lwo gear the rear end gives it so much grip that it’ll climb anything you point it at.

I ran it with Lyriks for a while, but then they went on to a 456C and I put some 170mm 888s on it. Used to use it for DH and trail rides that had fun descents, so it’s been all over the Lakes and the Peaks.

I got rid of it when I bought a Banshee Spitfire for the trails and used the money to fund a proper DH bike. It couldn’t compete with both those bikes, but as a one-bike solution it was brilliant.

Ideally I’d be looking at Totem 2-step Airs for one now, but you won’t get them at a sensible price given the value fo the bike etc. If you can find some 170mm 888s they’ll probably be pretty cheap, so might be a good option too. Or some older 66s would work too.

Bought some Shimano SPD shoes in 1997, they’re still going strong, though I don’t wear them in the winter as walking up mountains in them has worn holes where the toe meets the sole. All the rubber grips have fallen off too, but can’t complain given they’re 17 years old.

Got some Sidi that are 4 years old too, these are still in decent condition too.

Biggest risk with SPD shoes is that you let the bolts rust and then knacker the soles trying to get them out again I reckon.

The Kinesis Pro 6 looks pretty good in the bright green too.