I have a pair of both, am9’s are the older version (black/blue) and are definitely wider than the me7’s

Hightower frame I bought earlier this year had axle, seat clamp and spare mech hanger

My Garmin had the whole course inc transitions at 23 miles. 4272 feet of elevation.

I did the sport on Sunday and mine (530) came up with 24.7 miles and 6066ft of elevation. The lads I rode with all had similar distances but all just under 5000ft, I’m guessing mine was wrong

and 7 was a slippy off camber horror show

Stage 2 obviously wasn’t in the intro then? Did the sport so all stages and personally thought 7 was by far the best stage of the lot but it had dried up a lot by the time we got there. The off camber part coming into the bottom of stg 2 and the first part of the transition to the ford was absolutely grim

gutted but also chuffed for BK.

This ^^^^

Track has dried out a lot since the women’s race started, I reckon Pierron will win this by a fair bit

Womens final starts at 5.25, mens starts 6.45

to the average person who isn’t interested in the sport and stumbles across it on the TV, they aren’t going to last long watching it.

I’d have to agree with this, which is exactly why the UCI should have left it as separate TV rights deals for different disciplines instead of handing the whole lot to a single broadcaster

 – if I’ve time to sit and watch someone racing their bike, I keep thinking I’ve got time to go ride my own

I usually watch the replay on Redbull TV after I’ve been out riding, which is another plus point of their coverage, the option to watch the whole thing at a time of your choice will be a miss if Discovery don’t continue to offer it and another reason not to subscribe for a lot of people

It is incredibly boring to watch…actually, all off-road stuff is incredibly boring to watch as there is very little rider fighting rider type stuff

As opposed to laps of a velodrome, or a 5hr grand tour stage with a few sprints along the way? DH without Warner will be like F1 without Murray Walker, the same riders on the same tracks, it won’t be as good to watch but as a mountain biker I’d choose to watch DH over any other discipline every time

At the time the sport’s biggest star Terje Haakonsen boycotted the Olympics over it

Terje also started the TTR world tour as a rival series to the FIS, for a long time that totally eclipsed the FIS series for pro snowboarding (I don’t follow snowboarding as much these days so not sure how it’s organised now) and I’d say a LOT of people (riders included) would like something similar to happen in mountain biking

Which makes you wonder about the point of the Nordstream 2 pipeline

Fairly sure it would enable Putin to close down one or more of the pipelines that currently go through Ukraine to Europe, stop paying Ukraine for using their infrastructure and increase profits for Gazprom

If I’m just coming for the day, what’s parking like? When does everything start to open?

I’ve not done it before so this might well be the same as in past years, but the email says its £10 to park if you haven’t entered the race

Loyalty cards are to collect data on your buying habits.

There’s more money to be made by selling this data than the retailer will lose on any discounts they offer for using loyalty cards, its about profits at the end of the day

See also why they want to email your receipt these days.

This ^^^^^^ also

The Acros headset that came on my old YT Jeffsy cf had the bearings bonded/pressed into the cups and the whole headset had to be removed and replaced when the bearings need changing. Not sure if all Acros headsets are like that but several people tried and failed to get the bearings out due to fear of wrecking the frame. I ended up putting a Hope in to replace it

Living my best life”

This ^^^^

https://forestryandland.gov.scot/visit/forest-parks/tweed-valley-forest-park/innerleithen

Still closed apart from final descent by the look of it

I’m currently using Me7’s and they are noticably narrower than the (older) am9’s they replaced, sole is noticably stiffer as well

It’s big and very squishy, and its rear end can feel a little vague which is something you don’t really want when riding anything but big and technical trails. If you’re one who prefers leaping over roots, fancy jibs, and airtime, you’ll have to put the effort in

Taken from a recent review of the bike, maybe there’s nothing wrong with the shock

I bought a cheap North Face bumbag and found it to be useless on the bike as it bounced around too much. Now have a Bontrager rapid pack (not the bladder version) and I rarely use a backpack any more

https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/bags-racks/hydration-packs/bontrager-rapid-hip-pack-black__317731

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275090756756

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275090756416

Shipping from Taiwan so I wouldn’t expect delivery any time soon but both appear to be in stock. Personally, at that price, I’d probably just get a whole lever and save the hassle of fitting the blade

If PF30 is meaning 30mm axle in a pressfit frame expect to change bearings a lot. I had a YT Jeffsy cf with this set up, bearings were seized after around 2 months every time

Start Fitness/Cycles used to have a few demo days a year for various brands at Hamsterley forest, book in advance and you could try a few different bikes over the day but not sure if they still do them

Rishi Sunak resigned as well, surely even Boris can’t bluff his way out of this s***show, but no doubt he’ll try

Think my mother has one of their washing machines, no problems as far as I know

I saw an interview with Martin Maes last year where he said he preferred the 36 to the 38 for the majority of EWS races. Pretty sure he’s now using the 38 but there’s no need for it unless op is pushing to the limits and rides trails that would suit the bigger fork regularly. I recently built up a Hightower using parts I already had but could’ve had a Megatower frame for the same cost, however the shorter travel should suit more of my local trails and after 4 months I’ve no doubt I made the right choice

Jack Reading

https://instagram.com/mtb_gravity_school?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

shimanos own offerings look crap. Nukproof looks good

Never used them personally but a mate has a pair of Nukeproof pedals and said that while they are compatible with Shimano cleats they work far better with Nukeproofs own

Think there’s quite a bit of off piste you can link in if you are that way inclined

If ‘off piste’ is the stuff in the forest a fair bit of it got wiped out in the storms last winter, the north loop had a long unofficial descent to the bottom of the valley but afaik its blocked halfway down (a fence blocking entry to 2nd part as well). There was a few similar trails on the back side of the south loop but not sure if any of it is still passable these days as I haven’t been in a year or so

Same shock, travel spacer removed AFAIK. That’s what I did with mine in any case..

Probably, mine came with the 55 stroke tho

From the looks of it, it’s very minor geometry tweaks and 5mm more travel

Travel hasn’t changed, originally came with a 52.5 stroke shock giving 140mm but the 2nd year was a 55 stroke giving 145mm so assuming it can be used with either size

I recently had a rattle when descending that appeared to be coming from the headset/fork area. It was actually caused by a loose pivot bolt where the rear triangle mounts to the lower linkage, check everything you don’t expect it to be would be my advice

Sunderland still all labour.

I work with a lad from Sunderland, 49 years old and thick as two short planks, still lives with his mother, extremely racist, loves Boris and Trump, totally supportive of Brexit yet has just voted for Labour at the local elections. When I asked him why the answer was ‘ me daar (dad) would turn in his grave if I voted for anyone else’. Sunderland voted overwhelming for brexit yet the recent elections saw Labour increase their hold on the council. A lot of people these days don’t have a clue what they’re actually voting for

Hightower, currently have a 150 fork on mine but will probably up it to 160 next time it’s away for a service and I find it’s a great all rounder. While there will be a new model out soon it won’t make the current version any less capable and I’d personally have no problem buying one now (probably be some deals about when the new version is released)
I also looked at the Transition Sentinel but got a better deal on the Hightower (frame only)

+1 for Laggan

Carbon Bike Repairs did strip my Jeffsy frame to do a repair on the underside of the downtube, including removing the rear end completely. I could’ve done that myself if I’d known it would be necessary and saved on the labour cost so I’d give whoever does the repair a call before sending the frame

People not using indicators when driving, or using them when they’re already halfway through turning

DHF Maxxgrip 2.5 Exo up front/ DHR2 Maxterra 2.3 DD rear all year round

I’ll go against the previous comments and say I prefer the alu Renthal bars over carbon. I’m pretty light and find they are more comfortable on the hands after a few hours riding. Both at 760mm, carbon cut to size, alu came at 760

Last time you bled the brakes, did you push the pistons back and insert the bleed block spacer? If not, or you’ve topped them up, the brakes might be overfilled.

No need for bleed blocks with Hope brakes, I’ve always used the method on this video, never had any problems (on e4 caliper) and they recommend getting as much fluid as possible into the system. I’d guess sticky pistons which should be sorted by following Hope’s recommended procedure or contaminated fluid most likely cause of op’s problems

Fully automated vehicles will put millions of people out of work, and save companies/corporations a LOT of money. Not a good idea in my eyes