Alternative to ditching the camelback completely (I tend to drink more efficiently with one [less more often])… I have a very slimline pack which came with my 2L platypus and is only designed for the bladder and nothing else, but when the bladder's not full there's just about enough room for tool, pump, tube, keys, phone. Really light and you forget it's there. Much nicer than riding with my usual 20L day pack.

Obviously the creaking qr is a common issue with the 5. Does anyone know if it's because of the bike (swing arm), the standard squewer, or the hub? Someone mentioned the other day that it was pro2 hubs that caused this problem??

+1 greasing the dropouts, and also grease the cam part of the QR leaver as you can then tighten it easier.

Cwmcarn xc routeis great fun, and definately worth an hour blast, but IMHO, ride up the xc route until you get to the steep concrete slope, then take the road to the top of the dh. Perfectly ridable on a ht (take the right hand track at the top).

Contemplating giving flats a try again after ~3 years with spds. Not because I don't like spds but because I think they can make you lazy on technique and some use of flats again could be beneficial.

To clarify what people have said about foot position, if the axle should be behind your big toe, your foot should be further back than with spds. Correct? So your more riding on your toes than your foot?

Don't worry, you're only likely to die once mountain biking.

Has anyone employed any steganogaphic techniques for bike security? I.e. hide the existence of the bikes all together, instead of simply securing them with locks and ground anchors? I'm thinking false walls in sheds/garages, hidden underground bunkers… Might be OTT, but just thought of it!

having the shed next to the wall will also allow you to discreetly send a power cable into the shed

try argos for metal sheds

Connect your metal shed up to the mains, that will make it nice and secure!

I'm pretty slim fit too, and tried a few different knee/shin pads, most seemed to bulky and OTT, or for bigger legs. Got some Troy Lee ones now which are awesome. They have a neoprene type thing that you can leave on your knees and gives a good secure fit, then the guards attach to that and strap round your legs. Up shot is that they felt more secure than others (don't want the pad to move if you do crash, especially if you got skinny legs so they're looser), you can ride all day with the support type things that actually help your knees aswell, and you can stick the guards on in 5 secs. TBH you can wear the whole lot and forget about it pretty quickly though. They're not that cheap mind, but I got them half price in a sale at Skyline, so maybe have a look around.

Crazy-legs, if it's the spawn of Satan, he might not want to get used to it then! But that's his calling suppose! Just hope riding with him and him demonic gears won't drag us all to hell!

Thanks guys. The bike is actually for a mate who's going to get in to riding. But he hasn't seen it yet as he's on holiday. Guess I'll tell him to get used to it like that. It'll be his only bike so shouldn't be a problem.

Just never seen it before. Learning something new every day!

Don't know why it's £100 extra, but in hindsight I should have gone for it when i bought my 09 five. Bike is awesome, and can't say I notice any flex in the back end, but you do get creaking with the rear QR unless it's very tight and you keep the dropouts greased. If you're spending that much anyway, I'd go for it.

Headfirst, maybe it is (noticed it's his first post here). Sorry, I'm being cynical!

It's that damn minny triangle by the seat post on all their frames. Maybe it's some magical geometry feature that makes the frames super strong or something, but come on, it looks total cack!!

Looks a pretty huge thing to have on your bars. What happens when you stack it?

IMHO, leave the map in the bag and use some map memory (that's remembering what's on the map when not looking at it, not to be confused wit memory map the gps mapping software, although that can be useful and a gps is a lot smaller than that map table).

My 5 in white…

…and in brown! 😉

Interesting, I assumed (without experience) that a hammock would be walmer than sleeping on the ground (which will also compress the bottom of the sleeping bag, but maybe less so??). I've never used on of the proper mats though, only the thin foam ones you have when your in scouts.

Also, didn't realise you could get a half decent bivi for low price. With something like the alpkit hunker, would you use a tarp as well?

What's the bike and it's value?

Yes they're going to feel restrictive when you first start eating them, but after a while you just forget they're there. Means you can walk away from crashes that might otherwise wreck your day/week, and def save you some serious injery if you're unlucky enough to smack a rock. Took a spill two months ago after just buying pads, and yes I hurt myself (broken hand) but going by the scrape on my knee pad, things should have been a whole lot different if I hadn't had them. For reference, this was regular trail centre stuff (the wall afan) and I don't come off very often, but it will happen to most people some time if they ride enough. How many times has your helmet saved you, but you still wear it.

Get a real browser? Firefox.

Probably nothing to do with that really, but still… Get a real browser 😉

I generally use orange lenses most of the time in my adidas evileye glasses. They are great for low light in woods etc (even use them at night) and they have a small amount of tint for when in the sun (I would think a bit more than a yellow lens). Plus the orange tint makes sunsets look even better! When it's a bit more sunny, I've been really impressed with the other adidas lens, I think it's the LST Active Mirror, which great in the sun and supprisingly good in low light as well. I was using those till about 9:30-10:00 at Mayhem, before switching to orange for the rest of the night.

Didn't know about this rule! Was soloing and I only got the ipod out for one lap, but kept me sane for that last one at 1am before a couple hours of kip!

Get a Hope rear hub (or similarly noisy one), back pedal a couple of times and everyone can hear you coming.

Failing that, ride with a Vuvusela!

I've taken off my Maxxis Minions and put on the bike's original Conti Mountain Kings. Don't really know if this is a good idea yet, but rode them in the try last night and they seemed good. If it's muddy could well swap back, or look around tomorrow morning for something else.

If you're worried about the water tasting funny, I don't think you're riding hard enough! 😉

Thanks dude, we'll do that!

I love the orange strange ones

Don't use biological detergent, made that mistake once!

To be honest I never really wash my waterproofs now if I can help it! Just rince off excessive
mud with water.

I was in the same position recently, and had a look at some of the soft pads, but thought in the end if you're going to wear pads, might as well get proper ones! But most of the hard ones (leg anyway) seemed too bulky. In the end went for these Troy Lee ones that have a neoprene type support over the knee which you can ride in all day (and'll give you some protection if you stack it on the easy stuff), then you can easily attack the solid stuff over without taking shoes off or anything. Would highly recomment.

+1 for saddle height. Did a 100 mile road ride a couple of months ago with friends. One of them had a pretty old racer that was much harder going, so we swapped it round a bit. The saddle on it was too low for me and after 15-20 miles on it, knee started hurting. Never had knee pain cycling before.

Did this years ago to sunderland on mountain bikes. Took 2 days with all the off road sections, and was great fun. But should have taken lights! Was definatly a slog in parts. If doing again, would probably go for road bikes, but if you've got 3 days, go for it!

Broke mine snowboarding, and was back on the slopes 3 days later for the last day. Not advisable though! I'd give it 6 weeks rest to make sure they fully heel. If it's not painful, get out on the road before then, but avoid off road. If you don't have one, get one of those elasticated bandages to wrap tight round your chest. Helps a lot with breathing at the start.

Orange 5

+1

p.s. You don't need a 160mm fs to ride the dh at cwmcarn. I ride a 5 but my mate rides it on a 100mm ht and (no offence to him) he's no superstar.

A crash of bikes?

First time I rode the black at cwmcarn (only recently myself) I did cack my self a bit, but then the next few times just got better, smother and faster. Always done it so far in the evening when there wasn't any other riders to get in the way/get in the way of! Although my best run was when there was one other fully kitted up DHer there who I followed down, and was much better following someone else, meant I didn't bottle anything to much. Mind you I'm not at the level of taking any of the bigger jumps/drops (over 2 or 3 feet)!

I tend to use it without the motion sensor (you have to arm after you lock) these days. Just as a deterant to opportunist thieves. Mainly to secure the bike while at a cafe etc (but only if bike is in view).

I use an alarm lock along with an abus d-lock and long length of steel cable, it's pretty good and adds an extra deterant. It also has a motion sensor so even if it's desturbed it will go off. Only problem is in reallity the motion sensor occationally goes off on it's own, and also, if you wack your palm over the siron it cuts out 90% of the sound!

I like the idea of the personal alarm and the fishing line. Main thing is that these types of alarms are so cheap, got to be worth a go.

ac282, I hope you're not serious! 🙂

Cheers guys, might look at some faster rolling tires then, if I can be arsed! Don't currently have another mountain bike, but I've been looking longingly at the P7s in my LBS, but there isn't really any way to justify getting one.

Polish it? (sorry)