I was actually spectating and did get a little video of the incident. The chance of an overtake was definitely possible and tbh that’s why i chose to spectate that corner. The swiss team actually practised the move in the warm up so he should have expected it. I think pidcock was in front but the did run wide because he came in hot, but it definitely didn’t look intentional to take him down. He did take out someone else in the woods during the XCO but guess if your back on the start then you need to make moves to head forward.

Was it actually 30 bikes? I’ve seen 4 missing  from the general public, but think the organisers had a similar amount stolen from their trailer plus trials bike which sucks for everyone. I was shocked to see a security van/cctv at the entrance to the field but that obviously didn’t help things, but guess its a sign organisers are trying to do something.

Im on the HOPE’s and really happy with them.

Both the nukeproof and crankbrothers needed too much maintenance for me. Dont buy the Ti axle nukeproofs as they wear very quick but CRC did warranty that.

Nukeproof are good for the money but didnt feel as nice as the union. Rode with mallets for a few years but struggled to get clipped from time to time as the mechanism with move, also the cleats would wear quickly causing some unexpected release from the pedal.

Definitely try washing them as that is my solution but depends on the pad and also i find fabric softner helps, but i can remove the pads from mine before washing.

Ive been running the new Hope pedals but with the large cage and really happy with the engagement. Tried various pedals and so far really happy with these. May not be applicable to the smaller cage but in typical hope fashion the larger cage comes with info on the height the cleat should be set at so that your shoes fit nicely between the cage and mechanism, which i havent seen on any other pedal.

Few functions i really like on my garmin is the stress function which is based on heart rate variability and highlights alot of details of factors in life including diet and also body battery. Think these functions are only available on a few devices.

I got caught out with the rain at the bottom of 4 which meant stage 5 was very different, but a good days racing.

Broke mine 4 weeks ago, however it stayed aligned and no surgery required.

The bone itself doesn’t cause any discomfort from what i can tell.

However the ligaments around the collarbone hurt a lot, starting to gets things moving i have no idea on the how long it will take for that pain to settle down.

Nukeproof do a cleat which is based on a shimano design with 8 degrees of float.

Grippy tyres as its more steep and technical.

Take your times on the transitions.

Eat real food and Drink lots of water all weekend.

Personally i think a lockout should make the bike like a hardtail, if you want extra grip comfort leave the shock open. The scott twinlock does a real good job of that.

Im in for it. Think i will be in the Masters class. Lots going on over the weekend so should be good.

Giving up sugar in tea and coffee soon becomes ok and amazingly going back seems so wrong.

My issue with sugar tends to come when im feeling tired, which may sound pretty obvious but try and increase sleep and that helped alot. Also i started to snack savoury snacks like chicken to help fill me up, but the more i starv myself the more likely i am to binge on sugar later.

Yeah great place and would like to go back just for fun.

Rode this event a few years ago and from memory a lot of trails/lifts are restricted during the race days and one day of practise. However different format this year and depends on what trails are to be used.

Writing a log of all your food can be useful to see trends in what foods have been consumed before a migraine.

However i was sure coffee/caffeine was a trigger so went decaff and stopped for a while then started suffering again. Now i think the cause of mine is tiredness/fatigue and initially was addressed by more caffeine……

Has it been serviced recently? Bushings can be on the tight side which means they perform great but need a regular lower service.

The other half is using a specialized power comp with mimic womens saddle and really likes that.

Corona has killed racing this year but a british series started again under BNES and was a collection of events ran by different organisers.

Few different series which seem to fit location and with a few odd events such as Ard Rock seems to be the norm.

I had something similar when some dirt got trapped in the adjuster.

Esk valley is a new event, but is organised by a couple of regular racers so should be a good event.

Alpinestars new trousers get the thumbs up from me. Think they have a waterproof or thermal option for 2020, ive got the waterproof version which is great.

To understand how progressive a linkage design is depends on the curve.

Unfortunately its not as simple as your calc, as a fixed value would equal a linear ratio. The website you linked to is the best to identify what your bike is doing by looking at the linkage ratio.

I would say the biggest point with a gearbox is moving the weight, obviously a cassette is very central to the wheel but people spend a lot of money to reduce wheel weight. Also suspension may improve if the frame design keeps a fixed chain length and high pivot will suddenly become the norm.

Been through something similar with my other half.

Found skills sessions to be the best, an independent person is really good to provide confidence and stops trail side arguments….

Also I would re-consider bike size. We started with a T-130 which on paper was the right size but her new bike is slightly smaller and its helped a lot. Long bikes are great if your skills are good, but I believe for confidence your better with a nimble bike as flat out speed isn’t really the concern.

I have ventured into this world recently and definitely recommend trousers to anyone.

Actually have some Madison DTE’s forsale in XL purely because they are too big, used twice.

I don’t know the details for either case of Tahnee and Brook but I would say they are 2 different circumstances.

From what I have read Tahnee has used Red Bull UK’s facilities which enhanced her rehab.

Brooks circumstance was very different and from his insta posts red bull have helped but I guess like all great things this is limited and do Red Bull New Zealand have the same facilities as the UK? I think Brooks go fund me page was to fund his girlfriend leaving her job to support his recovery which is something Tahnee didn’t require.

Shame that the Welsh events aren’t taking part next year its good to see a spread of events and feel like the series will survive longer the more partners are involved. I enjoyed the British this year and glad to see the results up.

Don’t worry about the cut off too much, had friends last year that started late and didn’t finish till after that time. Think its mainly to stop people sitting in the pub all day after stage 2….

Most issues ive seen with eagle is while racing and think its caused by the tendency to peddle across rough sections, causing the chain to jump off the bottom jockey wheel.
I’ve seen that people are running a GX cassette and the new shimano 12 sp mech and shifter is the option I would take.

Yeah i had a look at the webcams and thought the same but wasnt sure on the trail locations etc to be sure.

Does any one know if Tignes will open as planned on the 29th? Touring about and planned to start in Tignes for a few days on the 30th but didn’t know if another option would be better.

Was a good weekend. Thought the trails where a nice mix that everyone could ride and enjoy which I guess showed in the entry. Think it closed the times up a little bit. Didn’t feel like a pushed quite hard enough but that’s racing.

Great weekend, nice mixture of trails to suit a lot of abilities. Rode with my other half all weekend and everyone was relaxed enough for me to leave a big gap between us so I didn’t catch her, she ended up 7th in female U40 which was a great result for her. Can’t believe how much the trails got blown out over the weekend.
How did everyone get on?

Picking the right event is definitely the best way to enjoy it. Sure if you mention location plenty of people will advise what events are less serious and more fun to get the most out of it.

The roots where much more polished than 2017. 2017 was amazingly dry in comparison.

I finished 9th in Masters, really enjoyed the course but I wasn’t comfortable pushing hard on the roots. After I finished racing felt like I was gaining confidence would have been nice to do another lap to see if I could improve.

Tweedlove events do seem to be well organised with a mix of stages, but as you said the pedally bits can be annoying especially when you start with a big pedal, before dropping into the fun bits.

I had a crash in nearly exactly the same spot, which was very annoying considering how close to the end it was.

How did everyone get on? Weather stayed reasonable compared to some forecasts I was looking at.

The none timed zone seemed to confuse a few people.

Overall a good event really.

I’m entered in a few events this year:

Tweedlove Series
BEMBA series
Boltby Bash
Ard Rock
Ard Moors
Les Orres EWS

Seems like a lot of races when you list them out.