This is the first of 6 threads

the second will be ‘what moustache shape looks most manly?’

the third will be ‘anyone know of any bars in manchester where likeminded hairy guys hang out?’

the fourth will be ‘advice please, me and the mrs arent getting on, theres just no chemistry’

the fifth will be ‘what lubricant to remove zak’s action man figure i accidentally sat on?’

the sixth will be ‘which water wings for moving in with michael barrimore?’

sorry to be a pedantic forumite jambalaya but swapping spacers makes no difference to head angle unless they are under the head tube, which i doubt!

reminds me of that keith bontrager quote; ‘strong, light, cheap. pick two’

good tasting, instant decaf, coffee. pick two.

i run both the same size simply because i can then carry a spare that fits either end without any fiddling. handy when youre mucking about on skinnys and stuff

just dont pull so hard on the back brake :P

reading these threads reminds me how much i enjoyed my coaching session session last year.

havent progressed much since mind :wink:

crossmax sx with the mp3 cover. no competition.

pinhead, how long you had it? what kind of riding?

Penguinni, thats Darran of Lavatrax I think (apologies if its not!) he was certainly wearing one when i visited in august last year. As was I, we looked like special friends…

you didnt visit the bike park then? neither did I, ran out of time!

fantastic prize from a great cause. Nice one Darran and Bullheart.

lol jane, i can tell you it’s fine and you wont die too if you like. i’ll even sing you a theme tune :wink:

pook is proper fast and smooth on a bike, that’s his first ever gap jump so a bit of stiffness is understandable. you are probably right on the tutor bit though, i just told him crap that i thought would make him have a go :wink:

i think i told you politely that I didn’t believe you tony :wink: nollies took about the same time too…

i’m stepping up my lyrical flow for next week pook, i’m gonna be the p diddy of greno 8)

yeah, probably less than that! its a right laugh eh?

easter was rad

xcentric, get coaching asap, you’ll be motivated to ride all the time!

lol slimjim

GW definitely talking a lot of sense here, im left handed, right footed, but corner more comfortably to my right because i ride with my left foot forward. ditto on cranking backwards to get the correct foot down, though i do a bit of both if im honest.

donk, clubber, i hereby certify your freakishness :P

Was great fun Pook, think I was buzzing as much as you when you nailed it!

As podge says you aren’t short of choice when it comes to coaching, I’ve bee to a couple myself. It’s not just about the format or qualification though. For me it was the difference between going to a nice bloke who is an alright coach and a nice bloke who can demonstrate a perfect example of technique as many times as you ask, pick up on your learning style quickly and be able to tell you exactly what you did right and wrong time after time even when you think he is busy giving someone else advice!

On the subject of coaching standards, I’ve seen bits of the books that accompany coaching qualifications and some of it doesn’t seem to add up. I’m no expert though, perhaps leave that debate to those who have done the qualification!

Oh, I’m having that gap properly next time too…

I wasn’t saying full sussers are skill compensators, they are great fun. I was just disagreeing that you think buying a new bike rather than improving skills is the way to get the best out of your riding.

Hora, you are always so far behind that your critique of pooks skills is irrelevant. Steven Hawkins rides a bike better than you! :P
Skill compensation is not the same as having skills, it just lets you get away with bad habits a little more often.

A few tweaks to pooks technique and we won’t see him for dust IMO, though I can only apply what I’ve been taught. If you stalk Pook on vimeo you’ll see that he can definitely ride, but his footwork in corners is hit and miss, he leans on his outside rather than inside arm and he looks for the apex but doesn’t look up until he has got there (all things I’m guilty of too). He also jumps and drops by pulling up on his bars and spd’s.

Until you go and experience the difference some coaching will make you can’t appreciate the return on the time and money you invest.

go and see jedi. im from notts and it took me less than 2 hours to get there. i have to drive just over an hour for a decent ride anyway so its not that much further, plus you will get far more out of a visit to tony than you would in years of trying to work it out yourself. im back there as often as possible now.

learning to ride a bike from a book seems silly to me. different people will interpret the information differently, how do you know if you are applying what you have learned properly? who tells you when you are doing it right? this is all assuming the book is right in the first place…

sounds better than earlier ones imo.

pook, do it. you’ll love it.

bullheart, nail on the head there dude. glad it gave you such a lift

i got one from free flow bikes, fantastic bunch of folk

course it is luke :D

im signed up…made 3 complete lineup changes already!

ha!

i had both, the 2010 vans vs the 2011 lyriks though

lyriks won for me, probably the nicest forks ive owned. paired nicely with the ccdb i was running at the time too.

nice :D

how much did you have to pay Phil Mitchell to do your stunts? :wink:

not ridden anything other than dirt jumps and shore since our xmas ride, could you include some in the route for motivational purposes please?

would look way betterer without the red!

did you plan it beforehand or just ramble tony? its got an organic feel, no bulldung.

good work sam, nice variety of angles on the horse shoe too.

Turnerguy, who did you go with?

I went on a skills course with forest freeride a year ago, then uk bike skills 6 months later. worlds apart.

ha, was just going to send you this link tony..

Will it be infested with radness?

Another vote for going back to uk bike skills/ Jedi here. I have a 2 1/2 hour drive to get there but wouldn’t go anywhere else. I’ve been to other instructors in the past so this isnt a blinkered choice, I just like getting value for my money! Been back several times now, it’s all about the progression, it’s so addictive! I’d been biking for getti g on for 20 years and was doing alright, saw tony for the first time last year and now ride stuff I used to think belonged in mental freeride videos! Still looking to progress of course…

forks too soft?

hurry up, ive been holding my breath for a week

another shout for the bottlerocket. picked up a mk2 frame (2010) in great condition for £410 off the bay not long ago.

binners – Member
Could I be the first to mention a revolutionary new material. Its called aluminium.

BURN HIM!!!

i think we had 5+5+kit when we went to stainburn in my zafira