Ystwyth trail is great for family. It's complete as far as I'm aware but I've only ridden it out to Pontrhydygroes so far.

Rheidol is good for the first 10ish miles but take a massive steep incline to jump out of the Rheidiol valley up to Aberffrwd. Honestly, it's akin to a brick wall at the start then continues to drag up. I doubt it's doable with a trailer.

I'm a short arse (5'7" with short arms and legs) and the DHB Large fits me like a glove. I'm an XL in Endura. I wear the Merston 3/4 bibs most of the time. I do have some Earnleys but they are just lycra without a liner and the stitching has come undone across both of the knees. Merstons are much better build quality.

Had a nightmare with a car rack from them last year. Never going near them again. They lied, lied again then failed to deliver. Very rude staff too. Never dealt with another online supplier like them to be honest.

MotionX allows you to pause and exit the app and resume where you left off when you return, which is good enough for me. With multi tasking in OS 4.0 that will probably be a thing of the past.

http://news.motionx.com/category/motionx-gps/

For one, it can save multiple tracks and can store more waypoints and longer routes than the free version. I'm sure theres much more, but at 1.79 on offer a couple of weeks ago, I just splashed the cash on the full version.

I'm enjoying using the iPhone (MotionX) GPS software and can get up to 5 hour rides out of it from a full charge:

e.g. Dyfi Enduro was recording for 5 hours and 6 minutes and I still had enough battery to phone the wife from the finishline.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31985357

I realise that it's just a stand-in until I can scrape the pennies for a Garmin Oregon with HRM and cadence though.

It's a great tyre. I have even been time trialing on it recently. I also ride trail centres on it. Great for all surfaces.

I know my local club certainly has all sorts, but all of them are very friendly and welcoming. From young children to the OAPs, all out to have a good time. We're up to about 40 riders average for a weekly rural club sporting TT now. Seems to be more popular than ever :D

I did a 29:21 on a cross bike with 35mm knoblies last night which was 6 secs off last years PB on a road bike. Aim for this season is to get into the 27s. Great fun trying but not during. Enjoy :)

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I managed a 4:58 which was an hour and 15 minute improvement on last year so I'm chuffed. going for 4:30 next year I think. Doesn't help that they keep making the course harder/longer!

Mal-ec I was looking around for fellow ST4 riders all day and saw none! Must have missed you.

Chainline, only the first 200 riders did the full course or punishment loop as some call it. If you finished at 5PM you must have been one of the last riders through and wouldn't have done the punishment loop.

Orange ST4 with Rubber Queen 2.2s at 40psi. Fantastic combo. Loads of grip on the wet rocks and 100mm up front proved more than enough to pass the mincers. Fast rolling too so the climbs were fine too.

Fraz just mentioned on facebook that Nick Craig had 2 flats and the cuts were just from brambles

R.e Nick Craig, it looks like he had a mechanical at the feedstation

Looks like he picked up a scratch on the arm too

I just moved from Mountain King Protection 2.1s to Rubber Queen Folding 2.2s, both black chili. The difference in grip particularly on rock is amazing, and I was a fan of the Mountain Kings.

Yup the world cup descent is the ridgeline descent with a steep finish to fire road which then descended a little further to tarmac road.
Here's a few photos I took whilsdt oing a recce on Friday:

Starts shallow, with lose earth and rock and a couplf of kickers

Then starts to point down a bit steeper:

Photo doesn't do the steepness justice:

There's a few GPS logs on Garmin connect now

http://connect.garmin.com/explore#activityType=all&eventType=all&activitySummarySumDistance-unit=mile&activitySummarySumDuration-unit=hour&activitySummaryGainElevation-unit=foot&bbMaxLat=52.72776788296857&bbMaxLong=-3.6872863769531246&bbMinLat=52.58010526979777&bbMinLong=-3.9993667602539062&sortField=relevance&currentPage=1

Course was awesome. I enjoyed it so much more this year as I was carrying more fitness on the ups and confidence and skills on the downs. Loved flying past mincers on the downs. World Cup Descent was brilliant and I was lucky to have a fairly clear run on it. I hear there were a lot of walkers on it though.

It's dry in Aberystwyth right now but it started raining in the Dyfi Forest last night just as I was leaving. Trails will be dampened down a little but not badly I'd imagine. Depends what tonight's scheduled rain does though. Only a couple of millimeters forecast

Just been to see it and It's all doable. There are some STEEP sections but they are short lived and rollable. Biggest problem will be traffic.

I think knee pads at the Dyfi would be quite appropriate. I'm sure dreednya would agree. I'll certainly be wearing mine.

I ordered a new XT rear Mech on Saturday night and it arrived Monday Afternoon

The more I hear about this fabled World Cup Decent, the more my sphincter tightens!

Planning an on-foot inspection tonight/tomorrow to allay my fears (or more likely confirm them)

Has anybody noticed that there are no photos of any of the Dyfi decents on the web?

Oh and finally, how about Servais Knaven's Milram Focus Mares built for Paris-Roubaix

http://www.bikeradar.com/gallery/article/pro-bike-servais-knavens-milram-focus-mares-paris-roubaix-25715?img=22&pn=pro-bike-servais-knavens-milram-focus-mares-paris-roubaix&mlc=news%2Farticle

I run a Jake the Snake with 35mm Speed Kings as my all-rounder commuter and commuter. This week I've done a club 10 mile TT on it, Ridden the summit trail at Nant-yr-Arian on last nights club night ride, and put about 50 road miles in commuting and training rides. My TT time was equal to my opening gambit last season on a road bike, but I've improved as a rider since then. My final time last season was 2 mins faster, so while it will be slower on the road (and this is on 35mm knoblies remember) it's almost imperceivable.

Re gearing, mine is a stock 2010 Jake the Snake and is geared 38/48 up front with an 11-25 on the back I think. I spin out around 32MPH which suits me fine. As for the lower gears, I can get up almost anything with 38/25 but it took a few months to build the strength (but I'm 13.5 stone and 5'7" and only started riding again 14 months ago after a 15 year break).

Summary: I use my crosser for almost everything and it puts a huge grin on my face every time I take it out of the shed. Whether munching road miles or tearing up singletrack decents. On the road it's fast enough, just not quite as aero as a full race bike, but then road bikes differ in geometry a lot anyway. For example, I came across this the other day. A road bike designed for the MTBer

http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=zingdeluxe

Rotwild. Yet another german brand. Won at dalby on the weekend.

I can't be the only commuter wearing lycra surely?

Heh, yeh it was. It was a proper Kona Velocity though.

WordPress.com perhaps? WordPress is regularly being used as a simple CMS with it's Pages

5' 7" and 16" Full Sus, 52cm cyclocross

I made one of those but ended up selling the bits to pay for something else.

Now in the process of singlespeeding my old Cannondale BadBoy for a laugh.

Another vote for Platinum.

Lighthearted Shropshire TT with the Athertons.

Ours are all out-and-back type routes. Turning points are either roundabouts or a marshal point on quiet roads.

The Mk 1 is lighter and better handling than the Mk2 supposedly. I only ever owned 2 Mk 1s so can't back that up but I've definitely heard it banded about on mx5ocforum.

Bennett? 36:04 on the first of the year 2005? To be fair he was a bit lucky. 2 youths and a lady behind. One with a 59.44!

Who was that Olly?

1) Very reliable
2) Not really aware of anything major. Check drain holes are clear and that water is not resting in doors from failed rain rails.
3) Never tried on the MX5s but I used a Saris Bones (2 bike version) on my RX8 without issue.
4) Fine on the motorway. Not too loud if you put the radio on. Roof down is fine too.
5) You can fit most of a mobile salon in there ;)

I'm a newcomer to TTing, having started in earnest last season on a road bike. I've since sold that and am riding a cross bike this year (on knobblies). Ours is a welcoming club and has an active MTB side aswell. In the past 2 years of taking part or taking photos, I've seen fixxies, tandoms, hybrids, tourers and MTBs enter and have a go. Nobody carres and indeed you'll probably get a bit if interest/banter if you do try something untoward.

Here's some snaps of riders on our local 10.

local XC whippet a week before last years Dyfi

fastest rider on the 10 at present. Not far off course record

on the hoods, having a go

All welcome :)