Thanks guys

Any ideas where I can get an SLX or XT 12 – 36

My web search skills seem to be letting me down 😕

Great – thanks guys

That was one tough event

Stage 5 was the only stage I rode without hitting the deck. I finally got to the realisation that slower was way faster. Stage 4 was farcical for me. I could not get started again after first fall and pretty much slid down most on my butt

Stage 3 was only marginal better

Glad I came through with just a few cuts and bruises

Really should not be this tired after a 3 hour ride. It was a hard, hard day out. Way harder than the 2 I did last year (FoD & Tidworth) Any suggestion that these events are good for folks new to Gravity racing was made a nonsense of yesterday.

As always great Marshalling and a good fun, relaxed atmosphere. Big thanks to all! Though the sense of relief for all at the end was palpable 🙂

For once I will not be eagerly awaiting my timings 🙁

As a dog owner this drives me nuts. If it was not so prevalent I would suggest it is honest mistakes of people who intend to collect on the way back and forget

However there is too much of it. I genuinely want to know why people do this.

Thanks – Medium it is then

I am 30 / 32 waist and have relatively short legs for my height

Appreciate the helps

Bump to see if anyone on the night shift knows?

AA – Where do you see Wales being stonger than Scotland?

My sense is Scotland will have it up front with Wales being better in the backs. Scotland have more fire power in the backs than for many seasons though.

I think Scotland at home overall will edge it. Think it will be a cracker TBH. Both still eyeing the championship as I think you guys will do England next weekend

I am 184cm tall (just over 6 foot)

I am going

Used to be at the Quantocks regularly but not much recently. Should be a great fun event. So many good varied trails there

Cool – thanks

May ‘need’ one 🙂

Do the 27.2’s look the same as the 30.9 / 31.6.

I know they will be thinner but the last KS 27.2 model had that piggback resevoir.

Pictures imply they look basically the same

Duckman has it pretty close IMO

Think Farrell will edge out Sexton

Back row is tough as there are a lot of good choices. Heaslip played him self out of contention for now at least. A few big games from him will be required to be back in the mix

Good advice from brooess

A few things that you can only really find out for yourself.

For me those were

I rarely use an MP3 player. The clear head / listen to the world around you approach suits me much better

I don’t run with others any more (used to all the time). I like to run at my own pace. This varies dramatically from run to run. (< 7 min miles to >10 min miles). I just run based on how I feel.

Running is just a suppleement to my biking. Something different that is easy to do whilst on business travel or if short on time.

I have had mine done using 3 methods on several occasions(scales, electric nodes on various point of the body & calipers). Was surprised that they were pretty consistent on all occasions across all 3 methods

I am now registering around 12 – 13 % on my scales steadily down from 25% around 5 years ago.

Not directly related to fitness. But carrying less ‘dead’ weight has many benefits for cycling effiency and speed, especially accelerating & climbing. You also tend to drop fat as you get fitter assuming the diet is reasonable

Thanks Guys

Even the road gets blocked. Last visit I had in the snow was a push up the road.

Will take a pass for now I think

Afan does tend to fair better IME.

Thanks guys. Settings will be changed today. Password is already changed

Thing that is confusing me is that neither my wife nor I ordered anything yesterday. So even the first password seems like a mystery. Also she seemed to be placing orders throughout the day not just in a mad 15 mins.

I do fear we will get told to suck it up

Bye Bye new forks 🙁

Thanks Guys

Prefer not to do Morzine (been there 4 times now) but think it may be easiest all around

Wallop – French is pretty poor but will se ewhat i can discern from that.

Thanks hambl90

Should have said these are the coil versions

After a ‘you’re piling on the beef’ comment from my friendly uncle, I weighed myself to find I was the heaviest I had been for ~ 3 years – 85kg. At 6 foot tall not exactly a bloater but good to get it corrected early

Bit more exercise, lot more intensity whilst exercising and some more control on eating habits have seen 4.5 kgs (~10lbs) drop in 5 weeks.

Back to below what I would consider normal for December. Will keep it up as it is working well for me at the moment. Would be great to be at race weight by Feb (78kg)

Get yourself a Nicolai AM?

Start with std geo and customise / tweak the HA & anything else to your tastes. Assuming you know exactly what you need / want.

Great bikes & great build. Not cheap but 5 year no quibble transferrable warranty speaks volumes

Too much road riding. Got to the point of having to ‘force’ myself out the door

Then I realised that I could actually be having fun and keepping fit by mountain biking. Was helped along by the new weather proof trails in Bristol allowing winter off road rides not to be a total slog

Don’t suppose any one has done a BOS lower lube?

Cannot find any online instructions

I think Superfli has nailed it. Must be insurance implications as the linking stages are part of the ‘race’.

TBH if the rules say you have to wear a helemt then you either wear a helmet or you don’t enter. Surely it is as simple as that?

Anyone use a Bluegrass Brave?

If so how do you rate them and how do they size up. My head in 58cm which is top of medium / bottom of Large.

Thanks

Bloody hell. Ouch

Hob Nob / Legend – thanks for the heads up

Bluegrass Brave now making it’s way to the top of the list

Hob Nob – Is the urge not a ‘normal’ FF with a large breathing gap up front?

What tried to take his lip off. Was it a bad fitting helmet?

Was ponderering getting the Archi Enduro (think that is the name) so any details you have may alter that decison 😕

Wonder if Casco Vipers are ok as FF? Do you know Steve?

They are ok on ups but if hot then unclip the chin guard and clip to the hydro pack chest strap until the next DH stage and slot back in to the helmet

Great compromise. Maybe they can be a approached as a sponsor 🙂

Not cheap either though

Did the Enduro 1 events at FoD and Salsbury Plain

Loved them both. ~3 hours of riding with a few balls out sections thrown in.

I was sceptical about the ‘riding the sections blind’ approach. In the end I think it is great concept. Means 1 day away (bonus if you have a family) and a brings trail reading skills into the mix. The other series have practice days the day before. Both approaches have merit

Will be doing some more next year. Most fun I have had racing in the UK.

Bike wise. Did both on my Nicolai AM. Was probably a little ‘over biked’ for both but not massively so. Almost any bike will work ok but would suggest the five is pretty close to perfect.

Love mine. 4th Nicolai.

My next bike will be another AM 🙂

Handles anything from XC to DH (though does not excel at the extremes of either obviously)

As a Gravity Enduro bike it is on the money.

Bought mine for the Mega this year. Spec’d on the ‘robust’ end of the scale and is around 32lbs (CCDB with steel spring). May get a Vip’r for my UK riding and keep the CCDB for Alpine trips

Entering events

Not directly but they typically force me to train harder, push my limits a bit more and therefore get faster.

No spending of money can come close to compensating for some hard work and dropping a bit of weight. (Don’t tell my wife that though :-))

In terms of kit. Tyres undoubtedly make the biggest difference in speed but beyond that the new Shimano brakes really boosted confidence. Only realised how much when I got the HT out a few weeks back with 5 year old hopes.

Ant – How does that change the ‘need’ for the courtesy of letting a faster rider pass?

Generally I find getting past helps pull me along and probably makes up for any lost time of easing back and steering wide for a few seconds to enable an easy pass.

Deliberately not letting folks past just cause unnecessary frustration

Another great event

Was tough out on the course with muddy (for Bristol) conditions and a tough head wind. Tweaked my calf on the run up the gravel track so had a woeful start. Managed a few 32m ish laps and then completely bonked on my 6th lap coming in at around 38 mins.

Decided not to start a 7th lap unless I had 35 mins. Thankfully my mate had a terrible 6th lap and left me just 32m, so we hit the beer 🙂

Very polite passing all around apart from one bad move on my part where I accidentally cut a guy off at the red/blue bomb hole option at the bottom of Keepers Wood (?). I apologised immediately and he accepted so all was all right. 😳

What does this mean for the TDF titles he won?

Are all those years now null and void? Cannot see how they can award elsewhere given the sweeping implications of the report.

Is it Barry Bond asterix time??

Guessing this was covered somehwere in the 1200 posts thus far but not sure I have the will so sift through it all 🙂

VPD Elbow and the Bone Leg Armour (which have VPD in the knee ‘socket’ I think?

TBH I generally just chuck everything in the washing machine after a ride. Can’t say for sure but I do think it is not significantly worse off than if I can done some super delicate handwashing thing.

Stated that just after I started routinely wearing knee /shin pads when I moved to flat pedals. The fungal skin infections were not fun.

Chuck mine in the washing machine on a gentle cycle. 2 years on still ok if a bit battle worn now

In as an old gits pair. Probably the most under prepared I have ever been (Not that i am ever ‘well’ prepared). But should be fun anyway

Wonder if they are doing anything with those big heaps of ‘soil’ on the dirt track climb before the final descent.

David B – one optional wooden ramp at the end. Wheels on the ground all the way round if you so desire.

Can relate – still in a post Wire void

Sopranos – Truly brilliant. Not sure if better than the Wire but different and at least as good. Feels so wrong to ‘like’ Tony but you can’t help it. Funny and yet disturbing in equal measure.

Was originally planning to do this but a mate’s leaving party has put paid to that.

Weather looks cracking as well

Enjoy and report back please 🙂

Read the article today

Think it is a great read TBH.

Depressing? Why? Don’t ride trail centres if you don’t want to. The ‘natural’ (GavB is right) trails are still there.

The new ‘man made’ trails in Bristol are great addition to the Bristol riding. Think the article sums up pretty much exactly how I use them (without actually thinking about it before I read the piece) I ride them when the more natural stuff is basically a bog (less road riding & spin classes in the winter) and I use them to work on specific skills (my cornering is way better as a direct result).

In drier times I rarely touch them beyond linking. The natural trails see less wet weather traffic so are typically in better nick when they dry out.

Like wise when travelling to an unknown area I sometimes visit centres. Allows me a quick MTB fix if time is tight. If I have more time I may go exploring but that is not always an option.

I have had a GD classic for ~ 5 years now. I have lubed it regularly and changed the cable twice (I think). I have stripped and rebuilt it once.

It was used all the time in all conditions (including 2 Alps trips). For the last 2 years it has only been used in crappy conditions on my winter HT.

It continues to work great though definitely feels very ‘clunky’ in comparison to the Reverb on my full suss.

If the Reverb was available in 27.2 I would get that but no issues in recommeding the GD

Hicksy – Have you tried loosening the collar by half a turn. That happened to me after my full service. Slightly looser collar cured it

Nice.

If it was Ray’s I assume you ride in Bristol area. Plenty of tough enough stuff around that will be perfect for that bike. Pikes are also brilliant forks

I have had 4 Nicolai’s (2 FR (1st one stolen 🙂 ) a CC and a recenmtly acquired AM that replaced the 2nd FR

Finances permitting will unlikley get anything else.

Enjoy 🙂