I’ve got a bit of a thing for the female Atherton.. But is she really fit or is it just the fast-mtb-lady thing interfering with my hotometer?!

it’s a problem with ebay, as to the point of winning an auction and then not paying.. i’ve no idea, it just wastes everyone’s time!

Excellent idea.

Now where did I put those sharks…?

Yup, I can get the wheel out with the rack and current guards on.. although with a bigger tyre I’m sure it’s harder.

Think I’ll order the 30s and hope to fit them in my existing guards.

Took a punt on my Canyon Strive with precious few reviews; very happy with it. On paper the YT looks very similar, obviously with a slightly different rear suspension layout. I considered it but didn’t like the idea of the Bos suspension; I’ve had Fox before, know it works and know how to service it + Mojo are on hand for anything I can’t handle.

Good question.

I’m not sure tbh, I think I’ve got the ‘narrow’ ones which are listed as 35mm?

Their range of guards is really confusing, blumels, chromoplastic, blah blah!

I guess I could get some new guards, but i’d prefer to keep the narrow ones I guess.

Is the consensus that with the narrow ones I can fit 30 but would be the wider ones to fit 35s?

The thing I found with the big drop was that unless you made the step up jump before it (which is hard at the moment due to the soft course) I was going too slow and was not confident of making the landing of the drop- so I’ve always taken the slalom alternative with the smaller drop.

Crossmax sx.

Light, strong, bling. All the important axle standards supported. Non-standard spokes, but good support from mavic on all accounts. Proper tubeless/ust ready; no rim strips to faff with.

Crossmax sx.

Light, strong, bling. All the important axle standards supported. Non-standard spokes, but good support from mavic on all accounts. Proper tubeless/ust ready; no rim strips to faff with.

It’s a great place! I’ve not done the big drop yet- eek!

Love the steps- as you say, on first viewing very steep but when you ride them it’s a blast.

Still love DH3 and the red DH- rooty fun!

I’m just about to order some schwable cx comps for mine.

No intention of cross racing but would like to be able to access some muddy tow paths to mix up my winter commute.

Time to head of to one of those nicely surfaced trail centres; easy to bemoan the lack of so-called ‘natural’ trails in the summer months but imo they really come into their own this time of year.

The chilterns north of caversham are great fun. But as others have said you might encounter rather a lot of ‘orrible claggy mud this time of year 🙁

That looks great. Is it a separate area, or do you ride it at the bottom of one of the descents?

No idea if I’ve got a weird shaped head or not but I didn’t have any problems getting my large down-o-matic to fit- I just swapped some of the pads to adjust it slightly, I find it really comfy- much better than the cheap 661 ff I had before.

If you can’t find a shop buy it from one of the online retailers that offer free returns. You’ll likely end up paying more from a brick and mortar shop any how.

Do they still hit if you rotate them to be more level?

^
Lots of people bottling it before the second jump and then crashing, and who could blame them!!

Did u see the guy who cased the landing and smacked his face on his bars? Ouch.

That long stair section looks fooking steep on camera.. ergo IRL it must be properly, mentally, really-quite-silly-steep.

That gap into the the finish area 😯

Could the answer not be j) you punctured and that why the tyre came off the rim?

Hehe, nothing looks more retro than 90’s mtb’s!

No uplift that I know of, it’s a fair walk back up too- but all part of the fun IMO.

Agreed about not needing a dh bike for it, it’s pretty smooth at the moment- just the steepness of it might make it difficult on something with a steep ha.

It’s super smooth at the moment, but I’m guessing it’ll get cut up over time making it more ‘gnarr’

Good work! Really happy with my Canyon. Not found a compelling reason yet to make me regret not paying the big-brand tax

Wow. Ok. So surface to air is a pretty sweet track! It was super busy today and every one i chatted to seemed to be sessioning it so so obviously others agree.

It’s steep, but apart from the drops which you need to commit to its all rideable on smaller bikes. (props to my friend riding it today on his carbon, hardtail 29er)

Definately be back 🙂

Still never seen a live, non-road kill badger.

Good thing you didn’t hit the little blighter, I hear they’re pretty solid.

R.e. the pedal reflectors, how come bikes are never sold with pedals? Isn’t that why they’re always sold with bells, because it’s law? I can’t think of many sets of pedals I’ve had that come with reflectors

Should be there tomorrow too with a small group, forecast looks ok; happy days!

Just got some odi sdg Han solo grips. I’ve quite large hands and find them pretty comfortable, they’re very grippy due to both the compound and the ‘tread’ pattern.

^ that looks good, expensive though

What’re you qualified in?

I’d say he’s doing pretty well at social media advertising..?

I love mine which I have on a roadrat for commuting. I’ve not tried one on an mtb but with the weight and also location of said weight I’m not sure I’d like it. Ymmv

Scottish isn’t it. They’re all cheap.

< dons flame proof garments and dives into cover >

Is there a definite list of Series and Events that are happening next year?

I’d like to take part but I’m unsure what’s actually taking place in 2013.

You started and finished at the same point, how much difference were you expecting?

I guess that really depends on whether I’d stopped the Garmin for the push back up to the start of the Freeride section now doesn’t it?

I said do more descending than ascending, what I perhaps should have said was ‘ride’ more descending than ascending.

R.e. the descent being ‘Smooth’; while I’d agree there are no wheel swallowing holes or drops that I can remember, compared to Swinley or the Chilterns South Wales is pretty rocky and rough. If you’re on a hardtail or even a ~120mm FS you’ll certainly feel it after a couple of laps.

(Not saying you’d want a downhill bike, just that OP should be aware the surface is rock and not mud)

P.s. Rode it last Saturday in the glorious sunshine.. it was lovely. Was annoyed at myself though, I wanted to do more descending than ascending(Gotta have an aim when you go out!) so I did 3 laps of the black freeride section at the top.. when I got back to the carpark my Garmin informed me I’d done 2m less down than up. Grrrrrr.

My experience of pad life on shimano organic pads; ridden in dry or wet conditions; last forever, ride them in wet, gritty conditions and you’ll be lucky to get ~20-50 miles. Assume the sintered metal pads are much better.

I think it still helps, you are correct though the low BB can be a problem. Mine is really low, and with the fork at 120mm obviously slightly lower than at 160mm. It’s IMHO the price you pay for a bike that descends confidently, you just have to watch your pedal strokes on the tight rocky bits.

You can buy the oil and float fluid separately and then just get the correct wiper seals, probably 32mm in your case? Mojo should have everything you need. (Could get some new crush washers too in case yours don’t seal when you put them back together)

Before I got my Talas (160 – 120) I heard a lot of people say they never used the lower position, but personally I find it really useful.

Not for fireroads; I can happily spin up even a steep fireroad with them at 160; it’s when you’re climbing a steep, technical and rocky trail it really helps to drop the front otherwise you often simply stall out on the larger rocks and the bike gets pushed back rather than bumping up, over the obstacle.