It’s a brilliant bike – got one earlier this year and have since raced it at glentress 7, ironbike, peaks mtb marathon etc. Some of the days at ironbike were pretty big (110km/5000m climb) with some pretty technical descending and it definitely looked after me! Build quality I think is a cut above the competition – lifetime warranty too. Definitely worth trying to keep it light if you can – 21/2 pounds is possible with a dropper depending on tyres as Eddie said, still using reliable bits.

Awesome day (and night before) out… Definitely my favourite round of the series – some nice techy descents too.

Built mine up from a standard HT frame with 36 Fox’s at 150mm and an X2 – haven’t ridden the LT but guess I’d probably err that way now because I can’t see any real disadvantage, never felt like I’ve been limited by the rear travel though – absolutely awesome bike for big descents in the Alps, cheeky trails round S Wales etc. 170mm dropper is worth getting if it’ll fit you. Definite crossover point somewhere around BPW blues / average trail centres – short travel XC is definitely more fun there, hightower really starts to come into its own once you’re shifting on techy stuff. Have found it v sensitive to susp setup & tyre pressure – can get away with some v.low pressures on beefy 29ers and the traction is unreal.

One of the better (or more accurate) ways to describe it is by rotation of the flow around an aerofoil – map this onto a constant onset velocity and hey presto you start to see the speed / pressure differences needed to generate lift. Also explains why you see tip vortices and a starting vortex initially. Kutta-Joukowski theorem and lifting line theory cover it. Interestingly a delta winged aircraft (military, concorde etc.) can generate lift through another mechanism at high AoA – the acute leading edge or strake generates a roll vortex over the top of the wing.

Yeah we were in for both Enduro2’s… fingers crossed still for Davos. Good news there at least was checked with campsite – lots of space and a free lift ticket with pitches… going riding one way or the other!

For the Scott Marathons it’s faster to just take a decent sized bottle and refill it at the feed stations, time lost is peanuts compared to lugging around 3kg of water from the start.

As above cheapest (and arguably fastest) way is France / Belgium / Luxembourg / Germany / Austria / Italy. Last time I did it we were sailing in Garda and stopped off in Les Arcs on way home… Frejus tunnel is a long way around & expensive, Petit St Bernard pass bypasses it, bit steep in places but I towed two boats up it so wouldn’t worry too much… goes past top of La Thuile / La Ros lifts (dump all passengers for a free ride down) then down into Les Arcs etc. Other routes include Chamonix / Mt. Blanc tunnel – expensive + lot of tolls, Switzerland / Gotthard (free tunnel but need Swiss tax).

Ferrals, think that was me that was overtaking you – sorry if you didn’t hear my apology at the time (I remember you “chatting”!), don’t know if you saw me get taken out at the start but suffice to say I went from 5th to last fairly quickly when I got shoved into a tree by a guy barging in on the first jump. Wasn’t in the best mood after that. As a point of clarification I actually buzzed your wheel when you stalled on the climb – I guess still my fault but knocked me off hence why I was running. Anyway all good fun – great course, need a camper van – tents too cold!

Rotel, think you’re well wide of the mark, like @pease I don’t really do forum’s very much but go on I’ll have a crack at answering your questions…

Do you like riding around the edges of grassy fields in country parks?
– Yes, seems like I’m not the only one (Mayhem, Bikefest, 24/12 etc. etc.), only really did this in the prologue though, thought it was a properly good loop though, wish more xc laps were that much fun.

Do you like big climbs in the middle of DH stages?
Yes, to make up for my lack of ability downhill. Can’t remember any big climbs in these sections though (unless you’re calling 40-50m vert big?).

Do you like to ride Afan at the same time as 4 coach loads of riders head off on to the trails?
No. Nice of them to close the trails to everyone for us though wasn’t it?

Do you get excited at the idea of being allowed to ride UP the final Skyline decent?
Yes, never done it before and its a properly good laugh. Wish they’d allow it more often.

Do you go to BPW to ride UP the XC climb and get the uplift to take you down to do it again?
No, I go to BPW to ride up the climb, then enjoy the DH’s.

Do you optimise your bike set for fire road riding?
No, it’s boring. But sometimes you need to ride up something a bit dull to get to the really good stuff. Do you optimise your bike to hook it on a trailer?

Do you get surprised when you see someone riding DOWN a trail you had only ever climbed UP
Eh?

Summary – I absolutely loved it and thought the guys organising it did a superb job. Wish in some ways that the timed stages could have been longer but appreciate how difficult it’s been to get approval to race. Great mix of trails from XC course at Margam to many of the Welsh Gravity Enduro Series stages at Afan / BPW, and the old DH course at Mountain Ash. As originally described – “Mountain Biking”.

Awesome mix of trails, great bunch of guys to hang around with / chat to whilst on linking sections, seriously well organised, and a really nice feel to the whole event. Definitely top of the list to do again next year! Some ace pics in the blog there too.

Check the mech hanger alignment? Then whether the cage is bent… Had this problem before and it confused me too.

in retrospect didn’t write that very clearly – so just head of bolt sticking into bore in collet, give thread of bolt a tap sideways with hammer. might need a couple of whacks in different directions but got this advice after being totally stumped, and works well.

Had the same problem with mine. Put the head of the bolt in backwards (or ideally an old bolt, same head diameter), then give it a firm tap sideways on the thread sticking out. The collet will then fly out leaving access to the hex bolt (8mm) underneath.

Done a lot of sailing and a bit of riding out there – get yourself a copy of 4land map 114 – Alto Garda and Valle di Ledro, it’s got a load of routes colour coded for techy-ness. Some idea of it here:

http://mapstore.avenza.com/public/60542/

Worth heading up the cable car from Malcesine to Monte Baldo – short ish climb to top of Mont Altissimo then 20k down the 601 to torbole – awesome. There’s another good (shorter) route straight back to Malcesine.

More good stuff on the other side from Tremalzo down to Limone. Probably only worth getting a guide once you’ve knocked the obvious stuff on the map off – plenty to go at and and we easily filled a week up without a guide.

Should be ok as long as nothing happened on the spot….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23619783