Brilliant, a great event as a whole topped off with proper rocky trails and an amazing tour of Swaledale. Kept having to stop to take photos! 18:42.

Forces personnel / veterans can also get an additional 10% off on top of discount card prices

Hope Tech Enduros have survived a lot :-)

never ever had an issue with Hope hubs after 1000s of km of riding in grim Scottish conditions. Aftersales backup is legendary too.

I was well impressed with their wheels at the Tweedlove expo, sad I didn’t have enough spare cash to take them up on their great offer :(

^

jruk – Member
Whatever you do, don’t buy XT M8000 brakes. Even the ‘new’ ones are unreliable in terms of bite point and that’s downright dangerous.

Had this with two sets; various conversions with Madison, many magazine articles discuss this issue and yet they still don’t acknowledge there is a problem. And it caused me to crash, luckily not badly.

I removed brand new SRAM off a bike and replaced it with Shimano as I like the multiple down shift of Shimano and the fact it’s on a normal freehub – the xD really makes fitting aftermarket cassettes (also use a Sunrace cassette which I have had no issues with at all). Shimano mechs also seems to outlast SRAM which I have found loosen at the pivots and affects the shifting performance.

Would use SRAM brakes over Shimano though!

Stick on a 32T oval chainring and you have the best of everything!

ST Towers has it on a bike somewhere so expect a first impressions soon….

Also:
Pinkbike Review
Factory Jackson[/url]

I have a 5010C and mate a 5010 CC – can’t notice the difference. Biggest difference is you can get the CC frame only if you want to spec it how you like whereas I was forced to choose a stock spec full build for the C.

Awesome bike.

Run a DHR2 TR EXO 3C on the rear pretty much all year round and swap the front between a Shorty or a WTB Vigilante. Love it.

Trail centres are easy but the riding ‘off piste’ will blow your mind if you like red/black stuff – to get the best out of it in a day a guide from Dirt School, GoWhere Scotland or Ridelines will see you right otherwise check Strava with an OS map or ask in iCycles or Alpine Bikes.

7Stanes CIC closed down in March or so and “taken over” by the FCS. Best bet is to check out the Tweed Valley Bike Patrol website [/url]and FB page for updates or give Alpine Bikes a ring.

http://www.trailscotland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10389

GoWhere Scotland, Dirt School & Ridelines are the three local folks that will be able to help :-)

How about the Rat Race Crossing[/url] in three weeks time…?

Changed from John Lewis Specialist to Pedal Cover last month; saved me a fortune and was well impressed with the cover and their service.

Snowcard or Dogtag[/url]

dufusdip – Member
It needs toilets and more trail investment, not a chairlift.

Agree in part; the argument presented on Monday is that no one is willing to fund trails so the uplift proposal (note it’s not a chairlift for reasons they can and have explained on their FB page) generates income which can then pay for new trails. Tracks in the ground for bikers are seemingly not an attractive investment for the local council, a £5M odd building for a tapestry is however.

I think that is a lot of the point csb; the two things BPW have done very well are having a new, an continually expanding trail network allied with an efficient uplift along with their location.

GT and Innerleithen used to be flagship 7Stanes destinations and people were prepared to drive to get there. Now, there has been no official (therefore marketable by the FC, VisitScotland etc) development in years (aside of a cafe) in terms of trails, infrastructure or uplift so, when Wales is on such a high thanks to the supportive communities, government, forward thinking private investors and groups like Cognation why would folk from around the country drive for hours up to the Tweed Valley when there is such variety in Wales? Yes the unofficial trails are mindblowing but, only known really by folk that follow EWS or forums and is certainly not for the family or novice sector.

If I lived in England and was looking for a weekend, or indeed week, riding destination Wales would be top of my list. So, I think their point is something big (be it trails or an ‘attraction’) needs to happen to reinvigorate the family biking tourist trade.

For a lot less hassle, built in the UK and far easier warranty if they go wrong, I would check out any of these. Only ones I have actually used are the Superstars and not had a single issue in over a year of hard riding.

JRA Traildog
Blue Flow Bikes
Superstar

Not too bad, down to bedrock: DHR2
Absolutely grim, muddy: Shorty

At the moment is High Roller 2 and Ardent conditions :-)

Blooming ace, first pad I have ever ridden all day in and not noticed wearing. Also saved my knees on more than one occasionhttp://www.stif.co.uk/mtb/product/sweet-protection-bearsuit-light-knee-pads-true-black/13139.

Uberbike ceramic; been running smooth as for months!

Reading the rules there are no tyre changes allowed either between Sat/Sun. I am going with Shorty/SS Semi Slick I reckon unless it hoofs down.

Guides. Got both and the new Shimano brakes have consistently unpredictable bite points which can be quite dangerous at times if you pull the lever and there is no bite until deep into the pull! Enduro Mag[/url] have just done a grouptest – worth taking a look at.

The warranty will be through the shop @beano68 – Stif and Leisure Lakes are two of the biggest stockists…?

https://sweetprotection.com/sp_uk/warranty-info

This is what it is perfect for, it’s not a downhill bike :-)

I have a v2 5010 and ride it on all the steep, technical trails of the Tweed Valley and it is brilliant! Snappy, stiff, fun it is a great bike. I have changed the air shaft in the forks and upped the travel at the front to 140mm to give me a bit more but never feel like I run out of travel at the back. Dirt School’s Andy Barlow raves about his and Nash Masson hammers his racing with a set of 150mm Fox 36s on!

zinger – Member
pedalcover only require that your bike is locked to a fixed point in your car or outside of car with a cable lock – nothing specific about what type of lock

Zinger is spot on; I asked very specifically that question. Common sense says make it robust, plus I have my bikes tagged and registered on Immobilise.com as proof that I own them. Won’t help stopping theft but increases the chance of insurance not being able to wiggle out!

Just taken out house and contents insurance with https://pedalcover.co.uk/%5B/url%5D and was really impressed. Bikes covered, anywhere in the world, new for old, for significantly cheaper than John Lewis last year. Worth a call. And if you take it out please say that I recommended it :-)

I am expecting a physical test of EWS calibre :-)

rickon,

Or, take it to a car wash a blast the absolute shit out of it with a pressure washer, and whinge about it being poorly sealed on your favourite bike mag website.

I find that quite offensive. I have not whinged, I made a statement that is true fact on how my bike has fared over two Scottish winters. I have never once taken it to a car wash, blasted the **** out of it or used a pressure washer on it. I was trying to answer willv’s question constructively from my experience.

Seriously, if I had one of these beautiful bikes (or could even afford one), there is no way on Earth it would get anywhere near the worst UK, grit, grime and a jetwash. Ever.

It would never get ridden!

Try here cakefest – and give the guy an email if you can’t see it. he has all things Yeti!! http://yetifan.myshopify.com/%5B/url%5D

I am on my third Infinity link in 18 months, each replaced under warranty through my LBS. The grease ports just don’t really work as you try and pump grease through a small hole that actually butts right up to the kashima stanchion so the force required to get it to seep around is too great and I find it just comes back out at me!

The suspension performance is absolutely awesome but, the whole link just isn’t sealed well enough to cope with Scottish/UK grit, grime, mud and the inevitable washing. My previous two links when taken apart after 3-4 months have had large patches of no kashima coating left on them and the bearings seized. The remedy is easy, to take the link out once a month, give it a good clean and regrease but, that requires a bit of mechanical confidence and the whole link area must be spotless and torqued correctly when putting it back together so that the alignment of the rails and link are spot on. Any deviation can create tiny gaps in the seal allowing more grit into the link etc. And at £270 for a new link, once the warranty period (2 years on the link) runs out, it could be an expensive bill every few months if not regularly maintained. I wrote to Yeti/Fox asking what their R&D departments are doing to make the link more robust for anywhere else but the Colorado dust but not had a response.

Best bike and suspension performance I have ever ridden, but needs TLC. As the whole bike is based around that link, if it’s not working at full awesomeness the whole ride is affected.

‘Off piste’ is still quite damp & soft; shorty 11 months of the year for me!

Been using absoluteBLACK chainrings for ages now and love them but, they are not for everyone. Worth giving their 30 day guarantee a go, what do you have to lose?

Get one of our Premium oval traction chainrings Today and use it for 30 days… If you’re not delighted with your purchase and feeling the benefit in your legs, then we’ll exchange your oval for a round ring free-of-charge

Had a WM PF BB in my bike for 18 months now, no issues. Best thing is the cups stay in and the bearings just come out, same as a headset :-)

You can do it direct with InvisiFrame I think too

What Paul B said; had a days guiding with Steve at Bike Alp[/url] and it was awesome. Never going back to the battered bikepark-ness of Les Gets/Morzine.

Paul B – Member
We went to Samoens with Bike-Alp. Would really recommend it. We rode all sorts of non bike park off piste loveliness. It’s not far from Let Gets and isn’t all that hard to get to Chamonix either.

Stirling, Perth, Pitlochry and Dunkeld – there is some epic riding to be had. Just ask any of the LBS in those areas, they will be more than happy to help.