The uphills are all weather, the down hills are unsurface singletrack on some of the Cotswolds finest slippiest clingiest clay, but great fun none the less.

I ran a 2.0 inch maxxis beaver front and a 2.3 racing raplh rear double defense rear at MAD xc last time. If I had the money and time I would swap the rear for another beaver or similar. The climbs are all weather and the descents are all tight twisty off camber single-track and good fun !

I used to ride, just fix other people’s horses these days

Abingdon course was not overly technical, just a big oval with a couple of tight turns, there was about 50/60 in the field everybody seemed to be riding fairly sensibly and the course was quite wide. Only thing was there was about 10 punctures from bits of sharp flint on the course. Obviously as a first timer I don’t have anything to compare it to

Kona heihei trail, xc frame with slightly longer travel form and slacker head angle plus it’s a kona and I love them. http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/mountain-bikes-c1/full-suspension-c16/kona-hei-hei-dl-trail-mountain-bike-2017-p17201/s51000?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=kona-hei-hei-dl-trail-mountain-bike-2016-size-medium-colour-black-size-medium-colour-black-b16hhdat03&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=CjwKEAiAlNbEBRCv9uy4j4SWrgwSJAB5MqJFxCop65LrJvmBBcpNK_k3K2weUz4Ujr_Cq5LVcW3u

Good job see you there tiim, I will be on a white and red cannondale caad8 say hi!

Well just raced my first crit (at Abingdon), felt like I was going well and was keeping myself in the first 20 wheels or so fairly comfortably, though I dont think it was an especially fast race. Unfortunately got a puncture after 25 minutes so didn’t get a chance to see if I could stick with the bunch the whole way. Really enjoyed it mind, will trry again next week. Just been out for 20 hilly miles at home as well as the sun was out and my legs felt good.

I did every round of the Mad xc series last year and one this year so far, well organised and a good course, last race was about 12 miles and 2000ft of climbing. The downhills are all single-track quite steep and muddy/off camber in places but nothing too tech. First race this year I had ideas above my station and shot off like a rat out a drainpipe and then went backwards quickly :oops:

I have just entered 4th cat only and think I will try and stay near the back or on the side of the bunch until I get my bearings and accept that I will get dropped at some point, I don’t have a power meter so don’t know my FTP ect so it could be a real eye opener

I have been following this thread for a while now and finally signed up for BC membership and entered the OTRT crit at Abingdon. I have no idea if I am fit enough and riding in the bunch is going to be a new experience, somewhat nervous now …..

Did it the first time this summer, we went from staverly up Gatescarth, across Mosedale (bog fest), up and down the old corpse road which was a great descent to Haweswater then down Nan Bield to finish, great day out.

Just signed up for the 230km route, where has the best atmosphere to stay, Oudenaarde or Ghent, we wanted to be at the finnish and somewhere with screens to watch the pro race and Belgian beer, lots of beer

Sorry to hijack thread, I was looking at either beavers or Strom controls for a winter set of tyres and will be doing a few winter xc races, just wondering which is likely to be least draggy?

This is about as gnar as it gets for the North Cotswolds, a few short runs, I swear they feel steeper than they look though!

hmmmm just checked the frame and it is 55.5cm frame which according to boardman site will fit someone 5ft 7 to 6ft 3 so might get away with it. If she starts getting into it properly we can always upgrade it, if she doesn’t then spare bike for me 8)

Yeh to be honest I would have steered her away from this bike, but she bought it on a complete whim from a work colleague and I don’t want to discourage her from giving cycling a go by telling her she got it wrong.

I think I will try a cheap 70mm stem from superstar and if that fails then may just re-sell and try again I am sure she could get her money back for it.

Ok thanks I didn’t know about short reach bars, will look into them thanks.

She is 5 foot 7 inches, the post is a lay back one so I could get her a inline one as well. It is only likely to be used for shortish rides and getting fit at the moment so hope I can find a compromise that works.

I also harbour “those” dreams, usually after seeing a video ( recently the Bernard Kerr one with the effortless one handed manual). I only ever tend to practice when I am on call for work though as I can do it close to home, this means I am usually wearing my full equine vet regale of moleskins and check shirt (non trendy variety) and dodgy tie, which probably detracts from the back wheel look I am aiming for!

I am heading over for the challenge followed by spectating also, bring on the beer!

I am moderately concerned that my pacenti sl23 rims with 20 spokes front and 24 rear may not survive the cobbles, but I can’t really justify a new set of wheels for one ride. Still at least its motivation to keep up with the weight loss, less chance of bending them…..hopefully.

Yeh measured chain length against old chain taking a bit of stretch into account.

Oh and checked B limit screw its about the top jockey wheel sits about 6mm below the largest sprocket

1 1/2 hrs round trip to evans later, and another hrs worth of swearing and I am still no further on, which at least points to mechanical ineptitude on my part somewhere which should be fixable. Will try the de-grease and re-lube suggestion next thanks!!

Just checked frame, wheel is old but was checked and rebuilt by LBS, I think i am going to have to make a dash to LBS and hope new cassette does the trick.

Thanks, I couldn’t wait to jump on and try it after a couple of weeks amassing parts and building.

I know superstar kit has a bad rep with some but I have had a fair bit of it and been pleased enough with it. A new set of their wheels (with a warranty) was still less than a second hand pair of stans on hope hubs (or similar) that may or may not have been ragged about for x number of miles.

The house is rented, the colour has strangely grown on me though! Yes its set up tubeless, I have managed OK without expander so far on the trails around Cleeve Common and Winchcombe but might well end up fitting one for the bigger climbs elsewhere.

Looking forward to the flyup 417 project opening next spring!

Thanks been very pleased with it on the few rides I have done, I am keeping my hard tail for all day jaunts and local rides, this is built with trips to Wales/Scotland and the odd uplift day in mind. A race face single ring crank is next on the menu and possibly a dropper further own the line.

Main impression so far is how much extra grip you get when climbing I have cleaned a climb in the wet that I normally only manage in the dry on the hardtail.

First ride on my new (and first) build up at Gisburn, nothing fell off the bike which is a win in my book.

WP_20151016_16_22_42_Pro by Thomas Righton[/url], on Flickr

Me too this whole build has been a steep learning curve.

Just measured and it is about 4mm, I have just reversed the non drive side seal and that seems to have sorted it, have now torqued up the bolt and the cranks spinning freely :P.

I still have the two spacers on the drive side, I needed to do this because my NW ring is fitted to the inner ring of my old 2 by crank, so without the spacers the chain ring sits to close to the chain stay. Its a bit of a bodge but will have to stay like that until I can save for a 1 x 11 group set, role on 1 x 11 shimano slx.

Thanks hive mind.

If only it were Baznav, I have tried with no spacers, no joy :(

Definitely no crank frame contact, I didn’t realize cranks are designed for different BB widths. I bought this as a first full sus frame whyte g150 (2015) on a bit of a whim and thought I could build it up fairly cheaply using a few spare parts.

Seemingly not the case! The crank is a SRAM FC S1000 taken of a whyte 901, cannot find out what width BB they are intended for.

I have one spacer on the drive side between the cup and the frame to push the crank out slightly for a better chain line, I am using a 2 by crank set with a single ring, on a frame designed for single ring only. Though I have tried without any spacers also, i think with a 73mm BB shell its intended to be used without spacers. NDS seal is on, though I didn’t realize there was a right way round so I will check that thanks

Thanks for the replies, I just dug out an old avid +20mm front adapter which seems to fit the shimano caliper and 180mm rotor surprisingly!

Ok thanks, wish this stuff was either standard, or made clear in service manuals or something, for the mechanically inept like myself.

So an to update this the blackspire ring i bought fits, I am now left with a crank with 4 ugly tabs poking up. The only bash gaurd with a BCD of 120 I can find is a blackspire defender at £53!!!!!

So will I die if I take a metal file to the outer chain ring tabs and do a little bit of agricultural engineering?

I think both the two I am looking at use the switch hubs, and for £158 with the current code its hard to even find anything second hand for that price. Thanks for the link chakaping

Thanks for all the replies, I think it is 80 then, will buy a blackspire NW ring (that seems to be the only one in an 80 bcd that i can find).

Any thoughts on if I will have any issues with chainline by fitting it into the inner ring?

Its a 4 arm crank, what do you mean by opposite? If a,b,c and d are bolt holes

a…..b

c…..d

a to b is 49mm a to d is 80mm

sorry if i am being thick.

Thanks for post, petition signed. Regularly stay in Tal-y-bont and use the bridge to link up bigger rides on the Cader Idris side of the estuary, also do a few leisure rides up the estuary to the George III pub with my wife. Seems mad to close it, always seems busy.