I’m about 5’10” and used to ride a Mk1 in the 17″ (with a 22″ top tube). It was great fun, but a little short for longer rides, my back used to feel it the most. I now have a Mkii in 18″ with a 23″ top tube and its perfect. Still very chuckable and amazing on tight twisty stuff through trees, and I am more comfortable for longer than I was on the smaller one.

Lightning over Brighton

Lots of ND filters on the front, manual mode, longish exposures (mine were about 6-8 seconds). The intervalometer lets you set it going and leave it running for the whole storm (memory card and buffer permitting). Harder in daylight obviously, at night you can open the shutter for much much longer with much less ND filter malarky. Don’t get storms like that much down here though.

I took about 500 shots yesterday and ended up with two of actual lightning strikes. Long exposures and an intervalometer is the way to go, plus a few hours to look at every shot and confirm the total lack of anything happening in it.

This was Brighton a couple of hours ago..

Pinkbike often has a bunch of used ones. Ebay maybe? I got a used firm spring for £12 recently.

Canti fail. About 2mins 20 in…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/jun/05/chile-volcano-eruption-in-pictures

Yeah they fit. I have one on a Van R.

Spain is massively excellent. So easy to get to, and such good riding.

Switchbacks is based in both Bubion in the Sierra Nevada, and just outside Malaga. Amazing trails in both places, and Mike and the guides are always really good fun to ride with.

Yes. The gates are always open (at least thats what the guy who runs it told us last time I was there a couple of months back). I think the fencing was done for liability/insurance reasons to make the bike area very clear to walkers etc, not to lock us out.

Dialled Alpine? Certainly not too XC.

Go here when your bikes fixed…

Hmm. I’m about 5’11 and used to ride a 17/22 (and loved it). Taking delivery of an 18/23 next week. Be interesting to see if it feels too big. Hope not….

Thanks Glenn. There were ‘one or two’ crashes to choose from. Cannot wait to get back out there.

sorry, lazy

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=where+is+helens+tower

Nice trails. Where is Helens Tower?

As Gary said, the single best thing you can do to get better performance whilst editing is to convert your footage into something more appropriate. H264 is not good as it requires a huge amount of processor power to decompress and play as you edit. On a Mac I use ProRes but I’m not sure what would be best on your PC. DVCPro HD maybe?

Its time consuming to do, especially if you shoot loads of stuff, and the converted footage will take up loads more room, but its free at least. Faster hard drives etc will also help of course, but the first step should always be to get away from H264.

Molgrips – Its Brighton. well, its from my balcony in Brighton looking towards shoreham power station and worthing.

I hadn’t considered the weather. An excellent point. So the answer to my question is no then. Good.

Next poorly thought through idea for a thread please…..

Should indoor shore riders wear helmets?

Oh thanks RealMan. That was me. Cheers

Don’t really care about the cigarette, but it would be nice if they bothered recording the sound properly. AMATEURS

Have also been hugely impressed with the way Mike deals with his customers. He just helped me out with great deal on a replacement Alpine after I managed to damage it (no fault of the frame I might add). Hope to keep riding an Alpine for years to come.

Yes, speed is your friend. You’re much more likely to come off by going too slow and tipping over the bars or something. Weight back a bit and get a bit of a run at it.

The view from my bedroom/office/room of bikes.

Stanmer Park, Brighton. Earlier today. Slightly mental lens flare fun.

“Always leave them wanting more” (who actually said this orginally?)

If I had the time, it might be a bit longer. We ended up with tons of footage, so maybe one day I’ll find time to cut another version. I think it gives a nice taster of what its like out there though

Now the weather is so good, I think I might be better off getting out riding and getting ready for my next trip out there in November. Might crash less next time.

Thanks Wheelz and Forge. Its an amazing place to ride. Well worth a visit for anyone who enjoys that kind of downhill thing. That Rostrevor singletrack looks fun. Amazing view.

Riding with SwithcbacksDH outside Malaga in Spain a couple of weeks ago. Shot on a couple of GoPro HD cams and edited in Final Cut Pro.

Or.. Same kit, bit closer to home on the Surrey Hills last year.

Houghton Forest near Chichester in West Sussex.

Yup, Dialled Alpine all the way.

Its an awesome bike. Very tough and rides brilliantly with a 140mm fork on.

Very similar to an Evil Sov but much better value.

I agree.

They’re totally rubbish and irritating to watch. The fad might hang around for a while though. The film industry likes them because its harder to pirate (for now) and means they can charge more for a cinema seat, and people like TV manufacturers or Sky like it because its another toy to sell to the gullible.

Maybe we’re both weird, but I can’t think of a single film that I’ve ever enjoyed watching that would have been made more enjoyable by 3D.

Just bought a copy off US iTunes. It is VERY pretty, but it doesn’t really make me want to go riding in quite the same way Roam or Seasons did when I first saw them.

Seems like they got very into all the cool stuff a RED cam will do, and lost something along the way. Feels like I’m watching a very long advert. It’s a bit anonymous too. I know who the riders are but they never speak or appear much from behind their goggles.

And that voiceover is ludicrously pretentious.

It’s upped the bar on production value though, really beautiful.

Get one of these and loose c.2lbs in weight!

And 20mm travel…

But I’m more concerned about the price of the frame. It’s a bit beyond me at the moment (plus I really love my Frantik). Could well be my next bike though.

So very very tempting. Holding on to my Frantik for now but very keen to get a ride on one of these.

CAN”T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG *Bangs head on wall* (whilst wearing a helmet)

Right now, the view from my desk as I write this…

popstar – Agree that 60fps is not for everyone but its not true that you can make slow-mo as well with 30fps as you can with 60fps. 60fps played back at 25 is a huge slowdown and looks very crisp and nice if done properly. 30fps down to 25 isnt much or if you slow it down more using software it will look less lovely than doing it properly from 60. Also, any file size difference is irrelevant with uploading as you should be compressing it toi a reasonable size first. It may be bigger to edit with, but the final output file for Vimeo or Youtube should be the same regardless of what rate it was shot at.

Another bonus of the HD version is that there has been a firmware upgrade recently that gives you 50fps and 25 fps (in addition to the existing 30fps and 60fps) as well as an ‘upside down mode’ which flips the video for you in camera if you mount it upside down on the bike (or often on the chest mount), saves time flipping it on the computer later for viewing.