As people have said, but I would some examples of how you have used a variety of communication methods, as there are a lot of them out there now. This will be part of the Communication and Influencing competency. You could probably bang in a bit of conflict management / resolution too.

Go with fit over style. I have the Bell Super Air R, very cool and vented, but just never really fitted quite right. I had the 3R before that and it was the same.

Switched to the A3 and whilst not as cool, what a difference!

I tried the Tectal and fitted better than the Bell, but not as good as the A3.

Yep, I was with LV and they have more than doubled on Meerkat and when I call them they “can’t make any changes to the policy as it was done through a broker” for a re-quote. Been trying to get hold of them for 3 days now.

Meerkat shows Frontier Home Essentials as being the best cover, but I’ve never heard of them. Aviva is £80 more than them, but I am inclined to go with an establish3ed company.

I had a similar experience with group riding. The pace was just too much for the length of ride we were going for. I’d get to the top and they would all just smash it off again.

I was in bits, crashed a few times, injured myself and said I would just head back to the cars. I was told to “man up” and “stop being a p***y” and they added a few more trails in.

One of the other guys bonked a few miles in and we just headed back. I reckon if it was 10% slower on the uphills I would have been fine. I got a message of abuse the evening after the ride too.

Never rode with them again and haven’t spoken to many of them.

The whole experience actually put me off riding for a long time. I’ve actually not ridden more that 5 times in a year since the experience. It wasn’t just the fitness side, but it totally killed my enjoyment of riding, slowly getting back on and I’m currently riding solo and building up my legs again.

Ironically when it was done to someone else in the group (when I was fitter) they got annoyed and said “if you want to go fast and don’t want to wait, ride by yourself.”

I find with people where “riding is life” and it’s “balls out or get out” they are exclusive when they ride rather than being inclusive. Getting outside isn’t about having fun, it is competitive and that isn’t why I ride (or not so much any more). I’m not a competitive person either, which doesn’t help.

When it is just two of you sometimes as oldnick said “let them bugger off” and have their ride.

How air conditioning and heat pumps actually work. I’ve read up on them and still don’t totally get it.

On the gardening front, I used to agree but since actually having my own garden and lawn etc. and being firmly middle aged, I really enjoy it now.

Do you perchance not have a garage? I have noticed that any bikes that aren’t garaged overnight insurance has gone crazy.

Thanks everyone. I’ve decided to take a bit of a break from biking.

Maybe it’s a weather thing, maybe a life thing. Not sure for how long, I’ve got a few ok bikes, so if the urge takes me I may head out, but I’ve packed them and the kit away for a while. Bit of an “out of sight, out of mind” scenario, so I don’t feel guilty about not using them, but since a bit of a break the riding buddies have stopped calling too.

Thanks for all the advice.

@bjhedley – this is it. Find a variety of kit for the weather, find kit to change into, find clean covers for the interior or the car, pack the bike, do the ride, clean the bike enough to get it in the car, back and clean the bike again, clean the car, tiptoe around the flat to not drop mud everywhere, then try and clean my kit.

For years I would be straight out, no matter the weather and the bike would be cleaned and lubed on the same day, before or after work.

Recently, same CBA.

@chakaping – no I’ve not managed any solo rides, time has been at a bit of a premium, but when I have some free time the last thing I want to do is get on the bike. I can find a million and one things to do that are not getting on the bike.

At the moment the thought of getting out to the trails, (I do have trails locally, but I don’t really know them, so there is a 1000% chance I will get lost), and to get to the good trails it is getting in the car, actually gives me a little bit of anxiety.

So some of it is physical, some mental and some social. Hence sort of losing the love.

Thanks all. For the last few years MTB has been / was a lifestyle and to my riding buddies it is very much what they still do. There is an element of “you’re not committed enough” to it all, which in hindsight has put me off a lot and I think upon reflection I really dislike the “pack mentality” of it all.

Any free time, you have to be riding or preparing to do it, spare cash – more bike kit, plus bikes are not cheap! If you’re at the back you’re not fit enough and should be working harder to get fit. When there is a ride it is focused, competitive and you have to be “on it”.

The fitness thing does get to me, both physically and mentally. Riding from my doorstep is easy, gearing the car up with kit, clothes and having to spend an hour cleaning the bike and then the car interior after is less attractive, and harder to find the time. So maybe summer where less cleaning etc is needed will reinvigorate things.

@ scotroutes I suspect I am not all in on the “lifestyle” really. It is a hobby and I love sharing hobbies, but it doesn’t define me.

@stwhannah – great article! I think the I have lost the feeling of being outside and none of my buddies know how or want to bimble. It’s all about the PB or KOM and if you’re not on board with that idea, get off the train. Perhaps some people to bimble with would be a welcome change.

I have a shed full of bikes and kit and do feel sometimes that it is all a bit of a waste just sitting there and it could do some aspiring mtb-er some good.

Got a Worx I’ve used on the trail side due to living in a flat and jerry can for water. Always worked really well. Also used for car washing duties when we had a hosepipe ban and then when my exterior tap failed.

I am sorely tempted at £39… but I do have a brand new pair in a box….

Second for a curved monitor. I run a 37″ Ultrawide in the centre with the laptop on the left on a riser for emails and a 24″ on the right for aux documents etc. But the UW is way better than a twin set up.

I slowly lost all my mates to marriage and kids and then we dispersed away from where we all met.

I have to say that it really got to me and became a slog to meet people.

Come pandemic and I bought a MTB and answered a FB post for local(ish) newbies for a ride out. Some of my best mates now and we meet up outside, the wives get on well and we chat about a lot more than just bikes.

Hobbies are the way forward.

Just as a bit of advice if you are parking in Bakewell village, it is tough. You can only park for limited times before you have to move your car. IIRC until 8am, then you have to add 2 hours before moving the car again.

Also the whole village seems to be shut down by 7-8pm. Or at least it did when we were there. The curry house was the only place to get food after about 7:30.

Could have been the time of year though.

Tried Emma and Simba a few years back. The multiple foam stuff wasn’t great. I ended up with Sleeping Duck, which was a very nice pocket sprung and multi-layer foam. Sadly the pandemic killed off their European business and they only warranty existing ones.

I ride with knees all the time. I still have a scar from when I came off in the local park. I was bu%%ering about a fair amount, but no matter what happens, it is normally the knees that hit the ground first.

For days out in the Surrey Hills it is light weight body armour (Dianese Trail Skins Tee), knees and trail helmet.

If I got to a bike park it’s elbows and full face. But I am c**p and more likely to injure myself from lack of skill than doing anything big.

Troy Lee do some with D30 knuckle protection and are pretty good.

Now if I could find some with palm padding…

I was off the bike for a while then got a new bike and went on a ride with a couple of mates, who are far fitter and far more hardcore than me. They hit me up on 56km and 3000 of elevation. it pretty much killed me and I was on a jumping course the next day.

On the course, I did a couple of drops and small table tops to warm up and then was warming up on a gap, and for some reason totally stacked it.

Bike went one way and I went the other, totally over jumped it and went down. Face cut up, right arm cut up and my had seriously in pain. I had the chin bar and elbow pads in the car…. should add I totalled the helmet and had I had the bar, it would have definitely been broken.

Finished the course had a great time, but a week later I was in a really bad way. I would not have been half as badly injured had I worn my other kit.

But this really got to me. I lost my nerve on a lot of trails, especially with the new bike. I was struggling to get through trails on it, but was much better on the hard tail.

I think getting back on with the right riding partner really helped. I didn’t go straight back on with the hardcore guys, but got back in with gentle XC. I’m back on trails where some wear full armour, I’m in my half shell and Dainese light armour, but anything more that my local trails, I either go chin bar or full face, and elbows. I also went with bigger kneed pads.

For me the biggest issue is fitness, where all the guys will just ride off an leave me trailing when I’m on a “recovery ride”. I was super on it recently, great back to bike ride, then I wrote my ankle off with mini-golf…. been off 8 weeks now.. ankle is still swollen.

We have a Meile and aside from being the worst shape for a vacuum cleaner, it “turtles” repeatedly, it is great. However I have just picked up a Dyson V11 for the “daily” use and it is really, really good.

The Meile only gets rolled out on big cleaning days. The powered heads on the Dyson are fantastic.

That said the mother in-law’s Dyson V6 we got her only lasted 13 months before the battery packed in, although I suspect that this is more to do with her repeatedly letting it go totally dead.

On a completely different note I went from 20mm rise to 35mm rise and got terrible pain on my outer wrists. I tried altering the spacers etc. but still loads of pain. I tried it on both bikes and the same thing happened. Went back to the 20mm and all was fine.

Very odd.

I’ve found that Oakley lenses, once they were bought out by Luxotica fell massively. I have a pair of 1998 Minutes that have been everywhere with me and aside from some minor scratches are great. Same as my Gen 1 Half Jackets.

Conversely my later Minutes delaminated after a few years and one trip near the sea and the custom Prizm Trail Torch lenses I had for my half-jackets lasted about 1 year before the same thing happened.

I may look at some Prizm Low-light for my Racing Jackets though.

The Prizm trail lenses are awesome, but are “darker” as in the VLT is less than the yellow. So if you use them at night then I wouldn’t use the Prizm trail at night.

Torch wise, I have recently had multiple failures (3D Maglite and AA Maglite both seized beyond vice and straps to get open, and I have lost my XP-1 Trooper).

But I have now learned that things have moved on a fair bit…

Can anyone recommend and decent “at home torch” for emergencies / power cuts and then a small “pocket” sized one for other uses, maybe stick it in my bag when we go away, when I am on bigger night rides etc. maybe AA maglite sized?

Sounds odd. Did you pump the fork up following the manual or just wham a load of air into it? You need to follow the procedure.

I’m about 75kg fully kitted out and have Pike Select+ and the RCT2 on my bikes and if you wind the rebound full on it is REALLY slow.

I’m not be ing a d**k but you are turning the adjuster the right way and have checked it hasn’t slipped on the spindle or something weird like that?

I did the same and ran out of skill and broke my brand new Bell Super 3R.

Got in touch with Bell and they gave me 50% off a new Super Air R.

Just had to wait a few days.

When I do commute, if the weather is good, kevelar jeans (with full D30), full boots, Dainese smart jacket and an A* leather jacked and gloves. I prefer full boots as it will be your lowerlegs that the bike comes down on, and as I race I just prefer them and gauntlet gloves.

For bad weather I have a Dane GoreTex Pro suit with SASTech pads, Dainese smart jacket, Held GoreTex gloves and A* GoreTex boots. Before I can fit everything under the suit, but do prefer to pack trousers and wear base layers on the legs.

The O’Neal got a pretty bad review in MBR recently…

I have the RC Hellion Elites. I prefer the uppers, lighter and more breathable and stiffness of the sole compared to the 5/10’s, but the sole (even the 4.0) isn’t quite as grippy as the Stealth rubber. Close though.

Cheers.

I think there are quite a lot more factors than just the stem (wheel size etc.) I just remember that when I changed the stem on the wife’s bike, it was a massive difference.

@flyingmonkeycorps – thanks, sadly I’m on 35mm.

I’ll have a think and if I can find a cheap short stem I may give it a go.

Weighed the 9C today:

9C Medium
Pike Ultimate RC2
Full SLX
Hope Pro 4’s with XM481
Deluxe Ultimate
Unite Renegade and the rest Bird kit inc. peadals
Hutchinson Griffus and Vittoria Agarro

14.6k5g

Usually a 8 in everything, but ordered a 8.5 as reviews say they come up small. Arrived today and they are tight with little space between the tow box and my big toe.

My Hellion Elites feel massive compared to them, so it is a return / exchange for a 9.

I thought the Aether 9 Carbon frame was about 600g lighter than the Aether 9 Alloy frame?

I asked when I buying my 9C and was quoted this by Dan from Bird when I spoke to him.

Odd that it turned out to be <100g?

I went for the C as at the time the A wasn’t out, not for the weight saving.

The 9C is about 600g lighter than the 9A. I do need to weigh mine,

Build is:

9C Medium
Pike Ultimate RC2
Full SLX
Hope Pro 4’s with XM481
Deluxe Ultimate
Unite Renegade and the rest Bird kit.
Hutchinson Griffus and Vittoria Agarro

I suspect I’m a smidge under 15.5kg

I wear the Dainese Trail Skins Pro Tee for most rides where I’m doing anything that resembles descending. And then add in elbows if I need to.

If you want a bit more, and a all in one the Rhyno-lite jacket is on offer at the moment.

A mate had these and they do work, but the soles are a bit solid and eventually they do let water in.

Although that could be water up offer the top.

I’m a bit of a GoreTex brand fan though. Use it on my motorbike and it’s great.

Done the same! My DLX were a little small in the normal size, but shrank after a few washes (mostly my fault).

Plus I’ll wear them with Sealskinz

Just what I need to replace my X-Vert R’s! If I had the cash.

I would say the “you’ll drop every bike” is rubbish, I know quite a few people who have never dropped their bikes. Out of the number (10+) I’ve owned, my number is 2. However, the chance of dropping your first bike is pretty high. Especially when you go from a light 125 to a much heavier 600+

Getting back on track, I would say that my suggestions (being about the same height and a little heavier) would be:

Suzuki SV-650,
Ducati Monster – earlier air-cooled M600 – 796
Ducati Scrambler 800
Triumph Street Triple

All the above are quite light and you can get low seats for them.

Most of it will depend on what you like looks wise and power delivery wise. And then budget.

The older Monsters have great character, but some will hate the lump L-twin feel.

The SV is great all round, I race these and they are reliable, sound good and cheap to repair / modify.

The scrambler is a good looking bike, and has a lot of modern safety kit, but has the Ducati tax.

Any ST that has been looked after will be a good shout. Comfortable and great power delivery, the later the better.

For me I love my Monsters, but they are an acquired tastes. The 1200S are amazing, but on the heavy and expensive side.

I’d love a Honda S660 if it was a Kei car!

I did consider a VX a while back, good cars as long as you change the front geo and do go for the turbo if you can.

They aren’t quite the Elise in different clothes, so do try it first compared to the Elise. For me I would rather a NA Elise than an NA VX.

I’m not sure how well they have aged too.

Fuel wise I get about 30 average in the Z4, maybe 35ish in the Elise.

If you are not going for the Z4C then be aware that the 3.0 and 3.0si are different engines, each with their own issues. I have driven the earlier 3.0 and do prefer the N52 si engine.

Between an earlier Cayman and the Z4C I would have the Z4C. Th Z4 is about 30kg heavier, but faster 0-60 and across most of the range, more space and IMHO just as good looking. But as above the 3.4 is the quick one, but may decide to self destruct.