i hope I’m not being patronising here but Hurtwood is part of the Surrey Hills – Holmbury, Pitch and bits of Winterfold.

If you only rode Leith, Redlands, Ranmore Common then it would not be something you need to contribute to.

double thumbs up dyseena and brakes (hopefully)

Like I alluded to earlier adult conversations are taking place and if more of us are members it makes our case stronger and we look like less of a bunch of freeloaders and vandals.

bump

(not great bumping your own post I know but didnt post it at a busy time and it is important)

juliflo

how big? i carry my JR on roads but she is quite a small one and naturally calm (for a terrier) and borders can be a fair bit bigger

she is now 15 months old and is quite happy going up to 20k – she just seemed to follow without needing much training – I think they think they are on a pack hunt and get on with it. I didnt take her on too long a ride before she was a year though and looked fully developed.

I keep her collar on and have a lead in my pocket just in case but generally if you keep moving they have evolved to stay with the pack as a survival instinct.

Great thread this – dogs are brilliant.

last night: full moon, bike, dog, cheeky singletrack. Marvellous.

(My dog also says can the people braking on the last berm on BKB pls MTFU and stay off the brakes as they are **** up the trail.)

Sorry GRF must be upsetting to get mistaken for the uk’s leading importer of extreme handbags and fisty lube

So is GRF called Grumpf on here too ? 🙂

I take my Jack Russell out tbh she is a bit small and if you really put your foot down you will have to wait at sone point inlike bigger dogs which will go fast all day.

But she loves it and if you want to ride down a road or get her out of the way of other riders you can just pick her up.

Dogs were born to run all day so if you’ve got one take it out with you.

Tends to be an icebreaker with walkers and other peeps we meet on rides which helps . NB I said tends if GRF gets caught nobbing his beast on the N Downs it’s probably not great for the image of the sport…

Nothing… and everything…

But yunki said it better.

Even the commute home is a complete mental irrigation although that could be praise for survival.

Doh forgot linky thanks brooess

God these pictures make me feel old. But glad to be human at the same time.

I used to jump a windsurfer like that, about 20 years ago, but it just doesnt hurt and you fall like a feather, not like a brick.

Absolutely mental, and utterly amazing. The quarry road gap made me laugh out loud it’s totally insane to try it and yet clearly doable, with appropriate skills, practice and balls.

chapeau to all these fine young men, and the older ones too eg jedi

PS I know about the contradiction inherent in post above but the headtube length looks good compared to Alchemys Ihave seen…

GJP

If you hardly ride your Omega – what size and how much?

With Ti may I respectfully suggest that Enigma/Sabbath is the way to go you will get a bespokish or full bespoke service for not much more than an import

A properly fitted Ti frame is a lifetime purchase so get it fitted as close as you can

As a total roady who has crossed over to the dark side I had assumed I would get some kind of spd but wasnt sure what so got some cheap flats on my bike.

After quite a bit of riding since I got it I cannot think of a situation when I would want SPd but everytime I see a mate banging mud or ice off his cleats or falling off cos he was clipped in I can see why you don’t want them.

Once I’d decided to stick with flats I got a pair if the supergrippy shoes ( mine are the shimano black ones not nearly the grippiest but pretty weatherproof) and the amount of grip is just amazing . Unless you are racing I can’t see why you would need more grip.

But am happy to be enlightened…

Jedi – that keep your arse OFF the saddle when descending on your roady tip is great – I was uncatchable on descents at an event today

Unfortunately after a winter of MTB I was 2 minutes off pace on every climb but you can’t win em all.

Next year I will get the fitness/skills balance better, hopefully, but if you don’t have skills and confidence there is only so far fitness will take you …

Future Publishing are an evil corporate empire in thrall to design and technology standardisation and their advertisers.*

While that belief (honestly held based on the facts) may be subject to hyperbole , I find that those mags are full of shite, not in the sense of being factually incorrect, but more in terms of radding everything up to the gnarfest max or is that MBUK? I really can’t tell.

Anyway a hardtail is something your dad rides and you definitely need 6″ travel both ends to take on the Denture dude.

* to their credit they allow The Clinic forum to continue on cyclingnews but the chances of them getting sued are pretty slim IMO

MTB is s flow grassroots thing – support the little guy 🙂

Find steep hill. Ride up it at tempo. Ride back down it. Repeat. If its a short hill do it 5 times, if its a longer hill do it 3 times. If you can find a hill where there is a junction at the top so several roads meet then you can vary it up a bit.

Your tale seems very familiar.

After a Winter mountain biking I am 2 minutes slower up the tricky side of my namesake hill at ‘tempo’ pace – 12’30” against 10’30” in late Summer. But on a 50km + ride overall, my avg pace is not much different.

But the top end power comes back soon enough once the clocks go back the weather improves and evening roady training rides become much more frequent.

Like you I also find that the first hour is off pace, but the second hour feels much more like Summer fitness.

This is only the first Winter I have had a decent mountain bike and gone out loads rather than roadying and I would say the big difference I have noticed is threshold/top end power on climbs. Base fitness and pedalling smoothness are all good, but on an MTB you are grannying climbs and have to concentrate much harder on technique rather than murdering yourself so its not surprise to lose a bit of top end.

It will come back with enough sufferring.

TurnerGuy – Well it’s now overgrown in the sense that the Ranger has cut down a holly bush to try stop people riding it – but nothing would get the chance to grow on it much, it’s far too busy.

Even after he put some posts in which were too narrow to get most handlebars through people carried on riding it, then some people vandalised the posts.

It was far more of a PITA than going down the road but still it was ridden.

It’s crap really isn’t it?

Mr Woppit

In my opinion you are exaggerating the threat posed by the cheeky trails a tad.

When I spoke to him the Ranger came across as far more concerned with A) the ugly and eroded endings to trails on Pitch – particularly where they are very visible to everyone or potentially bring us and other users together at speed B) selfish riding on footpaths particularly the one at the bottom of BKB. These are things which cause far more grief than a few ‘secret’ trails that cause no real conflict with other users of the hills and that only a few riders know about. Yes, he’d rather they did it somewhere else and it was someone else’s problem – but he’d much rather people didnt ride the footpath into Peaslake.

I can just see the court case ‘Smith vs The Pitch Trail Pixies’.

Who exactly are they going to sue? The owners have taken reasonable steps to stop illicit trail building but it’s going to happen. So it’s a red herring, but I don’t get much of an impression of people being litigious or thinking anything other than that they are accountable for their actions. Let’s hope so.

And what exactly are the difficulties in getting injured people off any of the hills? It doesnt seem any more or any less difficult than anywhere else ‘rural’. I am sure one of the local rock stars will have a helipad somewhere if the rangers pickup or paramedics quad bike is not exciting enough.

simons_nicolai-uk

I think if you read through it again you will realise this thread is much more like a slightly contentious school governors or parish council meeting than hardcore surfers fighting. For a start most people can spell, and there has only been one rude word used. It’s the Interwebs nice people can talk big without having to worry about the consequences.

I do think more people could get off their bike and check out a trail before heading down it for the first time rather than realising halfway down its a bit trickier than they were expecting. That’s not calling anyone a numpty or saying they cant ride the trails, but just common sense.

haighd2

couple of points – there is quite a lot of willingness among riders (just from this forum there are plenty, mostly locals) to put some effort into maintaining the existing/sanctioned network – but that has not been translated into meaningful effort because of a lack of organisation. Apparently this is being sorted. In the meantime if something obviously needs doing eg draining people could just get off their bikes and do something about it – the Ranger would much rather we did this than rode round it and made the trail bigger or create a new line. Ultimately some ‘sanitisation’ of the existing network would probably be to the advantage of the cheeky builders as if those trails are more sustainable people are less likely to look elsewhere and come across the ‘secret’ stuff.

Just from the point of view of someone who lives in the area (ish) I much prefer the more natural look and feel of the freeride trails er to the West of the area to the more obviously built stuff with concrete etc on Leith. I can see why those trail pixies come out.

I’m a Trust member and I’m against a trail centre because it would mean (almost certainly) someone who didn’t build the trails coming and making money of the back of it and acting like they own the place. It would have to be a pretty community minded proposal for me to think it would be an improvement on the status quo – ie one with hardly any profit in.

It’s a bit of a messy compromise the way it is at the moment, but it’s organic and real, and we’re Brits – we’re great at messy compromises so we can muddle through.

hora – the Ranger seems to think there is new stuff being built (or maybe just becoming more known about) but wasn’t particularly specific as you can imagine. His main concern is sorting out the obvious eyesores and fall lines to stop erosion and people crashing onto fire roads or car parks. He seems to know cheeky building is unstoppable and just wishes it happened on Leith and Winterfold so it was someone else’s problem 🙂

Your best deal by far will be found on your local roady club newsletter or Interwebs.

Then back pages of cycling geekly.

Ebay etc look far more expensive

Everyone is making some fair points

I think it will need the builders of the more tech and difficult stuff to come out and a way of keeping less advanced riders (like me) off the more difficult stuff to be found for it to be a workable compromise.

Of course less capable riders can always get off and have a look before riding a ‘new’ trail but that seems like uncommon common sense…

It’s sad that the guy who built Proper Beau is now ashamed of it 🙁 I slagged off the multiple ugly endings to it earlier in the thread but there is an element of getting off and having a look before deciding to have a go at it that seems to be missing. It would be horrible for Hurtwood if it had to have loads of signs and warnings up because of legal or h&s concerns.

Are we entirely sure that everyone thinks a trail centre is a bad idea? I dont want one there, but I have heard (bloke in pub style admittedly) that some people do think it is a good idea…

I was right

when do people normally change to their Summer tyres?

I guess it depends on the weather but curious to know when you start thinking about it…

Also the walls on my rear tyre are looking a bit thin – in that I can see the threading in a lot of places – they are Panaracer Fire XC kevlar bead and I got them in November, I have been riding two times a week on average since then. Are they on the way out? How long should they last?

I would be bothered if the tyres on my road bike (even my race tyres) looked like after 3 months – but MTB tyres have a much harder life

It’s not really about height – is that height made of short legs and long body or vice versa?

When you are sitting on bike look through bit where stem joins bars – does it cover front hub?

Adjust frame and stem combination till it does.

But keep it sensible – don’t have a 54cm top tube and 15cm stem

But… My guess is 56 is more your size – 58 is XL

foxyrider

not shaving your legs doesnt necessarily mean you aren’t a roady.

Elite veterans have been known to ride ‘unclean’ to hustle younger riders. And because they cant be arsed with it anymore.

Swedish Chef – good point well made. EDIT Actually looking back I see i put an asterisk there – that must be why 😀

Anyway, my view is both have their attractions and benefits and thinking in a ‘roady or mtb’ way is not good for yer kharma. Left or Right? Black or White? Front Door or Back Door? these are not questions of right or wrong…

No offence OP but looking at your bike (nice bike btw), it hasn’t happened yet. But it will, and enough people have already given you the clues you need.

MTB and road riding are completely different, but very complimentary sports. Think ‘both and’ rather than ‘either or’.

For example, roady threads on this forum are about kit and tyres and camelbaks. Roady threads on roady forums are never about that. They are about ‘unknown rider just won a race is he on drugs?’ ‘why I hate Lance?”what are your predictions for the Top 37 riders in LBL?’ ‘Pat McQuaid – what a cock*’ ‘does cycling racing exist outside of Belgium?’.

When you start thinking about that shit, then you are a roady.

I think the answer to ‘which bike?’ earlier is – your favourite.

Ringo/cnud – nice to meet you guys – happy riding. cheers

I prefer 25s or 28s for commuting. It’s moot whether they are faster or slower but they are definitely more comfortable.

For commuting think ‘Paris-Roubaix’ – and you don’t see many 23s being used there 🙂

Dancake – I was still bailing halfway through the course so I am pretty sure it works.

Trimix – it can get a bit ‘with tampax I can run, jump and ride a bike’ 😉 but… this is not the thread you’re looking for

Explain he will 🙂

As aP said people with smaller hands prefer Campag

Go ride

At my budget for my last road bike (£1500) I thought I would end up with a carbon bike but I much preferred the aluminium/carbon rear triangle bikes at that price.

Less expensive carbon frames can feel a bit flat IMO you may think different

Boardmans always look amazing VFM

Double post

Jedi – what is the most common bad habit you see?

I’ll post what mind us after Jedi has told me on Monday

I guess looking at front wheel in times of stress…

You would think threadlock was the way to go but some of the alloy torx bolts that are used are not up to it

Like alloy spoke nipples on light roady wheels the fraction of a gramme that is saved is not worth the aggravation when they round off 🙁

You’re fit enough and will be fine.

Getting decent power at a high cadence takes a long time to build up to, for now ride at a cadence that is comfortable and enjoy it.

It is too easy to take the pleasure out of riding a road bike by worrying about cadence, HR zones, VAM and all that stuff. You don’t need to worry about that until you are racing hard or looking to do some decent TT times or do a sportive like the Marmotte…

Njee

Do a 5x hill repeat on Barhatch Lane it is still not going to prepare you for Ventoux/Galibier/Tourmalet, you will be fit enough yes, but it us the unending horribleness that gets you.

21% on Barhatch means somewhere on this road is a 21% ramp.

8% on an alpine climb means 8% for… Ever.

Anyway OP knows he wants compact and rightly so IMO spinning it is just so much nicer than grinding it

Hurtwood in Surrey Hills for me. First real day of Spring – butterflies, bees, wildflowers, 15C. Absolute joy (even if it was a tad muddy).

crikey – often its the people who have moved in who moan though. They are quite surprised that the countryside has things like cockrels, farmers driving tractors at the crack of dawn, horseshit, cowshit, bored yobboes greenlaning defender v8s, people shooting guns all weekend, a primary school, kids playing football on the rec, owls hooting and other rural annoyances.

They seem to think it’s going to be like Barnes, but quieter. Fail.

what does powerful mean? 😉 A Colnago Master x-light will handle more power than anyone on here can put out.

How a bike feels is very subjective (assuming it meets some minimum quality level) so its a case of whatever floats your boat.