BCD on compact = 110 on standard = 130

Smallest chainring you can get on a 130 is 38. If you have a 27 cog on the rear, you are pretty close to a 34:25. But a new chainring and new cassette – cashwise you might as well go compact. It is just far better for your knees and sanity if you are going to be riding up proper mountains, we just dont have them in the UK, and nothing can prepare you for it.

Where are you going to be riding? How fit are you? How new to doing big alpine climbs are you?

Next time I go to the Alps or similar eg Ventoux with the road bike I will be taking a 34:27.

More pix please – that one in Les Arcs looks completely marvellous

The descent into Car Park 2 is fun – but it is a fall line and does get moaned about – so is not ultimately sustainable so I can see his point.

I think the Ranger would rather it (Pitch) were left largely alone – but people are building up there, and it is getting hammered, so bits are starting to look a mess, and so something needs to be done.

tried a few – quite like everytrail

there is a free version, and one which costs £2-3.

The paid version lets you download other people’s trail onto your map which is handy for finding ‘secret’ singletracks.

But I mostly ride Surrey Hills and for that area it has all the well known trails and quite a few others marked on one of the maps (terrain?) because it uses that wiki open source bike map thing – that I cant remember the hame of.

EDIT one thing I would add is that the assisted GPS on the iphone is nowhere near as accurate as on a Garmin. I still use my Garmin for proper tracking but everytrail is good for finding your way round.

So say you’d never been to Whiteways on the S Downs you could download this map http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=948604 onto your iphone and then you would be able to find the Denture trail pretty easily.

I rang the ranger last week and he seemed to have it all under control.

They will have to cross the top part of the trail in a couple of places, but he thinks we will ride it back in pretty quick and he was adamant they were keeping away from all the recently built bits.

I felt guilty afterwards that I had let the dog wee on the logging truck 😳

phyncra – Member

>>Even in shandy land we have a 100k with 4300M of climbing, nice on >>that it was.

>>Thats an average gradient of 9%, are you sure!!!!!!!

I too was extremely sceptical when I saw that claim – even the legendary Tour of the (Surrey) Hills is nowhere near that.

So I checked the website – 4300ft 🙄 .

I blame the parents. I just bet this is one of those people who overtakes people on road bikes while they are on a 40lb downhill monster or a ghey urban fixy.

cynic-al – I meant your 42 inner ring is redundant too – doubles are poofs what cant handle their drugs

So the OP uses a double? And only a 52. Bender.

Just read the ‘fed up with overbiked FS – recommend me a HT’ threads by people who been riding for yonks and you’ll get over it.

I paid £1199 for my 2010 Whyte 905 and that seems pretty close to what you want. I think the rear mech is SLX rather than XT but otherwise its what you’re after and its ~26lb so a bit lighter than you were hoping for.

If the OP is amply proportioned as others have suggested then I will give a second recommend for dhb as I am size S in their stuff and size L in Italian gear.

It is all relative but at least it makes you feel better for a bit…

Lovely looking bike but no offence mate would like to see a pic of you on it cos can’t help but think it’s a bit low at the front

That said nice to see it that way round rather than tall headtube sportive bathchairs

Triple mayonnaise with your frites and leffe?

I am old and too much of a roady who keeps his wheels on the ground to take on the jumps for now.

Hopefully I’ll reacquire my balls when I’ve been jedi’d – which is coming soon 😛

Further BUMP

Just had a quick chat with the Ranger and he is on top of the loggers and has been very clear about keeping off BKB. They will have to cross the trail at a couple of points at the top but he has identified those and is pretty happy the trail will get ridden back in pretty quickly.

There will be no damage to the built bermy section at the bottom. So hurrah for him, he always seems a very reasonable and decent bloke to me.

He, and the riders he is talking to in more detail, also have some plans for the messy rooty rolls/drops on Pitch, particularly the one into Car Park 2 and the ones at the end of the Proper Beau network further up ie those where we are more likely to come into conflict with users of the woods. These plans are of a shallower, more twisty, sustainable, not following the fall-line nature.

(I do think there is scope for a decent sustainable DH run on Pitch that is out of the way so riders on it are ‘out of sight out of mind’ for fusspots, and so people who are going to skid down it dont get on it – but this is a later conversation to be had with the Ranger)

Also the maintenance/volunteer network has been in a state of flux while it is looking for a new organiser so that is why people have not been hearing much about it.

Well done to whoever was doing it, and good luck and thanks to whoever is taking it over. If you are on the forum I am very happy to help out, and am self-employed so can get up there in the week to do some work when it is not so busy.

I’ve only ridden at night and in the snow so haven’t clocked the downhill stuff but agree with heihei some of the cheeky trails are fast and really good fun

😯 😕 🙄 ❗ ❓

BUMP

Well the loggers are on the BKB side of Barry now. In fact one of the huge balloon tyre things was parked so close to top bit of Barry that if I leant over you could touch it. I didn’t but was quietly pleased when the dog peed on it.

As CheezPleez said it does put the odd cheeky trail in perspective.

They haven’t actually done any damage to the trail yet, and may not come further down the hill, but does anyone who has more contact with the powers that be know if they have been asked to take care? I might give the Ranger a call tomorrow to ask. Obviously it’s a working wood, thinning needs to happen, but it would be nice if the expensive bit down the bottom wasn’t trashed.

freeridenick – I know what you’re on about now. That has to be the nicest DH style trail I’ve seen in Surrey Hills; well-built, using natural features, not going to be seen by anyone else on the hills, let alone cause anyone a problem. It is far less of a problem than some of the legacy sanctioned stuff where they pop out onto the fireroad in a rooty mess/drop IMO.

I wish I had the skill and balls to take it on. I cant actually see any old fart like me coming a cropper on that, as the first corner sends out a pretty clear message, and I got off and just had a walk and a look. Would like to see some people really having a go on it though.

OP – this can get a bit Shimano/Campag BUT I do believe people when they tell me they have fewer punctures on Conti vs Pro Races – I think it comes down to the exact nature of the things that cause punctures in your area and how they interact with the tyre. Have a look on your local roady club forums and see what they use or ask at your LBS.

Or it could just be that Michelin and Vittorio are cool and Contis are for people who blow dogs…

thisisnotaspoon I just emailed the guy selling the lazer ones on ebay about carrying water about and this is his reply:

Morning, the water tank houses the unit whilst in transit. You then fill the tank when needed and a feed from the washer sits in the tank to draw the water up. You can actually use the feed from the washer in any water source (rivers, canals etc) but it does take a minute or two to prime the unit before the main spray action starts so this is not always suitable. The main lid also just sits on top, it is not water proof or sealing in any way.

I have some dhb winter bibtights and they are extremely good quality, fit and warmth. They also have a little italian flag on so the money you save can go on a pimp Castelli jacket and they match.

They also have a short zip on the front.

I dont know if thats the case on the shorts – but shorts should be stretchy enough for you to have a pee – if they are not stretchy enough whoever designed has not ridden a bike for any lenght of time.

Anyone got a link to hand ones for £15 – savewatersavemoney seem to have spammed google so only their links are coming up.

I would want to use it on the dog as well and I am not sure she would take too kindly to 100psi…

bibs. End of. Too bad the OP has already ordered. My guess is the next pair will be bibs.

Your bib should be stretchy enough so you can pee without taking them off and by just pulling it down at the front. If you can’t your gut is too big, or… it’s cold.

I have always preferred Michelins Pro Races to Contis, for some reason the Michelins seem more puncture resistant – my bro has found exactly the same – but other people think the exact opposite.

I agree with RichT the Krylions are really good too, and last longer than the Pro Race 3s, are not quite as sweet, but you can use them as do anything tyres, where I keep my Pro Race 3s for best and use Lithions for training.

TT bars and decent race tyres (if you havent already got them) are enough to get you beyond evens (or should be) – as long as you use the bars to work on a good position.

TT bars also really help you breathe and sustain a high heartrate/power output as much as the aerodynamic effect. You can get a good position on the drops, but it is much harder work to maintain – to me anyway.

My next thing will be bar end shifters, I dont think there is much time in it, but it is a real pain having to move hand to change gear if you have settled into a good position, and it doesnt help with the concentration.

The other thing that ‘helps’ is proper nasty intervals once a week eg 3 x 20 minutes at threshold. Costs nothing – except pain and sufferring.

bump

just came across this while doing a bit of googling, suffered up here enough times on my road bike (I think it is worse than Barhatch Lane on Winterfold), and wondered if there might be something good up there.

Anyone got anything more to add? PM if discretion is required.

Also is there any cheeky stuff to look out for on Blackdown? I go there with the kiddies on the bridlepaths, but again, a big sandy hill like that, it would be a shame if there wasn’t.

That means don’t put it up your bottom or down your japs

The word on the drug-crazed roadie forum seems to be that the UCI offered 4 options for the +ve, 3 of which were illegal and the 4th was contaminated meat. Contadors lawyers were able to disprove the 3 illegal means (using his biopassport data LOL) therefore only option 4 is a possibility. As European meat is screened for clenbuterol you can use article 296 to get over the strict liability rule – if you have very expensive and crafty lawyers.

WADA should not have strict liability on a substance which is floating around the food chain now that the testing equipment is so sensitive.

The Utterly Corrupt Institution should not allow a protected rider to fail tests and should not allow test results to get leaked while working out how to cover them up. Alledgedly.

If you read the Landis interview with Paul Kimmage on velonation it is pretty obvious at that the very top they are all on it and all know they are on it so it seems fair to me, in a bizarre way.

What is bad is when morons get on the homebrew to try to compete and then nearly kill themselves.

“It feels like Keira Knightly sucking an extra strong mint then blowing gently on yer barse. Magic. “

Now that’s funny. Assos should use it* as their new slogan.

Sponsored by You. **** off.

(* although I thought of Miss Assos rather than Keira )

Take the piss if you must but kids think rollapalooza is the mutt’s cajones and thus all is good…

gee’s route is a pretty good intro and includes most of the well-known trails. If you are driving to the area, you probably dont want to do the big loop to the West of Hound House Lane (although there is a fun trail immediately west of there which is on gee’s GPS track.)

Do a search on Hurtwood Control Car Parks 2, 3 or 10 all would be good places to start that route.

Be mindful that some non-bikers get pissed off with people riding the drop into Car Park 2 so if you want to do that (once you look on a map you can work it out), pls be careful, discrete, dont jump the ditch onto someone’s dog, etc

Gotama in the case I mentioned above the challenging drop-off involves a) Boba Fett flying 6-8 feet through the air and landing on the fireroad in front of you or b) screeching brakes then a middle-aged hardtail rider crashing in a pile on the fireroad in front of you, shortly followed by the bike or c) some combination of the above whichever way, it’s not a good look to walkers etc. There are 3 trick exits on this fireroad now in a short run about 100m and it looks a bit of a mess even without bikes flying around.

The Ranger would have to be blind and a complete idiot to not know every inch of the land, its not really that big, and I expect is pretty tolerant of some of the discrete cheeky stuff – its just when people take the piss, ruin the look of the place to the other users, owners and Trust members and make trails that could be dangerous.

nick – I am only talking about Pitch and Holbury in this thread and have never ridden anywhere near a windmill – or even seen a windmill.

However if I was going to piss off a landowner I would much rather do it over there, than on Hurtwood land. He is a cock, but Hurtwood are extremely progressive.

I dont know if the trails being discussed have specific names, but two of them are pretty obvious and reasonably well described here.

I’m in no position to get on a high horse about it and am not going to anyway, it would just be nice if people realised how lucky we are, and if determined to go off piste, be a bit more discrete about it.

Well that explains where the big puddles in yogurt pots went…

Dumb mid-procedure question – what methods have peeps used to get the freehub seal back in place without the freehub seal tool TM? 😕

EDIT no worries a nice blunt metal tyre lever did the trick and lovely clickiness is restored

Nice to see a hub that accepts the inevitable and therefore makes it easy to diy service rather than exploding in a mess of pawls and minute springs like a Campag one would.

TA!!

ta gents I suspect there is some muck in there and it needs a clean, well hopefully it is as straight forward as that…

Likewise, there is a new (to me) exit onto the fireroad in the Proper Bo area which comes out very obviously at the fork in the fireroad to the North of the other exits, its clearly tricky and has quite a big drop-off.

I wouldn’t attempt it having seen the exit, but you can see how people might start from the top of the hill, not really know which exit is which then end up on something that is really quite difficult and more than they bargained for. Lots of skids and a big mess. There was a rider on it who decided discretion was the better part of valour, who would have taken an earlier easier exit, or the one that goes back up the hill once I’d explained to him what the options were. But he hadn’t clocked them, and how was he to know?

On the other hand I found another new one (to me), er somewhere else, possibly in another county, which was thoughtfully constructed, had made good use of some surplus logs lying around and was very well hidden and I had to give myself a severe ticking off for riding it afterwards.

As you say, no easy answer…

(Some of the trails in the Reservoir Dogs area, particularly the faster ones heading East down the hill have had a lot of small logs put across them, I couldnt tell if this was people trying to make the trail more ‘fun’ or someone trying to put the trail out of use? None of them were big enough that even an old fart like me couldnt manual over them. I’d have thought if the ranger was doing it he would have made them properly unrideable… If we arent suppossed to be riding those, someone let me know and I will reprimand myself again. Ta to whoever’s been sorting out the drainage on the section in the rhodadendrons)

I love my whyte 905 – rode quite a few bikes before deciding and it seemed the best combination of fun, light, able to handle where I ride (Surrey/downs/etc)

I am 80% roady though 😉

Stopadoodledo

As a relative newcomer to the area I have no idea if some of the trails I’ve ridden are sanctioned or not – you just can’t tell. Now I’ve read this thread I suspect one I have been riding which is sort of parallel to BKB is unofficial – so will stop riding it -I’m not sure how you would know that though unless you logged in here and read every thread about Surrey hills

I am hugely respectful of the trailbuilders and the owners and the trust and rangers because the trails are massive fun yet it has a much better vibe than a trail centre

But it is **** hard for people new to the area to know which trails are sanctioned and which aren’t – and I have joined everything, bought the maps, spoken to riders and the ranger, googles and interwebbed it all etc etc

I guess this applies more to pitch (no signs) than Holmbury (some signs) and Leith (signs) but even then it can be difficult to tell what is sanctioned or not eg I am pretty sure where I start waggledance from is not the official start – but clearly I am not the only one as the section gets hammered

Cheers for the tips guys

I was quite tempted by letting her have a go at yogurt pots, no fear at that age (not that its scary) and made of rubber etc but thought I would check what peeps thought first. I would guess most people are totally reasonable about things like that.

jason – I was being sarky about Steve Backshall – the world needs more like him. I work at the beeb and he is an exceptionally brilliant presenter, although it looks straightforward, telly presenting is actually quite tricky… and then in his case you have to be encylopedia britanica, not get bitten or eaten, and remember to take your shirt on your mark off as well.

How many 30 something housewives did your lad have to queue behind to get his signed book?

So if you see an old fart on a Whyte being overtaken by a sprog on a purple Spec you know who to blame

how do you find out which woods are for sale and how to buy them or the rights for leisure use?

on South Today’s package about this last night it was clear that is was both land and rights that were for sale – but no clue as to where to look.

Now I’ve asked that I better have a look at the FC website but googling it does not help.

double posting

Sonor I’m new to riding in the area but have joined Hurtwood and put my name forward as a volunteer to help with maintenance – will people get in touch when stuff needs to be done?

It seems like there is quite a lot of tlc needed on some of the heavier used trails and not really a good long-term idea to ride them when it’s been chucking it down

Having got to know the hills over the last few months if you are up there just exploring it is quite hard to tell which are official and which aren’t (apart from bkb) I can think of a few candidates for what you are describing but not really sure and I guess it can’t be described in too much detail online in case it gets more use.

If people ride the area a lot they really should join the trust, you would think that was obvious…

Was up there yesterday (Monday), at dusk, definitely rideable, if a bit sketchy at times, particularly where frozen roots and drop-offs combine :oops:. I thought that fire roads were in much better nick than after the last snowy weekend, when it had thawed and refrozen and was horrible – still quite powdery.

Did Winterfold (Flicking the Vs), Pitch (trail that goes from Walking bottom to car park 2, T2, T5) and Holmbury (BKB).

The main thing I would be worried about would be parking. Walking Bottom is an ice-rink and the centre of Peaslake not great.