well thanks a lot STW, I just spent 20mins looking at this thread and not a single picture of a gilf!!!! What gives????

volcano or pipe bowl, so I’m told by a very reliable source

My 456ss was a 20 and I’m also 6,3″ with 34inside leg, it fitted well and rode so much better than expected. Normally ride 21’s for XC but for tech and chucking about the 20 was spot on. Kind of wish I still had it now as I got sod all for it on ebay.

“…oh and has he been *cough* done…? ” No not yet, we are planning to get that sorted after xmas though. Can that be a cause then?

Thanks for advice all, I think there might be a bitch near by, in season or not , I am not sure, will ask the owner. He isn’t howling at night, its more during the day, when he is in the garden, but the mrs is out there with him (not locked out, garden office) Maybe the vets is the answer , if he keeps it up hey?

Had a 456summer season with 130’s on it and it was plenty slack enough, to ride dh and tech trails. Also not to much work handling wise on the ups. Isn’t the evo2 similar geo to the summer season?

PADI advanced and rescue diver, only really scuba dive when on holiday these days. Although I do spearfish around the Dorset coastline during summer, which is quite addictive………..

ok it sounds worth a look then, our works party is on a Friday night this year so will give it a hit on the way home (next day) Thanks all…………

Thanks mate, will give it a miss then until I’m passing by.

Daytripper is class but don’t forget that other vhs wearer outter……….. ODDMANOUT 8)

Certainly +1 for clunge and possibly bummder…. but my personal favourite is based on the charity mugger combo of chugger, CHUNTS (still used for describing those street people who want your dd details)

On email a mate told to go and see a film called wolf creek. This was while I was in NZ travelling a few years ago and was seriously annoyed at the result. So since then I’ve got him back by getting him to Google, “A Serbian Film”…. If you haven’t heard of it, my advise is keep it that way and don’t Google it, it makes hostel look like a teddy bears picnic. Some things burn onto your brain for life and you will wish they hadn’t….

Yes,its free to park at Potterne park still, take the obvious tarmac path at the far end of the park and follow the signs for moors and you will be on the single track in 5mins. If your early enough, try doing a lap of the single track backwards, it flows quite well… other than that, heading up onto cranborne chase and win green is probably your best bet as its only 20min away from moors and you should be able to pull a good route off the web. cheers macca

Not entered anything yet, but I’m planning a one day solo c2c mission combining paddle boarding/mtb (possibly fat biking) and running, beginning and ending with a surf to raise money for surfers against sewage…..

sorry to go off topic, but has anyone done SDW on a cross bike (and enjoyed it) cheers macca

Surfing and mtb do sort of go hand in hand, there’s a bikemonger who lurks on here who I’m sure will tell you the same and when ever I visit him, its always bike talk-surf talk-skate talk-bike talk etc etc
I moved to Malvern a couple of years ago and that’s one of the better spots to get the best of both worlds, 2hrs from South Welsh breaks and North Devon, 2min from great trails. now I live in Dorset, its 30min to the surf and 1hr to perbecks or 2hrs to Wales, cant have it all but its not half bad down here,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

GT i-drive from around 2001, crazy bb thing and all the pivots just became a rattling mess after only a few long rides…. sold it easy though on ebay back then

Best bet is to catch the chain ferry from Sandbanks across to purbeck (couple of quid with your bike) and do a ride there. if you have a look online for a route there are a few about-or ring Charlie bike monger as he lives there and knows it well or failing that grab a map and explore. 3-4hr rides possible without going over same ground twice.

The fulcrums look to fit the bill nicely,,many thanks…. anyone tried a pair of these?

as for needing a car as well, i would have said no but ive now got a crappy eco car due to cuts at work (thanks boss)its boring dull fugly and slower than an orange 5 on a climb. But if we are just nipping out to the shops etc, id rather take the car as it just feels easy???

I had a 07 LWB t5 as my company car, the extra space over SWB made a massive difference for camping, surf/bike trips. having said that it was a pain to park most of the time and used more fuel than my mrs 04 T5 SWB (her personal choice of motor, so I guess girls do like driving vans)The SWB just needs a few seconds more thought when packing it is all, with back seats out we can still get 2 boards, 2 bikes and enough kit for a 3day trip in there with room to sleep…
A friend re mapped his to 200bhp and after a local hot lap, i dont think the standard brakes and shocks are up to the job.. #browntrousers

first time watcher and bloody loved it! The Westwood style dj and the bread V rolls was ace….

I ran a 26 scandal though winter with an exotic carbon fork, 2×9, stans ztr on hope2’s and other light weight bits, comes in at 21lbs. Its great round the single track and on climbs, but forget about rocky decents at speed unless you have a good dentist ( rattletastic . Good clearance though for UK mud pluggin….
Going to buy a 29er with 100mm forks though for xc racing day rides etc

100mins doing the old skool Peter Read session, 40min@70% 30min@80% 20min@90% 10min w/down as hardf as most 3hr rides id guess

My dream bike cost just over £4000 to build.
When the boiler needed replacing xterramrs, ask me to sell it to help some funds.
I did and i got £1000, i am sad about this.
It was a year ago and i might be warm in the house, but i still miss my bike

He’s a good cat alright,a biker, sk8’er, longboarder, and the producer of some mighty fine stickers. Although im not going drinking with him at CoreBike again as last time it almost killed me. 10 out of 10 that one!

THINK BIKE! errr, no how about its time BIKERS THINK… I get totally f##ked off by the way motorcyclists see it as there right to blast around the UK like its a race track. 100+mph on A roads is perfictly normal for a large number of these leatherbound goon’s. If anyone was to try and pull that sh#t in a sports car they would be locked up and have the key thrown away. However most of them know the unwritten rules for motorbikes and the way rozzer motorbikers feel etc etc so just go for it. And as for these tw##s who find and extra lane on the motorway between the fast and middle lanes,when you get taken down, you most probably wouldnt have a leg to stand on, in more ways than one. Its 3 lanes for all and sorry my 2 wheeled friend but the traffic jam is for all too. I drive about 50,000miles per year, so id like to think i spend enough time in traffic and on the road to have seen this enough times for it to be accurate.
Track days are for blasting it not roads and lanes, much like leath hill is for cruzing down on an mtb and we all know where blasting down that gets people…………..

“i presume as a downhiller she’s not that fit” ha ha ha you are joking right? :D(as its quite the opposite… Todays downhillers are alot fitter than the you would imagen, even none elite level DH takes a good level of fitness- anyone whos pushed up all morning, then to race 3 times in the afternoon will im sure agree)

Its quite a fun track, very steep at one point, no jumps though :cry:..
Might be fun to ride it after running 50yards to pick up your bike in a large group one evening as it can be re rooted to finish very near a pub 😉

is anyone doing the mini DH race there on sunday, i saw that they are using a NEW course???????????????

Wicked!!! havent had them for years,,,,,

Hey thanks for the info guys,,
I totally agree, “boats dont run on thankyou’s alone”…

Ive got a 4×4 and room for storage, so that side of things isnt to bad, buying costs again are kind of covered.. Being an ex merchanic id like to think the servicing wouldnt be to much of a cost. I guess its mainly the fueling of the thing, insurance and winterising.. we have the sea and ski lanes, plus coves near by, but as you know, lakes are better… (if you can get time on them)
The only other thing we looked at and thought might work out a cheap alternative, but dont know much about them is, a seadoo wake ski… Ever used one?

Even if you ask for an extra shot!!! 😯 Nero’s it is from now on then,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

personally, I love a good “boost”, be it espresso, monster, red bull, blue rat, what ever….
I tend to keep it to coffee during the week, no more than 5 a day, while im on the road, unless i find a nero’s and then i drop it down as they seem to be that bit stronger?

Weekends, if im doing a DH, a can of monster helps no end in getting your head back in the game and lifting your energy levels, after a mornings practice and push ups… Not convinced on the consentration side of things though as i can never remember much of the track, when it comes to race runs???

I feel like putting a bait car out at the next event with 2 bikes on a roof rack and laying in wait with “a pair of pliers and a blow torch” 👿

10/10 for Malvern

Malvern is a great place to live,,,, I was in the same situation last year and had the best time living there. Rode almost everyday and never got bored or really did the same route that offtern, there are over 100miles of trails on the hills and theres heaps near by too.
The local mtb club who meet sundays and week nights, are really friendly and can show you round some of the best lesser know bits..

As far as to where to live, the higher up towards the hill the better!!!Its a nicer area in terms of houses and people and it makes for an easy walk into a nice end of town with everything you could need and enough pubs and eat out places to keep any hungry cyclist happy
Good schools and leisure centre, park etc for the kids….

Anyone who says its not that good for riding don’t know it very well,the chap on my old street in the Giant kit has ridden there all his life and he don’t look very bored while flying along,,,,, 😉

Also FOD is less than an hr away as ia cannock if you fancy some trail centre rippin,

toppers3933 that is a great story, id love to see that programme.. I think when they opened bike park things started to improve for a short while, but with Mr Rathbone working for them at that time, it was always going to go to back to sh#it in the end… 😉

Websters in the old days (90’s) was awful. Don’t know about these days, but back then it was mainly just Martin sitting there in the dark, practicing the look of someone who’s just bitten into something rotten…. abit concept store like, if the concept was, a trolls cave……

+1 fathomer. it aint all bad in Leicester… Plus there’s quite a few strong riders come out of Leic over the years both on and off road so its not all that bad for riding,,,,,,,,,

Good angles though………