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Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 9:55 pm
by EO
Good for you! I really mean it. I wouldnt have had the breath to catch the bus to the top, let alone crack on with that :shock:

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 9:31 am
by novocaine
well done fella, next year, rigid with no gears. :D beats replacing stuff all the time, lol.

(note: I'll join you if you do it as a single speeder, you can keep the suspension)

alien, i'm still on panaracers too, albeit mine are all black now, still the best all round tyre out there if you ask me.

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 9:51 am
by Woody
There appear to be at least 3 mtb'ers here. Just wondering if there are any others and what mtb sites (if any) you frequent?

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2012 6:32 pm
by Batmancaver
Well for me it's a simple choice.

Occasional visits to the Gwydyr Forest and the Marin Trail, Coed Llandegla and Grisedale and The North Face Trail.

Mainly though my playground is the Clwydian Range ( http://ridenorthwales.co.uk/ )
Although I really enjoy the man-made trails I much prefer the natural ones and all of their natural hazards.

^._.^

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:56 am
by novocaine
dont really do cycle forums, i find they are full of kids with mummy and daddy's money and no sense of reality.

for me it's all about the riding, so i tend to hit the peaks, lakes or local trails a lot, living in the cheshire plains means there isn't much to keep you entertained so you ride trails a lot because they lead somewhere mildly interesting.

not in to cycle parks either i'm afraid, went to coed y brenin a few times before it became massive (thanks MBUK).

think i fall in to the oddball mountain biker, i ride a steel single speed everywhere, normally rigid unless i'm expecting to have to work then i stick a set of z5s on the front.

it's not just mountain bikes either, I have a few road bikes, a BMX, a recumbent (when i put it back together, got no space) a few folders and stupid chopper, I want to build an ordinary next. =))

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:00 am
by Woody
Good stuff. I try to avoid the cycle forums but tend to get drawn in to STW - at least they have recently got rid of many of the dickheads that ruined it for most normal bikers!

Not a fan of trail centres either, went to Glentress about 9 years ago and have given them a miss since but Hamsterley is on my doorstep and loads of other natural stuff nearby.

I also have a couple of s/s on the go at any one time which I've ridden for 12+ years and have just 'winterised' my Sanderson Life so it's rigid with some forks from a 29'er. Will probably stick to that and my Scott cx for next few months and leave the Maverick full bouncer in the garage till spring. Also just about to rebuild a fixie mtb 'pub bike'.

Problem with having a few bikes is that it's too easy to spend hours tinkering instead of riding! ;)

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:26 am
by novocaine
Woody wrote:
I also have a couple of s/s on the go at any one time which I've ridden for 12+ years and have just 'winterised' my Sanderson Life so it's rigid with some forks from a 29'er. Will probably stick to that and my Scott cx for next few months and leave the Maverick full bouncer in the garage till spring. Also just about to rebuild a fixie mtb 'pub bike'.

Problem with having a few bikes is that it's too easy to spend hours tinkering instead of riding! ;)
Ive been thinking of using 29er forks for a while, hows it worked out? i find with the 80-100mm normalised forks the nose is a bit low (not a real issue till you want to hop about on it)
the pub bike is hung in the shed ready for winter duties, again single speed, rigid and steel, that has a low front end intentionally though.

yep, i spend more time playing than i do riding some weeks, it's all part of the fun for me.

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:11 am
by Woody
Seems good and well balanced on the Sanderson which has been designed for circa 120mm travel forks. Only been round the local park to test so far as I've still got a chest infection but the axle to crown seems spot on - I think it's 465mm.

Had a pair of cheap On-ones on before (400mm axle to crown I think), which apart from being very unforgiving made the steering too quick for me. Was considering some carbons but I have an inbuilt mistrust of carbon forks, especially at my weight on an MTB. Have them on the cx bike though as I'm a bit more careful/choosy on where I ride with that. Probably no need though if you have a look at martin Ashton's latest vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... ZmJtYaUTa0

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:05 pm
by novocaine
yer someone sent me that yesterday, i do wonder how many bits snapped. wouldn't want to see anybody else do what he did, he was always known for his light touch.

I run the on one steel forks, they are rather stiff but nothing i'm not prepared to ride with (they sit well on the inbred).

been looking at the exotic carbon forks for a while, still not made my mind up on them though, 465mm was exactly what i was looking at so thats good to know.

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:07 pm
by Woody
The exotics seem to get a good rep. I've had a few sets of Pace carbons and they've been fine, certainly a big improvement in comfort compared to the On_one rigids although the 29'er ones in the pic have a little more 'give'. Going to put on a bigger front tyre though, just to give a bit more cushioning.
Image

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 3:01 pm
by novocaine
yep, thats about the slack head angle i'm after for a nice relaxed ride over winter.

last winter, different tyres and gearing now (pesky peak district and your big hills)
Image
Weir out on one by i-novocaine, on Flickr

Re: A Little bike ride.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:26 pm
by Batmancaver
I think I'll stick with my Marin Wolf Ridge full susser.
Generally I keep the rear suss of 4" of travel for convenience but on occassion I have upped it to it's full 6" travel. Boy does that soak up the bumps going down but the problem is the bob sucks most of the energy when you then hit the ups and have to start pedalling!

When I next change bikes I'll probably find a nice full suss XC with lockout and anti-bob on it!

I've no intention of swapping just yet, especially after just swapping a few damaged bits this week, that was my Xmas present early I think!!

I'll be out with the family this weekend for a smaller ride. I need to find somewhere that's really nice and muddy for the kids to get stuck in! Lots of choice in the Clwydians for that and I know some really nice boggy patches!