XC in kent- Any willing volunteers!!!

deadpool2e

So what time we meeting on sunday at Swinley??

and whos coming?

RussAlf

stevet1992 wrote:

yep i have thought of that and im going to put off ordering the forks for another month and get a uturn fork so i can crank it down to 100mm for the vulcan and then when i do get it crank it back up to 130mm

ill just have to space the steerer tube above and below like hell when i put them on the vulcan as to give me enough length to cut them propely for the 456 8)

so it looks like this months paycheck is going to be spent on a new rear tyre

EDIT: how about http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vertu-Ascent-Ti-R ... 240%3A1318 for a new phone then andy ? you could mount it to your bars aswell

Save your money Steve, youve just bought high rollers havnt you? I doubt for the money you have just spent notice a big enough difference to notice the extra traction from a mud tyre. If i was you i wouldnt bother knowing you have limited cash. Dont be influenced by Andy, he carrys more spares than an F1 pit crew and has been known to carry spare tyres around with him if its muddy Just get out a ride.

Also Toras are travel adjustable up to 130mm, the fixed travel ones just require taking apart and having a spacer removed. Though save for the u turns its nice and easy.

andyturner28

RussAlf wrote:

stevet1992 wrote:

yep i have thought of that and im going to put off ordering the forks for another month and get a uturn fork so i can crank it down to 100mm for the vulcan and then when i do get it crank it back up to 130mm

ill just have to space the steerer tube above and below like hell when i put them on the vulcan as to give me enough length to cut them propely for the 456 8)

so it looks like this months paycheck is going to be spent on a new rear tyre

EDIT: how about http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vertu-Ascent-Ti-R ... 240%3A1318 for a new phone then andy ? you could mount it to your bars aswell

Save your money Steve, youve just bought high rollers havnt you? I doubt for the money you have just spent notice a big enough difference to notice the extra traction from a mud tyre. If i was you i wouldnt bother knowing you have limited cash. Dont be influenced by Andy, he carrys more spares than an F1 pit crew and has been known to carry spare tyres around with him if its muddy Just get out a ride.

Also Toras are travel adjustable up to 130mm, the fixed travel ones just require taking apart and having a spacer removed. Though save for the u turns its nice and easy.

Ha ha, my rear tire was virtually bald and had a split in the sidewall, and it weighs nothing so why not. Did you manage to get Sunday off work? Oh and is that Powerball doing anything yet? My wrist's and forarm's have been acheing a lot lately.

RussAlf

No ive not got Sunday off, powerball is definitely doing something its getting easier and i can last longer

stevet1992

RussAlf wrote:

Save your money Steve, youve just bought high rollers havnt you? I doubt for the money you have just spent notice a big enough difference to notice the extra traction from a mud tyre. If i was you i wouldnt bother knowing you have limited cash. Dont be influenced by Andy, he carrys more spares than an F1 pit crew and has been known to carry spare tyres around with him if its muddy Just get out a ride.

Also Toras are travel adjustable up to 130mm, the fixed travel ones just require taking apart and having a spacer removed. Though save for the u turns its nice and easy.

ive only got 1 high roller right now which is on the front, the rear tyre is a an advantage 2.1 as i did have to use it to ride into school

im not going to bother getting the forks right now, ill save up for a u-turn version

breezer

"has been known to carry spare tyres around with him if its muddy" that is hilarious

I normally only sleep 7 hours max but I went to bed at 11 last night and didnt wake up till 11 this morning. Clearly a lack of sleep on NYE coupled with yesterdays ride caught up on me! Suppose I should go and clean the bike now.

Also as its now 2009 and not 2008, by my calculations its been an entire year since I bought anything for the bike(s) so time to fix that :P

Bmjboy

RussAlf wrote:

powerball is definitely doing something its getting easier and i can last longer

Been looking at those Russ, are they any good? - I bought some Press-Up bars a few days ago to build arm and grip strength up, hard going at the moment!! :oops:

I might be getting my bike back tomorrow - Woohoo! - Fixed brake and all new bling for 2009.

breezer

Ah good news for you. I presume you will be straight down Bedgebury?

Bmjboy

breezer wrote:

Ah good news for you. I presume you will be straight down Bedgebury?

I'll probably kick off on Sunday with a quick local loop to make sure everything is fine, do some road work through the week and hit the trails next weekend.

Opening up the business on this Monday, so got a bit to do from now to ensure a "smooth" day on Monday! (lesson learned harshly from last year!)

Looking forward to trying my new XT drivetrain though, next upgrade is my wheels and I guess forks. I want to be light as a feather for the enduro!

Looking at the current spend, its probably easier to buy a new bike! (or frame!)

breezer

What is your business?

ah, never add up things unless you are being really serious about money or want a shock ie I added up my CRC spending before, that was quite painful. I can just about justify the Turner as I got the frame 2nd hand so my build cost was about a grand less than if it was all new and its better spec and lighter than bikes of a similar cost heh. I compete in motorsport as well which is also expensive, took 2008 off but 2007 I detailed every cost so I knew exactly where I was at. When you speak to most people about that sort of thing they always somehow dismiss vital stuff like petrol etc which can be £40 an event including getting there and back. I guess they do that so their partners think they are spending less heh

Bmjboy

I sell packaging online, to Ebayers, Amazon users and other fairly big clients too, just done a big project for Man Utd. January (from past years) is always a very busy month so need to be prepared.

I really like my frame, so should really just wipe the prices out of my head. Now Im into biking more seriously AND with the enduro we've entered, im spending most of time thinking (READ: DAYDREAMING) on how to improve my bike and chances of improvement. Biking truly is an endless spending of money as theres always something to buy.

My mate Andy has the exact same bike as me, but with new Mavic wheels from Merlin and his bike weighs LOADS less than mine, which is pushing me to look for new wheels in the next couple of months.

Im inclined to leave the bike as is for now (easier said, with credit card sitting on desk!) as a heavier bike is better for training in my mind.

I have no idea about forks, got RockShox J2 from stock, and I rarely inspect them or do anything with them. Im sure someone will suggest what I could benefit from fitting(?).

For my training I think I will visit Bedgebury more (dont hurt me! ) - purely as you can put some proper laps down, I find Swinley too disjointed to create a constant non-stop lap (although infinitly more fun!). I never seem to leave Swinley tired, whereby I can knacker myself out at Bedge.

breezer

Different kind of business but one that will always be needed which is good, cant send stuff without packaging!

Firstly bedgebury. I was thinking about it the other day, when it first went in it had great flow. The end section was the other way round so it was as true lap with no using that fireroad twice and I could do 2 laps in 48 minutes each. These days I would be lucky to do a single lap in under 1hr 10 and every time ive been there in the last year or so, its never amused me enough to want to do a second lap! When I go there on night rides we just session some of the downhills near the start and occasionally fireroad up to the north of the forest to do some of them, then there is the unmarked bit a mile or so long back towards the car park, thats fun with this one corner that just seems like it keeps turning beyond 360 degrees which I love.

As with every possible purchase for a bike it depends on many things ie budget, whats current travel on the bike and therefore intended angles, do you require QR or can your hubs be convereted to maxle or the utterly pointless qr15 etc. Most companies put a limit on how much extra travel you can run before voiding a warranty and ban things like triple clamps but thats not relevant here heh. If yours is a 100mm designed frame then you could run up to 120 with a big of sag quite happily or something a bit more with travel adjust. My old Azonic was 100mm and I put some Fox Talas on it that were 130/110/90, left them at 110 for most of the time, 130 for downhill and 90 for the ups and they were brilliant. There is also differences in axle to crown height, Fox's are short so at 110 were only actually 4-5mm higher than my old Rebas, iirc every 25mm is approx a degree off the head angle and will slow it down but 1 deg would be fine

impished

breezer wrote:

... then there is the unmarked bit a mile or so long back towards the car park, thats fun with this one corner that just seems like it keeps turning beyond 360 degrees which I love.

It's a shame that the best part of Bedgebury is an unmarked "secret" trail :roll: And that corner is one of the best singletrack turns I've ever had the pleasure of riding! As you say, it just keeps turning. If only the rest of it flowed/drained as perfectly as that :evil:

pittpony

Oh cr@p, 2009 has started badly! I let slip to some that i was going to eat more healthily and drink less this year, and have so far spent the majority of 2009 in the pub! Someone please give me a kick up the ass, i need to grow up :oops: Ah, think i'm out tonight too...

9am is when KT start riding on Sunday. Andy - will pick you up about 7 :shock:

Ben - for arm strength i swear by press ups. You don't really have to do that many and i fit them in with my back exercises. I do 75 probably about 4/5 times a week and i genuinely think it helps with the riding

breezer

The first bit of that trail has the odd mud sections but should be excellent now as no rain for a couple of weeks. I nearly binned it big time further down that track last time I was there though when I got the Inbred in a massive 2 wheel drift around one of the really fast corners, rather too close to some trees for my liking!

Although it buggers up the natural flow of a complete lap, reversing that end section was a good idea as that bits now great, especially after you cross the (omg how rutted) fireroad halfway down

HMM almost tempted to go up there Sunday now as it should be "dry" for Bedgebury although I dread to think what the ruts are like now!

Just remembered that I think this new bit is open now, info was that it linked "sections 4 and 5" but I have no idea where they are! Investigating required I think

http://www.boarsonbikes.co.uk/galleries/021108/gallery_021108.html

pittpony

Love the avatar Ade

breezer

lol I have utterly pathetic arms and can litterally only do about 5 press ups!!!

I didnt make a resolution but just planned to drink less as I thought 2-3 beers a night was probably to much long term, this lasted until around 7pm last night

Bmjboy

pittpony wrote:

Ben - for arm strength i swear by press ups. You don't really have to do that many and i fit them in with my back exercises. I do 75 probably about 4/5 times a week and i genuinely think it helps with the riding

That was/is my plan to do just a few every day and build from there - my friend advised I use pressup bars to avoid any wrist problems further down the line.

Im currently rubbish at them (and Ive got a lot to lift! :oops: ) so am working on it.

Im sure the press ups will also help stomach and back strength.

I hark back to my Afan trip, but I was shocked at how bad my arms where on the DH sections, this must be improved greatly this year.

My new year regime hasnt properly started yet, but with all the chocolate we was given this year, Ive gotta give it away otherwise it WILL get eaten..... Chocolate orange anyone?

If anyone needs a kick up the 'arris, theres a spare place on our enduro team for July, would be good if we could get a couple of teams in for morale. Or are you all girls?

pittpony

I'd definitely be up for an endurance race. Maybe a couple of competing XC in Kent teams could make it interesting

For stomach exercises i highly recommend a stability ball. You can really 'feel the burn' with one of those!

If i used mine more i'd have abs (plural), rather than one single ab

Papa Smurf

Dont suppose anyone can make sense of what Nick replied here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12600447

In idiot terms please

Bmjboy

pittpony wrote:

I'd definitely be up for an endurance race. Maybe a couple of competing XC in Kent teams could make it interesting

Nick - Check out http://www.twentyfour12.com/ We're in the 24hr Open Male category.

It was £168 for the team (5 places) you can enter as a "fun" team but need 6 or more riders. I actually emailed the organisers to check the the open category was fine for noobs, they said yes and its a very relaxed event to break our racing cherry.

Everything Ive read points to this event being fun and welcoming to newcomers and riders of all abilities, plus they have a disco in the middle of the forest to ride through!!

Im sure between a few other forum members here a team could be mustered. Will be a laugh... well, maybe not at 4am when his pi*sing down and its your turn to ride!

Bmjboy

Papa Smurf wrote:

Dont suppose anyone can make sense of what Nick replied here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12600447

In idiot terms please

To me its read "Its fine, buy it"

Facing is a shop done thing to square up your BB shell to ensure no wobble and everything is true. (read up on it a while ago)

Therefore, you could buy it, but will need your LBS to fit it first time around.

deadpool2e

Papa Smurf wrote:

Dont suppose anyone can make sense of what Nick replied here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12600447

In idiot terms please

What he means is it comes with the BB but its not a Octalink one, thats why you will need the BB Facing so it sits flush.

impished

I got so jealous of you lot with your new bike... I got one too :twisted:

I'll whack a piccy up later...

pittpony

impished wrote:

I got so jealous of you lot with your new bike... I got one too :twisted:

I'll whack a piccy up later...

Details??

Are you riding Sunday Ade?

breezer

BB facing....use a big file, thats what ive done for 4 frames and never had an issue heh

stevet1992

impished wrote:

I got so jealous of you lot with your new bike... I got one too :twisted:

I'll whack a piccy up later...

lucky b**tard

has anyone got a clue how you can mount a smartphone to the handlebars? :roll: treated myself to a new phone today so all i need now is a bluetooth gps and some map software :twisted:

PS: guys you've got an hour to convince me what pedals are better before i make a buying decision :P SPD's or flats ........ GO

oo yeh 300 by the way

impished

pittpony wrote:

impished wrote:

I got so jealous of you lot with your new bike... I got one too :twisted:

I'll whack a piccy up later...

Details??

Here's a piccy...

And yes... you can have a honk of my pink-horn

pittpony wrote:

Are you riding Sunday Ade?

No, cant' make it Gotta do, hopefully, the last of the chrimbo extended-family visits.

Bmjboy

stevet1992 wrote:

PS: guys you've got an hour to convince me what pedals are better before i make a buying decision :P SPD's or flats ........ GO

I think Im in on time....

SPD's - More attached to bike on hariy downhills, much better for pedalling technique. I love mine, had riding on flats now.

Papa Smurf

stevet1992 wrote:

PS: guys you've got an hour to convince me what pedals are better before i make a buying decision :P SPD's or flats ........ GO

Flat! Would you realy wanna be clipped in on the DH's?!

Wellgo MG-1's and DMR V12's are both very good.

Oh and thanks for the explanations everyone.. I'll make a decision 2morrow me thinks..