XC in kent- Any willing volunteers!!!

andyturner28

Bmjboy wrote:

RussAlf wrote:

BMJBOY, Im really sorry i completly forgot about the GPS files that i was supposed ot email you. If you still want them then i will definalty get them to you this time. Or even better join us on a ride if was can arrange one.

Thanks Russ - But I think we have it sussed now. Our loop is only 7 miles, but takes in the climb through Boxley up towards Detling then up the very easterly edge of the woods. Your map/gps pics did help anyway in guiding us in the right direction.

Its very knackering for me at the moment, as my fitness (and fatness!) is still way off the mark, I wouldnt want to hold you guys up in any way, so I'll hold out on the offer for a little while until I can at least respectfully keep within sight of you guys!

BBH is great though imho, really do enjoy the downhill sections, although I must make a mental note to wear a LS top next time as Im tearing my arms open on the top section brambles and nettles!!

If you keep riding and eating properly the weight will soon fall off. It only took me just under 8 months to loose 4st (yes i still like to show off about that) but i was riding between 15 and 20 miles 5 days a week, so it takes a bit of dedication, not to mention a complete lack of a social life! BBH is a good place to do it though with all those hills, it's prety flat round these parts. Hope to see you on a ride soon.

andyturner28

RussAlf wrote:

Ive had my fair share of kite accidents, 2 broken ribs being the most serious. Been kitesurfing for 3 years now, these are my kites though the 12m and 7m have actually been replaced just not got any up to date photos.



Still not fixed my glasses guys, so you may never see them again. Wish i lived a bit closer to canterbury so i could jion you on the blean rides. I miss that place had some good rides there while my girlfriend was at uni there.

When we going to arrange a ride up at BBH?

BMJBOY, Im really sorry i completly forgot about the GPS files that i was supposed ot email you. If you still want them then i will definalty get them to you this time. Or even better join us on a ride if was can arrange one.

Wow those things are huge :shock: You gota give me a kit surfing lesson one day, i was watching some kite surfers in Minis Bay a couple of Weeks ago when we had that really strong wind, and they were f***ing fast! What sort of speeds do you get up to?

giantalkali

andyturner28 wrote:

RussAlf wrote:

Ive had my fair share of kite accidents, 2 broken ribs being the most serious. Been kitesurfing for 3 years now, these are my kites though the 12m and 7m have actually been replaced just not got any up to date photos.



Still not fixed my glasses guys, so you may never see them again. Wish i lived a bit closer to canterbury so i could jion you on the blean rides. I miss that place had some good rides there while my girlfriend was at uni there.

When we going to arrange a ride up at BBH?

BMJBOY, Im really sorry i completly forgot about the GPS files that i was supposed ot email you. If you still want them then i will definalty get them to you this time. Or even better join us on a ride if was can arrange one.

Wow those things are huge :shock: You gota give me a kit surfing lesson one day, i was watching some kite surfers in Minis Bay a couple of Weeks ago when we had that really strong wind, and they were f***ing fast! What sort of speeds do you get up to?

My gf's father is one of the minnis bay nutters.

Damn it! i just posted this to see if the quote thingy works (as advised i pressed the quote button, the same as i have been doing previously) and it still does not put the previous text in quote format! sorry if my posts tend to be confusing guys..

impished

GIANTALKALI wrote:

Damn it! i just posted this to see if the quote thingy works (as advised i pressed the quote button, the same as i have been doing previously) and it still does not put the previous text in quote format! sorry if my posts tend to be confusing guys

Check your profile and make sure BBCode is set to on.
I just tried quoting your last post and it work correctly for me, so I reckon your BBCode is set to off

Papa Smurf

Well, after closer inspection it seems I cannot fit my hydro's because of cable routing issues aswell as the fact that I'd then have to buy new shifters as atm I have integrated levers. Scoured chain reaction and there is only 3 that are 8spd :evil:

But as has been a underlying thought for a long time... I'm thinking about just getting a full suss purely for trail riding. Obviously money is tight so thinking about a GT I Drive from chain reaction. Yet to compare specs between the £600 and £700 one but hopefully oneday soon I may sporting a nice shiny bike to wreck...

My main thinking is that I'm getting really into mountain biking now more than ever, and I quite frankly need something more comfy because my hardrock bloody kills me

impished

Why don't you repost this on the workshop forum or general. There's bound to be someone ith a suggestion for either fitting the hydro's or which full-susser will make you the fastest rider in the world

RussAlf

papa you can proberly buy some used 8 spd shifters for dead cheap, try posting a wanted ad on here or the singletrack website. I did have some xt 8 speed shifters and i sold them for £10.

Papa Smurf

impished wrote:

Why don't you repost this on the workshop forum or general. There's bound to be someone ith a suggestion for either fitting the hydro's or which full-susser will make you the fastest rider in the world

Yeah I've posted my topic now and when it comes to fitting the hydro's I really cant fit them to my hardrock. The cable routing would be too wrong and the rear brake hose would end up where I accidentally put my cable last time (wrong side of the stem - it snapped the cable)
Plus rather than spending more money on it, I'd rather just get a proper trail bike.

Oh and I don't wanna be the fastest rider in the world.. Just able to catch Russ, who would probably be screaming at Sam HIll/Steve Peat at the time shouting "get the f*ck out my way!"

RussAlf wrote:

papa you can proberly buy some used 8 spd shifters for dead cheap, try posting a wanted ad on here or the singletrack website. I did have some xt 8 speed shifters and i sold them for £10.

The shifters I have are brand new, brought them off Supersonic on here. Love them to bits and as mentioned above, I'd prefer a bike soley for trail riding and keep my hardrock for college and work.

Papa Smurf

Well it's 99% official, I'm about to become the proud owner of a GT I-Drive XCR5 for £500 quid! :shock:
Brand new too..

Find it rather funny how it's actually lighter than my hardrock... Knowing hardrocks aren't the lightest of bikes but even so.. There's a whole lot more frame work on the GT

RussAlf

Cool Jon another member of the full suss gang, they have good reviews!

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/i-drive-5-xcr-halfords-model-9901#review_body

How much do reckon your hard weighs? cant be to bad being specy.

Papa Smurf

I've no idea about actual weight, but ti's not light! Comparing the 2 it felt twice as heavy.
Titanium Alloy frame too which I think probably weighs a fair bit, not like my other hard tail frame.. That's so light it fly's better than a butterfly

RussAlf

Hey Guys,

Heres the Helmet Camera Video From Swinley, ive been trying to upload a better quality version with the help of Ades hosting site but unfortunalty i need to split it into 2 parts to do this and i cant do this till im next back in work on thursday. So you will have to live with the poor quality version untill then, i can however send dvds out on request of full quality versions which look 100times better.

View the video in "double size" which you can select by clicking on the Google Video button in the bottom right of the video window. Any bigger than this and the video quality looks shocking due to the encoding and fast moving pictures.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7835209673089426875&hl=en

Enjoy! Tell me what you think.

Russ

pittpony

500 quid?! Bargain!!

A titanium alloy frame should be quite light as titanium is a very light metal but i suppose it depends what else they use it with and of course the components. I always found my carbon hardtail heavier than i expected as the wheels weren't the lightest. Anyway welcome to the full sus club. You won't regret it 8)

Papa Smurf

pittpony wrote:

500 quid?! Bargain!!

A titanium alloy frame should be quite light as titanium is a very light metal but i suppose it depends what else they use it with and of course the components. I always found my carbon hardtail heavier than i expected as the wheels weren't the lightest. Anyway welcome to the full sus club. You won't regret it 8)

Well since being run over I've had to replace my front wheel, which weighs a ton on it's own. Then I shaved off a few pounds with RaceFace cranks and MG1 pedals but soon put it all back on with my Tora's!
Plus I have to use Slime tubes in it because of how many punctures I get.. They dont help!

impished

Titanium alloy? Did I miss something? Have you bought a Merlin Malt? Which bike has the Titanium?

P.s. Russ, I'd like to book a DVD copy please. I'll have a try at FTP'ing tonight. Might make uploading 300mb a bit easier :roll:

Papa Smurf

impished wrote:

Titanium alloy? Did I miss something? Have you bought a Merlin Malt? Which bike has the Titanium?

P.s. Russ, I'd like to book a DVD copy please. I'll have a try at FTP'ing tonight. Might make uploading 300mb a bit easier :roll:

My hardrock. I could be wrong but have read the sticker many times and am sure, at least my mind makes me think I'm sure... That it says Titanium Alloy.
And the GT isn't mine yet... The guy cant make up his mind now about selling it or not..

Oh well, worst comes to worst I'll end up paying full price for it..

impished

You got a piccy of the label, cos I don't think there ever was a Hardrock made out of titanium :?

pittpony

Russ - loved the video mate. Great soundtrack, especially the chemical brothers

andyturner28

Papa, i can tell you with 100% curtainty that your Hardrock is absolutely NOT made out of titanium! Sorry mate but i burst out laughing at that one. I don't think Specialized has ever made a ti frame, they jumped straight on the carbon bandwagon (or were they the first?) years ago.
Hope you get the GT, that's a realy good bike and has got some verry good reviews. And at £500 it's an absolute bargain! I always find myself having a good look at that every time i have to go into Halfrauds.

Russ- I am having loads of trouble with my broadband at the moment and can't watch any videos for more than 30seconds before it locks up, so if it's OK to send me a DVD that'll be fantastic. What format do you record in though? I don't think my DVD player can read + or -RW disc's.

deadpool2e

Russ loved the vids, cannot wait to see them in better quality.

Papa Smurf

Andy, it's probably my other bike then. I'm certain I have a sticker saying titanium alloy on one of my bikes and the frame is so light you dont really know when your carrying it. If I had the money and the knowledge I'd make it into a full bike.. It'll probably never happen though..

And as for the vid, despite the fact I missed Swinley because of not being able to get on here.. I do notice one thing.
Why is it, that whenever what looks like a especially tricky bit.. Russ seems to get faster

impished

:? Why on earth have you got a Ti frame and not using it? :roll: That's like driving a 2CV but having a Porshe in the garage :shock: Are you mad or dilusional :evil:
Must've cost you a fair few quid?

Papa Smurf

impished wrote:

:? Why on earth have you got a Ti frame and not using it? :roll: That's like driving a 2CV but having a Porshe in the garage :shock: Are you mad or dilusional :evil:
Must've cost you a fair few quid?

Well it came as a whole bike and the frame is the only good bit.. All the other parts either snapped or fell off after a few weeks, including the forks.
And yeah I must be delusional because if I had a porsche... I'd sell it.
The frame would of cost me about £300 but it was end the range and in a 50% clearance. I would put all my spesh bits on it but the main trouble is it was brought in haste and is a 20" frame. Not knowing much about sizing I had no idea those extra inches could put me in so much pain.

Bmjboy

andyturner28 wrote:

If you keep riding and eating properly the weight will soon fall off. It only took me just under 8 months to loose 4st (yes i still like to show off about that) but i was riding between 15 and 20 miles 5 days a week, so it takes a bit of dedication, not to mention a complete lack of a social life! BBH is a good place to do it though with all those hills, it's prety flat round these parts. Hope to see you on a ride soon.

Sorry Andy, I completly missed your post, so responding now!

There is no other way to get fit or lose weight in my opinion, I just have to get on the bike and do it. One thing Im already finding is that my recovery is quicker, although Im out of gas still on the longer climbs and have to take a breather.

I dont eat that badly to be honest, unlike others I know, its probably years of a desk job and a more lazy lifestyle have taken its toll.

Im doing BBH twice a week which is currently lung-busting on the hills, we did a longer route of 10miles yesterday and found a great downhill at the westerly edge of the woods (makes the climbing worth it!)

Im now going to introduce some simple higher mileage road rides in between to get longer workouts in for a bit more variety.

I shot a couple of vids along the top section on an old Sony phone the other week, wheres the best place to upload these for people to have a gander?

deadpool2e

Bmjboy wrote:

andyturner28 wrote:

If you keep riding and eating properly the weight will soon fall off. It only took me just under 8 months to loose 4st (yes i still like to show off about that) but i was riding between 15 and 20 miles 5 days a week, so it takes a bit of dedication, not to mention a complete lack of a social life! BBH is a good place to do it though with all those hills, it's prety flat round these parts. Hope to see you on a ride soon.

I shot a couple of vids along the top section on an old Sony phone the other week, wheres the best place to upload these for people to have a gander?

Pinkbike is quite good or you tube.

impished

Get yourself signed up to Pinkbike.com
I reckon most bikers on here use Pinkbike to host their piccs and vids.

Bmjboy

Here we go....

Second outing to BBH

Filmed on an old Sony K800i with an elcheapo bike mount on the handlebars.

Dont forget, we're only noobs to offroading and I was knackered, so dont take the p*ss too much!

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/34834/

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/34833/

BTW theres no sound, no doubt I can overlay something suitable like the theme tune to Steptoe and Son!

RussAlf

Pinky Bike wouldnt work yesterday for me, hence why my vid is on google.

Grrrr

RussAlf

Cool vid Bmjs, trying to remember them in my head now. Looks like you got some good speed upon those sections. Did a rock go into someones shin?

Bmjboy

Cheers Russ - not the greatest quality, the originals are a bit better, so might try Youtube to get a better quality.

The area is the top of the woods from Detling to about mid-way along just north of Boxley. The downhill is then from there coming out at the road on the top of Boxley village.

Yeh speed wasnt to bad up along that top section (for me anyway), its the downhill that Im not blistering on, theres a very loose top surface on the part of the downhill, and that clay gully which always makes me slow down. No doubt that will improve.

Wasnt a rock which went into my mate Andy's shin, it was a long branch/twig which he rolled over and one end flicked up and the pointy end speared his shin on the the downhill. Didnt look like much, but it bloody hurt him apparently. Because his wheel was on the other end meant there was some force going into his leg, sheer fluke if you ask me, you'd never be able to recreate it.

On another note, what tyres do you guys run around there? - Im on Kenda Blue Grooves and im sliding quite a bit, any suggestions on anything better, or its that about right?