XC in Cornwall - any willing volunteers ?

billynobates

allthegearnoidea wrote:

that was the cornwall club guys doing Yestins ride! (lives in St.c) should have joined in!!
(link in my sig should take you to the club page and regular meets on the meet sheet!)

Well i was thinking of bringing my bike, anyway i'll be back down in the Autumn so i'll see if we can maybe meet up then....enjoy the sunshine and keep riding guys

FSR_XC

Well I live 3 miles from St Columb, so feel free to message me when you are down.

billynobates

Cheers, i'll do that..

allthegearnoidea

well idless is very churned up but a lot of fun in the bits i made! half way across the top loop i snapped a mech hanger! joy, pushed along the top and then freewheeled down the techy bit down tot he carpark (dont need gears for that!), had a look and appear that the mech stop on the top pivot bolt had spun over again (the cause of the snapped hanger last time) and actually removed a section of the stop! :shock: so had to call it a day for the woods, but looked and figured as long as it isnt hit i would be rideable! (must have caught it in one of the deep ruts on the top section left form the MXers) made it home okay so not too bad but my trusty old XT mech is now Toast! have used it to make my old spare deore mech serviceable and dare i say it, on the bike its smoother than the old Xt one! 8) just doesnt look as cool! :roll: haha! but its useable for Andy's epic next week!

so off it is to get another couple of mech hangers in stock for the bag and shed! :roll:

Dazzza

Yeah i've seen the aftermath, it's not pretty see i did tell you that place would be iffy.

We managed 27.7 miles in 3h27m but it was slow going, we had a big guy who's apparently the black sheep of the club and stirred up problems in the past so they leave him carry on riding and whining trouble is he was holding up the ride for everyone!!!

Having some pear rattler for now while the sunday roast settles down, i'll probably nip out again in an hour or two as i enjoyed it a lot but i fancy something a bit more technical than this mornings effort, if you could call it that..........

allthegearnoidea

well i had a cracking evening in flushing today, Sat in the sailing club wathching the boats finish the fowey-falmouth race and pops did very well finishing 5th over all (35 made the trip down, donw on a few years back when i used to do it, usedto get 50+ down and normally 150+ up as the falmouth boats join in for that)
but a really good evening,m caught up with osme old sailing mates that have just done the fastnet race, and had plenty of booze! enough to forget about this mornings ill fated efforts hahah!

will try and scoot out during the week to take the littlun out and about, and will see how much spare cash i have for a new rear mech too!! 8)

Dazzza

Whilst i went and tacoed my front wheel, trued it as best i can and left it as it was getting late, going to have another play tomorrow, it's close to straight i just need to play with the spokes a bit to get it perfect or near as, i can't afford to bugger this wheel up.

allthegearnoidea

how have you screwed this wheel up dazz?? its only a couple of weeks old??
cable tie on the fork leg snipped so its tight on ht erim helps a lot with trueing!

Dazzza

Don't know if it's screwed, i did a really good job of it though i think a rock in bissoe must have bounced off it.

I've got it close to straight now with just a slight deviation, i was getting closer as i went on, changing spoke tensions here and there, it's quite an art, when you adjust one, it's best to do the pair as they cross, then that affects a pair opposite on the same side not to mention having to adjust the pair on the other side to boot.

It's fiddly but im getting there, im sure ricci would say it's no good as im using spoke tention to straighten it, it's time consuming but im getting there, fingers crossed though eh!.

allthegearnoidea

i'm suprised dazz, i know a lot of the guys that have xc bikes that ride bissoe way Hard and have no issues on DT rims!
odd one!

Surf-Matt

My DT rims (430s) have done around 5000 miles - both have needed trueing once and I did have the front one re-built (after a crash) but generally been very good.

A weekend of kayaking in Newton Ferrers - very pleasant. Nice swim (no wetsuit) too.

Dazzza

Well reviews said they can be damaged if you aren't too careful and the good bits in bissoe are pitted with rocks so it doesn't surprise me much, shame they didn't do a rim in between the 4.2 and 5.1, maybe that's what your 430's used to be.

Anyway it's going in bike chain to be sorted, got the worst of it done but the last bit is fiddly so id rather make sure it's done right.

Don't forget tim most use the 5.1 i went with the lightweight 4.2 which i don't see very often.

allthegearnoidea

dazz, 4.2 is a fair bit more common than that!` i think matt's 430 is the oem version! cant remember which site it was on but they had a list of OEM - over the counter as such comparisions,
i was just suprised you'd bent it so quick, know what you mean about the good bits being littered with the rocks though! Great if your on an 8" downhiller as dont really matter, but on a 4"xc bike is a lil different matter!!!

Dazzza

Yeah it was the sections at the top, not just stones but bloody large rocks/boulders i just think one must have pinged off, reviews have said they're prone to rock strikes anyway oh well.

So long as it keeps going till the end of the year or at least when my mot is sorted then im fine after that.

Actually come to think of it there was a forest section at the top, really badly rutted section which went up and down every 1-2ft im thinking maybe this did the brunt of the damage.

See this is what i get for being a faster rider lol oh well.

Im sure you feel the same way about your mech, i still have those cheap wheels i can throw on in an emergency, id really rather not though.

allthegearnoidea

haha! yeah i know the feeling woith the cheaper kit! sits there for an emergency but the bike tart within Refuses to allow it to be fitted! hahah!

the deore mech will no doubt be perfect shifting for Years to come but on the bling bike its just No good! hahah! on the other one it'll be fine! but i NEED bling! hahahah!

will see what takes tomorow and may mooch out over that way to see my mate up the industrial estate in st.day, but really fancy a Howl around tehidy too!!! hmmmn!

we'll see!

saw ricci on sunday, he was out with the junior roadies, looked a good crowd! had stopped at the bottom of chacewater (layby for a energy bar and drink) passed them as they all stopped at bike chain as was heading into town to meet the good lady!

Dazzza

Well those slx mechs look very nice, that nice black colour would be a good stealth look for your ride.

It's a big group at bissoe on sundays, im sure they don't know what to make of me, i guess it's because im very familiar with the cafe so i tend to walk around like i own the place.

I half expected the roadies to get all narky when i kept up with an mtb but they loved it and couldn't believe how i was keeping though to be fair i was asking myself the same thing.



Well tim wheel is now in ricci's, won't be back for at least wednesday/thursday so im half tempted to throw on me running gear tomorrow and find a nice soft patch to run on, last thing i need is to give the joints a hammering.

Id avoid the area as i'll be wearing tights, unless your that way inclined.

Actually tim, do you know of any nice areas to run on preferably not tehidy as that'll be a mudbath.

allthegearnoidea

i've got to admit though, i am not all that keen on the slx kit! i knwo its supposed to be very good, and its fairly priced but i just dont have a desire for it! i'd rather chuck £20 at an ebay xt mech same as the one thats died, (or £40 for a new one in crc)
if i didnt have the hydraulic pipe to sort ont he car i'd grab a xtr of crc for £70 but need the money for the car so can bring it home!
might just get some stickers of ebay for the mech ahhaha!

running wise only 'soft' place i know is Carn brea track! otherwise you have the tramway!

Surf-Matt

My SLX triple chainset is performing flawlessly so far. And no I didn't get it because it's black - honestly :oops:

The 430s are OEM and seem to be pretty good - but then I don't do many drops/jumps and I'm only 11.5 stone so probably don't give them too much stick.

allthegearnoidea

well they say it comes in 3's so hopefully thats it for me now!!!
had a great blast around tehidy earlier, Nice and dry and fast rolling, great, had a good stonk around despite it feeling like the bike was heavy, and tyres draggy, and me not able to ride for toffee, but pulled out a fast round gfor the 3 tracks, headed out the woods and down to gwel an more for the fast bridleway into portreath, cracking on some good speed, top 20's, just entering the shady section where the drop used to be when hidden in amongst some horse poo was a B#stard great rock! who ever planted it there really needs a good smack in the chops!! Massive Bang which hurt and was enough of a thump to turn the gps off(30.9 recoreded before i hit the rock!)!! and as i dropped out of the path onto the hill and attempted the corner the front went all washy! great pinchflat, C'est la vive, pull aorund the corner to the path wip front out etc. notice backs flat too! Not happy! good job i carry two spare tubes hey! Then the pump goes and spits the threaded cap of when it gets up to pressure! fantastic!
fortunately manage to borrow a pump of some friends that live there to get them up to pressure,
so with the mech hanger going and my mech dying, a double pinch flat and my pump breaking i am hoping thats my 3 for now!

anyways, backup through the woods witht he funky tunes on after a nice cuppa and ice cream at the cafe and all is good again hahah!

oh and the lil deore mech perfromed Faultlessly! damn it lol! easy slick shifting up and down no mossed cogs at al! hmmn, do i need to get a new one??? :? may be i'll remove the D of it and have an Eore rear mech !

Surf-Matt

Nice work Timmo! I think I would have given up and walked!

30.9 is a hell of a speed to crash at!!

allthegearnoidea

tell me about it!! was quite suprised i didnt land int he hedge hahah! was off the back of the saddle as its a fast run down but had i been sat on it i suspect it could have been rock wobble hedge game over lol!

gotta drop the pump down for a replacement one day this week, but think i'll pop out in the car as the weathers not looking so rosey hahah!

Surf-Matt

Scamera alert!

A39 to Truro just after the overtaking lane - as you pass over the brow of the hill.The scamera van is at the bottom.

I think it MIGHT have got me (was doing very roughly 75ish but not totally sure - slowed down immediately to under 60) - DOH!!!

allthegearnoidea

OOOOPS!

Dazzza

Fingers crossed, remember after two weeks you have got away with it, so it's an escort van i assume, he usually hides on top of the zelah hill climb where every bugger makes a mad dash for it, always did wonder where he went to.

Tim you're not the only one with problems, as i thought the wheel is completely mullered so left it at ricci's to be built with a mavic xc717 and dt rev spokes, ricci said both them and hope have had problems with that particular rim, seems they're a bit fragile, hope are meant to be doing away with that rim on their hope hoops, shame as i loved the ride it was very agile.

But at least i have my oakley hydrophobic coating kit, should keep mist from staying on the lenses which was my only gripe with them.

Oh christ im only two strikes up tim, and i have the mot this week, im really hoping that won't be my third time unlucky.

Surf-Matt

Dazza - it was some sort of Vivaro type van (or similar). Sneaky gits.

Today's bike issue? Lost my Spesh "Pro" mitts so tried to buy some more - everyone has run out. So spent the extra (£26) on the gel ones - put them on and they seemed a bit tight but rode in them anyway - far too much padding made them a bit uncomfortable. Got back, took them off and they ripped!

So sending them back. Darn! My spare gloves are useless!

allthegearnoidea

glad its not just me then lol! so your rim was completely screwed then dazz?? very odd as dt are normally pretty spot on!

Matt, lost one of my gloves yesterday but only noticed as we left friends place in portreath! gutted but knew i had it when i got to the cafe and fortunately someone had left on the waterfront pub's advertising bike! many smiles returned to the face then!! you should have nipped to tesco and got the weight lifting ones for a fiver! alright for spares!

goignt to try and get out wiht the littlun tomorow depending on the weather (looks a lil damp AM but should be nicer PM) so need to nip down and exchange my pump this evening as wont have anywhere to store it with the backpack on! and we all know how sods law works loL!

Dazzza

Yeah well near as, they could get them better but not straight at all so pretty much buggered.

Reviews on mtbr are a mixed bag some love, whilst others don't even 55kg whippets are breaking them it seems.

I think all 3 of us shouldn't go out this week at all after all the hassle we've had.....

allthegearnoidea

hahah! that could be a good plan in the making there dazz!

FSR_XC

Matt

There's a road ride from Bissoe at 6.30pm on Friday if you're interested.

Surf-Matt

Sorry Mark, forgot to reply to this!

I think I'll be surfing later - a big swell has come in!

Do you guys ride regardless of weather? And do you have any tips for getting cars to NOT pass about 6 inches from you at 70++?! Tending to use the MTB for morning rides as the road route is just a bit too hairy in rush hour traffic. Trying to get the road miles in at the weekend though.

Our MTB morning ride is very quiet and traffic free - but about 30% of it would trash a road bike!

Oh and I found my lost mitts - in a very rarely used Camelbak pocket - phew!