The biking thread

I do remember looking at that post and have been studying somewhat ready for tougher terrain, thanks for the reminder though 👍. I've been wussing out with the weather, though more because my lights still haven't arrived and I'm a little worried without a red blinker I won't be easily seen in downpour by the time I get home with the sunsetting. I'm away again this weekend but hoping to get some saddle time before leaving.

Thanks for reminding me about Strava too, I'll look it up right now.

Sounds like you have a very tough task this weekend then, I'll think of you when I raise my first pint of the day :lol:.
 
There will be lots and lots of beer for me too but not until I get home :P

PSA for UK peeps: It's Aldi cycling Thursday tomorrow and this time they've got some decent and very very cheap winter gear, I'll be there at 8am tomorrow when they open to get the Winter (softshell) Cycling Jacket, Cycling Rain Jacket, Winter Cycling (tights) Trousers & Winter Cycling Socks. All the bike stuff is meant to be good apart from the Merino top as it's only 30% merino wool.

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/offers_week39Thursday12.htm

Also tomorrows Daily Mirror has a voucher for £5 off when you spend £35

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/buy...7sept-voucher-for-5-off-35-spend-aldi-1321081
 
Neal
My 60km endurance event is this Saturday and it's going to be even muddier and harder going after the month worth of rain we've had this week. I'm looking forward to it but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive. I'm hoping to do it in about 5 hours although it'll likely be closer to 6 :scared:
Click to expand...

Well that was hard....

My Strava app crashed so I haven't been able to log the ride but according to other Strava users it was about 63km and 1,800m climbing but it felt like more. To be honest I felt like Sisyphus for a lot of it especially the last loop in and around the Tarw which was sadistic in the extreme. I'm yet to get the official times but according to our watches I did it in 6 hours 50 minutes and my brother did it in 6:20 which I'm pretty proud about as he did the Evan's Coniston 48km ride in 4 hours and is far from slow. I really can't begin to describe how hard I found this, I was cramping badly 2 hours in and really considered sacking it off but I'm glad I stuck at it not least for the finishers mug :) Also the weather was great so didn't need to test my new Aldi gear but there was still lots and lots and lots of mud and very boggy rooty woodland. Amazing experience but I doubt I'll be doing it again.


EDIT: Me at the start and the route.

IMG_1158.JPG


IMG_1156.JPG
 
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Well done Neal :cheers:

That's a great achievement, I hadnt put two and two together and realised it would be so long on the bike :crazy:.

What was your strategy - did you tag along with similiarly paced riders or just slog it out at your own pace?

PS: Sweet looking helmet ;)
 
Nice one, Neal. 👍

Having just come back from a city I might be moving to I noticed there that everyone rides a bike because there aren't any mountains and...China.

It seems more dangerous to me when the roads are full of bikes than when they are populated by cars.
 
Great work Neal!

In my news, I may be getting a Frankin' MB. Colleague in work has a few old down hills he no longer used, all well spec'd though possibly dated. He's willing to put a hard tail together for me out of bits and pieces. I'll see if I can get a parts-list off him so I can "run it by a friend" before I commit to it.
 
Cheers lads :D

I thought it would take between 5 and 6 hours so I really wasn't expecting it to take that long. My strategy, which I kept to, was to do it all at my own pace and ignore what anyone else was doing around me as I'd just end up breaking myself otherwise. Towards the end I was going at the same pace with a few other riders which helped with moral and one in particular on the last hour really helped me keep my head together as I was properly throwing my toys out of the cot at the brutality of the route by then. We even had some fun when I gave up on getting home in one piece and went into full on death mode get me home now at all costs mode on the down bits which was hilarious and scary in equal measures...probably some of the best riding I've ever done those bits :D

By all accounts it was harder and longer than last year although I was ruined before the half way point so it would have still been hell. I've resigned myself to a life of being average now, there's no way I'll ever have the time or commitment to get fit enough to do something like this with ease although even the winner found it tough but then he did do it in 3 hours 21 minutes! http://mattpageracing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/coed-y-brenin-enduro.html

Also I want a new comfy skills compensator, my bike is too heavy and nowhere near bouncy enough by far. I'm planning on replacing the last bit of Halfords with a Carbon 456 as soon as I can get the notes together then start saving up for a 6 incher.


Evan - I'll give an opinion on the hardtail if you want.

p.s. Cheers Brad :cheers: It's Giro Feature and is very comfy and light 👍
 
The results are up and my offical time is 6h 49m 37s which put me 198th out of the 266 who finished the 60km route although there were 152 DNF's so if you add them behind me then it makes me average rather than below average.

Here's a photo of me about half an hour in, the others are rubbish of me further along the ride as I look in too much pain.

CyB%2520Enduro%2520original.jpg
 
This thread makes me feel weak. It also makes me wish I had a bit more dosh so I could make better use of my free time by going to picturesque places to ride.

On a riding-related note, I thought some of you may be interested by this:


Rode it yesterday. It's made by Smart (the car company), it's a pedelec (pedal-electric), and costs a slightly scary (to me, who doesn't really spend money on bikes) £2,495.

Basic specs, off the top of my head - 3 gears, four levels of assistance (plus four levels of resistance too, if you want a work-out) and Smart claims an assisted range of around 60 miles. I probably rode it 2-3 miles, varying between 2/3 out of 4 on the assistance.

It's good fun. For someone like me who doesn't ride often, the assistance is quite nice - makes hills a relative doddle, even though it's not one of those electric bikes with a "throttle" as such. You still need to pedal the whole time and speed is proportional to how hard you pedal, so it won't just fly up hills with no effort, but certainly makes it easier.

Top speed on the flat is 15mph, because legally any faster and it would need to be registered as a motorcycle. However, I suspect it'll go faster down hill, or if you leave it switched off with no input from the motor.

The battery can be recharged, but it's also kept topped-up every time you brake, a bit like an electric car. It uses a carbon belt drive, so it's pretty smooth and silent and if you wear jeans, like I do, it doesn't get oil all over them. Which is nice.

I suppose I can best describe it as the sort of bike that non-bike people like me can appreciate. It looks pretty swish, rides well, and I'd certainly go riding a lot more if I had one. I would have one, but sadly I can't afford it...
 
Well that was laughable. The judges must have something personal against the McCaul brothers for those stupidly low scores in comparison to everyone else. I was gutted for Soderstrom too, he's one of my favourite riders and he blew his chance at the overall FMB World title.
 
Shame Zink crashed during practice. Still amazing stuff preformed as always at Rampage. ^Even though Soderstrom didn't pull it off, I think that save on that last run was insane.
 
Finally back on pedal power today after illness for the past week or 2, I decided it was about time I left the road and got muddy. Cut in to some woods and had a go at some tough terrain with good results (i.e. I didn't fall off :lol:), only complaint is it was simply too overgrown on what use to be small trails so I couldn't get too far. I'll definitely be revisiting to practice my techniques, whilst continuing my search to find suitable off-road routes which aren't trespassing which I can ride too from home :lol:. I still felt like a kid in a candy store though, it may have only been 10 minutes worth of exploring but it was a taste of what I really want to do in the long term.

Also, belated congrats Neal 👍 I can only aspire to be able to finish something like that regardless of time.
 
Had the worst day of biking ever. Period.
Cycled to swim and went over a curb too hard and had the front tire's air blown out without a puncture. (Is that even possible?)
Then cycled with a half flat front tire to the mall for lunch then it started raining. So I crashed at my friend's place which was nearby and decided to wait for the rain to pass. BUT. I was switching my rear gears and that sent the chain straight to being stuck. And so I had to fix it in the stupid rain.
When I got back, I found out the front tube's valve was stuck in a bad position but I couldn't fix it. Then when I went to tighten all of the rear nuts (to make everything tighter to my chain wouldn't have a chance to stick again), my socket spanner got stuck and had the nut jammed within.

And then Dad saved the day! Yay Dad.:cheers:
 
Here is a helmet vid of me doing a run at the weekend. I have another one that I need to edit two parts of the run together, and will be uploading soon.

 
So here's the specs for the franken bike my colleague has offered. He's already assembled it (eager) and he's asking 200 quid for it as it's easier for him to sell to me as a whole than breaker it and ebay it. Opinions very welcome, without researching it all means nothing to me!

Frame - GT avalanche 7005 aluminium – 20”. Lime green – Nice !!

Forks - Marzocchi MX Comp wih ETA lockout – 100mm travel

Seat - WTB

Seatpost - Ritchey 27.2 x 400mm

Handlebars - Pretty sure they’re Race Face but may be wrong from memory.

Stem - Bontranger

Crank set - Truative XC 175mm, 44-32-22.

Pedals - DMR V8 flats

Brakes - Magura Julie’s – 180mm front, 160mm rear. A2Z frame adaptor for rear.

Rear Derailleur - Shimano LX

Front Derailleur - Shimano LX

Gear shifters - Shimano Deore

Cassette - Generic Shimano 9 speed – 13-32.

Front wheel - Shimano Deore hub, Bontranger rim, stainless spokes, Maxxis high roller 2.1” tyre.

Rear wheel - DMR revolver hub, Mavic 517 rim, stainless spokes, Maxxis high roller 2.1” tyre.
 
alpacaflip
Had fun on Sunday.
Click to expand...

Same here 👍

My Bike is finished so far:

foto191012180047.jpg


I spent saturday night assembling the Bike and went bed 1 am.

The next day i woke up at 6 and we drove to the Winterberg Bikepark.

foto211012075549.jpg


It was very warm and the weather was perfect, probably the last nice weekend of the year.
So it was very full and we had to wait about 20 to 30 minutes on the lift, but it was worth it!

foto211012144903.jpg


My Sunday was awseome!
 
Awesome stuff Cheersmate! How many runs do you get in a day there?

Thinking about buying a Rock Shox Domain dual crown for next season.
2wf66mf.jpg
 
If the weather is "not so great", you can do about 15 runs.
On that sunday it was very full, so we bought a ticket for 10 runs.
...
But after just 5 descents (is that the right term?) i lost my brakepads :scared:

foto211012152303.jpg


I got no idea how that could happen, but it did...

What kind of bike do you ride? That Yeti from your avatar picture?
 
Autumn is here so it's getting pretty muddy. It's a struggle most of the time, but the fun is worth it, obvously;)


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Sorry for the bad quality, but this is as good as it gets with my old phone:dunce:
 
Haven't posted here in a bit because its been same old same old with the commuting. I skipped the last few weeks because the difficulties of dressing for Autumn riding. Now that the winter is here I'm ready to get back on the bike.

Took a load of clothes into the office so I don't have to carry a bad everyday and have saught some winter riding gear to match my shoes.

Not much more to say until my gear arrives.
 
CheersMate
If the weather is "not so great", you can do about 15 runs.
On that sunday it was very full, so we bought a ticket for 10 runs.
...
But after just 5 descents (is that the right term?) i lost my brakepads :scared:

I got no idea how that could happen, but it did...

What kind of bike do you ride? That Yeti from your avatar picture?
Click to expand...

Awesome about how many runs down you can get. My friends brake pads did the same thing 2nd run on the last ride of the season. He crashed about 9 times because of it. Luckily he got some new brake pads at the bike shop next to the park and continued the fun.

Yes that is my Yeti DH9. I bought it from a professional female named Shanna Carlen. She gave me an amazing price for it, and I couldn't thank her enough.

2ik7jb9.jpg

Most recent picture of how it looks.

20121009-Bob%20Lowe%206.jpg

Shanna (2nd)

igjno2.jpg

My helmet cam view from the last ride of the season. On the race course, and gloomy sky before hurricane Sandy hit. Mountain Creek Bike Park.
 
Had an encounter with a woman walking her dog roughly a week ago...

The dog (so small that I'd barely even call it a dog) walked on her right side until I pulled over to pass them both from the left when the dog shot right across the road behind the owner's back. I pulled both brakes in panic, had time to realize "oh 🤬 not going to save this one" when I felt the rear wheel going up and during the next second or so performed a flawless OTB (Over The Bar for those not familiar) which resulted in me diving spectacularly to the ground and the bike crashing onto my back.

Then began the stream of nagging towards me: oh no, the dog doesn't do things like that, it never has, why did I ride so fast, why didn't I ring the bell etc etc etc and that was when I snapped pretty properly. My first words from the ground were along the lines of "get that :censored:ing furball the 🤬 off my face" (she didn't particularly like it) and when she accused me of braking too quickly I said that oh yes, of course I should have ran over the mutt and we'd both be a lot happier now (she didn't like that either) so you can guess how intelligent the rest of the conversation was. I quickly draw a conclusion that no matter what, she wouldn't admit that she's an idiot and her precious dog lacks any proper behaviour training so I decided to call it a day and left. Bike damage was limited to broken headlight fasteners (already glued together) and some paint chipping on brake levers (I'll paint them some day) so no serious harm done.

The funny thing is that I pulled all that off on polished hard packed icy snow. OTB on a very slippery surface, yes. You may ask how on earth and I'll answer Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro. The track on the road revealed zero slip, the tyre stopped on the very spot where I locked the front brake. :D
 
Greycap
Had an encounter with a woman walking her dog roughly a week ago...
Click to expand...
Glad to hear you came out of the relatively unscathed.

I have similar issues on a sea front cycle path in my city, but in addition to dogs there are children, scooters, rollerskaters and idiots. Just when you think they'll stay on the pedestrian side *Screeeeccchhhh*.
 
Greycap
The funny thing is that I pulled all that off on polished hard packed icy snow. OTB on a very slippery surface, yes. You may ask how on earth and I'll answer Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro. The track on the road revealed zero slip, the tyre stopped on the very spot where I locked the front brake. :D
Click to expand...

That's what I call performance:cool:

I also had a dog encounter recently. I came out of forest going down on a gravel/loose rocks road, no corners (doing 30-35kph). When I approached village where the first house is new and fence-less, which I knew, but paid no attention to it untill I saw a Great Dane... It saw me too, went to the road and stood there looking at me pointing it's tail to the sky (I would've 🤬 my pants if it barked). So I pulled the brakes stopping about 5m from the beast. I didn't know what to do so I stood there, pretending not to pay any attention to the dog, which was staring me down. I felt ridiculous. After about 3 mins dog became very bored with me and went back to it's yard peeing on it's favourite spots to define it's territory. I passed very cautiously and felt VERY relieved.:D

I'm not generally scared of dogs, but I have great respect to those that have 50kg+:lol:
 

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