Goodridge gear cables...

Look what arrived today in the post...



They'll be fitted to the hardtail in the next few weeks and given a good going over for the next 6 months as part of the 'Longtermer' section of Wideopen... the idea being this bike takes more of the all mountain all year all weather beating - if they last on this they'll last on most.

First impressions?
Very beefy outer, the braiding makes it very stiff. The 'black' PTFE coating looks pretty trick on the cable itself, shame it'll be hidden completely! Yup this set includes the blue tubing to allow you to completely enclose the cable from end to end!
Good stuff.

Spring back in my step

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After the fantastic weather of the past few weeks the start of this one was a lot less promising with overcast skies and rain. Today however was bright - and warm - but the moist ground made the going humid for the 4 regulars who turned out this evening.

Leo, Jon, (a late) Chris and myself did the usual circuit and after a whizz down Charity Lane braved the woods despite the recent weather.

I was back on board the full bouncer with Jon's old rear wheel bodged on to the Coiler Dee-lux. To be honest I was dreading the weight on the climbs but although I found it hard I didn't really struggle. Hitting Charity Lane on it though was divine! I know I bang on about hardtails a fair bit but you'd struggle to keep pace with a full susser on full tilt, hairy, lairy and a little bit scary I loved every second of each bull dozed badly chosen but very fast line! Great fun I couldn't stop pedalling.

The woods were a little slippery if you ventured off the trail into the grass (as I found out on the descent back to the road - nicely held) but either the roots were grippy as hell or I was going too fast to notice... I'd like to think the latter but who knows as I was going ahead to take photos!

So now I'm weighing up my options. I can get a set of XT hubs with DT5.1 rims for about half the price the Pro2s with Mavic EN321s come out at... decisions decisions... the one thing that's certain is I'll definitely be out on the full sus again soon.

Scotish Happenings - Summer IS here

Okay so this week is looking a bit dull but the weather is meant to pick up again for the weekend.
It's been a while since I last posted up on here (mainly due to exams) but here's a quick run down on whats been happening north of the boarder. For starters the Wideopen longterm test bike that I'm running has had a bit of a make over. The list of new parts is as long as your arm so I'll wait 'til I get a few photos of the final product before I tell you whats on there. It's like riding a whole new bike...
There's been more mini-bike childishness in the form of an afternoon at Glentress. The amount of fun that can be had on these things seriously makes you reconsider why we spend so much on proper bikes...

[WARNING: Video contains language that some may find offensive!]

Full run, chasecam style from Iain W on Vimeo.

Last weekend was spend at Innerleithen marshalling and watching round two of the NPS. Ran into our own man Mono up on the hill. He was up and down the track all weekend filming for Foot Out Flat Out

Is summer here? (probably not)

Wow 2 weeks of good weather now in Macclesfield - that's a record since last May (when we also had a really good early summer!)... it's transformed the forest from the usual winter slop to dry and dusty trails.

Charity Lane is really amazing. COMPLETELY different again tonight. The dry weather has meant it's dried out right down to the bottom layer I guess so that the rocky surface that's usually surprisingly grippy and solid was moving all over the place with the dust as a sort of lubricant! It had also dried out and made flat some really fast sections making them insanely quick with pedalling, especially between the two jumps. The bottom berm entrance is getting quite eroded though making line choice through there quite tricky. Awesome.

Then the dry weather meant Chris and I were tempted by the woody singletrack. I've not ridden it so dry for over 12 months I'm sure, even the boggy bit was rock solid and in the dry conditions the roots were SO grippy. Carrying speed through there pumping and carving the trail brought a smile back to my face and a yearning for a summer of dry evenings so we can continue to ride such awesome trails and such variety in a small space of time.

Might be out Monday too, and then again next Thursday.
Rock on.



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GT update

Was back at GT park on Monday, met a sound guy called Dennis from Oz, via London. Anyway we rode all day til my chain snapped, bending my rear mech, rear disc, and punting me over the bars - I was cranking out of the berm at the time, so catapulted myself into the ground, just a bruised palm (how random and was very annoyed at stopping riding pre 6pm!). Bike has new mech on, new NEW chain (SRAM sucks ass!), straightened the rear mech mount/hanger area and now need new front chain rings as they're well worn, money money money.

Anyways, before then I decided to start playing with the camera and get footage, seeing as I can't take stills of myself! Basic, but hey...

News update from Up North (the real north, lol)

A few updates from moi.
In brief:
The stinky will be up for sale today! The beast no more.

New Commencal arriving with me soon, awesome test ride on Thursday.
Great trails 15 minutes from my flat.
DJ heaven in Glentress.
Long term vision for 'race scoot'.

In detail!:
I tested a Commencal 5.5 on Thursday night, was awesome! Managed to bend the Sun equalizer 27 rim, but it is a xc rim and I was doing 40ft near 90degree descents into big kicker jumps! Went to ride the Cathkin Braes, south of Glasgow where the riding for the Commonwealth games will be held in 2014. A while off, but the lads showed me some great natural trails and there is some BIG stuff to go at too. Great ride, and I'll be getting Spank hardcore rims on my 5.5XT! Great bike, so light and chuckable, yet no bottom out on the big stuff. Plenty travel for trails riding, and at about 30lbs, light enough for me to actually climb on. Never thought I'd ride an air shock! So Thurday was a great ride and a new spend secured for me. Not many XT's left in the country in large, so I had to commit :)

Friday I spent 7 hours at the FR park in Glentress. No pics sadly, but easily the best days riding I've had in years. Trails are awesome but 7 hours dialling in the tricks on the park is such a buzz. Met a sound rider called Daz, he's riding Mega and has an 11 week summer in France ahead of him, so we chatted all day and got our lines and tricks going. Despite it being a Friday, the park was dead, but we didn't mind! Sessioned the top jumps mostly, but included the second hip and subsequent two jumps before the rock garden. The last jump is SO BIG, I was sending massive tables off that, big smiles. Complete runs were awesome, in between the wind and my chain snapping! Also had a spill early on, so my ass and ankle hurt today, but hey ho, fun and games. 7hours, that will be my new daily session length, roll on the sunny days. Happy days!

Summer plan - get fit on the commencal, learn new tricks on the park, then january find some cash for a 224 and start racing next year!

That's all folks...

Nostalgia

Leo and I headed out this evening in beautiful weather (if a tiny bit hot for riding) - gorgious blue skies, not a cloud in sight and over 20 degrees even at 4pm.

We took a leisurely pace up to the summit - stopping for frequent chat about everything from work to families. Really nice to chill out after a hard day in the office.

We rode Charity Lane the traditional way, good fun, dry but still enough water around to dirty the bikes and turn us mud splattered! We then pushed back up to do the route Chris and I have been messing around with for a few weeks - descending down the climb (great fun today - very fast) then messing around on the banks before heading down the footpath back to the car. Great action in the trees letting my whole bike give beneath me, Leo could see I was on the 'edge' from behind but I was grinning from ear to ear.

As we reached the car I couldn't help but think about the innocence of my youth - long days spent doing nothing but riding and chilling out - no women to complicate things - and certainly no work. I can never go back, but a summer on the hardtail is beginning to look really really great fun... who know, even a new hardtail on the cards?

Donny on location shooting for Foot Out Flat Out

Check these badboys from this weekend's shoot:
www.footoutflatout.co.uk

First week night ride... welcome to 2008!

Well with wednesday down in the calendar as the night for the regular week night ride, what were we doing out on a Thursday?

Earlier in the week Jon had texted me to say he'd bought a bike and was picking it up Wednesday night... with that in mind, and to ensure the biggest turnout for week one I rescheduled for Thursday.

As for the new bike (a Specialized Pitch Pro - that he's now got his mits on, I'm sure photos will follow soon) it wasn't ready so in the end only Leo and I turned up this week - me with a filthy hardtail un-washed since Scotland, and him with a bike that hadn't turned a wheel for 4 months.

The evening weather was good, nice and warm in the sun and good chat - stories from China aplenty. We were lucky to suffer no mechanicals despite Charity Lane being freshly rocky (for some reason) but great fun.
Down to Standing Stone I launched off the 'verge ride' to the delight of some walkers, at least the old lady smiled!

A short one - no action shots - but next time... who know.



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