Scotland September 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something... red?
Two days for me in Scotland, back late last night. Here are the photos, expect a section on Episode 8 and an article in Wideopen Issue 8!
For now, enjoy:
For now, enjoy:
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Is this a late summer?
We've had 3 good days in the last 4, what's going on!?!!
Anyhow, to take advantage of the unseasonally good weather we organised a pre-Scotland blast around the usual haunts in Macclesfield.
Jon, Chris and I took an early dash from work to catch the light and headed up to Charity Lane taking in some good chat and banter plus Scotland planning.
Charity Lane was dry (somehow) and very loose, I was really not feeling it that much today, think I've lost my riding legs with the distinct slow down in riding this summer. All over the place and hanging on I had a good laugh, but a bit ragged. Chris and Jon too the singletrack, I gave it a miss expecting a mud-bath, bugger I was wrong. Gutted I missed that, but got a good snap of Chris anyway.
Work's been mad this last week so it was so good to blow the cobwebs away. As always though thoughts of a new set of wheels and a fork upgrade a hovering away in the back of my mind, a set of 2009 RockShox Revelation Maxle air with Hope ProII hubs and some light weight hardcore rims are very tempting. Then at least the pedals won't clash with the rim!
Wideopen longterm pedals with new pins were transformed from Llandegla with no foot slippage at all. In my opinion they should come with the long pins in the box.
Anyhow, to take advantage of the unseasonally good weather we organised a pre-Scotland blast around the usual haunts in Macclesfield.
Jon, Chris and I took an early dash from work to catch the light and headed up to Charity Lane taking in some good chat and banter plus Scotland planning.
Charity Lane was dry (somehow) and very loose, I was really not feeling it that much today, think I've lost my riding legs with the distinct slow down in riding this summer. All over the place and hanging on I had a good laugh, but a bit ragged. Chris and Jon too the singletrack, I gave it a miss expecting a mud-bath, bugger I was wrong. Gutted I missed that, but got a good snap of Chris anyway.
Work's been mad this last week so it was so good to blow the cobwebs away. As always though thoughts of a new set of wheels and a fork upgrade a hovering away in the back of my mind, a set of 2009 RockShox Revelation Maxle air with Hope ProII hubs and some light weight hardcore rims are very tempting. Then at least the pedals won't clash with the rim!
 |
| From Macclesfield 23/09/2008 |
Wideopen longterm pedals with new pins were transformed from Llandegla with no foot slippage at all. In my opinion they should come with the long pins in the box.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Last ride before Scotland...
Tuesday next week will be the last ride before Scotland, so a good chance to test out the bikes and any maintenance work you've carried out before we head north!
I'll be on board the hardtail to give it a shake down following the Dialled/Chameleon rebuild situation!
Thanks to Martyn, Jon and a chap called Mark in work I've sourced some longer pins for the purple Outland pedals (on long term test for Wideopen) which when tested last night seemed to make a HUGE difference to grip.
I'll be on board the hardtail to give it a shake down following the Dialled/Chameleon rebuild situation!
Thanks to Martyn, Jon and a chap called Mark in work I've sourced some longer pins for the purple Outland pedals (on long term test for Wideopen) which when tested last night seemed to make a HUGE difference to grip.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Scottish DH antics.
It's been waaaaay too long since I last posted on here. Unfortunately due to working/exams I missed a few of the races this season. The last two weeks have been a little different though. First off was the Fort Bill Endurance Downhill race, basically how many runs can you do in 6 hours. I was there having my own race with Ace from Hardtail Nation. As the only two guys to race the whole day on our, less than suitable bikes, we were both awarded with a spot prize at the end of the day. After throwing myself at a big rock on my first run I was forced to take the rest of the day pretty easy, but still managed to squeeze 10 runs in. Ace who blew his rear tyre twice got 9.
After Fort Bill I spent half the week laid up in bed after my body started to complain about me riding for another 5 and a half hours after such a big crash. Thankfully I recovered enough to make it down to Inners for the last round of the SDA. With a rather long, flat and very pedally track, things were deffinately looking up for me on the hardtail.
My first run went pretty well and I was somewhere near the bottom of the standings. Second runs came round, and it was one of those moments that everything just comes together for the perfect ride and I knocked 12seconds off my first run. This put me 34th in Senior, roughly where I was placing on the full sus last year!
Expect to see full reports on both events in the next issue of Wideopen Mag. I'll also give you a peek at my new rig sometime next week.... Today I'm off to the Uni sports fair to sign up all the keen young freshers to the bike club. Then next weekend we'll be taking them all to Glentress and Inners so if you're heading up that weekend look out for the group of about 30 students on bikes.
After Fort Bill I spent half the week laid up in bed after my body started to complain about me riding for another 5 and a half hours after such a big crash. Thankfully I recovered enough to make it down to Inners for the last round of the SDA. With a rather long, flat and very pedally track, things were deffinately looking up for me on the hardtail.
My first run went pretty well and I was somewhere near the bottom of the standings. Second runs came round, and it was one of those moments that everything just comes together for the perfect ride and I knocked 12seconds off my first run. This put me 34th in Senior, roughly where I was placing on the full sus last year!
Expect to see full reports on both events in the next issue of Wideopen Mag. I'll also give you a peek at my new rig sometime next week.... Today I'm off to the Uni sports fair to sign up all the keen young freshers to the bike club. Then next weekend we'll be taking them all to Glentress and Inners so if you're heading up that weekend look out for the group of about 30 students on bikes.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Jamie's photos
Jamie's uploaded a few of his photos from Llandegla last Friday to Facebook, but for easy access I've posted a few of them here. Again a good day out...
The Chameleon's reborn. More later...
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wideopen meet up...
Headed to Llandegla (again) today to meet up with Jamie from Wideopen. Good bloke and nice to meet Rohdri (sorry if I can't spell!), Sam and Chris too - hope you guys have a good long weekend.
Anyway the weather stayed dry and after LOTS of faff we headed off, Jamie and I onboard new hardtails.
The Dialled certainly felt stable, a lot more stable than the Chameleon but retained a little bit of 'flick', a happy balance? Not sure yet! I was plagued with problems with my gear cabling though so wasn't entirely happy with the bike. Outland pedals on longterm test for Wideopen were pretty in purple but at the moment I'm not too impressed with the pin length.
Anyway - here are my photos - Jamie's will be along later (with snaps of me).
Anyway the weather stayed dry and after LOTS of faff we headed off, Jamie and I onboard new hardtails.
The Dialled certainly felt stable, a lot more stable than the Chameleon but retained a little bit of 'flick', a happy balance? Not sure yet! I was plagued with problems with my gear cabling though so wasn't entirely happy with the bike. Outland pedals on longterm test for Wideopen were pretty in purple but at the moment I'm not too impressed with the pin length.
Anyway - here are my photos - Jamie's will be along later (with snaps of me).
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Dialled spec list (as promised)
I didn't have much time the other evening so as promised here follows the eventual spec list on the Dialled.
Currently not planning any more spending - but will have a set of Outland sealed platform pedals in Purple being fitted as longtermers for Wideopen.
Looking forward to giving her a ride at Llandegla on Friday! Should be interesting as I only recently rode the Chameleon there!
The Chameleon is now hanging on the garage wall, some might say just waiting to be built up as a jump bike?
- Frame: Dialled Prince Albert (2008 metallic purple 15.5" small)
- Forks: Marzocchi AM3 (repainted white and badged as All Mountain 2s)
- Wheels: F: Veulta rim, sealed QR disc hub, R: Mavic 36h XM321 rim, XT 6 bolt hub.
- Cranks: Saint (22/32 bash)
- Front deraileur: SLX top pull (double ring)
- Rear: SLX mid-cage
- Shifters: XT 8 speed (with Goodridge cables and outers).
- Bars: DMR wingbars
- Stem: DMR Headstock (50mm)
- Grips: ODI lock on (Yeti, red)
- Brakes: Hope Mini Mono (180 front 160 rear)
- Cassette: SRAM 11-32 (8 speed)
- Tyres: Maxxis Minion (F ST, R 60a)
- Seat post: Thompson Elite (330mm)
- Clamp: DMR
- Seat: Charge
- Pedals: DMR V8
Currently not planning any more spending - but will have a set of Outland sealed platform pedals in Purple being fitted as longtermers for Wideopen.
Looking forward to giving her a ride at Llandegla on Friday! Should be interesting as I only recently rode the Chameleon there!
The Chameleon is now hanging on the garage wall, some might say just waiting to be built up as a jump bike?
Monday, September 08, 2008
New toys...
Goodbye Chameleon and hello Prince Albert.
Full spec and a write-up soon - first ride planned this Friday and Saturday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)