Five + Five = Twice the smiles...

Then there were two...

Five's that is... Jon had been pondering an Orange to replace his Pitch for some time, so when I managed to wangle a good deal he couldn't afford not to snap my arm off - unfortunately for his credit card he doesn't do things by half so he's also got new wheels, forks and a 1x10 setup!

So only his second ride, and the first 'proper' one this evening on the new steed and like I did the first time out, he was taking a little to get used to it but by the last descent, he was a very happy man!

Ryan was out too, but since his Voodoo didn't really match these two bikes he's not in the photos. Good ride in the damp but grippy conditions. The bottom half of Charity Lane was like a river, but pretty solid and not loose at all... The old push up track is getting ripped up, and Jon and I both punctured there tonight, too much beans or over-cooking it?

Autumn's here...

A short but fun packed ride in the Autumn sunshine this evening - I love crisp evenings like tonight, lovely blue sky, plane trails in the dying sun, long shadows, damp grippy rough trails...

Just Jon and I - lots of talk of his Orange Five build - and a steady, relaxed pace, enjoying the pump and flow - and hitting the bits I love hard, whilst flowing through the rest. It's coming back, slowly, the mojo...

780mm wide...

The Renthal bars on Longterm from Wideopen have (finally) arrived from Jamie in Bristol and tonight was my first ride. They're lighter (500g vs 750g for bar and stem), shorter (50mm vs 60mm stem), lower rise and wider (780mm vs 700ish) than my old DMR combo... so first impressions were WIDE and LOW.

Climbing was pretty ordinary on them, slightly more grip on the front wheel, but a wierd feeling having your arms so wide apart... descending? hmmm hard to say - I think I like them... Charity Lane was quick, quick enough to need bottom gear, the bars didn't feel much different there, it's just rough and as flat out as you can hold it, although I expect the leverage ratios helped with stability at speed. Down Bottom of the Oven though and you could tell the difference, drop the bars on the inside and it actually forces the back end round, a strange new sensation but one that I grew in confidence with. By the time we got to the old push up track I was really enjoying playing with them and I've started to find my cornering mojo again.

Good ride tonight then - Paul joined us, not been out with us for a year or so, so good to see him socially outside of work, and great banter about him getting a new bike. Ryan out aswell, and feeling better with the front tyre again I think, but considering a brake upgrade soon...

Out again next week - and a riding weekend on the 13/14th (not decided if it'll be Saturday or Sunday yet)... Watch this space :)

From strength to strength...

Well out on the Orange tonight, and just Tony and I so we made good time and it feels like my fitness is coming back. It's been wet so the trails are grippy, but puddle ridden, but a combination that guarantees a smile.

Really interesting to chat to Tony about his trips to the Alps, and how he's finding his 1x10 setup - also really cool to see a Fox Vanilla R retrofitted to his Specialized Enduro... a blast from the past, and a solid shock that plenty of Fearingout riders past and present have relied upon...

So fitness was reasonable, and last week on the hardtail certainly helped me start to find the speed again and I felt confident and reasonably quick on the rough straight sections but I really need to find my cornering mojo... I'm sure it'll come back :)

Got home and finally bought a copy of 'From the Inside Out' on iTunes. What a mega film... an hour spent then creating a Wishlist on Chain Reaction - £600 and counting...

I'm back...

We've been out on the weeknight rides again for a few weeks, but you know, I've just not been feeling it. Those that are close to me will understand what a tough few years I've had, but I've turned a corner and things are genuninely getting better...

This week I was slow.
I've lost my mojo.

But the ride was good and thanks to Jon I had some good company.
I grinned all the time (or gritted my teeth on the climbs). The descents flowed much better. I felt really recharged and happy back at the car.

That's important. Speed and skills can be re-learnt. I've been searching for the happiness for sometime. It's good to have found it again.

Back in white?

The SantaCruz Chameleon is finally rebuilt, after some school boy errors in the crank reassembly and then lending my Shimano BB tools to Chris I finally borrowed a set of Jon and got it sorted. First ride tomorrow on the vintage frame, it will be interesting to see how she rides after a year with other bikes...

Wideopen longterm test rear tyre makes it's second appearance too, will it fair any better on the rear, it certainly was not great on the front of my BFe.

New T shirts...

My first pair of T shirts from the new shop, printed and delivered to my door in three days!

Check out all the designs in the shop above!

Post baby blast...

Well as I said earlier, Jon and I headed over to 'deggers today for a quick blast round - first time I've taken the Five and to be honest, it was just as much fun as my hardtail (did I just say that!) and certainly more forgiving on the rocky climbs. Jon was impressed with his new Superstar wheelset (SS hubs and Stan's Flow rims) and Conti tyres. We both had a good ride, although I really suffered with fatigue from about half way round. Just no gas in the tank - but off the bike for four weeks and a bit of sleep deprivation will do that to a man!

So where next? 

Jon mentioned Lee Quarry next weekend perhaps?

And July is supposed to be Moelfre for the National Champs too... anyone interested?

On the road again...

Just Jon Boy and I today, heading to Llandegla for a long overdue blast out on the bike... More later if the Ixus battery holds up!

At the skatepark...

About ten years ago I got a BMX. I was rubbish but I enjoyed owning one and it was a good hack bike at university.

These days the closest I get to the skatepark is taking my daughter riding. She's five in a few weeks and has been riding since 2 and a half. Her first mountainbike is ordered and I wonder if she'll turn her back on the skatepark when she's had a taste of dirt singletrack?

Chameleon reborn...

Well we're on the home straight now as the Wideopen Longtermer Cotic BFe is stripped down and the classic SantaCruz Chameleon is built up...

The third coming...

Well Life Cycles has a lot to answer for, I watched it this morning with Alex, my baby boy born on Monday.

Yes, it got me hankering for my old bike so down it came from the wall, out came the T-Cut and I started cleaning it up... I plan to build it up with all the bits on the Cotic BFe, it should save ad least another pound, the old Chameleon frame is about 4.5lbs vs the 5.5+lbs BFe. Same geometry too and these light Superstar wheels will make it a weapon. It might be the most dangerous or the most fun bike I've ever created, it'll definitely take a few weeks to get it set up and used to it again!

Week 4 just like the old days...

Chris, Kev, Ryan and Tony atop Charity Lane.

There's got to be something about getting old, as the years tick by (10 years of Fearingout for god sake!), I do find myself nostalgic more often. I was chatting with Jon the other week about the 'good old days' when the week night ride regularly gathered 5 or 6 riders, the banter and the pace more relaxed, take a few snaps on the descents but nothing heavy, just a good ride...

For the last few years the weeknight ride has been a fantastic way to escape and un-wind from the stresses and strains of life, but the numbers have dwindled down, even to just a pair of us for weeks at a time.

But there are a lot of people on the distribution list, and there are a lot of people more stressed than usual - so this week we saw 6, and there is promise of more... Jon C, Tony, Chris, Kev, Ryan and myself made the usual route last over 30 minutes longer with the increased level of talking and enjoying the ride. Good times. At the end Chris was on about bringing his video camera, and I talked about getting a new compact for photography... so Fearingout is alive and kicking. 

On a more technical note - first night for me out on the Maxxix Ardent, 2.25", 60a compound EXO side wall protection tyres fitted to the Cotic. They've a much rounder profile than my usual 2.3" Maxxis Minions and smaller knobs. Initial discussion with Jon suggested they'd actually be a decent tyre around the forest, but I was not impressed last night. There is literally no grip in them at all on the rocky singletrack and double track, and my confidence was washed out with my front end on several occasions. As a back tyre though, it cuts the deal so next week I'll try a Minion F, 2.3" 42a on the front to find the front end stick again and give them another try, but a warning, not a worthy front tyre if your trails are loose and rocky.

Wideopen Issue 18

Open publication - Free publishing - More cycling

All Canadian drive...

I can't believe I've only just had to replace the original Raceface chain rings on my 2004 vintage Evolve forged cranks... So what to go for?

Something Japanese, British or Canadian? The Blackspire Super-pro set were the right price performance compromise for me.

April showers...

Or should that be monsoons?

We've had rain now for virtually all of April - apart from the first week or so it seems to have been damp non-stop. In fact I was wishing no one else could come so I could jack the ride in but then the clock struck four and the clouds parted and I drove up to the forest in a brief glimpse of sunshine. It didn't last long though...

Tony, Ryan and I got soaked as we set off after a breather at Walker Barn, and the road climb up to Charity Lane with a head on wind, full on BIG droplet rain and only in a short sleeve jersey was certainly a test of your commitment. With this much water Charity itself was awash, though surprisingly quick if you could blink away the mud and water.

So a good ride, and nice to start to get used to the Five now, I'm finding my feet in the corners now too, and want to start pushing up my speed. I've ordered a new set of chain rings as I'm getting a little chain suck (they are the originals!), and I've replaced the Kona saddle with a slim Charge Spoon. I plan to fit a chain device (the Gamut I had on the BFe for a while) when I remove the crank arm for the chain rings too, as the Five drops it's chain a lot more than the Coiler ever did. I guess that was because the Coiler's rear wheel part kept the chain fairly taught and the wheel sort of pivoted around roughly the bottom bracket area whereas the Five is a high pivot, though I've not looked to see what the axle path would be I expect under load the suspension slackens the chain a touch?

After the ride Ryan inspected his brake pads (see the photo) to find there was pretty much nothing left... I looked at mine when I got home to find a similar situation! Anyhow they've lasted a year or so not bad. Just add it to the list...

Lost for words...

With a week off for Easter, tonight was only the second week night ride of 2012, and they're now in everyone's diaries for the rest of the year. Mixed weather in the last fortnight, snow and lots of rain so Jon, Tony and I didn't know what to expect... Well Charity Lane was quite messed up and with patches of snow at the top, but it was very quick, if you could see through the spray in the wet bits! Bottom of the Oven was insanely quick, the damp conditions hold the sand and stones together so it just doesn't move around the same. We did the whole loop, and coming down the old push up track was mint as well, a little slippery but a big smile on our faces.

Macclesfield 12/4/2012

And what of the Orange this week? Well, I've topped up air pressure in the RP23 and set sag without pro-pedal one (school boy mistake last time out). I slowed it down a touch on rebound and only ran it in '3' for the climbs, and fully off '0' on the descents. The front forks were also tweaked a touch on rebound and BOY OH BOY what a transformation. It's a machine, so quick! Great fun. The whole bike eats up the terrain at terrific speed, accelerates pretty well, and in the corners, my word, I'm lost for them...

Way back when I remember comparing FiveTen trainers to the change from old fashioned Tioga DH tyres to Maxxis 42a sticky rubber. I'm going to compare the Orange as going from a 1.1 Peugeot 106 to the Citroen Saxo 1.6 VTR - My first car, the 106 handled really nicely, reasonably stable, enough grip to put a smile on your face but the suspension tweaks on the Saxo VTR (basically the same chassis, god it was incredible. I started really driving that VTR hard back in the day... Anyway, that's what the Five felt like tonight, absolutely on rails...

And so it begins...

Welcome to 2012... well kind of, it always feels like the start of the year when the clocks change and the bikes are refurbed and everyone joins in for the regular weeknight rides!

So in the last few months has anything changed?



Well I've a new bike (the Five - more on that later), Jon's a new bike and rebuilt and old one - plus he's got a van, and Kev, well Kev is crazy, about to spend mega-dollar on a carbon Specialized S-works Enduro! Very fly!

How about the trails? Well not really! But hey, it felt good to be out, doing some exercise, getting some chat and enjoying the bikes. Charity Lane was dry and loose, lots of marbly rocks. Bottom of the Oven was faster today, the singletrack was like lightning...



And how about the Orange? Well, it climbed well, comfortable and felt stable on the descent, quick, but the suspension needs tuning in, it all felt a little chattery today - but as the forks bed back in after a winter of no use and the new RP23 finds it feet, and I work out my settings, it's going to be a mega quick bike. Definitely going to get a lot of use this summer!

29/3/12 - Weeknight Ride 1

Five finished at last...

Brakes bled, gear cables fitted and tweaked, test ride successful! I can't wait to try her out in anger!

Only thing missing is the Fearingout stickers!

Springing and sprucing...

I'm slowly getting the bikes ready for 2012. I've finally fitted the rear brake to the Orange, but it needs bleeding. Just a gear cable and a new seat and it's ready!

Also fresh in are a pair of Maxxis Ardent tyres, which I've fitted to the Cotic... Less aggressive than the old Minions, a more rounded profile, apparently they are fast rolling but with the grip in the corners, so I look forward to trying them out soon!