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...