The best in a long long long time!

The weather has been kind, we've been out!

This weekend saw an XC Tom style jaunt with Dave 2 and his mates starting at the Star in Dorking, and heading off along Abinger Roughs to get to Holmbury. Up Holmbury and, after a chain fix for Mr Edwards, a quick jaunt down Barry's!! First time some of us have done that in probably over a year!

Surprisingly it was a good run (wish I'd had my Nukeproof!)... and a quick enduro style climb to get back.

Yoghurt pots was a bit sticky and then Rich's new way back up to Leith was, despite the moans of others, the best way up....

A cup of tea and an essential flapjack was needed for me at the top of Leith - paying some rather inflated prices at the new tea window!! However, after 2.5 hours my legs had failed, so it was a gruelling ride back to Coldhabour, and an easy flow down the road back to Dorking.

The weather smiled on us.... the best in a long long long time...

FoD 2012

Finally got round to putting this together, and Simon thought it would be ready a week after riding! This was back in September 2012 when it was warm and the baltic winds were not blowing.

When will the summer start?

Knackered two ways...

Despite having slimmed down by nearly 2 stone, but my riding will be curtailed (more so than over the past 4-5 months) due to 2 knackering factors...

1. 'Mallet finger' - ruptured tendon on my left ring finger, caused by being hit by a tyre swing trying to catch Ruby when she fell off. 6 weeks in a plastic splint, sticking straight out... Nice.

2. Ruptured disc in my neck (C5/C6, apparently). The specialist has advised agaist anything which might induce further neck trauma (which is pretty much any riding for me, as falling off is always an option). This has also meant that instead of boarding this weekend in Morillon, I will be skiing - not exactly in line with the consultant's explicit instructions, but life is not risk-free... I will be having an operation to remove the disc and fuse the vertebrae, which will take a few months to recover fully from.

So, all in all, a big old bunch of arse....

Happy riding, chaps.

Dunnie

Redlands

Wow, 2 months into 2013 and this is the first post on the blog since last November. I guess it's a reflection of the awful summer/autumn/winter we've had and also the non-biking distractions occupying everyone, myself included.
In fact a quick scroll down shows there have only been half a dozen posts on here since last June and two of them were about road bikes.
On saturday the two Marks and I took a quick trip up into Redlands. Conditions on some trails are remarkably good and the light snow and solitude provided an atmospheric backdrop - unfortunately there was no photographic evidence to corroborate this.
We had a bit of fun, most trails will be better once they've dried out a little more but it does look like the trail pixies have been active over the winter, opening up some new lines and re-establishing some old ones.
Fingers crossed for an end to the interminable rain and a dry spring - perhaps 2013 can be the year MTB makes a comeback!

Replacement Bus Service!

So, after weeks of no cycling, we finally arranged a jolly out on Sunday. Mark, Rich and I... meeting at the Pilgrim at 0830! Train from Redhill to Dorking (as still no cycle rack) at 0727... arrived in plenty of time at the station. RAIL REPLACEMENT SERVICE! No trains from Redhill, and was told I couldn't take the bike on the bus! :(.... So off i trotted on my own with the Mega, and did a little XC jaunt. Should've changed the bike - aside of my lack of fitness levels, the Mega was not really the bike to be hacking round an XC course on - next time take the alpine - or even the trusty stumpy!!

What it did remind me however, is that XC is a little boring - bring back all mountain. Now where's that phone to book the towbar fitting.

PS - The Trek Domane has arrived! Josh asked how many bikes did I want? I had to explain the concept of n+1.....

Uh Oh!

It's coming...

Octoberide

New camera test and video of some new jumps we hit last weekend.

Mark

Joining the Dark Side

I realise it's not really appropriate content but I've just pulled the trigger on one of these - a full carbon race bike.

I'll see you on the Zig Zags in my lycra disguise sometime soon!

My Olympics

Cav's time from start of the zig zag to top of Boxhill (opposite tea shop) 5 mins.  My time on the 5Pro 11mins 55secs! I've got some training to do.....

La Clusaz 2012

Last week I had the fortune to take an afternoon out from our family holiday in the French Alps and hit the trails of La Clusaz.  Wilf had come over from Les Gets and we hired a couple of Scott Genius 50's to tackle the trails around La Clusaz.  After taking the Beauregard cabin up the mountain we hit a technically demanding red which got us in the mood for some sweet alpine single track riding.  The bikes were right for the job and the remote front and rear lockout came into it's own during some punishing climbs - I'm sure the air is thinner!

For some insane reason I forgot to pack my knee pads which didn't help when I lost it on some wet rocks whilst hammering down another red.  The day ended on a very technical red where I lost it 3 times on some tight switchbacks but we both had big grins to show for our efforts.  La Clusaz is well set up for VTT, certainly not as extreme as Les Gets/Morzine but not as busy.  They are building more trails for next year but we were not disappointed.  The hills are bigger and the falls harder and all caught on my GoPro so maybe in a years time I might get round to editing something together.

Tom

Summer Nights

Finally a break in the constant, interminable weather provided since May during what passes for our "British Summer". This week has seen temperatures of 30 degrees, drying trails and general pleasantness. I got out for a couple of quick solo rides early in the week and last night Mark, Dunnie and I met at the Pilgrim for a proper ride - Tom had threatened to join but then jilted us by text, deciding instead to go for a solo ramble in his unending quest for anonymous man-love.

Mark and I were slightly concerned that Dunnie had fitted a new rear brake in record time, feeling the subsequent odds on mechanical failure would be rather short. We needn't have worried - Dunnie's brake held up without problem, only his new Terminator riding glasses and the rattle from his seatpost lever providing any impediment to unruffled progress throughout the evening.

We rode over Ranmore, taking in the log roll, Reformation and Numbskull then onto Deerleap Woods and up to the A25 and Wolverns Lane. Despite the warm weather our pace was unrelenting and we rode through to Coldharbour. Resisting the temptation of the brilliant service and wonderful welcome of The Plough we pushed on to the Redlands jumps then into the woods proper to ride White Jam and the new link up to Firebeater and S&M.

Finally we rolled back along the road to Dorking and The Star where we imbibed a couple of refreshing libations and regaled one another with gentlemen's tales of mirth and mishchief.

Bye, Bye 'Tubeless', hello 'Chainless'...

Why is it that some people suffer punctures much more than others? And why is it that I have never had a puncture, but am plagued by chain breaks? Twoo weeks ago, out on the On-One, broken chain, and incurring of the Wrath Of Bish by holding everyone up...

Last night, out with Tom, heading up to Ranmore from The Pilgrim, we were discussing this very matter - was my chain too tight; was it (as Tom was convinced) too clean (?)....

And before we had even got off the 200m stretch of road, the inevitable happened. Big bunch of arse.

Still, luckily it was the speed link which went, and the repair was complete in a nifty few minutes.

A lovely evening and a good ride followed, with Bish meeting up with us at log roll.

PS -  for those who have not seen Roger's suicidal new drop off, it is worth a respectful look...

Dunnie

Tubeless

Not much riding going on at the moment but plenty of fettling...I've decided to give tubeless a go, I've got Stans rims on 2 bikes and most of the tyres we use are tubeless compatible anyway so in theory for a small investment (Stans yellow tape, a couple of valve stems and some tubeless tyre sealant) you're all set. I've heard it can be tricky to set up so I made sure I went step by step with the handy help videos on the Stans web site - it took a little time and a methodical approach but touch wood no problems!
No ride report yet but the benefits of no flats - punctures supposedly seal themselves - and the ability to run lower pressures certainly appeal to me.
Let's see how it goes!

I want a 29er.....

Oh my god, Orange have come up with the goods. Enter the Orange Gyro, I wonder how it will be received? I hate to say it but I wish it had the Bandit's 140 fork up front.

Finished

Here it is, the long awaited Bandit 29 - a bit delayed due to rim/tyre compatability issues. I haven't yet ridden it on the trails so look out for it soon!

Smokey and The Bandit (29er)

It's here - the first OTH 29er! This photo isn't great but it's a really awesome looking frame, collected today from deepest Surrey.

130mm Kashima RP23, Tapered HT - 68.5 degrees, 142x12 rear axle, ISCG 05.

Awaiting lots of parts including the 140mm Fox 34's, Flow 29er rims, CK Headset and MRP chain device - it should keep me busy whilst I recover from pneumonia!

29er curious?

So having moved the Zesty on it's time to scratch that 29er itch!

I've done plenty of desk based research plus the demo I blogged previously. I guess my criteria came down to owning something which was more than an xc 29er as I think I would get bored of that soon enough, the issue being there aren't many longer travel rigs out there. There are a few though if you look for them and the one that consistently met my requirements of niche brand, frame only availability and great write ups is the Transition Bandit 29.

I've ordered the frame (in black, naturelment) and will be heading down to "tamed earth" to collect it next week.

In terms of components I've got plenty of stuff saved from previous builds, including a full XT 1 x 10 drivetrain and those super - wide Chromag bars.

The main issue is going to be the fork, I'd like the new Fox 34 140 which the bike was designed around but there may not be any in the country at the moment so I might have to wait to get the bike on the trails but as I'm recovering from pneumonia that's not too much of an issue right now!

Can't wait to christen the Bandit in the early summer, I'm so stoked to be on Transition again this season!

I've seen the future....

and it's 29'er shaped

Yesterday I had a day off and I decided to find out for myself what this big wheeled commotion is about. Is it just a US-driven marketing ploy to make us buy (yet) another bike and create a further unwelcome niche in an already over-crowded marketplace? or does it actually represent real progress and a step-change in performance over the tried and tested 26 inch bikes we all ride.

I picked up the Trek Superfly 100 from Head for the Hills and headed up to Ranmore. Early impressions were positive, it climbs and rolls really well on what looked like mega skinny tyres - they are actually 2.1's so it must just be the ratio in comparison to the wheel diameter. I decided to test it on some technical stuff so I hit the log pile, rode Abba Zabba (badly) and then headed for Numberskull/Reformation.
The initial drop and double felt superb, probably the best jump I've ever hit off that one and the rest of the trail disappeared in a blur of big wheeled grins including the step down gap at the bottom.

I did a bit of imprecise timing but check this out - I was 30 seconds or roughly 20% quicker than when I rode it last friday on my 160mm Nicolai! OK the trail was slightly drier yesterday but bear in mind the Trek has 100mm of travel and I had been riding it for about 30 minutes and I think that says it all really.

Stoked from that trail I moved onto Holmbury, taking in Yoghurt Pots, Child's Play, part of Telegraph and some other fun trails I don't know the names of. What is striking is the way the bigger wheels use the energy of the trail so much better - on singletrack there's little doubt in my mind that a 29er is going to thrash a 26er speed-wise under the same rider.

I'd heard this before but I think what surprised me most is how much fun this bike is....it just begs to be popped off lips and punted into the air at every opportunity.
The only things I'd change about the spec of this one would be some slightly bigger tyres, 2.2 Rubber Queens or something of that ilk and a Reverb.
I'm going to try one of the Trek hardtails to see what that's like too but I stand before you converted to the cult of the 29'er.

If I was in the market for an XC trail bike I'd say it's not even a competition, the 29'er has the 26 beaten all ends up - don't take my word for it though, try one for yourself.

Nukeproof Mega..... Complete

She's finally finished and ready for her maiden voyage (weather permitting ;) )

Leith Hill Summit Team

Some (although notably not all) of the OTH team ventured out in minus 9 degrees on Saturday 12 Feb. 3-4 inches of snow, with a firm crust, made high speed-ascent unlikely, and high-speed descent unwise. Fingers and toes remained 'chilly' for much of the ride, Bish received some admiring comments from a couple of blokes for being 'nails' and exposing lower-leg skin, whilst Mark 2 was busy shedding unnecessary bike weight in the form of his back bolt, resulting in a foreshortened ride and an emergency pick-up from Juliet in the Seat.

A beautiful morning, though.

We hope Andy gets well soon..... Hopefully the bed rest has seen him recover from the quick-onset lurgy which hit him on Saturday morning!