Big Bike Thread

MrKnifey · 12 Mar 2010 at 15:14

crankbro said:
:| I hate you at times

Im off to mark out the track for a DH race tomorrow! Got Bryceland and Farclough turning up! Gonna be wild one!

Ive made some stupid huck line through a rock garden.. I managed it once with a bit of a wash out coming into it.. was wild.. Gotta true the rear wheel back up haha! Cant wait for tomorrow now! Get to watch them to headers hit some of the jumps

Inquisitor · 12 Mar 2010 at 17:51

LordSplodge said:
I know where you mean. Down the chain slapper onto the fire road for a bit and then it turns into a gravel ascent. Short but steep. That's where the old man overtook me.

Here's a pic of the climb.

Awaits people posting: "That's not a hill" - well you guy's don't have an average Peak Flow of 300! So

I was actually thinking of the other short, steep bit a few minutes after that (the bit that joins the long straight fire road at the top before going back to singletrack), but yeah that's hard too

SDK^ · 12 Mar 2010 at 18:27

To be fair when I first started riding Cannock I would have to stop at the top of each of the hills and push up the long fire road.
It me took around 2 months before I could ride it non stop.

Now (3 years later) I can do 4 laps in under 2hrs 30mins.

Phase 2 opens in April; there are some steep short blast on that - proper weight over the front stuff

LordSplodge · 12 Mar 2010 at 20:11

SDK^ said:
Now (3 years later) I can do 4 laps in under 2hrs 30mins.

Phase 2 opens in April; there are some steep short blast on that - proper weight over the front stuff

Few more trips and I should be good for a non-stop run. Really looking forward to Phase 2!

antc · 12 Mar 2010 at 21:11

Guys i really need some advice about saddles. My bike is a 2004 Kona blast.

The saddle it came with i find quite uncomfortable, to the extent after an hour or so ride my ass feels numb! (queue the chuckles)

So advice on what to do, its not a case of buying lots of different ones and see whats best surely?

shauncr91 · 12 Mar 2010 at 21:55

antc said:
Guys i really need some advice about saddles. My bike is a 2004 Kona blast.

The saddle it came with i find quite uncomfortable, to the extent after an hour or so ride my ass feels numb! (queue the chuckles)

So advice on what to do, its not a case of buying lots of different ones and see whats best surely?

Try some padded shorts if you haven't already.

Inquisitor · 12 Mar 2010 at 22:18

SDK^ said:
To be fair when I first started riding Cannock I would have to stop at the top of each of the hills and push up the long fire road.
It me took around 2 months before I could ride it non stop.

Now (3 years later) I can do 4 laps in under 2hrs 30mins.

I can do the long fire road but only on the granny ring. I think I could probably do the whole thing non-stop but would find it difficult!

What's your best lap time, out of interest?

SDK^ said:
Phase 2 opens in April; there are some steep short blast on that - proper weight over the front stuff

Aye, I can't wait :cool:

monkeypants · 13 Mar 2010 at 09:04

LordSplodge said:
I know where you mean. Down the chain slapper onto the fire road for a bit and then it turns into a gravel ascent. Short but steep. That's where the old man overtook me.

Here's a pic of the climb.

Awaits people posting: "That's not a hill" - well you guy's don't have an average Peak Flow of 300! So

Looks practically downhill to me.

You should experience some Scottish/Welsh climbs. :cool:

andi · 13 Mar 2010 at 11:39

I rode the new stuff at Lee Quarry yesterday, some really, really good stuff. New first section has a tough but fun climb and the new skills area is excellent, some huge berms.

Shame I had to call it a day early with a bloody puncture. Serves me right for not getting round to buying some spare Presta tubes..

6thElement · 13 Mar 2010 at 16:29

monkeypants said:
Looks practically downhill to me. You should experience some Scottish/Welsh climbs.

Anthills

Genoma · 13 Mar 2010 at 16:50

Hi guys. Apologies for the spam but it's for a good cause! I did the Wrekin climb 5x this morning on the MTB for Sports Relief. If anyone fancies adding in some sponsorship would be greatly appreciated!

linky - http://www.mysportrelief.com/ajyoung

monkeypants · 13 Mar 2010 at 17:09

andi said:
I rode the new stuff at Lee Quarry yesterday, some really, really good stuff. New first section has a tough but fun climb and the new skills area is excellent, some huge berms.

Shame I had to call it a day early with a bloody puncture. Serves me right for not getting round to buying some spare Presta tubes..

How long is it now? One of its major downsides was that it was really short.

andi · 13 Mar 2010 at 17:24

The new section on the red route has added about 1km to the loop, and then theres 4 or 5 runs in the new skills area. None are particularly long though, its the kind of place to stay and keep going over stuff and repeating the sections you like most. All done by Rowan Sorrell, so its really good, challenging stuff. Lots of big berms, drops, rock features (obviously) and a massive slab descent that scared the crap out of me.

They've started work in Cragg Quarry, which is just over the hill, now. They'll be another 4.5km of trail there and a link to LQ to make a bigger loop. Permission has been applied for for Facit Quarry a few miles in the other direction, the plan is to join them all up so you make one big ride.

MrKnifey · 13 Mar 2010 at 17:47

Had a massive off today, one of the worst ive had. Thank god for my neck brace as i hit the floor so hard with my head the helmet took a chunk out of the brace.. Chest is killing from brace being forced against it though! Ill be back for Cwmcarn!

janesssssy · 13 Mar 2010 at 18:04

Sorry to hear it!

MrKnifey · 13 Mar 2010 at 18:34

The best part is.. it was the stupid huck line i put in! However seeing Josh Bryceland hit the most wildest of lines ive ever seen made my day too!

SDK^ · 13 Mar 2010 at 19:51

Inquisitor said:
What's your best lap time, out of interest?

Not really done a flat out single lap.
I did 3 laps last week in 2 hours, so an average time of 40 minutes.

But it was muddy, very busy so got held up at a few points and had heavy mud tyres on.

antc · 13 Mar 2010 at 23:12

shauncr91 said:
Try some padded shorts if you haven't already.

Hi thanks for the advice. I have however already tried this without much improvement. Spoke to my local bike shop today and they advised trying a few different seats out. This surely isnt the best way to do it?

Can any of you guys offer and experience or advice here as to how to get a proper fitting saddle?

shauncr91 · 13 Mar 2010 at 23:15

antc said:
Hi thanks for the advice. I have however already tried this without much improvement. Spoke to my local bike shop today and they advised trying a few different seats out. This surely isnt the best way to do it?

Can any of you guys offer and experience or advice here as to how to get a proper fitting saddle?

Can't really think ofa much better way, just go round the shop and sit on some bikes until you find one that's more comfortable, read some reviews etc. Problem is a seat that's good for one person could be rubbish for the next so best to just try some out instore.

How old is the seat on the bike?

Reality|Bites · 13 Mar 2010 at 23:44

If your bums going numb just get a big chunky padded saddle.