Mountain Biking

Begbie · 10 Apr 2016 at 08:35

Ripping it Steve. That's crap to hear! Better fully healing rather than getting frustrated with yourself every time your out though. I've been very lazy recently, it's hard work working shift and solo riding most of the time.

When I crash, I crash at 1mph

In all fairness, this was my first time down the track! It's insane at points. Two road gap jumps at 10~ft high. :/

Begbie · 10 Apr 2016 at 15:23

HOLY ****!!!!!!!!

What a run. Such a shame. I still think he's going to win overall though.

steve45 · 10 Apr 2016 at 15:35

Holy **** balls! what a run, genuine contender for the overall right there! literally on the edge the whole way down!!! without a doubt the rider of the day! even Gwin said it himself.

Begbie · 10 Apr 2016 at 15:38

Yep. Nearly 3 seconds up, even after losing it.

100% overall. Gwin was on fire though, the time difference was insane. For Loic (if he never crashed) to be 3 seconds up on that time again is just insane. How can people compete with that.

steve45 · 10 Apr 2016 at 15:41

I was disappointed by ZERO coverage of the juniors, not even a 2 minute recap before the fems went down.

MrKnifey · 11 Apr 2016 at 07:59

Anyone got a good deal for a 150mm reverb?

Begbie · 11 Apr 2016 at 09:09

MrKnifey said:
Anyone got a good deal for a 150mm reverb?

I paid full price for mine :eek:

MrKnifey · 11 Apr 2016 at 09:57

Begbie said:
Yep. Nearly 3 seconds up, even after losing it.

100% overall. Gwin was on fire though, the time difference was insane. For Loic (if he never crashed) to be 3 seconds up on that time again is just insane. How can people compete with that.

The guy who won my category in this weekends enduro was 20secs ahead of second place lol!

Begbie · 11 Apr 2016 at 10:09

Wow.

Where did you come knifey?

MrKnifey · 11 Apr 2016 at 18:48

Had 11th dude. Not what I was hoping for but after catching 5 people in Stage 3 and my reverb failing and staying in the up position on Stage 2 ill take it. What caught me off guard the most was the sheer amount of pedalling in this enduro.. The worst out of all of them so far! I literally fell off the side of my bike and curled up after Stage 1! Thought I was going to black out lol!

merlin · 11 Apr 2016 at 20:50

http://www.pinkbike.com/v/embed/441358/

Love this vid!

matt_fsr · 11 Apr 2016 at 22:13

Image says it all really. I guarantee you'll enjoy this!

Lethal` · 11 Apr 2016 at 22:31

I'm primarily a road cyclist but I dabble in mountain biking now and again. I've been offered a used Scott Scale 960 2014 (spec here) for £450 that I test rode on Saturday at Swinley or I could get a Scott Scale 960 2016 new for £6-700.

Is the 2014 used one a good deal for £450?
Do I really get a worthy upgrade with the newer one?

PinkFloyd · 11 Apr 2016 at 22:40

merlin said:
http://www.pinkbike.com/v/embed/441358/

Love this vid!

Man the jumping in that video just looks so effortless... I'd love to have the confidence to even do the smaller gaps in that video!

I'm comfortable with getting air over ledge/hump style jumps but nervous on tables and steer well clear of gaps. Anyone got any tips on working up to them?
In my mind I'm just paranoid I won't go far enough to land on the down ramp, so maybe I just need to get a mate/camera so I can see how far I travel when jumping something I'm familiar with to get that faith as a starting point?

steve45 · 11 Apr 2016 at 22:56

with tables you just need to start small work up, once you learn the feel for bigger jumps you'll be able to instinctively gauge what sort of speed you need to hit them at, purely from the size/gradient/takeoff/landing, once you are hitting tables confidently, its literally only a mental barrier, you ride gapped doubles exactly the same, its just a table with the stabilisers off.

Moral of the story, no easier way to tackle them than head on, just practice and familiarisation, theres no magical solution.

matt_fsr · 12 Apr 2016 at 08:44

PinkFloyd said:
I'm comfortable with getting air over ledge/hump style jumps but nervous on tables and steer well clear of gaps. Anyone got any tips on working up to them?

Agreed, focus on tabletops would be my recommendation, you always know you can get a landing wrong and there's nothing too nasty underneath to land on and potentially flip you, it might just be a bit of a hard landing.

Watch lots of instruction vids on youtube, some people find it helps. Also, easy to say but difficult to put into practice to begin with... but you need to learn to be able to push the front of the bike down in mid-air, so that your bike angle matches that of the down ramp of the tabletop. Doesn't matter if you don't get huge air to begin with, you'll know you're getting a tabletop correct when you barely feel the landing.

Could be worth looking into a half day training at your local trail centre? Or if you can make it that far, try Dirt School at Glentress?

Don't do a full day's course, everyone I've spoken to who has has just been too tired mentally in the afternoon to take things in properly. If you have gone a long way for a course, do 1/2 a day training and then practice what you've learned afterwards, if you still have energy.

PinkFloyd · 12 Apr 2016 at 10:03

Thanks for the replies!

matt_fsr said:
there's nothing too nasty underneath to land on and potentially flip you, it might just be a bit of a hard landing.

I'll try and forget clearing a jump at BPW with the front wheel, clipping the top with my back and going over my handlebars and breaking a rib

lol. I do get the point though!

Sounds like what I really need is some tables with less of a kick on them to practise on. Then practise practise practise

I've already considered some training, me and some workmates were discussing it whilst at BPW at the weekend.

Targets for the summer - more strength in the arms/hands (less deathgrip...), being able to manual to some extent, more comfortable with jumps

MrKnifey · 12 Apr 2016 at 10:46

Give Nikki Whiles a shout, boy got some serious skills and pretty good coach!

Dokinator · 12 Apr 2016 at 11:15

milko · 12 Apr 2016 at 11:35

PinkFloyd said:
Thanks for the replies!

I'll try and forget clearing a jump at BPW with the front wheel, clipping the top with my back and going over my handlebars and breaking a rib lol. I do get the point though!

Sounds like what I really need is some tables with less of a kick on them to practise on. Then practise practise practise I've already considered some training, me and some workmates were discussing it whilst at BPW at the weekend.

Targets for the summer - more strength in the arms/hands (less deathgrip...), being able to manual to some extent, more comfortable with jumps

What I think you want (aside from coaching if you can, it's a handy shortcut) is a few tables of increasing size, close together. Practice on a dinky one til it's very easy and then just keep moving up as you get comfortable. That's pretty much what a coach would have you do anyway in my experience. Ideally you'll get to a point where you're controlling your weight etc enough to survive landings like the one you describe at BPW.

Not that there's any guarantees, I messed up the one at the top of Forest of Dean (before you actually hit the named descents) and dislocated a shoulder :rolleyes: