Mountain Biking

fez said:
Depending on what you use the bike for and if any other parts of the drivetrain need replacing soon you still might be much better off with a 1x system. No faff with maintenance, no faff with front mechs and its super easy to get the shifting dialled in nicely. With the right rear cassette you wouldn't have any issues with range either. Loads of gravel bikes are 1x now and they are designed to be ridden on and off road up to a point.
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I can fully recommend 1x. I've changed my chainring up to a 44 tooth and fit a SunRace CSMX8 11-46T Cassette. The 44 tooth chain ring gives me enough go to keep up with friends on their road bikes and I don't mind the jumps in the cassette. The cassette has enough teeth to get me up any local hills :D!

It's a gravel bike that I use for a bit of everything and this set up suits it. As fez says, easy to set up and dial in with only really cleaning to do by way of maintenance.

I do think 46T was pushing my derailleur cage length, though it has worked out very nicely.

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Now I'm not well known for regular "maintenance"... I'll fit components and run them till they die, bike might get washed once or twice a year, and if I'm feeling generous (Bored) give it a yearly full tear down service (Last done in June). I do however regularly check the bike over, give it a top up of air in the tyres and a squirt of lube on the chain pre-ride. If I encounter any issues I fix it. Generally this has worked for me over the years.

Yesterday I encountered this... I was about 10km into a ride, I had been experiencing some weird skipping for a couple of those Km's, when I stopped for a water break I had a quick look.

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I was just going to replace the fully broken link with a missing link connector, however after further inspection...

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I've snapped many chains before, usually as a result of rock strikes and the like. Now obviously, this isnt fresh, and could have been a developing issue over weeks as a chain dosnt just do this in one ride. However this took me by surprise, I last checked the chain over Wednesday and I never noticed any apparent issues, although I must admit if the chain was cleaner it would have probably been easier to spot. Despite how dirty the chain looks, it has only been on the bike for about a year, hasnt really seen huge amount of use until the last 6-8 weeks, where it has been putting in some decent miles, an injury meant I havnt been able to run and have been cycling a lot more.
My massive legs too much load for the chain? :cry: Thankfully I managed to limp the bike back 10km in this condition.
New chain on its way now...
 
Yesterday was day 5 and the 4th Welsh bike park. I’m completely broken :D

BPW
Dirt Farm
Dyfi
Stiniog

My personal ranking order has to be:
1. DYFI - Never fails to get the blood pumping. Place is just off the chain wild, best place ever for me and if you wanna progress fast this is where you do it. DH rig recommended.

Dyfi virgin I invited along had 4 offs, race track lower got him 3/3, the root drops as you go around the tree, it was a really wet day tbf! Black bruised knees and a fractured finger tip but he’s alright and thank god it wasn’t anything worse. Just that day there was a broken wrist on the first uplift, and a broken collarbone on the last.

2. Dirt Farm - as Hedge said above, for such a small place, what they’ve created there is magical. Mountain Bike Pump Track Hill. Not as fast as DYFi but feels faster cause your right between the trees, huge berms, the Gs are big in every corner. The jumps are pretty damn big, even on the easier lines but the speed is there. So smooth, so fast and a wicked uplift on par with Stiniog tbh. Enduro recommended tbh, overspecced on a DH. Could even do it on a dirt jumper I reckon, really is just a massive pump track.

Other than hedges injury there was a broken wrist (See: https://youtube.com/shorts/vS_FvRgQ6RI) and another with potential ribs and wrist, went forwards off a shark fin, oof.

3. Stiniog - Best uplift in the UK, always a van there and probs 6-7 min to the top. Feels pretty easy after hitting Dyfi more often but still wicked fun. Good doubles, the black drop on the lower mountain has been changed to a roller - driver said just too many nasty offs on it. DH def recommend it’s a bumpy one.

4. BPW - Great to visit, awesome facilities, uplift is awkward and quite a pedally in places which is annoying on a big rig but it’s got some fantastic fast blues, vicious valley is awesome as were the other reds, insufficient funds needs some balls and a few runs to clean it. Dai hard pretty fun too. Felt quite tame though if I’m honest, I thought it’d be on par with DYFI but it’s not close imo. Big travel enduro recommended there!

First time at revs tomorrow now and I’m excited! Think that’s more on DYFI’s level and will be humbling to watch the psychos hit vision and the new 50to1.
 
Revs has a great uplift to, on par if not quicker than Stiniog. Not been BPW double but my mate said the uplift was slow and pretty unorganised when he went but that was a few years ago now. When I went Dyfi the uplift service was pretty efficient but the drive just seems to keep on going :p
 
SpudMaster said:
Revs has a great uplift to, on par if not quicker than Stiniog. Not been BPW double but my mate said the uplift was slow and pretty unorganised when he went but that was a few years ago now. When I went Dyfi the uplift service was pretty efficient but the drive just seems to keep on going :p
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The uplift in BPW does my head in at times. Super slow, they will leave you there for 10 minutes while they fill up a van even when there are another 3 vans waiting behind, the guys running it are quite often doing FA when they could be helping people or generally managing the uplift.

Love BPW but they could make the uplift far faster and more efficient.
 
I've posted this in the tubro trainer thread as well, but because it is also MTB related I thought I'd post it here too incase anyone here has had any experience doing so?
I'm looking at venturing into the Direct drive smart trainer world in preparation for winter and just generally to improve my fitness.
Has anyone here done this with a MTB? Specifically a full suspension trail bike? Are there any major issues I will come across? Will the minor pivoting action of the rear suspension under load be a problem? I will be locked out but it will not be completely rigid, there is still a small amount of give in the suspension.
I dont want to be spending more than £600-700 which limits me to lower end DD models like the Tacx Flux 2, or buying a used higher end model. not something I'm overly keen on but will do if required. Must be 12mm x 148mm rear axle compatible as well.
I'm very space limited, so I want to avoid going down the route of getting a cheap road bike just to make this work.
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SpudMaster said:
Revs has a great uplift to, on par if not quicker than Stiniog. Not been BPW double but my mate said the uplift was slow and pretty unorganised when he went but that was a few years ago now. When I went Dyfi the uplift service was pretty efficient but the drive just seems to keep on going :p
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REVs is easily the best uplift service in the UK.

Hedge said:
Dirt farm is greatest place I've ever been. Even though I twisted my knee and I'm hobbling about like an old pensioner I've never ridden anywhere so wonderfully made.
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Feel you there, my twisted knee has ended up in probably 18 months off the bike :p

Get it checked out ASAP is my advice - I put it down to nothing to start with.
 
Begbie said:
REVs is easily the best uplift service in the UK.



Feel you there, my twisted knee has ended up in probably 18 months off the bike :p

Get it checked out ASAP is my advice - I put it down to nothing to start with.
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Oh crap don't tell me that. I've just been able to manage going up and down stairs today. Painfully but still doable. The pain is right down the front outside of my knee. Almost down front of calf.

I'm take it easy until the pain is almost gone then start functional exercises and maybe a bit of pedalling etc.

The wait on raf physios is long right now.
 
Hedge said:
Oh crap don't tell me that. I've just been able to manage going up and down stairs today. Painfully but still doable. The pain is right down the front outside of my knee. Almost down front of calf.

I'm take it easy until the pain is almost gone then start functional exercises and maybe a bit of pedalling etc.

The wait on raf physios is long right now.
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I was in the next day, pretty good here though.

Hopefully just a sprain! Took me about 10 minutes first couple of days on the stairs, horrendous.

Taken me about 8-10 weeks to get surgery though and definitely because I went with 'I'm fine, nothings wrong' patter. Would've been in a lot sooner had I went to see physio sooner.

Good while off work though :p
 
Revs is unreaaaal! Uplift is so fast. Blacks are hairy as hell, didn’t ride them as it was slippy, too little speed and I was tired and broken after the prev 4 parks, will be back to tick them off for sure.

Free ride is excellent!
 
illuz said:
Revs is unreaaaal! Uplift is so fast. Blacks are hairy as hell, didn’t ride them as it was slippy, too little speed and I was tired and broken after the prev 4 parks, will be back to tick them off for sure.

Free ride is excellent!
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Revs is always slippy. Face planted the black first ride on the last trip. The middle sections are much better for grip than further down. They are hairy though, been 4 times now and I'm still on edge every single time. Not sure why, as I done Dyfi happily, but some of the sections at Revs is terrifying. Never had the balls for far side though.

Unreal uplift though, could easily get 10+ trips in a day.
 
You need silly speed going into them steep turns I think, to not slip. There was so much slick slate coming through the berms that going slow you've got zero chance of making it through. I'd say I could maybe do it if it wasn't after the previous parks, but maybe that's just my ego. Either way, I'd made it survived to Bike Park 5 so I wasn't going to push it too far and have a big off there.

What did you do at Dyfi? I've not hit Slab or Fire in the Booth but the other tracks are fine. RT lower probs sketchiest bit. Even Helter Skelter is alright, done that in the soaking wet. Compared to Revs tho, DyFi has way more space to play with. The berms at Revs at times were soooo tight you couldn't rail them etc.

Will def be back though, just gotta take each track bit by bit, no ones other than the pros are going to smash them all out in a day.
 
illuz said:
You need silly speed going into them steep turns I think, to not slip. There was so much slick slate coming through the berms that going slow you've got zero chance of making it through. I'd say I could maybe do it if it wasn't after the previous parks, but maybe that's just my ego. Either way, I'd made it survived to Bike Park 5 so I wasn't going to push it too far and have a big off there.

What did you do at Dyfi? I've not hit Slab or Fire in the Booth but the other tracks are fine. RT lower probs sketchiest bit. Even Helter Skelter is alright, done that in the soaking wet. Compared to Revs tho, DyFi has way more space to play with. The berms at Revs at times were soooo tight you couldn't rail them etc.

Will def be back though, just gotta take each track bit by bit, no ones other than the pros are going to smash them all out in a day.
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Fire in the booth didnt exist when u went., I done slab but it wasn't pretty! Not sure why I was intimated, my local hill is probably worse.

Dyfi for sure feels safer, revs is do enclosed and rock everywhere. Love it though. Surgery tomorrow! Hopefully find out how long I have to stay off the bike for!
 
@Ross Thomson I’m at a loss with the fork, I’ve let all the air out and pumped it up in stages and squished it a few time at 30psi, then carried on up to my current 55psi. With the compression fully open I’m at 30% sag with the oring, compression fully closed I’m at the same 30%. I did a heavy braking test today to see how much the fork dives in to its travel with the dial fully open and shut and the results was the same in both situations. I really wanna love these zebs but man they giving me a headache.
 
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