Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:25:39 -0700 forum@mtbbritain.co.uk (MTB Britain) IP.Blog 60 So I had a go on one, and it seemed ok.
Then one came up at a reasonable price, so I thought why not.

I got it and changed some bits over and took it out for an hour.
I didn’t do anything too taxing and it felt ok.
Nothing special, just ok.
Then on the commute to work, nothing special, just ok.

I could not really feel any major difference between a 29’er or my 26’er.
They were both SS rigids.

Then Wednesday night it clicked. Went out with the local club (some of which ride 29’ers) and it all fell into place.
I had put the steel forks back on and they were so much better than the carbon ones.
The trails that I did were twistier and more flowing that it’s maiden ride, and it seemed a lot faster on my local trails than the 26” SS.
I is happy.


So now the DMR has new forks, due to the Nixons blowing a seal on a descent and me dropping 6” in about .00000001 of a sec.
They are back having been repaired, but I think I will stick to the Fox Vanillas.
I is happy x 2.


Laters
]]> Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:39:18 -0700
I had a week off the bike last week and today I put in the best commute time ever.
What normally is a 10m 40min commuter, I put in a 25min commute
This was on a 33/13 ratio on 2.35 slicks.

It must have been the rest, as I wanted to push myself more and more. Even on the way home I was wanting to push myself again. This made a change as the return leg has more hills.

Things were good until the BB gave out . Luckily I had a spare in the garage.
While in the garage I thought I would check the tyres on the other bikes. Both had thorn punctures in the fronts
Lucky really as I wouldn't have got the DMR out till tomorrow night for a night ride.
These fixed, I found the rear on the commuter had a huge thorn sticking out of the tyre
Before anyone says owt I can't be ar5ed with tubeless faff.

Now the Voodoo has developed a leak on the rear brake and is off the road until the new hose comes.
Bugger.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:20:52 -0700 I had been biding my time and waiting for the right frame to come along.
Hopefully now it has.

I have been looking around at frames similar to the Voodoo that will take 140mm forks.
I wouldn’t want to risk them on the Voodoo, as there is no gusseting on the frame where it meets the headtube.
Plus I like the Voodoo as a singlespeed too much to have it geared.
I am a big fan of the round tube steel hardtails such as the On-Ones, Cotic Souls and the Voodoo Wangas.
But as I have already had an Inbred, I do not want another, as they are a little too popular. (Sorry Suggs, Chris, Pete and Dan).

So what was it too be???

Going back a few months there was an article in Singletrack magazine on Norway.
In this there was a green hardtail. I really liked the look of this and even e-mailed them to try and find out the make etc.


(taken from Singletrack magazine)

They suggested that it was a Kinesis Decade Versa.
It wasn’t and I still don’t know what it was.

I then had a look at the Kinesis Decade Versa frames and they ticked all the boxes for me.
However I did not have £400 to splash out on a frame. 8(

So I kept my eyes open on the classifieds and evil bay.
During this time I noticed that the Kinesis frames bear a striking similarity to the DMR Switchbacks. They have they same design at the rear and have the same geometry.

DMR don’t make these any more and the only XC hardtails they do are the Trailstars.

DMR=Devil May Ride

However, one came up and it is now mine. It had to pay a visit to the powdercoaters, as it was a little more scratched than the seller stated and for my liking.
Here it is back from the powdercoaters and with fresh decals.


Then I discovered that the fork lowers on the Manitou Nixon's were cracked
But they are replaced now.

So stripped the gubbins from the Yeti and built up my geared hardtail.
And here it is.








The Yeti will be kept under wraps, as no doubt I will feel the need for full suss again one day. Plus it only takes a couple of hours to swap the stuff over, so I can still use it should the need arise.

Laters
]]> Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:21:18 -0800
There is a nice trail developing over there and the main reason was to check the freehub on the Voodoo.
I stripped it at the weekend and couldn't see anything too obvious, so cleaned it and blasted it with GT85. Put it back together and hey presto it works

Also think I saw the 'big cat' on the wedge. Saw a pair of huge green eyes in my lights reflecting back about 100m away. They blinked a few times and then it moved off. As it did so the cows in the field went apeshit.
Whatever it was, it was 'kin big.

Still got some muddy fun in locally and although the snow has gone it was still chuffin cold around the tootsies.]]> Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:59:17 -0800 Commuter Fred will be coming out to play
Especially as the freehub on the Voodoo has packed up. Gonna strip it and give it a good clean, see if that helps.

Here Fred with his winter commuting booties on.



]]> Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:41:58 -0800
Normally I will brave snowy conditions, but the route I take is sheet ice, and with my ankle at the moment I am not risking it.

I have decided to go back to flat pedals for the time being, as I struggle to unclip without it sending shoting pains up my achillies tendon.
If I get on with them, then I will invest in some decent flat pedals.

Still made it out with the boys just after Christmas around Ladybower way. It was a tough ride because of the snow, but I got to do the 'Beast' again aswell as Suicide brake.



Then last Sunday I did a ride around Calver. The conditons were worse than the week before, with 2'+ of fresh snow on the top.
I got up there with the Godiva Trailriders, who I get out locally with in the week. And one of them is emigrating to Canada (jammy sod) and the ride was his send off.
It was -8 in Calver and 4 of the group had their freehubs freeze, including mine
Still managed a decent descent by dropping my seat all the way down and hobby horsing it down through the deep snow.
Twas a giggle.





So when the snow finally goes, Fred will come back out for commuting duties, with his new rigid forks, flat bars and bar ends.
He looks fast, if I say so myself and will post a piccies when he's done.
Until then snow,snow go away.
]]> Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:36:21 -0800
Got up the Chase this morning as by all reports the roads in the Peak District were not in a good state due to snow and ice.
As much as I love the place, it was not worth the risk.

The Chase was frozen solid and they had closed the new 'Stegosaurus' and bridge crossing. Don't know why, prolly because the boards would have been trecherous with the ice.

Still did the detour and instead of the fire road climb, we did the sneaky trail with the steep entry, only to find this brashed halfway up

Did the some more of the dog and then headed over the north side.



the trails over there were rock hard, and where the mub had frozen it made for interesting riding. The pudles were frozen solid, not even creaking under my considerable weight.

The sky was blue and the sun was low in the sky. A perfect morning for riding.


Unfortunatley my ankle has swelled up again. Probably beacuse I went on the SS/HT.
Looks like I will have to use the FS to ease any bumpng to the ankle for a bit.]]> Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:16:58 -0800 and have been sent home from work.

Still at least the ankle is getting better by the day, and I hope that I won't be off the bike for too long

I may not make the Cwmcarn ride, but hope to be back for the Peak District rides that are planned.

The yeti is now back, and I with it's new forks and 20mm axle I have found that I can now build wheels





Florence now sports bouncy forks.



Fred will be coming back out for commuting duties with rigid forks. They are in the process of being sprayed at the moment, so watch this space
]]> Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:09:44 -0800
They have made a superb job of it too.

The decals were sourced and have been fitted and I have stripped the Rockhopper and the Yeti is 75% built back up.

Just waiting for a bolt through hub to arrive in the post so that I can build the front wheel up on a 200mm axle, and a brake adapter for the post mounted forks.

It will have new forks too.

The Voodoo will now have 130mm forks and the SS commuter (Fred) will be coming back out to play with rigid forks again.

Going to stick with the SS on the Voodoo at the moment, but can stick gears on if I so choose.

The Rockhopper is being taken off my hands by my brother (Weak Knees) along with some 120mm forks.

So this weekend I will be mainly building bikes.

(pics to follow)
]]> Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:40:40 -0800 Snowdon
Snowdon was the ride that I really wanted to do since getting into this lark, and now that I have done it I feel a little deflated.
This may be down top me having a bug, so not feeling the best anyhow.

So met up with the regular guys and to start with the weather was kind.
Craig had said that the ride was 70% rideable so I was going to give it a go.

I found though, that I could not get used to a granny ring.
Maybe this is because I have been used to riding SS lately and have had to get out the saddle more.

Still made it up the steep climbs, carrying and pushing more that riding

Here is me before the weather turned.


Mick at this point had to go back down, as he was feeling under the weather(Geddit)
The rest of us carried on into the cloud, hail and rain.

At the top a quick refuel was taken on and we didn't hang about as the weather was worsening.

So, following the railway for a while to the Rangers path turn we dived left onto a nice fast rocky descent.

Then when the trail turned, so did the weather. Probably the worst weather I have ridden in.

There must have been a sh1tload of rain up there lately, as the path had washed out and turned to mulch.

Having had to tip toe down this bit due to not being able to walk down let alone ride, we carried on.

Glynn Ellis had a couple of OTB moments, but no damage was done to rider or bike.

On the way down myself, Joiner and Nigel all sailed past the sign for LLanberis and had to push back up to the start of Telegraph valley,
but if it hadn't been for this section I would have been disappointed in the whole ride.

I managed to clear all of the drainage gulley's. My bunnyhopping skills having been honed on the way to work. Not one pinch flat

I nice big feed at Petes Eats in Llanberis then rounded off the day.
Good to meet up with the boys again too.



Surgery

After this ride I knew that the Yeti would be being stripped, so having been up most of the night being sick etc etc. I had the day off.

Being bored I had a play in the garage.

This went in.................................





And this came out after a couple of theraputic faffing hours.






It reminds me of the bike that I had when I got into this carry on back in 2005.


So now the Yeti is in bits ready for the shock to have new bushes and the frame a powder coat over the winter.
HT it is this winter.

Laters B





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