Gisburn Forest...

A week ago I was treated to a guided tour of Gisburn Forest by one of the trail builders (StumpyJon from Bikeradar).

It was bloody brilliant!

The trails were a mix of everything - technical climbing, technical decent, swoopy bits, rocky bits, muddy bits... I don't think it was lacking at all! I was left with a huge grin!

Met a load of friendly people on the trails, everyone on a different type of bike just enjoying the mud and wet weather.

So this weekend, i' back up there on Sunday to lend a hand with the trail building and am hoping to get there on Saturday for another ride!

If you haven't been, GO!

The P7 is on its way!!

So i've started a new build (again!).

I went up Gisburn and found that I needed a lighter trail friendly bike to attack more xc style routes, so the P7 should be a nice balance of lightweight whippet and strength, especially considering the NS weighs around 35lb!

 This time round, i'm trying to use different online shops and spending a whole load of time shopping around and finding the deals!

I've got the frame on order from SunsetMTB in Cardiff (who are excellent btw) and I should hopefully have it early next year when Orange release the new batch. Also got a free hope headset in red too!

I've also bought a set of 2010 Rockshox Revelation Race in white which are brilliant for the price (£350 from Rutland Cycling) and have just ordered a Shimano XT triple crankset + BB (from NoahsArkMTB).
I'm planning on matching the XT cranks with XT groupset (from Merlin Cycles).

I'll be getting my wheels from Chain Reaction Cycles again, and am going to stick with what I know and get some more Spank rims. This time i'm going for Spank Oozy rims built onto Hope Pro2 hubs with DT double butted spokes. Brakes are going to be Hope M4 with anodised red finishing and floating rotors.
Finishing kit is hopefully going to be from Easton in a red and black guise, so should match the scheme well!

Can't wait :D

Depressing, but balanced out with a yay!

Everything seems to be breaking on me :(

My car's been in the garage for the past 6 week because it blew up in cardiff... costing me a fortune so all my idea of bike builds and new bikes has gone out the window.

I got news that It'd be ready on friday, so have been out servicing the bike, only to find that my forks are nakkered.... hopefully covered under warranty, but still thats gonna be a while before they get sorted.

On a lighter note, I was in MBUK!!

Hardtail 'V' Full Suspension...

I'd been looking at a full suspension bike the past few weeks... to add one to my fleet.

But I just can't do it. I can't justify the price, weight or why I need the extra bounce.
The NS is so planted over any terrain, i'd probably just not ride the full suspension!

Take last weekend at Whinlatter forest for instant...
on the climbs it was only tough because I only have 9 gears and had the complete wrong tyres for the conditions...
on the decents however, the NS was super quick, super responsive, floated over roots/rocks/drops/jumps and felt totally planted.... even with shocking tyres on!

So.. instead of buying a full suspension, I have opted for some decent tyres and a big can of MTFU!
When I feel that the NS Surge is holding me back, then I might consider a FS again!

New plans!

Well.. the ScandAL has gone... it was gonna take too long to build and cost too much! So i've sold it and ordered a different frame!!

So, i've decuded to post up some riding photos from Glentress this year... bloody brilliant trail center and bike park!

Enjoy :)