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If you want to nerd out, how did he do on the 2 stages he did get practise on
11th and 15th So a bit better... but still not as good as he'd have liked.. Drew was a chunk quicker this weekend. But there's a few reasons behind that i think... He still isn't able to push the Enduro bike as hard as he can the DHer. As to why, i don't really know the answer to that, he loves the Privateer and is getting plenty of bike time on it, but he still can't quite get 'there' on it. It's something for him and Katy to work on in training that's for sure.
The cat he's racing in is really close along with him being RIGHT on the cusp of the age cat, he's still only 14 but racing in the U18 class. (Not that i'm making excuses, he finished where he finished, that's fine with us)
(if racing in U15 he'd have been 5th).
In seriousness, if you are going to be racing too, is he 1) at least vaguely mechanically competent and 2) does he have a spare key to the van to sort basic things by himself
I think in truth this weekend was likely to be my last race... Whilst i really REALLY enjoyed it, the truth is, i'm pretty rubbish and not getting any better. So it's more just a 'day out in the woods' between tape for me. It would be pretty sad in some ways if it is my last as with Southerns you do get to ride tracks and locations you can't ride outside of race time. But i was a little disappointed i wasn't there to fix/resolve the issues, but that's me being a little harsh on myself of course. Truth is mate, i'm not really sure as to what the answer is. Racing on the Sunday as well as the camping, then the driving and prepping both bikes/riders/food/etc it does get a little hard. We're having a pretty intense time currently with every weekend taken up with the sport and whilst i'm not too worried about burn-out, i'm slightly jaded today i'll admit.
As Hobnob describes, getting good at enduro will be a good skill for DH racing especially in adverse weather.
Absolutely.... we're trying our best, both as riders and crew.
It's the drive home at the end of the weekend that really does me in wether I'm riding or not.
I'm not sure that I like the idea of mash up format races, but it's not something that we have out here. Being able to repeat the same track over and over makes it a bit less enduro and more DH.
But hey, we aren't even allowed to ride the course the previous day for our regional cup! If you want to check it out, you've got to walk it.
We can't ride the day before. Track walk the night before, practice in the AM, which really you only get 1 run per trail (maybe fractionally more), so you're in semi blind. Remembering the tracks is quite hard.. There were a few little bits from practice i remembered on race runs, but many bits i didn't have a clue on 😀
Mash up is good if you make a mistake on a run of course... but wouldn't help me much in general 😀 I go tooo slow to make mistakes.
really you only get 1 run per trail (maybe fractionally more), so you’re in semi blind. Remembering the tracks is quite hard.
go-pro and watch it back in the break between practise and race? not the same as riding it repeatedly admittedly, but should help jog the memory for "flat sprint coming up" or "challenging corner is around the next tree"
Not a bad idea at all mate 🙂
If i record my runs it'll be like watching it in slow-mo too 😀
Actually even better if he has someone of similar ability (team mate, or just tag on behind a competent random) in shot. will give a better view of the track than just the 1st person view.
Not bought any pics yet... but as you can see, he was really enjoying it 😀
https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/10806103/rider/111960
Just had a results update too for me... i was 4th not 5th...
Still completely rubbish, but 1 place less rubbish 😀
Any chance not being able to push the enduro bike as hard is phsycological relating to the open face helmet?
The cat he’s racing in is really close along with him being RIGHT on the cusp of the age cat, he’s still only 14 but racing in the U18 class. (Not that i’m making excuses, he finished where he finished, that’s fine with us)
Why isn't he in the U15? Is it because he turns 15 this calendar year? That's what happens in BMX, big age range groups are hard when you're at the bottom of them for sure.
Why isn’t he in the U15? Is it because he turns 15 this calendar year?
Yup, that's the one.
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[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52986918418_0d7d5daf3c_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52986918418_0d7d5daf3c_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oJgNNW ]randr-photo-10825020-6720px-by-garystokesphoto[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Well that’s getting a bit deep and personal 😀 but obviously the thread is here for some of that so i’ll reply.
Sorry didn't intend to probe too deeply, but thanks for the reply. It must be great for you now to see the results coming through as reward for the work that everyone has put in.
Sorry didn’t intend to probe too deeply,
I think we're past that with this thread 🙂
It must be great for you now to see the results coming through as reward for the work that everyone has put in.
Of course, but results are really only half of it for both of us, they bring happiness and sometimes a bit of sadness at the same time i think. But either way we try not to get too hung up on things like results and focus on just enjoying the time out in the hills and playing on bikes.
Why isn’t he in the U15? Is it because he turns 15 this calendar year?
Yup, that’s the one.
well, there's a massive difference between a 14 year old and a 17 year old in terms of experience and physical development. He shouldn't get too hung up on that.
Yeah i know mate.. but his team-mate drew was flying this week and he's a lot lighter/smaller than my boy, he ended up with 5th which was an absolutely fantastic result. However he does seem to get on better than my lad with the 141 and he's even going to race it in the upcoming Pearce DH round at Bringewood in 2 weeks i believe. So it's not all about the strength/size, but yes i do agree that the lad needs to keep the emotions grounded, some weeks you're the tortoise, some weeks you're the hare... It's swings and roundabouts.
This weekend is a weekend off racing..
However, we're at Bringewood for practice on Sat and then Dyfi on Sunday for a 'party-laps' day 😀 for his birthday party. So it'll still be a chunk of bike time.
Before that there's coaching tomorrow of course 😀
Could you try getting him one of those enduro full face helmets? It might be another way to try to duplicate the feeling he has on the DH bike? I know you’ve tried to get the brakes, cockpit, pedals, etc as similar as you can already. Other things, have you got the saddle height, bar height and position the same between bikes?
Could you try getting him one of those enduro full face helmets?
Tried it. Didn't like, not sure why really, he's a teen and they have their little ways about them.
But I'm not sure it's an/the issue. I'm not sure there is an issue as such. He's just not as good/happy/involved in Enduro stuff. He's been slightly unfortunate with crashes in the last 2 Enduros, but that's the nature of the sport, especially in a tight class like his, a couple of mistakes that cost you 15s can set you back 8-10 places overall.
As you can see from pic, he's still enjoying it and that's enough for us lot.
Have you seen the slo-mo vids from the race? Pretty cool to see the body and bike working away.
this is my son’s clips
https://alan-pilkington-photography.myshopify.com/products/se-sw-rd2-rider302
No sir I'd not. Funny though as I look about as uncomfortable riding in slow mo as I felt at speed, speed being a relative term of course.
325 was me. But it's really not worth much of a watch. I know my place in the world.
Man, it looks like a hot day! What were you saying?
It was proper warm yes... especially for fat sweaty blokes 😀
I imagine "FFS FFS... Arrrgghhh FFFS" was probably something likely. It was on a loose sketchy section that by the time my Cat was out was pretty sketchy and loose, so i was just fumbling my way down it mostly.
Was out with the crazies last night over at Dowies near FoD, they were practicing 'chainless' so carrying more speed and no brake allowed. I managed 4-5 of the trails but the flat one over to the left as you're in the hub area up the track, i couldn't get 100%. I managed to keep them in sight for 3-4 corners but we came into a long left and them and Katy just gap me through carrying more corner speed... after that, it's all over. 😀 😀 Not a massive shock of course, but not a lot i can do about it.
Merch drop last night with some new shiny CrankBrothers shoes from CB and Katy... these will be his 'race' shoes for now, but obviously when winter hits, they're 'my other shoes are wet' type shoes... You can't really have just 1 pair with some of the conditions we try and ride back to back days in.
Sat we're off to Bringewood, with Sunday at Dyfi Bike Park. I'm on van/spanner duties, mostly because i don't like Dyfi, so van/bbq and chilling for me. But hopefully it'll be dry for the youngsters so they can hit the bigger lines.
Oooooft that was a LONG weekend, despite only really starting Sat morning for a change.
Headed up to Bringewood for track runs and practice for the lad, we had his mate with him too. Bit of a long uplift that was but simple enough. From there it was off to https://www.pentrebach.com/ little place by the seaside where we did BBQ and tents right next to the beach in the evening. Then up to Dyfi bike park on Sunday.
The boy split a Shorty which was a bit of a pain as it was the one with Cushcore in it. I'd not done a cushcore tyre before and removing it i used the Cushcore specific tyre tool and a bit of common sense. Installing it was a bit trickier, which was the same tool for seating it and a fair bit of patience !! But we got there in the end.. I'd say 15 mins to get it on and installed. So he's got a new DHR2 installed now. But i'll need to go shopping again really for another tyre. This one is/was past it's best anyway arguably.
He's sporting a minor hand injury from a schralp crash at Dyfi, but he'll be fine for weekend i think.
I didn't ride Dyfi this weekend, mostly it's just not my kind of place to ride, i'm not a jumper so didn't bother taking my bike. But in a weird turn of events on Sat morning, my bike ended up coming to Dyfi anyway. A mate rang me and said "The DH bike i bought for my boy is knackered, never buy a bike 2nd hand..".
We discussed buying our purple GT, but that's obviously already sold.. We discussed hiring options. So we'd exhausted all of those and the easiest option was he driving to my house and taking my Slayer to Dyfi instead. Luckily Mrs Weeksy was still at home, so he scooted over and took the Slayer.. he's a very happy boy 🙂
He did crash it in a moment which was described as "well it was either crash or run over my lad"... Weridly he too the crash option... I told him next time to run over his lad... He's got 2, so a spare kid anyway for emergencies 🙂
It's a long drive back from Dyfi though that's for sure.
The boy is spending most of this week down at Privateer bikes on work-experience through school, so really looking forward to it now. The straight off racing at the weekend lol.
whoopsie
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53002667809_c4d000309e_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53002667809_c4d000309e_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oKEwya ]2023-06-26_12-56-00[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Sadly due to medical wisdom we're having to take 2-3 weeks off. He's not in lots of pain but as he's still growing and the bones changing it makes sense to chill a bit and get a bit of strength back in before going racing again.
Gutted for him. But arguably the right decision.
It won't put anything back in the coffers as we're past cut off point for both.
We're still heading up there this weekend though as his team mates are both racing and he wants to go offer support.
Another day for the lad at Privateer HQ. Today was some full wheel builds, wheel bearing swaps and general repairs.
Couple of pics showing some of the process for fitting new rim.
The guys at Privateer/Hunt gave been absolutely fantastic with him and not only is he learning lots but he's massively enjoying himself there too.
He's also got shiny new Hunt Enduro Wide wheels on his 141. I was told off by him for not having the logos aligned on the wheel I fitted 😉😉😉
Get lots of rear hub bearings for them and keep an eye on the freehub, the seal is shite
Sounds like he's having a good time despite the injury. Should be picking up some bike fettling tips to take a bit of pressure of you. 😉
Pressure? Nah, none for me. But yeah he's developing an interest now which is great so we'll start sharing, learning and fettling together. It'll be more quality time together that's for sure.
The injury I honestly think he'd ride this weekend, no issues, no worries, but it'll be fine not riding and just enjoying it too.
The boy has now finished his work experience with Privateer/Hunt and was sent away with new wheels plus the ones he built for himself, trued, taped, bearings. Impressively they actually hold pressure so he's done a good job there.
He's got 4-5 new t-shirts, some riding jerseys and some water bottles. As well of course a load of real world experience in a proper job. It's sure showed us where his skills and brainset lies, which I think will 100% mean hd won't be jumping on a degree course but more hands on type stuff. It's not that he's daft, but he's just not really wired that way.
Off to watch the team tomorrow band say hello to all the gang. I'm sure I'll get roped into spannering something through the weekend 😊😊😊
He'll be a bit gutted not to be riding of course, but hopefully his birthday this weekend will make up for it.
Legend 😎 Great stuff all round 😀
Sounds like he had a good week and the experience and contacts will always be handy.
Wish him happy birthday and a speedy recovery from us 🥳🥳🥳
Without knowing your lad, don’t immediately rule out a degree. A mechanical engineering degree and a design / development role would still allow him to get his hands dirty, but would also open up a lot more doors longer term.
Anyhow, sounds like he had a great time which is the main thing 👍🏻
Boy am I glad we didn't go to Llangollen and gave him a bit more recovery time!!
Scroll to the end
Seeding/qualifying was cancelled
14 days is arguably a bit short for a fractured bone, but it was minimal so the boy was back today.
As usual, he looked fast, certainly compared to me, but that's not necessarily that challenging, especially to him. Lol.
He seems happy though and isn't in pain.
He was moaning (mentioning is more like the actual reality)about the Codes, so I picked up some code RSC from chain reaction which will match his Fury (and the Demo when it arrives) so they'll go on once they arrive from CRC.
Expensive week with the new shock for you and new brakes for him!
Conditions at Llangollen looked awful. Kind of thing that puts you off eventing unless you’re serious!
Expensive week with the new shock for you and new brakes for him!
It's ok, shock was week before.
The brakes though I could sell one of the spare sets of Codes and cover a chunk of the costs if needed. But they'll go on another bike if needed anyhow. So all good.
Conditions at Llangollen looked awful. Kind of thing that puts you off eventing unless you’re serious!
We've had some proper ropey conditions this year. At 2 events I felt like crying after being up all night thinking the tent may blow away, then getting up to rain on rain on rain. It's tough for the lad of course but at times, it's tough being put crew.
But this is the path we're on, for better or worse, right or wrong, I don't yet know.
But, it's a hell of an adventure for us.
It does kinda absorb our lives I'll admit but we have a lot of fun.
Although, trying to stay with him uphill today wasn't fun. I could blame it on a long ride yesterday but I'd be kidding myself.
Only ever done the odd event for fun, so conditions didn’t really make too much difference, but a few 2412 events made me question my life choices.
One year the mud was so bad I genuinely had to stop about every minute or two (no exaggeration) to wipe my glasses as I couldn’t see a thing. People crashing everywhere.
Nothing worse than not being able to shower, then going back to a tent that hasn’t coped with the deluge and everything being wet 😂
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53038069854_b011aa1033_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53038069854_b011aa1033_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oNMYmf ]IMG_20230711_084019[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Brakes removed and the old Codes put into spares. The RSCs arrive today and will be going on later after work. He can then dial them in tomorrow at FoD for his coaching session.
We're in the process of booking Antur Stiniog for later this month if the weather plays ball, he's got a race there later in the year for Nationals and we've never been, so a day on the track will be useful.
This weekend if Southern Enduro, QECP. Should be ace and fun... well, for him. I can't really justify the £50 extra for myself to race, even though i do think it'd be a blast and there's a decent field in my Cat... But i'll go out locally on Sat with mates anyway for a ride. 🙂
No issues with the hand after his days riding, so he's happy and ready to get back racing. I think it'll take a little bit of time for him to get speed back, especially not being on the DH bike... but hopefully with a bit of wisdom from Katy on Weds, he'll get his mojo and be up to speed.
Not always that simple fella, expensive month and throwing £50 i don't have at it is a bit silly, especially when i need to book Antur as well, then drive up/back.
We've also got Rhyd-y-felin the week after Southern for the National DH Champs, which again is a chunk of driving.. I know it's not a crazy amount of money for the Southern, but it stacks up.
The boy was out at Staunton last night with Katy, Sam Copp and his team mate Drew. It was his first time there and he seemed to really enjoy it. Apparently some steep bits, some tech bits and lots of pedalling back up to tire him out.
Happily his hand was good and no pain either last night or this morning from it. So he's good to go racing at the weekend now. Sign off has been agreed from the bosses 🙂
So we're off to QECP for the Southern Enduro round and he'll be out giving it a whirl with his mates.
Good luck this weekend!
As an aside, mate of mine went to the Megavalanche with his lad and he did the MegaKids, and dad did the E-Mega. Both finished middle of the starters. Videos looked good they posted.
See you guys there next year? (i did the mega once, way beyond my skill level 😀 )
Oh jeez that'd be great but I simply don't know next year, so so many things to consider about next year. I'm currently just working on fortnight to fortnight
Today was back out racing. QECP with southern Enduro.
First big ride back since breaking hand 3 weeks ago at Dyfi.
For the first time in an Enduro he has a set of fairly clean stages, a few minor mistakes and line choices, lost a couple of seconds with a fallen rider, but mostly it went ok.
Finished the day with an 8th place which is by quite a lot his best finish in an Enduro.
https://flic.kr/p/2oPTqjW
We've been spending time trying to dial in the bouncers on the 141 and it seems he's getting happier with it now.
All in all, an excellent days racing and lots of fun
Yup, we're back out this weekend too. After the day at Silverstone today I'm a bit tired, but I've got a few days to get ready for pit duties all weekend. We're going up early to Rhyd Y Felin in Wales on Fri for track walk. He's ridden the Pearce track plenty but this will potentially be a different layout for the days.
It's the DH national champs so a jersey is on the line for some, but we're not going to win that's for sure. He's still a chunk away from those boys.
But just being at the national champs is an epic thing and despite the weather looking proper ropey, we're both looking forward to it.
It'll just be the Fury going to this one as the Demo isn't here yet.
Last time at the track he was 24/47 with roughly the same number at this one, I guess that's roughly his target. Although he's crashed both times here in the start arena lol, so just not crashing would be a bloody bonus!!!
Let the crazy begin
Last bit of riding before heading off to Nationals this weekend
https://youtube.com/shorts/0nha-iD4GjI?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/T7sWakzTm5g?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/QNFCmkOGw5Q?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/ERvL7UtEDMI?feature=share
Slightly disappointingly but not terribly, the Demo has been delayed by the shop, with an estimated date of 20th Sept now instead of mid-August. As i say, it's disappointing as we were hoping to have it for a few rides/races before winter but that's looking a bit less likely now for us. I did offer the boy a change of plan to either a Santa Cruz V10 or a Scott Gambler 920 but he wants to stick with the Demo. I'm more than happy with that as a plan.
I think for now we'll also keep the blue GT Fury in the garage as emergency spare, until the day comes and he either says "Nah, too small" or he simply doesn't get on with it. But i'm happy having a 2nd bike in the wings 'just in case'
Its never good news when its delayed but will be worth the wait to get the bike he wants.
We are the other way with Kevin. His new bike is here and at this moment in time have no idea as to when he can ride again. Our summer trips have been changed from planned rides to walking and not sure if he will be fit for Finale. Yesterdays UK hospital appointment didn't go how he was hoping
Good luck for the Nationals and keep us updated
Where to begin with the weekend... I guess we'll start on Friday. We drove up to Rhyd-Y-Felin in great weather, stopped for some food, a sandwich and a coffee, just a relaxing jaunt up there really. Weather was nice. Stopped in at a bike shop on the way (more on that later).
Got to track, unloaded, set up gazebo and went on track walk, it's rough, rooty, rocky, steep, natural, loamy, grassy.. oh yeah jumpy too and wet. That about sums it up, but it's the National Championships so it really should be. It was then BBQ, beers, chatting in the paddock and saying hello to our riding mates and parents.. Awesome evening until about 10.30pm when it started raining... which continued from Fri night until Sun about 10am without really stopping, it was the fine mist type rain but with some bigger rains in there, every now and again you'd think "yay it's stopped", but not really.
All of this of course meant Sat practice was wetter than wet. ALL day... it was bike washing, new gloves, new goggles, bike washing, HotXbuns, bike washing, new kit... Just relentless. But the boy finished the day happy and having had fun. He'd been on his backside, about 10 times, but some people were getting that on every run 😀
Beers, BBQ and an early night with a book...
Then the rain stopped.... then the wind came.... The gazebo was in danger of being never seen again... then the rain came, 2am, 3am, 4am, more rain, more wind.... 6.30 i got up and it wasn't too bad.
Sunday started with grey clouds and yeah, more drizzly rain
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The boy finished fettling the bike and off he went for practice
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53066713450_14c43131eb_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53066713450_14c43131eb_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oRjM6m ]IMG_20230722_082040[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
The rain hadn't made things better, but not worse either.
Bike was cleaned, again, again, again.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53065733502_c96caba631_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53065733502_c96caba631_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oReKMG ]IMG_20230723_112814[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Seeing was at 11.50am for him... He came down 32/61 which wasn't bad, he'd made some mistakes but he wasn't too unhappy, felt he had more to give in the race.
That was about where the good bits end... The race runs were coming down and it had now been dry for 3+ hours, the track day gone from a mud fest to people coming down with almost clean kits and bikes, the tyres still had a tread.
Eventually i saw him come into sight and glance at the clock, 4mins 10, already 10s down on his seeding run, he finished with a 4mins 18s, for 49/52 finishers and being his usual weird self he was pretty up-beat about it.
"i learned some new lines" and "i caught this berm after the left right and it was epic". He knew after his first decent crash on the run his time was done, so mostly just got down trying different things at times. But somehow came away really happy.
I'm disappointed for him, but in honesty he's pretty cool about it all 🙂
Which bring us into "why did you stop at a bike shop?"
The answer to that is. To try a couple of DH bikes they had in stock. The Specialized Demo delivery date had slipped again, i was having doubts the thing would ever arrive so wanted to look into options for him.
We tried out a Scott Gambler but in his car-park and grassy paddock tests it felt a little unbalanced to him. With the front end feeling all of out kilter with the rear balance.
So we tried a Trek Session in an R2 (Large), it was awesome... well, he thought so, i thought the bars were too wide.. But we both had a play on it, a bit of ride and tried it out.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53066711960_259f0164ed_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53066711960_259f0164ed_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oRjLDE ]IMG-20230721-WA0001[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
And yep as you guessed, we now own the Session. Just waiting for it to get delivered or collect next week.
I had a lot of chats with our mate at RSR Bikeworks who reassured me in terms of how the Trek 'feels' in comparison to the GT due to linkages and progression curves and he thinks the boy will get on with it really quickly.
It's coming to us in 29er form but with various flip-chips it's also 27.5 mullet compatible... so we'll try both and see what the lad prefers in terms of wheel sizing. I think he'll settle on the mullet myself, but i've been wrong before. It also comes with nice bits like X01 gearing, Boxxer Ultimate forks, Code RSC brakes all of which are higher spec than the Demo would have been.
There's no rush for him to race it, he can spend as long as he wants getting used to it, but of course, if he's faster on it, then he can race it in a few weeks at the next DH in Glencoe.
https://www.blazingbikes.co.uk/index.php/trek-session-9-xo1-2023-team-white.html
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Eventually we got home, for curry and relaxing, before tomorrow morning i kick him out of bed and get him to start cleaning his bikes
I don’t know how DH bikes size up (with that being a large) but that looks somehow too small for him?
Yeah the pic is weird as it's really not when he's riding it. According to Trek it's 5'8-6'2" riders and he's only 5'10
But I agree in the pic it looks tiny, especially as it's 29er both ends. So maybe just a funny angle pic? I rode it and it felt great to me at 6'0. Poppy, plush, really good
I think it’s the incredibly slack actual (not effective) seat tube angle which means sat down with the seat down it will be “short”. Obviously irrelevant to stood up reach though.
also he’s sat on it which will compress the rear but the fork is at full extension. That’s some more visual shortening of the bike that again is not relevant to how it rides.
Is that the price you are paying? That's nearly twice the demo price? Fair play, can't say you don't back your lad but wowsers, when you said there wasn't an endless pit of money on a thread the other day didn't expect a 7k bike drop. Your boy must feel the luckiest kid on the world. Nice one
And of course, entirely up to you what you spend your money on, not patronising on that at all
And of course, entirely up to you what you spend your money on, not patronising on that at all
By having this thread and posting these things, i open myself up to questions and it's only fair i try to answer.
The answer to "Is that the price you are paying?" is no. The bike has been used once (maybe twice) and we couldn't find a mark on it, it's the shop owners bike... Well it was his, it's now ours 🙂
It's invisiframed too which saves us a chunk of money and effort.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't cheap and wasn't a give-away... but it wasn't mid 7s either.
We're in this adventure balls deep as they say.. there's VERY VERY few DH bikes out there and i'm not sure if/when that will actually change. So we jumped on it.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53067660780_3422210922_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53067660780_3422210922_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oRpCGC ]rhyd[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Minor result update. Doesn't change much, it was still a good weekend and hopefully he learned a lot.
All fair. Bet he can't wait to get it. Looks the business.
Nice. I've always thought the Sessions were the coolest looking DH bikes.
I do really like it and with all the reading i've been doing in terms of tech, reviews, suspension and even the service manual to work out what we have/need/want etc my mind is still happy with it.
Had a chat with the guys at Blazing Bikes and just waiting for delivery guy to let me know when it'll be shipped and when it'll arrive.
I need to get hold of and work out how we can convert the 148x12 into a 157x12 setup, it's a Hope Pro4 in 148x12 currently.. I'm not sure if this works
https://problemsolversbike.com/products/super-booster-hub-spacing-kit-rear
Or indeed where i'd get one in the UK. I'm waiting for Hope to come back to me too via email. The reason for all this is, we haven't decided yet on 29er or mullet in terms of what he'll run it as. So ideally i want a cheap solution to convert his currnet wheel into a 157 so he can run back to back testing on the 27.5/29 setups. The rest of the bike apart from getting the suspension setup is as it comes and as it'll stay, possibly with some tweaks in the cockpit (i don't like that phrase) area depending on sponsor stuff.
Ison Distribution do Problem Solvers for the U.K. 99.9% of shops will have an account so should be able to help out
https://www.ison-distribution.com/english/product.php?part=HUPS0953
For some reason links don’t take you straight it. It comes up if you search though
Yeah found it on there, thank you... showing as out of stock/unavailable sadly... but it's certainly a start point.
Although, trying to stay with him uphill today wasn’t fun. I could blame it on a long ride yesterday but I’d be kidding myself.
Do you need to get an ebike ? Would be useful at races too
Do you need to get an ebike ? Would be useful at races too
Got one here mate. But admittedly i'm not a massive fan of it. We rarely XC together in truth. It's been useful at some races in terms of semi-uplifting or i'll use it in 2 weeks time for riding round the Enduro National Champs to take him food and drink etc. But in terms of riding, i'm not quite ready for one full-time for myself. I'd rather kill myself trying to stay with him as i think it's doing me good 😀
Simple fact is though, it's a thing that one day will have to come ... but i'll fight it.
For now, when needed i'll steal the wifes one.
So we're onto this week now.
Last night was stripping the bike down and giving it a full check, new brake pads and a new gear cable was all that was needed at the moment. Plan for today is to get the Cushcore into the rear for Glencoe which comes up in 3 weeks time.
First up is Pontypool this weekend, testing on the new Session hopefully (or maybe driving up to collect it first) and a bit of time on the GT/Privateer back to back testing with the Session and maybe timing it to see how it goes. We've borrowed a 157x12 rear from our favourite mechanic at Rotec Cycles, so he can test back to back with mullet and full 29 on the Session.
After that it's straight to Minehead for the National Champs Enduro with Southern Enduro.... then it's off to Glencoe... It never ends.. lol.
FYI National Champs enduro was in June. Shite event though, didn't miss much.
FYI National Champs enduro was in June. Shite event though, didn’t miss much.
Maybe it's the Southern Enduro Champs then... LOL... dunno... I only went by what was on the pic/website..
FYI National Champs enduro was in June. Shite event though, didn’t miss much.
Yep, Southern Champs next weekend. Probably the same end result as above. Actively avoiding & going to ride Exmoor the weekend after to ride the actual decent trails instead 😆
Still waiting for the Session to arrive, but hopeful it'll be this week.
Got a new front tyre on the way to replace the slightly weird choice that comes on the Session, well, half weird. It's a Bontager obviously but is a GE5 Team issue which is wired. Thoughts are they can go up tubeless but it's not described as a tubeless tyre, however is 1500gr a piece which means it'll be replaced and the GE5 will be sold or binned. I've also got a new wheel on loan from my LBS that i need to collect in a 157 and 27.5 so that'll be used for some back to back testing. The plan for testing depends upon when the bike arrives. If it gets here before the weekend i think we'll be hitting Pontypool on Sat... If he's not here in time, then i may go to collect it on Sat morning with the boy and then head there or FoD depending on the weather.
The boy is certainly under no pressure to get racing it, but i do know he'll want to get some time in on it to enjoy himself.
Thank you for the compliment mate.. It's nice to be appreciated. Happily, he's a nice boy and deserves nice things..
Although i will admit, i do take things a bit far 😀
I would subtly ask the shop to delay it until after Glencoe. Mainly for new bike bouncing down horrible rocks reasons 😉
LOL @mashr it's a valid point. But i'm not sure yet if he'd even consider racing it at Glencoe yet as he'll have barely ridden it. But we're heading to Glencoe on the Tues, so he'll have Weds to Sat on both bikes and we'll likely time him too. (or they'll have timed practice)
The bike has a good protector on the bottom and is fully invisiframed before delivery, so it'll be as ready as it can.
But we’re heading to Glencoe on the Tues
anyone else think bloody hell, he's bought a YT on first reading?
😉
been following this thread and you and your kids progress for a while and having a clear out....do you get free tyres? or are you tied to a particular brand? i ask as i have a maxxis minion dhf dh 2.5 and a dhr 2 2.5 (yes the ones you cant buy) dh both 29r that i got from my old neighbour that need a new home only had one ride as they were just to draggy even for basically free tyres on my trail bike! basically could you or rather your son make use of them? you can have them free
Hi Doris, that's fantastically kind of you. Tyres is the one expense that we really find hard. We've got so many bikes and so many wheelsets that there's never enough tyres. We don't get any for free in terms of sponsorship no.
We'd obviously LOVE to have them, but honestly I do feel there are people on here who's need is greater than ours, there's still people struggling day to day and I feel it would be unjust for us to accept them.
If you really don't want to advertise them then yeah, we'd happily accept them of course.
It's a very kind thought either way mate, thank you
Beautifully put Mr Weeks 🙂
To be honest and i might be mistaken there probably isnt that may people on here who would really make use of some DH tyres so if anyone reading this is struggling and needs some fresh rubber to keep them rolling i am happy to send them to them but likewise if no one comes forward then you guys having them and using them that would be brilliant
the dhr2 has "test pilot" written on the side so who ever has them can be all "factory"