Another inspirational video from Mr Akrigg. Not sure anyone rides a full susser like this.
Video Round-up: Chris Akrigg In ‘Through The Mill - BikeRadar:
'via Blog this'
Thursday 30 August 2012
Monday 20 August 2012
Friday 17 August 2012
Wednesday 27 June 2012
Friday 15 June 2012
Saturday 9 June 2012
Life. A process of Deterioration.
Everything we own, everything we create and everything we build, in fact everything that is from the moment it is completed will of already started the slow process of deterioration. One way or another everything we take from the earth gets reclaimed. over a long enough cycle everything returns to nothing.
This process with my bike is not a slow one mind, with around 100 miles a week going through my components this process of deterioration is accelerated and I seem to be at my twice yearly uber expensive few weeks with the bike. After it got obliterated at MSG Codham Park some major work was required. It started with the usual chain and cassette needing replacing. With a quick trip to my LBS an XT chain and Deore cassette were purchased. Whilst there, the frame was disassembled so I could replace all the bearings, which was well over due. Leighton had recently got his eager little hands on a bearing press and was keen to try it out with me. However things did not go to plan as the bearing replacement opened a real can of worms A rather severe crack has been unearthed on my frame. This is bad times for sure. Upon leaving the shop casually riding home it became apparent that something was amiss with the chain set too, on inspection one of the teeth was mangled beyond repair. No saving that sucker so a perusal of the internet turned up a Raceface Turbine chain ring. The order was placed along with some lube and frame protection patches (although this is probably not going to fix my frame). Along with that I'm also awaiting new brake pads, Big Bite valve and Hydro flow piece for my CamelBak as I broke it in frustration at Codham. Actually ate through it. Still once all the parts are in place that should get me through the summer. If we actually get one!
This process with my bike is not a slow one mind, with around 100 miles a week going through my components this process of deterioration is accelerated and I seem to be at my twice yearly uber expensive few weeks with the bike. After it got obliterated at MSG Codham Park some major work was required. It started with the usual chain and cassette needing replacing. With a quick trip to my LBS an XT chain and Deore cassette were purchased. Whilst there, the frame was disassembled so I could replace all the bearings, which was well over due. Leighton had recently got his eager little hands on a bearing press and was keen to try it out with me. However things did not go to plan as the bearing replacement opened a real can of worms A rather severe crack has been unearthed on my frame. This is bad times for sure. Upon leaving the shop casually riding home it became apparent that something was amiss with the chain set too, on inspection one of the teeth was mangled beyond repair. No saving that sucker so a perusal of the internet turned up a Raceface Turbine chain ring. The order was placed along with some lube and frame protection patches (although this is probably not going to fix my frame). Along with that I'm also awaiting new brake pads, Big Bite valve and Hydro flow piece for my CamelBak as I broke it in frustration at Codham. Actually ate through it. Still once all the parts are in place that should get me through the summer. If we actually get one!
Thursday 7 June 2012
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Torque Bikes. Sudbury.
On the outskirts of Sudbury something is brewing, the start of a new
venture for Leighton Taylor and Ebru Sami. They are the Proud owners of
Sudbury’s much needed new independent cycle shop, Torque Bikes. Leighton and Ebs
are both keen cyclists with a passion for customer service and a simple aim of
offering great service at reasonable prices. Leighton is the man you'll see
wielding a spanner, he has years of experience in cycle repairs, customer service and an insatiable knowledge of all things bicycle
related, he is also a Cytech qualified technician with a fetish for quality
tools. This shows as I glance round his workshop which is loaded with shiny
tools for just about every job imaginable including. Cartridge bearing
servicing for frames, hubs and headsets, brake bleeding, wheel building and
everything in between. Located on Brundon Lane Industrial Estate it's ideally situated for the Sudbury cyclist, there is a Cafe next door which makes it a convenient place for a pit stop, weather your riding Valley walk on your tourer, hammering Ballingdon hill on your roadie or exploring some of Sudbury’s hidden gems on your mtb and need some spares or a repair whilst out.
Leightons knowledge of all things bike related shows by all the quality brands he's filled the shop with, from the likes of Shimano, Sram, Schwalbe and Dmr. He even has some 29er tyres for all you wagon wheelers out there. Not to mention the rather Blingin' range of freestyle scooters and accessories from Grit, For the Yoof!
So whether you own a high end Mountain, Road or Hybrid bike that requires some TLC, have an old bike in the shed you want sprucing up for the summer or your kids keep trashing their bikes, Why not pop along to Sudbury's newest bike shop and support an independent business.
I'm sure Leighton and Ebs will make you feel very welcome.
Oh and Barney.
Tuesday 5 June 2012
Sunday 3 June 2012
Mud, Sweat and Gears Codham Park 2012
Mud, Sweat and Gears Codham Park 2012
On the Outskirts of Braintree on a miserable grey wet
Sunday, a crack troop of Mountain bikers from all over the Eastern Region had
assembled. Only some made it back.
Last year I referred to this round of MSG as the tough
Codham Park, if that was the case last year then what we had this year was the
bike destroyer. The course this year was being run backwards, which meant plenty
of climbing, climbing, climbing from the start before ducking into the first
wooded section, the surface in there due to the change in weather was so slippery
with very little traction, people were tail sliding everywhere, carrying to
much speed into any corner was only ever going to end in disaster, but with
some tight twisty bits and a nice little switch back climb it was enjoyable
enough. The middle section of the course
was fairly open and grassy which gave you some respite if you needed it, or
places to overtake if you didn’t, before heading into the second wooded section.
This section must have been so much fun in the dry (should have gone over on
the Thursday) with berms aplenty and even a rock garden to contend with, it was
as slippery in there as the first section, but the dirt was far more clay like
in substance, sticking and clogging up everything. After lap one my choice of
gears had become very limited indeed and on lap 2 I was left stuck in the
granny with only a few gears on the rear cassette available, everything else was
giving me massive chain suck, my rear chain stay has definitely seen better
days. After much frustrated gear shifting
I found it possible to run the large chain ring and nearly all the cogs
on the back without too much trouble and suddenly spirits were lifted, I could
gain some serious speed and momentum and
get back into this race. The climbs were much tougher in this gear but it
didn’t matter I had the legs for it, it was on. Puncture!! That’s right, two
exclamation marks. That is how frustrated I was. I pulled off the track feeling
defeated and deflated, looking around I was far from the only one.
Monday 28 May 2012
Sunday 27 May 2012
Jagwire Ripcord Review
Whilst looking for some new sealed cables to weather proof my gear cables
and pimp up my bike a couple of years back I stumbled upon Jagwire. They make a
range of gear housings and cables for road and Mountain bikes, the set here
being for the latter obviously. The Ripcords come with everything you need to
fit a sealed cable kit to your bike keeping the shifting smooth, light and crap
free, the cable ferrels are good quality with the Jagwire logo printed on. I do
find that the ferrels are a little creaky in my frame, but this is resolved
with a small dab of grease when the noise starts. This will probably vary from
frame to frame too. I opted for the blue outer housing, the housing is available
in a multitude of colours to suit any ride, also in the box are 2 rubber cable
covers to slide over the outer housing to help prevent frame rub, these seem to
have done a good job so far and haven't managed to go missing despite my best
efforts. Once the outers are installed it's a case of sliding the black teflon
coated inners through the outers and also through the black sleeving which
slides over the cable ferrel ends between all the areas where exposed cable
would be, therefore weather proofing your ride. The Teflon coated cables do a
fantastic job of keeping the shifting very responsive and light with a noticeable
difference to when I was running standard cables in the system. The whole deal
is finished off with some rather pimpin' gold cable ends which is a nice touch.
All in all then for a very reasonable £18.99 you get yourself a high quality,
weatherproof cable set, which will improve the feel and performance of your
shifting for half the price of the competition.
Win bloomin' Win.
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Monday 21 May 2012
Sunday 20 May 2012
Thursday 17 May 2012
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Great film.
YouTube
Steve Peate has done for mountain biking what osama bin laden has done for terrorism. Brilliant!
Monday 14 May 2012
Sunday 13 May 2012
YES!!
God damn! My trek is back to it's crank spinning, bump eating, shocks not creaking, tree avoiding, lip launching, tabletop clearing, drop off landing, berm destroying, bar twisting, tail whipping, mud sliding, adrenalin pumping best. And I loved every minute of it. I don't want to be off the bike for two weeks solid again.
Saturday 12 May 2012
Thursday 10 May 2012
Trail Check: PBR - Mountain Biking Videos - Vital MTB
God this looks fun! Dry trails!
Trail Check: PBR - Mountain Biking Videos - Vital MTB:
'via Blog this'
Trail Check: PBR - Mountain Biking Videos - Vital MTB:
'via Blog this'
Thursday 3 May 2012
Schwalbe Nobby Nick long term test.
Well It’s been nearly a year since my original review of schwalbe Nobby Nick Triple Evo Compound tyres, in that time they have been
through everything mother nature has had to throw at them and more. Recently they have been riding through the
worst drought for 30 years, yet somehow conditions have been more than a little...... wet, In the wet the tyre has felt really grippy it seems to handle pretty much
like it does in the dry therefore my opinion on how good the tyres are from my
original test haven’t changed.(http://reatinrides.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/schwalbe-nobby-nic-tyre-review.html)
The rubber compound seems resilient enough, showing little wear after plenty of
racing, commuting and general ragging about.
However as good a tyre as this is it does have it’s down
side, in this case it seems to be punctures. These are caused by the tyres thin carcase, if like me you tend to head out into the countryside regularly
this tyre will become a bit of a pain in early spring and autumn, mainly when thorny hedge rows are
being trimmed or shedding their thorns, but if your bike comes out solely for
trips to the trail centres this shouldn't be a problem.
Instead of rating this product with some random scale that
is open to fault finding I’ll simply summarize the most important points in my
humble opinion. Hopefully this will help you make an informed decision if your
thinking of buying this product.
So for my BIG verdict…….
Good weight and wear resistance.
Great all round all condition tyre.
Great control and grip.
Great if you mainly ride trail centres
Seasonally poor if you ride back country.
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Thursday 26 April 2012
Wednesday 25 April 2012
Sunday 22 April 2012
Endura Snapper Sunglasses Review
Thursday 19 April 2012
Saturday 14 April 2012
Friday 13 April 2012
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Easter rides, The hangover part 1 & 2
Saturday morning, opening my eyes slowly I'm instantly reminded that the night before had been a mischievous one, the brandy and junk food was sitting on my chest, none the less commitments had been made and I had to head over to the other side of town on the pusher to meet Richard and Toby for a trip over to Thetford. Out the back gate, legs feel good, weathers not too bad, I'm ok..... 3 mins later I'm sweating profusely and feeling like Friday night wants to escape back out of my body. Luckily it didn't. By the time we reached Thetford I was feeling better and after some fettling with Toby's rear brake we were off. The red route was hit fast and it felt good the whole trail was open and short of a puncture for Toby we buzzed round at a fair pace. It's worth mentioning that Rich has just treated himself to a lovely cube elite super hpc pro and my word! When I slung my leg over it, it felt FAST! It's been a long time since I've rode an out and out xc bike but this felt instantly fast and planted. Hmm wonder if I can find a couple of grand down the back of the sofa? After this we took a swoop round some un-marked single track to the bottom of the Black route then up the other side where we proceeded to have a razz on the beast and the two runs next to it. The main Beast run was as fun as always quick, fairly technical and swoopy, the other two were less technical but swoopy and uber fast. The last run saw Rich pull some sort of arse in the air jump with his back wheel trying to overtake his head and landing front wheel first whilst I was right on his back wheel, impressively his Lightweight Carbon bike didn't seem too bothered and the only concerning noise was the one that came from Rich's mouth! This gave me the giggles right down to the bottom.
The hangover part 2.
Monday morning saw me get up with an even worse hang over than Saturday, but I had made some strong boasts at the party I attended on Sunday night that I would be up early and would be riding roughly 20 miles, I woke to wind and gales with a dry mouth, headache and an overwhelming feeling I should defiantly stay in bed. But from deep within I found the will to drag myself out and try to enjoy the ride. After all the dry trails we had been enjoying lately, riding this soggy, windy ride was a drag, after 18 hungover miles I cut it a little short and went home. With the bank holiday weekend out the way I'm looking forward to getting back to sober riding in preparation for the rest of Mud Sweat and Gears. Just a shame I'll be missing the next round due to a stag do and another hangover.
The hangover part 2.
Monday morning saw me get up with an even worse hang over than Saturday, but I had made some strong boasts at the party I attended on Sunday night that I would be up early and would be riding roughly 20 miles, I woke to wind and gales with a dry mouth, headache and an overwhelming feeling I should defiantly stay in bed. But from deep within I found the will to drag myself out and try to enjoy the ride. After all the dry trails we had been enjoying lately, riding this soggy, windy ride was a drag, after 18 hungover miles I cut it a little short and went home. With the bank holiday weekend out the way I'm looking forward to getting back to sober riding in preparation for the rest of Mud Sweat and Gears. Just a shame I'll be missing the next round due to a stag do and another hangover.
Tuesday 21 February 2012
Friday 10 February 2012
Thursday 9 February 2012
Wednesday 8 February 2012
Tuesday 7 February 2012
Long and Hard.
Tonight I was beaten, I was beaten by the cold, I was beaten by the snow, I was beaten by Mother Nature And most annoyingly of all I was beaten by the hills. Tonight I got pumelled into early submission. Heading out from work excitement and enthusiasm were high, the thought of rolling countryside covered in a blanket of lush white snow had been in my head since Sunday. As I headed further afield it became apparent that I had underestimated the thickness of the snow and the bitterness of the cold, what had started out as a fast paced spin quickly fizzled out into a slow slug fest and then in all my wisdom I decided to take the hilly route home. Of the three main hills I cleared none of them, I was beaten and frustrated as I ground to a halt again and again, dejected and disappointed I dragged my feet to the top before riding on. By this point it was -5, all my layers had given up keeping me warm and I had bad vibes slowly creeping through my bones, it was time to trudge home before things turned really nasty. Under my breath I cursed Mother Nature briefly and then realised I'd missed the point of what I went out for in the first place, the stunning views of the snow covered countryside, the sound of the crisp white snow under my tyres, and the excitement of trying to stay loose whilst barreling down a hill with all your instincts telling you to take control. Yes Mother Nature can be a cruel mistress, but for all her sins when she makes everything this wonderful who cares.
Sunday 5 February 2012
Friday 3 February 2012
The devil is in the details… - Bike Rumor
Wow! How gutted would you be if you accidentally did this to your frame.
The devil is in the details… - Bike Rumor:'via Blog this'
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