one for the mountain biker!

Mint Sauce...what a strip, I used to love the calenders that he did every year for a while, I've still got a couple of the drawings from years back in A4 clip frames. He really is a great artist. I had one of his big posters which saw me through uni but sadly got pretty dog eared and perished.

Shame the rest of the mag was so shite though, the reviews were useful but all the articles seemed to be about the writers and their mates messing about of a sunday. I wouldn't pay 4 quid to read about that as I would be doing it for myself of a sunday anyway. And now it does all seem to be about getting 'radical' Like someone said already...bit of a comic, not much substance. I knew one of the writers as i went to school with his brother and plenty of the magazine was dedicated to his latest 'crazy' hairstyle. The guy was a right arrogant plank and now writes for Metal Hammer.

Cycling is great though, had many a great day heading off for a ride and having a great laugh...i was never cut out for the hardcore stuff but had some great days heading back plastered in half of wiltshires mud. I'm getting into road biking now as i love putting some miles in and getting some speed up with half the effort of riding a tractor tyred mountain bike. Great exercise too, although you'll have to do a bit of upper body stuff to shift that gut Chris!

 

haha cheers! Im sure it will go, just needs a bit more consistancy by me - more frequent exercise.

Chris, 'merlin with pace forks' is exactly what I have, so Id also go along with Pace forks being great! (even more reason to be embarrased about not riding it)

If its nice on the weekend, I shall be out again, Ive decided !

nb Mr Cat, you really should check out Hamsterly Forrest, its a wonderful place for all sorts of riding - singletrack, downhill and fireroad, its all there. You often see deer and rabbits and stuff too. nnb - one of my favourite rides was just north of hexham, the country round there is just fabulous.

 

yeah, I've often went walking around hamsterly forest - in fact, it only takes about 20 minutes to drive there - I just need to buy a bike rack for my car!

I haven't really been to North of hexham - just once when I stayed in Acomb youth hostel some time ago...

but if you ride south of hexham to Whitely chapel - then there are lost of tracks around there (over the moors) that goto places like Sparty Lea and green box (which is literaly a green horse box in a field!)

check out this link os some photos of where I live, some of which I've done on bike rides!
www.photoisland.com
id - mrcat
pwd - password01

 

Is that a Merlin Ti bike?! :mana: They really are beauitful bikes. Sexy engineering at its best. Even if you're not into bikes you should check out their site...they are pure art. Get out on it Chris!!
http://www.merlinbike.com/home.aspx

 

Bottleneck...

Whats the titanium like then, say in comparison to the other materials? I know Merlin's are supposed to be the D's B's of Mountain Biking for the ride and 'feel'. What other bikes did you test against? I went from a Kona to a lovely relaxed feeling Orange Prestige to the Pace i have now. Got to say the Pace took a hell of a lot of getting used to. Couldn't beleive the traction at the back at first, that as well as the completely inforgiving geometry. Still once you do get used to it... fantastic.

Erm.... i used to dream about Merlin bikes.

I too need to get out more on the bike. Once a week at the moment. Hate it when as im pedalling my knees hit my gut!!!! (bike geometry )Any good rides around Manchester?


Chris

 

Chris, "Got my mountain bike out of the store room for the first time in 4 years pumped up some flat tyres, lubed where the lube goes, and huffed and puffed." there's me thinking fair enough, then..... "merlin with pace forks' is exactly what I have" Kinda like saying I've got a hifi system in storage, oh yeah its Audio Research! Oh well lets embrace that you came to the party, not how late you were!

Which Pace forks are talking about here, the ones I've tried have been terrible at best. Nice pair of Marchozzi (spelling?), that's what you want

 

blimey !

well in hifi terms, its not even the price of a mid priced system, so not all that dear really.

What happened was I had a Kona Hei Hei which Id bought second hand, and it got nicked.. being an expensive bike when new it funded whatever I wanted (insurance claim), which had always been a merlin. It was great cos I got to specify exactly what I wanted on it when it got built. Basically went for pace forks and XT groupset (couldnt stretch to XTR on the insurance money, and besides I wanted some nice lights)

Before the Hei Hei I had a second hand Orange Clockwork with rigid forks.

Whats ti like? its zingy. you go over something rough and it kind of zings you over it. hard to describe better. its very light too of course.

philip, they are evo-36 forks I believe. air/oil/springs.

Merlin has a 'seven' which is a very nice ti bike. Its a shame he's not on forum at the moment.

Chris

 

Never ridden Pace real engineered forks, (oil/air/spring), must try 'em.

Upgrading bike bits is actually cheap when compared to HiFi, a nice change there, dropping £150 on new brakes for example seems way better value than StillPoints, Cables etc.

Ti bikes are a vary happy compromise between the lovely feeling of steel tubing and the rigidity of ali scaffold poles. Definitely the best frame material for mountain bikes, and probably road bikes as well

 

The new ones look nice Philip - www.pacecycles.co.uk
https://www.pacecycles.com/product.asp?catID=2&subcat=455

I especially like the fact that with a wee 'tap' you can lock them out (when climbing f'rinstance) , and they 'unlock' themselves on the first wallop you go over. I dont know if all newer forks do this, but its a great idea I think.

I went into a shop the other day and the developments in disc brakes look fantastic. Shame you have to get all new wheels etc to swap from Vs to discs. Mind you, I should worry more about getting rid of the paunch and back into riding, and less about tricking the bike out!

Chris

 

My bike is a bit of a blast from the past in terms of parts...

Marin Nail Trail frame (1995, when marin were still a serious manufacturer, also the year before they introduced suspension geometry, so it handles slightly unusually).
RST Mozo Pro W 3.5" forks (very very very rare fork. Machined in the USA from Easton, coil springs and pneumatic damping. SID weight with proper springs).
Magura Raceline D HS11 hydraulic rim brakes with green frog pads and DH horseshoe boosters.
WTB Velociraptor Tyres
Mavic 121/521 rims, DT spokes, Goldtec and Truvativ hubs
SRAM ESP 900
ESP9.0 and STX-RC

The wheels are too heavy for serious XC stuff, but around here the strength is necessary.

 

Yeah those Pace forks look cool, never heard of the auto on/off switch before, nice idea that, so much energy is wasted going up hill with ya forks compressing all the time.

Well set up V brakes can offer a pretty good fight against discs, for now, although I lot of low to mid range bikes seem to come equipped with them so wait a few years and V's will go the way of the cantilever.

 

I always found v's too flexy, and so the lever was spongy. I preferred the firmer feel and finer modulation of a well set-up and boosted cantilever, which the maguras take to the next level. The maguras take the fight very strongly to discs, except in the wet, when there's significant benefit to not dragging your braking surface through the mud.

 

I like the idea of being able to run lighter rims (with no need for a braking area) with discs, the lighter rolling weight hopefully making things faster, and the mud clearance for the braking area too.

Here I go again... I must remember that shifting my pork-pie gut will speed me up the fastest..

 

LOL :lol:

Agreed that cheap V brakes do/can have an odd discomforting feeling, get a nice set of Avids and all will be forgotten. Have a look at www.wiggle.co.uk for cheap bits, good delivery as well.

 

my old LX cantilevers had plenty of stoppage, my xt V's even more - s'pose theres a question of how much you really need on a XC bike?

 

Their stopping power isn't in question... it's the lever feel I objected to. Even my friend's XT V brakes felt squidgy and flexy. The maguras feel very solid (once boosted. Without boost they can and have snapped frames from flexing. With boosting, they did have a reputation many years ago for crushing rims on occasion, but rims are stronger now).

 

ok! must admit they feel the same as canti's in use to me.

I would like to try magura's one time.. do they still make them?

S'pose one advantage is that you can use them with regular wheels, unlike discs.

 

They do still make the maguras, although they went to a short "2 finger" lever, along with a smaller piston. I think that I have the definitive version, with the larger piston and the longer lever, but late enough to have the dial pre-adjuster (you can dial in a start point for the piston to get pad bite earlier in the lever travel, much like the Avid Speed Dial levers for cable-operated brakes).

 

http://www.singletrackworld.com/

This Magazine seems to be worth a look. Not the whole Duel/DH/fredride bias of mbuk and the other comics.

Anyone recommend some semi-slicks? I'm copping out of all-weather riding, so semis will do me.

 

Isaac, I think mine are semi slicks, but being about 5 years old, might not be in production. They are called Mythos XC. If they are not semi slicks they are close to it, and I find them suitable for all conditions.

I like them because the tread is very spaced out so they dont get filled with cack in the winter. I dont like getting a face full of mud when it dries and flies into my face!


NB
Im sitting here trying to recover from my 3rd ''come back'' ride. Ive been on 2 rides this weekend, and really enjoyed it. My back is killing me though.

Chris