Category: Words

This week has seen the best thread on the Singletrackworld forum in I don’t know how long. It’s inspirational and a great way to look back on the year that we’ve had so far. Big up to Stuart for getting the ball rolling and sharing his memories from the year.

I’ll admit that until today I’ve never read a full post over at Bike Snob, but after the gilding the lily article I’m convinced that there’s some quality posts up there. Check ’em out. The content even gives Alex a run for his money. The NYC PistaDex is sheer class…

I was asked yesterday by some bloke in Holland called Randy what the whether was like here in Manchester. The answer was simple: Cold.  Almost as frosty as the reception certain members of the Singletrackworld community have received in response to their recent actions and accusations. I’m not 100% sure why but Mountainforce reminds me of some of the intelligent thinking types you get on xBox Live. The highlight of recent times has been a group of Americans on Halo 3…

Quote:”Veto. Veto. Veto. V-E-E-T-O-O. Veto.”
“Yeah Veto, Veto, Veto”.
“Veto”
“VETO!”
“Veto!”
“HOO-RAH!”
“Yeah Slayer, that more like it”
“Yeah, like, WTF was that game anyway?”
“I don’t know, never played it before”.
“Hey any of you heard of this LAND GRAB game before?”

Oh, the irony.

You know Buffalo season is here when it’s cold in the flat. One of those brrrr, get dressed quick days where merino just isn’t enough. My Buffalo is a 15 years old Big Face smock. The layers of pile fleece and pertex have the ability to generate near instant warmth and even when wet it’s tough old hide keeps you toasty. Without any doubt the best bit of mountain kit I have ever owned and I don’t intend to part with mine any time soon.

Gorgeous ride into work today under deep blue skies and with that fresh wintery chill in the air. The new cleats on the winter boots have been fitted just in time, because even merino wool doesn’t stop cold air passing through cycling shoe mesh from making your toes cold. Cruised into work with the sun on my back only to find that both the lifts are out and it’s time to hike the bike up to the 16th floor, but even that wasn’t going to detract from a sunny December day.

Recently there’s been some discussion about Crank Bros pedals and I’ve been using Eggbeaters for years. My first set are still going strong – some Twin Ti Eggbeaters with CrMo Axles that have now been serviced twice and are still working like new (Having ridden Trans Wales, Cape Epic, 4 weeks of Alpine riding and getting hammered around race circuits and trails).

I’ve also got two sets of Candy SLs (Ti Axles) which are a bigger platform, but one that makes little difference in effect. These have both been rebuilt once. I’ve also ridden basic Candy’s and the Quattro Road Pedals. In general pretty happy with them. I rode Shimano SPD from when they were launched through to pretty much the point at which I switched over (I dabbled with Onza HO Titaniums for a bit until the Elastomers went for a bit too). My Summary of Crank Brothers Pedals:

+ Lightweight
+ Mud clearance
+ Ease of engagement in any conditions
+ Easy to service
+ Float options designed into cleat work for me

– Cleat wear
– Initial Cost
– Lack of tension adjustment (not an issue for me)

Cleat wear is what gets on my nerves the most. They’re made of brass and wear out faster than plastic Look road shoe plates (well that’s how it feels sometimes). This leads to some irritating unclipping moments which in my case always tends to affects one foot more than the other.

Service at the races has always been very good. I’d buy them again and recommend them, although not necessarily as a first pedal (I’d always promote Shimano to first time users for cost and adjustability).

One of the most interesting frames that has appeared in the world of mountain bikes recently is the radical use of carbon fibre to create an isotruss based mountain bike frame.

Each Arantix frame takes anout 300 hours to build, as builders weave single carbon fibre strands in a precise manner and order to create the open lattice IsoTruss structure of each frame tube. Each bundle of carbon fibre strands is then constrained within a helical wrapping of Kevlar string designed to tightly bind the carbon fibers together. The tubes are then baked at 255 degrees Fahrenheit for four hours. The ends of the baked tubes are then machined to specific measurements and diameters before being joined with molded carbon fiber lugs into a completed frame.

Using the IsoTruss technology and design, Delta 7 Sports is claiming to have created one of the strongest and lightest mountain bikes in the world. The price of the complete bike from Arantix is $11,995, and they will only build 200 units for the 2008 season. Cleaning all the mud off it after a winter ride would be a nightmare, but it’s going to get so much attention on the trails and at the races that it might just be worth it.

First really bad traffic in a few weeks commuting, not that it slowed down the commute, just that it adds to the risk factor of Joe Public getting frustrated and doing something stupid like a U-turn to go the other way and try and find a road that isn’t gridlocked. It was wet too. Not had many rides home in the rain this year which is no bad thing, but as Paul knows there’s always plenty of other entertainment on the commute.

One thing that has puzzled me recently is that over the weekend I developed conjunctivitis. This is odd as I’ve never suffered from it before, despite years of mountain biking in filth and racing through fields littered with cow dung. So for the first time in my life I’m having to deal with eye drop application and have now experienced waking up and not being able to open your eyes ‘cos they’re stuck shut. Strange indeed.

The Carron Valley MTB trails are a community project providing an extremely useful forestry single track destination for mountain bikers to the east of Glasgow, where a consortium has raised sufficient funds to extend the trails. I’ve never ridden the trails but they’re on my to do list next time I head north of the border. The reason for this post is to highlight that the issues that have put the future of the project at risk are actually a bit more complex than reports elsewhere might indicate.

Center of map

map

Carron Valley
Lanarkshire, Scotland
The home of the Carron Valley Trails.

The IMBA-UK website states:

Sadly, issues revolving around the project have delayed the initiative and jeopardised the funding, and have led to a meeting between the project organisers, local councils and the Scottish Executive to resolve these problems. But progress continues to be slow, and IMBA’s new Scottish coordinator Kenny Wilson has now offered IMBA’s services in an attempt to get the project back on track. IMBA reckons that the difficulties can be sorted, and we have approached the Forestry Commission with suggestions which it is hoped will lead to a successful conclusion.

Now to understand my concerns you have to appreciate that the Forestry Commision (FC) Mountain Bike Tsar and the IMBA-UK Chairman are the same person – Karl Bartlett. The committee roles section of the IMBA-UK website doesn’t explicitly state that the role of the Chairman is to “work to create new trails, and keep trails and public access open for mountain biking by encouraging responsible riding, supporting volunteer trail work and cooperating with other trail user groups, land managers and public bodies”, but given that it’s one of the organisation’s core Mission Aims it’s implied that he is responsible for facilitating all of these aims.

In 2002 Bartlett who was formerly a FC Ranger at Mabie Forest was charged with turning the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway into a mecca for mountain bikers. Since the work on the 7Stanes his responsibilities appear to have been extended to a Scotland as a whole. This has involved producing reports on various initiatives like the Carron Valley Development Project (CVDP), identifying issues and making recommendations on how trail building groups should proceed and approving permits for groups to work in FC estates.

In theory this could give IMBA-UK and excellent insight into the way the FC operates and a unique leverage mechanism to promote mountain biking and trail building and maintenance. The current situation leads to one person with two important roles that have divergent interests at times. This generates the potential for serious conflicts of interest and this appears to be exactly what has happened, leading to a farcical state of affairs as reported in September.

The question is two months on, are things getting any better?

London news from BikeBiz:

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone has promised funding of £19.7m to boost London’s Cycle Network over the next five years. Livingstone said: “Thanks to extra investment in local transport schemes, cycling has increased by 83 per cent since 2000 and more than 1600 school travel plans have been approved which encourage and enable more children and their parents to walk to school.”Additionally, the mayor has pledged £742,000 to the boroughs of south London for cycle training schemes. All in all, the city will see £161m to improving transport in the city.

Which only leaves me to wonder what Manchester is going to do. I’m off to a cycle commuters user group next month and I’ll be lobbying for a substantial investment into providing riders with proper cycle routes at least in the area covered by Studentdom.

Mid way through the commute home last night HID floodlighting gave way to darkness as the consequences of neglecting to charge the Li Ion battery pack kicked in. Pressing the power button proved futile, the only response were intermittent LED flashes from the headlamp telling me the battery was empty. The final half of the commute was one of those tongue in cheek blasts that pushed the feasibility of centre line riding to the limit. Still once into the final blast through the leafy streets of Victoria Park, like the near miss of the mornings ride in, the potential consequences were eclipsed from thought by the rapidly approaching warmth of home and the ability to get out of the rain.

Over at The Owners’ Club, quite possibly one of the most stunning bikes to date has now been added to the register. It’s a one off cyclocross bike that takes the tried and tested Planet X geometry and the technology from the Carbon and Titanium XS to produce a proof of concept. At over £4000 for just the frame and for a bike that is designed to get muddy and covered in crap, it’s one for the bike junkies who can afford it. The sensible and durable option is a Ti Planet X, but the prototype just has a drool factor…