New Bike Day.... the powder blue girls bike

[Mr Moofo]

Just not dying on the bike is more important.

Changed that for you

[weeksy]

Just not dying on the bike is more important.

Changed that for you

LOL i'm not the bravest rider, if it's instant death, i'm not riding it... Although a couple of the rock gardens yesterday did look a little deathy !!!! But we survived them thankfully.

[Beancounter]

Had a bit of a play today with fitting a 27.5 back wheel from the Specialized Status into the Fuel, obviously making it into a mullet. I quite liked it, make it a bit slacker too, although that was running the Mino link in low, thoughts are you will lower the BB too much in low, so you run Mino in high which allows the smaller rear.

I then looked into fitting a slacker headset but that is unlikely to work due to the knock-block headset and the fact the forks will hit the frame

I think my Trek has a Mino link too. Does it actually make that much of a difference?

[MingtheMerciless]

If I have look at the "imminent death" trail feature I tend to bottle it, if I arrive at it mid trail unexpectedly then I tend to ride it and its not as bad as it looks.

[weeksy]

Had a bit of a play today with fitting a 27.5 back wheel from the Specialized Status into the Fuel, obviously making it into a mullet. I quite liked it, make it a bit slacker too, although that was running the Mino link in low, thoughts are you will lower the BB too much in low, so you run Mino in high which allows the smaller rear.

I then looked into fitting a slacker headset but that is unlikely to work due to the knock-block headset and the fact the forks will hit the frame

I think my Trek has a Mino link too. Does it actually make that much of a difference?

massive yes

[crust]

I've got a Fuel EX8 (the council ally version).

We swapped the link and I was amazed what a huge difference it made. The bike went from feeling comfortable like you were 'in it' to being wobbly like I was 'perched on top of it'. Bizarre - small change, big difference.

I guess you'd get used to the higher feeling but I swapped backed with 50 yards.

[weeksy]

Bpw on the blue thing today. As always it was absolutely rock solid. Me, well my day was up and down.
Down, big Dan being quicker on the swoopy blues

Up, me being faster on tech.
Up, no crashes
Up, clearing all the drop on Insufficient Funds nicely
Up, catching and passing 2 decent looking riders on Vicious Valley.

[Flux]

Sounds like a top day.

[weeksy]

I know the Trek doesn't get much in the way of posting/love by me... but it's still a cracking bike.

One thing i would like though is a bit slacker... So with that in mind i looked into the options and they were, limited... Due to the Trek knock-block system which stops the forks hitting the frame in an accident.

This however is a solution that enables you to either/both get a little bit slacker and if you wished, get rid of the upper knockblock as it increases clearance.

https://www.bikester.co.uk/reverse-angl ... 91918.html



It's only 0.5deg... but hey, it's 0.5 deg... so we'll give it a whirl.

[weeksy]

So with the weird and wonderful world the Trek is still here and the 0.5 spacer finally arrives from Bikester today after a little bit of shipping/DHL delay. So i’m going to chuck it in before heading out for some local woods stuff with the lad today and then Rogate tomorrow.

There’s another few bits of bike changes coming up in the near future, but that’s a whole different discussion and can’t really go into details at the moment

[Numnut]

There’s another few bits of bike changes coming up in the near future, but that’s a whole different discussion and can’t really go into details at the moment

Sounds exciting...I do like a new bike thread...

[weeksy]

2022-10-06_01-57-11 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2022-10-06_01-57-18 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Could I tell the 0.5 Deg difference, nah, not me, that's outside of mt skills. But I'll admit, the bike was ace at Rogate today, both me and it were very much friends together.

My lad took some chest cam footage, mostly of his knees lol.

But his mate who we took was apparently impressed by my riding.

I'm not debating whether I'll race on Sunday at Stile Cop. Odds are, it's crazy and I won't, but the thought is slightly tickling away in the back recesses of my little brain.

[G.P]

ow's JameHs' arm coming along, stronger now? goods ;luck to him for the weekend

[weeksy]

ow's JameHs' arm coming along, stronger now? goods ;luck to him for the weekend

He's golden matey, thanks for the good wishes

[weeksy]

I got the new BB installed and it's running sweetly again.

As you'll have seen, the Fuel has been in the danger zone several times lately, but the today once again it showed me just how awesome a bike it is.

It wasn't hard tech stuff today at FoD as a mate on his ebike was giving his dogs a workout too, but plenty of up and a decent bit of down too. The fuel just lapped it up though as always and me and it are very much friends.

Still can't say the SLX brakes are my best friends, they're ok but not spectacular, but some of that may be from rain contamination from being sprayed on the back of car on the rack.
Other that that, it's great.

I may throw a 210*55 shock in there to make it from 130mm to 138mm on the back. But also to throw a better shock on as well. Nothing wrong with the Thru Shaft shock but it's not exactly the best one ever made.

Just need to work out what shock.

Was interesting chatting with Katy Curd today after she'd finished coaching my lad, I had a go on her Privateer 161 and she runs her bars way turned back. I thought it may be because her bike was too big, but apparently not and a discussion ensued as to why etc, so I've set mine back to try and see how it feels. Nothing to lose anyway.

Lesson for today. Don't try and chase ebikes uphill, it's destined to fail

[weeksy]

So here's where we are today.

Yeah i went out on a 25 miler on Sat morning locally, the legs were a bit tired after FoD on Thurs, but i was certainly happy on the Trek. What was really pleasing was that being out with average riding mate, i was not only quicker on the Uppy bits, but also on the Down bits too, which is somewhat unique for me these days lol. Usually i'm the slowest, but usually i'm with the Teen crazies of course. So being the one being held up is a unique thing.

However i still have been sitting here thinking about 'more' and put in place something i saw somewhere else which is a DHX2 rear shock. The standard unit gets frowned upon by some critics with the Thru-shaft and i did have a warranty issue early on which was admittedly quickly replaced. But the other factor was, i really like coil, plus fitting a 210*55 instead of a 210*52.5 gives me 8mm more travel apparently, taking the rear from 130mm to 138mm. Which can't hurt things.

I've still got the thoughts on Slayer running round my head but spending a big chunk on some new Boxxers for the lads DH bike may well mean that's off the cards completely now and we stick with the Trek.

2022-10-31_12-50-41 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

So i'm thinking of re-visiting the Trek Fuel ex9.8

Slight variation as it's this one which is slightly newer and a different colour

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3732070/

When i went to the Slayer the thoughts were that if i go to Dyfi etc it'll be something of a comfort blanket and a bit of an extra margin for me hitting bigger things... The reality is, that's not really worked out in truth, i'm just not capable of utilising it's benefits so i end up riding mostly the same as always. Sure, i've got faster in the last year, but i don't think any of the bikes have massively influenced the improvements i've had.
So the thoughts are to go back to a bit of a faster flyer, bit lighter, easier and quicker to do the sort of stuff i do more often.

[mboy]

So i'm thinking of re-visiting the Trek Fuel ex9.8

Slight variation as it's this one which is slightly newer and a different colour

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3732070/

When i went to the Slayer the thoughts were that if i go to Dyfi etc it'll be something of a comfort blanket and a bit of an extra margin for me hitting bigger things... The reality is, that's not really worked out in truth, i'm just not capable of utilising it's benefits so i end up riding mostly the same as always. Sure, i've got faster in the last year, but i don't think any of the bikes have massively influenced the improvements i've had.
So the thoughts are to go back to a bit of a faster flyer, bit lighter, easier and quicker to do the sort of stuff i do more often.

Over 33yrs of MTBing in the UK, I have frequently gone to bigger and bigger travel bikes, before coming back down again and settling on a suitable amount of travel for the majority of my riding. Which is almost always in the 140-150mm bracket... Right where my Orbea Rise sits. More travel allows you to get away with more on the odd occasion you go somewhere that might warrant it, but for the significant majority of my riding, longer travel is more hindrance than help.

I actually prefer riding shorter travel bikes if I'm honest, but there's a limit to how capable a shorter (100-130mm) travel bike can be on the rougher stuff, so the reality is that modern geometry mid travel bikes are the way to go for most of us most of the time if we're honest with ourselves.

[MingtheMerciless]

Most of what I ride locally, a short travel FS or HT is faster than the Enduro Rigs people ride. It’s only places like the Peaks or Dartmoor that the extra travel helps(mind you the Curtis took to Dartmoor as a rowdy HT, line choice became important and fillings got rattled out a couple of times).