The journey from small guy to teenager...

[weeksy]

Sooo...what would you have done differently? He's happy. He crashed but he's OK. He worked on and sorted some lines. Conditions were

You can't ride the bike for him y'know. (I'm sure you do ).

I've have arguably swapped out the rear shock, his Marzocchi Bomber was ace in practice earlier in the week, but something yesterday wasn't quite 100% on it i think. Would that have any difference at all, maybe lol..But it may have just moved where he crashed to another spot... who knows. He does seem to be of the "don't worry it'll be fine"... but we suspect that's because he doesn't want to put me out and make me do stuff... but as we know, that's why i'm there.

It's all good... everyone and everything in the world is happy

Order 2 Shimano Zee 10 speed short cage mechs.

I did noticed last night the Bomber CR shock wasn't particularly nice in action at times, top of the stroke it seems harsh/stiff, so the back end has been stripped, shock removed and an XFusion standard rear shock fitted. With a bit of luck as i've sprung it right and used the same settings from previous setups on the same shock, it shouldn't be far off. The Bomber CR will likely go off for a service

Mech hanger aligned nicely, but in truth wasn't far out.. The mech though as we've gathered is completely dead lol. But i'll whip the jockey wheels out of it as spares.

[Count Steer]

Yeah, I'd say that the mech was completely dead too.

Given the figure of 1/3 crashing out in run 3 I'd say getting home in one piece was a and avoid Mr Rooty until July.

[Alan PBTD]

Hey ''Chin Up'' team - begining of the season is always the same and a learning process. The boy set his targets and hit the majority - did have an off but as they say ( and u know ! ) Championships can't be won in the first round but certainly lost - everyone went home in one piece so with a bit of prep all ready for the next round - which is a massive positive.

Onwards and upwards and best wishes to all.

[weeksy]

Can't say the colours really work lol... But with the blue bike being the primary bike it made sense to get the Hope Pro4s on it.
2023-01-31_09-48-22 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Will then check and sort the bearings on the Halo wheels for the purple bike as a mate reported they may be a bit yukky at the weekend. Just waiting for the rear mech to arrive and the blue bike will be back up and running again.

got some new DMR bars to fit to it as well... Look really nice, went for stealthy black on this one, rather than the camo that will be on the Privateer.

[Crosshair]

Just a quick message to say I’m following this thread and the STW version and loving every post

I don’t want to clog them up so not posting too often but definitely watching and am proud of both of you guys

[weeksy]

2023-01-31_06-55-40 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Just a quick message to say I’m following this thread and the STW version and loving every post

I don’t want to clog them up so not posting too often but definitely watching and am proud of both of you guys

Thanks mate. I get a little frustrated over there as I'm often/sometimes told how I'm doing things wrong, not much lately but over the years.
But I think the position we now find ourselves in shows we're doing something right here.

But we're both trying and learning from both the good things we do and of course the mistakes we make.

[Taff]

Just a quick message to say I’m following this thread and the STW version and loving every post

I don’t want to clog them up so not posting too often but definitely watching and am proud of both of you guys

Thanks mate. I get a little frustrated over there as I'm often/sometimes told how I'm doing things wrong, not much lately but over the years.
But I think the position we now find ourselves in shows we're doing something right here.

But we're both trying and learning from both the good things we do and of course the mistakes we make.

Pfft, anyone can throw rocks and even if some of your decisions defy logic on the forum, IRL there's way more variables than you explain on here and it's your choices to make. You're lad is on a big adventure that will shape his life and it's ace to watch from the sidelines

[Crosshair]

Yeah screw them. You know bikes and you know your boy. With his skills and your bike obsession- it’s a match made in heaven from what I can see of it

I’ve always enjoyed your threads over the years but this one is extra special and I really look forward to the updates.
As Taff said- the end point doesn’t matter right now, just enjoy an epic journey together.

[weeksy]

Regarding the journey. We were laughing the other day about Fort William and who's entered. Remember as it's just a national I think they'll all be on track together. But if you know downhill, you'd just laugh.

But to give a motorbike representation, if you turned up at a trackday, you'd see Rossi, Jorge, Casey, Fabio and the next 20 superstar racers, all of them are racing Fort William with him.
Reason is, the World Champs is on same course a few months later. It's going to be just bonkers beyond words.

Today was also entered the National champs on the Enduro series too. Which will be quite interesting as I'm hoping/thinking he can actually do better in Enduro than DH.

There's a downside to this though in the fact his whole team are racing, along with the coach Katy.
Why a downside, well it means I can't really race it, it'd feel like I was getting in the way so to speak. So I'll be pit crew only for that.

But we are racing together a few times still. So that's going to be fab.

[weeksy]

Fitted the Zee shifter and mech this morning before the 9am work stuff..

2023-02-01_08-21-47 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2023-02-01_08-22-04 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

The boy fitted the new DMR bars last night. He's hoping to get an hour or two in the local woods later.

[weeksy]

when fitting the mech/chain i noticed the idler was, somewhat not nice.

Thought i'd have a little peek at the manual as i recalled it being a little bit of a weird setup.
furypivot by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

idler by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Got it all apart, checked, cleaned and made nice, then re-setup. It wasn't quite as bad as i thought it may be, but it wasn't the most intuitive setup. It's a fiddly sod to get it back together as there's not a lot of space to get the 'pivot shaft end' piece re-fitted with the nut on the end, i think I dropped the nut about half a dozen times. But both the bikes are now running smoothly. It's a 6803 bearing so i've ordered up a couple just in case.

I noticed in the piece of bits the previous owner gave me it had a various number of sprocket choices, but i do wonder what bigger or smaller would actually bring to the party... Why would i fit and run a bigger/smaller idler gear ?

[crust]

The size of the idler sprocket might affect the suspension when pedaling? Though this will also be affected by which gear he's in.

Ask your suspension guru / chappy.

[weeksy]

The size of the idler sprocket might affect the suspension when pedaling? Though this will also be affected by which gear he's in.

Ask your suspension guru / chappy.

I'm asking you lot... i like getting internet wisdom

[weeksy]

[weeksy]

[Demannu]

2023-01-31_06-55-40 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Was that at Mr Rooty?

[weeksy]

2023-01-31_06-55-40 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Was that at Mr Rooty?

Yes sir.

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/race-report ... -dean.html

Write up shows a bit more on just how many crashed

[Demannu]

That was a mile from me!

[weeksy]

5th march we'll be racing either the same track or one that 100m away.