European championships DH @weeksy08 racing adventure.

[weeksy]

Morzine riding is taking a bit of a toll on the bikes already.

We've been having multiple discussions via Whatsapp video calls.

The boy had 0 pads in the rear, despite me sending him with pretty decent condition Galfer Green pads, they're now totally dead. Of course when they fitted new pads they couldn't get the wheel in as the pads were too close. So we discussed that and sorted. He's now got new pads in which will hopefully last him till i get there and i can sort fully

Katies bike had a flappy chain which seems to have been the B screw loosening.

The lad had a crash yesterday and has a few bike scuffs on the fork leg, but nothing major by the sounds of it, but i think we'll be needing a new invisiframe kit for the Boxxer lowers when he's back from Morzine/Alps. He's OK though, no injuries or anything.

Other than that, they're golden and ready to play.

[weeksy]

LOL the fun and games continue, he's been posting a bit on Insta and is apparently having the holiday of a lifetime.

Today was
"oh, my headset is a bit tight and creaky" we've gone through loosening off the triple clamp and loosening the headset bolt just 1/8th of a turn which has helped. For some reason on the Sessions the triples seem really bad at getting creaky once you get a bit of dust and dirt anywhere near them. Just needs a quick strip and clean and it'll be golden. I'll also be checking the headset bearings tomorrow as potentially one could be on the poorly side. Happily he's taken 3 headset upper and lowers already

"oh yeah, i've got a couple of loose spokes", That wasn't too much of a problem as he spent 4 days last year at Privateer/Hunt rebuilding and building wheels, so it was just a quick tweak on a couple of spokes.

I'm hoping there's still a bike left by the time i get there... I think next year if he goes early i'll be going with him

It then transpires that Katie had lost her chain tensioner the other day, which is why the chain was loose.... How in gods name they never noticed that at the time is anyones guess     but they've fitted  a replacement tensioner now  

[Skub]

It's amazing a bike stays together at all from what I saw on that vid. Some serious punishment.

I bet there's no anodised Ali-Baba stuff on those machines!

[weeksy]

It's amazing a bike stays together at all from what I saw on that vid. Some serious punishment.

I bet there's no anodised Ali-Baba stuff on those machines!

It's funny you know, you see people fitting the cheapest crappiest things possible. My favourite is people who buy Teemu/Aliexpress brake pads for £2 a pair. We pay £20 a pair but they're Galfer Race Pro pads and are awesome. But people are paying £2 a pair for pads on a £5000 bike... it's insane.

Same with tyres etc, you see people buying the cheapest thing possible and then having issues as they're shite.

You're right though, they take a proper beating time and time again. He's doing run after run from 9am-6pm at the moment, so getting a proper workout. I'll hopefully get enough time tomorrow to completely strip the bike and rebuild it, although i won't be going into frame bearings unless really necessary. Headset will get checked and stripped obviously, but the rest can wait.

[MingtheMerciless]

It's amazing a bike stays together at all from what I saw on that vid. Some serious punishment.

I bet there's no anodised Ali-Baba stuff on those machines!

I say to people buying decent full suspension MTB’s to treat them like a WRC car, expect bits to wear out and break if you ride them properly.

[Taipan]

It's amazing a bike stays together at all from what I saw on that vid. Some serious punishment.

I bet there's no anodised Ali-Baba stuff on those machines!

I've started watching a few videos of downhill stuff, Red Bull ones etc. One thing that I suppose isn't surprising is, the amount of frame breaks I see always by the headstock!?

[weeksy]

It's amazing a bike stays together at all from what I saw on that vid. Some serious punishment.

I bet there's no anodised Ali-Baba stuff on those machines!

I've started watching a few videos of downhill stuff, Red Bull ones etc. One thing that I suppose isn't surprising is, the amount of frame breaks I see always by the headstock!?

Very very uncommon really, like 1-10,000 but when you see the abuse they're getting, yeah it can happen.

The one you'll have seen was Bernard Kerr in Redbull Hardline Tazmania this year. That was a prototype 'lugged/tubed' frame which is a different process to most as they use CNC'd lugs and tubes which are glued together and the bonding failed on it.

[Taipan]

It's amazing a bike stays together at all from what I saw on that vid. Some serious punishment.

I bet there's no anodised Ali-Baba stuff on those machines!

I've started watching a few videos of downhill stuff, Red Bull ones etc. One thing that I suppose isn't surprising is, the amount of frame breaks I see always by the headstock!?

Very very uncommon really, like 1-10,000 but when you see the abuse they're getting, yeah it can happen.

The one you'll have seen was Bernard Kerr in Redbull Hardline Tazmania this year. That was a prototype 'lugged/tubed' frame which is a different process to most as they use CNC'd lugs and tubes which are glued together and the bonding failed on it.

Yeah I guess theres more drama in seeing busted stuff and crashes? Stuff like this makes me shiver and cringe, but by fook...!

[weeksy]

That one was quite amazing. We race against one of the digging crew Ben Deakin, he's a bit of a Youtube sensation, my lad now beats him (last 3 races) but Fairclough (Or Brendog as he's known) is just an epic talent and massive massive balls. It's exceptionally impressive to see.

[weeksy]

Bigger van please

IMG_20240807_131220 by steveweeks59, on Flickr

[Count Steer]

Bigger van please

IMG_20240807_131220 by steveweeks59, on Flickr

The top 1/3rd is empty!

[weeksy]

Euroooooooo practice 1 done and happy.

Got here last night after being raped for £80 by Swiss Customs for bringing meat in. The ridiculous part is, we're staying in France not Switzerland, we only came here to collect child.

But anyway.

[Count Steer]

Did they confiscate the meat?

They'll probably charge you for 'looking after' your money too. Good job it wasn't chocolates or cuckoo clocks you were carrying in.

[weeksy]

Did they confiscate the meat?

They'll probably charge you for 'looking after' your money too. Good job it wasn't chocolates or cuckoo clocks you were carrying in.

£78 charge to pay!!!

[Count Steer]

Did they sting you for an annual vignette for the van too? 40CHF. No weekly or monthly option of course.

[Numnut]

Good luck for the weekend! It’ll be Epic I’m sure!

[weeksy]

Did they sting you for an annual vignette for the van too? 40CHF. No weekly or monthly option of course.

Of course they did

[Count Steer]

Did they sting you for an annual vignette for the van too? 40CHF. No weekly or monthly option of course.

Of course they did

It's not even for a year. They run from 1st December. So if you went on 29th November it's still 40CHF and it lasts 1 day. Thieves in lederhosen

[weeksy]

Seeding/qualifying day.

Morning practice 8-9.15 first. Bike ready, sent him up.

IMG-20240809-WA0005 by steveweeks59, on Flickr

[Count Steer]

Good luck chaps.