Incoming... NMTBD... The Slayer of trails.

[weeksy]

Big one today, scenic route to the Brewery, then to play in Slanting, then off on trails to Bucklebury, then Slanting then home.

I'd guess something in the 30+ miles day.

Awesome one

[weeksy]

As always, when you're a parent you end up neglecting yourself/your own stuff. As it's half-term and i'm not riding (my own bike) for a couple of days i thought i'd strip the Slayer down. Odds are i'd have any bearings etc i'd need but you never know. The bottom bracket is and had been for a while a fraction less than perfect, but it's not a complete disaster.

So it was all linkages, bearings, pivots etc, stripped cleaned, greased and made nice. Headset and forks got the same. I've left the BB for now as i don't have a PF30/92 in spares, but as i say, it's not bad.

Apart from dirt, mess and slime, i didn't find anything horrible, all the bearings are smooth and nice.

2023-05-30_08-15-42 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2023-05-30_08-15-37 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It'll be ready for BPW at the weekend

[weeksy]

Plenty of riding lately, not all of it on the Slayer but i did have an interesting day on Sat. We were up at Pontypool trails and a guy rocked up next to us with a Slayer, same as mine but Alu version, however it was in a Large. I know there's been discussions that the M is too small for me. So i had a little play on his large.. Now i think he's running a standard length stem and i've got a 10mm longer stem fitted to mine. However with all of that in mind, there's VERY little difference between the 2 bikes in terms of feel in sizing. It's made me happy that i'm not hugely concerned about swapping frame in the slightest.
I did a week or 2 ago flirt with the idea of swapping mine for this.
https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3494920/

Well, I'd arguably have to buy his, fit my Codes etc and then flog the red Medium on after all done etc... but in truth, i'm OK with it now

The Slayer has been being used outside of it's comfort zone mostly lately, with most rides being XC rather than anything more gnarly... The good thing is, i really don't mind it in an XC context, it's comfy, fast, effective, even with loads of suspension, i don't feel it holds much back... Sure i'd bet there's quicker bikes out there, but if i'm cruising along happily, without Strava, i really don't care

[weeksy]

Got a debate for this weekend. Was chatting with the Tech guys at Privateer and they said i can borrow a 141 for this weekends racing.. Which is REALLY interesting..
There's only a couple of downsides to this..

1. It's a P3... which is a 485mm reach, which is quite long for me.
2. It's not possible to get delivered here in time so i'll have to go to HQ to collect it... Sussex.

Mmmmm

[Numnut]

That's a pretty cool offer, got to be worth a go to see how it compares

[weeksy]

That's a pretty cool offer, got to be worth a go to see how it compares

Yeah all the team are racing this weekend including the coach, so that's 4 Privateers, i'd be the only interloper

Just a question of whether i'd get on with it... along with the logistics of having to collect as it's short notice.

[Mr Moofo]

C’mon it’s about time the RM went …

[Mr Moofo]

Got a debate for this weekend. Was chatting with the Tech guys at Privateer and they said i can borrow a 141 for this weekends racing.. Which is REALLY interesting..
There's only a couple of downsides to this..

1. It's a P3... which is a 485mm reach, which is quite long for me.
2. It's not possible to get delivered here in time so i'll have to go to HQ to collect it... Sussex.

Mmmmm

It will be spot on for you…
Re collecting it - call in for a coffee - or I’ll meet you there

[weeksy]

Got a debate for this weekend. Was chatting with the Tech guys at Privateer and they said i can borrow a 141 for this weekends racing.. Which is REALLY interesting..
There's only a couple of downsides to this..

1. It's a P3... which is a 485mm reach, which is quite long for me.
2. It's not possible to get delivered here in time so i'll have to go to HQ to collect it... Sussex.

Mmmmm

It will be spot on for you…
Re collecting it - call in for a coffee - or I’ll meet you there

Yeah would've been cool mate... but just not going to be able to get over for it really.

[Mr Moofo]

So you want me pick it and bring it half way?

[weeksy]

So you want me pick it and bring it half way?

If you know me well enough, you'd know by now that as much as that's a bloody wonderful offer mate, i'd never accept it. But that's exceptionally kind of you.

[weeksy]

Had to order a blind bearing tool for the rear chainstay bearings. They're back to back, I assume a recess between to align them. But one of the bearings is a bit crap, not terrible but not perfect. It's a 6800 so ordered the tool and some new bearings

[MingtheMerciless]

IMG_9361.jpeg

Want.

Ti top caps back in stock but selling fast

[weeksy]

Well the weekend at Southern Enduro in Tiverton is over and the clean-up begins... The weekend was epic, from beach-side-ice-cream, to pub lunch, BBQ, banter and of course riding. For me, as always the riding was somewhat tricky on Southerns, however this one it was only tricky, rather than impossible. Which made it a lot of fun for me of course
I don't think all the stages suited everyone but for me they were fun anyway, a good mix of tech, twisty turny loamy laughs.

The Slayer has a weird noise... like a squeak of a mouse, but more intensified, although not all the time, which is weird... I'm gonna have to look into that today. But other than that the Slayer was ace. Multiple trips up and down the hills to ride, practice, watch, race, has absolutely knackered me out !!! I'm useless today... but i do need to start work on the bikes, kit, stuff... Getting 3000 things out of the van and ready for this weekend. LOL. Yes it begins again as we're away for 2 days this weekend again at Bringewood and Dyfi... Jeepers, does it ever stop !

[weeksy]

It seems the results were wrong.. i was 4th... not 5th... I'll take that

Well i've got no choice because that was the reality...

Sadly i'm still MILES away from even being respectable and in truth i don't know how i'd ever make the next level of mediocrity lol.

[weeksy]

3-4 times i've bought a Shockwiz, used for a few weeks and then sold it for mostly what i paid for it... It's cheaper than renting although i admit a slightly weird way of doing things. This last weekend i was bouncing on my forks and thought "are they really slow." and maybe they are. So i jumped on Ebay and saw a shockwiz for £250.... Bit rich for selling back, but only had 2 days left... in the last 24 hours he dropped it to £210 and accepted £190. I'll take that

So it's now fitted onto the Slayer and will go on the Privateer next week along with my mates 2 new Treks in the weeks following. I've set it up for Playful.... so we'll see what it comes up with.

2023-06-23_11-48-12 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

After some playing and a 2.5 hour trail ride with one of my favourite Enduro test tracks we ended up at this.

2023-06-23_05-42-13 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2023-06-23_05-42-01 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Bike felt absolutely awesome so I'll take that

It did mean I was 10psi too firm and 5 clicks of rebound too slow (which I noticed on Monday, hence buying Shockwiz ) at last weekends race. Not that it would have mattered but it's nice to have peace of mind.

[weeksy]

Well that was a fun end of work day... I've now got 3 days down in Sussex with my bike and some spare time So i thought i'd tick off a few jobs.. My mate brought the bike back after borrowing it for Dyfi and i wasn't massively happy with the dropper... I've not been happy for a month but i then forget.. So off came the dropper post and a new inner installed.
I then remembered the rear wheel had some play... Was it frame or wheel.. Mmmmmmm. So i threw in a spare 29er wheel and checked. Yup, wheel bearings. I'd not worked on a DT Swiss hub before so a bit of it was remembering what little doo-dahs go where, what spacers, the circlip and anything else. It felt like the freehub bearings, so i swapped those first... Nope, they were fine... they were 6802s
Checked the bearing spares and i had a set of the 6902s as well.. So off they went... well sort of !!! the spacer in there was pretty damn stuck that's for sure... Took a fair few hammers that did... But soon it was out and some new ones pressed in...

Did that cure it...

Yeah it did... So we're happy.

[weeksy]

I had a minor moment of crazy again yesterday and ordered another Float X shock.

Why... well, i was still somewhat curious.

It arrived quickly and happily. It was set to 62.5mm stroke but it's 3-4 mins work to put to 65mm which is correct for the bike.

Once i'd fitted the hardware, i configured the Shockwiz and went out for 35 mins... It was drizzley so not exactly perfect, but you know by now when it's time for testing something, it's got to be done right away.

I don't know how as it's only 400gr lighter on the bike which is really a small amount but it does instantly feel more spritely... I took it only to the local simple stuff as work would have got in the way if i'd gone longer, but it gave me some info on Shockwiz to work from

Screenshot_2023-07-04-13-01-37-916_com.sram.shockwiz by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Which in simple terms is a pretty decent start point... It also felt really good out there, so i'm going to run it for a while and see.

[weeksy]

Well thanks to Pauls Cycles, i won't be selling my Slayer EVER !!! lol.

https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/facetresu ... erm=slayer

Rocky Mountain Slayer C50 Enduro Mountain Bike 2021 Black/Blue
£2,499.99 £4,999.99 50% off

I mean i wouldn't be that happy selling mine used for £2500... but if someone can buy one new for that, well they're buying that.

It does seem that after the 2020/2021 under-supply of bikes and everything at 100% RRP, we're now past that and into bargain stuff again. But for the Slayers in the link, they're bloody superb value for money