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Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2026 7:55 pm
by formula400
That could be loads of fun @Mingthemerciless
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2026 8:44 pm
by weeksy
MingtheMerciless wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2026 9:37 am
formula400 wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2026 7:16 am
So yesterday I took the lad and BMX to the skate park, bloody hell, that was terrifying,
I had put a new rear brake on it and new grips, I did’t tighten the grip enough so they were spinning as well which added to the fun.
Very brave being the "grown up" on a BMX at the skate park. Last time I rode a BMX it got so cross that an "adult" was on it that it threw me into the floor for no apparent reason and I couldn't move properly for two weeks.
@formula400 you are more than welcome to come for a tour of Friston singletrack now its dried out (@Mr Moofo @crust @mboy @weeksy are also welcome).
Friston is about 3.5 miles from Polegate Station if coming by train.
Train? What's that ?
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2026 9:37 pm
by MingtheMerciless
Ok I’ll post some dates up tomorrow
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2026 9:55 pm
by mboy
Well talk about feast or famine... Barely ridden a bike this year (been too scared with my shoulder until recently), then this week alone ridden 5 times (4 MTB and 1 road), done more than 120 miles (half of which off road) and a combined 5km (15,000ft) of climbing (4km of which off road)...
Great weather and conditions for it though!
Back out again tomorrow too... Can't get enough right now!

Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Thu May 07, 2026 12:56 pm
by formula400
Bit late but Saturday me and my mate (on his gravel bike) went for a decent ride over Epsom and ashstead common.
Did a nice little 27km ride, found a good drop, found a wicked little pub, had 1 fake beer and 1/2 pint real beer….. proper hardcore Saturday night that was.
Loads of fun,
Untitled by
lewis wilson, on Flickr
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Thu May 07, 2026 1:08 pm
by formula400
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Sat May 09, 2026 9:00 pm
by cvilla
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Sun May 10, 2026 9:05 pm
by formula400
I had a rare free Saturday, so got my mate out on his bike with gravel tyres and we rode, we did 47km give or take, we rode from Epsom to Esther, Esther common was brilliant, found some cool XC stuff, and there is plenty more to explore. Found some great bits to play on, even managed to to crash, going over the handles bars in slow motion laughing,
Got home 47km, 495m climbed, 68% batter left.
Well happy.
Untitled by
lewis wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by
lewis wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by
lewis wilson, on Flickr
Yep we saw a Camel
Untitled by
lewis wilson, on Flickr
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Sun May 10, 2026 9:07 pm
by formula400
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Wed May 13, 2026 11:42 am
by MingtheMerciless

- IMG_6703.jpeg (3.15 MiB) Viewed 2004 times
Eeb to work this morning, evil bloody head wind meant pedalling downhill was required!
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Wed May 13, 2026 11:50 pm
by mboy
Proper old school ride this evening... Up a mountain, down the other side, then back up and down to where I started... Not done something so simple in a long time, but just enjoyed it for what it was... Getting out and about in some epic scenery, and smashing a good 42km and 1200m+ climbing on the eBike in a little over 2hrs...

Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Wed May 13, 2026 11:53 pm
by mboy
MingtheMerciless wrote: Wed May 13, 2026 11:42 am
IMG_6703.jpeg
Eeb to work this morning, evil bloody head wind meant pedalling downhill was required!
Staying in a cottage next door to your castle right now as it happens...
https://www.castlemenzies.org

Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Thu May 14, 2026 7:48 am
by weeksy
mboy wrote: Wed May 13, 2026 11:50 pm
Proper old school ride this evening... Up a mountain, down the other side, then back up and down to where I started... Not done something so simple in a long time, but just enjoyed it for what it was... Getting out and about in some epic scenery, and smashing a good 42km and 1200m+ climbing on the eBike in a little over 2hrs...
Love it... that's the essence of MTBing for me... I love a 'trail' or i guess they're more 'tracks' but MTBing is about being outside in the middle of nowhere with a sense of "how the heck did i get up there" and then having to get back home again. Nice job.
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Thu May 14, 2026 2:33 pm
by MingtheMerciless
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Mon May 18, 2026 11:56 am
by MingtheMerciless

- IMG_6738.jpeg (2.88 MiB) Viewed 1861 times

- IMG_6739.jpeg (5.86 MiB) Viewed 1861 times
Glorious day for a ride. “Created” a new segment, which is a loop of my two favourite trails and their associated climbs, OBS had to try and set a benchmark so my legs and lungs are not happy now.
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Wed May 20, 2026 12:42 pm
by weeksy
I took out the Speacialized Status 160 of
@crust today as mine has been sold and the new bike not here yet.
20260520_115338 by
steveweeks59, on Flickr
First observations, when i owned one i should have bought the size S3 not S4.
the next observations are a little scathing of his bike in honesty... (Sorry mate).. First thing i noticed was the pedals are barely attached to the bike, the locking nuts on the pedal body were barely touching the thread. Once they were tightened the 10mm of play was gone
Next up was that the riding position is massively bizarre, it's SOOOO slack it's insane. The front end is pretty wandery on any trails. Going downhill it kinda makes sense as you are putting your riding position over the front end more, but on pedally trails it's all over the place.
It's also an exceptionally inefficient pedaller, like really really... wowsers. Admittedly it is VERY windy out there today, but even when out of the wind, things are just hard work on it. A low BB and a set back riding position with a really short chainstay means it's just not a good pedaller.
It feel like a pretty harsh review of someone elses bike, but i just simply didn't get on with it (sorry again)
I will say the suspension platform is lovely... like SOOOO plush and nice, smooth, lovely... it goes over things and smooths things out beautifully.
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Wed May 20, 2026 2:01 pm
by crust
Its the bike you need for going downhill fast. Wandery

thats why you have handlebars, it goes where you steer it.
You loved it really
Admittedly it did need some love

Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Wed May 20, 2026 2:13 pm
by weeksy
crust wrote: Wed May 20, 2026 2:01 pm
Its the bike you need for going downhill fast. Wandery

thats why you have handlebars, it goes where you steer it.
You loved it really
Admittedly it did need some love
It's got a very small creak, i thought it was the saddle (which is creaky actually) but i think one of the pivots needs a little clean.
Dropper isn't great as i've extended the post so cable is tight, but the lever itself is lovely.
Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Wed May 20, 2026 3:06 pm
by crust
"Dropper isn't great as i've extended the post so cable is tight,
but the lever itself is lovely."
At least the bike isn't a total nightmare

Re: 2026 Bikes, rides and pictures.
Posted: Wed May 20, 2026 3:32 pm
by weeksy
crust wrote: Wed May 20, 2026 3:06 pm
"Dropper isn't great as i've extended the post so cable is tight,
but the lever itself is lovely."
At least the bike isn't a total nightmare
LOL i told you i was being harsh, i REALLY appreciate it man, honestly.... but i can't say i'm in love
