NMTBD. The orange is bacccccccck. Sorta :)

[weeksy]

Got 2 hours before the rain. The Twrch climb a cwmcarn is a killer for sure.

[weeksy]

Well i can't say either of us noticed ANY difference between the Fox36 and the Lyriks. I had the Lyriks on Sat and he got them for Sun, we both agreed that both sets of forks were perfectly fine lol. So the Lyriks will stay on his bike as he can use the 160mm more than i can, the warrantied Fox's can go on my bike, i'll get the 2nd set warrantied then as well.

My pads were killed completely yesterday, but i knew that before going, so the order is in for some new pads and they're replaced out of spares for now, obviously i brake too much lol

[weeksy]

The weather looked awful for Friday and Saturday so as it was warm today I went out playing for a quick blast. The grip wasn’t there, the traction on leaves was lacking but it was great

[weeksy]

Barry’s sidings, stupid place. lol

Amazed I’m still alive

[weeksy]

Frosty day here again so thought i'd head out... Fitted the winter 100% Brisker gloves and wasn't the longest ride ever but was a sweet one, once you get the circulation going and the hands warm enough to feel your fingers, it's lovely in the sunshine and lack of wind.... These days of riding don't come about often when you're crunching your way along and through ice puddles.

Untitled by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

It's still a bit on the chilly side out there. We had a few days of warmer, warmer being a relative term of course..

Untitled by steveweeks59, on Flickr

Supposed to be out with @crust at the weekend but if it's this cold then doing a long enough ride that we both enjoy could be quite tricky.

[weeksy]

Untitled by steveweeks59, on Flickr

It got a bit warmer, but less dry... However, it was far from terrible. Although you certainly lose speed in winter ! But it's just different fun

[weeksy]

Another sunny but cold and frosty morning ride.
Untitled by steveweeks59, on Flickr

Had to drop the van off for work and MOT today so hit the scenic route down the kennet canal to get back towards newbury and then up over the hills/woods to get home.
This thing still does pretty much anything and everything you can throw at it with ease... from canal paths to enduro trails, it rides them all really well.

Having some tyre debates at the moment for what to throw on for the rest of winter... I've got absolutely no clue

[Numnut]

Having some tyre debates at the moment for what to throw on for the rest of winter... I've got absolutely no clue

I've gone for Tacky Chans (super trail/soft) on the Bird and I'm really happy with them. Did the ride to work and back last week in the slop and they had grip where the Argotals on the hardtail don't. Doing fun stuff at twisted wet or dry they're very confidence inspiring, for me at least.

[weeksy]

The bikes and pivots/linkages do get yukky, so stripped down my Fuel Ex8 today to give it some TLC, it's not been that long and most bits were good. Bottom pivot was pretty crappy though.

Untitled by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Well that was a disappointing day out at FoD. i had to work first, so mostly sitting around with a load of noisy kids. Then eventually i got out and 55 mins into a ride, i got a flat which i couldn't fix, right at the top of all the climbing and just before the fun bits. Epic. Had to hike to the road and get MRs Weeksy out in the Transit to come rescue me. It's interesting as that's the first i've had in many many years and the 2nd ride with the new Trail Endurance Continental Kryptotal. I was already a little cautious after fitting them and the side walls being a bit flimsy.. But even after a few reviews had reported issues with them i thought i'd try... But they may now be on my shit list and going in the bin. It was too dark and cold to fully diagnose yesterday, i just threw in another wheel instead. But i'll get a proper check on it today and see.

[weeksy]

Untitled by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

The local stuff is awesome at the moment for sure. Trails just running lovely and very very few muddy bits. Out yesterday i was back home though and looking at Mondraker Slys, my legs were rubbish and my knee was even more rubbish than that.

Today though, that all changed, the legs were good (not quite amazing) and the knee was happy and the bike was superb. So i'm back to "don't need an Ebike" again now

[Mr Moofo]

Untitled by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

The local stuff is awesome at the moment for sure. Trails just running lovely and very very few muddy bits. Out yesterday i was back home though and looking at Mondraker Slys, my legs were rubbish and my knee was even more rubbish than that.

Today though, that all changed, the legs were good (not quite amazing) and the knee was happy and the bike was superb. So i'm back to "don't need an Ebike" again now

How old are you?
Where do you spend every weekend ?

[weeksy]

54. There’s a question for sure, it’s so so hard to answer as some weekends I rarely get out on the bike as we’re away at an uplift place I’m driving the van at. Some were at FoD of course and some are local.
However local next year with luck will be FoD which may change the dynamics of that too as then most days I’d be at FoD and I’m not sure the body can take that much effort.

But I really do prefer the effort/reward on the manual bike and how the Fuel (and other manuals) rides.

I’m well aware though that there will be a time.

[Mr Moofo]

I would still prefer to ride manual. But I don’t invest the time I need to to keep my 65 year old legs working hard enough to power up hills and keep up with the other manual riders I rode with.
So I bought an eeb - and then so did all the people I ride with!

I keep The Privateer for the more downhill stuff - if I do it again
So it’s cheating but it allows me to go out when I don’t really want to!

[MingtheMerciless]

I would still prefer to ride manual.

So it’s cheating but it allows me to go out when I don’t really want to!

Very true

[weeksy]

It’s the reason I’ll end up with one. Not because I don’t want to go out that day, but because I won’t always have the legs to do so

[weeksy]

I'm having a few random winter thoughts at the moment which involve something like this



It's a 2023 Slash. Basically as is common, it's a basis on a theme, but it's a Fuel that's a bit slacker and a bit more bounce.
If things work out this year we could end up in Europe for a chunk of summer and in some ways it'd be good to have a bit 'more' but not quite DH levels.
In the ideal ideal world, i'd keep the Fuel still but i don't know yet how plausible that is.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/127507162376 ... R-SJtp39Zg

There was also this Slayer from my mate, which was/is still a viable option, but i'm less convinced by that one as i don't think the setup is quite right and it doesn't ride as nicely as i thought, i think it's a 27.5 back end but turned into a mullet, so rides very very slack.

[Mr Moofo]

I'm having a few random winter thoughts at the moment which involve something like this



It's a 2023 Slash. Basically as is common, it's a basis on a theme, but it's a Fuel that's a bit slacker and a bit more bounce.
If things work out this year we could end up in Europe for a chunk of summer and in some ways it'd be good to have a bit 'more' but not quite DH levels.
In the ideal ideal world, i'd keep the Fuel still but i don't know yet how plausible that is.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/127507162376 ... R-SJtp39Zg

There was also this Slayer from my mate, which was/is still a viable option, but i'm less convinced by that one as i don't think the setup is quite right and it doesn't ride as nicely as i thought, i think it's a 27.5 back end but turned into a mullet, so rides very very slack.

Can’t you just put a slacker headset in the fuel , and more travel in the forks (which would slacken it anyway).
That would be the cheaper option.


Or buy an Atherton. and be done with it

[weeksy]

I'm having a few random winter thoughts at the moment which involve something like this



It's a 2023 Slash. Basically as is common, it's a basis on a theme, but it's a Fuel that's a bit slacker and a bit more bounce.
If things work out this year we could end up in Europe for a chunk of summer and in some ways it'd be good to have a bit 'more' but not quite DH levels.
In the ideal ideal world, i'd keep the Fuel still but i don't know yet how plausible that is.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/127507162376 ... R-SJtp39Zg

There was also this Slayer from my mate, which was/is still a viable option, but i'm less convinced by that one as i don't think the setup is quite right and it doesn't ride as nicely as i thought, i think it's a 27.5 back end but turned into a mullet, so rides very very slack.

Can’t you just put a slacker headset in the fuel , and more travel in the forks (which would slacken it anyway).
That would be the cheaper option.


Or buy an Atherton. and be done with it

Yes and no, we've got some 160mm forks in his Fuel at the moment which indeed would make it 160mm and 0.5deg slacker by the defualt of being 10mm taller forks. You can also even get a 0.5 deg headset cup set from Trek which is a standard part on the Fuels which again would take it another 0.5deg.
I couldn't though go to 170mm and 160mm on the back and still be OK with Trek.

The Atherton, well that's a whole different debate as 2026 has potential to bring a LOT of insanity for us here with Job stuff, house stuff and racing stuff... So buying an Atherton this year (before Nov anyway) is a non-starter