Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

26" wheels, I take it?

32x17 would have you spinning like mad at Thetford, even in the Winter slop. You could ride a 36x17 easily there. For a 3hr race, maybe a 38 would be better

So basically leave it as is? That's my kind of mechanicing.

Yeah, 26. I'll blame any slowness on being slightly over geared, not a total lack of skill.

Depends on how you ride really. There's a lot of stuff at Thetford where it helps to ride out of the saddle, so the higher gear would help. 40 x 17 would be a bit tough in places.

Save the really low gears for your 24hr solo ;-)

Ha! Cheers, I'll think about it.

If anyone has a nice 38t 104 BCD chainring kicking about let me know.

Which woods? Might aswell give it a go before you splash the cash, you might like it. I prefer rigid on most southern trails not in wales personally

One more question*, Oracle of Dirt...

Should I keep the long stem on that has me pretty stretched out for road riding or swap to a stumpy little 50mm to add some off road twitch and make bunnyhopping and shit a bit easier?

*unlikely

Oh, is there a 24hr solo that's not in Scotland in the middle of winter?

http://www.twentyfour12.com/
http://www.xcracer.com/raceentry/viewevent.php?event_id=1129
http://www.mountain-mayhem.com/

Have a look at Jason Miles results, he's done a few of them... https://jasonmilesracing.com/

Uh oh.

http://www.wembo.com.au/ if you fancy scotland in autumn (2018)

Should I keep the long stem on that has me pretty stretched out for road riding or swap to a stumpy little 50mm to add some off road twitch and make bunnyhopping and shit a bit easier?

Stick with what your body's used to, I reckon. What do you currently have on there?

Scotland 2018 could be a nice long term goal. I'll probably be sick of road riding after 2017 :)

Um, I forget but at least 110mm or 120mm.

As far as what I'm used to, well I'm not used to riding MTBs so that's kinda irrelevant. Also, I won't be able to use my midfoot Speedplays so I will have to use street shoes and flats which is another shit but necessary change.

Almost certainly will be working off a terrible hangover too.

I think @xkittyx is signed up for the 2017 Strathpuffer?

Also, if short is better, then it makes sense to whack one on now and get used to it.

I used to swap between 110 and I think 70mm on my hardtail in Oz with no real dramas.

We joked about it here at work which is why I now find myself entered in a 3hr in Therford having not touched an MTB in 15 years.

For 3 hours, I'd say just 'pedal hard and hope for the best' :-)

I've got an old 90mm stem you can have, if you want to make the bike a little less stretched out?

I used to swap between 110 and I think 70mm on my hardtail in Oz with no real dramas.

Yeah, some people seem far less sensitive to fit changes than others, although, as you know, that gets a bit more complicated when you spend the whole day in the saddle.

Still, having read about you doing a century ride in the wrong shoes, you don't strike me as the overly-sensitive type..

Thanks, I've got a couple of 80mm/10deg already from the TT bike. I might throw one of them on and see how it rides.

Will have a look around for a 38T 104mm chainring too. If it fit that I can shorten the chain, bring the back wheel closer and then the handling will mean I can really nail those double backflips I've been working on during the commute ;)

When is this Thetford race? I might have to pop down and heckle.

It depends on what it is and how hard I'm riding.

I've also dropped my stem height 5mm and that's been enough to break me during a 100mi TT. I guess I'm running some limits closer than others and some body parts take longer to force into new positions than others. Also on the MTB I'll be moving around a lot more so fit is less of a factor. That and the fact that it's a relatively short ride for me. I reckon my arms will be fucked well before my legs. That's what usually happens. That or lower back from all the honking out of the saddle.

ROUND 3
DATE: Sunday, 15th January 2017
VENUE: FR6, B1106, IP27 0SS

That or lower back from all the honking out of the saddle.

Thetford will get your lower back. It's not the typical pedal uphill & descend terrain. It's just pedal pedal pedal pedal pedal...

For racing I'd say you're more likely to want front end grip than ability to manual etc.
If you're going to change I'd suggest going wider (assuming the bars are the same age as they stem they're about 600?) 20mm bar width per 10mm stem. 700bars and 70/80mm stem is a fairly decent compromise that allows tree threading.

Gearing - not raced SS but have raced with those who have. Seem to be 2 schools of thought. Gear so you can get up the climbs (Surrey not Thetford) and spin out or gear more aggressively and run up climbs because you're likely to get balked by weekend warriors anyhow.

Will your beer be in bottles or camelback?

You'd think I'd be ok with that... :)