Dammit’s adventures in mountain biking

I have found the exact opposite, oddly.

Switched from spds half way through this year and found riding on flats has improved my MTBing a lot.

Also makes the times when your skillz run out easier to get away from.

Going to Use flats for ‘puffer this year, will take some spds jic though....

With SPD I have absolute faith that I can hop from one line to another, over a branch etc - with flats I can do a little hop with a lot of planning, if my feet are in the correct place, if I have time etc.

I'll continue to use flats at times - the goal is to be able to hop/jump instinctively with them - but I'll change back to SPD for XC stuff.

Flats V Spd's is an ongoing debate.

Try both, use what you prefer, pro's and con's to both.

Go back a few decades to the Sunn Chippie downhill team of Ann Caro and Nico who just dominated global downhill racing.
They would actually use a F1 approach and datalog test runs with different suspension set ups and tyres, and then also log a flat pedal and spd run, whichever pedal performed best on the race track was the one selected for the race run, so they would swap between different tracks. So no one pedal is best, just which one is best for you :)

Gripshift- is it shit?

Personal vibes really.

I like it as you can dump the whole cassette in one motion. Getting good grips is difficult however.

I've never mentally recovered from having to work on it in the 90s.

Neil i am entering this world, when are we showing our ineptitude to ride expensive mtbs we don’t deserve in peaslake/anywhere?

I’m covering mine in clay on the South Downs at the moment, will be heading rob Swinley on the weekends I expect- happy to give you a lift if you fancied coming.

showing our ineptitude to ride expensive mtbs we don’t deserve in peaslake

Trouble with Peaslake is that the trails are unmarked. Justin used to do guided rides around there but he's in Wales now. I know where most of it is and I think @Sparky knows his way around. So tl;dr is that I could show interested people about on a Sunday morning with enough notice.

showing our ineptitude to ride expensive mtbs we don’t deserve

Now you understand, it's just like road bikes

Except without dickheads in cars, trying to kill you

Instead of dickheads in cars you get dickhead trees instead. DICKHEADS!

For whatever reason I find that my MTB is the bike I look forward to riding the most, even with The Tree Menace.

Don't even pay forest tax

forest tax

This is you, aicmfp

I do carry a spoon with me at all times, just in case.

Why with a spoon?

Why with a spoon?

Because John McClane stole his gun

To kill the replicant? Oh yes.

My favourite Swinly moment was shepherding a flat rear tire, all my weight on the handlebars, through a twisty flat bit of the red run, only for another rider to race up behind me and shout out "your tire is flat, mate"!

Should I just stop here in the middle of a narrow trail and fix my tire

Gripshift- is it shit?

Only if you like keeping your finger on the brake levers while shifting.

Hell is other people on bicycles

Hell is other people on bicycles

FTFY

So Swinley is still shit, right?