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

Oooft absolutely nothing tempting about that new shifter 😳

New AXS stuff looks like a frame with UDH is required for compatibility. Unless there’s so some sort retrofitting kit, looks like I won’t be upgrading. New frame maybe?

looks like a frame with UDH is required for compatibility

I'm sure Santa Cruz will incorporate it into their frame design if you ask nicely ;-)

They already have!
But my near vintage Nomad uses a bog standard mech hanger :(

Excellent news. Sigma have given up and are giving me a cash refund. I can buy bikes in France.

Which means the correct answer is the Kona Mahuna, right?

https://youtu.be/8y6ocZHpLoE

This one is worth watching. Made a difference for me and makes cornering much more fun.

"Stupid Fast on your MTB"
"with NO fear"

DOES NOT COMPUTE

I had a great couple of days in South Wales with Cwmcarn loops on Sunday followed BPW yesterday. Recent rain has washed off all the dust but there isn't really any mud yet so the trails were in great condition!

First time uplifting at BPW and it was fun to be in a full-face and have the bike in slack mode again. The only half-decent riding photo, the trails were too fun and fast to stop on...

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Good pic - is that the start of Vicious Valley? That's a fun trail.
I'm there for a couple of days next weekend, can't wait - the Bonneyville qualifier has always scared me but I think I may be finally ready for it...

No that's AC/DC which is quite the opposite! Piece of piss qualifier into some decent blind gaps...

Bonneyville wasn't actually too bad but I preferred Roots Maneouvres. Have fun!

Yeah that's the thing about BPW, qualifiers don't always seem to reflect the rest of the trail!
Roots Manoeuvres is great, I like the tech stuff - Groot is decent as well, not so easy to carry speed.
Such a great mix of trails there, I can't wait.

Cwmcarn loops on Sunday

Off there next week for 5 days, staying in Afan. Can't wait!

Day off yesterday, took myself into the high peak to do the all weather loop. First time tackling anything marked as a black trail on Trailforks. Roych Clough was fun as fuck even if I probably went at snail’s pace down it. Had started to rain by the time I got to Jacob’s Ladder, so that was a very different experience. Greasy, muddy, fuck all grip, probably would have shat myself going down it in the dry, had to bail and walk down a couple of sections.

Massive amounts of hike a bike though. I am pretty unfit at the moment, but even if I wasn’t I’m not sure I would make it up most of the steeper, looser and more technical climbs. Is there a trick to getting up a scree covered rocky trail other than try to keep the back wheel weighted and don’t let the front run into anything that would upset your balance?

try to keep the back wheel weighted and don’t let the front run into anything that would upset your balance

Mainly that.
I'm guessing Coldwell & Oaken Cloughs gave you the most grief? I think they're just bastards to be endured.
One alternative is to frame yourself as a wildly successful social meeja influencer, at which point you are no longer "hike-a-biking", merely getting off to "get that perfect capture".

Low pressure to maximise grip can help- means you can go a little more slowly and spin the cranks in a way that would lose traction otherwise. You might appreciate an insert to allow the benefits of low pressure without the problems.

If that’s the bit running from the farm at coldwell up to the kinder estate, then yes. Also whatever the section is called from the ford at the bottom of Roych Clough north up to South Head, that bit was mostly walking.

@Dammit going slowly and spinning is my entire style, tyre inserts is probably a good shout. just when I thought I’d run out of things to spunk cash on.

Nice to have a reminder that we're all just soft bags of flesh

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Save yourself for Wales!

I am! That's from crashing a week and a half ago

My work are opening (or, potentially re-opening) a London office on Monday. But they’ve not told us (well, me) which WeWork it’s going to be in.

That aside- after an epic gap during which time I’ve not ridden a road bike but ridden mountain bikes extensively it looks like I’ll be riding to the office again.

What suggestions do people have for a commuter that isn’t the standard road bike?

Geometron?

A 3k steel mash?

There's multi page threads on dad bikes, nodders and @Maj bikes..

Given that fashion seems to run in 10ish year cycles, I'd suggest a Bob Jackson, Nitto bars, Phils and Sugino cranks, or an ebike.

Your Serotta?

My Sharona?