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

Why would I change this?

Slacker head angle is more stable* going downhill

*read; fun

But I defy anyone to be able to notice 0.6⁰ difference

It's +/- 0.6⁰, so 1.2⁰ in total from slack to steep.
There is a little notch in the plastic headset cup which indicates which way round it is. I think it comes in the 'slack' position from factory.

Lovely day for a ride in the Peak District, all that mud frozen into grippy hardpack, how exciting. All you have to do is make it out of town without slipping at an icy ford and plunging a leg and both feet into near freezing water. Guess what muppetfuck mcidiot over here did?

Stupid bloody bikes.

Ah I see, assumed it was just a binary flip chip type thing.
1.2⁰ becomes a bit more noticeable.

I walk down everything steeper than 30% anyway because I can't afford to crash.

I don't notice that I'm riding a different bike half the time so I'll probably not bother.

Maybe in 20 years time when I can actually ride up and down stuff without having to get off and push up and get off and slide down...

Oh, as well as the Duncan Dropper, I also have the original Scott cranks (175mm I think) if anyone wants them? Shimano SLX FC-M7120-1 / Hollowtech 2 55mm CL / 32T

Yesterday morning in the Peak District. I also had a slippy-slippy moment at the ford, but thankfully didn't submerge my feet.

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That looks lovely!

Goddamit, this is what I wanted from my day.

Similar experience this morning, although not in the Peak District and not any fords involved. Little spin round the local trails, wow there is so much grip I think, pushing it a bit harder than normal. Until suddenly there was zero grip, as I hit a patch of partially thawed mud over frozen ground and I hit the deck like a sack of shit. I'd forgotten quite how solid frozen mud actually is, thankfully I'd remembered to leave my knee pads at home so I really got a good reminder.

will PM you, might work for my brother

I'm a little worried about that tear in the fabric of reality.

Just to balance things out I went down a few days ago here and it’s super hot and dusty. I have a phone shaped bruise on my right thigh with accompanying grazes, forearm, upper arm, shoulder also sporting new skin and scab.

I keep meaning to report back on this. Saddle forward about 10mm and actually weighed myself and kit and reduced pressure in forks. The combo made a massive difference, felt more "planted" and although I still can't clear this climb it felt more doable with more fitness/technique. Thanks all for the input.

Let us know when you crack it!

Ha, yeah, it'll be a dry day that it goes...

I had a couple of coaching sessions here in NZ, the key takeaway was to keep standing tall with almost locked out knees unless actively managing the bike coming up to me, and to keep weight centred in the bike.

What I was doing was starting to crouch down in anticipation of a corner/feature etc large enough to register as “need to be careful here”, which unweighted the front.

So - knees almost locked out, hinge from the hips, elbows up and forwards and (essentially!) bow when heading into a corner to give the arms enough range of motion to tip the bike into the turn.

The latest Pinkbike/Cathro “how to bike” episode is a perfect example of what I was told to work on.

phone shaped bruise on my right thigh

When I was a kid and used to build sketchy jumps in the local woods, and crashes were a daily occurrence, one kid I rode with learned not to keep his house key in his pocket after it got stuck pointy end first in his thigh

I've never ridden with things in my pocket since then

Yeah, I do try to minimise it - but the “what to do with the phone” question is not one I’ve found an answer for other than “shorts pocket”.

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However, I have stopped wearing the shorts that have the pocket at the front, and am now wearing the ones which put the pocket toward the rear, so if I went down on my side again the pocket would be behind me, if that makes sense?

“what to do with the phone” question is not one I’ve found an answer for

https://www.tiktok.com/@quadlock/video/7294208424114507009

Nein!

Cellular Apple Watch?