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

I'm not helping with the technical but how about a bit of inspiration:

http://video.mpora.fr/watch/iHal7Xw2v/
Get your drift on!

Dot 5.1. Surely there should be no (or almost no) evaporation from a closed hydraulic system?

Yes, I meant in evidence to the leak. no residue/puddle etc.

Two symptoms: Almost no braking power and the engagement point seemed way too close to the bars (in the lever's travel). The brakes I have have an engagement point adjuster which does not move the pads but just controls whereabouts in the travel it grabs, I have this adjusted all the way "out" (that is, there should be almost no travel before engagement) but I was still not getting any bite until the lever was just past parallel with the bars.

It all seems to be moot in any case as I've just pulled the pads to have a look at them and they're completely shot: sub 1mm of pad material left on one side and the other is unevenly worn but almost as bad. Have I really gone through a set of pads in just two weekends of riding?

I get what you mean now about engagement point. When it hits that point is it solid? You can't really do anything else until you have new pad to be honest otherwise you may over fill your reservoir then you will not beble to put the pads back in.

It dose seem rather quick wear but Swinley is rather sandy if I recall correctly and a bit like cutting paste.

Just wondering if anyone was riding in Swinley tomorrow?

I get what you mean now about engagement point. When it hits that point is it solid? You can't really do anything else until you have new pad to be honest otherwise you may over fill your reservoir then you will not beble to put the pads back in.

It dose seem rather quick wear but Swinley is rather sandy if I recall correctly and a bit like cutting paste.

Yeah. I just had the same conversation with a few other people about the sand at Swinley. Seems I may have just underestimated how quickly I would burn through a set of pads. Anyway, got a new set that I am going to go stand in the rain and fit :-)

Just wondering if anyone was riding in Swinley tomorrow?
I've got stuff I need to be doing tomorrow. Can do Sunday again, though.

Yeah. I just had the same conversation with a few other people about the sand at Swinley. Seems I may have just underestimated how quickly I would burn through a set of pads. Anyway, got a new set that I am going to go stand in the rain and fit :-)
I've got plenty of pad left on mine, but I think my front needs bleeding/topping up. Plus, even after hosing it all down, taking the pads out and washing them and the disks (but only with plain water so far, no idea where my can of Muc-off is!) they are still grinding horribly. Think I need to attack the pads with sand paper to properly get the crap off!

Sunday will be difficult, there are no trains going through to Reading, they all stop at Hounslow!

Yeah, that was a bit of a bugger.

Still, two of us made it out there today. The twelve mile ride out (and back) meant we didn't do quite so much at the forest as on previous occasions. Still damn good fun though :). Nothing like as muddy and gungy as last week. It was pretty muddy in places, but nowhere near as bad.

So assuming the trains are operating, who is up for another Sunday bash through the trees next week? Advance warning, next Sunday is the final round of the Gorrick Autumn Series. The event is being held at Crowthorne (basically the north west corner of Swinley Forest). So those feeling adventurous can go racing, those feeling wimpy can either just watch or go explore the rest of the trails as per previous weeks. You can enter on the day, no need to sign up in advance. There are multiple categories varying from wuss to insane, where the difference is just how many laps you have to do to finish.

I'm planning on having a go but only in one of the beginner categories. I'm not sure my fitness is up to anything more just yet!

Looks pretty cool. I'd love to have a go. If I'm reading the website correctly, they base a lap on about 30 mins riding. So the "beginners" do one lap and the "fun" category 2 etc. etc.

Not 100% sure I'll be able to make it but if I can I think I'd have a crack at the race.

this could be American, with some good shooting in.
YouTube - Life Cycles - Stance Films - OFFICIAL 2010 Mountain Bike Trailer 1080p

Lifecycles and Vast are screening in London next Thursday.
http://londoncinema.bluebones.net/film.php?film_id=17241

this could be American, with some good shooting in.

Definitely an American voice over and very American pick up truck. But some very good (and very arty) filming too. Not sure if it is genuine or special effects but it certainly gives the appearance that they had a camera pointing at one corner of a track for an entire year - winter changes to summer changes to autumn chasing the rider around the corner. Nice.

It starts off by saying 'this isn't a bike move, it's a movie about a bike'. It does seem to turn into a bike movie, though. Lots of riders doing big air in rapid cuts shot from helicopters. Also, lots of shots of scenery with no biking connection at all. I was expecting there to be some funky shots of the suspension keeping the big air riders alive, of tyres deforming under cornering/landing, etc. That kind of thing would have kept it more on target.

I want to know where the dusty grey trail with the big orange rocks is. That place looked awesome!

Lifecycles and Vast are screening in London next Thursday.
Bugger, I'm busy next Thursday. If that is the trailer for the this movie then it looks like being a fun movie to watch.

Nicely shot intro but I don't think MTB works very well in video. It's only "watchable" because of the excellent shooting and production some of these videos have.

Slowmo tyre deforming shots, helicopter shops, odd gnarcore drop ( in slowmo, ten times from different angles with more tyre / suspension deformation shots, some helicopter shots of a helicopter taking a helicopter shot), occasional shot / interview with cool dude rider with red bull straight peaked hat saying something about "life style, extreme, way of life" with matted hair wearing a MX top or driving a big American pick up, more camera effects, panning over the top with a zip wire, slo mo drifting shot with spraying soil / gravel, bla bla bla

Don't get me wrong I respect their riding and if I lived in Wales I'd have a more gnarcore bike and doing the riding is no doubt excellent fun but as videos they seem dull whit loads of money thrown at them. Compare to a skate video or BMX video, plenty of which are simply shot with some guy rolling on a skate board, maybe a fish-eye lens (which can get tiresome) and still mange to look good, or at least as good.

[/captain negative]

bla bla bla
I agree for the most part. To the extent that I've never actually been interested enough to buy a biking DVD or watch more than the odd YouTube clip. The point is that the intro video for this one is at least something more than the usual blah. It looks a lot more arty and pretty than the usual fair. True, the actual film itself might just turn out to be generic stuff. But as trailers go, it is very much above average.

yep looks like some excellent production from the perspective of someone who does not know anything about production but likes the look.

I do know a bit about movie production, special effects and so on. I'm not saying that this is the most amazingly well produced movie ever. I'm just saying that it looks to have a different emphasis than most bike movies. If it is genuinely a film about bikes rather than about the riders then it might have something interesting to say. As I said though, the trailer does seem to veer more towards generic bike movie after the opening scene. Who knows? I won't get to see it but I would be interested to hear from anyone who does.

Although if it is a movie about 'all bikes, cheap ones, expensive ones, ...' or whatever phrase the voice over uses, then I would have expected to see some roadie footage, maybe even a fixie in there too :). Whereas it looks to be all freeride stuff :(.

To get back to the official topic of people actually going out and riding in the mud, anyone up for another Swinley bash this weekend? Anyone feeling adventurous enough to try a race?

Note that the trains are running again, so no excuses this time :).

I'm saying I know nothing about production and it looks good to me from a production point of view but someone with more knowledge might think there are things that are done wrong but I can't tell. I was agreeing with you it could be intersting.

I was agreeing with you
Since when should that spoil a good argument?

[note to self: turn down internal sarcasm filter, sometimes people do actually mean what they say]

To get back to the official topic of people actually going out and riding in the mud, anyone up for another Swinley bash this weekend? Anyone feeling adventurous enough to try a race?

Note that the trains are running again, so no excuses this time :).

Right. I'm in. What races are people keen to do? How long will it take to get to the start?

The race is at Crowthorne Wood (NW corner of Swinley Forest). I believe the start/registration/general milling around area is on the Devil's Highway just near where it goes under the A3095. Easiest route for those driving or on different train lines is to come via Crowthorne and follow the Devil's Highway in. For those coming via Martin's Heron (me at least), it's a few minutes ride along the fire roads from the Look Out.

As for which race, I would strongly recommended going for the fun category as a first attempt. The course normally consists of sections of single track linked by fire roads. So pretty much exactly what we have been doing the last few Sundays. The difference is, you don't get to stop for a break and a chat every five minutes. It is full on pedalling start to finish. At at least five miles a lap, that puts the 2 lap Fun category as approximately what we did on those days, but that was over five hours or so not one.

As a quick example of what to expect on the course, Crowthorne Wood is where the corkscrew bit is. I would assume that the corkscrew will be part of the race course followed by a climb back up the fire road alongside and then off elsewhere.

Great. Fun Male 12:15 start (oo err). Sounds good to me. Which one are you going to do? Shall we get the normal train?

I'm going for fun too. Not sure my fitness is up to the open category just yet. I could probably do it but it would not be fun. I just know that last lap would take twice as long as the others!

Er, can't remember what the normal train is (it was delayed or cancelled last two out of three times I went!). I'm thinking it would be worth getting there a bit early. If it is busy at registration, that could easily take half an hour or so. Allow another half an hour for getting lost trying to find our way from the Look Out. I would say probably go for the one arriving at Martin's Heron at 10:38.

Oh, PS: they do recommend pre-riding the course. As in get there with enough time to spare to do a slow lap before your race begins. Personally, I gave up doing that last time I had a go at the races. Partly it's more fun to 'sight read' the course but mostly I can't get the hang of riding slowly and just ended up knackered before the race even started.

Awesome. That's the one I was talking about. Leaves Putney at 09:53 and Richmond at (I think) 09:59.