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

Apart from weighing 2.5kg

I haz coil pikes.

The ridiculous service requirements of fox forks?

Thanks for the imput, so it's really Pikes or Revelations from rockshox, but which forks should i look at from Fox? Time to see what ebay has to offer and any other forums i can find.

Does any one here race XC?

in my mind I do, every time I hit the trails :-) but in reality, only on Strava

32 talas or float if you ain't a giant and have a bit of spare cash.

Does anyone pay any attention to the service requirements? I've got two pairs on bikes currently - one feel pretty nice despite never having been serviced in the 4 years I've owned them (I got them second hand); the other (on my main MTB) were serviced 6 or 12 months ago and ride like a dream.

I'm perfectly prepared to believe that more regular serving would be beneficial, and I know I don't ride as hard or much as some, but these forks get dragged through the mud of surrey and I'm not exactly some 9 stone weakling who doesn't give 'em a reasonable working over.

Given how prone to wear Fox stanchions are, I'd be inclined to service the lowers fairly regularly. Not quite the 15hour interval that they suggest mind, which requires a solo 24hr rider to service his forks halfway through the race.

I thought they recommended 30 hours. But still. I service mine about once a year. And after I clean the bike, I spray "Fork Juice" on the stanchions.

Kinky.

I get pissed off when overtaken by walkers. Does that count?

Ha!

Well I'm going to give it a try for the first time this year and was looking for advice. I've done my research elsewhere on the net but for some bizzare reason trust this forum most.

First race is at Cyclopark on the 22nd of Feb.

Does anyone know how Epping forest drains? I might be out with an utter n00b on Sunday and don't want to drown her.

Well it's on the top of a hill... but as it's quite flat I'm not sure how well it would drain off. I can't remember a time where I've ridden there and not had to clean the bike afterwards.

You could always ride the fire roads to start with if it turns out to be a horror show.

I'm sure BN will drop by to let you know.

Does anyone know how Epping forest drains?

Cobbin's Brook, into the Lea, into the Thames, into the North Sea

Does anyone know how Epping forest drains? I might be out with an utter n00b on Sunday and don't want to drown her.

It's never that bad. Haven't been beaten by it yet.

I'm sure BN will drop by to let you know.
Would not recommend.

I went up Epping New Road on the road bike today and the woods on either side were looking pretty marshy.

Cheers dudes, I left her behind and went to Chicksands instead. Wicked.

I had a great ride in Epping Forest on Saturday. Totally rideable.

Yeah, it was muddy, but it nearly always is. Seen it worse.

I popped down to the Cyclopark at Gravesend today. Good fun; I can see why it gets sniffed at by people who can actually mountain bike as there's very little challenging stuff, but as someone who is scared of boulders I enjoyed it.

Also it's an awful lot easier for me to get there than anywhere else designed for offroad.

It makes a good challenging CX course :)

Oooo...

Wait no I have to get better at xc before I start trying to cyclocross :l

I popped down to the Cyclopark at Gravesend today. Good fun; I can see why it gets sniffed at by people who can actually mountain bike as there's very little challenging stuff, but as someone who is scared of boulders I enjoyed it.

Also it's an awful lot easier for me to get there than anywhere else designed for offroad.

I quite enjoy it there.

Technically, I think it's a more challenging than some trail centres but you have to do all the course (blue, red and black). You don't ever really get to *descend *though, so most mountain bikers probably don't like the amount of pedalling that's needed to get round the course.

I think if there was tree cover the trails would feel a lot less like you're just riding round in circles for the point of it. Hills would be nice too.

Haven't been out on MTB since summer last year. Planning on hitting up Aston Hill with cake and owenreed this Sunday.

Boring tyre chat. I know fuck all, will Skinny Jimmys be OK in these conditions or do I need something knobblier?

I quite enjoy it there.

Technically, I think it's a more challenging than some trail centres but you have to do all the course (blue, red and black). You don't ever really get to *descend *though, so most mountain bikers probably don't like the amount of pedalling that's needed to get round the course.

I think if there was tree cover the trails would feel a lot less like you're just riding round in circles for the point of it. Hills would be nice too.

.. and the removal of the A2. You kind of get used to the constant traffic roar but it's not exactly idyllic.

I managed to drown my rear light while out there so took the cycle path along the A2 to Dartford to get the train home. An interesting experience.