Dammit’s adventures in mountain biking

They’re putting a set of Hunt trail wide wheels in the box, which I don’t need. Should I ask them for another rear tyre, cassette and rotor to put on a 27.5 wheel instead?

Think I'd want to know how the bike handled in the standard setup first. It'll also make it easier to sell the unwanted Hunt wheels

What size tyre do you have on the front? Is a 2.5" 29er grippier than a 2.8" 27.5?

I wouldn’t need to sell them if Pace never put them in the box, was my thinking.

What size tyre do you have on the front? Is a 2.5" 29er grippier than a 2.8" 27.5?

Comes with "Tyres: Maxxis front and rear 29"x2.4 DHR 2 EXO/TR", would likely fit a 2.8" DHR II on the rear, I have no idea if that would balance the 2.4" front. Not impossible to replace that with a larger tyre - I imagine the Pike could take one?

Soon.

1 Attachment

Will your turbo trainer be compatible?

Way ahead of you.

1 Attachment

Manual trainer?

Yep. Had to wash the bike to put it in the trainer, which needed doing so it was win/win.

Found the balance point a few times, but for only very brief moments.

It's something to do on the MTB that has the lowest risk of needing an ambulance that I could think of.

I dunno I've seen people crash those things

I did move sharp things further back on the shelves and so forth, but YOLO.

I have been wanting to go to Swinley etc, this seemed the lower risk on balance.

Day one:

Day two (note loop-out strap gone):

And I've killed a chain and an XTR rear mech - I had taken the chain off the chainring at the front as otherwise you can balance against the pedals in a way that you can't when rolling, and left the chain hanging off the cassette, still threaded through the mech.

I think what must have happened is that as the bike rocked back and forth when I pulled up on the bars the cassette ratcheted round, dragging the chain up, until the chain wrapped itself very tightly around the cassette and mech, bending the chain and the mech lower cage.

Might be worth buying another jockey wheel cage? Don't know. Sad times for Mr Mech anyway.

Hmm, maybe "they're all like that sir":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FhAhb4AKYg

Can someone with an XTR mech put a ruler against their cage and let me know if it is somewhat banana shaped?

Day 3:

That looks like solid improvement. Lower over the wheel with straighter arms

Approximately how many hours daily? I have a leftover pallet I ccould turn into something like this and I will soon have a Kellerabteil with room for it...

About 20 minutes

Ace, I was afraid this had been hours of self isolation.

20 mins is about what it takes to want to take a break. I did two 20 minute sessions yesterday, thinking about it.

Key things learnt so far:

• Lower is better
  
• Straight arms and manage your balance by bending knees
  
• Don’t stare at the front wheel, look down the trail (as it were)
  
• It’s not like track standing (for me, at least, so far)
  

A new challenger appears!

I also removed one of the stabiliser bars which was stopping the rear wheel from touching the ground, this dropped the rear of the bike down by a noticeable amount and I spent a lot of time doing this:

Believe it or not, I am making progress.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iIVQSIJW4k&feature=youtu.be

Todays realisation - move weight backwards, not back and up.

Day six, 4 seconds (before off the back).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iIVQSIJ­W4k&feature=youtu.be

I've contemplated one of these for a while. I think you've just convinced me. It certainly looks like you're going to master it.

A long smooth manual is something thats always eluded me.

Did you buy it direct from sender ramps? What was delivery time like?
Having one in the garden right about now would be perfect since I'm not exactly doing much.