Lynn Cowlyd and Lynn Crafnant

Alright boys? Me, Jamie and Ian had a cracking ride on sunday. Did 900m ascent (bear in mind Snowdon is 1085) mixed up with one scary road descent and tech descents/singletrack. The weather was very welsh but we stuck at it and Im glad we did. The weather was actually better once we were up by the Cowlyd reservoir as the mountains provided some protection. Down in the valley boyo next to the A5, it was like being in a wind tunnel.
If anyone wants a technical challenge this is the ride for you. I just couldn't get my head round some sections. The rocks around Cowlyd were like riding on ice. I came off twice and Jim three times.
You also need to push on some of the climbs and be prepared for some bike swallowing bogs. The road descent was mental, you lose 400m of height in less than 2miles. Very steep in parts, not one for v's! We ended up finishing on a high with some very rocky terrain. Ian nearly went head first into a bog on this section. I had just previously ridden it, so I didnt tell him how deep it was! I think we will be back but probably in the summer when the rocks aren't as slippy.

Mojo's mistake

I got my bike back today and mentioned to Bob at goldtec the work that had been done on my forks. Straight away he was on to mojo to give me some assurances that the forks will take some abuse. I spoke to Rowan Sorell who stated that you get problems through overtightening the axle pinch bolts and also from them not beng tight enough. I said that I dont overtighten and was aware that you could crack the lowers. Anyway I got home to change my front pads and I noticed that the lowers had been touched up i.e they were the original ones. So I rang mojo again and spoke to Rowan and explained the situation. What we figured is that the technician had put down the wrong part number on the job sheet. I have in fact had new stanchions because they had worn internally, new crown because it had worked slighlty lose (he assured me that this wont break but they did replace it......) and new internals. They have also come back with shims.

So, I am still in a predicament because once the warranty runs out I dont want big repair/servicing bills. The other issue though is that the crown shouldnt of worked loose. Give me bolts anyday

Me at the Marin Trail. Looked fantastic with all the snow on the mountains.

Jim riding the Pink Heifer section when we did the Beast route at Coed y Brenin. Look at that trail!

Fox Forx...........

Well my forx are back at goldtec. Tried to get the service cost for free but it didnt happen, always worth a go! Anyway, I rang mojo and I have had to have new lowers and internals. Lowers were cracked and the internals blown. Fair enough, its all been sorted out under warranty but that leaves me with little faith in the forks. Its not as if im doing cliff drops. So, do I stick with them under the remaining warranty or get something before they fail on me??!?! I will have a chat to kev 2moro. He says that fox always come back with a big bill. I certainly don't want that after the warranty runs out.
So that leaves me with marzocchi z1 (which got 8/10 in mbuk) 66's or all mountains, magura wotan (which has handlebar mounted thing and I am yet to see a test) and the rockshox lyrik. Kev says the bloke at rockshox is cool and he doesnt have any problems with them. Its all a case of deciding whether air is good enough for abuse. The lightweight makes sense for the climbs but judgin by my forks not for the descents or jumping. Its that word again, compromise. Dont you just hate it!

Snow and my forks arent back

I was ready to get up and have a play on my le toy but the snow was wet. So i went back to bed. How disappointing. I bet if I was working the snow would be perfect to ride in.

Have rung goldtec, forks aren't back from mojo yet. With the weather though and how ol' blighty can't cope with snow its hardly surprising. I will be ringing again in the morning so fingers crossed.

Im not surprised that Llandegla is closed. Shame though, was looking forward to a play in the snow. Trouble is everywhere else is going to be wet. Wouldn't of minded a play at Delamere but I think we need a better day for that.

Anyway as soon as I get my bike back I will let you guys know so we can plan a ride.

Weekend of leadership and fun!

Hey, Im now back from a pretty exhaustive two days off training under the SMBLA scheme. Learnt some games which will keep us amused on the otherwise boring parts of trail and learnt some interesting skills. Limbo anybody? Have also met Emily Horridge and her dh mate John, was cool to ride with people who race. Was also good to see how my skills compare to theirs. I can trackstand like a demon, useful for the games. Need to practice that limbo though.

My bike is hangin (scuse the phrase), Swingarm is possibly loose at bearings, forks are chuffed, gears are terrrible, rear brake is lever that likes to touch the bars and its just ready for a 12month overhaul. would look at the gears myself (now iv got better adjusting skills) but seeing as though its all under warranty Im going to take it to kevin clewless, have a natter, pick it up, see what hes done wrong and take it to rourkes to get it done properly.