Alans Bikes

2011 Sale Bikes and 2012 Bike Stock ! Updated 26/01/12

2012-01-26T17:30:00.000-08:00

It's 2012 so time to sell off our 2011 stock,they are limited numbers so be quick.
For any more info call Lee/Alan on 01942 826598


Trail SL1

Year	2011
Sizes available	Medium
Colour	Ice White
Forks	Rockshox Recon Silver Turnkey Air
Drivetrain	Shimano XT/ Deore Mix
Brakes	Hayes Stroker Ryde
Discipline	XC, Trail riding
RRP	£999.99
Alans Sale Price	£799.99

Trail SL3

Bike	Cannondale Trail SL3
Year	2011
Sizes available	Medium & Large
Colour	Matt Black
Forks	RST Deuce 100mm Lockout
Drivetrain	Shimano Deore
Brakes	Shimano Deore Hydraulic Discs
Discipline	XC, Trail riding
RRP	£749.99
Alans Sale Price	£525.00

Bike	GT Avalanche 1.0
Year	2011
Sizes available	Medium
Colour	Black/Red/White
Forks	Rockshox Tora 302 Lockout
Drivetrain	Shimano XT / Deore Mix
Brakes	Shimano Hydraulic Discs
Discipline	XC, Trail riding
RRP	£699.99
Alans Sale Price	£499.99

Scale 60

Bike	Scott Scale 60
Year	2011
Sizes available	Medium & Large
Colour	Red
Forks	Rockshox Recon Silver Remote L/o
Drivetrain	Shimano SLX / XT mix
Brakes	Shimano Hydraulic Discs
Discipline	XC, Trail riding, Racing
RRP	£999.99
Alans Sale Price	£699.00

Aspect10

Bike	Scott Aspect 10
Year	2011
Sizes available	Large
Colour	Black/Red
Forks	Rockshox Tora Remote L/o 100mm
Drivetrain	Shimano SLX / XT
Brakes	Shimano Hydraulic Discs
Discipline	XC, Trail riding Designed for UK Trails
RRP	£899.99
Alans Sale Price	£629.00

Scale 80

Bike	Scott Scale 80
Year	2011
Sizes available	Small
Colour	Black/Blue
Forks	Suntour Lockout
Drivetrain	Shimano SLX / Deore Mix
Brakes	Teltro Draco Hydraulic
Discipline	XC, Trail riding /Racing
RRP	£699.99
Alans Sale Price	£499.99

Core 20

Bike	Genesis Core 20
Year	2011
Sizes available	Medium
Colour	Silver
Forks	Rockshox Tora Lockout 120mm
Drivetrain	Shimano Deore
Brakes	Shimano Hydraulic Discs
Discipline	XC, Trail riding Designed for UK Trails
RRP	£849.99
Alans Sale Price	£525.00

Genesis Latitude Reynolds Steel

Bike	Genesis Latitude Steel
Year	2011
Sizes available	19"
Colour	Grey
Forks	Rockshox Recon Silver TK
Drivetrain	Shimano Deore
Brakes	Shimano Hydraulic Discs
Discipline	XC, Trail riding Designed for UK Trails
RRP	£1,099.99
Alans Sale Price	£699.00

Cannondale Trail SL5 Feminine

The picture does not do this bike justice !

Bike	Cannondale Trail SL5 Feminine
Year	2011
Sizes available	Medium
Colour	Silver/Black
Forks	RST Gila Lady Lockout
Drivetrain	Shimano SLX / XT
Brakes	Mechanical Disc
Discipline	XC, Trail riding
RRP	£499.99
Alans Sale Price	£375.00

ROAD BIKES

CAAD 10

Bike	Cannondale CAAD 10
Year	2011
Sizes available	54cm & 56cm
Colour	Black/White
Forks	Cannondale Carbon
Drivetrain	Shimano 105
Brakes	Shimano 105
Discipline	Road , Racing
RRP	£1,399.00
Alans Sale Price	£1,000.00

2012 Bikes

All bikes are post free !

Ghost 1200 SE

Bike	Ghost 1200 SE
Year	2011
Sizes available	Medium
Colour	Grey / Green
Forks	Suntour
Drivetrain	Shimano Altus
Brakes	V Brake
Discipline	XC, Trail riding
Tyres	Michelin
Price	£399.00


ASX 4900

Bike	Ghost ASX 4900
Year	2012
Sizes available	Medium & Large
Colour	Black / Blue / Green
Forks & Shock	120mmSuntour & Fusion Lockout (rear)
Drivetrain	Shimano Acera / Deore Mix
Brakes	Tektro Draco Hydraulic Disc
Discipline	XC, Trail riding
Tyres	Schwalbe Racing Ralph
Price	£999.00

Scale JNR 20

Bike	Scott JNR 20"
Year	2012
Sizes available	20" wheel
Colour	Green
Forks & Shock	Suntour
Drivetrain	Shimano
Brakes	V Brake
Discipline	XC, Trail riding
Tyres	Kenda 20"
Price	£329.00

Scale JNR 24"

Bike	Scott JNR 20"
Year	2012
Sizes available	24" wheel
Colour	Black /Green
Forks & Shock	Suntour
Drivetrain	Shimano Alivio
Brakes	V Brake
Discipline	XC, Trail riding
Tyres	Kenda 24"
Price	£379.00

Mega Frame

Frame	Nukeproof Mega
Year	2012
Sizes available	Medium
Colour	Raw
Forks	Suitable for 150/170mm
Drivetrain	ISCG or F/mech
Brakes	IS fitting
Discipline	Freeride, Trail riding ,All Mountain
Shock	Rockshox Monarch RT3
Price	£899.00


Sub 40

Bike	Scott Sub 40
Year	2012
Sizes available	Medium &Large
Colour	Matt Grey
Forks	Scott Alloy
Drivetrain	Shimano Altus
Brakes	V Brake
Discipline	Urban , Commuting
Tyres	Schwal
Price	£429.00

Hello !

2011-12-17T03:47:00.000-08:00

Hello ! I just thought I would fill you in on some of the new things happening at Alan's in Wigan. To coincide with our already strong Bmx shop we are developing our Mtb/road/ hybrid side of things. We'll be stocking a lot more product and our new Shimano service centre will soon be up and running.

I guess I must introduce myself ! My name is Lee - I've worked in the bike trade for almost 20 years. I've been head mechanic at some really well known stores so I hopefully know my stuff. I've also been a pro wheel builder for these shops. I've built bikes for Tour de France riders and worked on race teams.

At Alan's we will be servicing in house , including forks and shocks. We can help with bike set up and give you all the advice you need to keep your pride and joy in tip top condition. We also do all the cycle to work program's .

If you need any advice/info call us on 01942826598 !

Our new workshop!

2011-12-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

Rider Wanted

2011-10-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

We are looking for an up and coming XC rider to represent us for the 2012 season, ideally North West-based.

After success running Shimano's official BMX team in the UK winning the BCF title three years consecutively we are expanding our MTB operation and what better way than to get involved in racing. A commitment to the national series is required.

We are dealers for Cannondale, Scott, GT, Mongoose, Genesis & Intense.

Details of what we can provide and expect can discussed. If you feel you might be the man or woman for the job please send us your racing CV and a bit about yourself to sales@alansbikes.com.

Carbon On-One Alfine

2011-01-29T00:43:00.001-08:00

Rick just built this, I'll let him tell you about it later.

MAN RIDER

2010-12-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

"I believe in today (believe boy, believe boy)
'Cause it's better this way when you work through the night
I know what it means to work hard on machines,It's a labour of love,
so please don't ask me why

You take me up
So high" *

IT'S WHAT I DO THAT MAKES ME WHO I AM

Went riding today . With Tony . We're not identical twins , but he fits my bike just nice .

here , he's pretending to ride across a snow covered bridgey thing . We set it up for the camera .

i've been working so goddam hard just lately . Flat out . It's all outside , too , so no respite from the weather . I suppose we all ' big up ' our working lives , but honestly , this job is the toughest i can remember in the 25 or so yrs i've been doing this . I do insulation . It's very varied , but whilst i am often outside , and dont mind that , there is usually a fall back job indoors for when it gets particularly rough . Not here .

I'd thought I'd be mad at it 'til Xmas , but I've been gifted a ' rest day ' .I've done about 3 weeks straight , 7 days , + evenings , So , whilst i probably shouldve had a lie-in , instead I went for a bike ride .

And very cathartic it was . You know , mentally . Not in any bowel moving kind of way , although i did have a few Powerbars , so we'll see .

OK . Met Tony at 0830 , so a little lie in . I was full -retro on Harry Leary's Axis . Just the ticket that . Go out on an unreplaceable vintage time machine steel bike the day after the council have salted the roads . Hmm .Intended to get as far as the TV mast up Rivi , until about an hour in my wife phoned to say we had a burst pipe . It was outside in the garden , so I wasnt rushing home , but it kinda knocked me off track a bit .

so , we stuck with a Haigh Hall vintage woods blast . Crunchy .

Toast . Soggy .

Coffee . Bitter .

Wit . Ascerbic

Er....

TONY ON HARRY LEARY'S BIKE .

* Thompson Twins . You take me up .

NB . That's not me in that basket . But the day after it was .

We call it work .....

You'd pay good money for that at Alton Towers .....

ZULU 8799

2010-11-14T07:59:00.000-08:00

"Is something wrong?" she said
Of course there is
"You're still alive," she said
And do I deserve to be?
Is that the question?
And if so..who answers...?
I'm still alive .*

I've had another few weeks of debating whether or not I'm ill .

Went out the other week with Tony . Just a local ride , for local people . I'd woken with a sore throat , but , you know how it is , went anyway .

When I got home I was absolutely drained . Really feeling off .

During that week the throat went onto the chest . A bit . I dunno , I decided to not go out midweek/eve , as I'd intended , and by the following weekend I felt mostly better . Still a bit loose in the chest . Greenies .

Last week Tony couldnt do Sunday ( or this week ), along with most everyone else , so I said I'd do Saturday .

The weather forecast clinched it for me . It was nice and sunny . We did a ' basic ' Rivi and back , and it was OK .

Midweek the chest was bad again . Hmm .

Probably a result of working on a windy corner in M/cr, as much as anything else , but , hey .

So , this week . Rememberance Sunday ride . in case you dont know , Bolton MTN Rescue do a ' service ' at the war memorial on Leadmines Clough . It specifically remembers the flight crew who perished there in WWII . They were on a training flight in their wellington bomber . It was a particularly cold night and subsequently the wings of the plane iced up and they crashed . Obviously the service is also about the wider issue of rememberence .

Jeff was back out . Not seen him for a while . He got to our house for 0730 , and we head over to meet Jon on the canal bridge a couple of miles away .

Confusingly there is more than one bridge , and Jon wasnt reading my mind at the time . So , he's at one bridge , and we're not . A quick call sorted it , and he soon arrived .

Some confusion as to whether Andy was coming or not also sorted itself out , and following an hour or so of canal-ing , we met him at the Rivi reservoir .

Time was tick-tocking away , and I was a little concerned we might miss the 11 o'clock rendezvous at the war memorial .

I'd thought we'd make it over Winter Hill at the TV mast , down Hordern Stoops and then get over to Leadmines off the bottom of Spitlers , or something .

As it was , there wasnt time . Instead we headed up through the gardens then at the Pigeon tower , turned down Georges ln , ( behind the Stoops ) , to Sheephouse Ln , and went across to Leadmines that way .

It was just 10.30 as we turned off Sheephouse on to the last bit of moorland to leadmines . sam's pasture , it's called . Anyway , with good eyes you can kinda see leadmines from there .

Didnt really factor in , in the last mile or so , deep mud , rivers of cow piss , errant herds of cows , and a puncture , ( Jon ) .

All worked out OK though , as the guy had just tuned into the BBC for the 11 0'clock ' bongs ' as we got there .

Nothing much to say about the service itself , except that it's a moving kind of thing . It's not an overtly religious event , although they do sneak in the odd prayer / hymn , and then you place your poppy reverentially on the monument .

This will be one rememberence ride I'll be , er , remembering , as following the service , and Jon's super efficient puncture repair , I promptly fell off .

Proper stacked it . Like a sack of spuds dropped from a height .

I dont know exactly what happened , but it involved some confusion as to which way we were heading , a bit of front wheel lock-up , a bit of wet grass ,and my left side hitting the floor.

It was so quick I did'nt have time to take my hands off the bars ,which was probably a good thing , or I'd be typing this one -handed .

I swear , some mornings I think I've had a stroke on that side . In 40 odd yrs I dont think I've had a single big stack on my right hand side .

( Hmm , I'll regret saying that ) .

It's a bit tender today , and I might give the midweek a miss .

So , we went to the cafe , and I had some cake . Oh , yea . The diet . Listen . I dont diet , but , when I put the bike away this summer ( for nearly 4 months ) , my weight initially shot up . At one point I was 12 st 10 lb . Whilst at 6' it's not overweight , it's still , in real money , a stone heavier than I usually am . When I was mad commuting , for instance , I was just 11st 3lb . Which is waay tooo skinny . My body fat was arguably silly low ( under 10% )

So , when I hit nearly 13 st , at nearly 42, you start to think . In my mind there is a graph . On one side it is age . On the other it is weight . And it's going up .

So , like I say , I dont diet . I'm a bugger for the brown sweet stuff though . So , when I got back on the bike the other week and it was a bit tough , I knew that my weight , whichever way you look at it , was making it harder . So I'm just not eating quite as much chocolate , and I'm mostly back on porridge for brekkie . Bread is fairly back-heeled , too .

Last week , for the first time in years , really , I had just nipped under 12 st . Mind you , I'd been ill . Debateably .

I wondered then if I could just make another little effort . For rememberence Sunday ....

I've not set that up , honest .

Anyway . Blah blah blah . Cafe , big slice of sponge cake , ( which is not chocolate ) a black coffee , ( which speeds up metabolism ) ( Come on . Dont you read Paul Chek ? ) , and we hoof it home . Andy splits off first , with myself , Jeff and Jon heading towards Wigan . I kinda slightly fell off again on the way home , but it was hardly worth mentioning .

Good ride . Lucky with the weather . Just the right amount of toughness . Glad to be alive . Really .

TIM

* PEARL JAM .

Lights...

2010-11-07T09:30:00.001-08:00

Knog BMX Commercial from Brendan Vail on Vimeo.

CAKE OR DEATH ?

2010-10-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

" Dont gimme no shit because ,
I bin tired " *

Another good spin today . Sat here right now , I'm a bit tired . We drove up , ( Jeff and I ) meeting up with Stu , Rick , and Andy . On the barn rd we met Fred Flintstone ,he's as old as a conker tree , and his mate , Barney Rubble , who decided to tag along despite their advancing years.
Fairly usual kinda thing , although a little more than last week , which in turn was a bit more than the previous .
I'm slowly getting my legs back to something like , but , hey , there's no rush eh ?

lovely weather today . Bit chilly , but about right . Meandered up to the Pike , then across Wilders Moor to the mast rd , then ,a few of us at least ,continued offroad , parallel to the tarmac for a while , before a break/regroup at the mast itself .

We then dropped over the back down to the san marino at Belmont . Here , Stu's video ,presented in wobblevision. Pretty good though for a helmet cam the size of a lego brick .

After that we had to get back over the hill, obviously , which involved a boggy ( ish ) yomp out of Belmont, and then a drop through the valley towards leadmines ( rivers of piss, sheep , cattle , kinda salty ) , and an aborted cafe stop .
" Death please " .

Good ride . Like I said , bit tired now .
Oh , yea . I was trying out another pair of those ' classic ' A'Me grips . A matching pair this week of the ' ergo ' ( nomic ? ) variety . Yea . Ronseal .
Available at the bike shop on special offer . Mention the blog for an extra special free thick ear .

* Pixies . I've been tired . Off that Surfer Rosa long player .

TIM

THE LEFT HAND DOES'NT KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT HAND'S DOING

2010-10-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

"I've never been wrong.

I used to work in the record store.
I had everything before anyone.
I was there in the Paradise Garage DJ booth with Larry Levan.
I was there in Jamaica during the great sound clashes.
I woke up naked on the beach in Ibiza in 1988.

But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice."

OK , here . I'm back on board .I've been decorating the west wing .
No pix today , but Stu took his nifty little helmet cam thing .
it sits on top of a 3 foot spring on his helmet , but it's OK .
I was ' evaluating ' some retro modern A'ME grips . I had one ( LH ) 1.1 super thin grip , and one ( RH ) 1.2 medium thick grip . Very good , very grippy , very nostalgic . Conclusion , 1.2 ( med ) is the way to go . 9 out of 10 . I'm being picky , but they only ' lock -on ' on the inside edge , and are closed at the other . Fine for every other person on the planet , but I'm the only weirdo who still uses bar ends , that I had to forego for this test , as i did'nt want to carve up the grip .

Meself , Dave , Stu . Usual Rivington sunday thing . Pike . Gale force insanity , juxtaposed with surreal calmness of Walker Fold .
Yea . just like that .

Here , Stu's bouncy video . it's hard to tell but I very very nearly decked it at the top of the Ice Cream Run .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3LkKGv5ilc

I dunno . The ' Embed ' thingy's not working . It'll be me . I'm losing my edge .........

Oh , there we are .

TIM

2010 Scott & Cannondale Sale Bikes

2010-08-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Scott Genius 60 Medium Was £1800 NOW £1299
http://www.scott-sports.com/us_en/product/9067/44765/216005

Scott Spark 40 Large Was £1800 NOW £1299
http://www.scott-sports.com/us_en/product/9059/44705/215556

Scott Spark 50 Medium Was £1600 NOW £1199
http://www.scott-sports.com/us_en/product/9059/44708/215557

Cannondale RZ One Forty 7 Medium Was £1900 NOW £1399
http://www.cannondale.com/gbr/eng/Products/Bikes/Mountain/All-Mountain/RZ-One-Forty/Details/1525-0VT7-RZ-One-Forty-7

Cannondale RZ One Twenty 3 Medium Was £1800 NOW £1299
http://www.cannondale.com/gbr/eng/Products/Bikes/Mountain/Marathon/RZ-One-Twenty/Details/2282-0VL3-RZ-One-Twenty-3

All bikes are new, unridden. Includes PDI and 1st service. Call 01942 826598 to get these deals. One of each only. Price does not include delivery.

Cannondale Demos

2010-06-15T04:33:00.001-07:00

We got our Cannondale demo bikes in:

Flash 3 Medium
Flash 4 Large
RZ120 2 Medium
RZ120 2 Large
Rz 140 Carbon 3 Medium

These will be available the weekends of 19/20th June and 26/27th June.

Please contact us NOW if you'd like to take one of these out with us on 01942 826598 ask for Rick.

Cycle To Work Scheme Information

2010-05-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

"Look out for a brand new bike in your pay packet."
Cycle to Work leaflet

That's the headline on a Cycling England leaflet for the government's Cycle to Work scheme.

Cycle to Work is a tax incentive aimed at encouraging employees to, er, cycle to work, thereby reducing air pollution and improving their health.

The scheme allows employees to benefit from a long term loan of bikes and commuting equipment such as lights, locks and panniers completely tax free.
Employers benefit from fitter, more punctual, more wide-awake staff. Employees benefit from better health and better bikes because their money goes further. There's more bike commuting positives in this free and online 50-page Bike to Work Book. With a budget of, say £400, an employee in the high tax-band can now afford a bike, plus accessories, worth nearly £800.

The typical saving for an average tax-payer is between 38-45 per cent. There are online calculators to help you see how much you may be able to save. This one is from Cyclescheme. Type in your salary, the cost of your new bike and the cost of accessories such as a helmet, lock, panniers and so forth.

GREEN TRAVEL
Worries about climate change, a planned lack of parking spaces at hospitals and new-build company HQs and other 'sticks' is making major employers take a long hard look at the 'carrots' on offer when formulating ‘Green Transport Plans’.
Car-sharing is one option, but cycling to work is another.

And to encourage cycling to work, the government created a little publicised incentive in 1999 to encourage employers to help their employees acquire tax-free bikes. In 2005 this scheme was re-branded as Cycle to Work.

Employers can loan bicycles to their staff as a tax-free benefit on the condition that the bicycles are mainly used to get to and from work or for work-related purposes. The employee ‘buys’ the bike at the end of the load period for a nominal sum.

BIKE BOOSTER
It’s possible for any employer to set up their own Cycle to Work scheme.
However, creating such salary sacrifice schemes requires a working knowledge of employment law and the intricacies of the tax system. The paperwork is tricky to complete and there are pitfalls for the unwary such as falling foul of minimum wage requirements, credit licences and the redrafting of employee contracts.

Each employer will have different challenges which is why salary sacrifice scheme implementation is often out-sourced to third-party companies.

Cycle to Work used to have a tax-break parallel in the PC trade. The Home Computer Initiative (HCI) was a salary sacrifice scheme for getting an employer’s staff hooked up with PCs for home use. It used the same VAT and NIC rules as the bike scheme and was once a booming sector. Major players such as BT, Comet and PC World operated HCI schemes, as did Booost which entered the bike market via Halfords in 2004. The HCI scheme was discontinued in March 2006 but some HCI players are now investing in Cycle to Work schemes, see The Facilitators, below.

NUTS & BOLTS
According to the official Department for Transport info, the Cycle to Work scheme works thus:

* Your employer signs up for the scheme * You then choose a bike from an approved supplier * The bike is then bought by your employer who reclaims the VAT * You then take delivery of the bike for your exclusive use - provided you use it for qualifying journeys, i.e. commuting to work * The VAT free price is then deducted from your salary by equal instalments over a period of time (typically 18 months), but as you don’t pay tax or NI on the income you forego, this will give you further savings. * After the period of salary sacrifice, the employer may give you the option to purchase the bike at a ‘fair market price’, though depends on the period you have had the cycle loaned to you.

This ‘fair market price’ is usually five percent of the original package price. So, after a 12 or 18 month ‘loan’ for a bike package costing £1000, the employee takes full ownership for just fifty quid. This is as yet untested by HMRC.

The actual discount available to an employee will be based upon their own personal tax circumstances (higher tax payers get fatter discounts) and whether their employer can recover all VAT. Some public sector employers (such as the military), charities and some others may not be able to recover all the VAT.

The discount also varies depending whether cash purchase or lease finance is used.

In rare cases, where employers decide to directly bear all scheme costs themselves, employees need no budgets at all, with the full cost of their loan bikes then legally treated as ‘non cash tax free benefits’. However, although it is at their discretion, most employers do not actually incur the costs themselves. They achieve this by taking advantage of parallel salary sacrifice tax legislation, allowing them to recover all costs from their employees over a period of time, while their employees still substantially benefit from Income Tax and National Insurance reduction in line with salary sacrifice, plus input VAT recovery where possible.

FAIR MARKET VALUE (FMV)
A Cycle to Work bicycle is 'hired' to the employee and hence does not fall into a benefit category. If the right to purchase the actual bike hired by an individual employee is guaranteed then this would change to a benefit in kind and exit the salary sacrifice offering.
Cyclescheme, one of the Cycle to Work facilitators, believes that the fair market values offered for a second hand bike, used for a year to cycle to work, would be 'scrap value' and 5 percent of the original voucher value (i.e. bicycle and safety equipment which normally amounts to 15 percent of the package). Bicycle shops are not generally interested in selling second hand bikes as they will need to give a warranty on something that has no service or use record. They will offer less than half of the shop retail value which would be the price that the employee would get via eBay or local papers, notice boards and so on.

Here’s an example of how Cycle to Work helped 'John':
1. Under his employer’s scheme, John chooses to have the loan of a bike retailing at £450
2. His employer reclaims the VAT – reducing the cost to £383
3. This net amount is met by John agreeing to a salary sacrifice whereby his gross pay is reduced by £21.28 per month over 18 months
4. The monthly net cost to John will be £14.26 because he doesn’tpay tax or national insurance on the gross pay (£21.28) that he has sacrificed
5. At the end of the 18 month period John’s employer offers the ex-loan bike for sale at a fair market price
e.g. £50 (To establish the fair market price, employers should obtain quotes from local bike shops as the value of the bike will partly depend on the level of use)
6. The cost to John is:
Net salary given up £14.26 x 18 months = £256.68
Cost to buy the bike at end of the period = £50
Total cost to John (68% of retail price) = £306.68

BIKE OR JUST BITS?
Many existing cyclists ask whether they can use the Cycle to Work scheme to buy just accessories, as they already have the bike.
In theory, this is allowed - the fine print says "bicycles and/or safety equipment" but as most schemes are now run by third-party facilitators it's usually their rules you have to play by.

Many facilitators say they have a £200 minimum (and some have a £1000 maximum), and this is to discourage a cyclist asking to buy just a helmet and a lock under the scheme (although this can easily come to £200 for quality items). However there will be some people who want a frame or wheels or some other integral part of the bike like a groupset which means there will be potential tax problems with 'dual ownership' where the employer owns the new bits and the employee owns the rest. (This is also why 'topping up' - where an employee adds his/her own cash to by a bike and bits in excess of £1000 - is problematic).

THE FACILITATORS
There are a growing number of Cycle to Work third-party facilitator schemes. Click on the company names to go to the websites.

CYCLESCHEME

PMM EMPLOYEE BENEFITS (BIKE-PLUS)

BIKES FOR THE NHS

BIKE2WORK SCHEME

EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS
Some companies wishing to use the Cycle To Work scheme have been advised that employee contracts of employment would have to be rewritten to accommodate the scheme. Some of the third-party C2W facilitators can issue employee hire agreements that temporarily amends employee terms and conditions of pay. Check that this document and the terms and conditions of hire that accompany it are written in strict accordance with the OFT, HMRC and DfT.

OFT LICENCE
The Office of Fair Trading has issued a group consumer credit licence to cover employers implementing Cycle to Work schemes. The ceiling via these licences is £1000. Download info from here. If companies already have a Consumer Credit Licence there is no £1000 ceiling. Electric bikes which cost more than £1000 cannot be bought via the majority of third-party facilitator Cycle to Work schemes, which is why electric bike companies are lobbying to raise the £1000 ceiling. It's Bikeforall.net's understanding that there is little chance of such a raise.

WHO OWNS THE BIKE?
Bikes bought via the C2W scheme are owned by the companies concerned, until the end of the C2W agreement. This has concerned some major employers, fearing legal ramifications of faulty bikes and injured employees and so forth.

Most of the third-party facilitators have contract small print that stipulates that the bike shops selling the bikes are responsible for warranties and claims as per usual. Since the employer owns the bike they will pass on any claim to the bike shop who will pass it on to their supplier who will pass it on to the manufacturer.

For employees on short-term contracts - even rolling ones, such as doctors - it can be difficult to implement a Cycle to Work scheme, although not impossible. It's also worth noting that if you're made redundant or otherwise leave the company with which you started the salary sacrifice scheme, you'll need to replay the outstanding amount with your final pay cheque.

LIABILITY ISSUES FOR EMPLOYERS
Some employers are concerned they could be liable for an employee cycling to and from work because the bike belongs to the company, not the employee.

Richard Grigsby from Cyclescheme said:

"One way to get around this thorny topic is to lease the bikes from a finance house who then own the bikes throughout the hire period."

The Cyclescheme hire agreement requires the employee to sign that they will maintain the bike in a safe and roadworthy condition during the hire period. They also sign to say that they will insure the bike themselves.

Sarah Gow from cycle insurance provider Cycleguard/JLT Online said:

"I have taken advice in respect of the legal position employers may find themselves in if an employee is found negligent whilst using a bike to and from work. Whilst there is no legal precedent and case law which we can use to qualify this answer, we feel that it would be unlikely that the employer would be found negligent for the actions of the employee to and from work. If the employee caused an accident, it is out of the control of the employer who is not responsible for how the employee rides the bike. Equally if the bike failed as a result of a defect that would be more likely a product liability claim. However, each incident is judged on its merits and it is impossible to say with 100% certainty that no liability applies.

"We feel that this issue is adequately covered by the Employers Liability cover, which doesn’t usually have an exclusion for manually propelled vehicles, so even if an unusual set of circumstances did arise it would more than likely be covered on a standard EL policy.

"However, the issue of using a bike for work purposes is a little more problematic and if an employer gave instructions for an employee to use his/her bike in this capacity, it may be likely a claim could be brought against the employer, again dependent on the circumstances. This event would usually be covered under an employers standard EL cover."

EXCLUSIONS
Employees of charities, universities, the armed forces and many parts of the NHS are usually denied a VAT saving.
Plus, if you don't have a PAYE salary, you can't take part in a Cycle To Work salary sacrifice scheme. The only bike saving for a self-employed person would be to buy a bike via the business and reclaim the VAT, if VAT registered that is.

SPREAD THE WORD
If your organisation is running the Cycle to Work scheme already, or thinking of starting, download and print the PDF leaflets from Cycling England. There's a version for employers and one for employees.

CYCLE TO WORK GUARANTEE
In October 2009, the Departments of Health, Transport and Culture jointly launched a major employer promotion for the Cycle to Work scheme.

More than 70 major public and private sector employers - including many NHS trusts - pledged to implement a new 'Cycle to Work Scheme Guarantee' in a bid to transform the numbers of people cycling to work.

Central Government
Cabinet Office
Communities and Local Government
Department for Business Innovation & Skills
Department for Children, Schools & Families
Department for Culture Media and Sport
Department for Energy and Climate Change
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Transport
Department of Health
DVLA
Environment Agency
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Forestry Commission
Government Equalities Office
Government Office for the West Midlands
Ministry of Justice
Northern Ireland Office
Office of National Statistics
Planning Inspectorate
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Scotland Office
Treasury Solicitor’s Department
UK Statistics Authority
Wales Office

Local Authorities
Bedford Borough Council
Blackpool Council
Borough of Poole
Brighton & Hove City Council
Brighton and Hove Police Division
Bristol City Council
Cambridge City Council
Cambridgeshire County Council
Canterbury City Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Darlington Borough Council
Devon County Council
Ealing Council
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Eastleigh Borough Council
Essex County Council
Exeter City Council
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Kent County Council
Kirklees Council
Lancashire County Council
Lancaster City Council
Leeds City Council
Leicestershire County Council
London borough of Lambeth
London Borough of Lewisham
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Neilson Active Holidays
North Kesteven District Council
North Lincolnshire Council
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
Shropshire Council
South Gloucestershire Council
South Tyneside Council
Southampton City Council
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Watford Borough Council
West Sussex County Council
Wirral Council
Wolverhampton City Council

Private Sector
3 UK
3K UK PLC Aycliffe Plant
Anglo American
ARM
BAA Heathow
BAA Stansted
Baigent Digital
BG Group
BikeRight!
Brighton & Hove Bus Company
BSkyB
Company Z Ltd
Contemporary Transport
CooperVision
Cycle Experience
Cycle Solutions
Cycle2Job
Cyclescheme Ltd
CycleToWorkNow Ltd
Cycling Instructor Ltd
Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative
EoN
Ernst & Young
F.W. Evans Cycles (UK) Ltd
Finsbury Orthopaedics Ltd.
Forster
Glaxo SmithKline
Halcrow (Exeter office)
Halfords
Incisive Media
Integrated Transport Planning Ltd
Johnson Matthey
Journey Latin America
Kellogg’s
Kier
Lansons Communications
Marshalls plc
May Gurney
MHA Planning & Transport
National Grid
Nine Four Ltd
Pedersen UK Ltd
Pinewood Studios Group
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Process Focus Ltd
Pru Health
Richard Armitage Transport Consultancy
RWE npower
SK Transport Planning
Steer Davies Gleave
The Adidas Group
Wheelies Direct Cycle Solutions
White Label UK
Willcan Motors
WiZZBiKE
Zoe Mode

Education
Bournemouth University
Canterbury Christ Church University
Gateshead College
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Trinity University College
Link Secondary School
Newcastle College Group
South Leicestershire College
Stockport College
The Arts University College at Bournemouth
The Open University
University of Bristol
University of Central Lancashire
University of Leicester
University of Oxford
University of Sheffield

Third Sector
Business in the Community CTC
liftshare.com Ltd
London Cycling Campaign
North Yorkshire Sport
Southwark Cyclists
Sustrans

Health
Berkshire West NHS
Bolton PCT
Brighton & Hove City PCT
Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire PCT
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Countess of Chester Foundation Trust
Dorset PCT
Dr Smith and Partners
Durham PCT
East Cheshire NHS Trust
Harrow PCT
Hounslow PCT
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust
Liverpool PCT
NHS Blackpool
NHS Halton & St Helen’s
NHS Kensington and Chelsea
NHS Kingston
NHS Knowsley
NHS Manchester
NHS Norfolk
NHS North Lancashire
NHS North West (SHA)
NHS Northern Lincolnshire & Goole Hospitals NHS Trust
NHS Nottingham City
NHS South West (SHA)
NHS Wirral PCT
Norfolk PCT
North Bristol NHS Trust
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust
Oldham PCT
Penine Care NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
Sefton PCT
Sheffield PCT
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Somerset PCT
Southampton PCT
Southport & Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust
Stepping Hill Foundation Hospital Trust
Stockton on Tees Teaching PCT
University College London Hospitals NHS Trust
University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust
Worcestershire Health Services NHS Trust
York Hospitals NHS Trust

DESCEND

2010-03-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

"Parents . Why wont they shut up ?....." *

The last two weeks rides amounted to about the same thing . Haigh Hall and back with the twins , Luke and Adam , or , as viewed below , Adam and Luke .

It's been my ' bread and butter ' ride for 20 odd years now , and whilst the boys have been riding bikes since they were this big , it's still quite a ways farther than they're used to . Quite a bit of climbing , too .

Oh , and this week , we went through the Wuchie .

They've done OK though , only really getting tired in the last few miles . Which is about right .
If I can prise them away from their DSi 's , I'll get them to write something up here.

Bit chilly early on .....

Soon warmed up .

LITTLE DO THEY KNOW ,ONE DAY I'LL EXPLODE

MY DAD SUCKS

About 18 miles at this point . Both boys are feeling it . We only have 2 miles to go , but it's basically all uphill.

BIKEAGE.

Top : Boy's Mongoose Rockadile 24" . Perfect MTB for a 10 yr old

This one : 1989 Diamond Back Axis ( Ex Harry Leary ). Perfect MTB for a 41 yr old.

(If a little on the small side )

* Descendents . Parents

LOOOOK . A MAP.............

21/03/2010 MTB Haigh Hall and back kids via Wuchie
Find more Bike Rides in Bryn A In M Wigan Aspull, United Kingdom

WE'VE SEEN THE LAST OF THAT BAD WEATHER

2010-02-27T04:35:00.000-08:00

"After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island.

Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in ." *

The foteygraf below, is our street at about 0800 . We'd planned on a trip to Coed Llandegla , in N.Wales , but after seeing the forecast , and under advice from the guy at the place ,we called it off for another time .

So , then we wake up to this .

Good call , I'd say .

Following some frantic texting , Jeff and I decide to hoof it up Rivi . I've had a message off Rick out of the shop . He's got some snow too , and is going to set out from his side of the hill and we'll rendezvous later on . Whatever that means . It's French . There's no mad panic to get up there , although Keiron is heading up there too , but I'm not even sure we'll make it . Anyway...

Here . We take the usual route ,heading up towards the canal and Wigan .

Around about this time I get a TXT off Tony . I ring him . His lad's footie is off , surprise surprise , and he's coming too . Ace .

The clock's ticking , and to be honest , it's tough going at times .

After briefly making camp ,we eat the dog , and soldier on .

OK , so we successfully circumnavigate Wigan ,encountering many hazards ,en route , whatever that means . As we get to the top end of Wigan at New Springs , I suggest getting on the road . It's going to save a fair chunk of time , so it is done . There's no way we'd get up there in time to meet Tony and Keiron.

We're on the road climbing up to Aspull no more than a few minutes , when behind us we hear a ship's claxon . Like that one on the Titanic .

It's Tony in his wheeled cathedral.

It's actually a Volvo , that's thiiiiiis biiiiig.

It's got heated 4 wd leather seats ,and a built in fondue set , and all kinds of gadgets .

It's a tough descision. Hmmm .

The result of this serendipitous event , means Keiron is only suffering from mild , early stages of hypothermia when we get there .

So without any further ado , we mount our rusty steeds and continue . I must've been suffering from snowblindness , or something , because I kinda took a wrongish turn . You cant really call it wrong , but as climbs up through the gardens go , it wasnt exactly right either . Suffice to say , we pushed up a fair portion of it . What can I say ? It was a toughie.

So , we meander , on and up , and up and up and on to the Pike .

It was'nt all that cold , but it was a few degrees cooler up here , as you can see in the pix , a bit bleak .

JEFF . PIKE . BLEAK

For the first time in , I dunno , ever , I back-heel the slabby drop , fearing ice , and stick to the grass drop , ( to the right , yes ? ).

I suppose it's 'statistically ' not as hardcore as the slabs , but as I'd not done it since I cant remember when , it was all a bit new . The rutted drop had filled in with snow in places , and one that I picked towards the bottom had about 18" of snow in , that nearly had me off . Brill .

We get to the gate at the bottom in one piece , when the phone rings . It's Rick . He's leading the charge ( " Huzoor "), up through Walker Fold / Burnt Edge with his buddies .

The plan's coming together , and we decide to meet on the Mast Rd .

So we head for there , then.

We need to get up Wildersmoor . Regular viewers will no doubt remember it gets many a mention here . Depending on the time of year , and the weather we've had / are having , it can be anywhere from a right laugh ,to a fair old ding dong ,or anywhere inbetween. Today it's got a fair covering of snow , but , surprisingly , is'nt so bad .

Luckily , it's that nearly perfect snow that lets your tyres just bite in enough and affords a reasonable amount of grip .

Jeff nails the Humphrey's Ditch . Which was nice .

We climb on towards the Mast Rd . No sign of Rick at the top , so we make a left ( up ) , and head for the Two Lads . Well , underneath it on the road . Here ...

JEFF

It turns out Rick et al , are just behind us , so we wait for a few minutes , and here they are .

' Garçons sont arrivé.

DICKY , IAN , RICK , MICK .

We exchange pleasantries , and head off on the most perilous part of our journey thus far.

Before we had a ' back up vehicle ' , I was thinking about now would be about enough . Time to head back . Tony has offered to run us home in the Volvo though , so we can go a little farther . Obviously , going over the top , means we have to get back over .

San Marino , then .

The San marino is good at any time of year . It's challenging enough , without being too steep and dangerous . I only fell off twice .

It was snowy.

Here , Rick in action.

Following this we drop through the little woods at the bottom and hoof it up the road , pass the ' Black dog' Pub , and turn up left beside the Black Bull pub to run parallel-ish with Rivington Rd / Sheephouse .

It looked like this . But better .

HOAR STONES BROW .

The next bit is good . But it's also bad . I've been along this 'path ' in the height of summer and got my feet wet .

There was a slim chance it could've been frozen solid , but it was'nt . Still , in a perverse ' personal challenge ' stylee , I really enjoyed it . And only got slightly wet .

We join the road just briefly , Ian leaves us for home , and we carry on . Just along the road we turn right and nibble at Spitlers a little bit , only a 100m or so , and then head to the left diagonally to drop down to the valley that leads to Leadmines . ( Hempshaw / Sam Pasture / Wilkinson Bullough ) . The temperature has plummeted , which just goes to show .

I remind myself that this is one of my very favourite routes back as I grit my teeth through freezing rivers of stagnant sheep piss.

And then we arrive at Leadmines Clough . Which I like . There's a war memorial you know ? And a Stone Circle . Well ,you seen one , you seen em all .

LEADMINES CLOUGH

Yarrow .

Cafe .

Custard .

1970 Dodge Charger . The actual vatican on wheels . Parked up . Bonkers.

Volvo .

Home .

Bit late .

That's all you need to know .

TIM

* Snow Patrol .

IT'S NOT AS FAR AS YOU THINK

2010-02-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

"One can have a dream , baby,
Two can make the dream so real..."

Good spin today . Myself and Jeff .

I sent a TXT round yesterday announcing the usual rendezvous at 0830 , up Rivington on the Barn Rd .

The almost total lack of replies changed my mind a little bit . Jeff had said he'd pick me up , but seeing as there was nobody to meet , and we didnt have any particular time to adhere to , I suggested riding up . We could go at our own pace , see how far we got , and when we'd had enough , turn round and head back . Old school . Kinda how it used to be before the invention of car-biking.

Car-biking is a modern off shoot of mountainbiking , a bit like uplift assisted downhill mountainbiking ,and it's popularity is growing in direct correlation with the UK population's BMI.

So , Jeff gets to ours around 0800. Already the spanners are out . I'm on my mid-school Gary Fisher Big Sur . I've not been on it for a while and I think the cables have settled in or something , but I couldnt easily get the granny gear , and the big ring was not having it at all . A quick fettle and we were off . That was the faffing out of the way , and it performed without incident for the rest of the ride .

Jeff is on his new- ish Orange Five . We dont sell them , so I wont tell you about it's robust , industrial simplicity . It's a sorted bit of kit , but you should definitely not buy one . Opt instead for a custom built American 5" er , say , a Turner ,(Available now to demo ) or if you prefer ' off the peg ' as I do , you cant knock the Cannondale RZ 140 .

I havent taken any pictures today . No particular reason , apart from it being a little damp / cold early on . Later on I just couldnt be arsed . Here , a picture of an old bike instead...

We headed up through Wigan on the canal to Haigh , nipped into the woods ,not climbing as far as the hall , then back on the canal to Adlington . Out of Adlington into Rivington , then up to the Pigeon Tower and the Pike . Off the back , and then down the boneshaker ( Roynton rd ) to the back of the school in Horwich . Hoofed it to Aspull , and then dropped through Haigh Plantation again to pick up the canal , and home the same .

Here , the canal .....

Good ride , some good ups , a few tough climbs , and some good drops .

I particularly enjoyed bombing down the boneshaker . There's a gate about a quarter way in , that was fortunately open , so no loss of momentum . It's one of my classic downhills that I would do regularly in years past , but havent for a while . It's the kind of fast , wide trail that on a full susser might be seen as a bit tame . It's perfect then for a hardtail .

I know I can bang on all day about the simple joy of an uncomplicated old MTB , but I realise it's not for everybody . There's a place too for the modern bikes . They've without doubt come on leaps and bounds in the last few years , in how they work , how little they now weigh , and how much performance they can bring to the trail for less money , relatively , than ever .

But , I , me , myself , and all my other split personalities get something from my old bikes that you cant buy . An actual ' nostalgia trip ' .

I also realise that I'm a bit weird . If I had more money I could be labelled ' eccentric ' , I suppose , but I prefer being a normal regular working class nutter.

See , in a way , it's exactly like it used to be . Mostly I took up MTBing because I just love riding bikes . But , secretly , it was good to be part of a select little club that other people , ordinary people , didnt get .

Ergo .

Vintage sit up and beg .

dayglo legwarmers .

Polystyrene mushroom helmet .

So , I'm bombing down the boneshaker , and I'm 17 again . You cant buy that . Well , you can, on Ebay , but it takes quite a bit of effort trawling through the detrius. It's better to just keep all your old crap.

The Fisher is'nt exactly old though . It has modern-ish things . Like brakes . Theyre of the ' V' type , so work OK , and it has forks of the suspension type .

" Cold gravel " , I hear you cry .

Compared to the Axis I was on last week , it rides like a Bentley.

I didnt mention this to Jeff , but I had a little moment on the second half of the descent . I was probably going what can only be described as too fast .

A water channel crossing the path turned into a jump , which in turn , turned into a bit of a ' dead sailor ' . On an old ( ish ) bike , at over 20 MPH ( feels like 50 ) , it definitely gets the arsehole winking . I thought I was going down , but didnt .

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for . All the thrills , but leave the spills . Hey , I'm 41 now . It's shaping up to be a classic year.

Here , Map thingy .

07/02/2010 Route Mountainbike .Ashton to Rivi and back via canal
Find more Bike Rides in Rivington, United Kingdom

BOG BLOG

2009-10-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

"Slide feet up street bend your back,
Shift your arm then you pull it back,
Life's hard you know (oh whey oh) "

Cold today . Damp and cold . First winter ride ? Could be . It was wet and boggy last week , but it wasnt cold like this .
Anyway .
Met Dave and Gareth at the usual ,and headed up the usual , as usual . I'd meant to set off a little different , down then up , but we were halfay up towards the gardens before I remembered.
Anyway.
So then .
We bump into Matt on his magic singlespeed near the Pidgeon Tower and chew the fat for a few minutes with him as a bunch of guys ride past . They're heading around the moor towards the Belmont Rd and so are we , so in a few minutes after barrelling down the rough path , we catch them up . They're heading up over Spitlers , same as us , and so we make a group of it . I dunno , maybe 12 of us as we're lifting our bikes over the first gate and on up the slippy climb .
We soon line out up the hill. It's a slippy tough climb at the best of times in the best of weather , but today it's fairly all slippy , with wet grass , punctuated with boggy bits , interspersed with grease. And some blancmange .
What ensues are a few comedy moments as riders struggle for grip , but this culminates in quite simply the best ' off ' I have ever seen . And I've seen some .
I've been up here more than a few times , but I would'nt say I intimately know every bit . Riding across the moorland there's a sense of drama as you approach a boggy bit . Looking for cues , other tyre marks or footprints , you can gauge if it's going to be rideable , or eat you up . It's a 50:50 thing. Some you win . And then...

I was up front and as I approached a bit I know to be very boggy I hesitated to scope it . In drier weather it can be rideable ,but 9 times out of 10 it's a boggy mess. As I'm just weighing it up , and thinking of erring on the side of caution , one of the lads , the group whippet , comes alongside me , says something or other about having a go , and drops in .

CLASSIC.
His front wheel literally disappeared up to the fork crown and he was thrown over the top , no stopping it , and he landed with a splaat , face first in the stinkiest evil gloop .He wouldnt hang around in there long enough to let me get my camera out .

WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

MOORLAND WAS SERENE

So , we carry on . Initially we're riding with the group . It doesnt so much dry out , but on the top there seems to be slightly , only slightly less deep gloop . Catching up after taking the above pix I ride along the line of a demolished drystone wall , that whilst still tricky makes for a lot better progress. As I catch up the lads near the front I'm aware that I'm wet down my left side . My camelbak ( copy ) bladder is leaking from the tube and I'm getting Redbull ( copy ) all over the gaff. So I retrieve my Leatherman ( copy ) and tighten it up to stem the flow . After all this faff , Gareth gets a slippy grip and the group of lads continue on . But we can still see them . Halfway along the top of Spitlers Edge the boggy 'path ' abruptly ends and is replaced with a few miles of stone slabs . Pavers laid end to end , rolling up and down acroos the moors to Great Hill . Some of the slabs are a bit edgy , and the one thing you need to watch out for are snakes. The kind that bite tyres . Up ahead the guys are stopped now and gathered round one of the riders . We catch them up . One of them has flatted , a snakebite on a blunt edge slab , and is in the middle of fixing it . We carry on towards Great Hill . A bit of a grind up to the last bit , but the slabs make it very do-able .

TOP OF GREAT HILL. GARETH / DAVE

We did'nt see the lads again except in the distance over on the slabs. We had a few minutes on the summit and then headed down over towards Wheelton .

I do keep saying how good the Cannondale Rush is ,corporate whore that I am , but it is . Good . On a ride like this it's very near to the perfect tool for the job . Just over 4" at the back is about spot on . The downhill off Great Hill is a cracker and a good test . Heading this way the slabs only run for a 100 mtr , or so , and then as the path drops away , steep water bars come up quick and hard . The trail sweeps and turns , over the gate of reduced fun ,gotta stop , and then on.

I rode up here last week and mentally made a note of this next section . It's a fairly hard packed gravel surface , but , probably due to heavy rain off the hill ,a channel has been cut in . It snakes lazily from one side to the other , all the way until the path flattens out and it requires a generous amount of English to work the bike . Really good . Fast and techy too.

We ignore the obvious path to our left to White Coppice and head on over the moors . More gravel , a few sandy corners , I shoot off ahead , ' big ringing it ' to get a few more pix as we leave the moors .

And then I've got a puncture .Pinch . Damned snakes . Doh ! I like tyres , me . You should try riding without them . Anyway , the ongoing saga of the Conti ' MTN Kings , goes on . They've been OK today . Ish . On the boggy bits they seemed to be OK . It was that wet and boggy though it's hard to be objective. On the long run of hard slabs from Spitlers to Great Hill , though , it's very nearly a different story . I was'nt playing to the gallery ( as I might usually ) shouting out on one of the slab bridges as the front end was squirming away from me. I cant make my mind up if it's the sidewalls that are flexi ( they are thin ), or the tread blocks that are squirmy ( they are soft ) , OR if it's a bit or lot of both .You can discount flex from the 'dale . There's none . Like I keeeeep on saying , I'd have the verticals . On a bike like the Rush , or any 4 " er , you can get up a fair lick of speed and you want something that's going to do the biz.

We snick into the woods above Wheelton , inflated , past the first walker in ages ,and head on techy singletrack before dropping down the MiniBC rollercoaster to the edge of the woods at the White Coppice end . Another great downhill over too quick on the too good Rush.

Lance and Vino ,in between shaving their legs , briefly mention a swift tarmac exit back to the caff , but after a prod realise how ridiculous this sounds .

We head along the hidden valley towards The Goit , joined by Ian who's up here on a map reading exercise and isnt exactly lost. He follows us along the very techy narrow path . I slip a pedal and bang my shin . Exquisite. It seems a bit techier than the last time I rode it . The low BB on the Rush that's good for stability is a trade off in pedal grabbing situations like this . Ah well .

Ian heads up the 17% road climb , and we go the other way towards the Nab. Over the main Nab path , and down the other side.Past the farm , turn at the Yew Tree , and then up the short climb on tired legs for the final downhill past the Yarrow Res'.

You can virtually smell the bacon.

TIM .

bog blog
Find more Mtn Bikings in Rivington, United Kingdom

THE BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD

2009-10-11T11:57:00.001-07:00

"I am king of all I see,

my kingdom for a voice.

Old man don't lay so still, you're not yet young there's time to teach, point to point point observation, children carry reservations

Standing on the shoulders of giants,

leaves me cold

Leaves me cold. *

IF YOU THINK THIS LOOKS LIKE A GROUP LOST , STAY TUNED.....

ISOLATED COPSE OF WOODLAND SEEMS WITHOUT PURPOSE....

MAYBE THAT'S ITS PURPOSE ?

REGROUP ON THE WAY UP TO GREAT HILL.

After last weeks 'jigging it abaht a bit ' style , I fancied more of the same this week. I dug out the OS map ( SD explorer 287 ) and with trusty google earth ( GE )/ mapmyride I picked out a route.

This was midweek . We've had some nice autumnal sunny weather . Mild and nice . All it is has to do is hold for the weekend.......

Hmmm.

It wasnt actually too bad leaving home but I could see it was all a bit overcast on the hills . Approaching Horwich I was not greeted with the usual inspirational view of the Pike . It's like this : If you let the weather dictate when and where you ride in this country , you'd never get out at all . Just do it .The route I've set out though doesnt exactly lend itself to the wet stuff . It's going to turn into a boggy yomp across open moorland. Ace.

There's a feature on the map that has jumped out at me for years but I've never actually made the effort to go there . It's a bit off the beaten path , some might say inaccessable . There's isnt a clearly defined path marked on the map , so I zoomed in on GE and developed a picture in my head . Google proper revealed more info . I was scanning rambling websites for best directions / routes , when I found more than I bargained for . It turns out ' Round Loaf ' is a 3500 yr old bronze age burial mound . Furthermore , it aligns perfectly with a 'longcairn burial chamber ' near Leadmines , and the summit of Great Hill . ( Roundloaf being in the middle ) . Worth a visit I'd say , and , as it's all in straight line it'll be a doddle to find. All we have to do is get up to Great Hill and ' eye it up ' .

Today I'm riding the Cannonale Rush . My trusty sidekick and closet wed night roadie friend Stu is riding the Rize . The big green one . Theyre due to be swapped for 2010s any minute , so hopefully they'll get a good send off today. Stu had yet to try the Rize . " It was good " , He said. It is . A 'go anywhere bike ' I once said . I dont know if Cannondale quite realise what that means , but we'll see.

Setting off it is already raining . Rick has turned up with his mate Sham . Andy has also made the effort , and a special mention goes to Dave who's ridden up from home and already is soaked . It's not very cold though and I soon feel a bit sticky. We head up alongside Yarrow Res' , drop down through the trees ,and then at the YewTree turn right towards Healy Nab .

It's a stiff climb up to the Nab . I hit a rock and stop about halfway up , Stu sails past on his Kawasaki making motorbike noises .

Healy Nab woods now has a small MTB play trail thingy . I didnt mind the old downhill with the tricky drop corner at the bottom , but, in for a penny. It's not a bad little trail . Not big enough for a dedicated day out visit , but OK to pass through on a ride like this . It's tight and twisty , and today , fairly slippy . Good laugh though.

We pop out on the road above White Coppice . We're heading over to Wheelton Woods . I stuck this in the route simply because I dont seem to have been for ages . It's a short mile or so on the road , avoiding the sticky stuff . Easy . Then local lad , Dave spots a ' short cut ' he knows . In for a pound . Shortly , short cutting ,through sticky stuff we're being led through a farmyard by two accomodating farm ladies who asked us if we were lost. I knew we were exactly a short mile , or so , from Wheelton Woods .

We take the obvious path up through the woods. It's a tough climb , but has a good surface , even today. Andy romps up on his singlespeed, in the granny gear. We exit the woods for more climbing on the cut-up tarmac to the edge of the moorland, and have a minute . The calm before the storm .

We string out across the moorland path to Great Hill. Its not a bad surface . Today though there's a stiff breeze blowing through damp jackets and the odd eroded bit and deep puddles make for tough riding . I think Sham's having a bit of a moment with it . We regroup at the top of the White Coppice run,( not today ), and I assure him it's not always like this , whilst fully expecting it to get worse . It's a tough climb up to Great Hill and when we drop off it's going to be wet and slow going across the moors. I have that GE picture in my head and remind myself it's less than a kilometre from Great Hill to Roundloaf . If you say " less than a click " it not only sounds closer , but also you sound like you were in 'nam.

The climb up to Great Hill goes as expected . Tough but on the super 'dale I clean it . Which was good . The tyres, that earlier in the year I didnt rate too high, have been good the last few weeks. The Rush has a stretched out , old school feel that I like ( well I would ) , but it might not be for everyone . The BB feels low . At speed this is good but there's a chance of pedal scrapes in ruts and the like. Y' just have to go with it . Cannondale have dropped the Rush for oh-ten and replaced it with a Rize-like RZ120 . I'm sure that will be very good , but I do like the simplicity of the Rush . Ah well . Almost in complete opposition to the simple single pivot frame is the Joe-90 Lefty fork. I'm struggling to find a reason for it other that it's bonkers selling point looks. It's been working as well as a regular fork though . I like it , it's just a bit mad.

So , we regroup on top of Great Hill and have a minute . Time to look for Roundloaf ...... It's ...er....

The picture in my mind didnt account for low cloud.

We drop off on slippy stones , winding down to a valley that bisects the moorland. Rick is ploughing on. Dave has an idea where we're heading and says we need to be on the other side of a wet gully . This doesnt exactly contrast with the picture in my head , and the map doesnt look very clear , so we shout Rick to come back , he'll be over Spitlers Edge in a mo , and we turn 90 deg' off the slabs .

What ensued could be described many ways depending on your point of view. It's very wet , coldish , very boggy , and we now cant get line of sight on where we are going .

Or where we have been .

Stu's talking about getting a lift home off the RAF.

This is shaping up to be an epic . At the point of no return I dismount and my foot sinks in up to just below the knee. Mega.

After what was only about 5 mins of this , but it seemed like more , I got the map out . The cloud had lifted , or more likely blown away , from Great Hill . I get the compass out , ( honest ) , take a bearing , and we carry on . Dave is on point and shortly signals ' eyes on ' . Result . Just over the next rise is Roundloaf . We pick up a path . It leads to a grassy lump that has a pile of stones on top.

It's 3500 years old .

Well that was good .

LOAF. PAST SELL BY DATE.

A perfectly punishing ride like this should probably end on some wild roller coaster downhill in the sun. I had every intention of heading for the next bronze age feature at ' Pike Stones ' , near leadmines . Quite apart from time ticking away , we take a path off Round Loaf that doesnt quite head over that way,and is ,surprise surprise, fairly boggy . There's a steep sided wet gully to cross , and whilst it's tantalisingly close it's just not going to happen . Not today. We head back , down the LeadMines roller coaster , no sun though , to the cafe for more calories than is sensible.

Same time next week ?

* REM . King of Birds .' Document ' album . It was the first song on the CD in the car when I got in this morning and thought it was quite fitting .

I'll stick the map up when I get a minute , but right now I'm literally bog-eyed.

Roundloaf moorland bog yomp
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GLORIOUS

2009-10-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

"I played around with love before,
I was silly and you know that I played the fool .
But then you came into my life and you changed that,
Cause I know what I want and where it's at ,
Yeah " *

Excellent spin out today. classic ,pioneering spirit ride of adventure , stylee.

Apart from Jeff picking me up in the car , but , stay tuned.

Set out from the usual Rivi' car park . Bit chilly . Finding it hard work on cold legs , and with a bit of a banging head . Late night last night . No sauce , but , it was Amy's , my daughter's, birthday ( 8 ). Turned into a late one .

So we climb on and up the usual ,back of the barn, and just as we're getting some kind of rythmn , we bump into Andy the plumber. I hope he's corgi registerered. Gassing , see ?

He's heading back , and we're heading off , so we press on . Cold again out of the sun . Hmm. I've a route in mind that I've been meaning to do all summer , but the opportunity has'nt arisen as yet . Variation on a theme , jig it about a bit , keep it fresh .I was going to come on one of the vintage bikes in the quiver , but for a couple of logistical reasons I opt for the Cannondale Rush. Besides , it's up for renewal anytime and should at least be run-in when it goes.

We pop out at the usual ' Pidgeon Tower ' and whereas we'd often head to the Pike , today we head away towards Belmont Lane / Georges lane , around the back of the moor . I tend to come up this the other way . It's a bit of a boneshaker , and very wet . Running water and rock strewn puddles . Bit greasy . Incidentally the view of Hordern Stoops in the bright morning sunshine and the the view to the west ( gazes westward....Clwydian range....)was spectaclear.

I'd pre-empted this rock strewn puddle tomfoolery and fitted a pair of mudguards . Jeff ,( Geordicus mannuss alivus) eschews such refinements . How we laughed as we popped out on the Sheep House lane , me absolutely bone dry with hardly a speck of mud , and him utterly slathered from head to toe like some kind of mud fetish tiswas cage beauty spa facial inmate. Yea . Just like that.

In a further break from convention , we head down towards Belmont on the tarmac for only a minute or so , then dive off to take that sneaky muddy moorland uphill from the post-office ( ? ) . Except today we have the run of the hill and are heading down . Usually we'd climb up this . It can be a bit of a slimy old dog of a climb , but still preferable to the road. I'm thinking that even if it's boggy ( which is likely ) , we'll have Newton on our side , and it wont be too bad .

Er.... OK . It was muddy , but the phrase of the day was ' It's do-able ' . And it was . A few dabs . Some rancid stinky bits , but it was OK . Do - able .

We pop out at the post office in Belmont and turn right , heading for the 'San-marino tunnel'. I no what you're thinking ( did he fire 6 shots , or only 5 ). You're right . We're at the wrong end of the downhill . The uphill bit . It's do-able .

I've been MTBing a fair old while now , who's counting , but I can't ever remember riding up this . I might have very early on , but I cant remember , and I can remember most things .

So we dig in and head up . To truly know the downhill one must first conquer the uphill . It's a basic teaching that underpins all buddhism. We know that hill . Booya. It's a long , virtually relentless spin up . There's a little respite about a third up , on that twisty cutting bit (?), but apart from that it's up up up all the way . It really is all do-able too. Theres no point where it is too steep or too slippy . I dabbed once and so did Jeff .Near the top it gets a little stony and rutted , just as you've properly had enough and you can taste the gate . It's a good test .

Oh , I should mention the Cannondale Rush . Er ,very good . Climbs very well .

We're rewarded for our efforts with a different , equally spectaclearly good view . Nice day today . Bit nippy up top . All downhill from here ....Bwhahaha

At the gate ,facing the mast , we turn left ,across the moors ,initially on that detour bit,but we carry on . I'm on a mission . I'm thinking ,again , that we have the lie of the land in our favour and whilst I guess , nay expect muddiness , it will be all , er , do-able . I'm seeking out Dean Head Reservoir . I've never seen it , and wish too . Do I need any other reason ?

Lie of the land or not , it is proper gungy. Spinning in a low gear though we make decent enough progress. I googlemapped it at a mile from the gate to the turning for the reservoir . It was a long mile .

We turn off to our right . We can already see the reservoir , shimmering like a million mirrorballs , the trail leads down , still a bit boggy and twisty to take us virtually down to the waters edge and a really nice view off in the distance of the daddy mast and it's little baby towers. We stopped for a few minutes , accompanied by a stiff cool breeze , just taking it all in . And some Terry's chocolate orange. It was'nt Terry's , it was Jeff's.
We set off , and whilst I have a vague idea where we're going , it's not crystal.Winging it .I drop down a steep bank to our left that tightens into scalextric singletrack ( scalextrack ? ) for a few hundred metres. Brilliant twisty old school new downhill fun ensues ,with a sharp shocker of a corner to finish ,that I came very close to getting intimate with.
Then it goes a bit wrong . Just a little . My googlemap picture in my head is a bit fuzzy . At a gate the trail seems to continue ,albeit very poorly defined , on towards the Walker Fold area . Minutes later 'wading ' through the impassable deep marram grass I was transported back in time to my minds eye , and a previous bike/life/adventure. These modern bikes are all well and good , but you just cant beat getting a bit off piste.

On the familiar equestrian trails around Walker Fold now , heading back , a bit more 'upness'. Up through the secret hidden valley , across the mast rd , and then up again to the Two Lads . And relax . Nearly there . And another brilliant view , black rainclouds over Billinge , and Blackpool Tower popping up on the horizon .What a day . Chilly stiff wind up here ,though.

The Two Lads descent down to the dog kennels is rapidly becoming a favourite of mine . The last few times I've been down it I 've been on one of the brilliant demo Scotts . As good as they were/are ,with the brakes the wrong way around ( for me ) , I could never quite feel 100% happy letting them rip . No such problem on the Cannondale rush here. I've said that over a certain price all good bikes are good. Yea , the Scotts are fantastic but the Cannondale at roughly half the price is no slouch either . It's a 4" travel bike that feels bigger . Even with the mad lefty 'fork ' up front it is pretty good. I open up the taps and let it rip . It tracks corners so very positively and the back end is so stiff laterally it feels superb dropping off the big drops into the channel . Momentarily I remind myself that I'm going faster than I like , but keep it open anyway . The tyres deserve a mention . I like tyres , me . You should try riding without them . Anyway , today I have the Continental Mountain King in a 2.2 and a 2.4. Previously I had'nt really rated them . I dont think theyre as versatile for our trails as the Verticals,and cost more. Today though , they have been OK , good even . On the slippy muddy sections , of which there were many , they worked well and cleaned off well . They're technically the wrong way round though . Mark ( that pierced pie eyed weirdo out of the shop )rode the bike on the manc2B'pool ride and swapped the tyres for slicks . When he put the proper tyres back on he put the thin one on the front , and the fat one on the back . They worked well enough though , so I'm not complaining . They were so squirmy on the short tarmac sections though, at one point I thought I had a flat .

Jeff dusts himself off after a minor disagreement with the steps to the kennels , and we carry on , carward bound . Under the shadow of the Pike , not today , and on to the Ice Cream Run . I drop the saddle and cane it down ,too fast again . The Rush is brilliant . On a hill like this you'd never need any more . What could top such a brilliant ride ?
Two ' 99s' served at the bottom of the ICR by a lovely young eastern european lady , wearing an impossibly tight pair of jeans that just fitted all the right places . Iz nice .

TIM

* Fat back (tyre) band.

I left my camera phone at the car , so no pix , but I'll put the map up .
Here .....I plotted it in a hurry , but you'll get the gist of it. If you click on the graphic you can see the elevation and open it up in googleearth ,and stuff.

sunday 4/10/09 dean head res
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Turner!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-25T08:09:00.001-07:00

V . D .

2009-09-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

"will you still need me , will you still feed me ? " *

Ah yes . The windmills of your mind . Like a wheel within a wheel .

We've just been up to the Manchester Velodrome for some ' accreditation ' action .' Was'nt too sure what to expect . Re: earlier post . I'd been fortunate enough to sample the delights of fixed wheel track riding just a few weeks ago at the Scott thingy . Stuart and I probably did about an hour or so ,just messing about really . I was fairly tired after that ,so today I was expecting mucho paino , what with over 5 hrs of track time to come .

I've been to a few taster sessions , that have been good , and I even have a ' fixie ' these days too , so it should'nt be that hard . Should it ?

We started out by being put through our paces doing fairly basic drills , just warming up I guess . John ( 64 ) was coaching us round in his rough rawtenstallian ( ? ) bellowing style . It's fair to say we were all over the place .

Gareth and I had , somehow , managed to be on the back for a couple of the drills and we both said how much more difficult it was. The thing is any tiny mistakes up on the front of the group are magnified as they travel down the line . Personally I love riding bikes , and I dont have any worries over my bike handling abilities . If I fall off , I fall off . It does happen from time to time , honest . The biggest problem I had on the day was trusting other peoples abilities . Being a MTBer ( mostly ) , I'm used to having a bit more room to manouvre and do my thang , but when your half a wheel off the person in front and they look a bit , well , dithery , it's not very confidence inspiring .

In subsequent drills I selfishly positioned myself a bit farther up the line , which made things a lot easier .

Another big problem I had on the day was hearing . I'm more than a bit mutt + jeff at the best of times . We set off on one of the drills were as riders rode off the front and up in a 'chaingang ' style it came to my turn and I'm sure someone said " dont go up " . I put in the extra effort off the front though ,and pulled away from the group . I can see that it's a serious thing , but , you've got to laugh .

Later on John had a word with a few of us , me included . He said to me that '' I really needed to concentrate more to pass the test''. I was just thinking that I was needing to relax . Hmm. What was it , Kung Fu ? Did I have to pick up a red hot cauldron with my bare wrists ?

Since I've got the fixie bike I feel a lot happier adjusting my speed on the 'drome , feeling the sprocket , and all that . I think I was watching other people too much and trying to adapt , rather than just chilling into the groove. He also said that " maybe my fitness was'nt as good as I thought " . I was a little tired by then but it honestly wasnt a problem . The pace was never too high , and on the individual efforts I felt OK . There was one thing we did in 2 groups ,where each lead rider on the whistle had to sprint off the front and join the back of the other group . I particularly enjoyed that .

Towards the end we did a kind of ' mock race ' . I honestly havent got a clue what was going on . We were changing off the front on full laps , and then half laps , then it was ' every man for himself ' . My bad leg ( I dont like to talk about ) was very tight by then , and I was digging deep . I found myself behind Gareth for a lap or two . He pulled up and I went with him . I can see now that it was probably my turn to pull , haha . I just kept on digging and according to Stuart ( who'd turned up to photograph some kids in Lycra ) , John said " I was worried about his fitness , and he's just won that " .
I dunno . Did he mean me ? If all it takes to win a race on the velodrome is ride round blindly for 20 laps and put in a bit of a spin to finish then Chris Hoy'd better watch out . Especially since he started doing all his TV work and getting a bit porky.

All in all a very enjoyable day out . We put in over 50 miles of laps in the end . I've kinda got it out of my system for a while .Itch , scratched . It wont be replacing the mountainbiking just yet , but I will definitely be getting up there again for some of the SQT sessions .

More of Gareths pix can be seen here

TIM

* When I'm 64 .

HALF MAN , HALF BISCUIT JOINTER

2009-09-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

"See I reckon you're about an 8 or a 9,
Maybe even 9 and a half in four beers time."

I've delayed doing this blog for a few reasons . Partly I've been busy ,and a little tired . Mostly I wanted to kinda calm down before I did it . Collect my thoughts , and take stock . See , If I'd rushed into doing the write up of the Genius when I got home ,quicksnap , it might have stretched to a million words of gibberish . Foaming at the mouth type blahgadafnuhahmmm.

Suffice to say , I am calm . Ommmmmmmm

The bike is good .

The bike is very good .

Genius ? Probably . Did I say geeky ? OK , yes I did . I'm having a Jeremy Clarkson . The one where he tests an Alfa . Completely derides it from top to toe . Ridiculous depreciation ,dodgy lectrics , bits dropping off etc etc . Would he buy one over ,say , a 5 series B-emm. Definitely .

Unfortunately ,the Genius is the 5 series . It's the best bike I have ever ridden , I think . We didnt do a massive loop ,but we were on our local trails and included the best bits . Like the Scale and the Spark ,to find fault with the Genius is splitting the atom. The 3 position fork is a little fiddly to adjust with gloves on , but I soon got used to it ,and was perfect for getting the front end weighted nice. Combined with the clever gadget Tracloc lever thingy on the bars to lock the rear shock it climbs very well . Not as sprinty as the Scale ,or even the Spark , but sit in and it could wind up a pyramid.

Downhill with everything swinging free , it's , well , bonkers . I dont go in for the DH thing too much . I'm too old school , or maybe , just too old . I let the brakes go on a rutty run across the moors and it just flew . Up ahead a couple were walking up the trail . Not wishing to run them over I need to adjust my line to the other side of the trail . The trail is rutted along the direction of travel with 6" or so deep ruts . Normally this would require a certain amount of ' english ' ,and it's advisable to cross them a bit more square on . You know ? And then you still might lose your teeth.

It's all happening a bit quick , so I take what the kids would call a 'sick line ' . Right across the ruts at an acute angle . This is not allowed . It's Newton , or something . Probably . Dope .

Bike's ace . Very direct . Very fun . Very . "Handles like a fish " , someone once said .

Biggish drops appear . No sweat . Dude . Chill . Quicksnap.

OK ,get the picture ? The Genius is very very capable .
We head on . Heading back . Cake and coffee beckons . But before that , Ice Cream .

The Ice Cream Run . It's very mention can strike fear into the heart of many a mountainbiker . Grrr. I think it's my favourite hill . I've ridden up it once , or twice , but mostly it's for going down . Starting fairly innocuously , sweeping , it opens into a corner and then , Blammo ! Wheel sized gaps sit and wait for their prey . Ready to spit you over the top . It's all do-able , but it requires a certain attitude . Let's just say it commands a certain respect . I like nothing better than choosing a line ,weight off the back , and going with it , working the bike into the turns , onto the slab and then a hop off the front onto loose , fist sized ,cobbles , scattering them like marbles . Get it wrong and it bites . I've been bitten over the years . I'm not looking to get hurt these days , but when there's a variable present ,and you just cant be sure , it tends to sharpen the senses . Focuses the mind . You command the bike to do your bidding , you're the boss . Boss it .
Ah , but the Genius , see . It's just too good . Is that possible . Really too too good. Even though the brakes are set the wrong way , opposite handed , I'm pushing it . I hit the first turn just a little higher up the bank than I ought , through the moguls at the top and at speed , jump off the slab . It's all too easy . Going fast isnt meant to be this easy , not here . The 6" of the Genius gives it a capability far beyond what I personally am looking for . I'm going way too fast than I am happy with . The alarm bells are ringing in my head . Capable or not , a stack here at this speed would be very bad . Personally I prefer something with a bit more involvement . An Alfa ? I dunno . Do they make bikes ?
And then I've got a puncture . Hmm .Durex innertubes.
Walking the latter part of the hill you really get to see the rocks . They're not massive , but still it doesnt make sense that a simple device such as a pedal cycle should be able to negotiate it's way down with so little fuss.
So . Good thing ? Bad thing ?
Hmm . Very very very . Er....

On reflection , and this is opinion , I'd go for the Spark . The 4" of travel gives it the perfect balance . Just enough to take the sting out of a downhill like this , but also light , efficient , simple , er , elegant . Classic . You're riding the thing , not just tagging along for the ride.Perfect week to week , and perfect for a big day out , lakes / peaks thing.

The Scale ? Amazing . The fastest bike I've ever ridden . A level of speed that is unreal , matched with some comfort . Enough comfort for a 40yr old with a bad back . Occasionally . But to live with it week in week out would be hard . Too full on . Besides , I already have one . It's a pound or two heavier and says ' Diamond Back Axis ' on it .

The Genius . Just that . Genius . Too bloody clever . I said to Stu it was a 'biscuit jointer' . You may be forgiven for not knowing what a biscuit jointer is . It is a power tool that has taken all the fun , and skill , out of mortice and tenons. See ,if it was good downhill , but a bit lumpy and heavy uphill ,say , that'd be OK . Or the other way round even , but to do it all so well . That's inexcusable. Where do I fit in to the equation Einstein ? " I'm here . Hello ! "

Anything actually wrong with it ? Not really . I'm going to nitpick . It's 3 1/2 grand so it deserves it . Cable routing . Two things . Firstly aesthetic . The cables / hoses run along the top of the downtube and go on to perform their various functions very well . They just look a little untidy . I'm sure they'd look a lot nicer under the downtube .
If that was all it was , I wouldnt have mentioned it , but on our 12month old test bikes there was a worrying amount of cable rub exactly halfway up the headtube where the cables have to pass . Apart from it just looking a bit crap on your 3 1/2 grand bike , it being carbon and all that , it might over time ,weaken the headtube . Maybe , maybe not . But it doesnt inspire confidence .
Routing the cables under the downtube , coupled with a simple retainer would solve this . Oh , the front mech cable already is routed under , so why not the rest ? Anyway .

Componentry was generally excellent , but , the rear wheel on the Genius was very slack . It's probably had a hard life and needed a 'true and tension '.

Hardly the definitive nod then . It's just too bloody good . That's its flaw. It's fit , but my gosh , don't it just know it.

And next year it's even better ........ Get one . No . Really . You'll love it.

Coffee , cake etc etc as we discussed Carl Jung and the meaning of life.

OK , the 8 track's finished . I'm going to bed .

TIM .

5 , 4 , 3, 2, ONE

2009-09-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

DO YOU NEED MORE FIBRE ?

" I was looking for a job and then I found a job...." *

Just got back from an evenings jolly at the Manchester Velodrome . It was the launch for the 2010 Scott models . I spent most of the early part of the evening banging on about how good the demo bikes have been . Preaching to the converted , one might say. They have certainly won me over . I never had a special fondness for Scott . I'd never thought bad of them either . Just kinda indifferent to them . Way back in the day the old purple Scott boulder's were never ever going to win over the 'cooler ' brands from the states that i'd grown up lusting after .
OK ,that said , I knew they werent ever bad bikes either and in more recent years they've gone down the techno route , knocking out bikes that borrow more from NASA ,and opting for carbon fibre rather than a good old oxy-acetelene torch and some Tange prestige . Progress ,certainly . Nothing wrong with that . The bikes still had'nt quite jumped out to me though . I remember seeing a German couple touring around the Peak District just a few years ago . We'd all stopped at a gate near Ladybower Res' . We're circumnavigating one way ,they the other . It was the first time I'd really seen a Genius up close , and whilst obviously a very serious ,and interesting piece of kit , they were just a bit too ,er , Euro . Geeky . My opinion , but ,there you go .

So time moves ever on. Fast forward a few years . We're demoing bikes . It's going well . Low key . Under the radar . "Subliminal ", I said tonight . We've had some good bikes these last few years . The Commencals are good . They rode well ,and are arguably ' cool ' at the minute . I liked the Gary Fisher . Well I would . Arguably not as cool , but 'understated , and ' mature' . Like moi. How euro's that ? Moi . A hardtail , entry level GT was ,crap fork notwithstanding , a joy. In a" je ne sais quoi" ,type of way.

Then we got the cannondales. 09 .I'd always wanted a Dale ,so I guess had to like them . Nothing wrong with them ,very good in fact . ' Cool ' ? I think so ,but I wanted one with 'power cam ' brakes and a 24" rear wheel in the ' 80s ,so I'm not entirely unbiased. It's scotts night tonight ,so I wont wax lyrical about the Cannondales . But I could .

So then we get the Scotts . I still have a few Cannondales and can directly compare . I realise it's hard enough reading the actual words of this blog ,but if you can read between the lines of the previous posts the only criticism of the Scotts is'nt really a criticism at all . The price . The models we've been fortunate enough to test have been up at the top end . Mid £3k - £4k territory . Serious dosh . I think if money were no object ,and Stu said this earlier , you'd have " one of each " in the shed . That's a Scale , a Spark ,and a Genius. No question . Money however ,being the finite thing it is , for most of us it can't , if you excuse the pun , be discounted.

HAVE YOU GOT CABLE ?

It is what it is . They are what they is . The Scotts are a highly technical ,unique thing. They have their own special shocks , and that gimmick that is'nt on the handlebars . Unbelievable light weights , good componentry . Good . All good . Anything wrong ? You'd be splitting hairs.

So . Tonight . Manchester Velodrome . Launch .
First impressions . Mega 'r kid. Graphically they look the best they ever have . I'm sure Scott havent just rebadged last years bikes ,but to my eye the 3 mountainbikes look largely unchanged. I'm sure it's subtle stuff , a nip and a tuck . It aint exactly broke . The handlebar gimmick has now been refined to be even cleverer, locking front and rear shocks . I'm looking forward to 2011s cerebral implant line.
The essential pick up test was good . Very light , as expected . The Addict roadbike . Dont ask . Bonkers.
It's hard to be anything but positive about them . As I said above , I have been won over . And I've still to ride the Genius.

Better than the Cannondales ? My lime green baby ? Hmm . Right now I think so . Price caveat firmly inserted.

Big thanks to all the team at Scott . All obviously show a great passion for what they do . A great night , great venue . Cold pizza .

That's it ! I'm sticking with the 'dales . I'm sure we got warm pizza . I'll check . And , hang on , now I think about it ,they didnt push us to the point of exhaustion ,on bikes with no brakes , NO brakes I say , and then at the nadir of exhaustion / hunger ask, " How many bikes ve can put you down for ? "
Alan , You're gonna need a bigger shop , I just couldnt help it .....

They'll have me listening to 'daft punk ' next .

Ok , I need to be up before I go to bed . * heaven knows I'm miserable now .

TIM. Geek

ASK

2009-09-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

"Oh, the rain falls hard on a humdrum town
This town has dragged you down,
Oh, no, and everybody's got to live their life
And God knows I've got to live mine. " *

OUT OF SEASON ,CONTADOR ,RASMUSSEN AND ROBERT MILLAR

I would have really liked to have come along on this one ,but life just got in the way . Bit too much on .

As you can see the lads had a great time ,and the bikes were tested ,er ,completely .

I'll let the lads send me some words to include here .

RICK RODE THE CARBON SCALE. HIS WORDS . HERE :

It was great Tim. Really good day out, despite the lack-of-endurance-fitness-pain and the weather. Kirroughtree is just such a pleasure to ride.
I agree with your thoughts, though at Kirroughtree I found even the Ralf's pretty damn good. It was only on smooth wet rock that they struggled, but on the Kirroughtree hardpack they were great. Rolled real nice. I was amazed at how direct and stiff it was and how efficient it was. Every rism of energy you put into the pedal comes out the back tyre. Incredible. I spent the first half of the ride in middle ring and only found granny to be a life saver when I started cramping on the last quarter of the ride because it is just so easy to pedal. I'd have died on the Hustler at that stage. ( Doesnt 'rism ' relate to hydrophobicity ? Hmm )
The carbon frame is just a dream. Stupid light, yet doesn't get knocked off line too bad, crazy stiff, flickable and, unbelievably, really comfortable. It's almost a soft-tail level of comfort. I thought I was gonna get a right asspounding (and not just from Ste), but I commented about how I hadn't even missed my suspension seatpost.
The XT/XTR kit is also insanely good. The 9speed system shifts instantly and always accurately, even under heavy load and covered in grime and gunk. (Are you a groupset fundamentalist?)
We reckon we were a lot faster than we all would've been on our regular bikes and all of us were talking about stripping our current FS bikes back to more all mountain / XC weights. Everything's all got too heavy and DH-oriented.
The only criticisms I'd have to say about the Scale are that the grips are too narrow, as are the bars (just by an inch or two) and I found the forks very divey, but think they needed a stronger spring in them for my weight. ( Arent they air sprung ? )
( Yes ,they are . )

It was also very interesting to see just how much the bikes positioned themselves in rider order. I reckon me, Stu and Steve are currently pretty level in terms of (lack of) fitness, but almost without fail I led on the climbs, followed by Stu, followed by Steve and the order reversed on the descents.
I'll leave Steve to review the Genius if you don't mind. He's had far more experience of it and he rode the right sized frame, so is in a better position to give it a fairer trial.

Forgot to comment on the brakes, which are also fantastic. LOADS of modulation and control, yet all the braking power you'd need for trails / XC riding.
Also think the post markings are a great idea and should be standard on all seatposts.
Reckon that covers just about everything.
Rick

Thanks to Rick for the pics also,excellent as per . Additional ones can be seen on his picasa page ,HERE .

*More Smiths . "William ,william it was ,really nothing.... "

If there's something you'd like to try ,ask me I won't say no .

How could I ?

TIM

MONEY CHANGES EVERYTHING

2009-09-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

MAGNUS BLOGGUS

" A double bed and a stalwart lover ,

For sure ,

These are the riches of the poor..." *

OK , Here we are .
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been ‘evaluating ‘ some very spangly Scott bikes.
We’ve had ,in a few sizes of each model , the Scale ,the Genius ,and the Spark .

The Scale is the lightest hardtail available anywhere ,apparently. It is certainly very very light. The ones we have had aren’t even the top models . They only have ’regular ’ Shimano XT and positively mediocre Fox forks ,but they still come in weighing less than the combined birth weight of any two of my children. Apart from the twins who were premature.
Climbing the Scale is a joy in the old school ‘joy of climbing’ sense. I found it perfectly balanced ,and on a particularly tricky ,technical uphill it was ,well ,just superb. Very direct. The front end wasn’t too light ,but could easily be un-weighted to enable loifting over obstacles. Unfortunately you still have to pedal the damned thing ,and I seemed to be out of gas before it had had enough . It wills you on , and given a good set of lungs ,I’m sure you could climb up the outside of gas storage tank .
You’d be forgiven for thinking that all this uphill dominating prowess would come at the expense of downhill fun. OK ,It’s no downhill bike ,but on the longest downhills in our region it was really good . OK ,again ,I’m old school and like nothing more than a good old rigid downhill sesh ,possibly with a spot of flagellation thrown in for extra masochism. The Scale seemed to change direction on the proverbial Euro, and , the back end didn’t feel as stiff as the previous climbing success might suggest, virtually eliminating that punishing calf buzz that I get on my old ( very old ) steel hardtail ,that is ,in fact ,rigid.
Difficult to find any fault with it . Shimano stuff worked well ,DT wheelset very nice , XT brakes dead good . Tyres might not be for everyone / all conditions ,oh ,and I’d fit barends .

OK . Next up is the Genius. This is such a good bike ,so dead dead good ,that I couldn’t get a go on one of them . Hmm. They havent actually gone back just yet ,so ,We'll see.
I don’t have a definitive yay or nay on it then ,however ,all the riders who were fortunate to take it out did seem impressed . Scott have stuck with the basic design ,but ,early models were criticised for being a little on the heavy side . Probably par for the course on a 6”ish full susser a few years back , but thanks to clever carbon fibrey stuff the weight has come down ,and ,the carpark lift up /chin rubbing test being the only thing I can definitively report ,I can confirm it is pretty light. For a bike knocking on the 6” door this might be a problem ,but again reports back are favourable in the stiffness/tracking dept’. ( Apparently ),the low weight helps when climbing ( well ,it would )and with a handlebar mounted 3 position shocky locky thing AND a wind-down fork the geometry shifts for more efficient climbing. The mid £3k price buys you a mix of Shimano XT and a bit of XTR . It all works very well ,but it would be interesting to see just how good a cheaper one might still be for those of us who work for a living.

Finally ,but not in last place, is the Spark. I’ve been fortunate to have ridden some fairly high end bikes over the last few years . At the top end it can ,if you excuse the pun ,become muddy. All good bikes are good . It becomes increasingly difficult to separate them ,they all are draped with choice trinkets ,and all seem to do what is required from them. OK ,there’s the subtle nuances of handling ,or even intended purpose ,XC ,AM ,FS ,blah blah , but broadly speaking all the properly good bikes have felt ,well ,proper. The Spark is up there with them. I’m not 100% convinced it’s THE absolute top bike ,BUT ,it being fresh in my mind and all that ,it might be . Does that make sense? I’ve had some Carbon Cannondales that were very good ,and definitely ’up there’ ,and the cheaper( not cheap ) Commencal Meta 5.5 was a revelation ,up and down ,across ,whatever.
Out of the box the Spark could be labelled as XC , I guess. It’s a 4” ish ,full susser . It’s carbon . It has skinny -ish tyres ( UST schwalbe rocket ron ),carbon bars , SLR saddle , some XT ,some XTR ,Fox Talas . So it’s raceable ,XC-able ,er , marathonable ,type of thing . And then you ride it . Uphill ,obviously ,it goes well. It is very light ,which helps when defying Newton , but more than that the traction was very good . I nearly said amazing . In fact I did then deleted it. With a different tyre ,on our trails ,( it’s personal ) ,it just could be.Amazing ,that is. The Scwalbes felt OK on the day ,and it was a bit damp in places ,but I reckon something a bit more edgy ,might give it the ,er , edge.
Which leads on nicely to the next bit . Going downhill on a 4” travel bike that leans more towards XC ,one might have to adapt ones style ,even to the extent of opting for the safer line . You know the score . I think with a bigger tyre ,not a mad tyre ,just a bit bigger . Say ,the Nobby Nics off the Genius it could be in that exclusive perfect bike club. (With the Muddy Fox Courier ). The Spark also has that clever handlebar mounted shock lockout . It seems a bit gimmicky at first ,and once or twice I confused it with the left hand shifter lever ,but in a short while it becomes rather very useful. Changing between the 3 settings whilst on the move is actually a good idea ,and something you end up doing more often than you previously might have. Combine this feature with the frames lateral stiffness ( very ) ,and the bikes very nice geometry ( I thought ) and it’s a flying machine . Twists and turns through the trees feel positive ,and on bigger downhills ,with some tasty rocky drops it felt ,well ,very good .

Nit picking .Shorter stem ,those tyres ? What do I know ? Obviously I need an extended evaluation period. Say ,2010 ?

Andy took the Scale around Penmachno Trail in N.Wales. Here.

Hi Tim,

Just wanted to thank you and Alan for making the Scale available on Saturday.

I expected a race bike (unforgiving and steep) however, it was a revelation - such a rounded bike it surprised me. The geometry is spot on and it weighed less than my back pack with water and food for the day.On the trail the Rocket Ron tyres took a little getting used to (found you have to be quite aggressive on climbs for traction) but descending you just have to have confidence in them and they work well.

Having never ridden a carbon bike it was very taught for power transfer and you could feel a little predicatble flex (in a nice way) when pushing into corners. I have ridden Penmachno a number of times and my back makes itself known about half way round however, on the Scale I didn't even feel anything and was fresh at the end.

Equally found myself racing Stu up a ascent about 3/4 in - both were spinning next to each other and gradually got faster and faster...( Stu was on the Spark )There were also other fireroad ascents when I just put it into big ring and cranked at what felt like warp speed. The bike comes into its own when you pick up the speed, especially on the descents.Penmachno is the perfect place to try the bike - it is tight singletrack, enhanced when taken as fast as you dare go which is encouraged by the Scale. There is a confidence in the steering, "point and shoot", and it is so light you find your self throwing it into corners and over lips. My gut feel would be that it would be deflected by trail debris however, it tracked extremely well (not sure how this is physically possible however, may be the stiffness of the frame).Overall Saturday was the most fun I have had on a bike this year. The Scale exceeds the sum of its parts to form a bike that just feels right and inspires both confidence and an eagerness in the rider to push the speed more and more. I even found myself having to brake on uphill corners because I was carrying too much speed (I am sure that has never happened before).

It is such a good bike that I was trying to pick fault so that I dont buy one...the only point I came up with was that I got three punctures due to the light weight carcass of the Rocket Rons with the slate of the trail (although more pressure may have helped).

( Dont get me going on tyres . Ed )

A great day, with good company and a great trail. Gutted I had to give it back and been trying to convince myself that I don't need one and cannot justify the cost. Although a google search has revealed a more reasonable price Scale 35.....

Thanks again, and if the demons in my head get their way I may be speaking to Alan.

Fish

On the same ride John took the Genius. A big man-sized bike in size XL.

Here.

Well what can I say? I climbed like a mountain goat. I hardly pedalled through the singletrack. Some of the hills I did not even notice. That bike is bloody awesome!

On the negative side I found it a bit too light at times with the front end pinging off at funny angles and the front end was a bit low even with the fork at full travel but that is easily sorted. Oh, did I mention the price?

I had a great day and would have struggled on my Yeti. Would I buy one? Well yes, when I win the lottery. Another thing to add is that I went out on my Yeti today and I always though it was a reasonably lightish bike. Nah! It weighs a ton compared with the Scott. Cheers Tim for sorting the bike for me (and Alan)

John.

Jeff rode the Spark in a more normal size on our local Rivi' trails . Here.

I had the Spark last weekend. Very impressive piece of kit, handled the climbs very well, much better than I expected. Glided across the cobbled road beneath the pike at speed and handled the climb over the 'ditch' to the mast road very nicely.

I think a lot of that is down to the weight of the bike - very light and responsive.

I was suprised at how well it handled the run down to the San Marino. ( A local long fast downhill ,with some biggish drops and ruts. Ed.)Makes a nice change to have a bike that handled the downs as well as the ups. The Fox forks and Scott shock work very well together. Liked the remote lock out on the shock - a bit gimicky, but worked well nevertheless.

Overall a very enjoyable piece of kit. Personally preferred it over the Cannondales and Commencals I had tried earlier this year.

My two-penneth, FWIW. Jeff

Tony rode the Spark on our local night ride . Here .

Rode the small Scott Spark, fit was excellent as I am 5' 6" in high heels.
Felt a little light at the front on the climbs, but something I quickly came acquainted with.
The reach was not as long as I am accustomed to - my normal ride is a Marin Mount Vision. (Although I am now considering a shorter stem on my Marin - cheaper than a Spark)
The group set was excellent, the Scott rear shock with remote lockout performed flawlessly.

Note: there is a rider weight indicator on the frame so that the shock sag can be set easily.
The big thing I noticed was that towards the end of the ride I still felt fresh, one of the biggest contributors to this was my strict training regime, or was it the carbon fiber Spark, who knows???
The Scott Spark is perfectly balanced, extremely light and with an excellent group set and Fox Forx is reasonable value for money that delivers considerable ride value.
The only complaint I had was that the right brake lever operated the front brake and thinking about it the opposite was true for the left brake lever - very strange.....

9.5/10
10/10 if Scott sort the brake problem.

I also ride my brakes the correct way ,unlike the rest of the free world. It's not a massive issue if the levers flip over ( Avids , Formula ...) , but Shimano do not and would require ,for Tony and I at least ,a hose /bleed /swap job . I cant help it . I had a BMX . I can also make a hand signal whilst turning right and simultaneously brake the front wheel .

OK , thanks guys . If any of the rest of you would like to share your thoughts on the Scotts ,you know where I am .

TIM

* The Smiths . "I want the one I can't have."

BIGMOUTH STRIKES AGAIN

2009-09-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

NOT A SANTA CRUZ IN SIGHT

"Take me out tonight ,
where there's music and there's people ,
and they're young and alive " *

First outing with the Scott demo bikes .
Night ride . Meeting at the Bob Smithy Pub ,on the road to Bolton out of Horwich.
Jeff has kindly loaned me his night riding lights ,thanks Jeff. I’m meeting Rick and a bunch of his mates for their regular Wed night MTB ride. We’re setting out from what is for me the other side of the hill ,but heading over towards my regular trails . Should be a few surprises,it's not my home ,it's their home .
Some guys are keenly waiting when I arrive in the team van , loaded with bikes ,and few more arrive a bit later on .About 10 of us in total . I’m struggling with all the names ,so this is the bit where I text Rick to fill in the blanks.

If you are one of our legion of fans who waits with baited breath for each and every blog post ,you will have missed this bit ,as Rick has only texted me the following day ,but via the magic of web ,I have inserted names,thus...
Big Trev, Ian , XC Whippet John , DH Lawrence , Simon , Mike the hat, Graham, and Dickie.I think there was one or two more ,Rick ?

Speaking to Rick earlier on ,he was convinced the bikes would be out of the van and away ,Tommy Cooper style. Leaving at 7 ,a 2 hr ride ,back to the pub for 9 o’clock. ,i.e. no lights req’d . Hmm. After 45 mins of faffing ,setting rear shocks and fitting pedals etc ,what can I say ? Thanks again Jeff . Lights definitely req’d.
Being the altruistic kind of guy that I am ,I’m slumming it on the £3k+,lime green Cannondale. All the Scott bikes are taken. First impressions from the guys are good . Hoofing it up the road before we turn off onto the moors ,everyone seems pleased with them . Good then.
We take ,for me ,an unfamiliar climb . Starting fairly innocuously ,it turns a bit nasty . Luckily I’m slumming it on the not unfamiliar Rize .Don’t feel bad for me . At the trailhead ,properly warmed up now on a balmy evening, we regroup ,and evaluate. It’s early days ,but everyone seems pretty stoked on them . Guys are talking about not getting on with the Shimano after their Sram kit ,and obvious peripheral tyre talk abounds. Groupset choice is a funny thing . Same as tyres . Personally I prefer Shimano, I also prefer to have tyres . I’ve experienced some ,shall we say , less than perfect results with Sram kit . High end stuff too . Maybe it wasn’t set up correctly ,I don’t know ,but you have to base your opinions on something concrete . It’s not Catholicism. This gang seem to prefer Sram kit ,but luckily aren’t raving mad Groupset Fundamentalists ,and are prepared to accept the differences ,and move on ,in a kind of quasi mutual Groupset harmony.Shimano is a superior system. I believe it as a matter of faith. How can they hear me say those words ,and still they dont believe me ? And if they dont believe me now ,will they ever believe me ?

On more familiar trails now we head across Walker Fold towards the bottom of Smithills ,and the ‘Two Lads’, a local geological ‘lump’. Before we get there ,however , the Groupset tension is almost irrevocably shattered. Stay tuned.
Ian , a fairly ‘well built gentleman’ finishes the climb portaging his bike, the Scott Spark . It transpires the rear hub freewheel arrangement has completely failed, giving him no forward drive. This could tip the balance of mutual acceptance ,but luckily ,ironically even ,the rear hub is DT SWISS . Which of course ,luckily and ironically can only be neutral. Phew. Ian takes it most sportingly , run/walks up the Two Lads ,and freewheels the downhill to the Dog Kennels and then heads back with Graham for an early bath.
At this point it doesn’t look very good for the Scott ,but something daft like a busted freewheel is virtually impossible to predict. Still ill , I wonder ,could life ever be sane again?
So we carry on . Around the back of the Pike ,and down the Ice Cream Run, getting darkish now. Going good . The energy of a night ride is hard to beat . My dusk vision is terrible ,which gives a certain added buzz to things. The young lad is buzzing too , XC whippet style on the Scale. Youth is wasted on the young .How we laughed as he jumped off the path on to Sheep House Lane ,at an angle ,and decked it on the slippy steel of the cattle grid. Not as much as the late night roadie whose path he crossed at high speed though. That was close.
We head around the trees and the waters edge ,Return of the Jedi stylee ,on narrow trails , more darkish now. More buzzing. Mosquitoes ,probably.
Some climbs to tick off on the return leg . The concrete climb up to Wilderswood is a good one . Lungs tight in the moist night air . My only weakness ,well ,never mind, never mind. At the top the general consensus is that the Scotts are pretty good, doing all that is asked ,and maybe a bit more . “Efficient “ ,and “ direct “ are words that may have been used ,along with “ possible future maintenance issues “.The Genius ,that seems to be well received ,is certainly a little ‘techno’ looking with a 400psi rear shock . I suppose that that is how it is these days with multi pivot suspension bikes ,and if you’re in the market ,it goes with the territory. I have been assured that the rear shock can be serviced very quickly ,by Scott ,competitively priced, within a week turnaround .
And so ,on and up ,and away. For one night at least the relative merits of one God or another can be put aside.
Momentarily ,it seems ,we are ensconced within the pub discussing club T-shirts. I wondered why they should want to assimilate so ,but then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldnt ask.
Good night ,good lads ,good crack.
We are all ,of course ,just riding bikes.

*Pint O' Smiths. there is a light that never goes out. Thanks Jeff.

TIM

Secret testing

2009-08-18T01:27:00.000-07:00

DC X PK RIPPER X SE RACING FIXED GEAR - MORE PICS!!!

2009-08-17T00:52:00.000-07:00

Full spec and info now available here.

DC X PK RIPPER X SE RACING - FIXED GEAR

2009-08-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

AVAILABLE FROM 1ST WEEK IN SEPTEMBER. PRE ORDERS TAKEN NOW.

As part of DC's ongoing '30 Years of Radness' bike campaign, the skate brand has once again tricked out a SE Racing PK Ripper ride, this time giving it a fixie feeling! The brands have collaborated to produced a limited edition BMX and Quadangle in the past, but it's the PK Fixed Gear that will ultimately be off the bike chain! The bike’s Matte Black and Ball Burnished Silver colorways will both be limited to only 1,250 each worldwide.

DC X PK RIPPER X SE RACING - FIXED GEAR
The Fixed Gear collaboration mixes a touch of '70s bike nostalgia with modern bike performance features. Inspirations for the PK Ripper Fixed Gear bike‘s design aesthetic stem directly from the original DC x SE Racing PK Ripper collaboration. The new fixed gear bike design details are directly inspired from the classic PK Ripper BMX bike, complete with Floval tubing, Landing Gear fork and Looptail rear end. This blend of old school BMX and a modern fixed gear bike not only takes its cues from the PK Ripper BMX construction but also its colorways—Matte Black and Ball Burnished Silver.

DC and SE Racing first joined together in 2007 for their exclusive limited edition project '30 Years of Radness.' The project honoured 30-plus years of BMX history, and DC and SE Racing celebrated with a re-release of the PK Ripper bike in its original aesthetic for an exclusive limited edition quantity. In 2008, DC and SE Racing joined forces once again with the release of the DC x SE Racing 24” Quadangle. The Quadangle, or the Quad Looptail as it was known, was a '80s freestyle classic, and for the second collaboration DC and SE Racing re-released the BMX bike in for the first time ever, in a 24” version the same classic frame.

Fixie Hop

2009-07-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Hehe I laid down the fixie hop challange to Hoffman/Seventies Jon Taylor and as you can see it backfired... JT is rocking the new Subrosa fixie that we'll have in store this next week.

Scott Test Week 12th-19th August

2009-07-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

Coming up soon:

Wednesday 12th - Rivington 7pm
Saturday 15th - Llandegla TBC
Sunday 16th - Grisedale TBC
Thursday 19th - Rivington 7pm

Genius 20 - M, L & XL
Genius 50 - L
Spark 20 - S, M, L
Scale 20, M & L

Contact us to book.

Another Tracer Custom

2009-07-29T09:22:00.001-07:00

We just finished off this super-sweet Tracer that Rick has built. This bike is for sale now as is or call us for custom build options.

• Intense Tracer size Medium Works Raw
• Full Shimano XT groupset
• XT triple chainset 22, 32, 42
• 9 speed cassette
• XT rear derailleur shadow style
• XT servo wave brakes 180mm front 160mm rear
• Rockshox Revelation maxle lite fork – 20mm bolt thru 110mm – 140mm U Turn
• Hope pro 2 wheelset – Hope pro 2 hubs on DT swiss 5.1 rims built using DT swiss double butted competition spokes
• Fizik gobi saddle
• Easton EA70 handlebar stem
• Easton EA70 seatpost
• Custom Hope finishing kit
• Sealed Hope headset – red
• Sealed Hope bottom bracket – red
• Hope quick release seat clamp - red
• Quick release hope rear skewer – red
• ODI custom grips lock on
• Huchinson Marathon xc tyres 26 x 2.15
• Build weight without pedals – just 27.7lbs

Rick's Ride

2009-07-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

Rick here just put together this Socom for his own use, call Rick to discuss your requirements, we'll build you one. Full spec:

• Intense Socom size Small Black Ano finish
• Fox DHX rear shock
• Rockshox Boxxer Teams 2009 Blackbox technology
• 9 speed cassette 11- 21
• SRAM X9 rear derailleur
• SRAM X7 shifter
• Avid Elixir CR brakes 203mm Rotors
• Hope pro 2 front wheel– Hope pro 2 hub on DT swiss 5.1 rims built using DT swiss double butted competition spokes
• Chris King rear 150mm bolt thru hub on Mavic xm 818 DT double butted comp spokes
• Selle - italia Trans am saddle
• Sunline direct mount stem
• Thomson seatpost
• Syncros Bulk Bars - White
• Chris King Devolution Headset
• Raceface Atlas Freeride Cranks
• Raceface Atlas D/H bottom bracket
• E – 13 LG1+ Chain device – lightest in the world!
• Lizard Skin logo grips lock on
• Kenda Nevegal stick e
• Crank Brothers Mallett 2 pedals
• Build weight including pedals – an amazing 38lbs