Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

Indeed. Which is why (in Tokai at least) we're trying to make everything as progressive as possible. No big-ass death jumps, but mostly tables and rollable drops that you can take at 3kph and not endo all the way onto your face at the bottom of the hill. It's just disheartening when you've spent the whole weekend working on making a trail sustainable, progressive and interesting, yet challenging to ALL levels, and someone comes along and moves a rock that they think is in the wrong place.

Yeah, exactly. The guys that do that are the bitchers. They do all the bitching, but when it comes to build days, they never do the pitching

Dude. That's not the worst one. Who here remembers David16v? The guy admitted to forging a new, alternative "chicken line" when confronted with 3x 5cm high roots on FAIRY GARDEN. They had a puddle between them. They were apparently "too technical" and "dangerous". Flip. My 15 month old son ramps things higher on his frikkin Tow Mater ride-along!

Look, I don't doubt that the sections were at times extremely technical (and I probably would have had to wear my big girl panties and crop top as well) but to change a purpose built track when you know fkall about trail building, and are there to ride the WORLD CHAMPS, instead of just manning up and taking the b / c lines? Douchebaggery of note.

doesn't matter. Point is that people still alter trails all over the place, just to suit their requirements. It doesn't cross tehir minds that the trails may have been built like that for a very specific purpose (erosion control / technicality etc) and yet they still do it without any thought for what they are actually doing. Case in point - moving rocks on the PMB WC track. I mean, WTF!?

None. Just skill and a head full of common sense.

dude. The mere fact that rocks were being moved on the WC track is worthy of snotklappery

one word. NO! I ride a large, at 1.82m. Very comfortable. No way in hell would I even consider a large if I were your height.

The amount of times we (omega, pain or shine, myself and many others) have come across truly STUPID additions to a trail is, frankly, astonishing.

eeptrack only please dude...

Yeah. Ride up there on Saturday and it was wet as anything. The rain now is just the straw that broke it.

XR 500 with an under-seat exhaust system, wrapped 'zorsts and a shortened pillion-less tail? YES PLEASE

WANT

LOL. I need a garage first, Grumps. And that means buying another house WITH a garage. For the moment, I'm doing all my work under the carport...

Bells. Here you go, Sir.

It's fine, dude. The okes have been apprehended, and it's quite safe. The area that the guys were riding is out of commission now thanks to the excessive rain anyhow, and it was the most remote section of the mountain. I go there alone reasonably often and have never felt unsafe.

Yeah. It's a shame that I really don't have anywhere to store all my tools, and as such I can't bring myself to spend that much on a decent set of kit until such time as I have a garage or other proper enclosed structure (with weather proof doors etc) in which to store them. I have an external structure, but it's so small (and poorly built) that it just doesn't do the job to my satisfaction. It's on the list for "fixing" though. That list carries on growing, however. SO when I get around to it, I don't know.

yeah, it is. Really, really good geo.

Yeah. I know. But a lot has to be said for marketing BS and our ability to swallow it all. And yes, in conjunction with good geometry, a niner will make a difference to the average joe by enabling that extra bit of rollover and "speed" over the flat sections. But to the pros? I dunno so much. Their power and skill is so equal and at the top of the echelon that the differences are made over the technical sections, not the extra 2% that it gives you on the flats. Marathon - sure. 29er is KING there, and rightly so. There, endurance is key and that extra rollover efficiency adds up over the kilometres.

yeah, look - the wheel size DOES affect rollover. But not to the degree that all the "BS Science" claims it does. Take the "extra speed" for example. To get the same speed on a sixer as you would on a niner, change the gearing on the sixer. Simple. To blame the lack of speed on a wheel size difference (when the WC was won on a 27.5, NOT a 29) is ignoring the lack of skill / power / control that the rider has compared to another rider.

No. Because his skill level is such that it makes buggerall difference what wheel size he rides. HT angle, wheelbase, top tube length, BB height, chainstay length and so on are FAR more contributory to the overall handling experience than an extra 3" overall diameter on the wheels (when niner tyres are so skinny, especially - my sixer's wheels are almost as big as a niner's with din bane)

Negative. Our obsession with anything "marathon" makes the 29er the "better choice" Take out the obsession, and wheel size becomes irrelevant. In fact, if people understood geometry better, they'd realise that the biggest factors are Head Tube angle, chainstay length and BB height / drop. Not wheel size.

Yep. Very unfair.

I know at least 3 married couples (and some unmarried) that would LOVE to be able to have those kids in their place. And would probably take far better care of them.

Dude, words fail me. Yes, take your kid on the back with you. But not until they can reliably hang on to you with hands meeting int he front.