Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

Yeah, but all of those scars / bruises have STORIES.... That's what life is about. Not about what you didn't do 'cos you were afraid of being hurt. It's about jumping in 'cos you were concentrating on the moment, and trusting you wouldn't be hurt.

SO MUCH THIS!!! SQ scares the hell outta me, but you know what? I don't care. Keep chipping away at it and it'll come right. And then I'll wonder what all the fuss was about, and whoop all the way to the car.

I'd hoped it would have been at the skills park, or with creative lines including the natural terrain present on ALL the farms in the network. Unfortunately rocks get removed or built around, loose baby-head covered corners cleared and off-camber corners bermed to hell and back. Because "if you want tech, ride it faster" I await the new line in anticipation.

120km trail network. Of those segments built by the club, that XCO track accounts for, what, 3% of the total distance of the trail? Even with Mainline & Revised & Kloof & Cobra, that's what.... max 10-15% of the total trail distance devoted to "technical" trails? And Cobra's a blue, at best. Which gets continually paved. Club constantly says they want to help foster and develop local XCO talent. How to do that other than build technical trails? The 95% (I reckon that figure is way too high, as well) have 110km of flow & dual track. The new XCO track was a good start. I just hope that those building practices are expanded and improved upon for more trails, not just "DH trails" with berms and jumps and drops. Personally, I'd love to be proven wrong. Even if there were 2 line options at a feature... Like Widowmaker, for example. Perfect application of A & B lines. Except more, and more tech.

yeah, and now the larger one isn't a drop anymore. It's rollable. Which defeats the purpose. Smaller drops are to learn the technique. Larger ones are to get comfortable with different height drops, utilising the technique you learned on the smaller ones. Progressive application of skills to larger obstacles. With the ramp, the drop isn't as large anymore. Even if you "drop" it from the top, your brain still processes it as a not-drop.

no, he's not saying that. If you're not comfortable with a jump, don't hit it until you are. Progression doesn't mean going into something you're not comfortable with, it means working on your skills in order to progress to a level where you're comfortable to take on something you were previously uncomfortable with. Injuries are a part of MTB. You need to determine your own risk/reward ratio and ride accordingly. If that means hitting something and getting it wrong, well then that's on you, not on the trail.

and yet I guarantee that if there were a gap of equal size there, you'd not do it. Gaps are a mental thing, that need attention. Tabling that gap on the XCO circuit would be counter to the whole reason it's there - as a faster option for the more skilled riders. Drops are the same. You CAN take it faster and make it into a drop, but using that as "drop training" won't work as you still won't be working on an ACTUAL drop, and the presence of a safety net will mean that when you encounter one without a ramp, it's something new. For the record - I used to have the same opinion as you, until I realised that the only drops I was comfortable with were the ones I could also roll. Despite practicing "drops" I was just practicing boosting a ramp.

No, that was an idiotic decision. It's not a drop anymore.

Nah. Only way you get used to gaps is by hitting gaps. That's why a progressive build / skills park was such a lekker idea. Multiple size drops, gaps, tables, rock gardens, root / log sections etc. But... It's still a jump park with 3 small drops.

Yeah, 'cos people just bomb down without looking and inspecting. You get a new course, you walk it first and THEN practice it. ESPECIALLY on a "national level" XCO track. If there's a feature you're not comfortable with, skip it and take the B line. That's why it's there, and it's only fair that if you can't hack it, you need to take the slower route. Even in Luke Moir's intro / track preview vid he highlighted that particualr segment and said "you shouldn't be going full gas here" and said it was pretty sketch if you got it wrong or went in with too much speed. Which is GOOD. But people don't think, and they think everything's hunky dory and plough straight in without looking.

yeah, we've continually asked for tech, not "a DH line". Tech trails can be flat, on a decline, and incline, rolling etc.

'cos the other guys will sneak around the back with or without other people on the trails, if they ever do.

No, it hasn't. It's highlighted his distaste for TBMTB's penchant for berming EVERYTHING and having hardly any progressive and / or technically challenging trails. Apart from Cobra, there's hardly anything on the whole network, despite constant request for such trails. The answer is almost always "if you want technicality, ride faster". XCO track not ignored.

I reckon they should drop the appeal and make their own versions of it.

WTAF

What the greasy one said.

I wouldn't take the Aspen as the sidewalks are like paper. Reckon race in EXO casing is better for the rear. But as Morne says, those semi slick jobs are excellent. The minion ss, rock razor and slaughter are all great tyres and roll really fast. Good thing is that they have better sidewalls than the rekon race as well. And, actually, for those surfaces a crossmark would also work.

Classifieds

Nigeria - semi-civilized society. Happens there all the time, therefore "normalized" and expected NZ - civilized society. Happens there not at all, therefore not "normalized" and totally unexpected. It's like the USA school shooting thing. If a school shooting happens in the USA, it's hardly news, but we still react to it. If a school shooting happens in Oz, UK or Nederlands, for example, it receives far more airtime as it's out of the ordinary and unexpected.

Equating an incident in a country where that is the norm to an incident in a country where this sort of thing is an aberration is not a logical argument. If the muslim dude had done the same thing in NZ and it hadn't been covered, THEN you'd have an argument.

I hate you right now, Rameez... Enjoy it!!!

I see it's a common tactic of yours to revert to insults when someone points out you're wrong... Internet tyre reviews inform my decisions on which tyres to go for, and help me form an educated opinion on matters such as these. Added to that, I have a fair amount of experience of different tyres at what I believe to be about an average skill level. I'm no pinner by any stretch of the imagination... But you're right - I do need to ride more. I continually tell myself that, and I'm testing an Asseguy at the moment so I need more than the 2 rides that I've had to form a solid opinion on it. But so far - so grippy. Don't like the DD casing as much as the SG casing on Schwalbe (can see the different applications of the butyl insert - Schwalbe continues to the side knobs, DD ends ~10mm below them) but the grip characteristics are quite good and may actually be better than the Mary it's replaced. But I need more than just a session on TM, and 4 repeats of Vasbyt in Tokai to form a more accurate assessment of it. Fact is - an Ikon is not a good tyre for the front end of Joe Average's bike. Just like the Crossmark isn't. Aggressor / Ardent / DHR / DHF / Mary etc etc etc are, and will foster far more confidence and skills progression than the Ikon would, thanks to the superior levels of grip and stronger sidewalls.

Almost bought one of these, but went for a Clubman instead.