clamps81

This is an intersting one. Years of sitting at computers and a few broken wrists have rendered my hands and arms a total mess and I am always massively, massively overspeccing brakes for my size. I currently run hayes dominion (light lever throw on a nice bearing) with 200mm front rotor and I am at present about 60kg. I run coil front and back just to ease the battering my wrists takes as well. For a sport so reliant on our bodies, there's very little in the MTB media in reviews or component discussions for anyone who's not 'average' and while I realise this is to do with the bell curve distribution of people in general, the need to appeal to a bigger audience in general, the smaller auidience making that financially difficult and a lot of other things I do think there's worth in a few articles exploring component choice for people who aren't in the middle of that bell curve. There's plenty of discussion around heavier folk (if you're an OK rider run what pro downhillers do) but not a great deal for people who are much lighter, have mobility or strength issues in certain areas etc etc As an inidvidual sport MTB is great, because it means you can have really bad asthma or a joint thing that means you have to stop really frequently, or chronic fatigue that means you need an EMTB to an 'easy' ridew but still enjoy it (rather than your traditional ball sports). but we don't really talk about stuff that might help those people/

I've got a set. They are very nice and light. Bit more stiff and pingy than the set of ex511i was running, but nothing too drastic and well worth the weight saving if you're pedaling unassisted. Can't comment on durability as mine aren't even nine months old yet.

This post really illustrates how much of a preference thing brakes really are - I'm 60kg and I've never thought the a4s on my bike were too powerful. My favourite thing about them is how light the lever is for all that power, but then I do have slightly messed up wrists. I think the only option with brakes is to try and find a friends bike with a set and to ride it to see if you get on with them.

Why are you making me cry. Please do more of this. Hands down the best content that's out there about the world cups and well worth waiting for.

Such a raw and honest look at things. Easily the best series about racing that I've seen. Well done everyone involved.

I went from a Bird (long reach, short stays) that I really enjoyed riding (although you needed to be confident and over the front to get the best of it) to a Titan and the Banshee is just so much easier to ride. If I was feeling crap and lacking a bit of confidence the bird was really hard to ride properly because you had to be so concsious to get weight on the front, but the titan is just..easy. If I'm having a crap day and not feeling it, it's easy and predictable and gives me more confidence. I'm sure there's a ton of stuff that we're not fully considering about biomechanics like flexiiblity and strength and leg vs torso vs arm length, without even getting in to your riding background, but for a bum average rider like me it''s more predictable, friendlier and more fun to ride than most other bikes I've owned.

Anyone ever 3D printed mudguards? I want one for my helm mk ii because it stops raining here though to warrant one and getting able to screw it on and off would be neat. The 'official' one is far too tiny for the amount of muck I usually see so I'd want something more like an RRP proguard. Fairly sure I can remember enough about 3d modelling to make it, I just don't know if you can print it in a suitable material

Couple of things - really impressed by Rach on commentary. For her first go at it (I think) sure was really good at providing real insight into things, picking out details and interacting with Rob. So in a few years when she gets fed up of winning stuff hopefully she ends up in a booth at races. Jackson Bloody Goldstone. Holy shit. What a rider. I saw him in a bar in Morzine a few weeks ago and I genuinely just thought he was some random kid. He is so young, he looks like the lads round here who hang around on street corners vaping but so, so incredible on a bike. Absolutely amazed.

You have to get get Cathro, Chrisitna and Tom together for a video at some point. Race season is nearly done, I'm sure all all those otuside subs will pay to punt them all off to NZ for the summer.

Renegade 80s PE teacher