Thursday 28 June 2012

Richard Acott Wins North West MTB DH on his Omen




North West MTB DH Series Rd 3 at Farmer Johns 24th June 2012 by Richard Acott


The race was a one day practise/race format and it would be final of series with a full entry list.  I had won one round and lost one round to Will Swinden so the final race would be real head to head.  Having checked weather forecast there was  a mix of morning rain and afternoon sun and for a change it work out that way.

Once arrived I signed in and checked out track - top half was open and would be rolling quick on hardpack surface, there were berms and a couple of short north shore style sections.  This was in contrast to bottom section which entered woods and dropped steeply into sharp corner. The lower sections was quite technical with roots, mud, drops, ruts  and short corners.

I set bike up by adjusting tyre pressures and adjusted fork settings but opted to keep Kenda Nevegal tyre.  Some people opted for mud tyres but I figured I could make time on top section and bottom was so bad mud tyres would make little difference.  Other riders thought differently and there was a real mix out on track.

Practise and Race Run - practise went slowly due to constant stop starts due to red flags (stop riding) because of crashes and I was frustrated at lack of full practise runs.  After short break for drink it was time for first race run and hardtails were first off start.

My first race run would be mid table start and I overtook two riders which cost a little time but still managed a good time of 1min49 secs.  After a while I realised I was leading by eight seconds.

Second race run went really well although I had a small off on bottom section when tyre got caught in rut (video clip). I checked with timing officials and I had posted 0.58 seconds so queried it amazing feat but was told all equipment was good and showed green which meant they had recorded correctly.  Sometime later I received notice that commissaires had issued a number of ’did not finish (dnf) or did not start(dns)’ notices and one was mine.  Some riders were offered reruns because of timing issues.  Fortunately my first run time had given a great race winning result and Podium 1st.

Well done to all riders, organisers and marshalls for a good friendly race series.  Special mention also for Aaron Chorlton, overall series third place category rider who took a bad fall and broke his wrist - get well soon.


THANKS to great sponsors DMR Bikes/Kenda Tyres/YBN Chains/X Fusion/Tektro Brakes/Battery Energy Drinks/kik




North West Downhill Championships - CRASHES on Pinkbike

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Mayhem Victory for our KMP Team of 5!



The conditions at this years Mountain Mayhem were downright FILTHY, the pictures reminded me of the WW1 frontline as the waterlogged ground soon became churned up and bog-like. Riders ended up having to push their bikes DOWNHILL!

But, our KMP riders love a challenge and we had a strong lineup this year. The KMP 5 were [L>R]: Katy WinTinTon, Oli Pepper, Phil da Horse, ringer [sorry 'guest rider'] Gareth and Liam Glen.

More HERE


Hell of the West


The KinesisUK Hell of the West Cyclo-X Sportive is a new event from the team at Spike. 100km of trails, moorland tracks and a few ‘special’ sections thrown in for good measure will offer a tough but rewarding ride.

More HERE


Pivot Mach249 and Reynolds 29er wheels



The bikes we race, and why we choose them. . .they are ready for BC!

More HERE

Monday 25 June 2012

Richard Acott Wins Again

I won North West MTB DH race series today.  There was sell out entry, good hardtail category and lots of spectators  The event build up was featured by Granada Sports and Manchester evening news.   I managed race winning time of 1.49 winning by over eight seconds (ninth in Seniors)   Race report and more pictures to follow.




Thursday 21 June 2012

Pivot Mach 5.7 Carbon Write-up



Pivot Cycles was supplying Reynolds with demo bikes and I jumped on the chance to ride one. The Mach 5.7, equipped with a Shimano XTR/XT drivetrain, was a sweet ride at Park City's trails. It pedals efficiently, climbs like a goat and feels smooth over the area's signature rocky, high-speed trails. The Mach 5.7 is one of my favorite trailbikes, so it was a perfect choice to warm up to the features on the mountain.

More HERE

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Green Oil Video



WDMBA MOUNTAIN ASH Rd2 - 17th June 2012 by Richard Acott




WDMBA MOUNTAIN ASH Rd2 - 17th June 2012 by Richard Acott Friday15.06.12 - late start out to South Wales for Welsh Downhill Mountain Bike Association Rd 2 at Mountain Ash. I had heard a lot of good reports about this flowing track so looking forward to trying out a new venue that I have not ridden before. Torrential rain and late arrival meant no opportunity for normal Friday track walk. Saturday 16.06.12 - still raining hard so opted for King of Traction tyre. First practise run is normally slow as I try to learn track but even this was not even possible because of a serious brake problem. Some adjustments were made for second practise run but straight out of start I could tell all was not well and brakes had soon disappeared completely. At bottom of track I was amazed to find my new Kevlar pads (sent to me as upgrade instead of usual sintered pads) put in brakes on Friday had worn and rubbing metal to metal. Talking around pit area it seemed many riders were experiencing brake issues. The combination of hard rain and gritty rock/mud did not help either. Unfortunately I could not get my usually very reliable brakes to work properly. I decided it was no longer safe to ride and unless problem sorted I would have to abandon race weekend. Looking into my parts box I found an old front brake that with tweaking came back to life. Further work and trip to mechanic and loan of rear brake took time and meant practise had almost finished. I decided a track walk would be good idea and may help lack of practise runs. Start was open top section with rock drop then several bus stops but not many line choices. Middle section was generally woody with interesting log drop immediately followed by tight berm. Final section was fairly open but with doubles, jumps and stream crossings. Sunday 17.06.12 - heavy rain had finally stopped and sun was trying to come out and on went Nevegal tyre. Bike had been fixed, brakes working and ready to race. Managed two practise runs and both went really well. The first race run was delayed by forty five minutes due to timing fault. Early into first run I crashed over bars but managed to catch a rider before crashing again. Suprisingly I managed a time of 4.45mins and went into lead by 19 seconds. After few questions to solve this mystery I found other riders had also crashed. Second race run I hit all my chosen lines and caught two riders managing a fantastic race winning time of 4.08, second Paul Burford and third Aron Charlton. THANKS to sponsors DMR Bikes/Tektro Brakes/Kenda Tyres/YBN Chains/X Fusion Battery Energy /kik clothing

Thursday 14 June 2012

Interview: Mike Hall, round-the-world record breaker



"I've just had a friend over to knock me back into shape," said Mike Hall, when BikeRadar spoke to him earlier this week. "He reckoned I was in pretty good nick – just a few bits and pieces were out of place."

More HERE

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Fort William 2012 Suzanne Lacey



Words from Suzanne:

"I competed in the 4x pro tour in Fort William at the weekend. Had the best race of my career coming 3rd. Was the hardest track i have ever rode but was a lot of fun. On Friday we had qualifications and managed to qualify 5th which got me into the semi finals. I was so scared and really wanted to get in the the A final which i managed to do by just staying on the bike and having a smooth run. The A final was pretty wild as i came out the gate and got pushed out straight away nearly going over the bars on the first straight. I was in 4th place after the rock garden where i over took anneke beerten whose tyre blew off so it was pretty awesome just to ride past into 3rd!"


Behind the scenes at Fort William with Brit bronze medalist Suzanne Lacey and her DMR Omen

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Kinesis Decade Tripster Frame and Fork


Now, I'm a roadie through and through – I like speed, I've never ridden anything with tyres wider than 25mm and certainly never used a rack so when I arrived at road.cc to collect the Kinesis Decade Tripster I wasn't quite sure what I'd let myself in for. It turns out though that the last couple of months of riding have been some of the most fun and carefree I've ever known.

Decade are part of Kinesis bikes and the Tripster is one of two road bikes being described as a fast commuter but thanks to the sheer amount of build options you can put in place once you've bought your frameset there is a world of possibilities.

More HERE