Thursday, 6 October 2011
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Crosslight ‘CXd’ FORKS ARRIVE.
The frst CXd forks have arrived by air. Perfectly in time to get coupled up with our new Crosslight Pro6 frames and out to the first lucky customers.
These are some pretty unique forks: 500g, Full carbon monocoque with 1.5″ taper steerer and post mount disc. They are eyeletted for ‘guards and I have also added a threaded boss in the rear of the crown to make mudguard mounting neat and easy. There is a hose clip on the back of the LHS blade, no need for slipping zip-ties, insulating tape or Green garden string here!
3 colours to perfectly match the Crosslight Pro6. Pretty pleased with these I must say : ]
These are some pretty unique forks: 500g, Full carbon monocoque with 1.5″ taper steerer and post mount disc. They are eyeletted for ‘guards and I have also added a threaded boss in the rear of the crown to make mudguard mounting neat and easy. There is a hose clip on the back of the LHS blade, no need for slipping zip-ties, insulating tape or Green garden string here!
3 colours to perfectly match the Crosslight Pro6. Pretty pleased with these I must say : ]
Pivot Mach 5.7 demo bike end of year thoughts/review
As you probably know, we reviewed the Pivot Mach 5.7 earlier in the year and based on those rides and that review, we bought into the brand, including demo bikes. We have sold a fair few Pivot Mach 5.7s in 2011 (all of them in anodized black come to think of it!) and there are a couple knocking about in the Ochils on a regular basis. I think what those customers mention overall (and those who have tried the bike) is how well the bike climbs. It really does flatter you on the climbs and yet is super-plush on the descents. It is truly insane how the bike hardly bobs at all while climbing and yet is so utterly smooth when you need it to be.
The Propedal lever is basically surplus to requirements (I still use it as habit when I’m trying to get up the road climb from Logie Kirk onto Dumyat) because of the DW Link and the design of the bike. Lots of people will tell you how amazing a single pivot is, but personally, I just don’t see the point. Yes, I know it might hurt me a little more when I have to change the pivot bearings but I really don’t care – if I’m buying a bike as expensive as this, I am truly unconcerned about an extra cost every now and then (and besides, our demo bike has taken a kicking and it’s still as good as ever – no funny noises, no hassle, even the Press Fit Bottom Bracket is still surviving, which my cynical self is very surprised at!).
So this is a big comment and we have not tried every single bike so far but this is my favourite bike I have ever ridden. A Pronghorn 150 climbs slightly better but the hassle even trying to get the hangers for them, its geometry and my fear for it dying on me puts me right off that bike. Turn the Pivot Mach 5.7 round after losing ten seconds to the guy on the Pronghorn and point it downhill however, and I would really struggle to find a better beast for the travel. Where it has excelled for me is on all the trails nearby – a fantastic mix of singletrack, dropoffs, rocky technical sections and those supersteep natural, soggy climbs we all love. It doesn’t get any better than this for the money. If you don’t want to shell out the significant amount of money on a Pivot Mach 5.7, either save up some more or simple get a Lapierre Zesty 214, 314 or 514. They are close enough if you have £1800 – £2800 rather than £3K+.
New Feature For Our B2B
To All Our Retailers
We have added a new CSV order upload feature to our B2B site
Visit your shopping cart for template and upload feature
We have added a new CSV order upload feature to our B2B site
Visit your shopping cart for template and upload feature
Monday, 3 October 2011
News / “…ALMOST LIKE RUNNING IN MID AIR”. “…ALMOST LIKE RUNNING IN MID AIR”.
The Racelight GF_Ti has just been tested on road.cc and it’s safe to say they liked it a lot! “While climbing you don’t get the usual feeling of pushing the bike up through the pedals, it just feels like its attached to your feet and coming with you, almost like running in mid air”.
Final BMBS Round, Plymouth- 9hr drive, 1 mint course, 3 laps, two legs, one bike…
Posted by Katy
…would it all come together? It's been a long season with every race throwing a different challenge at me. What was going to happen in this race? Could I still come out on top?
I knew I had to win if I wanted to win the British Series title. After riding the super slippy and actually technical course I realised it could be possible. There were three main climbs each followed by off camber rooty descents which suited me as I could recover in between the climbs. It was going to be so much fun to race!! I pre-rode with Lucy Grant (Scottish Youth racer) and as we went round she was shocked by the way I was riding… I had started to hop over everything, ride at crazy speeds and generally show no signs of fear – "em… Katy your riding like… like a downhiller!!! It's scary!" This was okay in pre-riding because your not so tired but in a race this could prove dangerous if I forgot the limitations of an XC bike… which I did….
On race day I had devised a plan. Previously, in races, I'd follow Beth and stick on her wheel, well, try anyway. So, I decided that I'd lead from the start and take early control of the race. It was a fire road start into a single track climb then another bit of fire road for a steeper climb into the more technical of the 3 descents. I knew that even if I didn't gap her on the climb I'd at least get a slight advantage after the decent. From then it was just about racing, going super hard on the climbs, nailing the descents and keeping it consistent – hopefully avoiding sickness, a back spasm, crashing at the start, mechanicals and any other possible bad luck!
(British Cycling photo. Taking control of the race)
To say my plan worked was an understatement! It worked so well that I already had a 40second lead by the bottom of the first decent. Up the second climbed I pushed on, 40seconds was a closeable gap over the 3laps. Fighting through the juvenile boys, I managed to safely complete lap one with a 50sec gap. Second lap I got slightly excited, and down the first little bit of single track I went way too fast into a little dip, flew out of it unable to squish my speed properly and straight through the tape… much to a juvenile boy's despair as he angrily SCREAMED "rider!!" at me. Never the less I continued at a good pace for the second lap only being slightly sick due to the honey in my bottle – I didn't drink anything the rest of the lap until I got water!
3rd lap and there was no way Beth was going to catch me now. I just had to concentrate on getting a clean lap keeping a good pace, I needed to finish. Flying down the last decent enjoying every minute of it knowing it wasn't long until the finish. Through the river my dad gave me a time update "3 minutes" YAS!!!!!!!! I knew that even if something went wrong now I could run to the finish and still win. Fortunately though there was no need to run, I weaved through the switch backs to the finish. Hands in the air I soaked up the victory. It's been a long fight all season and to finally have a smooth race and to win by such a margin… well, there isn't a better way to end the season!
(Claire Oakley's photo Beth, me and Claire)
It wasn't just a good day for me, but for all the Scots!! With series wins from, Lucy Grant, Ian Payton in the Youth categories, Callum Magowan in the juvenile male and Grant Ferguson and I taking the Junior titles the Scots dominated a mear 500miles from home! There was also really impressive performances from Ben Forsyth, Isla Short, Eve Hanlan Cole and Calum Grant (aka, JB – who over two laps got the same time as his sister Lucy!!). Well done to everyone who raced!
Thank you to everyone who has helped me this year and never stopped believing in me!! Special thanks to Dom and Paddy at upgrade for sorting out my bike, Reynold wheels and all the bits, Oli at Morvelo for the coolest kit on the MTB scene, the Hope bike wash man who comes to all the races and always keeps my bike lovely and clean, My dad for his fantastic support and everything he does for me and the rest of the Scottish lot for getting us to races and having great banter! Thanks to Beth for a great year of racing, best of luck for next year missy in that lovely champs top! :)
Next: my BC Academy application has been sent… I'll find out in October if I've been selected! Watch this space!
Win tin tin
I'm on Facebook and Twitter, get in aboot it!
…would it all come together? It's been a long season with every race throwing a different challenge at me. What was going to happen in this race? Could I still come out on top?
I knew I had to win if I wanted to win the British Series title. After riding the super slippy and actually technical course I realised it could be possible. There were three main climbs each followed by off camber rooty descents which suited me as I could recover in between the climbs. It was going to be so much fun to race!! I pre-rode with Lucy Grant (Scottish Youth racer) and as we went round she was shocked by the way I was riding… I had started to hop over everything, ride at crazy speeds and generally show no signs of fear – "em… Katy your riding like… like a downhiller!!! It's scary!" This was okay in pre-riding because your not so tired but in a race this could prove dangerous if I forgot the limitations of an XC bike… which I did….
On race day I had devised a plan. Previously, in races, I'd follow Beth and stick on her wheel, well, try anyway. So, I decided that I'd lead from the start and take early control of the race. It was a fire road start into a single track climb then another bit of fire road for a steeper climb into the more technical of the 3 descents. I knew that even if I didn't gap her on the climb I'd at least get a slight advantage after the decent. From then it was just about racing, going super hard on the climbs, nailing the descents and keeping it consistent – hopefully avoiding sickness, a back spasm, crashing at the start, mechanicals and any other possible bad luck!
(British Cycling photo. Taking control of the race)
To say my plan worked was an understatement! It worked so well that I already had a 40second lead by the bottom of the first decent. Up the second climbed I pushed on, 40seconds was a closeable gap over the 3laps. Fighting through the juvenile boys, I managed to safely complete lap one with a 50sec gap. Second lap I got slightly excited, and down the first little bit of single track I went way too fast into a little dip, flew out of it unable to squish my speed properly and straight through the tape… much to a juvenile boy's despair as he angrily SCREAMED "rider!!" at me. Never the less I continued at a good pace for the second lap only being slightly sick due to the honey in my bottle – I didn't drink anything the rest of the lap until I got water!
3rd lap and there was no way Beth was going to catch me now. I just had to concentrate on getting a clean lap keeping a good pace, I needed to finish. Flying down the last decent enjoying every minute of it knowing it wasn't long until the finish. Through the river my dad gave me a time update "3 minutes" YAS!!!!!!!! I knew that even if something went wrong now I could run to the finish and still win. Fortunately though there was no need to run, I weaved through the switch backs to the finish. Hands in the air I soaked up the victory. It's been a long fight all season and to finally have a smooth race and to win by such a margin… well, there isn't a better way to end the season!
(Claire Oakley's photo Beth, me and Claire)
It wasn't just a good day for me, but for all the Scots!! With series wins from, Lucy Grant, Ian Payton in the Youth categories, Callum Magowan in the juvenile male and Grant Ferguson and I taking the Junior titles the Scots dominated a mear 500miles from home! There was also really impressive performances from Ben Forsyth, Isla Short, Eve Hanlan Cole and Calum Grant (aka, JB – who over two laps got the same time as his sister Lucy!!). Well done to everyone who raced!
Thank you to everyone who has helped me this year and never stopped believing in me!! Special thanks to Dom and Paddy at upgrade for sorting out my bike, Reynold wheels and all the bits, Oli at Morvelo for the coolest kit on the MTB scene, the Hope bike wash man who comes to all the races and always keeps my bike lovely and clean, My dad for his fantastic support and everything he does for me and the rest of the Scottish lot for getting us to races and having great banter! Thanks to Beth for a great year of racing, best of luck for next year missy in that lovely champs top! :)
Next: my BC Academy application has been sent… I'll find out in October if I've been selected! Watch this space!
Win tin tin
I'm on Facebook and Twitter, get in aboot it!
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