Mindful Trail Biker

07/07/2024

Huge thanks to Ally, Chris and the team for being generally awesome and supplying this incredible Turbo Levo. I’ve been e-bike curious for a long time and hear nothing but amazing feedback from longtime owners. I’m looking forward to getting more descending bang for time buck!

06/07/2024

We waved a teary goodbye to VANDALF this week, he will be sorely missed but we don’t have the same opportunity to get away for the foreseeable so we adapt and move on. A regular van for us is the most practical solution for MTB and will allow us to get out as much as possible with as little@hassle@as possible whilst making a more practical 2nd vehicle for normal use. Say hi to Henry!

16/05/2024

Right then you lucky peeps, we’ve had such a great response to the birthday group ride and the date vote was so close that we couldn’t bare for anyone to miss out so we’ve decided that we will do both Saturday and Sunday!!! Horaaay!! 👏 😃
So please can you do us a favour and drop us a quick DM on instagram with your name and anyone else who is coming with you. Alternatively drop me an email:
[email protected]
Thank you

13/05/2024

BIKE HISTORY DAY13 - Santa Cruz Bronson Carbon c MX custom build. Thanks for hanging in there, we have finally reached the end. The MX wheel Bronson in my opinion is the ultimate do it all bike! There really isn’t anything it can’t handle (rider permitting) and it always leaves you grinning like a madman. Sure the nomad was more capable but the Bronson it’s a samurai sword to the nomads meat cleaver and is more a more agile and rewarding for most rides. It’s light enough for a solid XC day and capable enough for a big mountain epic or bike park session and for me balances all of the above perfectly! The attention to detail in the frames is amazing and they are very easy to work on for the home mechanic!

11/05/2024

09/05/2024

BIKE HISTORY DAY 10- Transition Scout Carbon 27.5” wheel. Possibly the best looking bike i’ve ever owned, just look at the clean lines, 😍😍 this bike did not want to stay on the ground, it was the poppiest bike I’ve ever ridden and I became a much more playful rider as a result. There was a few fairly serious issues that ultimately made me move the frame on pretty quickly. While it was super playful I just couldn’t find a tune on the suspension that made it capable enough (with me riding) as an enduro machine. It had the option to go up to 150mm travel which I tried but that caused excessive pedal strikes and didn’t really improve the handling. I also found struggled to get a part from the importer after a frame bolt and sheared and it was also pretty noisy, I think the internal cable@routing was a bit on the baddy side. Still can’t get over how good it looks though and if I was riding more mellow terrain i would possibly still have it.

08/05/2024

BIKE HISTORY DAY 9 - Santa Cruz BRONSON 27.5” wheel carbon CC This bike was everything I hoped it would be and the dream of one bike to do it all was very much alive. It was just as happy on a long XC mission as it was on a full week in Finale Ligure or Morzine bike park. I absolutely LOVED this bike. The frame came from a shop in Spain and was a bit of a bargain coupled with the premium parts that came from the mega it was a dream build! Good time had in this bike, it travelled well.

07/05/2024

BIKE HISTORY DAY 7 - Nukeproof Mega 275 Carbon 27.5” wheel. I completely messed up the sizing on this super capable machine. I went large on the frame around the time when everyone was sizing up to get a longer reach to allow for shorter stems and wide bars as the industry hadn’t caught up with this trend. The geo numbers looked fine in the large and while it felt ok to ride I just couldn’t initiate turns on this bike or adjust my riding style to compensate. It was incredibly fast in a straight line and the spec for the money was superb! Top fox suspension, full XT and DT SWISS wheels with maxxis tyres not much other than bars and stem changed to match personal preference. Had a blast riding it at the PMBA Grizedale enduro in 2018 but ultimately sold the frame after about 3 months and kept the other parts for a new build. Any guesses what I went for?

06/05/2024

BIKE HISTORY DAY 6 - YT Tues Carbon custom spec I’ve never been a huge fan of downhill bikes, I don’t think I’m aggressive enough or go big enough to warrant the suspension travel but this YT Tues held my hand through 2 visits to whistler bike park in 2017 and 2018 and morzine/chatel bike parks. whistler is as you could imagine an incredible place to ride a bike and you need a solid steed under you to get the best out of it. It attracted a fair amount of attention as well as YT wasn’t yet available in Canada or the states. It was definite a good looker especially in the stealth look I want for on this build. I don’t think I would ever own another DH bike but I would likely rent one if I re-visited whistler. # whistler

05/05/2024

BIKE HISTORY day 5 - Specialized stumpjumper 29” wheel. I wanted to try 29” wheels and bought this bike just before 29 started to completely dominate the market. Specialized had never really@goven up@and always had 29” wheel bikes in the range so while others where still experimenting with the geo and suspension kinematics, Specialized were ahead of the game making some incredible 29” wheel bikes. This was a very supple bike, very comfortable to pedal over long distance was a very confidence inspiring ride. I remember racing a downhill event at farmers johns with the rest of the riders on DH bikes and gave the crowd a bit of a laugh as they mocked by wagon wheels 😂😂 my bike riding fashion choices are also screaming confidence 😅

04/05/2024

BIKE HISTORY DAY 4 - TREK Remedy 27.5” wheel. Having struggled with the alloy Santa Cruz 5010 I decided to go back to TREK and take the next bike up in the range. I was keen to stick with the 27.5 wheel as i could feel the benefit of this wheel size over 26” especially coupled with tubeless and large volume tyres. The remedy was a great bike with the perfect mix of increased suspension travel, bigger wheel size but in a lighter package than the 5010 and more lively on single track! This is probably the early days of the longer, lower, slacker era and you can probably see that from the photos. Dropper posts, tubeless tyres and solid geometry making these bikes a real pleasure to ride! The same cannot be said about out my bike fashion choices 😭🤣

03/05/2024