I agree, 4 RT standard gearing should be about spot on.

No 30 is good - worst of slime off rocks and you should have plenty of other riders about for company.

Consider going uo about 2 & 1/2 wt on your fork oi, it helps stop bottoming which tires your arms.

Cheers

Wont be doing much bottoming out, shall we say the moors are moist.

4 times in speedos , youre on!

And with nipple clamps on , and i'll chuck some money in the charity pot!!

Never did quite pluck up the courage to have a go myself so very Good luck!!

4 times in speedos , youre on!

Perish the thought

Don't forget your arm bands them rivers looked mighty full today on my way up to Reeth, hopefully they'll drop before the 21st or there'll be a lot of drowned bikes !!!!!

If it carries on raining like it did today you'll all be setting off on jetskis

Aye i remember when I was a lad, twinshocks with snorkels......

Is there any chance of it being cancelled if the bad weather continues?

NONE at all I would think

1990 was very wet and misty and there were some diversions, I think it was 98 that was wetter (horrendous) and there were some bits of the course cut out. Back to my earlier suggestion of slightly increasing the front fork damping - compression particularly. I did find this helpful, in a normal trial you get time to weigh things up and lift / lighten the front end, in the Scott you tend to run into more both unexpectedly and because you are too knackered to properly lift the front end.

The fells on the course are pretty sodden and wont dry up but the rivers can rise and fall several feet in a few hours.

Cheers

Thanks for all the input guys. I have been busy prepping the bike. I have fiddled with the suspension and changed the weight of the oil. I have ridden the bike and it rides very well.

I have got a new chain and sprockets, brake pads plus a few other bits. I have plumbed in the header tank and have not had any issues. Registration is now all complete and road legal so we are good and ready to go.

I have a final shake down rides saturday and sunday just to iron out any issues. After i will put new tyres on as mine are very worn. I am considering doubling up the front inner tube to provide some better protection. Anybody see any issues in this?

Also should I carry anything on me to repair the bike? I can fit a little bit in camelback but is a bumbag with a few tools worth it? Part of me feels that if anything goes wrong i will realistically be unable to fix it so there is no point carrying the extra weight? Arguable am I over complicating it and i should just leave the tools at and just ride and if it goes wrong let it go. After all by the bike i fix a puncture or another fault I would have lost to much time and momentum.

Thanks in advance

Edited October 11, 201213 yr by scott_king

I'd guess the top runners carry the wherewithal to sort a puncture, even if they end up riding so far on a flat tyre depending where it happens.

I would suggest it is foolhardy for the normal rider to venture on to the moors at this time of year without a basic minimum of tools as it could be a heck of a push off the hill otherwise. Given the nature of the event nobody's going to stop to assist and I don't suppose the backmarkers would be too thrilled to find someone just idly waiting for their assistance?

and I don't suppose the backmarkers would be too thrilled to find someone just idly waiting for their assistance?

I can assure you that of the ones we find, the physically exhausted considerably outnumber those with mechanical problems.

I can assure you that of the ones we find, the physically exhausted considerably outnumber those with mechanical problems.

I don't doubt it for a minute and that's part of the event's challenge but, having had to assist helpless mechanicals off hills in the past, I feel that does not excuse someone, particularly the inexperienced, venturing in to what could become a very dodgy situation if the weather does its worst without taking the equipment to sort the reasonably foreseeable problems that might leave them stranded.

Again thanks for the input guys. I rode today with my back pack with some tools in it and the weight never caused me any issues.

So far I have figured out - 3x spanners, allen keys, spark plug spanner, adjustable wrench, pair of pliers, split link, zip ties, tyre levers and a spare front inner tube. I was also going to get some dog turds and the fitting tool.

I am also going to get a hand bike pump, has anyone got any recommendations of one to get? obviously one suitable for use to inflate the tyre effectively. I know you can use air canisters but once they are used thats it.

Anyways hows the course coming along Perce?

I use to wrap a load of Gaffa tape round a screw driver shaft, never know when it could come in handy out there ;-)