I’ve always been a bit dubious about spending more than £30 on a tyre but there’s so much good said about the Nobby Nic’s that I bit the bullet and bought a pair. I’ve been out for my first ride on the new 2011 version and I’m pleasantly surprised at how good they are.
I went for the ‘tubeless ready’ evolution snakeskin version, not the UST version. I liked the idea of a tubeless (ready) tyre with a decent sidewall weighing in under 600g’s, they’re 580g’s to be precise. That’s quite a bit lighter than the UST version which is 745g’s, and I haven’t managed to find out if that includes the snakeskin sidewall or just a thicker standard sidewall.
I have them set up tubeless on my Stan’s ZTR Flow rims, and this wasn’t as simple a job as I expected. My previous tyres, the Bontrager XR4′s, went on incredibly easily and inflated without any fuss at all, but the same can’t be said for the Nic’s. In the end the solution that worked for me was to leave them overnight inflated with inner tubes, I guess this helps the tyre find it’s shape on the rim, and helps the bead lock in properly. After that it was just a case of carefully removing the tubes, making sure to only unlock one side of the bead, and then adding in the sealant. They inflated without a hitch after that. I’m using them with Bontrager Super Juice since I’ve never had any luck with Stan’s, it just doesn’t work as well. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been running Bontrager XR4′s on my Pitch for almost a year now and if you’d asked me what I thought of them 6 months ago I wouldn’t have had a bad word to say. Ask me now and I’d tell you to buy something else.
I’ll start with the positives. XR4′s are an excellent allrounder; You can run them throughout the year and they deal with the mud well unless it’s particularly sticky, and they slide predictably in the wet. They come alive in the summer on hardpack and dusty trails. The grip is outstanding; Either I’ve not pushed them hard enough or they’re simply brilliant because they’ve never let me down.
One neutral thing to mention is that they come up big for a 2.2. They’re more like a 2.4 if you’re used to Maxxis or Schwalbe sizing. These are by no means an XC tyre. Read the rest of this entry »
…big dog jersey? I received my eagerly awaited Brighton Big Dog Jersey today and… oh dear. I went for the large size because of the ‘Italian fit’ mentioned on the Big Dog site. I’m normally a medium in bike jerseys so I figured a large would be fine, how wrong I was. If skin tight is what you like then all is good, but I like my riding tops with a little room around the edges, so I’m sending it back for an XL, a bloody XL!
I’m a medium in Endura stuff with room to spare. They really should sort their sizing out, we’re not all skinny road riding whippets ya know! Luckily they’re just up the road from where I work, so I’ll pop in there Monday.
Muddy dogs, caravan people & a wonky gazebo, here’s my account of the Brighton Big Dog race, 2010.
09:50: Driving into Stanmer park I was greeted by a man in a yellow jacket letting me know that the “caravan people” had moved in over night and were on the prowl. “Keep everything out of sight”, he said, peering through my back window at all the stuff I’d bought with me. He’s one of them, I thought, as I drove onward and parked up.
10:00: The weather forecast was still looking sketchy and we had time to kill waiting for Andy to arrive, so we got the gazebo set up quick smart. I suddenly remembered from last year that the pegs were missing so we tied one side to my car wheels and left the other side at natures will.
10:30: Sign in was a huge improvement on last year, no queueing and we were in an out in a few minutes with our rather homosexual looking goody bags, no doubt full of the usual rubbish. What was wrong with the plastic bags we got last year? At least we could reuse those without fear of buggery. Actually I was pleasantly suprised to find a bottle of chain lube and some tube patches, as well as a book of discount vouchers, although most of them required that you buy stuff on the day. Of course this was only possible if you didn’t get mugged by a gypo, sorry, I mean caravan person. Read the rest of this entry »
We went to Stanmer Park last night for a blast around the Big Dog lap. If you live in Brighton you’ll know the weather was pretty horrendous last night, and as a result Stanmer Park has already started to get quite muddy and extremely slippy.
Some of the big dog course was literally un-ridable on regular tyres, we had to get off and push on the steeper climbs and even that was a struggle. It took us about an hour and a half to get round the course (with stops) and by the end of it we were caked in mud and sopping wet. Sadly I didn’t get any photos of the occasion because it didnt stop raining, but if I had I’m pretty sure we would have looked something like this guy on the right… minus the beard —>
It’s going to be really interesting on Saturday… With a little more rain it’s going to be incredibly slippy like it was last night, with a lot more rain it’s going to be an absolute mud bath.
I for one will be watching the forecast like a hawk over the next few days. Bring mud tyres on the day, there’s a high chance you’ll need them!
Rich and I just got back from a demo day put on by Cycleworks & Orange Bikes at Holmbury St. Mary in the Surrey Hills. We arrived 40 minutes earlier than booked so we managed to ride two laps of the guided course that Cycleworks had set out. The new 2011 bikes look fantastic, the beefy tapered head tube brings a visual balance to the bike so it no longer looks like two bikes that have been hacked together. The new decals also look great, so far so good.
We both rode a 2011 Orange 5 in the 18″ size. My bike was specced much the same as the 5 Pro on Orange’s website, the only difference being a Specialized gravity dropper seatpost (which was pretty rubbish I might add).
After a bit of suspension tweaking we set straight off into Holmbury Hill. The 5 immediately felt awkward riding up but it didn’t seem to be pedal bob that was the issue, it just felt sluggish. Pedal bob was actually really minimal which was a surprise for single pivot system, and with the propedal on it’s non existent which is to be expected. I wish I could put my finger on why it was awkward up hill, but I can only conclude that it’s down to the geometry.
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been 18 months since I started my search for a do-it-all bike and just over a year since I bought a Specialized Pitch Comp. I only have room for 2 bikes, one I commute with, so the other had to cover everything else. I wanted something I could ride anywhere, something that I could push my limits on, and something that would inspire more riding confidence in me.
I had a limited budget, so there weren’t many choices for a decent full suspension rig. I started reading about the Pitch and it immediately sounded like my kind of bike, it was big, burly, stable and supposedly one of the best all-round bikes for the money, so I went and test rode one.
I’m not convinced that riding around a car park is the best way to test a bike, but it was enough, the Pitch felt comfortable, strong, smooth, stable and it looked absolutely brilliant. I was sold…
Read the rest of this entry »
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I’ve always been a bit dubious about spending more than £30 on a tyre but there’s so much good said about the Nobby Nic’s that I bit the bullet and bought a pair. I’ve been out for my first ride on the new 2011 version and I’m pleasantly surprised at how good they are.
