Category Archives: Tech Tips

Advice, Maintenance

Torque tool

August 1, 2017 Adrian Rogers Leave a comment

Torque keys. Not the most exciting thing, but probably the most useful tool I own.
Continue reading Torque tool →

Advice, Maintenance, Tech Tips, Upgrades

Gear ratios for 1x

December 30, 2016 Adrian Rogers Leave a comment

Thinking of moving to a 1x setup? Here’s some help on picking your gear sizes, which is actually quite simple, hopefully! Continue reading Gear ratios for 1x →

1x Gears MTB Ratios Upgrades

Advice, Fitness, Upgrades

Should you lose weight off the bike, or you?

September 9, 2015 Adrian Rogers 2 Comments

Some people (ok me!) have a reputation for always looking for opportunities to save weight on their bike, but is this the right thing to do, or should you just cut down on the pies?

Continue reading Should you lose weight off the bike, or you? →

Advice MTB Upgrades Weight

Maintenance, Tech Tips, Upgrades

Doing a 1×10 Conversion

September 7, 2015 Adrian Rogers Leave a comment

Every thought about converting your bike to 1 chainring at the front? Here’s my experiences of doing it.

Continue reading Doing a 1×10 Conversion →

1x10 Maintenance MTB Upgrades

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May – August 2019 May – Aug 2019

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May

Fri

The Peaks Weekender @ The Peak District

Tickets

May 24 @ 8:00 pm – May 27 @ 12:00 pm

The Peak District is simple awesome for mountain biking – stunning scenery and brilliant riding.
I’ve done lots of riding up there and am putting together some of the best in one long weekend.

We will be based in the Hope Valley, which has a great selection of campsites, B&B accommodation, cafes and bike shops. Personally I’ll be camping and will make a recommendation for a campsite after sampling a few, but there are plenty of great B&Bs for anyone that doesn’t like camping.

For the riding, we have 3 days:
A scenic starter, along the Monsal Trail. Starting at Bakewell Station up to Blackwell Mill and back. This is a former railway line that has been converted into a bridleway, using all the old features, including a number of viaducts and 4 tunnels through the Peaks. This gives us the chance to soak in the gorgeous scenery along the route, as well as a stop to enjoy them with a drink.

Day 2 is an epic XC ride starting in Hope and heading over Mam Tor out towards Derwent Water and back. The views on this route are even more stunning than the previous day, but the riding will be amazing too, with some epic descents – this one isn’t flat! 😉 We will be doing 25-30km with 1200-1500ft of climbing (depending on the weather), but the pace will be relaxed.

The final day will be a trip to the brilliant (but short) Lady Cannings trails, which we will use to end a 10km loop of the local Blacca Moor, which is another Peaks “must do”. That should see us finish at lunchtime, on the Bank Holiday Monday.

If you are planning on coming, please register either on the Facebook group event or by sending an email to adrian@swindonmtbenthusiasts.co.uk – just so we know to keep an eye out for you before setting off anywhere.

Categories: Events Rides Scenic Rides Tags: Away Trips Events MTB Peak District Peaks Rides

Jun

Sun

Cotswolds Scenic @ The Carpenter's Arms, Miserden

Tickets

Jun 9 @ 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Although we go south of Swindon lots, we’ve not yet done a trip to the north, so lets change that!

Starting in the village of Miserden, just north of Cirencester, we will do a 21km lap of some fantastic scenery and riding. This is one of my scenic series of rides, so the views are driving the route, but there will be some great descents as well.

Although it’s relatively short, some of the climbs are on the steep side (but total climbing for the ride is still only around 500m), so we will be taking our time on the ups.

We will start and finish at the Carpenter’s Arms in Miserden. It’s a great pub with excellent post ride sustenance and even a sweet shop inside.

Helmets are compulsory as always and please bring enough water and food for the ride.

Categories: Events Rides Scenic Rides Tags: Cotswolds Events MTB Rides Scenic Scenic Rides

Jun

Fri

Golfing Hole Social @ The Golfing Hole

Tickets

Jun 21 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

This is our first Summer social event !!!!
We will be swapping handle bars for golf clubs for a fun night of 18 holes and a few drinks.

This event is open to adults only. Partners and friends are welcome, so ask around and get them to come along and join in the fun!

If we have 10 or more coming the cost is £6.50 each for golf.
We can get pizza at a 10% discount as well.
There is also a bar for you to buy your own drinks.

Let me know as soon as possible if you would like to come so I can book it all up.

Categories: Events Social Events

Jun

Sat

GetintoMTB – Part 2 Swinley Forest

Tickets

Jun 22 @ 10:00 am – 1:30 pm

The next stop on Mandy’s Get (Back) Into Mountain Biking series will take us to Swinley. It’s a step up from Ashton Court with a longer trail, more climbing and steeper descents, but it’s a great place to get used to riding at a trail centre and everything we do will be suitable for novice riders.

We’ll start with a lap of the green trail to get everyone warmed up and then do a lap of blue. The blue trail is 9km (5.5 miles) with some moderate climbs, berms, and fun descents. We will take it at a pace to suit the group and stop to look at each section before we ride it. Adrian will be on hand again to offer coaching advice.

The car park at Swinley gets very busy so please arrive in plenty of time. We will meet at The Bike Hub ready to ride at 10am.

Parking is £2 for 4 hours or £4 all day. There is a cafe, toilets, and bike hire facilities.

Helmets are compulsory.

Categories: Events getintoMTB Rides Tags: Events GetIntoMTB MTB Rides

Jul

Sun

Lydiard Park Family Picnic @ Lydiard Park

Tickets

Jul 14 @ 11:00 am – 3:00 pm

We would like to invite everyone and their families to celebrate the start of the summer.

We will meet at the children’s play area at 11am, find a good picnic spot nearby and enjoy some family time, playing games such as rounders, football, frisbee and anything else we can find in the shed!!!! We will be close to the play area, cafe, toilets and most importantly the ice cream parlour!!!

Bringing bikes is optional. We will be there to take small groups around the outside of the park, if required.

Most importantly we want everyone to come together to have some family fun.
Don’t forget to bring a picnic and a picnic blanket and/or chairs to sit on.

Categories: Events Family Rides Social Events Tags: Events Lydiard Park MTB Social Social Events

Jul

Fri

Ladies Exmoor Adventure @ Porlock

Tickets

Jul 19 @ 7:00 pm – Jul 21 @ 4:00 pm

This year’s ladies away trip sees us heading to Exmoor for a fun weekend of fantastic views, great riding and bags of fun!

We will be based in the town of Porlock, near Minehead and we will head down there after work on the Friday, where most of us will be setting up camp at Sparkhayes campsite (details further down). For those that don’t wish to camp, there are a variety of B&Bs and pubs to stay in – comment below if you want that option and I can suggest some places for you.

Friday night we will be getting settled in and have a few welcome drinks in one of the excellent local pubs.

Saturday is the big ride – our Seaside big one! Don’t worry, it’s not huge, 28km in fact, but with a fair bit of climbing that will gives us some amazing views of the sea and surrounding hills. We head out up Bossington Hill, which you can see from the campsite, before taking the ridge to Bratton. The return takes us via Selworth Combe, after which there will be an opportunity to visit the fantastic tea rooms at Horner and we will finish at Porlock Weir for a drink by the seaside.

Sunday we have two shorter rides on offer. The first is our Dunkery Dabble. Just under 10km, it does have a couple of steep bits in it, but we will take these at a gentle pace. The rewards though are some amazing views back towards the sea and some really fun descents in an idillic setting, complete with optional water crossings!

After this ride we will stop at the Horner tea rooms for a spot of lunch. If anyone needs to head back early, they can at this point, or stay on for the afternoon ride. This will be a quick 15km route from Horner out to the woods of Wootton Common and back. The way out and back are relatively flat, with the bulk of the climb at Wootton Common itself – a great way to finish a great weekend of riding.

All of these rides will be rides will be led by myself, supported by other ride leaders from the club, who are also first aid trained.

For more information about accommodation or anything else on the weekend, send an email to admin@swindonmtbenthusiasts.co.uk .

Sparkhayes campsite costs £9 a night per person and has good facilities (real showers and toilets, even a fridge).

Please email if you want to camp at Sparkhayes, as I will be doing a group booking with all the tents together.

Let me know if you don’t have a tent and want to camp, as a few of us have big tents with spare rooms in them.

There are plenty of food options in the town and we will probably eat out both nights, but it’s entirely up to you.

It will be a fun weekend and can’t wait to see you all.

Categories: Events Ladies Rides Rides Tags: Events Ladies Ladies Rides Rides SMTBE

Aug

Sat

MTB-Marathon – Hope Valley @ Hope Valley College

Tickets

Aug 31 @ 10:00 am – Sep 1 @ 6:00 pm

We did the MTB-Marathon in Hope last year and loved it. The whole series are brilliant events, incredibly well organised and supported with fabulous routes too. And free camping as well!
So we’re going to do this excellent final round in the amazing Peak District in 2019.
Although the main event is on the Sunday, there are also a Ladies Ride on the Saturday morning and a night marathon on the Saturday night, which has a choice of distances and light hire available from Exposure Lights.
On the Sunday 3 distances are available – Mini (25km), Half (45km) and Full (65km!). Bear in mind it’s in the Peak District, and the hills are big too, as well as the distance!
We’ve got members booked on the Half, but all routes start out together.

Full details here:
https://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/1st-2nd-september-2018-hope-valley-peak-district.html

Categories: Events Ladies Rides Rides Tags: Events Hope MTB-Marathon Peak District Rides

May – August 2019 May – Aug 2019

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