Leisure Lakes MTB Demo Weekend Cannock

Leisure Lakes MTB Demo Weekend Cannock

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Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Thursday 4th February 2016
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http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/demo-weekend-2016

Is there potential for a midlands PH MTB meet here? It is the 19th and 20th March. I went last year and it was a good day out.

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Thursday 4th February 2016
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WestyCarl said:
wavey I've got a ticket for Sat. Not been before so no idea what to expect.
I'm also in for Saturday. It was good last year, the loop was FTD from Takeroo to the end for FTD, then up the fire road back to the campsite.

Edited by Craikeybaby on Thursday 4th February 17:13

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Tuesday 9th February 2016
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I had 3, but turned up late and waited around for a particular bike I was interested in. I know other people had more.

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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That is the FTD part of the loop, but then you turn left up the fire road back to Tackeroo. There was somebody at the end of the rollers making sure people turned left, rather than doing the full loop.

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Friday 18th March 2016
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Looking orward to this tomorrow.

Woody/WestyCarl - are you still going?

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Friday 18th March 2016
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FD3Si said:
Is it usually super super busy?
Only ask as I'm thinking of going up to Cannock this weekend but not as part of this! Just to ride FTD with a mate.
It will be busier than normal from Tackeroo to the end of FTD.

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Friday 18th March 2016
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WestyCarl said:
Craikeybaby said:
Looking orward to this tomorrow.

Woody/WestyCarl - are you still going?
Yup, planning to be at the coffee / cake van @09:30 biggrin
I like to think I'll be there that early, but doubt it. My BMW is borked, so will be in my MR2, so killing two birds with stone and getting my weekend hoon in.

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Sunday 20th March 2016
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The PH meet didn't really happen, I arrived late and Carl left early, but I had a good day despite not being able to test any of the bikes on my list.

My late arrival was partly caused by a peloton of blind cyclists, complete with lead and tail vans, on a twisty B road with no chance to overtake. When I eventually got to Cannock I went straight to the Orange stand, hoping to try a Four, along with everyone else. When I got the front of the queue all they had in my size was a Crush, keen to get out I took it for a spin. I enjoyed the bike and seemed to get a lot of PRs on Strava, although looking at the trace when I got home it seemed a bit fishy, skipping a few sections out. Dropping the Crush back I clocked a nice looking P7, which I didn't realise Orange had brought back.

The next bike I wanted to try was a fat bike, I'd noticed Cube had some, but the person in front of me took the last one out. Gutted. I settled for a Stereo 140 Race, which is a potential next bike. The spec was good, full XT 2 x11 and a dropper post - my next bike will have one of those! This being only the second time I've ridden a full suss bike, it was a lot smoother than the hardtails, especially on braking bumps. There was one section, into and out of a dip where the Cube was the only bike I didn't lose traction on and made it up the other side. The bad point was all the pedal strikes, I was on slightly chunky DMR V8 pedals, but the pedals were striking way too often. I didn't notice strikes with the other bikes.

Before my third ride I picked up some MucOff freebies and some Five Ten Freerider Contacts to test, which were noticeably lighter than my Impacts, it almost felt like I was wearing slippers. I headed back to Orange to try my luck getting a Four, but settled on the P7 I'd spied earlier. Not having ridden a steel framed bike before, it was interesting to test one with almost the same geometry as the Crush I'd ridden earlier. The spec on the P7 was better though, SRAM 1x11 with Pikes and a dropper post. The SRAM shifter took some getting used to, but not enough that I'd rule out a bike because it had SRAM. The P7 felt more fun than the Crush and even had me thinking that an expensive hardtail would be a better bet than a cheap full suss for my next bike. It was also the only bike I took a picture of:

Orange P7 by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

The event seemed better organised than last year, especially signing on. The route was better too, with less fire road, although the long rooty section was particularly energy sapping.

I'm not any clearer on what my next bike should be an I didn't intend on writing that much, but it was a fun day out. We should organise a PH ride at Cannock for later in the year too.

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Monday 21st March 2016
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No bike was needed! My BMW is broken, so I couldn't get my bike up there. There were plenty of bikes to test.

How about 23rd or 24th April for a PH ride at Cannock?

Craikeybaby

Original Poster:

10,421 posts

226 months

Monday 18th April 2016
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I'm on DIY duty this weekend, so no chance of popping up to Cannock.