Transition Scout: 10 days and counting till it gets a bit Ginger

10 days to go. TEN days to go. Spank me with a haddock it’s only ten tiny days to go!

Ahem. Can you tell I’m a bit excited? Maybe.

Anyway, yes, next week the TFIT massive are off once again to the Alps for some concentrated shenanigans of the two-wheeled variety and I’m very pleased to report that my Transition Scout has been lovingly prepped, polished and fettled to within an inch of it’s life.

Aside from the Hope V4 brakes I fitted earlier this year (which I am massively loving), the latest pre-Alpine fettlage has been a bit left field but the first impressions are really good – it’s all gone a bit oval down in the Surrey Hills for me.

Yep, I’m trying out a 34 tooth oval AbsoluteBlack RaceFace chainring which is… is… well, it’s a total punt to be honest. As a potential upgrade, an oval chaining was about as far off my radar of “things to do to my bike” as it possible. I mean round is good. Round is normal. Round.. is round!

BUT, following on from a lengthy chat (we love a LBC) with Matt down at MB Cyclery as to the potential merits (and pitfalls to be fair) of an oval chainring, I’ve taken the plunge. I’m gonna give it a bit more time before I draw my absolute conclusion but I have to say – my overall impression so far is very positive. Does it feel weird? No. Do you notice the action? No (unless you look at it). Does it help you get a bit more power down? Well, yes, I think it does. The other benefit I guess it that I’ve gone up from a 32t to a 34t with no noticeable difference.

I’m also talking a set of 3 spokes per side per wheel for my Hope Techs this year. As per normal I’m hoping not to need them but previous form tells me that at some point over our trip I’ll have an argument with a “marble” or two and I want to be able to attempt a repair without having to bail and go find a bike shop.

Aside from that I’ve finally installed my now tyre related “weapons of choice”, namely Specialized Butcher and Purgatory Grids (thanks Andy T) front and back respectively. These are now my standard Alpine tyres of choice, being super grippy in the dust.

Oh yeah. AND I’ve been buying GoPro mounts. I and my bike are a one-man camera rig. Clearly this appeals to my inner narcissist but my logic is sound I promise. Come August I am determined not to be watching only endless “Chest-cam” and “rear helmet-cam” footage on a permanent loop.

So we now have:

• Parrot Bebop 2 (new frame, repaired and ready to rock)
• Chestcam (naturally)
• Bell Super 2r Top Helmet Cam forwards and backwards
• Bell Super 2r Side Helmet Cam
• Ass Cam (courtesy of a kEdge seatr rail)
• Big Bar / Fork Cam (with an oversized GoPro mount)
• And, Narwhal cam. Or as I like to call it, “idiot who has zip tied a selfie stick to his helmet” cam.

Fork Mount

Idiot Narwhal Mount

Improvised Helmet Side mount

Ass Cam mount

Trusty Parrot Bebop

AbsoluteBlack RaceFace Oval

Gingery Riding Gear

Not so AbsoluteBlack when fitted!

Too soon to start packing? Nah, definitely not.

30 something

No, definitely not a reference to my age. No, that ship sailed well over a decade ago.

But it is definitely a reference to the 30 something days until we have wheels down in our two centre La Plagne / Les Arcs “Gingerbread Tour” 2018.

I’ve been (mostly) quiet on this year’s tour to date – guilty as charged. You can blame either GDPR or laziness, take your pick as both are to blame as excuses.

However I thought I should remedy that, put finger to keyboard and post a nugget of interweb goodness, because, well, just because I can!

Kudos to Thomas SOCQUET-CLERC for sharing the love including Shoshone, Blue Tomato and Redskins

Getting all gingery

One of the advantages of my job (computerery related shenanigans) is every now and then I get to play with a bit of software or service that is, well, a bit cool.

And so it was recently that I’ve been playing with Apple Motion, a “Final Cut Pro-esque” thing for creating effects (specifically motion graphics). Of course, when playing with said offering from Apple I immediately seized the opportunity and threw together a video based on last year’s Alpine adventure using a template from VideoHive.

Seeing as this is a blog about MTB I am no gonna review the software or service here – suffice to say if a buffoon like me can use it, anyone can.

However to mark less than 50 days until wheels down for the “Gingerbread Tour” I thought I’d post the video here.

 

The Secret is Out

So the best kept secret in Mountain Biking for 2018 is officially out.

The best decisions are often made in haste, you know, no time to think. No analysis. No chin stroking. No faffing. There you go – bosh. And so it was, while David D (who has been sporting a Gingerbread man on the back of his Bell for nigh on two years now) was on yet another foreign adventure, in the pre-ride TFIT preamble this year’s trip was duly named.

And so it is with great pleasure I would like to share yet another bit of Mr F’s superb creativity in announcing “The TFIT Gingerbread Tour of 2018” artwork – supplies are limited – first come first served!

Am also very glad to see this year’s logo is 100% less “meat and two veg” than last years…

Well done Steve … that’ll be 169 days then.