For more information visit Marin's Web Site Below.

I got this replacement from Red Kite cycles in Solihull

A shall keep this page updated with any interesting developments, such as; competitions, good routes i try out and generally anything i find out about the bike good or bad.

Where Do I Ride

Currently i am trying to get three good rides in a week, a good ride for me at the moment is 10 - 20k. The length really depends on what time i get home from work.

I ride mainly in Sutton Park which is a small recreational park area near where i live in Sutton Coldfield, a small town to the north of Birmingham. This has some reasonable mettled roads, grassy hills, and woods. There are also allot of tracks through the woods which allow me to change my route when i feel like it. Click on the map below to see my route in detail. This has now been updated

Updates

Lights

I have got my lumicycle lights, 20w spot and 20w flood, just like riding in daylight except for the fact that the park wardens close all of the barriers in the park at night. Still it makes the ride more interesting.

I would recommend these lights to anyone who wants to ride in an unlit area at night especially off road. As the flood illuminates quite a large area and the spot really defines the track in front of your bike.

Tires

I have changed my tires to Panaracer XC Pro tires due to my current tires, Mythos XC Pro, not providing much grip on wet surfaces or broken surfaces with rocks and gravel.

My local shop Red Kite cycles had them on offer for 14.99 instead of 24.99. Well i have had several rides now with these new tires and they are much better than the IRC Mythos XC's that came with the bike. Lots more grip especially over rocks and loose trails.

Well winter is now only a month or so away so i decided to replace my Panaracers with some wider tires for the Winter and then put them back on in the Summer.

I got a rather good deal on some Tioga Factory DH 2.3's, i wouldn't normally have brought these but as they were £25 for a pair i really couldn't say no. They are enourmous like tractor tires but they work really well and don't seem to slow me down so i guess they were a good buy.

Brakes

I was looking to buy a set of Magura HS33 hydrolic rim brakes. However the bike shop saidi should go for a front disc instead as it would work better in the wet and mud. I have now had a Hope C2 fitted on the front the front, as the DH4 won't fit my Manitou Xvert R front forks. If this works out well i may get a disc for the back as well.

This brake is still bedding in and is better than the V brake it replaced. No squealing , works in the wet and the mud and most importantly of all stops really well. I now have the same wheel and disc on the back. I had Hope Sport hubs built onto Mavic D321 Rims.

Headset

I had a ticking noise investigated and have been told that some water had gotten into my headset and the bottom bearing had corroded and broken. So i now need a new headset, i have orderd a Chris King headset which i should have fitted soon. The Importers were having trouble getting the Chris King headset in so i had a Ringle Slamma Jamma fitted instead, works really well.