Ali C

Another two experiments drawing my old cat, I'm fairly happy with them but I need more practice

Random cat I drew (he's meant to be smirking) and coloured in with pens on tracing paper as an experiment

no

depends how much you like your bike feeling like a wheelbarrow really

I feel pretty lucky my second hand saints have lasted 3 years now

The way Euan does them is really quite odd, he does them opposite in a weird combination between trials technique and bmx technique. Basically there's two ways of doing a footjam whip......The Trials way which uses the front brake and is generally easier or the BMX way which can be done with or without a front brake but is a little harder. The advantage to the trials way is that it's easy to pick up and most people can get them dialled pretty quickly, the down side is that it's not as versatile (not really as much use for throwing in at the top of a ramp for example), it can't be done brakeless and can look a bit clunky. The advantage of the BMX way is that it can be used in more places, doesn't rely on brakes and looks a bit more flowing (especially if you catch the pedals after lifting the front wheel off the floor), the downside is that it's harder to learn. I'd highly recommend taking the extra time to learn the BMX way, it may seem tempting to take the shortcut and do it the trials way but you may hurt your riding in the long run. There's not a lot of decent footjam whip tutorials but check this one out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdWBGoVEkqs

grabbed up 200 Pro Markers on ebay and a tattoo inspired colouring in book, I love them both! I made this with them today.

Big old bump cos I'm bored plus I'd like to introduce my other half for the last year, Jane. She's a biomedical scientist but is also a top trained remedial therapist and personal trainer (minus the ego though), she was a guitarist in a death metal band and is a decent pole and belly dancer she's got a massive brain and she can fit her fist in her mouth.

that's not a monty, either a handsome dog or an Onza T bird I think. On second thoughts, the bash system isn't like the onza, I'm more thinking handsome dog now.

I can't believe how well they can catch a manual!

sweet stuff! You've always had a cool way of riding, I'd like more videos please!!

having your seat pointing nose down just looks so bad, it's like doing this to your car...

please don't

f**king flu

Don't bother with braces unless you've had an injury and have weak muscles. Wearing a brace will do the work normal healthy muscles would normally do, the muscles would weaken if they are not being used meaning you'll eventually become reliant on using the brace and give a higher chance of injury when you decide to stop using it. As has been said, get the muscles strong for less chance of injuries. my safety equipment is usually just a helmet, I'll use gloves if its cold or if I'm sweating and occasionally a shinpad if I'm trying tailwhips.

Pretty sure slx crank arms are lighter than xt, xt cranks come with lighter chainrings to end up with slightly lighter chainset weight. I have no issues with strength but I imagine these cranks would suffer more if you dropped the bike on it's side from height onto the pedal

That sucks Luke I've had an interesting family development which ended with me spending Christmas Day sat in my room not speaking to my parents. Today I am bored out of my mind, I just really want to drive home

what's going on with that sky? It's a funny colour.

That sucks, I had a Lisfranc fracture a few years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWwFBFO9r4g but fortunately I didn't need any surgery. That still took a while to recover from, nearly a year to get pain free and riding good again, just be patient and take the advice youre given (I was a bit lazy with my physio).

wish I had a Tech 3 lever

It does have that, it's not noticeably more than the M810 though. One thing I hated about the M810 lever was the lack of a split bar clamp, I hate lock on grips and it was a pain in the arse taking my grips off if I wanted to bleed the brakes or take them off for travelling or whatever. 180s will be enough for all but the most harsh moves when you're really hanging off the bike.

I totally know what you mean about the looks....when the lever body is longer than the lever blade it's not a good look! It's slowly growing on me though but I'll always have a soft spot for a vertical lay out (Magura MT2 being my fave lever design looks wise). My brake is really really good though!

just to annoy you, I've built up an old saint calliper with a new saint lever and it's noticeably more powerful

They were cool on my brakeless bike, gave it more of a BMX feel. I wouldn't use one for trialsy use though. They're not as grippy as a conti, they're pretty narrow and pretty heavy.

Good stuff Scott, looked like a good event and your riding is looking strong