- Okay welcome to ask GMB this is the bit where we get
to answer all of your mountain bike related questions.
Don't forget to send yours in,
the address is on the screen there.
Or you can comment below,
and just let us know what you've got to say.
- Yeah, right, I'm going to get you
into a very technical question straight away,
Doddy, this is perfect for you.
I'm going to test you today.
This one's from Axle Sid, now, to summarise what he wants
to do is buy a 140 mil fork to go
with a 140 mil frame that he hasn't got yet.
- His current frame is running a 120 fork.
- Right, I see his dilemma.
- He wants to get his axle stem geometry right,
so is there a 140 fork that he can reduce down
to 120 so it will work on his next bike?
- Yeah, all right, there's a couple
of ways that this can happen.
So firstly, you could just lower your stem height
or lower the bars by spacers.
- Yes.
- Just keep it as low as possible,
and then when you're ready you can upgrade
the frame and swap it straight over.
- Yeah.
- Or on some forks you can lower the travel internally.
So depending on the year of the fork,
like the most modern forks you tend
to have to buy a new air tube,
which is a rod for the inside to do that.
But pre-2016 model forks, a lot
of them you could just fit little spacers in
to drop them 10 millimetres at a time.
So dependent on what you get you can do that.
If you aren't sure, look on the manufacturer,
I'm assuming FOX, or RockShox, or one
of the big manufacturers you're looking at.
They have a chart and it tells you
what compatibility it is to do that.
- Nice, covered I think, covered.
- Kind of. - Kind of, kind of.
I like the first option though I've got
to be honest, that sounded really simple.
- Yeah, it's nice and simple.
- [Both] Yeah.
- Okay, next question is from Simon Wirtz.
Right, now I'm with Simon on this,
but we've got you, we've got you on this.
- (laughs) Okay.
- Okay, why does some 29ers and 650B versions
of the same bike not have the same chainring?
Because Simon's worked out there's
about a six percent difference so why don't they compensate?
Because the wheel sizes change the gearing, effectively.
- Well, some of the more forward-thinking
manufacturers actually already do that.
- Oh.
- So we're (mumbles) off at a 27-and-a-half-inch wheel,
they'll offer say a 32 or a 34 tooth chainring.
And they'll, generally, step down a couple
of teeth on the 29-inch equivalent.
They don't all do that, mind, but I think you're going
to see more manufacturers doing that
because 29-inch popularity is at an all-time high.
- Okay, Simon, we could take that as a loss,
but what I think we'll do is we'll except
that we were thinking along with the curve
of the very up-to-date manufacturers.
Anyway, next question is from Max,
and he wants to get into mountain biking.
He wants to get something like a dirt jump bike
because he's coming from a BMX background.
He's used to a nice short top tube.
- Yeah.
- So, you know, what bike would you suggest?
- I think I've got a good one, I know
what I'd go with, what would you suggest?
Well, it sounds like he needs some sort of slopestyle bike.
- Slopestyle, yeah.
- Which is what Blake likes riding, so it's kind
of like a full-suspension dirt jump bike if you imagine.
- Yeah.
- Really good fun to ride, but they are a little limited
for like day-to-day riding because of the size.
- Yeah, yeah.
- But if that's your thing, it could be--
(simultaneous speaking)
- You are on a dirt jump geometry,
but it has got the full suspension capability.
So it could be super fun, on some it can be a bit rough.
But take a look at it here, Blake had a look
at one recently, see what you think.
- Some of you have been asking me this question,
what is a slopestyle bike all about?
Some say it's a dirt jump bike,
you're kind of a little bit wrong.
This bike has front suspension and rear suspension.
Basically, at just a 26", no 29", no 27.5"
or 24" in this category, just 26.
- Okay, TomTom Edits says, he's 11 years old.
Recently bought an entry level hardtail.
He's loving it, but he's wondering
what kit he needs to get going even more.
Right now he's using just normal clothes,
a pair of football gloves, and a cross country helmet.
- Okay, well, I'd probably say get some riding shorts
and technical shorts because when you get wet,
and muddy, and stuff they're easier to clean,
a bit more comfortable to wear.
- Yeah.
- A pair of decent, solid shoes is always a good idea.
You don't necessarily have to have cycling shoes,
they could be a decent pair of skate shoes,
they're quite tough and you can get more use out of them.
- Yeah.
- For some, it's not a bad idea if you want
to start looking at all red and more advanced trails,
but don't think you have to just buy a downhill based helmet
you can buy one of those convertible ones
that you get a trail helmet with a clip-on jaw guard.
That's a great way to save money as well.
(simultaneous speaking)
- An enduro lid, I guess they've
become kind of an enduro.
- They're kind of focused on that sort of riding, yeah.
But as we all know the enduro riders
that ride well-champed under tracks as well.
- Absolutely, you know what I'd suggest getting?
Definitely agree with the shoes,
that can make a massive difference to your riding.
But I suggest trying on a pair of goggles
because once you get going fast and you wear goggles,
you wonder how you ever did it without them.
- Yeah, goggles are fairly cheap as well.
- Or riding glasses, so if you have something covering
your eyes you whip down the trail
so much quicker with such, such better vision.
It makes a huge difference to your riding.
- And don't forget some knee pads.
- Yeah, absolutely, pads goes without saying.
- Yeah, make sure you get the ones
that are comfortable for you as well.
You get the bigger, bulkier ones for more hardcore riding,
or the ones that are slimmer for using more often.
- Yeah, yeah.
- If you're going to use them more, that's the ones to use.
- Those light ones are incredible, aren't they?
You can just pedal in them all day long.
I remember, it used to going out for a cross country ride
in knee pads used to just be like insane.
Yeah, you couldn't do it.
Finn Lawley's got a great question.
He just wants to know some tips
and tricks to make his gap jump bigger.
There's a stepdown at his local bike park.
He keeps trying to get the guts up
to do it, and then stops last minute.
His mate's doing it, and he feels like he's just there,
what can he do to practise and get his confidence up?
- Well, the way I've always ridden is sort
of gauge myself against a friend.
- Yeah.
- So whether your mate's better than you
or equal level, use it a bit to gauge
if you can do it judging by what he does.
- Yeah absolutely, I mean, a good way to do
that I'd suggest putting like a plank or a brick
in a closed car park, some nice flat space.
And just use that kicker as your takeoff.
Ride towards it at different speeds,
and just see how fast you far you can gap with that speed.
You'll be really surprised at how far you do go.
And if you do what Doddy said,
actually, do it with your mate.
- Get him to train you in.
- Yeah, train you into it.
You'll see, actually, I'm getting the same distance.
I can do this. - I can do it.
All you're gonna need to get the confidence up
is one little sign that brings your confidence level up
and you think, I've got it.
And you'll be in there, and you'll have it done no problem.
And if you do do it, I'd love
to see some video of it,
that would be great. - Yes, film it.
- Rootin Tootin Putin. - Oh, good name. (laughs)
- (laughs) Says he's getting back into mountain biking
after 20 years or so away from riding.
- Good, good.
- He used to ride hardtails and North Shore in the '90s.
His son is an avid mountain biker, 12 years old,
rides Crabapple Hits at Whistler.
- There's a lot of them. (laughs)
- So he's one of those little kids who's amazing.
Dad's thinking about his bike,
so he can try and keep up with his son.
- (exhales)
- At the moment, he's considering an Evil Wreckoning.
He's six foot two, so he's a big old dude.
- Yes, that's a pretty big bike.
Those things go like a train.
- Yeah.
- Don't be letting a false sense of security, though,
because a bike like that is not going
to get you over Crabapple Hits following your son.
- No, no. - No.
Not when he is going to be as he already
is by the sound of it.
- Yeah.
- But yeah, that's a great bike.
- Great bike, and I would suggest, maybe, if your son's
that good already, maybe don't try and keep up.
- (laughs) - That's just my suggestion,
maybe don't try and just enjoy yourself.
- Or if you do, make sure he films it.
- (laughs) Yes, have a story.
- You never know you could end up somewhere else.
(laughing)
- Okay, and you know what, riding
when you're coming back into the sport is difficult.
It's important to get your confidence up.
So let's take a look at this video
about getting comfortable and confident on your riding.
- Feeling good on your bike and feeling comfortable
often comes down to confidence.
- Yeah, and if you've lost your mojo,
you've had a massive crash,
or you're just not that confident on the trail,
these four tips are definitely
gonna help you get that all back.
(rhythmic rock music)
- Next question is from John Truslow who says,
"What is the advantages of riding plus tyres
"on a hardtail, and what do you guys ride?"
- More traction, the more comfort really is the advantage.
It kind of depends on how you like to ride.
But to take advantage of those tyres you've got
to run them at really low pressure.
- Yeah.
- Whilst that's great, it might not appeal to you
with what you'd like on a bike, personally,
I'm not too keen on the fit of a plus tyre
because I like to feel the terrain a bit more.
- Yeah.
- Even with a suspension bike you can feel
the terrain more without a plus tyre.
- I'm not over-convinced on it,
I think you get an awful lot of pop out of the corner,
which doesn't necessarily feel
like something you can control that much.
And I think to do that well you've got
to really trust in the tyre.
You've got to have a really serious level of skill
to really use it to any kind
of advantage, even though you have got
that bigger contact patch on the ground.
I do like the idea of a hardtail fat bike though,
just going completely far out.
- All the way.
- Neil style, Neil style fat bike.
But yeah, you know, they're not my favourite thing
in the world, though, I do like a plus (mumbles).
- And they're also without talking
about them too much, they're excellent for E-bikes.
- Oh yeah.
- For the traction thing because you don't have
to worry about the drag and the other things you have.
- Yeah, that's a good point, good point.
- Right, here's a really great one.
"My rear wheel keeps coming loose, it's fully tightened."
But he can't figure out how to stop it.
- Well, there's a number of things here.
Is it quick-release, is it an axle?
Is the axle broken, is the quick-release broken?
- I think it must be quick-release, right?
I'm presuming it's quick-release,
so I've got a really great solution to it.
If it's quick-release, tighten it against the chainstay,
then elastic band around the chainstay
and the quick-release itself, I bet you that'll solve it.
That is a hack and a bodge right there.
I'm famous for those, I'm famous for those.
Honestly, he's speechless, he's speechless.
Now, while he's speechless, let me send you
to even more of my hacks and bodges genius
in this little video I made a little while back.
You're going to be impressed, Doddy.
- Welcome to my top three hacks
and bodges that'll cost you next to nothing.
The first one's gonna help you out on the trail.
Next, we're gonna protect your chainstay
from your nasty chain, and lastly,
we're going to attack this with this to upgrade your bike.
(loud banging) (yelling)
(microphone feedback drowns out words)
Ready, Doddy? - Yeah, I think so.
I'm gonna go fast, that was loud wasn't it?
- It was, yeah. - Daniel George says,
"How often must I lubricate my chain, Doddy?"
- Ideally, every ride depending on how dry your chain is.
- Good answer, simple.
Ty Workman, "Why is there a no hats rule
"in the dirt shed bike vault?"
- Did your mother never tell you
it's bad manners to wear a hat indoors?
- Yeah, but you're in, I don't get it either.
- It's indoors.
- Susan Felts, "Can Blake do a cork 720?"
He can but he can't do a non-corked 720.
- Oh, really? (laughs)
- Yeah, it's the way it goes.
And he can only go to the left, can't go right.
So he's right foot forward,
he's all twisted up and messed up.
Diluted UK says, "Is it fair that Dan Atherton gets
"to ride Hardline competitively
"when he's actually designed the course?"
- Absolutely, I think that's almost irrelevant,
you see how hard that course looked.
- Dan got what, second place, and you could see even his run
he was, in some of the places, nearly off the bike.
- Yeah, absolutely, and at World Cups there's loads
of riders that practise at a certain course,
whether it be cross country or downhill.
They've got home advantage.
This is just very home advantage.
- Yeah, it's fine. - Yeah, it's fine.
He did do well, though, didn't he?
- He did.
- (laughs) Second or third, or something.
Chris Gilbert, "If you had a budget of 500 pounds,
"what forks would you go for and that are still 26?"
(laughs) - To be fair any of them.
- Any of them. - You can at the moment.
- Any of them because you can get them all for about 200.
- Yeah. (laughs) (laughing)
- Neil Taylor says, "Doddy, what make
and model is your watch? Looks rad," and he wants one.
Well, I don't know if they make them anymore.
It's a really old Oakley watch.
- It's worth about 15 million pounds.
- It's like a Timebomb or something weird like that.
I don't know. - Yeah, very nice.
How did you get that?
- I kind of got it when my friend--
(simultaneous speaking)
- There are not many of them around.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Mark Papke says, "Can you do a bike check
"on Blake's Sender?" Yes.
EscoM CCGO (laughs) catchy, "What do you think
"about the fact that ABS brakes
"are coming to mountain bikes?"
- Not much.
- I had no idea they were.
- Yeah, well you can see with heavy bikes and stuff.
They've kind of been there, done that before actually.
(mumbles) had a little cam wheel on it.
- Right, okay.
- And the brake so it modulates the pads.
- I'm not keen.
- I don't think we need them to be honest.
- Yeah, it sounds like, are we talking
about the non-skid factor, I mean, what, that's crazy.
- Why wouldn't you want that, you want to skid.
- Bradley Michelmore says, "Should I get a dual crown fork?
"I'll be doing trail and downhill riding
"with a bit of climbing?"
- I don't think you need a dual crown fork for that.
- No, you're talking near triple crown--
- If you consider you can get up to 180 while travelling
on a single crown fork, you don't need that excess weight.
- I don't think you need it.
Thewy Mallard says, "Can you guys do more videos
"on fat bikes?" Not me, personally.
- No, but I'd actually quite like
to go do something somewhere extremely cold,
so maybe that's the right bike to ride.
- Maybe that's the solution, yeah.
And asking Neil to do a video not on fat bikes
is actually, it's the other way around.
You'll say, "Neil, could you do a video,
"maybe not on a fat bike today?"
I would like to do a fat bike video though I would secretly.
Oh, the camera's still on,
turn that off, turn that thing off.
My favourite bit of Ask GMBN is Correct Me if I'm Wrong,
it's the bit where you send us a little bit
of video footage and say, "Could I have done that better,
"any points, improvements, love looking at them.
- Let's have a look.
- Liam, now, Liam's done well right
at the start, Liam GMBN is his name.
- What a name.
- Brilliant. Just wondering if there's anything
that would be improvement on this stair gap that he's done.
- I think I've heard of them.
- This is pretty good, check this out, Doddy.
- Oh, a nice double set.
- Yeah, coming in fast, oh, going slow-mo.
It's quite a big gap in between the two actually.
- Yeah, it's quite good.
- He's going. - Nice hop.
- Yeah, yeah, nice.
- Just tagged that back wheel.
- Just tapped it, just tapped it.
So I would say, to start off with.
- Nice bike, yeah.
- I'd say, yeah, lovely bike.
He's just tagged that step, he's just cased it a little bit.
So he could've gone a bit quicker, but what do you think?
- It's quite a small set, and then second set.
- It's a small set, so one way I would like at that set,
and I do love a bit of street,
is to come in with a bit of turn on it.
And as you take off, just try and imagine going
from one side of the steps to the other.
But then, as you go in to land straighten it out.
- To sort of lengthen the landing a bit.
- It just lengthens the landing.
It means you get a shorter entry point into the landing.
And you can smooth it out, and it can look super cool.
Any suggestions, Doddy?
- Or another option, you could maybe hop the rail
into the grass, but I think that's a bit more.
- (laughs) I like that actually.
(speaking simultaneously)
- There's a nice gap there, you could try
and get through that gap too.
- Oh, I wouldn't fancy that.
Or even another one, go a touch quicker
and see if you can manual land on
that other set as well, that'd be quite cool.
- Yeah, hop to manual on the last set.
- You've got some cool style, I think that looks good.
- Basically, you are on the perfect trajectory
to having a lot of fun, you've started right.
It's looking good already, bar an inch or so, good job dude.
- Good name too.
- Yeah, love it, thanks for sending that in.
Please, send us your video if you want to get corrected
if you were a little bit wrong, or maybe even right.
If you've enjoyed this, then thanks very much.
Make sure you leave us some questions for next week.
I'm now going to throw you to a video
that I'm very, very proud of.
It's me riding in Whistler, it was one
of the greatest trips of my life, I loved it.
And I think we made a pretty cool video, so check it out.
- Do you know what?
I feel like I should throw to the same thing.
- Yeah, because we had a good time.
- If you haven't seen it, you really need
to the see that video, but if not,
and you've got nothing else to watch,
maybe, you should watch Blake
and his nine mates have a good holiday.
Click down here, that's a really cool video as well.
Make sure you subscribe, and don't forget
to give us a thumbs up.
- Oh, yeah.
- Cheers lads and lasses.