- Welcome to this week's Ask GMBN!
We have some fantastic questions
so without hesitation I'm gonna dive right into them
so you can get yourself some answers.
First question is from James B.
And he wants to know is my wheelchair tubeless
and if not, could we do a video
all about turning it tubeless?
Well you know what, I think,
my wheelchair isn't tubeless,
I think I could take it tubeless
I don't think there's anything to stop me doing that,
but, I need to get Doddy on this.
Mr. Tech himself, I'm gonna speak to him
and I think we should do that video
and then my wheelchair will be
totally sick and I'll be set up.
So, great question, could work out very well for me.
So, thanks for that one James.
Brandon Austin, he says how do I find entry-level
enduro races and know that I'm good enough?
Good question, with any race series you want
to get yourself into, the only way to really find out
and its different all across the world,
is to start finding out where the communities are.
But with Enduro, there's been some changes recently.
The Enduro World Series has brought out the
Continental Enduro Series which really broadens
their races and your opportunity
to take part in those races.
Be it entry-level or top-end racing
against the best athletes in the world.
There's gonna be people at these CES races
qualifying for points for EWS,
but there's also gonna be short form options
of the courses for entry-level.
So, don't let the big-sounding
CES and EWS put you off,
go along to one of these races,
check the link in the description down below
which will take you to the EWS website
and you can find where the nearest race is to you
in the world and go and try it!
So don't be frightened about getting involved
and it's really the only way to find out
whether you're able to race or not
and I can tell you, you are.
If you can ride along on a bike, you can race and have fun.
Next question is from Rob J and it says
in Blake's recent video he said squashing jumps
helps gain distance, which is true.
The way he explained it, it made a lot of sense
although he has heard that squashing jumps
helps for overshooting if you're going too quick.
Well, if you think about it, it's the same thing actually.
Trying to get more distance,
or overshooting, is the same thing.
Squashing is gonna turn a lot of the height
you get on your jump squashing it down
means a lot of that trajectory is gonna go forwards
and your momentum and weight is gonna move
directly forwards and you're gonna get more distance.
So, squashing a jump is something you need to do
when you really wanna put it on the landing.
Okay, so if you do squash a jump
and you overshoot it you're gonna miss the landing.
But if you squash that jump at the right time
on a trail you know, you're gonna use it
to gain more speed or to create some style
and use it in a really cool way.
So make sure you use it properly
and don't overshoot your landings!
And while we're talking about jumps,
why don't we take a look at the mistakes
people always make on jumps that Blake can help us with.
- [Blake] These five tips are gonna help you.
That is relaxing, practise, the speed,
the bunny hop technique, and confidence.
All five of these are gonna help you in your jumping skills.
So let's get started.
(upbeat techno music)
- Right moving on, Rob Chambers says
Steve, who was on the show last week,
obviously loves the modern geometry
of the newer bikes, longer, lower, slacker.
But in the past he said that Neil suggested
he prefers the more old school approach
and likes the shorter bike.
Which is true, I've heard Neil say that myself.
Interesting to know the different points of view.
Right, okay I'm gonna be speaking for the other guys here.
I do know that Steve and Doddy and myself
really love the low, long slack
kind of geometry, I think it really works.
I have heard Neil say that he's not completely convinced.
He likes being up on top of that front wheel
getting a lot of grip in
and he is an out-and-out racer
Neil, he goes fast, everywhere.
So, there might be something to Neil's point of view
sayin' that he really likes that shorter bike.
It might be because he's about this tall, I don't know.
- [Jack] Sam Hill likes it.
- Yeah, Sam Hill likes it too.
That's a good point Jack actually.
There's a lot of riders out there who aren't convinced
by the longer geometry and slack head angle.
I think it comes down to personal preference.
The moment you feel comfortable
on a bike you're gonna ride it better,
you're probably gonna go faster and safer.
So I think it's personal preference.
Maybe there's no one right way, who knows.
It's possible that there's gonna be other geometry
we haven't thought of yet that's gonna come out
in the future, who knows?
I'm trying to think of what that could be.
It's probably gonna look weird, but good question.
It's a very thought provoking subject.
Next question is from Bugboy152
and I'm gonna summarise this question.
He's talking about trail etiquette.
In the U.S. it's very much frowned upon
riding on trails in wet or wintry conditions.
Bugboy, seeing our riding here in the U.K.,
often we're on wet and muddy conditions on the trails
and he's asking is the etiquette different
in the U.K. and Europe as it is to the U.S.
Well, I think to a certain extent it is a little bit.
The problem is when you're riding very dry trails
and the rain drainage and your riding combined
it really can wash a trail out in the U.S.,
and you can end up with something
that's just a disaster, it looks horrible,
it's not ride-able, got great big ruts in it.
I think we're very much used to that kind of...
weather here in the U.K. and in Europe
and the trails drain differently.
And often, it's what makes a great trail
when you've ridden it lots in the wet,
so you can find that a trail really comes to life
once it's got a bit of wet here.
So I really look forward to riding
on a trail in the winter conditions
because I think that's when you really get to know it.
So, I think it's just a different situation.
We've got different trails to you guys,
and some trails do need protection,
they do need looking after, that is a fact.
In the U.K. we don't have that so much.
Interesting though, it's funny how the riding
really changes all around the globe.
It's what makes it a great sport.
Spectac1983 says I'm six foot two,
can't seem to find shorts long enough
to keep the gap between my knee pads
and the hem covered, any recommendations?
The thigh glare when pedalling is distracting.
Aw man, that's a tricky one because you don't want
that gap there between the pads and your shorts.
What's that called Jack?
- [Jack] Pad gap.
- Pad gap, it's got other names, I'm not gonna go into them
but basically it's not a cool look.
Now I do know one tip, what you can do
is wear black Lycra leggings underneath it all
and you'll find it disappears and you can get away with it
and you won't get called out on it.
The other one is finding a long set of shorts,
that comes down to body shape really.
So it's really difficult to suggest
one particular brand, because--
- [Jack] Go to your bike shop and try some.
- Yeah, try some on, that's a good point Jack,
try some stuff on, Jack's really helping
me out this week, very appreciative.
But you know what I would say as well, right,
is that, who cares?
I'm not that big on the whole gap thing really mattering.
I know lots of people get into it,
but I don't really mind, but it's up to you.
If you wanna feel cooler and you wanna feel part of the crew
then I suggest going with the black leggings.
No one's gonna know or notice, give it a go.
And while we're talking about trends
and what you should and shouldn't do
in mountain biking, here's a look at a video Blake did
"Five Mistakes Every Mountain Biker Makes."
- [Blake] Beginner, novice, newbie,
whatever you call it, we've all been there to make mistakes.
In fact, some of us still make them all the time.
- Right, couple more questions here.
This is from Jack Beames.
He says hi I'm 15, I'm really stuck about
where to go to college, that's a difficult time,
I want to get a job in the mountain bike industry.
I would really like to know what you guys did
when we were his age.
Alright that's an interesting question.
I know that Neil went to uni,
I think Doddy really got involved in the cycling industry
through writing, he's a great cycling journalist
and back in the day when there
was mountain bike mags everywhere
he got involved with that just by pestering those guys,
"can I come and work for you", I think,
'cause he loves his mountain bike
and has done all the way from the very start of the sport.
Myself, and I think Blake's probably similar,
because we were pro riders.
We came into the sport through sponsorship.
We were getting good results
and that got us sponsored
and then the sport for us developed from there.
So there's lots of different ways there
and I think at GMBN we really reflect that,
we've got the journalism route,
we've got the racer who also did the uni
and did a great education but then you also got
the more free sport pros like me and Blake
who've come in from the more fun side.
So there's lots of ways in, I'd say,
in this industry it's all about getting involved.
Anyone in cycling loves to chat
and hangout with people who also love bikes,
that's what we all are, that's what Jack is.
- [Jack] Yeah!
- Loves it.
We're all riders, and it's all about that.
So get involved and just start talking to people.
That's what I'd suggest, jobs tend to turn up.
Nick Chervenka says hey I'm going to Germany soon,
do you know of any trails that I could do?
Please keep in mind that I'm 14 and do a lot of riding
and also ride a hardtail.
Well you know what, at the moment,
when I think Germany, I think flow trails.
They have got absolutely tonnes of 'em.
I'm desperate to go there, so if I was you,
I'd put in your search engine, Germany flow trails.
- [Jack] Winterberg.
- Winterberg's full of them.
And go and check out some of them,
because apparently they are so long,
and there's so many corners, they're so flowy,
and fun, it'd be perfect for that hardtail.
So go and check out some flow trails.
And if you do, make sure you send us a video
'cause I'd love to see a GoPro P.O.V
of you hammering down one of those trails.
Right, quick fire round!
I'm gonna bash through some questions.
First one, here we go, from Zafra Music
I noticed you guys don't have any pins on the map
that show you visited Florida.
You guys should come and have a vacation,
experience the trails.
You know what, you're right!
We haven't ridden Florida much.
That's true, we definitely should check that out.
Can you see that, we haven't done it, we haven't done that.
- [Jack] Let's go. - We are gonna go to Florida.
I like any excuse to go on a nice riding trip.
Dung Le Van says, so Neil really left GMBN channel?
No, he's been on EMBN, he's been doing some tech stuff,
he's a very busy boy, but you'll find him
spattered around the channels,
but he's still very much on the GMBN channel.
I'm not letting him go, he's our Neil.
He was ours first, he's not going anywhere, don't worry.
Ryan says, loving Steve Jones on the network.
Me too man, EMBN has come in with a big bang,
Steve Jones is amazing, he's got such enthusiasm
for E bikes and he knows his stuff
so we're very pleased to have Steve here.
And we're glad you're enjoying it.
A Kasual Kid says, hey I have an idea
for you guys to get a full suspension bike
and then put a rigid fork on it
and have a game of bike or challenge
and see what you can do with it.
That is a great idea, we've talked
about the old rigid front instead of rigid hardtail.
Yeah, we should try that out.
I think its gonna be disgusting, but we'll try it.
Marcus Hesketh says, much preferred Steve
in this video to when it was Martin,
referring to last week's last GMBN.
Oh really Marcus?
Oh well, I'm pleased you got involved.
Don't even know what to do with that.
He's not very nice, Marcus, is he?
He's a meanie. He's a meanie.
Anyway, each to his own.
T Watson says, I have a funny creaky noise
coming from my BB when pedalling, should I be worried
and what do I need to do to check it,
and should I tighten it?
Don't tighten it, because it could be the bearings
and they might just go pop.
Take it off, have a look, just undo it,
take the crank arms off, have a look at those bearings,
make sure they're not full of grit,
give it a bit of a clean, it might go.
If not, you might have to replace the bearings.
But don't just tighten it up, that might not be the answer.
Jeff Goodrick says, can I drill a bigger hole
in the alloy rim to fit a bigger tube valve in it?
You can, remember, drilling rims
means you're gonna void warranties
and things like that, so bear that in mind.
You can also use, I'm not condoning it,
but if you wanted to make that hole bigger
you can almost also use a round file and just rub it out.
It's so soft, that alloy, that you'll be able
to make that hole bigger so much easier.
You can even do it with a screwdriver, just push it through.
I used to do that back in the day.
But, like I said, don't condone it,
drilling holes in rims, never really a good thing.
Unless you just got, why don't you buy
a smaller tube, smaller valve, Presta valve.
I always know 'em as fat one and thin one.
We've talked about this before.
Right, next one is from MTB Wheelie Nut.
"Hey Martin, you should consider
"starting a global trials network."
You know what, I think I might.
I think trials is big enough now for its own channel.
What do you think, Jack?
- [Jack] No.
- Okay that was the end of that.
Okay correct me if I'm wrong, and it works actually,
because talking about a global trial network,
this is Jack in Newport in Pembrokeshire
doin' a bit of trials, he's asking
is he doing it correctly, let's take a look.
He's riding up this grass bank on a 20 inch trials bike,
there's not much grip on that shale.
Yeah, okay.
Now I'll tell you what, there's a good point here
for all mountain bikers.
Now that ground he's on, that shale
is really, really loose and it's hard to grip
but once he's got that grip,
he's got the momentum to go up that step.
Now I personally wouldn't have just bunny hopped it,
because you've got to create quite a lot of speed
to get the height and distance.
I'd a used a pedal gap, so to like lift the front
up on to the top of that bank by peddling wheelie,
And then as the front touched down,
I'd a hopped the back up.
You'd have a lot more control,
you could do it at much varying speeds
rather than needing a lot of speed for that bunny hop.
And it would be much more successful
time and time over again, whereas the bunny hop,
once you haven't got the speed, you're not gonna make it.
So that would be my recommendation, but to be fair,
you did, in trials terms, clean it.
You got up there no worries, so fair play.
But it's a great little skill to be showing
all you mountain bikers out there.
Just before you go, now I've been trying out
some wheelchair skills in some funny devices
see how many steps I can get down.
I wanna progress my street riding in my wheelchair.
So make sure you check out the Dirt Shed Show
at the end of the week where I'm gonna show you
how I've progressed hitting some steps in my chair.
See what happens, see you on Friday.
Right that is it for us this week.
Thanks very much for watching, I've had a great time
presenting it even if Marcus doesn't like me.
That's fair enough though Marcus,
you're entitled to your point of view, Steve is great.
I'm gonna send you to a video I really loved recently,
it's Blakes Sumo video, I think this is hilarious.
A bit of fun, and it shows,
the bike riding looks great in it
even though he's in this great big balloon suit,
and it's a bit of fun.
So check that out, hit the globe to subscribe,
and make sure you give us a thumbs up like.
I will see you next week on Ask GMBN.
Make sure you leave some questions
in the comments section down below.