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Hey guys,
I've had a little bit of time to test the bike now and I'm really getting on with it! Over the weekend I raced a Mini DH at the Forest of Dean with the AberMTB crew. Having never been there before, I wasn't really sure what to expect. The track which was used was Sheepskull which was apparently one of the more pedally tracks there. This turned out to be a little bit of an advantage on some sections of the track although overall, the track was still more suited to a 180mm - 200mm downhill bike.
Practicing on Saturday was a good day of riding. It was very hard to learn a full track in a day and half which meant some of my racing lines were questionable to say the least. My main problem was the roots section towards the top of the track. There was a few different ways to go with the high line up and over some slightly off camber roots being much faster. I found this section the most difficult part of the track because I just couldn't seem to remember any markers which would aid me to point myself at the right line.
My mega was pretty faultless over the whole weekend which I was really pleased about. I had put some dual ply Maxxis Minion DHFs on in preparation for the weekend and it was the right choice. The track was really wet but not greasy so luckily I wasn't jealous of all the folk on spikes. Other than changing tyres, tyre pressures and fork/shock pressures, my bike was setup the same as how I ride it everywhere else. I ran the fork a little softer than usual to help cope with the ruts and braking bumps.
So by now you're probably wondering how I did in the rankings? Well, I shall tell you. My first run earned me a 1.43.89 which I was fairly happy with. It was consistent with a good pace all the way and no mistakes. I remember considering not doing a second run when the weather turned worse but after a long wait I pushed back up the hill to do another run. The track was in a similar condition to how it was on the first run. Very wet, but with a surprising amount of grip. On the second run I was a bit more aggressive and on some sections it payed of but I made some minor mistakes which gave me a time of 1.44.70. My placing was 46th out of 93. Overall I was 101st out of 296. Although I was not completely happy with my result, I understand that the Mega TR is a 130mm bike made for trail and all mountain riding. Taking this into account I think I can be happy with my result.
I really enjoyed the event but I'm not too sure whether I'll enter another. I want to concentrate more on Gravity Enduro as it is more suited to my bike and it doesn't involve as much standing around which is something that niggled me at this Mini DH event. Cheers to the event organisers for putting on a good show and the AberMTB crew for helping with lifts, accommodation a food!
I've had a little bit of time to test the bike now and I'm really getting on with it! Over the weekend I raced a Mini DH at the Forest of Dean with the AberMTB crew. Having never been there before, I wasn't really sure what to expect. The track which was used was Sheepskull which was apparently one of the more pedally tracks there. This turned out to be a little bit of an advantage on some sections of the track although overall, the track was still more suited to a 180mm - 200mm downhill bike.
Practicing on Saturday was a good day of riding. It was very hard to learn a full track in a day and half which meant some of my racing lines were questionable to say the least. My main problem was the roots section towards the top of the track. There was a few different ways to go with the high line up and over some slightly off camber roots being much faster. I found this section the most difficult part of the track because I just couldn't seem to remember any markers which would aid me to point myself at the right line.
My mega was pretty faultless over the whole weekend which I was really pleased about. I had put some dual ply Maxxis Minion DHFs on in preparation for the weekend and it was the right choice. The track was really wet but not greasy so luckily I wasn't jealous of all the folk on spikes. Other than changing tyres, tyre pressures and fork/shock pressures, my bike was setup the same as how I ride it everywhere else. I ran the fork a little softer than usual to help cope with the ruts and braking bumps.
So by now you're probably wondering how I did in the rankings? Well, I shall tell you. My first run earned me a 1.43.89 which I was fairly happy with. It was consistent with a good pace all the way and no mistakes. I remember considering not doing a second run when the weather turned worse but after a long wait I pushed back up the hill to do another run. The track was in a similar condition to how it was on the first run. Very wet, but with a surprising amount of grip. On the second run I was a bit more aggressive and on some sections it payed of but I made some minor mistakes which gave me a time of 1.44.70. My placing was 46th out of 93. Overall I was 101st out of 296. Although I was not completely happy with my result, I understand that the Mega TR is a 130mm bike made for trail and all mountain riding. Taking this into account I think I can be happy with my result.
I really enjoyed the event but I'm not too sure whether I'll enter another. I want to concentrate more on Gravity Enduro as it is more suited to my bike and it doesn't involve as much standing around which is something that niggled me at this Mini DH event. Cheers to the event organisers for putting on a good show and the AberMTB crew for helping with lifts, accommodation a food!
