Downhill Mountain Biking

Quick question Pommes.

What do you think would have happened if Chiang Sheng Shan had finished second or third? Do you think he would have accepted the prize?

[quote=“RoelC”]From Da’an it’s very do-able to ride Gasplant trail, which starts around here
Other trails:

  • Skilift (aka Helens) on the mountain ridge in between National Palace Musuem and Dazhi
  • Battleship rock (aka Graveyard) on the mountain behind General Veterans Hospital near Shipai or Qili’an MRT station
  • Speedtrap on the mountain near Xinbeitou MRT

Keep in mind that almost all these trails require quite a climb on-road to get to the trailheads.[/quote]

Cheers man, good to know theres a trail of somekind i’d be able to access on the regular.

The comp sounds pretty messy, bizarre outcome in the end. What was the prize btw?

That frame is damn sexy Jaame, but i’ve never seen a second-hand Devinci come up on PinkBike/BikeRadar, might be a long wait if you’re not lucky…

How good does that look?

There are about 20 for sale on pinkbike, you have to look on North America/DH FR frames. Some 2011s as low as $1200 CAD. I’m going to hang on for a 2012 in this colour if I can. Should be doable by next summer.

The first prize for the race was a bottom bracket. Second prize was some uvex glasses which I gave to my dad.
last year I won a tin of beer for third place, and I saw someone win a pair of garish boxers for first before.

Ah, yeah I only browse the Europe section. I presumed getting something 2nd hand and shipping US-UK would work out just as expensive as buying new, atleast for pedals n chainrings etc that i’ve been looking for. I guess on a frame theres a greater margin to come out with a good deal still. And as for that frame, yeah it looks real good… I yearn to have to it.

How much do you reckon shipping and import duties will be on a frame, £200-300 or something?

[quote=“jaame”]Quick question Pommes.
What do you think would have happened if Chiang Sheng Shan had finished second or third?[/quote]

:smiley: I think he was afraid of the beer shower I gave him last time…
We’re not much of a competition for this kid - some riders didn’t show up and maybe Lee would have put himself closer but still; I’m still amazed how fast he got without having other fast guys to ride with.

As for a Devinci - it might work well but I still think it’s an ugly banana. If I’ld invest in anything, I’ld get a light bike for Taiwan. Hope that my future Rune will match the weight of Mike’s LV… I felt really bad returning that bike on sat; without brake pads and the finest of sand in every pore…

ON Topic; does anyone have some more info on next week’s race in Kaoshiung? Is it really less then a minute long?? Doesn’t look like I’m going all the way there…

Pommes, by the look of the race course, pretty sure it’s less than a minute long for you. This is the starting section I guess. facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= … =3&theater

Shit, I would have been keen if I knew about it before now. That guy in the pic, Koby, he’s pretty good. I bet he could put a good run together, especially on his home track. I gather he was meant to be at Jungfu Gong last week but sacked it off due to the weather.
My mud tyres turned up on Friday after 6 weeks, fat lot of good they’ll do me now two weeks after the event!

I love the look of the Wilson. That’s the main reason I want one. And it’s meant to be a pretty good bike. Just need to find a used one at the right price.

Import to Taiwan is 10.5% if you get caught. Import tax into the UK is 34% on anything over 39 quid (IIRC) and you will get caught.

Found a pic on Facebook of that race in KHH (if it’s the Da Ping track, that is).

Fuck, and i thought it was muddy in the UK at the moment. Went out today, just sliding around and spinning out the whole ride. Are the conditions for the next few months in Taipei going to be pretty much consistently wet and muddy? seen a hardly used pair of these chainreactioncycles.com/Mode … elID=54057 for 40posted, if i can knock em down to 35 i might get them.

Fuck, and i thought it was muddy in the UK at the moment. Went out today, just sliding around and spinning out the whole ride, and it was nowhere near as muddy as the pic up top. Are the conditions for the next few months in Taipei going to be pretty much consistently wet and muddy? seen a hardly used pair of these chainreactioncycles.com/Mode … elID=54057 for 40posted, if i can knock em down to 35 i might get them. Not sure if they’re a bit overkill or not. Either that or i’ve seen some maxxis highrollers for the same price . Open to any recommendations :thumbsup:

It’s going to be muddy in north Taiwan until April or so. You could buy some Maxxis tyres for about that proce when you get here, it would be easier.

I just dod a bit of research and found that SRAM 9 speed shifters are compatible with Shimano 10 speed rear mechs. I’m aching to try out a Zee rear mech, but I don’t want to go ten speed and I also don’t want to change all the associated parts. Now I know you can just slap a dyna-sys mech on with an X9 shifter and the cable pull is the same. Magic. Now I don’t have to go ten speed ever. Maybe just get an extra cassette in stock before they stop making them… by the time it wears out the DH groups will have gone to 6 or 7 speed. Next gen saint in four years, X0 DH next gen in three years, they’ll all be 6 or 7 speed I bet you.

I’m going to build some new wheels up at CNY. Struggling to find the hub dimensions for the rear Zee hub M645 in 150mm. Pommes, if you have any of those over at your spot would you mind measuring the flange diameter and spacing for me?

The first two weeks of Feb I have holiday. It will be raining, and I want to get some serious dirt moved onto the top of the new DH line to finally link it to the old one.

Help would be appreciated. Anyone want to volunteer some time? If so, what date?

I’ll finally have arrived in Taipei by then (18 days to go). Where are you located? And how would I get there.

& get a nice track to ride! :slight_smile:

You can just take a train to Taoyuan, or bus.

Blue-Eyed Jaame will pick you up; youtu.be/aToGO9EuUgw

@James; I try but you know… can be anyday soon now.

Sounds good, i’ll look into when I arrive and let you know.

Is anyone familiar with HT. Am I right in thinking they manufacture pedals and then sell them under the HT brand, but also rebrand the exact same pedals for a whole range of other firms like Nukeproof? Or do they allow other firms to manufacture their designs on a license deal or similar.

Asking as i’ve just bought some pedals which appear to be exactly the same as Nukeproof Neutrons/ HT AN01’s but with a different branding and about half the price. Was wondering if there’d be any difference in quality or not.

HT and VP make pretty much everyone’s pedals. Obviously there are exceptions but they make a lot from what I can gather. I’ve seen those neutron pedals with a lot of different names on them. If you go to the Taipei show in March (?) you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll see like that. For instance, you’ll see Superstar’s entire line if you walk around for long enough. I think it works something like 1. decide what you want to sell, 2. go to the Taipei show, 3. find what you want, 4. ask them to make it with your name on it, 5. go home and wait for it to turn up in six months, 7. weep when you see how much tax you’re paying on the import!

I live about a minute from Taoyuan HSR station. If you come over, I can pick you up. I hope you don’t mind being on the back of a scooter (I hate driving).

Mike is talking about coming to help on the 11th of Feb I think he said.

Yeah, I guessed they’d be the same just rebranded.

If i’ve got an apartment sorted by then i’ll be up for coming over.

Roel/anyone, can you give me some directions how i’d find the gasplant trail entrance, and what to expect from the trail etc.(any nasty drops or pissed off locals/landowners to beware of). From the streetview of the link you gave me ( maps.google.com/maps?q=25.00947 … =1&t=m&z=1 ) I couldn’t really work out where I’d go once getting to that road.

The weather has been so dry since I arrived I thought i’d build my bike up and go ride it sometime tomorrow.

[quote=“Nyko”]Roel/anyone, can you give me some directions how I’d find the gasplant trail entrance, and what to expect from the trail etc.(any nasty drops or pissed off locals/landowners to beware of). From the streetview of the link you gave me ( maps.google.com/maps?q=25.00947 … =1&t=m&z=1 ) I couldn’t really work out where I’d go once getting to that road.
[/quote]
Here are the directions:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtop … t&start=10

Nyko I’d recommend you get on the North Taiwan MTB Facebook page, they have regular rideouts around TPE. You could ask Lee Trumpore to point you in the right direction if you can’t find it in Chinese. It’s called Bei Taiwan MTB I think (Bei Taiwan in Chinese of course)

Cheers Incubus, couldn’t find the trail entrance yesterday but went back today and found it. Ended up spending many hours lost inside. Rear braked packed in for some reason. Fell down an embankment at one point when I wasnt even riding my bike. And then on the way home my cranks somehow came undone and slipped around so they weren’t level, meaning I had to walk back. Pretty shit day.

I think I definitely need to find that bike group and forget about going solo on trails i’ve never seen before…
I’ve tried searching 北台湾, 北台湾 自行车, and 北台湾 脚踏车, couldn’t find the bike page. Anyone got a link?

Update: Taken the cranks apart today and the thread that keeps the non-drive side from slipping round looks pretty chewed up. By some miracle does anyone here have for sale, or can anyone source an SLX crank arm over here…:confused: