Flying at Glentress - the MiniDH is a mighty machine!

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May 24, 2012, 10:22:46 AM

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[Vic-Tim.com]

Legs are a bit sore, tent is stinking out the garage drying out, car is in dire need of a clean but I am still buzzing after an awesome weekend at Glentress on a 2007 Supreme MiniDH Team bike.

Looking out over Glentress

After a bit of a late start of Friday ( my buddy had to build a new bike from scratch in my garage after the importers lost his frame...not a Commençal I might add ), we rocked up to Glentress Freeride park for an evening of remembering how to huck the meat properly. The MiniDH has a bit of weight behind it, but it just takes everything you can throw at it. I was cleaning lines I would have run away from and cried about a couple of weeks ago. The low bb height was a bit cheeky, but it did mean that the bike was really well balanced ( which came in very useful on the skinnies! )

Glentress Freeride Park

Saturday came with a heavy head ( got to love that Single Malt ) and a lot of rain. We rode from the campsite in Peebles up to the trails and up the hill on the red route. After flying on the classic Spooky Wood section from the top we met some locals who showed us the shortcuts to link up the red and black sections on the way down. It was wet, it was messy, but it was also  fast, flowing and lots of fun. The day ended with more silly park action trying to nail jump after jump.

Sunday morning was wetter still and drinking "Jaeger Bombs" on Saturday night ( Red bull and Vodka with a depth charge of Jaegermeister ) didnt help with the focus, but egg on toast and a cup of tea from the Hub in the Forest sorted us out. With the wet weather we bailed on going down the road to Innerlieithen ( the locals said it would be pish ), so we followed the same route again but mixed it up with different parts of the trails.

One thing that did become clear was that this bike looked good. I've never had a super pimped machine and wasn't quite ready for all the people stopping to check it out. It put a little extra pressure on me as I hit the jumps, but I think I held my own ( couldnt get my head around the wall rides though ). So it's simple then, if you want to meet new people buy a Commençal and you will be popular straight away!

Railing a berm on the Super G section

So what else can I say about the bike? Well it rocked....

Ok a little more then.... Well the only down point of this bike is the weight. If you could shave off the excess it would go uphill a lot quicker. The angles are there and the gear ratios are not too bad, but the weight really does slow it down as soon as gravity stops being a friend. But I knew this before taking the bike up to Scotland.

The stock kitted fitted was perfect ( though I could have done with a shorter seat post ). The Formula brakes ignored the rain, the drivechain ignored the mud and the shocks never complained about the rocks.

This was a demo bike from Madison, so the question is would I buy one? If this were August 2006 and this was a new bike then I would probably say yes. However this is 2007 and in 2008 Commençal are bringing out a bike which sits in between the Meta 5.5 and the MiniDH.....the Meta 666. A bike which excels on the downhill but can still go uphill? Surely this is the holy grail of biking? Either way I have my frame on order!

Tim Sadler / ( all images © www.vic-tim.com 2007 )

For details on Glentress and the other 7Stanes Centres click here

For details on Rosetta Campsite in Peebles click here

[suspectmonkey]

Nice post!  Although this bit - "if you want to meet new people buy a Commençal and you will be popular straight away" only works overseas, round this neck of the woods there are so many about I feel at risk of being stoned by other bikers   

[Vic-Tim.com]

...round this neck of the woods there are so many about I feel at risk of being stoned by other bikers

Well I think you can blame SteveB for that! 

I am sure he can supply you with some body armour to protect you from the stones...though with so many Commençals in your neck of the woods, surely that is an excuse to go silly with the customising??

Bring back purple anodised parts!

Tim S

[mc]

Is it sad that I know exactly where those photos were taken at Glentress, without even looking at the descriptions?


You should of went and at least done Innerleithen XC route.
I was there on saturday, and despite it being a bit wet, it was still good fun.

[Vic-Tim.com]

It is like that when you know a trail...and with all that rain I kept the camera zipped up for most of the weekend 

We were very tempted to go to Innerleithen on the Sunday...just leaves another excuse to make a trip to Peebles again!

( though not sure I would tackle the XC route on a MiniDH... )

Tim S

[mc]

Yeah, I do know Glentress pretty well. Only ride there about once a week, so I do know the trails pretty well.

Did the locals show you the secret stuff?

[Vic-Tim.com]

You are really rather lucky...though my relatively local trails in North Wales are pretty good! :-)

I don't think we were shown the secret stuff, though the routes we followed were very cheeky linking in bits of black, red and even some under-rated blue lines.

Sooo many off-shoots I wanted to explore but didnt have the time :-(

Tim S

[suspectmonkey]

surely that is an excuse to go silly with the customising??  Bring back purple anodised parts!

Hehehehe Im so glad I missed the anodising era...  although I did catch the tail end of it with motorbikes and there are some out there who still swear by it!  Im hoping mine is the only one with a white camo saddle, but then no one is gonna see that when Im perched on it... hmmm!

[mc]

You are really rather lucky...though my relatively local trails in North Wales are pretty good! :-)

Been there. Rode most of them. Done CyB old centre and new centre, Marin, Penmachno (the breakfast in the italian style tea place next to the railway station in Betws-y-Coed is brilliant!), Llandegla.

Only one I would go back for is Penmachno. I just loved the first right hand switchback on the descent where you feel as though you're hanging over the valley! And the rest of the descent is pretty good aswell.
Although I hear they've re-done the jump section at Penmachno so it's actually rideable, and added in some shore which I'd quite like to try.
But other than those select trails, I'll stick to being rather lucky and staying in scotland 

I don't think we were shown the secret stuff, though the routes we followed were very cheeky linking in bits of black, red and even some under-rated blue lines.

Sooo many off-shoots I wanted to explore but didnt have the time :-(

You'd know if you'd done the secret stuff. It involves lots of wood, some rocks, much slideyness (it only dries out after about 2 months without rain!), and some short steep sections.

The waymarked trails are only part of glentress. Give us a shout the next time you're heading up, and I'll hopefully be a bit more organised and show you around some of the off-piste stuff.

[Vic-Tim.com]

the breakfast in the italian style tea place next to the railway station in Betws-y-Coed is brilliant!

Oh I have spent many a wet Sunday morning in that Café   

It involves lots of wood, some rocks, much slideyness

The wooded bits at Glentress were not pretty at the weekend ( the Ewok Village stuff was a boggy mess ), so probably not a good idea that we went exploring!

Just need to get myself back up there then...

Tim S

[Vic-Tim.com]

Feeling generous + messing with Photoshop = a nice wallpaper for you guys...



Right click here and select 'Save Target As' for a nice 1280 x 1040 version

Enjoy!

Tim S

[jean]

Very nice wallpaper

Jean