GolfChick Rides Bikes

So I was lucky enough to travel to Whistler at the end of September for two weeks, to cut a long story short my best friend 'Buly' was planning to go and rather than go alone he invited me! It's not somewhere I'd ever really planned to go despite it being a mecca for biking, probably because I knew it was out of my reach to ever go and why hope/plan for the impossible!? I've done Les Arcs before in the French Alps but that was some years ago and I just remember concentrating on braking the whole time but I was fairly new to biking back then and I'm sure it'd be a different beast now! I'd of loved to do some other trips in the meantime but due to some circumstances, owning a dog mostly, I've not done another trip...until now! Hopefully this blog post will fill people in about some of the mistakes I made, as well as things I learnt along the way and also providing a general review of Whistler! I don't want to come across as knowing everything o...

I'll be the first to say I definitely err on the side of being a weight weenie. Anything I buy for the Bronson I check out the weight of and if it's a new part that I dont have a preference for, weight is a huge consideration. I know I could save weight by going for Shimano brakes over Hope but frankly I dont care, hope win it every time for me but when it comes to pedals I don't have a 'go to'. I've always highly rated the grip on DMR vaults and my nukeproof pedals have work faultlessly despite not really servicing them very often. When I built up my hardtail I decided I'd put the nukeproof pedals on to it and get something a bit flashier and maybe lighter for the Bronson. After destroying the axle on the superstar pedals I have been put off titanium axles so instead opted for something as lightweight as possible but still handle the battering I give parts and maybe something a bit slick looking. In step the Raceface Atlas, not cheap at £109 but not too bad...

A month ago, having struggled with the tight sizing on some POC knee pads for 6 months, I decided enough was enough and sold on my current knee pads and decided to replace them. My only requirement was for a pad I could wear everywhere, not just at BPW and uplift days but during my regular 8 mile route around the local forest. This meant the pads had to be comfy and breathable, easy to chuck in the car and shove on my legs, not overkill for pedalling and easy enough to look after. I ride 3 days a week minimum in all conditions and the pads have to be able to keep up, if they fall apart after five mins they're no good to me! I tried out a few different pairs and even tried on the 2014 POC knee pads, typically they've changed the sizing and the mediums now fit me perfectly. At £90-£100 for the POC I couldn't justify the same spend again, especially when I knew I didn't wear them all the time because of their bulk, its no good slipping into the mentality of 'I'm ...