why was the downhill trail shutdown? and is there any hope of getting it back?

Hi All
I am sold on 29ers being a fast way to cover ground & am convinced of their speed advantage especially on reasonably sucky ground (eg, a field, sand etc), however as an allround fun trail bike how do they compare?

I see the yanks are crossing up and getting some serious air on the new generation of 120 - 140mm 29er bikes from the likes of Santa Cruz & Pivot etc but is this just for the marketing men to show that they can do it or are trail riders buying these $5000- $10,000 bikes and giving them a serious thrashing?

Just a reminder that the James Williamson Endurance race will be held on Sunday March 10th. Hope to see a good number of riders there!

http://jameswilliamson.com.au/enduro/

Every time i ride Knapsack lately there are new trails cut through. A majority of these can be attributed to the various running groups and events they hold, the latest is 'Running Wild'.
Whats the go with local council, it took us 2 years to lobby for trail maintainability and these groups come along and do as they please.

I want to know what the councils stance is on this? Before to long they are going to screw it up for all of us.

There's a very exciting weekend coming... and also some confusion over what is happening so please take note:

On Saturday Feb 2 Old Man's Valley will officially be opened by Hornsby Council. As some may have heard, there will be an official ceremony in the morning.

This ceremony is invitation only. No matter how much you appreciate their efforts, please give the council the space they need to perform these official duties.

Following the ceremony, the track will be open to all from midday on. See our ride: OMV Midday Ride (Post Official Opening).

Now... let's hope for some nice weather!

HI All

I haven't ridden Duck Hole or Chiltern tracks before, how do they hold up in wet periods? (As an alternative to the Japanese School to the end of the Long Trail)?

Cheers

Aaron
@MTB_TrailVideos

So given you are reading this I'm guessing that price has got your attention. Have seen it under $400 US plus delivery if you can get them to deliver here but haven't seen it that cheap locally. Forget their $781 "was" price but I think the $430 delivered Aus wide with Aus guarantee is pretty reasonable. Happy shopping anyone with spare dollars after Christmas.

http://www.topbuy.com.au/tbcart/pc/GoPro-HERO3-B...

Thinking its time for a new ride, and as im only new to this, would like some input please, 29 ht i think is the way to go, like the look of carves but not sure working on a budget under 2000.00

If I put rigid forks on my alloy frame would they compromise the frame?
Assuming the frame is already prone to fatigue failure and is designed to take the load of conventional forks.
Is there something about the nature of rigid forks I need to worry about?

I'm doing my research for a duallie 29er.
Does anyone here own or have ridden the Rocky Mountain Element 29er ? and can share their thoughts ?
The reviews I've read looks promising, but they're not too popular in Australia I don't think, probably due to price and availability.

Other bikes in contention are the Specialized Epic Comp Carbon and the Anthem Advanced 29er 1.
Giant's on top when it comes to the components that comes with the bike, for less than $4K you get full XT and SID forks. Also lifetime warranty.
Specialized is somewhere in the middle.

Funnily enough I was talking to a friend the other day about something like this...

http://liliputing.com/2013/01/mecam-49-flying-ca...

Basically, an autonomous quadcopter that follows you around filming your every move. Needs work to be able to keep up with a cyclist, but how hard can that be?

Hi all, anyone out there using the above mentioned lights ? Any feed back would be most appreciated. Thank you.

[Mod. moved to geek gear]