Hats off to Squadron leader Chopper for doggedly (no pun intended) leading a regular ride every tuesday rain or shine from the South Notts. HQ. To find out more about Tuesday Night Club check out: http://tncmtb.wix.com/tncmtb#!links/cxbb

A4 prints are available of this lovely line drawing 'Tech,' get in touch via the contact section of the site or check out: scipio6.wix.com/scipio-designs to see more work...

Carry a SRAM/ KMC power link or similar (and the appropriate chain tool to break said chain) because when it goes it goes and your stuck!

In march 2008 a seminal document was released which changed the course of MTB history, influencing thousands to ditch their 'it makes everything so easy as to be boring' bikes in favour of HT...if only!

Well, apart from the fact a bike with no rear suspension is what everyone used to ride, here's a few reasons why hardtails rule! - You can get a better specced, lighter bike for your money (as a rule). - Less maintenance/ greater longevity. As long as the geometry is good, you're fun will last as long as the frame will. - Forces you to rely on technique rather than travel...look at BMX or trials, the impossible IS possible! - Less complication, hastle and datedness. - Retro pose power!

At what point does practical bike maintenance slip over that fine line between money-saving good sense and OCD worship of steel and plastic? Are you cleaning your bike like the mid-life-crisis jag owner washing his favourite toy while he can't be out playing; or does your love of snappy shifting and grit free drivetrain drive you to seek clinical perfection? Only you can answer that question!

I saw one of these in a magazine once and thought it seemed like a good idea after the old girl's LX was knocked off by a rock on Skiddaw. You could just remove the lower cage and file the inner tab by the jockey wheel to a point - but I felt that using the top cage and retaining the entire mechanism gave it a certain kudos at parties...

As Rob Warner once said "hardtails are for people who can't afford full-suspension" - but be that as it may, is MTB now a rich man's sport? Perhaps it's time to defy the marketing men, journos and big corporations and spread the word that as much (if not more) fun can be had on a hardtail/ paired-down rig, as on some spangly all-singing-all-dancer. After all, less (if not no) travel makes it harder, scarier and more challenging to ride a push-bike off road and surely that's the point?

Out trails are under threat...have your say...act now! Ancient technical routes in the Peaks are being made 'safer' without the full consultation of tech riders like us. Read the arguments for and against and have your say here! http://www.peakdistrictmtb.org/index.php/50-survey-rushup-edge-consultation