This sort of weather is a pain in the ass for normal every day things- like going to the pub- as finding the right amount of clothing is tricky. Wearing a t-shirt isn’t enough; a hoody is too much and a waterproof jacket can be a little boil in the bag. So you tend to take all three and end up clammy, or carrying them.

Luckily mountain biking is perfect in these conditions, made more so by the fact only hardened walkers will be out in the hills- most normal people are at home feasting on chocolate and getting on with daytime drinking.

I rode a lot over the weekend, but monday’s ride was the best one- it was bloustery out, and had a light, constant drizzle- my favourite conditions. The drizzle keeps your heat regulated and makes the trails slippy enough to keep you on your toes.

Doddy's Ragley, still loved like the day he got it

Lately I’ve been riding my Norco Shinobi 29er a lot, but took the Ragley out this weekend which made a light go off in my head. I remembered the first ride I had on the bike- it’s incredibly responsive but rerally stable thanks to the long back end, and long, slack front end. It goes like a train, and isn’t slowed down by the rough- but you feel it all. It puts you in touch with the terrain, something that I’d forgotten about. It really puts you in the ride- and I was loving sliding around on the roots, wheel spinning pin-balling my way along some of Bath’s best singletrack.

The Fox Digit- bringing back the fingerless movement...

Generally I don’t like riding with gloves, and when it’s warm enough I’ll only use gloves if it’s wet or if my hands are too sweaty to hold on. I’d completely forgotten  about gloves until I saw Fox had some great mitts in their range- so I ordered a pair and have lived in them ever since. They’re brilliant- enough protection, more feeling, cooler. I’m converted again, and will be on a search to find more great fingerless gloves.

Back on a double crankset

Since I moved house recently and live at the top of a big old hill, I’ve been spinning my 1×10 gearing out on the way to work each morning, so have robbed the double crankset off my Trek and sorted it out.

I don’t really need the lower gear that much locally, but it comes in handy when it’s wet out as wheel spinning is an issue on hardtails. The bigger gear is a god send though, enabling me to keep good pace on the flat and still have extra gears.

One of the best trail shoes out there

I’ve also been riding flat pedals a lot lately, but the wet weather made me drag out an old friend- my Mavic Alpine XL shoes, which have a soft rubber sole, great support and a flap design that keeps the worst of the weather away.

Cool graphics from Flandria.com

The guys over at Fladria sent us some personal graphics for a our bikes, which are really nice quality and remind me of the mid 90′s when everyone had personalised graphics on their bikes. Bring it back- personalising is fun…

SDG's grip is great for wet conditions

Rob reviewed the SDG lock on grips in the latest issue and rated them, although did mention how they’re a little girthier than some other grips out there. For me they’re perfect, and I can’t help but note just how good they are when soaking wet- even with bare hands. The grip is octopus-like and the ridges on the underside increase the purchase even more. If you like your grips ultra grippy, comfortable and faractionally bigger than the norm- check these out. You can find dealers here.

Webbing strap on front of pack

Finally, I’ve been sent a pack by Salomon, who make some excellent kit. This pack is designed around mountain running, and accordingly sits right in the middle of your back, and having a winged design wraps around you really well. The front is linked with chest and waist straps, which are elasticated webbing, this allows the pack to be secured tightly but not constrict you.

So far it’s the comfiest pack I’ve ever tried, by a long way.

Oh, and here’s a little taster of the single track from yesterday. This stretch is slightly down hill and goes for a long time…

Empty trails, and the aroma of wild garlic...

We know there’s a lot of controversy surrounding 29in wheels at the moment, but really, you can’t knock something until you’ve tried it!

Around the same time as we put that together, our sister website, BikeRadar.com were running a video series on 29er mountain bikes, designed to dispel some of the myths that have been, for want of a better word, pedalled over the years about the bigger wheeled bikes.

The five-part series, presented by Mountain Biking UK and What Mountain Bike gurus Doddy and Justin Loretz, aims to highlight some of the benefits to 29ers over 26in bikes, such as better traction, improved stability and superior handling of rough terrain.

You can see all the videos, in the order they were made, below.

And don’t forget to head over to our forum and tell us what you think!

It’s the 150mm travel, Carbon Fibre superbike with a retail price of a smidgen under £5k. Sounds expensive- it is. But really when you look on paper and add up the spec you’ll find it adds up to nearly £5K without even including the incredible frame. Find out more in the First Ride video and check out the review in the latest issue of MBUK…

The Shinobi in it's prefered environment...

I’ve swapped the Rockshox Reverb post from another bike on to the Shinobi, and fitted some flat pedals for a bit of a session this weekend, and got to work having a blast- rather than my usual saturday grind out in the hills until there’s nothing left in me. It was nice, and a welcome shelter from the gusty wind.

It made me appreciate some of the riding kit I’ve been taking for granted too.

Like the Five Ten Baron shoe, which is styled in a similar vien to the Freeriders, but with a more technical upper using concealed lace loops. It’s a bloody good shoe with enough support for knocking around in the woods. They aren’t quite as sturdy, or grippy as the heavy duty Impact, or Sam Hill models, but don’t suffer the support shoe looks either. The Baron is great- although some aren’t keen on the Dennis the Menace colourway.

Five Ten Baron- grips like turd on carpet

Altura are a UK spawned brand making some great kit, but seem to slip under the radar considering what they make. These Apex trail shorts are great- long enough not to leave a gap between knee and knee pad, loose enough to be comfortable and cool yet cut excellently. A triple popper and zippered fly work well with the cinch adjustable waistband. The liner is great too- having a lycra base they are extremely comfortable and the padding is amongst the best I’ve tried in a liner.

Altura Apex- a great short

Oakley Factory Pilot gloves are nice and thin, and don’t use a cuff strap- they just slip on. I tend to prefer the security of a snug cuff, but these are great, simple gloves and look trick too. The padding in the knuckles is just enough to ward off thorny undergrowth, but don’t get too hot, or restrict movement in any way.

Old school looks, great feel

grippy braking fingers and thin palm

Here’s a few grabs from the trail I’ve built. Doesn’t give a lot away- I’ll get up there with a photographer when we hit spring as the amount of dense green foilage is amazing- almost jurassic in appearance.

Droppin' in!

About to hit the section padded with rocks...

A little rock section makes perma-gloop rideable

The start of the trail- nice and swoopy

About to make the 90deg left drop in to the steep bank

Steeper than it looks!

fast and sideways further down the trail

That’s enough waffling for now- we’ve got a mag to get out the door today…

During the run-up to Christmas (read, that time when we all vacate the office and forget we have jobs for a week-and-a-half), the MBUK team have been looking back on our favourite things of 2011, and looking ahead and making plans for 2012.

Next on the stand is Features Ed, Doddy…

MY BEST THING OF 2011…

I finally got round to building my own trail this year, in an area I’ve been scoping out for years. And it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Other than a few essential features, I kept it as natural as possible, and spent time making sure that the start and finish of the trail were hard to find.

Doddy finally built his own trail this year, and is now loving riding it

The start of the trail is so steep that it doesn’t even look like a rideable trail, which is perfect to stop walkers taking a look.

If you’ve not built a trail before, I can highly recommend it – there’s nothing like riding something you’ve built.

But make sure you keep it on the down low. Don’t build big jumps or features that will get your trail noticed – make it blend in and keep quiet about it.

MY NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS AND PLANS FOR 2012…

My new year resolution is to get myself really fit and strong, and to race more.

More looking back and looking forward from the MBUK team tomorrow – stay tuned for Coxy!

It is the bigger brother to the Mojo SL. Notable features include Formula The One brakes, a Kashima-coated Fox RP23 shock and Stan’s ZTR rims on Ibis hubs.

You can read Doddy’s a full First Ride review  in MBUK 272, which is in the shops tomorrow.

You can also keep up with the MBUK team on Facebook and on Twitter.

As part of product testing, we do come up against bad products here and there, and other products which work well, but could be better.

two tents of tech...

Some manufacturers can be tricky to work with, but we always try as what we want is for you guys to be getting your hands on the best kit you can- whatever your budget.

SRAM are one of the big companies out there that really understand how to get to the goal of the consumer being able to get the best possible experience from their bikes and kit.

SRAM sent two vans over, packed with SRAM wizardry, and complete with wizards to do the tweaking.

This time round we were working on shocks, and tried several different tuning options on a days riding in South Wales.

November. South Wales. EH?

Weaver took his trusty La Pierre with him, whereas I took a test bike I’ve been riding for the last couple of months- an Ibis Mojo HD.

Where Rob found he needed to up the compression slightly, I got to the ideal setting pretty quickly. The Ibis was originally specced with a Fox RP23, with a high volume body- which felt excellent. I thought a Rockshox shock might have been a tall order to compete.

A little different from production units. The sticker says so..

However, the Rockshox Monarch Plus body with piggyback reservoir and valving specially done for my weight and riding style by SRAM’s Torben ‘I have the biggest calf muscles known to man kind but am too nice to kick your ass up this climb’ Borrowy instantly changed my mind.

It’s too early to say how it feels all round- I’ll be spending some time on familiar trails riding it back to back with the Fox. Initially though, I noticed a few things I liked- the high-speed rebound felt brilliant. The piggy back should prevent it suffering from fade too- which air cans can suffer from on long runs.

Also, the fast low speed rebound offered fantastic grip and felt noticeably different. I played mostly between the mid setting, and off for the low speed compression.

In the off position, it was active as you may imagine, but the back end of the bike was a lot quieter.

A good thing, no doubt.

In the mid setting, the bike sat up- also as expected. But it didn’t feel harsh like some bikes can with Pro-pedal on.

Rob’s having his shock tweaked again, but I’m going to continue riding mine.

Look out for updates in the magazine.

It’s that time of year again for us when the big trade shows take place, unveiling lots of cool stuff.Ric was at Eurobike recently, and currently Rob and myself are at the Dirt Demo in Bootleg Canyon, Boulder City, Nevada.It’s a few mental days for us- 5am we’re out in the desert getting the sun rise, and shooting bikes all day through until 7.30 at night when the sun sets. It’s a chaotic few days, but a great chance to ride some of 2012′s best offerings.

Here’s a gallery of the shenanigans so far. Keep watch on the MBUK Facebook page and our Twitter feed for updates. Follow our hashtag on Twitter too… #vivalasMBUK

But what do they know?

I’ve been playing around with 29in wheels for a while now on various test bikes, and to be perfectly honest I’ve been nothing but astonished by their plus sides. In certain situations.

They aren’t good at everything. In fact far from it. They do have limitations. And they do look a little odd.

But they go like stink when it’s wet, slippery, bumpy, hilly and pretty much anywhere where I ride. It’s called the UK.

They don’t suffer in technical situations- you just have to ride them differently.

Doddy's Spearfish. Affectionally known as Old Deere.

I’ve gone for a Salsa Spearfish in a whopping 22in frame, in a lovely John Deere green. With matching yellow Fizik Gobi saddle. And I’ve decided to called it Old Deere. Which is what too many people think 29er riders are. So I’m going to see what I can do to help change opinions and show that the 29er does in fact have a place along side 26in wheel mountain bikes, hard tails, single speeds and all the othe rdifferent creatures out there. It’s just a bike, after all.

Says old on the tin, but goes flat out...

Up front is a Rock Shox Sid XX, and a SRAM XO groupset gets thing spinning and stopping. Crank Brothers Cobalt 29in wheels do the job of staying stiff and fast, and for now, Maxxis Ardent tyres are on there. Although I’ve already noted they’re just too heavy for this exceptionally light frame. Light in weight, but also in the way it rides. The Ardent wants to haul ass, but is somehow out of place. Anyone know what I mean?

The Ardent UST- rolls fast, grips well- but sluggish on this rig

There’s a 29er thread here on Bikeradar.com so feel free to let us know what you think of the bigger wheel compared to the smaller wheel. Let’s roll…

A couple of years ago I tried running a 1x 9 set up on my old Commencal, but couldn’t get the gearing quite right for my local rides. A 32 up front was a shade too tough for a couple of local climbs, and combined with the 11-32 cassette out back, was too small and span out easily on the faster stuff- so as much as I liked the idea, it didn’t work for me and I went back to a triple set-up on the front.

With 10 speed, it’s given me the chance to get back on a single ring up front- although until the braze on mount MRP 1x guide is available, I’ve had to bodge a mount to get it rolling. Despite the looks, it’s pretty solid and does the trick.

Up front I’m on a 34t ring, with the 11-36 out back- although I may try out a bigger 36 up front- it’s a month of experimenting for me!

I’ve also just fitted a spanking new pair of XTR spd pedals- the Trail model. In the MBUK office, I’m the Shimano die hard on the pedal front- Weaver likes Crank Bros Candy pedals or Mallets for DH. Ric also rides Mallets and Jamer’s on Time pedals as they appear to be the only ones that cater for his bandy legs and ten-to-two feet.

I’ve tried most pedals that exist, but always come back to the Shimano options. They have the most positive click on entry and release- firmly announcing to you if you’re in or not. No vagueness like with Crank pedals here.

And my last pair of XTR pedals are 5-years old, and still going strong. These new trail specific models have a wider platform though for support- perfect for more casual style shoes such as the Five Ten Minnaar, which I’ve been running for a while now. On smaller pedals like regular XTR units, the sole has an amount of lateral flex, which actually creates a sore spot for me on the outside of my foot. The support although minimal, is better on the trail pedal- but I’ll be trying a full platform pedal to see how they fare.

Keep an eye out in the magazine for more additions!