I had a rather rare moment of clarity yesterday, it was about 1/3 of the way down Scarr while going as fast as I could. The bike and I were in an exhilarating harmony (this was before my crash later on the grassy right hander which was the fault of line choice), I was loose and relaxed and the ground was being smoothed out beneath me like glass. This was not because I was running XT as opposed to SRAM, but because the bike fits me like a glove and we have been together for 3 years.

Despite all the entertaining bleating about tyres and this V that, something that is rarely if ever discussed is the fit of the bike. How the bike frame suits your frame, getting the fit and the c0ckpit right can do more for your riding than any amount equipment meddling. So if I only ever have one piece of meaningful advice to offer it is this, before you get seduced by the brand, the look and spec of a bike, find one, sit on it, ride it if you can for as long as you can, talk to someone who has one and knows about this stuff, visit your LBS, take your time. And when you do find your glass slipper, keep it for a while, after 3 years I’m still exploring the limits of what the Trance will do.

There you go, I knew if I kept at it long enough I would come up with something sensible.