Getting Alf on a fresh purple Slacker frame was the excuse me and James needed to get down and pay him a visit, so we chucked a couple of bikes and a few bits in the van and got on the road. First on the agenda: find out which Welsh fire road was Alf's current home address. Rounded the corner at Dyfi to find him just off the main uplift road parked on a sunny little flat spot.
Task two: get the frame swapped, as is always the case we were guaranteed to forget something, this time it was the work stand. Never mind... not a problem for three lads used to a bit of trail side spannering, we spread our parts across a dryrobe and got to work.
After getting the fresh vessel up and running it was off to check out a chunky roll to drop Alf had scoped out. Alf grabbed some tools and off we went to scope this drop. Originally the feature had been started by another local - Isaac Gibson - but had since been left unfinished. Alf had got the green light to make it his own so we all got to work getting it rideable. It was a techy number; a committing steep roll in to a 25 foot drop with a sweet spot of just over a bike length... so pretty tight. We all got to work clearing the run-out and stacking the lander up. Three hours later Alf’s a happy man. Its definitely not polished and still a bit of a sniper, but we all agreed it looked on and Alf wanted to keep it pretty raw.
With the dig finished we grabbed a quick pedal before the sun went down and a dip in the river - a quick in and out was enough unless you were Wim Hoff - it was fresh to say the least! We parked up the hill off a fire road and got a cook on.
The next morning we woke to the sound of jets blasting round the Mac loop, no matter how many times you visit it still manages to catch you by surprise and has you searching the sky in all directions for the source of the thunder. A quick pit stop into Barney's workshop to use the truing stand a few other tools and we were ready to roll (thanks Barney we appreciate it). We headed up to Alfs local and place of work - Dyfi Bike Park - for some quick hits, thanks to Dan and everyone there for the hospitality! Its always a pleasure to visit. me and James pointed the lens at Alf while he slung some dialled 3’s and boosted some lips, hopefully you like the shaky footage.
After finishing up the session there we headed over to the woods for the drop. We had a frantic 10 minutes propping up phones for second angles as we only had one the one dadcam and James was shooting photos. It was really hard to do it justice as it always is with these things, nothing beats seeing something like that in person. you can always feel a sense of urgency to be ready in a scary situation; the last thing someone wants when they are mentally prepared to do something is to be told to wait. Waiting seems to allow doubt to creep in, when you're ready you just have to go.
We were ready and after a peek over the edge so was Alf. No room for a run in - you just had to go and that’s what Alf did. He rolled in, hit the take-off pad and a little pull put him near on perfect into the landing. It was so sick to see it done so well and a great way to finish off the 2 days. Alf handled it like Alf does, no drama just got on with it, boss manoeuvres from the real David Dunne. Watch the video:
Thank you Alf for letting us join you, it is always a pleasure to live life at your pace and get an insight into your world.
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Rockshox recently released the Pike DJ to the new Electric Red colour. We like to make sure that we keep our bikes up to date, so we took the opportunity to give the Fade Core a bit of a refresh.
We've partnered up with True North Cycle Hub to give you the chance to demo an Edit MX in Wharncliffe Woods on Saturday 14th June, 2025.
SRAM just launched the new 90 Series Transmission. All the advantages of T-Type full mount drivetrain with the reliability of mechanical shifting? Sounds good. It's already available on the Edit MX...
