Guy Martin makes a Mountain Bike

[LEE]

1 - I love Guy Martin, he's one of life's real characters.

2 - I love(d) Fred Dibnah's TV shows

3 - I love watching craftsmen make stuff

I think Guy may be the next Fred Dibnah.  I really, really, really hope he doesn't kill himself at the IoM TT.  Please Lord, take Piers Morgan instead.

Anyway, here's the fella himself, "helping" the people at Orange to make a Mountain Bike.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/mlIYEdRFQu4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/mlIYEdRFQu4&rel=1</a>

[Exit Stage Left]

He's good, although he's too easily fobbed off with an explanation of monocoque.

Monocoque (/ˈmɒnɵkɒk/ or /ˈmɒnɵkoʊk/) is a structural approach that supports loads through an object's external skin, similar to a pingpong ball or egg shell. The term is also used to indicate a form of vehicle construction in which the skin provides the main structural support, although this is rare and is usually confused with either semi-monocoque or a unibody. The word monocoque comes from the Greek for single (mono) and French for shell (coque).[1] The technique may also be called structural skin or stressed skin.

There's usually someone like him in every workplace, and it's fun to tick off the 'in jokes', 'I'm not a real welder' et al. He gets away with it because he's got solid achievements behind him. The nearest we'd have to him in long distance cycling would be Andy Wilkinson, who'd be a natural at this sort of thing.

[ferret]

yeah he's a typical down to earth lorry mechanic who just happens to like riding bikes fast, well doing most things fast actually, and after last year I think he can survive most things. The country need more people like him.


ps, he had sideburns way before wiggo

[rogerzilla]

I suspect that he is also a flange magnet, and that's not an engineering term.

[TimC]

Guy is great - and that bike is beautiful!

[LEE]

"How Britain Worked" was a great TV series with Guy. (Just search Youtube for the 4 On Demand recordings)

He has a real respect for skilled craftsmen.

Here he combines craftsmanship and his TT bravado <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/fQrb4qZK5YM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/fQrb4qZK5YM&rel=1</a>

Go to 43 mins

[Riggers]

43 minutes! It's the revelation at around 33 minutes that got me. Dog poo. Rubbed in to cow hide to help in the manufacture of leather making belts for machinery.

[Riggers]

And another thing.

I wouldn't have been quite as keen as Guy bombing down that hill, then having to turn, on what is virtually a steel rim wheel. Nightmare.

[LEE]

And another thing.

I wouldn't have been quite as keen as Guy bombing down that hill, then having to turn, on what is virtually a steel rim wheel. Nightmare.

Yes but have you seen what he does for a living?

[tiermat]

43 minutes! It's the revelation at around 33 minutes that got me. Dog poo. Rubbed in to cow hide to help in the manufacture of leather making belts for machinery.

Common practice, and not just doo poo.  Through history large towns have had what are known as "Puremen", people whose job it was to go around at night and collect the contents of people's Gezunders.  This was then sold onto the tanners.  Full on professional organisation each with their own patch and heirachy...

[Vince]

I'm just wondering how the BBC got him to talk slower for his canal boat series!

[tiermat]

I'm just wondering how the BBC got him to talk slower for his canal boat series!

By filming him with a high speed camera then slowing it down?

[numbnuts]

He's a great Guy 

[Exit Stage Left]

I didn't know that he'd come 4th in the solo category of the Strathpuffer 24 Hour mountain bike race in January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuEGtZ51swM

[Riggers]

Having watched that, it looks like he's doing that on 'slicks'.

[Exit Stage Left]

Having watched that, it looks like he's doing that on 'slicks'.

I've had long conversations with both Andy Wilkinson and John Warnock, the fastest and second fastest 24 Hour TT riders, and they have both ridden motorbikes extensively. Guy Martin's bike handling skills are likely to be unimpeachable.

[Torslanda]

Risking duplication of threads but couldn't find anything else.

Is anyone watching the guy Martin prog/series that begins in a little under an hour on C4?

It appears he's trying to VERY FAST on a road bike . . .

More here . . .

[Peter]

Absolutely astonishing!

[Torslanda]

Something like a 200 inch gear.

What a beautifully engineered bike!

[Peter]

Yes, I was especially impressed with the bike - should boost Brian's order book, though I doubt if he needs it!  It's sobering to think that Guy rode effectively with his eyes shut......

Now listen, John - stop it with your crazy plans, ok?

[eck]

Risking duplication of threads but couldn't find anything else.

Is anyone watching the guy Martin prog/series that begins in a little under an hour on C4?

It appears he's trying to VERY FAST on a road bike . . .

More here . . .

Thanks for the heads up torslanda.
The guy seems a total nutter, but a really nice guy at the same time. Loved his anecdote about Laura Trott. 

[David Martin]

That were reet proper, that were.

112.5mph on marathons, on sand? in leathers?

chapeau.

[Exit Stage Left]

My favourite bit was when Jason Rourke interviewed Guy about his attitude to speed and risk. The even handed approach to the editing made Top Gear and its contrived challenges look very old fashioned. Although curiously, it's possible to see Guy as a modern John Noakes.

[Vince]

"Not available in your region" Grrrr

[bumper]

"Not available in your region" Grrrr

It's on 4seven at 8.00pm tonight