Enjoying mtb'ing

Trips, adventures, bikes, equipment, etc.
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Si
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Re: Enjoying mtb'ing

Post by Si »

I think that it depends on how you ride. People who sit to climb and have a nice smooth pedalling action will find that a bike bobs minimally, whereas those who get out the saddle and give it some dog will find the fork bouncing all over the shop. Neither way is essentially right or wrong - it's just what suits you.

As for the value of suspension....I find that it's not so much whether I need it or not but how I want to ride on a particular day. For instance, if I'm being an off road tourist then I'm happy to bobble along on my touring bike, off road, at a conservative pace and get off and push if the trail gets really tough. If I'm out for some fun and thrash then the suspension means that I can go quicker and keep up with others better.

Having said that, when I moved to this location I had a full susser but soon changed to a rigid single speed as the full susser just made the doorstep trails too tame. Going further afield, the rigid SSer allows me to keep up with friends on things like Follow-The-Dog at Cannock...although it does average out the difference: they pass me on the more technical DHs and I pass them on the single track and climbs. On the other hand, if I'm off to the Berwyns, for example, I'll take gears and a suss fork as although technically the terrain isn't that much harder than Cannock (actually most of it is easier) the distance and amount of elevation gain/loss means that I can keep going in comfort a lot longer like that......typical ride of 25 miles taking six hours and getting up to 5 or 600m on exposed hills.

Horses for courses, swings and roundabouts, etc.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Enjoying mtb'ing

Post by al_yrpal »

samsbike wrote:
al_yrpal wrote:Cheapo MTB forks bounce. With that Lefty I never have to lock it out, its beautifully damped and there is no bobbing uphill. You just float over 'stoppers'. So, it depends on your fork. Same goes for the rear, well adjusted that branch that would shoot from your rear tyre is just ridden over smoothly and you dont find you are suddenly stopped when it gets scudded away and you land with a bump after loosing traction. When I got the Cannondale it transformed my off road riding.

Al


Al you are the same height as me, or near enough, we really have to trade bikes sometime :D


No probs, after my arm heals up come down here and we'll hit the trail.
As Si says it depends on the terrain. Around here a lot is natural bridleways in forest, lots of deep mud churned up by hooves, covered in dried leaves, narrow slimy chalk tracks strewn with big flints, fallen branches, some of them very steep. You have to sit and lean far forward to stop the front wheel lifting. Some weave through trees with lots of technical obstacles, crazy roots and ditches. Quite challenging to stay on and just keep moving. We do have constructed MTB tracks and fire roads at Swinley Forest near here and Thames paths and canal paths but they are childs play in comparison. You would just keep stopping on a rigid bike or a cheapo hardtail MTB. Nothing like natural paths for a challenge. Its possible to ride 40 miles and see hardly another soul.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
samsbike
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Re: Enjoying mtb'ing

Post by samsbike »

al_yrpal wrote:
samsbike wrote:
al_yrpal wrote:Cheapo MTB forks bounce. With that Lefty I never have to lock it out, its beautifully damped and there is no bobbing uphill. You just float over 'stoppers'. So, it depends on your fork. Same goes for the rear, well adjusted that branch that would shoot from your rear tyre is just ridden over smoothly and you dont find you are suddenly stopped when it gets scudded away and you land with a bump after loosing traction. When I got the Cannondale it transformed my off road riding.

Al


Al you are the same height as me, or near enough, we really have to trade bikes sometime :D


No probs, after my arm heals up come down here and we'll hit the trail.
As Si says it depends on the terrain. Around here a lot is natural bridleways in forest, lots of deep mud churned up by hooves, covered in dried leaves, narrow slimy chalk tracks strewn with big flints, fallen branches, some of them very steep. You have to sit and lean far forward to stop the front wheel lifting. Some weave through trees with lots of technical obstacles, crazy roots and ditches. Quite challenging to stay on and just keep moving. We do have constructed MTB tracks and fire roads at Swinley Forest near here and Thames paths and canal paths but they are childs play in comparison. You would just keep stopping on a rigid bike or a cheapo hardtail MTB. Nothing like natural paths for a challenge. Its possible to ride 40 miles and see hardly another soul.

Al

Sounds exactly like my neck of the woods, literally
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