Getting down and dirty

The Endorser

Anyone else on here into the MTB scene? I'm lucky to live spot in the middle of a pretty decent network of bridleways,and close to a local forest, so i manage about 80-100 miles a wek in the mud.

Wotcher ride, where, how, kit, etc etc?

Discuss.

<i><b>Eating baby elephants since 1969</b></i>

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

I prat about on fat tyres, Thetford being my closest place with decent riding but much prefer the Scottish Highlands when I get a chance.
Not very good anymore though, the fear has crept up with age (as has the weight).

Wheelies ARE cool.

The Endorser

Yeah, i gotta admit my own sense of mortality has increased with age!

Thetford forest is supposed to be a pretty good set of trails I hear?

As per your ser name, my 10 year old step daughter is into the muddy stuff but she's still too small for a proper mTB so I bought her a decent BMX, and she loves getting airborne cresting a rise, or banking it into a muddy berm. Nice o see the next generation getting into off roading.

<i><b>Eating baby elephants since 1969</b></i>

Unknown

I used to really enjoy riding off-road; what I didn't enjoy was the constant bike cleaning and maintenance that went with it. Maybe I <i>need</i> that disc-braked singlespeed hardtail I keep thinking about?

Yes, although it's flat, some of the trails in Thetford Forest are pretty good - the one day I had riding there was one of my best mountain biking experiences.

gralegav

Even though I live in London, I can still find some reasonable off road tracks and bits of woodland to ride off road.

Got very wet and muddy yesterday on my On-One Scandal 29er - very good for keeping rolling in the mud!

Unknown

Haven't been out on the road bike in a month. I felt the urge to go out on the mtb and have been pretty obsessed with it since. Don't like the north shore stuff, loose knee ligaments mean there's too much chance of injury, but going over the handlebars on rocky sections is fine!

Off out this afternoon - Innerliethin or Laggan, haven't decided yet.





<i>The number of guitars you need = the number you own plus one.
The same goes for bikes - and bottles of single malt.</i>

hazeii

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by gralegav</i>
Got very wet and muddy yesterday on my On-One Scandal 29er - very good for keeping rolling in the mud!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Likewise; also using a Scandal 29er, on the South Downs in my case. It's surprising how much better they are in and over mud/grass/roots than 26" wheel bikes (I've got a couple of On-One Inbreds as well).

The Endorser

what sort of finishing kit do you run hazeii?

<i><b>Eating baby elephants since 1969</b></i>

hazeii

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by The Endorser</i>

what sort of finishing kit do you run hazeii?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

On-one carbon fork, Hope Pro II hubs with TK 7.1 rims, IRC Mythos II tyres. Brakes are Hope Mono Minis 183F/160R with floating rotors, chain set is XT except for SRAM X3.0 front mech. Everything else is Race Face Deus XC save the DMR V12 mag pedals and the Flite Ti Saddle. Complete and ready to rolls it weights in a shade under 25lbs.

Are you using/thinking of a Scandal then?

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

I ride a 2000(?) GT Zaskar X. It could be 1999, I really can't remember, but they only made one small batch of them in one year, and hardly any came to the UK so they are pretty rare.[8D]
It's totally standard, bar throwing the clipless pedals in the bin and replacing with DMR flatties.
I still have some Onza SPDs which are one of the simplest and best clipless pedal designs I've ever come across, though I believe they went bust some years ago?

Wheelies ARE cool.

The Endorser

I'm a bit cash strapped so i started basic with...

Spanking new Cararra Karaken 2006 model - the 20" frame is spot on for me.

I then added...

DMR V12's
Race face low riser bars.
Stubby stem from Halfrauds.
Ritchey seat stem.
Cane creek headset.
San Marco seat - more of a roadie profile but suits my bony arruss well.
Mavic rims on Hope hubs.
Stock SRAM SX5 27 speed gearing, but with KCNC jockey wheels, which I was told don't fit, but actually fit very well.
Modded valving on the suntour forks - they're nice and stiff with 32mm stnchins, and they track well, but dive too much as stock.
Lot's of red anodised Hope finishing kit such as seat clamp etc.
Carbon headset spacer.
GPS (goes on my commuter too).

It's now very adept at trails, and comfy too. Only thing I might add/change when money allows is hydraulics. The mechanicls work surpriingly well, but lack feel.

<i><b>Eating baby elephants since 1969</b></i>

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by The Endorser</i>

I'm a bit cash strapped so i started basic with...

Spanking new Cararra Karaken 2006 model - the 20" frame is spot on for me.

I then added...

DMR V12's


<i><b>Eating baby elephants since 1969</b></i>
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">



Tart!
In the same vein as me refusing to spend more than œ20 on a pair of jeans, I ain't spending more than œ25 on pedals!
[:D]

Wheelies ARE cool.

The Endorser

Yeah, the v8's would probably have done the job just as well, but i couldn't resist. I prefer sacrificing a smidge of power for the extra control off road, so flatties it is.

I could make œ20 buy a whole years clothing (cycle clobber excepted) but I could merrily spend hundreds on bike part given the cash.

<i><b>Eating baby elephants since 1969</b></i>

hazeii

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by MattBlackBigBoysBMX</i>

Tart!
In the same vein as me refusing to spend more than œ20 on a pair of jeans, I ain't spending more than œ25 on pedals!
[:D]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

There was a time I'd have agreed with you; then one day I looked at the pile of binned pedals (Wellgo, MKS, DMR V8, various others) and realised the oldest pair still in use (bought by accident) were DMR V12's, and they were still on-bike and working fine.

Seems to me no problem paying œ50 for jeans as long as they last more than 2.5 times as long as œ20 jeans; it's when you get into designer-label Calven-Klein territory that the more you pay, the worse the product.

The Endorser

Fair point - sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

<i><b>Eating baby elephants since 1969</b></i>

mr_tricolore

Here we go... standing by the bike, looking at kit, talking about kit... that's what a lot of mountain bikers spend their time doing! I enjoy fast cross country rides and the odd enduro races (proud of my 11th place in a recent night time 12 hour solo enduro), but I can't stand all the potting around and comparing kit that goes on with some of the groups I ride with. Honestly, I ride a 4 year old Specialized Rockhopper and it look knackered, which means that all the freeriders and fat XC riders hardly salute me, yet there is one thing money can't buy: MILEAGE!

You only need one!
FGG #2909

hazeii

Standing around talking about kit gives us something to do while the people on the old bikes at the back catch up

As to mileage, a pretty average 55 miles off-road over the South Downs yesterday evening, getting home by the light of the moon - brilliant! (I wish Hope Pro II freehubs weren't so loud though)