Another newbie!

mintymeister

Hi all. I've been riding bikes for donkeys years mostly only riding to the Fire station on shouts. But with expanding beer belly and years I decided to get a mtb and get more involved. I bought a Claud butler Assault which seems ok for me. Been out for several rides up to 16 miles so far and all feels pretty good apart from sore bum! I would welcome some feedback on the bike I bought as I know nothing about them really. I was hoping to upgrade it at some point, Wheels, tyres or anything else that is relevant, so any info would be much appreciated. I'm in Tiverton, Devon does anyone know of any good off road bits for an enthusiastic beginner? Many thanks.

Big n Daft

Ow do.

Welcome to the forum.

Feedback.....hmmmm, does it feel ok to you? Can it do what you ask of it? Is it still all in one piece when you get home? If the answer to all of those questions is "Yes" then you picked the right bike for you!

It doesn't matter a jot what anyone else thinks of it.

Upgrades, leave it alone until either something breaks, or it becomes obvious something is holding you back. You can throw numerous shekels at your bike, but the truth of the matter is, sooner or later it will be far more cost effective to just go buy another one.

Don't know Devon mate, so can't help with the last one, but Google is your friend!

ash68

Hi mintymeister good to hear your enjoying two wheels. Sounds good advice from Big n Daft.No need to upgrade til somethings worn out,especially with the shitty winter weather coming up.Be good idea to locate good local bike shop and get to know staff who can give good advice and help on upgrades and repairs later on.You could try the Routes and riding section and type in your local area,may be some routes on there you could try.Your local cycling clubs may have mtb'ers sections who would be happy to welcome a new member and share route info. Why not get some of the lads from the fire station to go out on rides and make up your own routes?Keep on riding

mintymeister

Hi guys. Thanks for your words of wisdom. The bike does feel good to ride, awesome brakes and a good tight solid feel. The only thing I've noticed is a slight lack of top speed. This would obviously be down to gearing. Would the tyres have much of an effect on this as well? But that's just me being slightly picky. I'm just going to rack up some miles over winter and see what if anything I can improve on slightly next year.

BoredHousewife

If you have a look through here you might find something:

Trails in the south west

Tyres would add rolling resistance on the road which would slow the bike down slightly, wouldn't worry abut it too much though cos you'll need 'em if going off-road (where the fun is)