rides and riders in the south east

richprag

hello, I recently moved to West Byfleet near Woking and my new company does cycle2work scheme so I'm splashing out. (Currently I have a Dawes Tekarra that I bought off a mate for £60).

I need some people to go riding with and basically show me places to go and trails and stuff like that. I have heard Swinley forest/Surrey Hills etc, anybody that rides round here mind me tagging along?

Also what is the terrain like? Does it demand a full sus, or can a god hardtail cope?

Thanks, Rich

gregsd

You might want to have a look at this thread.

impished

RICHPRAG wrote:

Does it demand a full sus, or can a good hardtail cope

As has been repeated a googolplex times on this forum; unless you ride FR or DH or have a budget WELL over £1.5k, get yourself the best HT you can afford. You'll learn shed loads more about riding skilfully. Plus, in general, a HT costing, say, £1,000 will have a higher spec then a DH/FR rig.
Then when you catch MTB-OCD, which you will, you've then got a good excuse to buy another bike. i.e. I'll use the full-susser for more DH, luv

Oh, and BTW, don't forget to get out and ride

steve_1981

I'm pretty much in the same boat, I live in woking,

Only problem is that I've broken my leg so won't be riding for little while yet.

From what I hear Swinley is your best bet. Or Surrey Hills I guess.

eddie_in_da_air

richprag wrote:

hello, I recently moved to West Byfleet near Woking and my new company does cycle2work scheme so I'm splashing out. (Currently I have a Dawes Tekarra that I bought off a mate for £60).

I need some people to go riding with and basically show me places to go and trails and stuff like that. I have heard Swinley forest/Surrey Hills etc, anybody that rides round here mind me tagging along?

Also what is the terrain like? Does it demand a full sus, or can a god hardtail cope?

Thanks, Rich

hmm, not wanting to sound like i'm bragging... but i can afford a full sus and still ride a HT. just prefer the "feel" sus at the front no doubt..

you can get some good "budget" deals on full sus, i'm not convinced

go HT... get something nice also, if you want something for getting to work (some road work i'd guess) HT is prolly best

ofc if you're up for DH, then you prolly do need a full sus

Edd

p.s. like steve, i'm also in your next of the woods, swinley does rock



i'll post when we (me and mates) plan to go the next if you wanna hook up

richprag

eddie_in_da_air wrote:

richprag wrote:

hello, I recently moved to West Byfleet near Woking and my new company does cycle2work scheme so I'm splashing out. (Currently I have a Dawes Tekarra that I bought off a mate for £60).

I need some people to go riding with and basically show me places to go and trails and stuff like that. I have heard Swinley forest/Surrey Hills etc, anybody that rides round here mind me tagging along?

Also what is the terrain like? Does it demand a full sus, or can a god hardtail cope?

Thanks, Rich

hmm, not wanting to sound like i'm bragging... but i can afford a full sus and still ride a HT. just prefer the "feel" sus at the front no doubt..

you can get some good "budget" deals on full sus, i'm not convinced

go HT... get something nice also, if you want something for getting to work (some road work i'd guess) HT is prolly best

ofc if you're up for DH, then you prolly do need a full sus

Edd

p.s. like steve, i'm also in your next of the woods, swinley does rock



i'll post when we (me and mates) plan to go the next if you wanna hook up

I was going to include full sus when i go and try bikes out this weekend and see if they take my fancy but probably going for HT, maybe Marin rocky ridge.

Thanks for the offer, i'll take you up on it when i manage to get a bike, and that depends on how long Halfords take to order the one i choose. THey reckoned a week but I'll believe it when i see it.

eddie_in_da_air

richprag wrote:

eddie_in_da_air wrote:

richprag wrote:

hello, I recently moved to West Byfleet near Woking and my new company does cycle2work scheme so I'm splashing out. (Currently I have a Dawes Tekarra that I bought off a mate for £60).

I need some people to go riding with and basically show me places to go and trails and stuff like that. I have heard Swinley forest/Surrey Hills etc, anybody that rides round here mind me tagging along?

Also what is the terrain like? Does it demand a full sus, or can a god hardtail cope?

Thanks, Rich

hmm, not wanting to sound like i'm bragging... but i can afford a full sus and still ride a HT. just prefer the "feel" sus at the front no doubt..

you can get some good "budget" deals on full sus, i'm not convinced

go HT... get something nice also, if you want something for getting to work (some road work i'd guess) HT is prolly best

ofc if you're up for DH, then you prolly do need a full sus

Edd

p.s. like steve, i'm also in your next of the woods, swinley does rock



i'll post when we (me and mates) plan to go the next if you wanna hook up

I was going to include full sus when i go and try bikes out this weekend and see if they take my fancy but probably going for HT, maybe Marin rocky ridge.

Thanks for the offer, i'll take you up on it when i manage to get a bike, and that depends on how long Halfords take to order the one i choose. THey reckoned a week but I'll believe it when i see it.

Halfords? you crazy man

get onto Lakes Leisure or wiggle mate

richprag

eddie_in_da_air wrote:

richprag wrote:

eddie_in_da_air wrote:

richprag wrote:

hello, I recently moved to West Byfleet near Woking and my new company does cycle2work scheme so I'm splashing out. (Currently I have a Dawes Tekarra that I bought off a mate for £60).

I need some people to go riding with and basically show me places to go and trails and stuff like that. I have heard Swinley forest/Surrey Hills etc, anybody that rides round here mind me tagging along?

Also what is the terrain like? Does it demand a full sus, or can a god hardtail cope?

Thanks, Rich

hmm, not wanting to sound like i'm bragging... but i can afford a full sus and still ride a HT. just prefer the "feel" sus at the front no doubt..

you can get some good "budget" deals on full sus, i'm not convinced

go HT... get something nice also, if you want something for getting to work (some road work i'd guess) HT is prolly best

ofc if you're up for DH, then you prolly do need a full sus

Edd

p.s. like steve, i'm also in your next of the woods, swinley does rock



i'll post when we (me and mates) plan to go the next if you wanna hook up

I was going to include full sus when i go and try bikes out this weekend and see if they take my fancy but probably going for HT, maybe Marin rocky ridge.

Thanks for the offer, i'll take you up on it when i manage to get a bike, and that depends on how long Halfords take to order the one i choose. THey reckoned a week but I'll believe it when i see it.

Halfords? you crazy man

get onto Lakes Leisure or wiggle mate

Ah but I would if only my cycle2work scheme was that way inclined. Unfortunately I am tied to Halfords, the only shining light at the end of the tunnel being that they can apparently order any bike in. But I'm happy with having to do that to be able to pay only 60% of the total price over 12 months. The problem is trying bikes for fit, which is why tomorrow I am going to spend all day touring london in search of a £1000 hardtail to at least sit on.

James Bushell

Hi, you could speak to your Cycle2Work scheme administrator.. and try the Cycle Scheme http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ which is actually better that the cycle2work scheme and simpler to use.. + you can go to any bike (or most anyway..)

on the subject of which bike..? i was going to go for Marin Indian Fire trail, but couldnt wait.. so started looking at other bikes.. ended up with a Stumpjumper FSR Expert which i think is brilliant.. it's F/S but with lockout front and back it has the best of both.. 8)

James

richprag

James Bushell wrote:

Hi, you could speak to your Cycle2Work scheme administrator.. and try the Cycle Scheme http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/ which is actually better that the cycle2work scheme and simpler to use.. + you can go to any bike (or most anyway..)

on the subject of which bike..? i was going to go for Marin Indian Fire trail, but couldnt wait.. so started looking at other bikes.. ended up with a Stumpjumper FSR Expert which i think is brilliant.. it's F/S but with lockout front and back it has the best of both.. 8)

James

That sounds quite expensive, 'unfortunately' i'm limited to £1000 voucher. But also my work has 'negotiated' with halfords 10% of the voucher cost to spend on accessories. So i get £100 worth of free stuff, most of which i'll probably spend on a helmet. Dunno if i would get that through the scheme though. I'lll have a look, thanks for the web address. I'm pretty confident i will be able to get a good rig for a grand though, so I'm not too bothered. I'm looking forward to actually being able to get out and so some proper riding

James Bushell

i believe the helmet is VAT free..? if bought thought the Scheme..?!?

Know what you mean though picked mine up on Monday, and cant wait to get home after work every night.. helps living on the edge of Bedgebury Forest as well..

one bike you could consider.. which we got for my Partner is a Specalized Rockhopper Pro Disk (i think it is..) very nice for £900.

If you buy a bike for more than £1000 you just have to make up the difference when you collect it.. which might be worth considering..

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=34003

richprag

James Bushell wrote:

i believe the helmet is VAT free..? if bought thought the Scheme..?!?

Know what you mean though picked mine up on Monday, and cant wait to get home after work every night.. helps living on the edge of Bedgebury Forest as well..

one bike you could consider.. which we got for my Partner is a Specalized Rockhopper Pro Disk (i think it is..) very nice for £900.

If you buy a bike for more than £1000 you just have to make up the difference when you collect it.. which might be worth considering..

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=34003

Yeah i looked at the rock pro, its one of the ones on my list to try and find. Nah we arent allowed to make up the difference which is a bit gash. SO the most I can get is £1000, which kind of annoyingly rules out some bikes that are around the £1099 mark.

Wheres bedgebury forest, is it near south east somewhere?

James Bushell

That's a bit crap not being able to make up the difference.. i'd have a word with Halfords, see if you can blag it.. as most shops are happy to do that..

Bedgbury is in the Weald of Kent.. near Tubridge Wells..

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6ljhu5 Not cheap to park there... but there are plenty of back ways in with adequate parking..