Back on bike after 3 weeks off with a Diff Bike - WOW !!

Philgr

First time yesterday i have been able to get back on a bike for over 3 weeks, and i was dreading that i would have lost some of the fitness that i had gained, did 10miles in a mixture of road and off road - and im surprised to say i felt really good.

But the biggest shock was that my mate who is a sponsored MTB rider dropped off his last years race bike - an 'intense spider' with carbon fibre 'everything' and WOW !!!! what a diff in everyway

i had to take off his clip on peddles and put my flats on, and it took some time to get used to the reverse shift

i really want a bike that as good as this now , only trouble is i recon its about £3k worth of bike

off out on it again now

Nik_B

What do you mean by reverse shift?

Glad you are back enjoying the fresh air

brownix

if its his last years bike offer to buy it off him?

Philgr

brownix wrote:

if its his last years bike offer to buy it off him?

Hes not selling, besides, its his 'knock about bike' which means i can prob get my hands on it if i ask nicely

Nik_B wrote:

What do you mean by reverse shift?

the gear select for the rear mech work the oppersite to my rockhopper, im told its something to do with the rear mech spring ???

Daz555

The derailleur on 99% of bikes these days is high normal - meaning that the spring pulls the derailleur towards the higher (smaller) cogs. You downshift by pulling the cable and the spring handles upshifts.

A low normal is the opposite - Shimano have a branded version of this tech called "Rapid-Rise".

Ditch Witch

Not quite the same level of transformation, but my b/f swapped my heavy rims, tires and seat post for his (now, there's love for you!) and hills that I previously had to stop halfway up, I was able to make it to the top in one go.

I always figured that 90% of mtb was in the engine, but now I see that even dropping a few kg off the weight of your bike can make a huge difference!

Flenser

Ditch Witch wrote:

Not quite the same level of transformation, but my b/f swapped my heavy rims, tires and seat post for his (now, there's love for you!) and hills that I previously had to stop halfway up, I was able to make it to the top in one go.

I always figured that 90% of mtb was in the engine, but now I see that even dropping a few kg off the weight of your bike can make a huge difference!

Interesting to know, I assumed it was my "engine" (and beergut!) that was the problem...