First ride at Llandegla

Si78

Well, I've finally been to Llandegla!

Had a really good morning, even tho I was a bit apprehensive.

We first went up the boggy track to the masts, then went back down and joined the red route. Did a bit of the black route, then re-joined the red.

Fell off once (when I got stuck in a narrow gully, on the way to the masts. Couldn't un-clip because the sides of the gully meant I couldnt turn my feet lol!) Nice soft landing on a bush tho.

Bottled a couple of bits. Went over the long boardwalk...Well, a couple of logs lol... and decided I couldn't do it :oops: lol

Was ok with most of the up-hill climbs. Except one where my back wheel slipped on wet rocks, altering my body position and the front of the bike lifted. Because of the steepness of the hill I couldn't start off and clip in, so walked it :oops:

Other than that I was ok. My mates said it was a very good first effort (they are seasoned riders).

I've realised I will eventually need a full-sus. Was so bumpy I was stood up most of the time. Didn't half knacker my legs lol.

One of my mates has a Specialized Enduro, and I thought my other mate would turn up on his old hardtail.
Reckoned I would be able to keep up with him 8)

When he turned up he pulled a brand spanking Commencal Meta 5.5.2, which he picked up yesterday. :x :x :x

Needless to say, they had a much easier time than me!!!

I gotta save up for a Santa Cruz Blur or superlight now! 8) 8) 8)

To sum up: Llandegla is really good, but I am a total fanny lol

Si

John Moore

What do you need a full susser for?

Some of us do that route on rigid single speeds without any problems.

Save your money, improve your fitness and skills while on a hardtail.

Si78

John Moore wrote:

What do you need a full susser for?

Some of us do that route on rigid single speeds without any problems.

Save your money, improve your fitness and skills while on a hardtail.

How the chuff do you do it on a single speed????????

M6TTF

Have to agree, there's nothing that warrants a full sus at llandegla. Yes it's more comfy but a hardtail would be whippet fast round there! Quite fancy a hardtail for winter to save my pivots!

delcol

good choice, sanacruz make awesome bikes..
you could also consider a heckler,

i wasn't impressed with llandegla when i went i thought it was very over rated and in desperate need of some maintinance,,,
you should be fine on a hardtail round llandegla the more you do it the better you will get you will know all the lines to hit,,,,

it's better to hone your skils on a hardtail then transfare them to a fullsquish, then you will reep the benefits and shred the sh*t...

-liam-

Aye, I do Llandegla on a HT, no probs. Some of those climbs will be harder on a full sus and I reckon the sweeping downhills are far more fun on a HT. That said, I'm also considering the Commencal Meta 5.5.2 but not cos I need it to get round Llandegla.

Anonymous

Just another voice here saying that Llandegla is pretty much made for hardtails.
When I spent a few months riding my little cindercone hardtail, I found I could really attack the black section berms flat-out. The lower bottom bracket height meant it could be thrown into the turns, and change direction like a housefly.
My full suss, on the other hand is ok round llandegla (and climbs better - go figure) but once you've tried the black on a low BB height bike, you really notice the difference on the full-bouncer.

Luckily my new full suss bike is somewhere between the two, so should be a good compromise.

You shouldn't be sitting down over rough stuff regardless of whether you're on a hardtail or a 10-inch travel DH monster. This is mountain biking, not road cycling.

lesz42

who cares? just have fun

cambo

I can't believe you have 809 posts, live in Chester and haven't been to LDG before!!!

Welcome to the club. Don't get a FS, I've ridden all dayers on my HT, its a proper bike, manly n'all that

(not trying to start a HT v FS fight!!!)

lesz42

full sus? HT? rigid? wimps!


mate saw a guy come down the last part of the marin trail on a normal road bike, with a dog, running behind.

Anonymous

cambo wrote:

I can't believe you have 809 posts, live in Chester and haven't been to LDG before!!!

Welcome to the club. Don't get a FS, I've ridden all dayers on my HT, its a proper bike, manly n'all that

(not trying to start a HT v FS fight!!!)

Well, the answer's as clear as day anyway...
Hardtail V Full Suss
Full suss completely decimates hardtail.

That's as scientific a conclusion as you could ever hope for

John Moore

Si78 wrote:

How the chuff do you do it on a single speed????????

Faster round the black than with gears buy about 5 minutes that's how I do it.

-liam-

John Moore wrote:

Si78 wrote:

How the chuff do you do it on a single speed????????

Faster round the black than with gears buy about 5 minutes that's how I do it.

I don't believe that. Sorry I just don't. Next time you are there let me know. I'd like to see that.;)

John Moore

-Liam- wrote:

John Moore wrote:

Si78 wrote:

How the chuff do you do it on a single speed????????

Faster round the black than with gears buy about 5 minutes that's how I do it.

I don't believe that. Sorry I just don't. Next time you are there let me know. I'd like to see that.;)

How can I ride both geared and SS at the same time to prove I'm faster on my SS to you?

PS the secret for a good time is in the climbing, it's quicker on the SS, the flats are about the same speed, but you recover on the downhills where the gears are slightly faster,

Anonymous

So, you don't pedal on the downhills at all?

I'm still willing to bet that YOU could be faster on gears.
If you climb in a hard gearing on the singlespeed, then just do the same on the geared bike - nobody's MAKING you shift down.
Also, I presume that you SS bike isn't geared as high as your geared bike's highest gear.
So, on the way down, choose a faster gear and nail the frack out of those berms.

You're either talking crap, or are suffering the placebo effect.

John Moore

Trust me you need to dig deeper on the climbs on a SS as you can't ease up like you can with gears that's where the time is made up.

I can't race on my normal SS at the moment as I've geared it up for the summer ready for the longer events where gears do win over SS (there I've said it).

But for short hilly hour long blasts SS's are a lot of fun and usually faster

-liam-

Apart from the obvious ease of maintenance, I'm fairly certain that taking a single speed around anything other than a fairly flat xc track is nothing more than a macho thing....
I maybe wrong, but I don't think i am lol!

John Moore

If you don't like spending time cleaning and replacing bits on your bike (like me) then SSing from late Sept until mid May makes sence.

It also makes you fitter and dare I say it faster [runs and hides]

lesz42

my mate can get to the first berm ( just a bit before the fire road) in about 15 min, on a geared bike


that is panning it to the top tho

John Moore

That's a minute faster than me, nice one.

What's his time for the full loop of the Black including the jumps (no need to get air)?

GTi-R23

Nice one Si, sounds like you did well for your first time up there, you'll soon get used to bouncing about on a HT, much more fun than FS.

Was it the rocky climb at the end of the black that you had to walk? It is tricky up that in the wet.

lesz42

not ridden it for ages!, last week we road from wrexham, to worlds end

then across to the degla, went down the fireroad, then back up the climb, then back home

the last time he did it was on a rock lobster, last nov, will get a time for you


i can do it in 25 min, to the berm ( last 3 runs) and i past about 90% of people? last run, not one passed me.


not bad for a noob

lesz42

oh theres 10km of new trail, opening before the year end!,

Anonymous

John Moore wrote:

That's a minute faster than me, nice one.

What's his time for the full loop of the Black including the jumps (no need to get air)?

No air? then why bother with the jumps?

Seriously, if you ride a geared bike uphill in the same gearing as your SS bike, how would you be slower?

John Moore

You don't tend to ride a geared bike uphill at the same speed as a SS (unless your racing) as there is normally no need to ride in such a high gear (32-16)

lesz42

yeehaamcgee wrote:

John Moore wrote:

That's a minute faster than me, nice one.

What's his time for the full loop of the Black including the jumps (no need to get air)?[/quote]
No air? then why bother with the jumps?

Seriously, if you ride a geared bike uphill in the same gearing as your SS bike, how would you be slower?

what he is saying, if the gearing is the same, would the geared bike be slower and the SS bike be faster


another thing that gets me, some peeps that say they can get around degla, not touching the brakes, yeah right :roll:

Si78

hmmmm....

My original post should have read....

Had my first ride at Llandegla. I was awesome! much quicker than my mates on their full-sussers. Attacked everything, and managed everything easily.


But that wouldn't have been the full truth lol

Regretting posting the original post now.... :roll:

Yes, I was climbing much better than my mates on my hardtail.

Guess it's just my fitness level that needs improving, and my confidence.

Had never seen, never mind ridden, berms before. Found them fun tho.

As for the boardwalk. Well, and this isnt a wimp out!, the medication I have to take affects my balance a bit. So I do panic when I'm going over something that is raised, narrow and bumpy.


Anyway, the main thing was I enjoyed it!

Some of you have got to realise that we all have to start somewhere.

Si78

cambo wrote:

I can't believe you have 809 posts, live in Chester and haven't been to LDG before!!!

Welcome to the club. Don't get a FS, I've ridden all dayers on my HT, its a proper bike, manly n'all that

(not trying to start a HT v FS fight!!!)

809 posts cos I like talking $hit.

Gonna start slowing down now post-wise cos I just can't be arsed.

Si78

GTi-R23 wrote:

Nice one Si, sounds like you did well for your first time up there, you'll soon get used to bouncing about on a HT, much more fun than FS.

Was it the rocky climb at the end of the black that you had to walk? It is tricky up that in the wet.

Cheers,
hmmm, can't remember! It was a steep climb that then turned left. As I was turning left wheels slipped and front end lifted. Couldnt start and get clipped in, so had to walk up the rest of it.

Anonymous

Si78 wrote:

GTi-R23 wrote:

Nice one Si, sounds like you did well for your first time up there, you'll soon get used to bouncing about on a HT, much more fun than FS.

Was it the rocky climb at the end of the black that you had to walk? It is tricky up that in the wet.

Cheers,
hmmm, can't remember! It was a steep climb that then turned left. As I was turning left wheels slipped and front end lifted. Couldnt start and get clipped in, so had to walk up the rest of it.

I know exactly which one you mean, it's pretty loose stones, and is seriously steep.
It's kinda hard to explain where it is, but I'll try.
where the black first properly splits off from the red, you should take the red route, which goes over a nice singletrack section after a while, after the singletrack, it crosses a fire-road and goes up a steep loose climb - I think that's the climb Si78 is talking about.
That one is a toughy, and if you lose traction, is a bugger to get going again.

Anonymous

John Moore wrote:

You don't tend to ride a geared bike uphill at the same speed as a SS (unless your racing) as there is normally no need to ride in such a high gear (32-16)

well there's no need to ride a singlespeed.
But what I'm still saying is that if you can ride up a hill in 32-16, then you CAN DO THAT REGARDLESS of whether the bike is a singlespeed or not.
If you CAN get up a hill in that gearing, but don't, then you're just being lazy, or taking it easy. To claim that your SS is faster is just crap.