peak district hardtail or fs??

barnyb

Hi, I know the question has probably been asked too many times before.
I'm going on my first epic adventure in the peaks with 2 others later this month, (one guy doesnt ride but he'll be taking up the space where our bikes usually go). we've got hardtails, and want to take one small car.
Which means im going to have to buy a bike boot rack. The other option is to hire bikes when we get there.
Does anyone think it wouild be worth the money to hire full sussers for the weekend??
I would'nt normally consider this as I like my bike, but ive heard the peaks have difficult terrain.

sniper68

Depends on where you're riding in The Peak and what terrain you're used to riding on.
On the hills around Ladybower and Edale etc(rocky gritstone) a FS definitely makes it more enjoyable,but many people still ride HTs.If you're confident on your HT then you should be ok.I've been riding here years and some of the technical stuff still catches me out from time to time

trailpuppet

Yup. Just home from a trip down`t Peaks. Hired the Ragley Blue Pig from 18bikes and rode around 25mls from Hope over to Ladybower and back.

Magic

ht is fine if you are used to it, all depends what you fancy on the day imo

tenchi

I had been riding ht's since being a very young boy and could never see the point in spending the extra money on a fs bike. I eventually bit the bullet and bought one! The difference is like night and day on long rides off road. No more of the niggling shoulder pains and more important my bits no longer go numb :shock: Even the ride to work is so much more comfortable. If you do get a fs bike and you use it for road work also, the the legendary foxx forks are very poor (in my opinion). Avid juicy brakes are also one to avoid, good if you do not intend them to get dirty :? but if you get dirt into the levers they are fooked :x

sniper68

tenchi wrote:

Avid juicy brakes are also one to avoid, good if you do not intend them to get dirty :? but if you get dirt into the levers they are fooked :x

The only problem i have with Avid Juicys is they don't live up to the hype.I ride in all weathers/conditions and have never had performance issues when the levers get muddy.I recently fell off on Cutgate(Peak District)and the right side of the bar buried itself a good 6" into a peat bog.The brake worked fine for the rest of the ride and still does Usually a good clean is all that's needed.

tenchi

ibbo68 wrote:

tenchi wrote:

Avid juicy brakes are also one to avoid, good if you do not intend them to get dirty :? but if you get dirt into the levers they are fooked :x

The only problem i have with Avid Juicys is they don't live up to the hype.I ride in all weathers/conditions and have never had performance issues when the levers get muddy.I recently fell off on Cutgate(Peak District)and the right side of the bar buried itself a good 6" into a peat bog.The brake worked fine for the rest of the ride and still does Usually a good clean is all that's needed.

Sounds like you got lucky, I have juicy 7 's on my bike, the one with the pad adjusters (fantastic for trapping dirt) when I fell off in large deep puddle up in north yorks my levers got full of crap partially siezing the pistons. They were stripped because no matter how much I tried to clean them out they still didn't work. Had to replace the internals because the secondary seals were torn They do look nice though

Has cutgate settled down a bit after all the repair work? Last time I did that it was getting dark and was stuck in 18" of mud in places, exhausting but funny

sniper68

We last rode cutgate a few weeks ago and it was in pretty good nick and the repairs have settled in well
.We'll probabvy do it as our 1st nightride of the winter as its only 10mins from me.
We rode it in January in the snow as both a day and night ride.Brilliant 8)

tenchi

ibbo68 wrote:

We last rode cutgate a few weeks ago and it was in pretty good nick and the repairs have settled in well
.We'll probabvy do it as our 1st nightride of the winter as its only 10mins from me.
We rode it in January in the snow as both a day and night ride.Brilliant 8)

(hope that means jealous)

dont forget if you have no pictures it didn't happen

tlw1

I have done the Peaks a few times on my P7. I love the challenge of a HT over a FS (hence I bought the P7 rather than another FS).

I can't remember the name of the decent (beast?), but near Ladybower - it was loads of wet rocks through some trees - loved it (though not flat out as I did have some gaffer tape holding my tube in after the tyre had split)

sniper68

matthew h wrote:

I have done the Peaks a few times on my P7. I love the challenge of a HT over a FS (hence I bought the P7 rather than another FS).

I can't remember the name of the decent (beast?), but near Ladybower - it was loads of wet rocks through some trees - loved it (though not flat out as I did have some gaffer tape holding my tube in after the tyre had split)

Could be either the Beast or the Hagg farm switchbacks depending on which side of the A57 you're on.

tlw1

It was the Beast - loved it, but didn't push too hard as the inner tube was sticking out of the tyre in places where the split had gone past the tape & Damp proof course !!! (Had a mate that is a great bodger with us).

We are doing an epic in the peaks soon, will PM you if you fancy it. Not sure of the date as still feeling below par after a recent crash (link to pic below).............

http://www.pbase.com/bentleyboys/image/118088479

otaylor38

I have lived in the peak for all my life, never had a FS either. Could never afford to get a decent one, so iv stuck with the HTs. Therefore i don't know what its like to do rides around here on a FS, but i can tell you that i get along just fine without.

m@tty123

i spend a week in the peaks at easter riding a HT with 120mm forks and was fine. had no problems with bumps or a sore a**e. personally i would go for a HT for most riding, espicially if that is what you are used to riding.