Bike limitations

MIchael Cummings

Hi

I have a Genesis Core 20. I haven't upgraded anything from original.

What can I/can't I do on it? I generally do XC on it. Wha about the difficult routes @ trail centres etc. Would it handle them? I want to branch out a bit, but not at the expense of my bike!!!

Thank you

Bignige

My guv'nor rides with us on his Core 20 every week on Holmbury Hill in Surrey including the Barry Knows Best trail which I'm sure anyone who has ridden it will confirm can pound a bike quite succesfully and has also done two trips to Afan this year.

All he's had to do so far is replace a set of rear brake pads!!

supersonic

As long as you are not doing big drops and jumps, and crashing regularly, it will hold up nicely to most red trail centre type stuff (and some black).

switchback18

I'm old enough to have started riding on a fully rigid, next bike was the same but lighter, about 23lbs as that was the way things were back then. Used to ride everything on it apart from big air, so don't worry too much. Main thing is that although most bikes will cope with most trails, you will need to keep the speed down a bit more than on a more heavy duty bike. This will be obvious when you ride though.

Another consideration is bike skills - the better your skills the lighter you'll ride.

Northwind

It'll do more than you'd believe, I reckon. Its better than the bikes they used for downhill racing not so long ago

switchback18

^^ Yep!

Anyone remember the Kamikaze DH, speed record 76mph either on a rigid or max 2" of front sus?

snotty badger

switchback18 wrote:

I'm old enough to have started riding on a fully rigid........

Same here- my first serious MTB was a 96 Univega- fully rigid and it got used for eveything including my paper round! :oops:

Northwind

Those were the days. I remember when all this were just fields. Course, it's still just fields now, but back then it were better fields.

...about 1992 for me So even the £200 used Carrera Kraken I bought to get back into riding felt kind of miraculous. Kids these days... I spoke to a guy at Fort William who called his Pitch Pro "Entry level" and said "I think I need something a bit more capable" (to ride the red). No concept of what good is whatsoever.

switchback18

Northwind wrote:

...I spoke to a guy at Fort William who called his Pitch Pro "Entry level" and said "I think I need something a bit more capable" (to ride the red). No concept of what good is whatsoever.

Makes me laff, people at Dalby tell me I couldn't possibly have ridden some of the bits of the red or black on an Orange Five! So I tell them I've ridden it all on an XC hardtail. Some of them genuinly think it's impossible! The marketing has done it's job!

Reminds me of working in Jessops a few years ago. Same sort of people think that upgrading the camera will make a rubbish photographer into a good one...

Bignige

My riding buddy rode the Black Run at Afan last month in the pouring rain on my old 08 Spesh Rockhopper I recently sold him and managed to drop a couple of dudes on high end FS bikes who took the p*ss out of him before trying to chase him down.......did I laugh.....oh yes!!

switchback18

That's what we love to see!

Alex

If the brakes work and the cranks turn the wheels, it stops being about the bike and starts being about the rider.

I took my road bike around Follow the Dog the other day. Passed countless (Angry) people. Wholly amusing. Somewhat sketchy.

switchback18

Alex wrote:

If the brakes work and the cranks turn the wheels, it stops being about the bike and starts being about the rider.

I took my road bike around Follow the Dog the other day. Passed countless (Angry) people. Wholly amusing. Somewhat sketchy.

Awesome, sounds ace. Can I borrow a road bike off someone? Seems Cannock is encouraging scaredness tho. I'm sure when FTD was 1st built it was a red. Might be remembering wrong, but I rode it in July or August & I'm sure they were calling it an 'extreme' route! It's fun, but I'd say it's easy red.

Were people properly angry?! I think those are people with a store of irritability ready to emerge at any moment for any excuse, cause I'd love to see someone riding a road bike round Dalby... I understood people being annoyed when a couple of mates thought a section was better ridden the other way. 'Didn't you see the signs?' was answered with 'Yes, but we thought it was more fun in reverse'

A mate of mine who's over 50 started at Cannock on his home made 'hybrid' which I think was a CX frame from the 50's brush painted in his standard green paint, with flat bars ...and one of those huge tool bags attached to the seatpost. I mean huge, more like a mini pannier. He now has a Merlin Malt, in true roadie style it's a size too big with a 150mm stem...

Alex

We'd prefer sections weren't ridden backwards. It's asking for an accident, and they don't really ride better backwards.

As for grading, it's essentially mostly a blue route with impassable red features which raise the trail to a (minimal) red grade. Phase 2, our new 7 mile loop due for opening in the spring, is a proper bells and whistles red with hairy black options.

Do remember though, that for most people cycling along the pavement is the normality, cycling along a fireroad green route is getting a bit adventurous, singletrack is for those crazy kids, and you need to be some sort of MTB expert to tackle a red route with TTFs.

Anger wise, mostly limited to "I can't believe I just got overtaken by a road bike"

switchback18

Yep, I don't ride stuff the wrong way myself, this was a couple of mates who shall remain nameless... twas a few years back. Certainly wouldn't encourage it.

Grading wise, just comparing it to other reds around the country. Wasn't arguing with it being a red, just wondered where the 'extreme' labels came from as they're usually reserved for harder than red. No complaints though, I still turn up to ride Cannock every so often.

Look forward to the new stuff, don't live anywhere close now, but my brother lives in the Mids, so another trip down will happen sometime.

It gets better, overtaking people on a road bike!

joshtp

bikes are alot more capable than we often think they are, you may see peole riding trail centres with 140-160mm bikes, but you can hapily ride them on a 100mm HT that £400, iv done all of afan on such a bike. your core 20 is very capable of being a great trail bike, ride it with respect, and youl ride black runs,red runs, mental runs, everything, so long as your carfull. its also a nice feeling to overtake someone on a big bike on a small HT

joshtp

people who think they need a certain bike for something that is tame. i saw a guy riding a commencal supreme DH custom build on the raven at Brechfa, he looked sooooooo shocked to see me on my 100mm HT, people are soooo stupid, ah well. it does make me laugh, but also anoyed.

monkeysm8

Bloody hell I have rode the black routes at Llandgla and Hamsterly on my fully rigid Genesis singlespeed and I regularly ride the Kitchener trail on it. All this you need such a bike for this is marketing hype imho. Just get on whatever it is you have and ride the blimming thing! Stuff what anyone else thinks.

joshtp

monkeysm8 wrote:

Bloody hell I have rode the black routes at Llandgla and Hamsterly on my fully rigid Genesis singlespeed and I regularly ride the Kitchener trail on it. All this you need such a bike for this is marketing hype imho. Just get on whatever it is you have and ride the blimming thing! Stuff what anyone else thinks.

im with ya brova!

MIchael Cummings

Cheers for your feedback folks. I think I have my answer!!

supersonic

Yeah, doing Wharny on a 80mm travel, V braked 13 year old bike really confuses people!

TheNorthernTrain

Northwind wrote:

Makes me laff, people at Dalby tell me I couldn't possibly have ridden some of the bits of the red or black on an Orange Five! So I tell them I've ridden it all on an XC hardtail. Some of them genuinly think it's impossible! The marketing has done it's job!

Reminds me of working in Jessops a few years ago. Same sort of people think that upgrading the camera will make a rubbish photographer into a good one...

I have ridden most if not all the red sections at dalby on my hardtail, not even a very good one. I wont proclaim to say its easy but then thats just cos im not that good but you certainly dont need a full sus. Never done the full route mainly cos of time restraints.

Northwind

I never said that! Though it sounds like the sort of thing I'd say

jjojjas

Some good replies in here, I personally don't really subscribe to the "you can't do it on that bike" marketing, it only really makes a difference when you get to the extremes of the sport (D/H, Race, Time trails etc..) if it's just leisure riding you can manage on most to be fair.
I started on an old (1980's) raleigh MTB that was best described as "crap". It lasted ages then I moved onto specialised, Orange sub 5, club roost, big hit ...and so on.. I'm 40 BTW.

The trails never changed.....just the bikes

been out of MTB riding for a couple of years now, but my backs better so I'm looking to get back into it.
Just ride & enjoy it
Jas

ejls2

Could I ask a quick follow-up question? I seem to be being "dared" into riding Dalby's red route in my cross bike and have been told by several sources that only about 5k will be ridable. I don't much mind either way as I'll be treating it like cross so running with the bike is fine but do people think this is completely nuts? I've heard so many different views about Dalby red ranging from "less technical than Thetford red" to it being bike breaking, incredibly technical etc etc.

More info: My crosser is a VERY sturdily built PX Uncle John Cross, I will be pre-riding the course on a full-susser to double check and I do have a modicum of common sense so am happy to walk particularly nasty bits.

Cheers,
Ed

P.S. Alex - FTD is probably my favourite trail of all-time! Love your work!

el loco pollo

You can do pretty much any trail on pretty much any bike, but generally speaking a big bouncy bike will be more capable than some upright old thing with no travel.

Some people think big bikes the skill out of the biking and make the ride too easy or sanitised, others think big bikes enable you to ride faster, harder and have more fun. I'm in the second camp; after riding for years on some upright long-stemmed short travel bikes with skinny tyres I saw the light and bought something with a load of bounce, and it's been a revelation. I'd never go back.

supersonic

Dalby should be straight forward for a skilled rider on a CX bike. 95% of it is straight forward, plain XC riding.

ejls2

mad chicken - I generally agree with you re the benefits of bounce. I currently have a hardtail but will be getting a full bouncer as soon as I can afford it! I used to ride with a rigid fork to improve my riding skills but lots of people assumed it was a statement about the purity of mountain biking or something like that! Very odd!

My question was more along the lines of: is there mile after mile of rock gardens, step ups etc which may well leave my skinny little tyres slipping out from under me or which will be quite a bit harder without bounce! I know it'll be harder, and may well be slower with a crosser but it'll be something fun to try! :-)

Supersonic - Cheers. Not sure whether I fall into the "skilled" category or not but I'm fairly mad and I think that's a good substitute!