can i ride a hardtail dowm the world cup course
Pritchardd04
Posts: 37
i recently decided that i would like to ride down the fort william world cup course but i am on a small budget of just over £1000 and something like a specialized big hit is just to inpractical for me. i was wondering if i could ride something like a commecal ramones 1 down it or an orange crush. one person that i talked said hardtails are banned and another said i would just need to make better line and be more skilled.
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Why would hardtails be banned :?
There shouldn't be a problem, just be careful and don't expect to be able to keep up with a lot of the full sussers.
I regularly ride my 456 with a 4 inch XC fork on down some of the Innerleithen DH trails0 -
Just go into Fort William beforehand and hire one.
Forget the name of the shop on the pedestrianised area but they'll lend you a big ole bouncer for the day...0 -
any lood long travel (140mm +) tough HT should be OK, if you chose lines carfuly and ride sensibly. Anyone who sais HT's are banned is a fathead. Sorry, they are totaly alowed, people (nutters) even race DH on them.I like bikes and stuff0
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yeah but have you seen the Fort Bill DH course? I have, and it is a beast and not to be underestimated! You can ride it on whatever you like but big and burly is a definite, oh and body armour too, they won't let you ride it without it!0
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http://www.ridefortwilliam.co.uk/downhill-fort-william.aspAlthough an expert level track, best tackled on a downhill bike, the Downhill can provide a challenge to any rider with moderate skills on just about any mountain bike. Why not give it a go?
Helmet's compulsory, armour recommended...
I still say go rent the proper gear and do it properly!0 -
yes, i have seen the fortbill track, and yes armour is a pretty darn good idea, and a helmet isnt even worth mentioning but no way is it unridable on a HT, a good rider would get down it on any bike, its all about good skills and line choice, even if you do get a funny look or two. just do it i say, and have fun!I like bikes and stuff0
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CycloRos wrote:yeah but have you seen the Fort Bill DH course? I have, and it is a beast and not to be underestimated! You can ride it on whatever you like but big and burly is a definite, oh and body armour too, they won't let you ride it without it!
Total nonsense. Sorry. But I've ridden about half of it on my XC bike, and signed the partiipation statement for the route. Helmet required, that's it, body armour recommended but not required. And open face is fine too.
I'm not going to say I can definately.ride the whole thing on a hardtail, because I didn't do the top bit across the open mountain- I did the red route down to the wallride where it peters out, then turned onto the DH down through the forest, for what I'm told is the hardest part. It's tough, don't get me wrong but it's not the hardest thing I've ridden. And from checking out the rest of the route from the gondola, I'm comfortable i could ride it on the Soul.
I planned to do it at the end of the day but I wore myself out first, ah well.
TBH that bottom bit is totally wasted on DH bikes, it's awesome on a hardtail, picking your route through the big roots and rocks where the big bikes just hover over it. Like Drumlanrig gone mental. But you'll be slow, for sure, and do remember there'll be proper DH bikes with mad DH riders howling down it at race speed so you need to be very aware...
Offbeat will hire you a Bighit for a fairly reasonable amount, and they hire out full facers and body armour but none of it's needed. Oh, I'm not 100% but I'm pretty they do the hires out of the gondola station as well as from their shop in the town, which obviously makes more sense. I'll take my big bike next time but only because it's more suited, not because it's needed.
Remember there's also the fantastic red lift-assisted route, Nevis Red, which is worth the trip for itself, and a good warm-up, and like I say it combines with the bottom bit of the WC. While you're there you can also knock off a world cup XC route into the bargain.Uncompromising extremist0 -
Northwind wrote:I'm not going to say I can definitely.ride the whole thing on a hardtail, because I didn't do the top bit across the open mountain- I did the red route down to the wallride where it peters out, then turned onto the DH down through the forest, for what I'm told is the hardest part. .
ehhhh No. Just No. Someone lied to you. Where you come out of the nevis red is the start of the motorway. so called because it is flat and smooth, bar maybe one wooded rooty section ending in a rocky section. and like you say is totally fine on an xc bike (albeit at a reduced pace.), but is probably the easiest part of the track (hence why the red comes out there and follows onto the DH track.)
From the top (after you come off the last bit of boardwalk under the old bus stop) to the sheepgate is the roughest section, especially now that they have stripped out a load of the hardcore surfacing and stripped the peat back to the rock in more places....
However...I have seen guys ride it on hardtails. They were all pretty good. One was carried off the hill.
Oh...and my experience of the off beat big hit hire bikes is not great. small, medium and large bikes all had a 350lb springs, which on the medium, I was bottoming out bunnyhopping in the carpark. The shocks are the basic Fox Vanilla, so no adjustment for compression or rebound....Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.
H.G. Wells.0 -
I've ridden the Fort William on a Proflex 953 (the one with elastomer suspension ). This was back in about 1994ish so possible the course is a lot more challenging now. I reckon I could get down just about any DH course on a rigid - I just wouldn't be very fast :P 0
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pick good lines,get padded up and just ride!!!!!!! 0
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If you're going there to ride a DH course, then I also fall into the group who thinks you probably should try it on a proper DH bike. Ride it like it was intended.
I'm not saying "don't" take you current bike, but definitely give it a go on a big bike.0 -
cee wrote:but is probably the easiest part of the track (hence why the red comes out there and follows onto the DH track.)
From the top (after you come off the last bit of boardwalk under the old bus stop) to the sheepgate is the roughest section, especially now that they have stripped out a load of the hardcore surfacing and stripped the peat back to the rock in more places....
It was one of the trailbuilders who told me that btw, he said, quote, "I'm worried about the red riders diving into the hardest part of the downhill, it'll end in tears". The red doesn't end there by design, that's just where it currently runs out of interesting bits, but officially it carries on down the fire roads etc- it won't do that once it's finished. The motorway is very easy, though a bit iffy at speed on a hardtail with the size of the jumps etc, but as you say very smooth.
But, I did also get the same comment from a group of guys who'd just come down the DH on big trail bikes, they were going to stop at the wallride and ride down the rest of the red then pick up the motorway at the second crossing, by the big mad wooden jump, because they found the roots and the big rock garden too hard They were "You're going down that? On that?" And I guess I can understand that, the DH boys just blast over the top of it but at a slower pace it's totally different.
Anyway. Like I say, and from checking out the rest of the track from the gondola and up close I've no real worries about riding it. And I'm not a particularily good rider
Uncompromising extremist0 -
I wouldn't, done a pretty steep local ride on the patriot and it was awesome fun, done the same ride with my club roost yesterday and holy crap it was scary.0
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at last someone talking some sense, rather than the "I'm a riding god and can ride anything on any bike!" crapyeehaamcgee wrote:If you're going there to ride a DH course, then I also fall into the group who thinks you probably should try it on a proper DH bike. Ride it like it was intended.
I'm not saying "don't" take you current bike, but definitely give it a go on a big bike. 0 -
Northwind wrote:
It was one of the trailbuilders who told me that btw, he said, quote, "I'm worried about the red riders diving into the hardest part of the downhill, it'll end in tears". The red doesn't end there by design, that's just where it currently runs out of interesting bits, but officially it carries on down the fire roads etc- it won't do that once it's finished. The motorway is very easy, though a bit iffy at speed on a hardtail with the size of the jumps etc, but as you say very smooth.
But, I did also get the same comment from a group of guys who'd just come down the DH on big trail bikes, they were going to stop at the wallride and ride down the rest of the red then pick up the motorway at the second crossing, by the big mad wooden jump, because they found the roots and the big rock garden too hard They were "You're going down that? On that?" And I guess I can understand that, the DH boys just blast over the top of it but at a slower pace it's totally different.
Anyway. Like I say, and from checking out the rest of the track from the gondola and up close I've no real worries about riding it. And I'm not a particularily good rider
I reckon the trail builders are right to be worried about some of the folks coming off the red...but I think part of that is the way they marketed it...like an XC route...the reality is...its an easier downhill route......seen some folks really making a meal of it..look at the number of folks at 10 under who were pushing down the natural sections....those are the people that the nevis red is attracting...and lets face it...lift assisted riding IS an attractive proposition...
...We always say that once you are through the sheepgate....then its pretty plain sailing. That wee rocky section that bypasses the wooden ski jump you talk about is a superb bit of of the track...I was fastest through there after I had smashed my mech off and was chainless...something to be said about having to keep speed!
I reckon some of inners is more technically difficult (especially the older sections like dear hunter or the 39 steps.) than fort bill. Fort bill just kicks your backside in a way that inners doesn't.
The fort is definitely rideable on a sorted hardtail...with a decent long fork...but take the big bike next time.....Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I believe in the future of the human race.
H.G. Wells.0 -
I did Innerleithen on my 70mm short travel HT. In parts it was so steep I was dragging my locked wheels down flinty woodland slopes hoping I wouldn't go over the bars. But my mates on their full sussers (trail bikes rather than DH) were having the same problem. Didn't try that again.
I also took this bike to Morzine and actually had quite a blast on it. If I go again I'll be less stingy and rent or buy something appropriate.0 -
I just rode my 100mm travel hardtail down the IXS course at Inners and it was a right laugh
Admittadly I nipped down the Matador before the really rocky bit but apart from that it was great fun (all the features were closed off anyway).
I just hope we don't have to rip up the whole track afterwards becasue it is one of the best tracks ever 0 -
hardtail it is then0
