What is my bike capable of?

Youngsie 96

Hi, I've had my 2011 Cube Attention for a few months now and am really enjoying it, but I'm becoming a bit more adventurous and just wondering how hard it can be ridden really. As I've been riding it for a while I'm getting an idea of what it can do, but I don't want to end up taking it too far and breaking it. I realise that it is a cross country bike so obviously has it's limits, and I'm not talking about doing downhill/freeride etc, just slightly bigger jumps and drop offs and stuff :?

bails87

It should cope with anything at a trail centre (XC ones, rather than DH routes), that's probably the easiest way of quantifying it.

Where do you tend to ride? Are you particularly heavy? Are you able to land drops smoothly?

I had a similar bike, a Boardman HT, and thrashed that around red and black trail centres and natural routes for a couple of years with no worries.

cooldad

Depends a lot on riding style as well. Watch Danny Macaskill land a massive drop to flat, and it looks as if the bike floats.
If we'd try the same the bike would break in half, shortly before your legs.

Youngsie 96

bails87 wrote:

Where do you tend to ride? Are you particularly heavy? Are you able to land drops smoothly?

I mainly ride trail centres and whatever random natural stuff i can find really. I've not yet been on a proper black run (Thetford doesn't count) and looking at videos on youtube of places I plan to go to (Llandegla, Coed y Brenin etc) some of the bigger features on the black trails there make me wonder whether my bike will cope. Also, when I'm riding around town I often see stuff that I'm tempted to try, like steps and the odd thing I could do a jump off, but there's always something in the back of my mind wondering whether I should.

I only weigh about 10st, so I'm not very heavy. And I am becoming much smoother in my landings than I was at first- I'm no Danny Macaskill, but I'm getting better.

milko9000

There's nothing in Llandegla I've not happily ridden a hardtail over if that's any help. It's not a DH bike but these things are built to take a bit of a bash! I can't see steps and small jumps being a problem.

junglist_matty

...Its capable of rolling

sorry, had to say it!

Youngsie 96

junglist_matty wrote:

...Its capable of rolling

I'll keep that in mind

Northwind

Depends very much on the rider. A mate of mine is quite happy ragging his Anthem X on downhill trails, but I think most people would hurt the bike and themselves quite fast doing that- he's just very good at it.

Most bikes are capable of things that'd surprise you. Or, to put it differently, most people think you need a big bike to do things that a little bike could do. If I can indulge myself in a little troll, particularily Orange Five owners

Dave_P1

It depends on what sort of rider you are and smooth you can be over the rough stuff. To be honest, most people's bike's far exceed the rider's limits.

jon1993

one of my old bikes is something like this its more than capable of black xc routes any stairs and jumps to the point a little further than bottoming out your forks if that helps and if your not sure work your way upto it succesively bigger jumps youll know when your pushing your luck

felix.london

I've been putting my Rockhopper down downhill runs all summer. Avoiding the bigger drops mind you - but that's down to technique and my lack of it. Bike's fine. I can appreciate the bikes limits though - more to do with speed and comfort of ride than anything else. Nothing wrong with honing your technique on a HT - Imagine how smooth a full susser is gonna feel when you get one!

MountainMonster

To sum up this thread:

You will have problems before your bike.

junglist_matty

My bikes are way beyond my ability but that's how I like it... I'm well built (fluctuate between 15.5 <> 16.5 stone) and a for all those times when I land a bit harder or make silly mistakes thanks to me riding a bit rubbish (we all do it) I know the parts on my bike should be able to take the extra impact thanks to my weight.
I've snapped cheap forks in the past thanks to bad landings and its not a nice experience; it hurts! ...All in all, I like to buy things that are strong so if I want the bike to stay at a good weight I have to buy stronger, lighter parts... Then again, I don't do half the jumps and drops that I used to because I have a job and need to stay injury free!