I'm finding XC boring nowadays.

MTB noob

I'm getting a bit tired of XC riding now. I've cycled around my local area for a couple of years and it's becoming almost tedious cycling about and knowing if I go down that route, I'm not really pushing myself. If I go down that route, I have to consider my speed because of horses. If I go down the other route, my feet will be kicked off the pedals and my hands will go numb and bloodless (I've got Raynaud's).

The only bikes I've ever owned have had 100-120mm Suntour forks on a standard aluminium XC frame with the cheap £5 wheelset that came with it.

I would like to try something new but I have no idea how to do it. I'm open to try the more hardcore types of riding such as DJ, Enduro, AM, FR, DH and so on but I don't want to spend all my money (which means getting the rock bottom basic level) on something I regret as I will be dumped with it for a couple of years.

My current bike really isn't the best in the world - even for beginner riders so I don't think it would be suitable for any of the disciplines above. If anyone has any tips or advice, I would really appreciate it!

Thanks

cooldad

Find somewhere new to ride?
But if you are struggling with your hands and feet on XC routes, I can’t see how you’ll manage DH or freeride.

cat_with_no_tail

cooldad wrote:

Find somewhere new to ride?
But if you are struggling with your hands and feet on XC routes, I can’t see how you’ll manage DH or freeride.

All of this ^^

PerformingMonkey

MTB Noob, can understand the feeling. When I was younger some friends and I got a bit fed up doing the same loops and terrain over and over again. The only way round was to look further afield. I know it can be hard if you don't have a car but MBUK ran an interesting article in a recent issue about getting to spots and trail centres via the train.

Moving completely into a new discipline can be an expensive option especially if you are already less than enthused about the capabilities and comfort of your current steed. Weigh up the pros and cons of getting a cheap run around to get you to new spots versus the cost of new equipment suited to a more aggressive discipline but then not being able to the type of terrain required.

lawman

Hopping on the train is a great way to get to new trails. The ClimachX trail is 25 minutes away from me on the train, I try to ride 2 or 3 times a month, an excellent trail that would impress even the most unsociable, trail centre and bike park loathing, strava hating of folk!

In all seriousness though just get on the bike and explore new routes, you'd be surprised what you find, in the last year or two alone I've found some awesome trails right on my doorstep back home. Any time you're out on the bike should be enjoyed and be thankful that you're able to do it and make the most of it!

MTB noob

Along with the good advice on exploring new areas by going on the train (I'm trying Wild Forest in Brighton Saturday), do you think I could get my bike suitable for more downhill terrain such as a longer fork and a 1 x 9 setup or would it be more worthwhile to risk getting a purpose-built pre-owned bike on Pinkbike/Ebay? I'm thinking of getting a 140 Marzocchi 44 or 150mm Sektor for it but that's probably a dead end as EVERYTHING nowadays is either tapered, 1.5" or over-priced.

Cooldad - I haven't really had feet slip recently - I think it was because of worn out shoes so I don't think it's an issue now.

welshkev

NO!! You'll snap the head tube off your bike if you put a fork with that much travel on it.

What's wrong with the voodoo btw?

MTB noob

The fork is too short on it. I'm sqirming all over the place down the hills and as its a Suntour fork, I'm only getting 80mm out of 100mm. The higher end versions of this bike (the Wanga and Bokor) actually are equipped with 140 Revelations but Halfords don't sell expensive Voodoos anymore. That's why I said mid-travel forks for the bike.

I also need it because my Raynaud's (white finger syndrome) blocks blood from going round my fingers if there's excessive vibration or extreme cold. It is annoying sometimes because you can't feel how hard you're pulling the brake levers.

supersonic

Same frame though on the bokor? I doubt it.

Northwind

A good fork and good grips should help the raynaud's symptoms- maybe try the ESI Chunky or Extra Chunky foam grips, they're a dense silicon foam and have quite a damping effect. A fatter front tyre will also help reduce vibrations as well as probably being a bit more suited for harder riding, if it'll fit anyway. Also, lots of people swear carbon bars reduce vibrations, though personally I'm unconvinced and that's a fairly big spend

It's also worth considering other causes- yep raynauds will probably have an effect but it's not the only reason to suffer loss of sensation, lots of people suffer that mostly due to bad hand positioning, deathgrips on the bars and brakes etc. Relaxing your posture takes a lot of stress out, helps retain footing and by giving the bike an easier time of it over bumps etc will also put less pressure on your hands, it's a virtous circle.

Don't put your bike down though, perfectly respectable that. The Raidon fork can be a good performer too if it's all in good order. It's not the bike you'd choose for harder use but it'll let you try out other things. We get a bit carried away with the latest cool toys on here because it's an enthusiast's forum but even cheap modern bikes are ace.

MTB noob

Northwind - My tyres are MTB king 2.4" running at 24 - 28psi so no issues with them. The thing about the death grip though, I learnt from 2 years ago which I think is the reason for me having the disease. I'll search up for some grips though as mine are almost worn out. I don't trust carbon products for bike components. If it breaks, it will splinter in microscopic fibres and could cause a lot of trouble.

supersonic

Compared to an alloy bar that snaps into a sharp piece and can skewer you?! You have some odd preconceptions about mtbing lol. You have been given good advice here, I'd follow it.

Northwind

MTB noob wrote:

Northwind - My tyres are MTB king 2.4" running at 24 - 28psi so no issues with them.

Hmmmm. Conti tyre sizes are rarely accurate, if you've got space to spare in the fork then it's most likely something worth looking at. Did they come on the bike? I had a set of the old MKs and the "2.4" was a little under 2.2 inches across, fairly low volume for a mountain bike tyre. Also, not especially grippy.

Woodmonkey

If you have air forks Try running less pressure in your fork I run about 30-35% sag and they feel much plusher

MTB noob

Woodmonkey - It's not the pressure of the fork that's the issue; I occasionally feel the rubber damper piece doing it's job and stopping my fork from going any further. I keep mine at 25% so I can get a bit of spring to get a bit further on drops.

Northwind - I know that my tyre isn't the largest and is more like a 2.25-2.3" but I can't find any cheapo winter tyre weighing under 700g with a larger volume. This is the reason why I've stuck to them. And they are grippy as hell on roots.

Festerfeet

Something worth considering might be a skills course. You may find that a bit more confidence and better skills will enhance what you can do on your bike.
I know that you are being careful what you are spending but this is an investment that will could benefit from immediately and will continue to do so for as long as you want to ride.

Remember it was't that long ago that people were doing all sorts on a bike that with similar equipment to yours. Most of us are suckers for new and 'more able' machinery to play on (me included).
Go out and explore or check strava for other routes, get on Google earth look for new challenges, find new and interesting people to ride with all of these solutions cost nothing or next to nothing.

Of course there is some satisfaction getting better equipment or improving your machine but all of them cost money and is that really the best course of action if you are not enjoying your riding? There are a lot of alternatives that you could try before that.

Maro

Totally agree with everyone's advice.

I started years ago and rode (or at least tried to ride) whatever I came across on a saracen that cost less than £250, it had plastic V brakes and there was less travel on the forks than anybody has now, there was no adjusting sag, hell, sag hadn't been invented, the big money forks had it and the term was "negative travel" then. And a mountain bike was a mountain bike, not a DH machine or XC steed or anything else, they were all the same shape.

Find a new place to ride or invest in a skills course, your bike is fine for now.

Ouija

MTB noob wrote:

Northwind - I know that my tyre isn't the largest and is more like a 2.25-2.3" but I can't find any cheapo winter tyre weighing under 700g with a larger volume. This is the reason why I've stuck to them. And they are grippy as hell on roots.

Michelin usually do good cheapo winter tyres with low weights. And unlike Conti's their sizes tend to be wider than stated.

Country dry 2 590g.
Country Mud 590g.
Wildracer 540g (2.0) 600g (2.1)

Most under the £15 mark.

kajjal

I am guessing you are just riding round local woods and bridleways. When I first started this is what we did. The first proper off road we did was near Edale / Hope in the Peak District. This was a massive step up and after that we went to various places like the long mynd, forest if dean, wye valley and round by the forest of Radnor on the welsh border. Once you get used to it there are loads of great places to go in trail parks and proper cx riding in the middle of nowhere.

Northwind

MTB noob wrote:

And they are grippy as hell on roots.

I mean no offence here, but no, they are not- I think you'll be pretty pleased when you upgrade those! But specifically for your symptoms I don't think there's any better target than the tyre and the grips.

MTB noob

Northiwind - I must have got used to semi-slick tyres last winter and never really realized how knobblys can change the way I ride. I only get Continentals because they're high volume and cheap.

Kajjal - I would love to go somewhere far from south West Sussex but my only issue is cost and how far I can ride in a day which really sucks. I've never really been cycling anywhere where I need to take other forms of transport to get to.

Festerfeet - I've never thought of doing a skills course. I've always assumed they were for the people who can splash out on their hobbies and they were not a very wise investment for my paper-round scale budget (learn the hard way attitude). Do you know whether they are suitable financially relative to a student's budget?

I will be off for a ride tomorrow and see whether any input of the replies have changed my attitude towards what I've got and what my capabilities are.

paul.skibum

Explore more, ride further, pedal faster - get an OS map of your area and find every bridleway on it - go and ride them all in both directions and work out loops that put all the best bits together - make 4 or 5 some of which can be linked together to make longer loops and go and ride them. The only way to make any sport that you do a lot is to keep changing your parameters.

MTB is an open sport by which I mean the nature of the trail is variable and dictates that every ride is different even if only subtly. you learn from every ride and you learn from repeating trails and changing the way you ride - you dont need a skills course to learn a lot of riding technique and an OS map is about 8 quid vs a skills course in the hundred.

Kowalski675

paul.skibum wrote:

vs a skills course in the hundred.

£80 for a full day course on the one I did, and well worth it - will do far more to make you a better and/or faster rider than any £80 you can spend on your bike.

Festerfeet

Kowalski675 wrote:

paul.skibum wrote:

vs a skills course in the hundred.

£80 for a full day course on the one I did, and well worth it - will do far more to make you a better and/or faster rider than any £80 you can spend on your bike.

This, the skills you learn will be useful and the confidence to tackle more challenging trails will come with it.

Consider getting in touch with a local club. If you at university there may be one there. If not I am sure there are locals on this site who can make further suggestions.

They will help you find more stuff to ride on and may also be able to help with transport for away days.

kajjal

paul.skibum wrote:

Explore more, ride further, pedal faster - get an OS map of your area and find every bridleway on it - go and ride them all in both directions and work out loops that put all the best bits together - make 4 or 5 some of which can be linked together to make longer loops and go and ride them. The only way to make any sport that you do a lot is to keep changing your parameters.

MTB is an open sport by which I mean the nature of the trail is variable and dictates that every ride is different even if only subtly. you learn from every ride and you learn from repeating trails and changing the way you ride - you dont need a skills course to learn a lot of riding technique and an OS map is about 8 quid vs a skills course in the hundred.

You can also check for local mountain bike clubs websites and see where they start riding from. This give you a clue to where the best trails start, google maps on satellite view will show most trails. Unclassified roads as well as bridleways make for good tracks often.

MTB noob

£80 for a day? That's 5 weeks worth of work for me so I'm safe to say it's a bit steep for me. I'm only at college and I've already checked for one and they don't.

My local trail in Steyning is a good place however they only have one line for each difficulty. Most of the time, I use the blue line but has become too familiar. I've tried the red for the third time and have almost completed it (I'm still bottling out of one drop).

Kowalski675

MTB noob wrote:

£80 for a day? That's 5 weeks worth of work for me so I'm safe to say it's a bit steep for me..

It's not expensive for a day's expert tuition though. Most tradesmen of any description (mechanic, plumber, whatever) will charge at least £40 + vat per hour. You can't expect to become a great rider in a day, but the course gave me plenty to go away and practice with, and (for example) I cleaned one section of rocky climb on the day that I've never managed before. To balance that out I crashed on a section of rock slabs that I'd never crashed on before, lol...

Woodmonkey

Isn't steyning near horsham? You're near enough on the South Downs, plenty of good riding around there, the Bantu was a 10/10 bike in some reviews and if you can't stretch to £80 for a skills course you're not going to make any upgrades worth noticing, a better bike isn't going to make the same old trails any more interesting either. Find some new routes (strava and endomondo can give you some good ideas for free) find some new riding buddies (ask around forums etc) go on some group rides, get a £20 light off ebay, the same trail is a different beast in the dark and a lot more exhilarating!

rockmonkeysc

Longer travel forks on your frame will not be the answer to your problems. It will ruin your bikes handling by raising the centre of gravity and making the steering a bit odd. Your frame wasn't designed for it.
Get some coaching and better tyres. Mountain Kings are some of the worst tyres I have had.

MTB noob

I guess I just need more time on the trails and to find what exactly i'm doing wrong.

Kowalski675 - I know the cost of the whole day is really good for a sport course but at the end of the day, if I don't have the money, I can't spend it.

Woodmonkey - Steyning is about 12 miles south of Horsham. I already have Strava (/athletes/1695072) but I tend to not use it all the time as it gets addictive and ruins the fun of the sport. It has however shown a few trails for me to try out and has helped a lot. The £20 light from Ebay, I've already got but I avoid using it on too many MTB rides because the shock through the bars has cracked the lens already.

Rockmonkey SC - The forks I have are warranty replacements and are shorter in travel. The frame was originally designed for 2011 Raidon 120 but the ones I have now are 100 2013 Raidons and to be honest, on today's ride they were so shit, I locked them out for the remainding 15 miles. The Mountain King issue is you opinion though. I personally don't get on with Panaracers and Maxxis which nearly everyone swears upon.

Kowalski675

MTB noob wrote:

Kowalski675 - I know the cost of the whole day is really good for a sport course but at the end of the day, if I don't have the money, I can't spend it.

The state of the economy would suggest that not many folk share your viewpoint.