WHAT DO I DO?? BUY NEW BIKE OR KEEP KRAKEN ???

ShxdowRider420

So.. I'm pretty new to mountain biking. I grew up all my life pretty much attached to a BMX but now that I'm 25 I decided to swallow the pill and get a MTB... I picked up a Carrera Kraken 27.5'' 2015 edition (white and blue). At first I bought this bike just to mess around on and to get from A to B. It wasn't until me and my m8 went to a few local MTB trails at the beginning at the summer that I for the first time experienced fast paced downhill mountain biking (on this bike) and have decided to stick to it. We've probably been to the tracks around 4/5 times over the summer for the full day and had great fun..

In summary, I feel the Carrera Kraken is genuinely unbeliavble on the trails. Both speed and control of the bike is brilliant. I couldn't help notice that every other rider there had high spec bikes though. Most of them full suspension bikes worth £1000 and most times even more. Its got me questioning wither or not the Kraken is the appropriate MTB to upgrade and keep for hammering these steep and technical trails... I can't help but feel everyone is looking at me for having a cheap bike even though most time it looks better than theirs

I ride my bike pretty hard up and down the steeps yet I have still to witness a single chain slip on the Kraken. Everything seems to work perfectly, the 120mm front forks regardless of what the consumer reviews say are high on performance in my book.. Its like landing on a cloud when I have them activated. Really spongey and nice.. my computer says I hit around 22mph down the steeps and I can honestly say that not once did the bike feel shakey or uncontrolled. The adrenaline rush I get from it is second to none... for me, the best bike i've ever had. On a few occasions I've actually passed people on the trails who have encountered some kind of technical issue with their big fancy bike at the side of the track as mines glides flawlessly past them: :roll: ... What does this mean?? is paying over the odds for a MTB really over-rated??? can a budget hardtail like the Kraken really be used for Red and Black rated trails and be qualify to do so???? :shock:

Bare in mind that I'm not really looking to race or try act professional with this I'm just looking to just hit fun speeds down shifty tracks and maybe the odd little jump here and there.. As I said, I'm new to mountain biking. The thing is I don't want to spend anymore than I would spend on buying a decent second hand motor bike either (£1000) ^_^ I also don't wanna spend anymore than £1000 for a bike that i'll end up bumping and bruising to hell off rocks the size of my head... I can't really afford it enough to justify it.

but yeah, If anyone could give me advice it would be greatly appreciated. If downhill mounting biking is what I'm going to do, Am I considered an idiot for sticking with the Carrera Kraken? Is there another type of bike that would be best suited? Can the kraken really be utilised on such tough terrain and expect to withstand the brutality of the bumps and jumps?? Should I just keep the bike seeing as I like it and just upgrade it as I go along?? is a full susser really necessary?? ... Is the whole idea of having a bike worth more than your car really that essential in the world of MTB??? someone help :? :?

Long_Time_Lurker

If you have the requisite skills you can ride your bike on anything.
It does depend what you refer to as 'downhill' mountain-biking. Do you mean bombing down some trails on the side of your local hills, or are you talking full-face helmets, body armour, rock-gardens and vertical drops?

If it is the former you're good - I would keep riding until the bike fell to bits.
(Bear in mind the cost of your bike in the first place - upgrading bits (especially the forks), will be an expensive process and the frame will be manufactured to support the 120mm front forks.)

If it is the latter, I would personally start looking for a new or second-hand bike.

And finally - there are quite a few bike snobs out there who will look at you and your bike with distain. Happens to me too - ignore them and enjoy the ride.

ShxdowRider420

Thanks for the reply! To be fair, By DH Mountain Biking, I mean rock gardens, vertical drops and funnily enough, without a helmet. (i know.. not clever)... What kind of bike around £1000 would you suggest would be better suited to this type of terrain?

steve_sordy

ShxdowRider420 wrote:

Thanks for the reply! To be fair, By DH Mountain Biking, I mean rock gardens, vertical drops and funnily enough, without a helmet. (i know.. not clever)...............

You must be a either a very good rider or just lucky. I have never considered myself anything other than competent, but I'm always trying to be better. As a consequence I fall off a lot. I have broken every helmet I have ever owned except the two I own right now. If I had driven for four hours to get to a trail and discovered that I had left my helmet at home, I would not ride my bike. I would go somewhere to buy a helmet first. I am totally 100% convinced of the benefit of riding with a helmet on my head. I know with certainty that I have been saved from concussion at best several times and for sure much worse on at least one occasion.

If you are going to concentrate on DH then do yourself a favour and get some protection. There are worse things than death; like being paralysed from the neck down for the rest of your life. Don't forget that nobody wants to be just a little bit brain damaged!

ShxdowRider420

steve_sordy wrote:

ShxdowRider420 wrote:

Thanks for the reply! To be fair, By DH Mountain Biking, I mean rock gardens, vertical drops and funnily enough, without a helmet. (i know.. not clever)...............

You must be a either a very good rider or just lucky. I have never considered myself anything other than competent, but I'm always trying to be better. As a consequence I fall off a lot. I have broken every helmet I have ever owned except the two I own right now. If I had driven for four hours to get to a trail and discovered that I had left my helmet at home, I would not ride my bike. I would go somewhere to buy a helmet first. I am totally 100% convinced of the benefit of riding with a helmet on my head. I know with certainty that I have been saved from concussion at best several times and for sure much worse on at least one occasion.

If you are going to concentrate on DH then do yourself a favour and get some protection. There are worse things than death; like being paralysed from the neck down for the rest of your life. Don't forget that you nobody wants to be just a little bit brain damaged!

Don't worry Steve.. Its no secret I'm a bit unhinged most of the time and should 110% go ahead and get a helmet. I've just yet to visit trails that have me that scared enough to wear one .. Theres quite clearly something not ticking up above but on the other hand, I've been riding bikes (very dangerously) motorbikes and bicycles without a helmets for the last 10 years and yet to break a bone. I have no idea if it is genuine skill or luck of the Irish.

I think the subconscious fact that I don't have any armour on to help upon impact makes me a safer rider in the end up :shock: . At this stage of it anyway... I very rarely take risks when on the dangerous tracks and i don't attempt any silly type of jump either. I do what I know I can. I also run the trails slowly like 4/5 times before getting the slightest bit of confidence to push confidently on them ... I respect your concern tho maybe if I see one in a nice colour I'll get it haha

steve_sordy

ShxdowRider420 wrote:

[...............

Don't worry Steve.. Its no secret I'm a bit unhinged most of the time and should 110% go ahead and get a helmet. I've just yet to visit trails that have me that scared enough to wear one .. Theres quite clearly something not ticking up above but on the other hand, I've been riding bikes (very dangerously) motorbikes and bicycles without a helmets for the last 10 years and yet to break a bone. I have no idea if it is genuine skill or luck of the Irish.

I think the subconscious fact that I don't have any armour on to help upon impact makes me a safer rider in the end up :shock: . At this stage of it anyway... I very rarely take risks when on the dangerous tracks and i don't attempt any silly type of jump either. I do what I know I can. I also run the trails slowly like 4/5 times before getting the slightest bit of confidence to push confidently on them ... I respect your concern tho maybe if I see one in a nice colour I'll get it haha

Sorry to persist with this, but you don't have to be on trails that scare you before you need a helmet. I have been riding one particular trail centre for 10 years. I know all the regular trails and a pretty much every off-piste trail as well. None of them scare me. But they can all bite! For example, on a really easy bit I was having to go a bit slower than usual due to a group of slower riders ahead. I was chatting to my mate and took a slightly different line to usual. My front wheel hit a wet smoothly polished root and down I went. I was only doing about 6-7 mph, but I went down without warning and like a sack of wet cement. I did not bounce or slide and I got thoroughly shaken up. My helmet hit a tree stump.

Complacency can be a killer.

Get a helmet you like, you will very soon get used to it. It may save your life and it will save you from concussion. Too may concussions opens you up to early Alzheimers

cougie

Don't buy anything until you've got the helmet. If you were riding roads I'd not be that bothered - but off-road ? Yeah. You need it.

CitizenLee

Former BMXer here too and I never once wore a lid for street, dirt jumps or park but there's no way I'd ride my MTB without one. The speed and potential for things to go teets up is much higher on the big bikes, trust me!

The Rookie

There was an excel;lent BBC documentary called 'Me and my new brain', about a girl who suffered a brain injury after a bad snowboard crash, one of the people she met was a young women who had suffered and even worse brain injury by falling over while walking and hitting her head on the pavement.

njee20

Your memory's already failing you - you were 23 in this thread and then less than three hours later you were 25.

larkim

The problem with comparing yourself to others on more expensive machinery is that they could just be loaded and talentless. What trails are you actually riding on your Kraken, you seem confident that you are doing big downhill stuff but without being specific about it these could be very tame rides which is why your Kraken is up to the job. OTOH, if you're riding BPW black runs at speed on a Kraken and feeling like that, you may be the next British hope for world MTB domination. It would be surprising if 120mm forks really feel like landing on clouds if you're hitting big drops at a decent pace etc.

Oh, and buy a helmet!!!!!