Have I bought a "pretend" mountain bike?
70s_kid
Posts: 56
Newbie alert - please be gentle!
Having not riden a bike for about 15 years I decided a month or so ago to have a go at mountain biking. There are plenty of trails to ride around where I live so I thought I'd buy a cheap bike to do a couple of short rides a week just to try to keep the middle age spread at bay.
To my astonishment I am absolutely loving it! I'm doing several miles at a time, riding virtually every day, and on the days when I don't ride I'm finding myself daydreaming about my next outing. I seem to have got the bug really bad. I'm going to a trail centre next weekend for the first time ever and can't believe I've got to nearly 40 years old before experiencing all of this.
Anyway, my question is about my bike. I avoided the £99 full suspension jobbies as it seemed obvious that they are just gimmicky. I bought a Voodoo Bantu 2011which as mountain bikes go is still obviously very cheap but seemed a reasonable spec for the budget that I had available, but have I bought a bike that isn't really up to the job?
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499
My questions are along the lines of:
What should I avoid doing on this bike that I could have done on a more expensive one?
Do I need to be maintaining it more often due to cheaper components/is it likely to break doing serious off road stuff?
What am I missing out on with this bike? For example my Shimano BR-M445 brakes seem to work perfectly - but what difference would I notice with Tektro Auriga Comp for example on a bike that's about twice the price?
Thanks in advance, sorry if my first post has gone on a bit :oops:
Having not riden a bike for about 15 years I decided a month or so ago to have a go at mountain biking. There are plenty of trails to ride around where I live so I thought I'd buy a cheap bike to do a couple of short rides a week just to try to keep the middle age spread at bay.
To my astonishment I am absolutely loving it! I'm doing several miles at a time, riding virtually every day, and on the days when I don't ride I'm finding myself daydreaming about my next outing. I seem to have got the bug really bad. I'm going to a trail centre next weekend for the first time ever and can't believe I've got to nearly 40 years old before experiencing all of this.
Anyway, my question is about my bike. I avoided the £99 full suspension jobbies as it seemed obvious that they are just gimmicky. I bought a Voodoo Bantu 2011which as mountain bikes go is still obviously very cheap but seemed a reasonable spec for the budget that I had available, but have I bought a bike that isn't really up to the job?
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499
My questions are along the lines of:
What should I avoid doing on this bike that I could have done on a more expensive one?
Do I need to be maintaining it more often due to cheaper components/is it likely to break doing serious off road stuff?
What am I missing out on with this bike? For example my Shimano BR-M445 brakes seem to work perfectly - but what difference would I notice with Tektro Auriga Comp for example on a bike that's about twice the price?
Thanks in advance, sorry if my first post has gone on a bit :oops:
0
Posts
Your brakes should be fine, if you can lock the wheels what more do you want? The difference between expensive brakes may not be power, but the way the power is applied, i.e. you may have more "feel" at the lever, and the expensive brakes may have reach adjust and bite point adjust. But i've got some very cheap brakes on one of my bikes and they stop me well.
Which trail centre are you going to? That bike shouldnt have any probs at any of them to be honest, but you may need to take ti a little easier somewhere rocky like coed-y-brenin, but llandegla and cannock for example should be a breeze! I see people riding rigid single speeds round them.
Wherever you go, you'll enjoy it!
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5458655980_a4baa7e6e1_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/groups/mbuk Join and add your pics.
It's Llandegla that I'm going to - starting off nice and easy on the blue trail 7.5 miles. Looking forward to it.
Dont worry about the bike snobs, it gets you round and you're enjoying it which is the most important thing!!
Trek 6300
GT Chucker
It looks like a nice and good value entry level bike that should ride very well offroad if past experience of Voodoo is anything to go by. You could certainly have done a lot worse! 8)
this
ive got a 2 and a half tonne GT Outpost with v brakes :shock: :shock: :shock:
didnt stop me chasing down and leaving in my wake several Treks, speacilzed, kona's and a very nice cube on the trails yesterday :P
if it gets you round and you are loving it its deffo the right bike
There is nothing at Llandegla you'd not be able to do on that once you feel confident enough.
F*cking Fast 29er
Rapid Rose Roady
Bionicon Beast
Rockhopper Communter
Don't have to spend thousands on your first bike.
Be careful this MTBiking lark is addictive
I RIDE A KONA CADABRA -would you like to come and have a play with my magic link?
It doesn't necessarily follow that cheaper components break more easily. Often they are simply heavier and less adjustable. It's always worth checking the bike over before a ride, make sure bolts aren't loose, keep an eye on the wheels and learn to keep them running true (small adjustments, a bit of patience).
It'll cope fine at a trail centre not a problem, let us know how you find it.
anyway... that's more than capable of trail centre's like Llandegla and the such... perfect for what you want.... Enjoy it!
I was a little worried about what to expect etc. Guys in the car park said just go and do the Black run. Thats what i did and loved it
So my advice is sack the Blue off and go for the Black thats where all the fun bits are. Its pretty smooth all the way round and certainly nothing to worry about on any of it.
I'd expect a bike like that to be worthy of years of riding. A couple up grades every summer and you'll have something really nice.
It takes a couple of years to work out what type of bike best suits your riding style so you'll have plenty of time to drawl over the magizines.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] ... 025278584/
While the bike might be up to the black route I doubt my body is just yet to be honest, 15 years of watching telly and playing playstation games has taken its toll.
It is surprising how quickly your fitness levels rise though - my first ride took over half an hour and I felt like death. To do the same route now is 15 mins and not really out of breath. Better stamina means Mrs 70s_kid is pleased too, so there's not too much grumbling about the expense (yet).
Honestly mate you dont need to worry. Im exactly the same as you. Smoke and drink to much blah blah blah. Really not fit at all but i did the black really glad that i did.
I had to get off and push on a couple of the hills mainly because my legs just couldnt do it. I wasnt the only one pushing either so nothing to be ashamed of.
When are you going ? 2 of us might be going over weekend if you want to tag along
Just noticed your extremely kind offer mate, thanks very much for that, just got back from there though
The first few miles up to the forest were bloody hard work but well worth it, had a fantastic time. I did stick to the blue in the end, I'll do the red one next time I think because it will help to build my confidence by doing them in order. Had a go in the skills area at the end too which good fun, particularly the jumps, although the only "air" that I had really was what was in my tyres!
Ashamed to say I undid all of my hard work by giving in to a "Best breakfast in Wales" :oops: (very tasty though)
Its not the bike its the rider if your censored on a cheap bike you will be censored on an expensive one. Sounds like you had fun keep it up.
No probs. I didnt go in the end i forgot it was Mothers day :oops:
Glad to hear you had fun
i watched one guy push his orange full suss down the first dh in brechfa a couple of wks back, when i asked if his bike was f***ed he replied "no the bikes fine im not risking it riding it down that though"
whats the point???????
if your ever near brechfa and fancy a burn drop me a message
happy riding dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111