Glentress

Well....
Its been an interesting day, a mate of mine took me up to Glentress near Peebles in the Scottish borders for a wee jaunt around. I think my first mistake I made was actually going, considering he as a 2 grand custom built bike.

So, went into the bike shop and hired a bike. Mistake two, taking on of their Genesis Mantles for £20 for the day. This was my first time on a bike in about 6 years, so not knowing much different, it felt like an OK bike.

So up the hill we go, this is a slog as the gears kept sliding about when changing gears..especially at the front.
When up at the middle car park I did notice how light he bike was compared to the thing I had hired. The mantle just felt like a tank compared to it...especially the front suspension.

One thing I can recommend to any other first timers, do not under any circumstance take the red route....jesus, I am now in bits after that.
I wish I had forked out the extra £30 for one of the top end bikes they have for hire, would of made my day a lot easier I feel. As despite 100mm worth of travel on the Mantle, it didn't stop it from hurting like hell!!

However, after what was a very painful day, I can take one thing away from it and that I quite enjoyed it. However, my personal choice on what bike to actually buy has somewhat changed.

So, basically, what is the lightest(non carbon) bike you can get out there, without going into stupid money as I am still very much a beginner.

I think im going to be aching for days..

Kevin