A Few Questions - Just Starting Out

Shin-Ra · March 2017

Hey,

Just thought I would post a few questions I have and hopefully you guys can help answer them?

1). Mountain Bike Coaching/Skills courses, since I'm new to the sport would it be worth while going on a coaching/skills session? If it is worth it can anyone recommend someone in the Hamsterly Forest area?

2). Dropper seat... get one or don't bother? From the reading I've done people seem to hail these as a "game changer", do they make that much of a difference or would it not be something required for riding places like Hamsterly Forest?

3). 1X setup... make the change or leave things alone? This seems to come up as much as the dropper seat, is it worth changing over to a 1X setup or is the work/cost involved not really worth it?

4). Tools/Bike Stand - One thing I don't have is a bike stand... or any bike specific tools... any suggestions on essentials that I should pick up and by what brands, in regards to the bike stand is this something I'm going to need or can work be done without mounting the bike on a stand?

5). Clothing/shoes - Is there anything specific I should look to pick up or will I be good-to-go in trainers and casual clothes?

No doubt I'll have more questions come to mind but if you guys can help with the about it would be much appreciated

Cheers!

Uber_Pod · March 2017

Shin-Ra wrote:

3). 1X setup... make the change or leave things alone? This seems to come up as much as the dropper seat, is it worth changing over to a 1X setup or is the work/cost involved not really worth it?

If you never use the other one/two front rings, removing them will make things simpler and save a teeny bit of weight.
If you're starting out, I can't see how either would make much difference.

I'd guess that once you ride a lot more, you'll 'know' whether it's the right thing to do for you (and your current bike).

cooldad · March 2017

Just ride and see what you need.

I would recommend decent shoes with sticky stiff soles and proper clothes. Cotton T shirts etc are horrible to ride and get sweaty in.

fat daddy · March 2017

ITs very easy to fall in to the trap of throwing money at something in the belief it will make everything amazing. But until you actually start to ride and reach limits of what ever item you want to upgrade its just not worth it.

Get coaching, when you feel it will benefit you, ie you are ready to start going down the really steep stuff, drop offs, walls etc

Get the dropper post when you get annoyed at having to stop, manually lower the saddle a bit then raise it at the end before that long boring climb

Go 1x when you discover the riding you do, only requires a few gears, none of which require a granny or a daddy ring

Bike stand - actually just buy one, whn I bought mine I spent 2 days repeatedly smashing my face on the garage wall as punishment for not buying one 7 years before ... they really help when it comes to maintanence from re-indexing gears, renewing brake cables etc

Tool kit - worth having a basic one with allen keys, srew drivers, tyre leavers etc .... wait till you need it before spanking money of casset tools and BB presses

clothing - again, go riding in shorts and t-shirt and see what happens.... do you need padded shorts, do you need looser clothing, do you need longsleeves water proofs.

chemicalali · March 2017

As the other guys have said, the main thing is to go ride your bike - you'll soon find what you want/need in order to progress. A few points though:-

I'd recommend some coaching, as this should set you up with good habits and make you safe and progression easier. There are a few outfits based around Hamsterley offering coaching:-

Ingelby Cycle Coaching - Mike coaches both juniors and adult beginners and is an easy going laid back guy - he'll certainly be fine to set you up with the basics.

ProRide - these offer a number of levels (I've been on their "Flow" course) - a professional outfit but maybe less beginner focussed.

Endeavour - Max has a good rep but again may be more suited to the more experienced rider.

Dropper post - yes you can ride without one but riding technical stuff (of which there's plenty at Hamsterley - not all on the "official" trails) is a lot easier with one - it allows you to get the seat out of the way and apply the skills you've learnt from the coaching so much more easily.

Clothing - as said, you can start out with anything but you'll find things better with bike-specific kit, but no need to splash out loads up front - see what other people are using and take it from there. I would recommend decent shoes though as these are a key contact point withe the bike.

Tools/maintenance - even if you don't get heavily into this, you'll need to learn the basics (if only to fix things out on the trail to avoid walking home). A workstand isn't essential though it does make a lot of jobs much easier than without.

LimitedGarry · March 2017

Short term commitment usually tells a different story than long-term enthusiasm. In other words, just because something seems like the best idea on the planet right now doesn't mean you'll feel the same way two months from now. And even let's say you turn out to be an avid MTB rider, if you buy a ton of stuff on day one, you'll find it all inappropriate a few months later. With that said, don't buy a dropper yet and definitely don't change anything about your drivetrain. Buy bike specific tools if and when you need them. Some screwdrivers and hex/torx keys is something one would expect to find in every household - get them if you don't have those.

And if you're completely new to cycling, remember to pedal fast, not hard. You'll improve sooner and your knees will thank you 20 years later. Also, do not avoid hills. Get into climbing as soon as you can.

A Few Questions - Just Starting Out

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