The definitive Mountain Biking thread....

[Sparks!]

Just an idea here, but I'm pretty sure a fair few people here do mountain biking of some sort... so I thought I'd make a thread to discuss it, give tips and so on... try to keep it on topic and post useful/informative/interesting on topic stuff..

Start your post witth what you riding (maybe a short rating of what it's like too?) , what type of riding you do, places you most often go.. how often etc.. and feel free to post any tips, tricks, ideas or good places to ride around the country.. maybe we might find local people to ride with etc..

Please try to keep it on topic, I don't often start threads these days so thought I'd try something interesting..

anyway, for me..

My bikes


I used to ride a GT Aggressor 3.0

https://www.onewheelonly.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_GT.jpg

Now, being a good make like GT I thought this would make a good first budget bike for some light off roading etc.. but it slowly fell apart.. I personally don't think I've really abused it that much, I've checked bolts are tight before riding, lubed chain and even taken it to a reputable cycle shop before but the gears kept breaking and the wheel buckled after a few small jumps I still have this bike but now I'm just using it for doing wheelies and tricks and stuff!

Today I bought this, Diamondback S10.. I got it really cheap, brand new.. full suspension, again another budget bike BUT so far it seems really good.. the brakes are the same as the GT, the gears are BETTER... rear suspension is suprisingly good, bars have a nice feel to them, only thing I don't like is the front suspension, ideally needs to be uprated soon.. despite being cheap everything is decent brand named.. diamondback have always been a good make.. gears etc are shimano.. front cogs are SR Suntour so are the forks (altho as said I don't like the forks..) it's a nice fluent ride..

https://www.onewheelonly.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_diamondback.jpg

Also a very nice looking bike, it's relatively light and seems suprisingly well built for the price range.. but I've only had it one day so maybe it'll fall to pieces soon.. who knows

Where do I ride?

Well I'm stupidly unfit so I don't go too far afield, I usually ride round Farlington Marshes, Foxes Forest or Portsdown Hill..

Type of riding?

Apart from stunting the GT.. well I'd say I actually do cross country (XC) but I'm aspiring more to free riding.. I'm just not fit enough yet and need to practice more before hitting some proper freeriding tracks.. I love bombing it along twisty tight technical tracks. I love technical.. a lot more than fast, technical is so much fun... I do like jumps although haven't done any thing big yet.. Downhill is good fun but again not majorly into going down them at warp factor 10

Tips & tricks

Er... well before you go riding, go buy an under-saddle bag, chuck a few allen keys, screwdriver and puncture repair kit in.. multi tools are handy.. most bits on bikes these days are allen keys, just go over your bike and see what you need, stick it in the under saddle bag cos you WILL need stuff.. get a small pump too..

Water.. drink lots, bollocks to bottles, mine keep falling off and are just annoying, buy a camelbak type backpack with drink tube and resevoir.. they are really cheap these days, Igot 2 of them.. 1 a small camel bak off ebay (brand new obviously) for £15.. and got a bigger 2liter backpack one from lidl's for £14 one offer time.. also means you can chuck your phone, tools, food/energy bars and stuff in there...

If you're new to MTBing and want to buy a budget bike.. look for quality over "quantity" cheap bikes with disc brakes usually mean cheap heavy frames, crap suspension and crap brakes... just because they are discs doesn't make them good... look for decent brand names like Kona, Specialized, diamondback, muddyfox etc etc.. I suppose GT are on that list too altho be careful of their cheapest bikes... look for good quality light frames with good basic components, you can always upgrade brakes, suspension and gears etc for reasonable money, but upgrading frames well you might as well just buy a new bike.. also buy a bike for your riding style... full suspension is good for downhill, freeriding and spirited cross country, but it does make peddling harder so if you're just using the bike for on-road or light offroad then stick with a hardtail and you'll get a better bike for your money...


Anyway, that's all I'm gonna say for now, hopefully people will post up similar and maybe find local people to ride with or at least find new trails/places to go or just some good advice from others.... maybe it'll encourage people to start up? MTBing is good fun whether you go offroad or onroad, far or near.. it's all good fun

[McJamweasel]

I've just (as in yesterday) bought a Shockwave SUS 450. £80 from Halfrauds. Bargain.

https://www.haggul.com/ProdImage/25%5C499187.jpg

My first bike for probably 10 years, just something to get me back into riding so I can improve my fitness. It will probably last 2 weeks.

Gears are a bit toss, its got grip shift which I don't like and its just not accurate shifting at all. It won't actually go down into 1st. Oh well.
____________________
BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[Vin]

Cool thread and I do a bit of mountain biking. Well I use a mountain bike for anything from going to the shops, through road touring in europe to riding off road. Nothing too serious though.
My bikes
Trek 830 "Antelope"
Trusty steel frame and no suspension. My first bike that is now erm.. resting in my garage. I thought it was ace and still do.
Kona Blast....a few years old. Great basic bike with reasonable but basic Marzocchi Bomber forks. It has a great frame and for me good riding position. The group set is pretty pants and the wheels a bit bendy. Oh and I had to change the OE saddle....agony!
Where do I ride
Old railway tracks and roads around my home, south downs, north downs, on the roads in europe, anywhere really but not as often as I should.
Types of riding?
Bimbling....
Tips and Tricks
As said in previous post. But always take a spare inner tube and don't fall off. If really really hurts falling of at 15mph in shorts.
Best rides I've done
Along the forest way to the Crown at Groombridge, South Downs Way, Coast to Coast up north somewhere, actually anywhere where there are no people.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

[McJamweasel]

[Sparks!]

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

Where do you start?

The welding is shit, those frame's can break if you try jumping them off kerb's. One of the guy's regularly has to re-tap the pedals as they are threaed on arrival. The gear mech is impossible to set up at anywhere near acceptable, it will cause damage to the component's causing them to break within a month I should imagine. The suspension is as affective as a slinky, and it will break just as quickly.

buy a cheap Carrera that has NO suspension. They are good solid frames and will do everything you need.
____________________
Pictorgraphicalfantastical

[jay_666]

My bikes
Identiti Dr.Jekyll
Santa Cruz Super 8
Onze T-Mag

Places i ride
Dirt Jumps
Baggeridge woods
Bewdley
Wolverley
Bobbington (private farm)
Downhill tracks
Kinver
Hopton castle
Bringewood
somewhere near Bridgenorth that i cant remember the name of
Skate parks
Epic
RampArts

Baggeridge woods are also good for messing around in and just general riding about.
____________________
CBT - Done | Theory - Passed | Test - 4th Oct [PASSED!]
https://www.bikepics.com/members/jay666/

[cagiva gezzer]

Bikes :

GT RTS - XTR,XT,LX Rock Shox Judy XL's.
Schwinn Rocket - LX, deore Rock Shox jetts, full suspension.
Schwinn Alu Comp - Just a frame at the moment.
Specialized Rockhopper A1 - LX, XT, Deore, Rock Shox Judys

Don't really ride them at them moment. The RTS is for keeps, the Schwinns are for selling to my dad and a friend, the Specialized is a donor for the Schwinn Alu Comp. Then the rockhopper will be sold on as a frameset.

Biggest tips -

Don't buy budget bikes, they're naff. Spend a little bit more and they last so much longer.

Learn how to maintain them. With abuse any bike will be shit and wheels will bend, but if you know how to look after them you'll be able to fix it.

Shimano LX and above. My LX/XT/XTR parts are 8 years old with 8,000miles + on them and still rocking on.
____________________
"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Bike - Kona Hahanna

After a long lay off, ironically caused by motorcycles, I've got back into cycling a lot recently. The Z5's on my kona were actually part-financed by paper round money, that's how long ago I bought them .

At the moment I'm getting more of an adrenaline 'kick' riding technical singletrack rather than riding a sportsbike on the local roads, it's all got a bit too comfortable unless you really push it. You can also bin an mtb with probably no financial loss, which I like

I'd like to get good at freeride, wheelies, jumps etc but like Sparks I'm mainly concentrating on XC riding atm as I need to build myself up to a half-decent level of fitness. I'm out almost every day at the moment though, tempted to chuck my bike in the car and get down to the Coed y Brenin forest trails tomorow.

[Method]

My bike: Saracen XIle

Cunningly Parked at the top of my Slide

https://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3392/picture1444de.jpg

Downhill Bars + Brace
New Levers
Single front sprocket
DMR Bash Guard
DMR Chain Stay
Shimano 7 Speed Rear Cassette (Only 2 working gears - 1 For Wheelies, 1 For Jumps and Speed)
Shimano Crank arms
Nokian Gazalodi (*sp) Dual Downhill Slalom Tyres ( £40 each )
BMX Seat and Cut Down Seat Post for Jumps
Red Peddals

Think thats about it for now...

Always carry an Alan key around with me as the crank arms tend to wobble loose after an hour of abuse. Always carry my phone and some loose change for drinks

Always wear MX Gloves as my bargrips cut into my hands.

Types of Riding:
I tend to do more free riding recently, as its just easier.

Used to do a lot of jumping and off roading/downhill sections out in the peak district, derbyshire, matlock area... Was a regular down the local BMX Track, showing up all the kids on their £700 BMX's.

Originally rode a Mongoose Sniper BMX, which is what got me into the jumping side of things, but couldnt get on with the weight of it and the back ache it gave you. Bought the Saracen for doing trails and that, but soon found out that with a few basic mods it could hack some pretty good jumps / trails.

Places:
As mentioned before i used to be a local at the BMX track, now i tend to go for rides down Ferry Meadows / Orton Mere and take on some of the random downhill sections cutting through the trees and potholes etc.

Like doing trails such as the High Peak Trail in Derbyshire, and the Whitby - Scarborough rail road in Yorkshire. But they are a special treat as they are quite far away

Tricks & Tips:
Always carry around a basic set of tools, phone, and cash.

I love pulling tricks and will try and catch some air of anything i can find. When i cant see anywhere to grab some air then you will normally find me balancing on the rear wheel.

Currently im learning to pull decent sit-down wheelies, just getting used to balance the bike for periods of time over the 10oClock mark.

Had a mate that ended up getting sponsored and travelled the UK doing jump competitons and downhill - He toughted me half of what i know and introduced me to dropoffs - which later ended up in me spending a few days layed on my back after my rear axle snapped when dropping off the side of a bridge

I like taking my freinds / gf out on the bikes aswell, showing them the kind of riding that i used to do / still do and introducing them to different types of riding and explaining how to take certain elements that appear. Just small things like, how to go down steep hills on loose surfaces, leaning back when going over humps, keeping your weight backwards and raising the front wheel when dropping down from slightly. Just basic kind of things that bring a new element to it.

Dont realy have anyone to go out stunting / jumping with anymore as most of my old biking freinds have gone away to UNI or moved on now. So as a result i dont get out as much as i would like

Anyway - this has spurred me on to go out now, so i might be back later with a few pics

Good thread
____________________
CBT Aug '03 ... Gilera GSM 50 ... Honda NSR 125 Aug '04 ...
Full Test Dec 04... Suzuki GS500 Jan 05... Suzuki SV650 Mar 07... Gixxer 6 K5 May 08... Oh and my 'Rado
My Bikepics.com - No Brakes, No Gears... No Fear.

[Biker100]

bike - 05 saracen xile (budget)
mods - deore rear mech and shifter, 9spd close ratio cassette, single front ring, dmr moto tyres (total death traps on even slighty moist downhill)

i ride anything i can on the thing, has taken alot of stick. mostly ride d/j and street though.

i ride every weekend and sometimes during he week. i always have a pump, puncure repair kit and multi tool all in the camel back full with water.

i ride at yeadon bmx track, adel (d/j and downhill), posthill (downhill), temple newsam (downhill), hall park (skate park) and leeds uni . all those are in leeds.

good thread

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Well just got back from Coed Y Brenin, ended up doing the Red Bull trail although I hadn't really planned to (signage was a bit shit near the start and I missed the mbr route).

It's bloody rocky, some really good enjoyable technical sections but a slight error could easily land you with a face/boulder interaction. I had about two biggish near misses for crashes, the first I managed to snap my cheap plastic/metal combo pedal on a rock, another one I just about avoided a tree with some foot down skiddage. Really good fun, and I've been looking for an excuse to replace those pedals

Anyone got any recommendations for pedals, been looking at some DMR V8's....

[Flip]

DMR V8's rock. Until your foot comes off and it tw*ts you in the shin!

[cagiva gezzer]

DMR's with terror pins.
____________________
"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[Sparks!]

fuckin broke the gears on the DB now, WHY DO ME AND PUSH BIKE GEARS NOT GET ON.. for fucks sake why can't it just work???

Anyone know of any decent online tutorials to adjusting up gears.. ??

[jay_666]

[Teaman]

those brooklins are evil,


When I was 20 I was Am pro and cycling with Steve Pete the odd time in Wharncliffe woods and around sheffield doing down hill and a bit of x country,
bikes were
Trek 930 with marzochi air, oil forks, xt, xtr group set, and rather a few other trick bits,
Trek Y carbon with xtr group set, (was on load from the shop who I was sposored by as I worked for them.

an Orbit track bike for wizzing round the velodrome in manchester and a Cadex road bike with campag record groupset

Unfortunately I got rather ill and had to stop trying to turn pro and retire from cycling ,


I took it back up a couple of years ago with my kids and have a GT avalanch aluminium thingy, I dont like it though, seams too twitchy and I want my old trek back
____________________
There is no point in ranting about someone stupid because there is nothing u can do about it. There is no cure for stupid.
Someone stupid does not realise they r stupid.stupidity is indistinguishable from malice U just have to accept that some people are thick as p1gsh1t and work around them.

[Flip]

I want them just because they say 'Brooklyn'. Is that sad?

[G]

Got a GT avalance pro and an Orange MsIsle, which may or may not be working at the moment (leant to a friend to ride around Wales with some of the pus bike bits from my project bike bodged on at the moment).

Generally XC and road stuff - might try and join a Road Cycling club for fitness.


Oh and I've got fancy DMR V12 Magnesium pedals (they made up the money for my company bike scheme) - seem pretty good. Though, as mentioned, not the best when stuck in your leg .

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Ordered the V8's, not sure my shins are going to thank me though, I've read reviews of people needing stitches, and one guy that had the pins stuck so far into his leg they had to push the other pedal to get them out

[Steve H]

[Cillit-BANG]

Stating from '95

Gary Fisher Mahi Mahi
Kona Fire Mountain
DMR Trailstar
On-One Inbred singlespeed
On-One Geared Inbred
Specialized Enduro S-Works (mmmm)

I've got rid of them all now and just ride the old Kona as a rigid Singlespeed. I found that spending the best part of £3k of a full suspension piece of art wasn't really my thing anymore. I get just as much enjoyment out of riding with mates just coasting the local trails.

I don't ride much anymore though, but do enjoy the Sleepless in the Saddle 24hr race each year.

I do very much like my HID Lumicycle 40W lights though

Old school steel is where it's at.

[Biker100]

bit off topic but, do any of you ride leeds then? ide be up for a meet if anyone else was

[Sparks!]

Had a couple of off road rides on the diamondback now and have to say it's really good! since sorting the gears out its even nicer to ride off road! suspension feels pretty nice, front isn't as bad as I thought it was but I'm still not entirely happy.. but the bike in general is really nice... well reccomend diamondbacks so far, they seem very good for their cost..