Mountain Biking general thread

[Rich B]

Mine (2013 Specialized Enduro Evo) was collected yesterday for £700, very happy with that!

You did well, they look old school with 26" wheels and coil shock.

definitely, I honestly think I’d have struggled to get £4-500 pre-corona.

Still a decent looking thing though imo #26ain’tdead

[mik]

I took my 2003 Trek 4300 for an off-road spin a couple of weeks back. The bike we were going to give away, but after replacing the headset and sorting the gears, my eldest decided he wanted to keep it.

Stuck my SPD pedals on and all was good. Feels weird after 6yrs only using the road bike. Everything still works on it, but it was a £300 bike back in the day, and the front (elastomeric) forks were very much budget at the time. Now they feel even more awful - not much better than a fixed fork in terms of shock absorption.

[V8Granite]

I took my 2003 Trek 4300 for an off-road spin a couple of weeks back. The bike we were going to give away, but after replacing the headset and sorting the gears, my eldest decided he wanted to keep it.

Stuck my SPD pedals on and all was good. Feels weird after 6yrs only using the road bike. Everything still works on it, but it was a £300 bike back in the day, and the front (elastomeric) forks were very much budget at the time. Now they feel even more awful - not much better than a fixed fork in terms of shock absorption.

I have an older Trek 4300 and I just can’t get rid of it, my wheels are knackered, forks kaput and it needs a new chain set but it’s so comfortable to ride long distances on.

Dave!

[mik]

Mine looks pretty tired now, but it got a new bottom bearing, cranks, chain, front chain ring, chain and cassette some time ago, but it hadn’t done mega miles since that so they are all in good shape. Older boy have crashed it several times which hasn’t improved the visuals much....

[Gavin]

I just need more shed space to fit bikes in.

I did sell my Son's old Merida 620 yesterday for £15 less than I paid for it about three years ago so that was decent.

[Orange Cola]

Tonight I managed 31.5 miles in just under 3 hours, if you lot can do better I don’t care * I once rode further than that, circa 34 miles if my memory serves me correctly, but that was on completely flat ground whereas tonight had lots of hills

* I do really, top darts folk

[John]

I was in Lincolnshire last week for a few days so took my bike. I did a couple of rides of around 25 miles each with less than 40ft of elevation

Edit to add context - a 10 mile ride from my front door is over 1000ft

[V8Granite]

I was in Lincolnshire last week for a few days so took my bike. I did a couple of rides of around 25 miles each with less than 40ft of elevation

Edit to add context - a 10 mile ride from my front door is over 1000ft

God bless the fens, hills are the devils work on a bike.

Dave!

[Orange Cola]

I was in Lincolnshire last week for a few days so took my bike. I did a couple of rides of around 25 miles each with less than 40ft of elevation

Edit to add context - a 10 mile ride from my front door is over 1000ft

Same here, although I don’t live in a valley it’s undulating hills and nothing is flat, apart from the canal, but even then there’s a big flight of locks a few miles from me. Great on the way back down though

[Rich B]

I may have picked the wrong time to sell my spare bike after all...!

I’ve just sent my forks and rear shock from my Capra to be serviced and I got a call to quickly chat about what I want done with the rear shock.

I then asked about the forks, which the guys sounded puzzled on, turns out that my forks (which were sent in the same box as the shock) didn’t arrive with them! They are trying to get to the bottom of it (and assured me that I would not be left forkless!) but it would appear that someone at UPS has been a little naughty....!

[Carlos]

I may have picked the wrong time to sell my spare bike after all...!

I’ve just sent my forks and rear shock from my Capra to be serviced and I got a call to quickly chat about what I want done with the rear shock.

I then asked about the forks, which the guys sounded puzzled on, turns out that my forks (which were sent in the same box as the shock) didn’t arrive with them! They are trying to get to the bottom of it (and assured me that I would not be left forkless!) but it would appear that someone at UPS has been a little naughty....!

Bummer.

Have you still got the old hardtail with the crazy long travel fork ?

[Orange Cola]

I may have picked the wrong time to sell my spare bike after all...!

I’ve just sent my forks and rear shock from my Capra to be serviced and I got a call to quickly chat about what I want done with the rear shock.

I then asked about the forks, which the guys sounded puzzled on, turns out that my forks (which were sent in the same box as the shock) didn’t arrive with them! They are trying to get to the bottom of it (and assured me that I would not be left forkless!) but it would appear that someone at UPS has been a little naughty....!

Big box just to send out a rear shock Hope it gets found in good condition and you're not left forking* out for a new one


*Would've been better if you owned a Canondale Lefty etc etc

[Rich B]

I may have picked the wrong time to sell my spare bike after all...!

I’ve just sent my forks and rear shock from my Capra to be serviced and I got a call to quickly chat about what I want done with the rear shock.

I then asked about the forks, which the guys sounded puzzled on, turns out that my forks (which were sent in the same box as the shock) didn’t arrive with them! They are trying to get to the bottom of it (and assured me that I would not be left forkless!) but it would appear that someone at UPS has been a little naughty....!

Bummer.

Have you still got the old hardtail with the crazy long travel fork ?

yeah, It has Sam’s bike seat on it though! but I’ve not got any rides for the next week anyway. One of my mates got a new Pace hardtail last week and we had a go on it at Rogate. Taking it down a smaller jump run it just confirmed that I don’t know how to hardtail anymore!

Back to my forks, they organised the courier so it’s really on them and they were assuring me that regardless I would not be left without mine or equivalent replacements, which is pretty good as they are not cheap (a new pair is the best part of a grand).

[Gwaredd]

Tonight I managed 31.5 miles in just under 3 hours, if you lot can do better I don’t care * I once rode further than that, circa 34 miles if my memory serves me correctly, but that was on completely flat ground whereas tonight had lots of hills

* I do really, top darts folk

27.5 in 2:30 tonight, so not quite but i was on target! Dead legs now though - can't sleep!

[Orange Cola]

Tonight I managed 31.5 miles in just under 3 hours, if you lot can do better I don’t care * I once rode further than that, circa 34 miles if my memory serves me correctly, but that was on completely flat ground whereas tonight had lots of hills

* I do really, top darts folk

27.5 in 2:30 tonight, so not quite but i was on target! Dead legs now though - can't sleep!

Good effort! How flat was it?

[Gwaredd]

Not very. Nearly 1600ft elevation gain with a mix of fire roads and singletrack. I'll try harder next time

[Alex_]

One of my colleagues got his bike stolen last night. Bit of a long shot but if anyone comes across this bike could you let him know: https://stolen-bikes.co.uk/stolen-bikes ... -pitch-38/

[Jobbo]

This seems an appropriate place to ask. I was intending to get an e-Bike before the Government mentioned subsidies for them, and my initial preference was for a Specialized Vado SL 4.0 - it's a fairly light flat bar hybrid with 38mm tyres. But I noticed that it only gives up to 2x assistance, whereas the Levo Hardtail gives up to 4x assistance; I don't ride off the road much but I do a bit, and surely the additional assistance would more than make up for the fact that it has chunky tyres and doesn't roll as well?

The reviews I've seen of the Levo HT say the components are low end, though, so it's not the one to buy, but there are other hardtail e-mountain bikes around at a similar sort of price which are well reviewed. In principle I reckon I might be better off with an e-mountain bike rather than the Vado SL but having never tried any e-bike at all yet, does anyone have any experience which might sway me?

I'd been going down the e-bike route because I live at the bottom of the Cotswold escarpment, so any ride heading into the Cotswold requires climbing that immediately. I was already thinking about a new bike, since any new bike is always good for getting you out riding, but an e-bike is probably more appropriate for the location and my advancing years

[KiwiDave]

If it helps Simon I went through identical thought processes with the Specialized range. In short, I bought Levo's - a HT for the Mrs and an FRS for me. I actually think for the components you get on them, the Vados are overpriced; relatively speaking same components on both bikes and the Vado costs more. However, after having done a year of MTB and commuting on the Levo, I can see why people would plump for the high end city bike version of an ebike, in some regards they're just better suited for the job. But if you're doing any MTB at all, I'd still go Levo. Their 2x and 4x assistance aren't directly comparable either.

As for whether to go Levo or another brand's bikes, the more time I spend with the Levo the more I'm realising it's not as simple a choice as it seems on spec sheets. I've ridden really quite a few EMTBs now and the one thing that continues to stand out is the way the motor integrates with the bike on a Specialized. There's just no lunge when it kicks in, the clutch to allow freewheeling without any kick back, the smoothness the system picks up with, and my latest realisation when comparing mine to a Smartmotion fairly swish town Ebike, the way it eases off its assistance when it hits its speed limiter - the Smartmotion felt almost dangerous as it stopped working. Basically the balance in the way the motors work with you as opposed to alongside you but not quite 'as one' still isn't matched by anyone else.

I'd like to try a Santa Cruz though...

I guess what I'm saying is what makes an ebike good or not is still a lot more in depth than spec sheets and cost. You can't really figure that out without trying them. Also, remember the way one behaves on tarmac isn't IME a clear indicator of how they behave off road. Riding mine on tarmac I seem to just cruise with it at pretty much top speed, riding it offroad I bust a gut on the bike all the time, but it's assisting me so I'm working hard but traveling faster.

[Gwaredd]

No experience on those two, but looking at the specs, the Vado assists up to 28mph whereas the Levo 20mph, although I'm not sure how accurate that is as I was under the impression we have a 16mph cut off rule in the UK.

The geometry will be the big thing for you, with the Vado more streamlined like a road bike, the Levo sits you upright more, so it might be more comfy for your rides to the local pub. Plus, you can always retrofit skinny tyres to the Levo.