Mountain Biking general thread

[KiwiDave]

Nice purchase!

[Gavin]

Orbea make some nice kit. As Rich said, green and blue can be ridden by anyone. Parks I have been to you can usually skirt obstacles on the way up at least if you are not up to boulder hopping etc.

I would get out and just have a go.

[KiwiDave]

Echo that - just get out and have a crack.

And I'd add (and I'm only saying this because the audience here is all guys who like giving a car some stick when they can and going for it) but don't get cocky. Pushing your boundaries on a mountain bike is how you learn and I'm all for that, however, at our age a crash is usually pretty bad news. Whatever your limits are, respect them and have fun within them - there's no shame at 40-something riding a bike and struggled with small steps when a 16yr old can clear doubles as big as your house - we don't bounce like they do.

[Jobbo]

Dave, I am by no means going to get cocky. I’ve been cycling for over 40 years and know it hurts when you fall off!

Collecting it tomorrow afternoon; annoyingly I have family plans at the weekend and work is madly busy so I’m not sure when I’m getting out on it yet. I imagine later tomorrow afternoon though

[Jimmy Choo]

How much! That's reassuringly expensive.

Please tell me that you used a cycle to work scheme for that purchase!

[Jobbo]

I don't qualify for the cycle to work scheme since I'm not an employee. But it turns out there is a great tax saver: https://www.goldstagaccounts.co.uk/reso ... ew-bicycle - the company can reclaim the VAT and I don't pay any BIK so man maths kicked in.

The range should just about be enough to get me to work, though I'd have to have a fairly short working day to get home again

Didn't notice it was more than my Jimny until I'd got home, but the Jimny is not tax-deductible!

[Jimmy Choo]

I don't qualify for the cycle to work scheme since I'm not an employee. But it turns out there is a great tax saver: https://www.goldstagaccounts.co.uk/reso ... ew-bicycle - the company can reclaim the VAT and I don't pay any BIK so man maths kicked in.

The range should just about be enough to get me to work, though I'd have to have a fairly short working day to get home again

Didn't notice it was more than my Jimny until I'd got home, but the Jimny is not tax-deductible!

My old GT avalanche was about £1,000 and my '77 Mk2 Escort was £300 back in 1996 so I can't really comment on a bike more expensive than a car.

[ZedLeg]

My first Santa Cruz Chameleon cost me about £3k to build, I wouldn't have considered spending that much on a car, probably still wouldn't unless it was something really cool

[Jobbo]

Picked up my bike today at lunchtime. I've been a bit busy but managed a quick 10 mile loop from home.

Quick review: it's lovely to ride, way more capable than I'll use I'm sure but that doesn't mean I won't appreciate it. I sit at just under17mph according to the speedo on tarmac; the assistance is supposed to tail off at 15.6mph but it starts to wind down between about 16.4-16.8mph on the display, and you can hear the motor go quiet past 17. Tour mode is fine for me; in Turbo it leaps away but accelerates sufficiently quickly you can just leave it in a high gear and almost immediately reach the end of the assistance. I'll be trying it on the Cotswold escarpment shortly where I'm sure it'll be more useful.

All of the motor stuff you'd get with a Cube hard-tail for less than half the price. And that's very much the first impression for me. I feel as fit as I was 25-30 years ago, which based on the assistance (up to 340%) must mean I'm about 1/4 as fit as I was then Acceptance is the first step... anyway, I don't feel like getting on the bike reminds me of how unfit I've got now.

I think the bike itself is going to prove itself more gradually. Little things like the comfy ride over broken tarmac were (being honest with myself) the main reason I bought a full suspension bike. The geometry is great though, suits me well, steers really nicely and compared to the one cheap full-sus bike I rode years ago, you almost wouldn't know the rear is sprung because it doesn't bob as you pedal.

I was surprised how light the front wheel/tyre was when I took it off to put it in the car, and also how light the bike was with the battery out. Makes it much more likely I'll be chucking it in the boot than I expected.

Anyway, here it is - in need of some mudguards and some decent pedals; the shop stuck some cheap crap ones on so I can ride it. Expect a long thread about pedals again in the near future

[Jobbo]

Forgot to comment on one thing - the screen for controlling the motor modes. This has the basic Bosch Purion, which is a nice simple LCD display, mounts next to your left grip and has four buttons: one on top to turn the motor on and off, one on the bottom to put it in 'Walk' mode (self-propelled at a low pace if you're walking the bike, since you won't be pedalling) and +/- buttons within thumb reach to change mode and display. Easy to understand, great.



Bosch also offer the Kiox which is the next model up, standard on many bikes and I tried it in the shop. The Kiox is at least twice the size, has a colour display, seems always to be mounted centrally (either on the stop of the stem or at the front of the top tube), has more functions such as sat nav (not sure how that works if you're not on the road, but hey); it does the basic mode stuff but it's a bike computer as well and connects to your phone via bluetooth. I didn't like it

[dinny_g]

Expect a long thread about pedals again in the near future

DMR Vaults...

That was nice and short...

[Zonda_]

Picked up my bike today at lunchtime. I've been a bit busy but managed a quick 10 mile loop from home.

Quick review: it's lovely to ride, way more capable than I'll use I'm sure but that doesn't mean I won't appreciate it. I sit at just under17mph according to the speedo on tarmac; the assistance is supposed to tail off at 15.6mph but it starts to wind down between about 16.4-16.8mph on the display, and you can hear the motor go quiet past 17. Tour mode is fine for me; in Turbo it leaps away but accelerates sufficiently quickly you can just leave it in a high gear and almost immediately reach the end of the assistance. I'll be trying it on the Cotswold escarpment shortly where I'm sure it'll be more useful.

All of the motor stuff you'd get with a Cube hard-tail for less than half the price. And that's very much the first impression for me. I feel as fit as I was 25-30 years ago, which based on the assistance (up to 340%) must mean I'm about 1/4 as fit as I was then Acceptance is the first step... anyway, I don't feel like getting on the bike reminds me of how unfit I've got now.

I think the bike itself is going to prove itself more gradually. Little things like the comfy ride over broken tarmac were (being honest with myself) the main reason I bought a full suspension bike. The geometry is great though, suits me well, steers really nicely and compared to the one cheap full-sus bike I rode years ago, you almost wouldn't know the rear is sprung because it doesn't bob as you pedal.

I was surprised how light the front wheel/tyre was when I took it off to put it in the car, and also how light the bike was with the battery out. Makes it much more likely I'll be chucking it in the boot than I expected.

Anyway, here it is - in need of some mudguards and some decent pedals; the shop stuck some cheap crap ones on so I can ride it. Expect a long thread about pedals again in the near future

Looks awesome, I’d love a cheaper version.

[Rich B]

A lot of bike - should be all the bike you'd ever need! Shame it's not the orange version though!

[Jobbo]

It’s my preferred colour, though I did spec a rhubarb and custard version on MyO The orange is a bit Dyno-Rod.

Looking forward to seeing yours Rich. What’s the Shimano controller like?

[ZedLeg]

Bike looks good Jobbo. Maybe I should’ve got an ebike, I’ve been reminded how much I’ve let myself go every time I’ve been out recently

Expect a long thread about pedals again in the near future

I like these

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mob ... prod156082

[Rich B]

I've not tried it yet this specific controller yet, though display wise I don't really care, other than it having an easily reached buttons to change modes and a display/lights for battery life.

That side of the tech (extra functions like big screens/speed/gps/etc) doesn't interest me. I think mine uses a simple display like yours.

[Jobbo]

Zed, the blue V8s would go with the suspension adjusters. I have already thought of this, possibly with some matching grips.

[John]

I've got the RRP Proguard bolt on for the front, it's very good and does away with the need for cable ties.

http://www.rapidracerproducts.com/produ ... lt-on.html

[Rich B]

There's a proper Fox one for the 38s.

https://www.silverfish-uk.com/products/ ... Guard-2021

[John]

I looked at the Fox one before buying the RRP, it's pretty small.