Mountain Biking general thread

[Gavin]

I have Bontrager resin with removable pins and they are grand but as I discovered coming down a red run at Glentress, if I am bouncing the vertical grip is non-existent from my trail running shoes!

Probably a wise decision to get grippy shoes, just need to make sure I get narrow fitting ones.

[Rich B]

Having had my feet slip off my flat pedals a few times (no horrific injuries thankfully) I am leaning towards getting some proper shoes but not keen to spend £100+ on the ubiquitous 5/10. Anyone had good experiences with O'neal as they look similar but are half the price.

Also, I have daft narrow feet so anyone else got similar size and can recommend a brand? Cheers

You don't need to spend £100+ on 5:10s, I have a few pairs and they weren't that much. They sometimes have them on sale at mandmdirect too.

What size are you? And do you need one for the peg leg too?

[Gavin]

I am a size 10 or 11 depending on make but more often a ten.

Peg leg? Am I forgetting a previous pirate thread?

It looks like skate shoes are similarly soled so as I have a pair of Nike SB shoes (which I bought for driving the taxi) I will have a crack with them and see if there is any grip.

Will try that website though, cheers

[Rich B]

Hah! At a glance I got you confused with gwarreddddth somehow!

Bike shoes are much stiffer than skate shoes, so I'd stick with mountain bike specific ones.

[Gavin]

OK. The Nikes are pretty solid, as they are effectively free I will give them a go with a view to getting something decent when I can get to a shop and try different makes for width.

Has Gwardeth got a peg leg?

[ZedLeg]

I've used old style vans on flat pedals since my BMXing days. I find that the diamond sole pattern and quite soft rubber grip the pedals really well.

vd5ib8c_0031_11_720x.jpg (41.71 KiB) Viewed 1986 times

Also I'm a tart and think that most biking specific shoes are real ugly

[Gavin]

Well, just went out in the rain an mud and apart from the hole in the toe letting in water they were waaay better than the trail shoes. Now looking at waterproof socks.

Sealskinz have been recommended but they seem to be mostly out of stock in size L or £40.

Anyone tried different WP socks?

[dinny_g]

I've used old style vans on flat pedals since my BMXing days. I find that the diamond sole pattern and quite soft rubber grip the pedals really well.

vd5ib8c_0031_11_720x.jpg

Also I'm a tart and think that most biking specific shoes are real ugly

Similar but I have DMR Vaults and wear whatever pair of Adidas Pace trainers that can be boughtin Sports Direct for £20. I have SPD's too but haven't had them on the bike in years.

[Rich B]

Superstar Nano-x + 5.10 freerider. Job done.

The stealth rubber (which is a development of climbing shoes rubber) soles on 5.10's is something else - I've worn them canyoning before and walked up a waterfall without slipping when everyone else was struggling.

[Gavin]

Well, I managed to find in stock size L knee high (as apparently that is better) so will use them with the SB shoes for the moment and ask Santa for proper bike shoes.

[KiwiDave]

I've been using old school Vans on flats, and when wet I've got some Goretex trail walking shoes that have done the job. Both give me pins and needles in my toes after a few hours so probably going to have to invest in some proper trail shoes.

[Gavin]

I did a few miles at Glentress on Friday on the old SB shoes and the grip was so good i didn't actually think about my feet. usually I am adjusting every few minutes so happy days.

[mention]Rich B[/mention] I am happy with my pedals as they seem to be mega grippy but good to see the Freeriders are at the cheaper end of the pricing scale. Might pop them on my Christmas list as given the SB shoes split just while driving, I suspect they won't last too long as bike shoes.

[KiwiDave]

I had the pleasure recently of having a little scoot on a 2020 Specialized Levo SL - the EMTB with way less assist but a lot less weight. Totally makes sense - it's significantly lighter and easier to pedal than my own normal Levo and quite a bit more nimble, but it has just enough of the boost to allow you to be a bit more flat out than normal everywhere. Notably over my own bike it still has the full house rear gears including the mammoth granny gear and I could see that with the gentle assist and that you could still conquer anything without needing to be triathlete fit.

Basically really loved it. Rode it back to back with an all-carbon Giant something which was lighter again, but comparatively, totally hateful. What you gained in lower weight the Levo SL made up for in assist, but the SL just sat much, much better through turns - way more stable basically.

During our latest lockdown I also bought a Wahoo Kickr V5 and have got my old SL4 road bike on it. I can see that if use the time on the trainer to keep a higher base level of fitness and leg strength, the SL would be a much better all round bike than my current regular Levo.

[John]

I had the pleasure recently of having a little scoot on a 2020 Specialized Levo SL - the EMTB with way less assist but a lot less weight. Totally makes sense - it's significantly lighter and easier to pedal than my own normal Levo and quite a bit more nimble, but it has just enough of the boost to allow you to be a bit more flat out than normal everywhere. Notably over my own bike it still has the full house rear gears including the mammoth granny gear and I could see that with the gentle assist and that you could still conquer anything without needing to be triathlete fit.

Basically really loved it. Rode it back to back with an all-carbon Giant something which was lighter again, but comparatively, totally hateful. What you gained in lower weight the Levo SL made up for in assist, but the SL just sat much, much better through turns - way more stable basically.

During our latest lockdown I also bought a Wahoo Kickr V5 and have got my old SL4 road bike on it. I can see that if use the time on the trainer to keep a higher base level of fitness and leg strength, the SL would be a much better all round bike than my current regular Levo.

Interesting to read your views on the Levo SL as it's caught my attention. I had an ebike a couple of years ago but sold it as I only did 300 miles in the year I owned it as I preferred riding my analogue bike. Most of my riding mates have ebikes in their fleet now and although it's fun trying to keep up they unsurprisingly drop me on long climbs. Plus living on the edge of the peak district a bit of assistance on the bigger climbs is always welcome.

[Carlos]

£5,000 to £12,500 fo the SL seems crazy to me for a bike.

My Giant ebike has been a disaster, 14 months and less than 300 miles and it still has intermittent turning off issues. I've asked for a replacement/refund today as £2k+ for an ebike that can't be relied on to e is like a chocolate fireguard.

[KiwiDave]

[mention]Carlos[/mention] yeah I'd be fucked off with that too. It should just work.

As for the Specialized tax - it is real. The SL I rode was on a four day loan to a friend of mine (owner of the carbon Giant analogue bike and 10+yr Giant fanboy) who was immensely skeptical about whether the Specialized would be worth it, and didn't really believe my comments about the Levos being a big step on from the Giants, Trek and GT ones I've ridden. He was a convert.

I still maintain that the reason the Levos are better than most (possibly all) other EMTBs is the fact they're so intrinsically designed as an ebike from the start as opposed to bolting a bigger downtube and motor housing onto an existing bike. (Sweeping statement I know.) All that R&D has to cost something, although I don't think it costs as much per bike as the prices suggest and there's still a real ugly Specialized tax. Interestingly, we have models here in NZ which you can get for around or just below 4k GBP so either there's some weird exchange thing going on with UK prices or you're not getting all the models?

[John]

Orbea are announcing a new lightweight eMTB this week, could be interesting.

[KiwiDave]

Absolutely. Likely to be a shit load cheaper than a Specialized, and based on all their other models, basically a straight copy no?

[Gavin]

Went out yesterday and went through two wee streams and ended up having to put a foot down. Socks = 100% waterproof and kept my foot warm and dry for the next hour or more of riding, Nike SB shoes on the other hand are sponges and still sodden today so ordered up Freeriders as per [mention]Rich B[/mention]

My wife's birthday was yesterday and I had got her some five tens and they are bone dry today and had phenomenal grip.

Who would have thought, MTB shoes designed for MTBing, better than old, ripped SB shoes!

[Gavin]

Hey collective. Am now (with redundancy no longer looming) looking at shed options. Ideally a large door and three bikes on their back wheels or similarly neatly stowed away.

Does anyone have any cunning bike storage or tips? Space is not a huge issue, in the we don't use our garden anyway so the plan is to put the shed in, then a summer house type thing and have it tidy for next Scottish summer.

Pics of bikes stored appreciated. (tried google but went cross-eyed)


Also, more on topic, went up the black run, or one of them, at Glentress yesterday and on the way down with a friend on a full sus, I realised why people go full sus!