Mountain Biking general thread

[V8Granite]

Breaking ribs is a fucker. It hurts to breathe so you try and breathe shallow but sometimes you go too shallow and then need a big breath, which hurts like hell and the whole sequence restarts .

Dave!

[mik]

I also sit in the "do try and avoid cracking ribs" camp.

Cracked ribs always also reminds me of having my appendix removed - i had this done as a child when it was a proper 10cm opening/scar process. One of the male nurses was a really funny guy, and I dreaded him coming on shift as he always made me laugh heartily .....which was absolutely excruciating.

[Rich B]

tbf - i doubt they’re broken, i can breathe and stand without pain (even breathing deeply in is just a little uncomfortable rather than painful).

i just sneezed for the first time in 2 days - it hurt, but i’ll live!

[Jobbo]

Get well soon. Not a lot you can do except suffer through it - glad it’s not more serious.

[dinny_g]

I bruised/cracked 2 ribs skiing in Kitzbuhel a few years back so you have my sympathies.

EVERYTHING hurt. Getting out of bed, getting dressed, getting in the car, getting on the Gondola, getting on the lifts, getting off the lifts. Everything.

The only time it didn’t hurt was when actually skiing down the hill which was a godsend

[Rich B]

I bruised/cracked 2 ribs skiing in Kitzbuhel a few years back so you have my sympathies.

EVERYTHING hurt. Getting out of bed, getting dressed, getting in the car, getting on the Gondola, getting on the lifts, getting off the lifts. Everything.

The only time it didn’t hurt was when actually skiing down the hill which was a godsend

yeah, i had that on day 2 - the riding position didn’t hurt it but everything else did!

cheers all!!

[John]

A bit of advice, don't get hiccups.

[Jobbo]

Been out today looking for a well priced emtb for my regular cycling buddy who didn’t get one when I did in 2021. Lovely bike shop were really helpful but annoyingly had a current Orbea Wild M10 as a demonstrator which they suggested I had a quick ride of, to compare to my 2021 Wild M20. There has been a complete update since I got mine. I’d mostly ignored it because it was a lot of money for what I perceived to be basically the same bike. But I did remember that the weight had been cut by a few kilos, so despite being a full power bike it is now a similar weight to the lighter slightly lower power emtbs which had been launched since - such as the Orbea Rise and Specialized Levo SL. I think the lighter bikes are now in the 19kg area while the Wild is around 21kg; my current bike is nearer 25kg.

It was a medium frame and I didn’t expect to fit but weirdly I did, like a glove. And I rode it straight out of the store door, down some steps and it was such a massive difference from my current bike I couldn’t believe it. I’d even get the medium frame not small; comparing sizes it has the same main tube length length as the small but a slightly taller head tube and longer reach. For once a bike designed for my short legs and normal torso. I’m sold; I fucking loved it. Looks like I’ll be buying one imminently. I wasn’t expecting to change from my current bike but it’s definitely a swap I want to make.

[dinny_g]

They saw you comming…

Would your mate buy your current one? Lessen the blow??

[Jobbo]

He’s a lot taller than me so wouldn’t fit. There are some tax savings to buying a bike through my business though so it’s not as horrific a cost as it might look. I’ve also found one for £1500 off online; if you order new and pay full price you can customize it from the factory and choose from a wide range of paint and logo colours but I’m happy enough with the stock option.

[dinny_g]

Oh yeah - good point.

[Jobbo]

Stopped at the bike shop on my way back from getting tyres fitted. I now own a forest green 2025 Orbea Wild M10 - the one I rode last weekend. It's lovely, I got a massive discount as it was end of the year stock and I pick it up on Saturday afternoon.

[dinny_g]

[mik]

[Jobbo]

I've realised that I need gold (coloured, not solid) pedals, bottle cage, bell etc to go with the matte dark green paint now. And if I'd splashed another £1000 I could have had gold stanchions on the forks with the M-Team version: https://www.blazingbikes.co.uk/shop/ele ... 22/option/



Feels weird not buying the smallest size bike. I'm so pleased I tried this one.

[IanF]

That’s a good looking bike

[John]

Lovely bike

My work ebike was an Orbea and it was perfect over four years of commuting. It had three sets of tyres and a couple of chains and cassettes.

[KiwiDave]

It's for this exact reason I was both sad and very relieved I couldn't attend a recent demo day for the new Levo 4 Specialized bikes due to still recovering from surgery.

I can almost guarantee I couldn't resist.

[John]

Blasting down a hill in the Peak District today and I felt a sharp pain in my left knee, I glanced down and saw a wasp hanging from its sting, bastard things

In the process of swatting it off I nearly did the wall of death around a corner but just managed to gather it together and keep control. Luckily there was nobody around to witness my foul mouthed cursing and riding heroics

[DeskJockey]

Ouch. That could have ended a lot worse.