The MTB thread

[northwind]

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

is that a "Soda"

Nup, a Soul

"Team Hydrex Honda rider Guy Martin has recently added a Cotic Soul to his fleet of push bikes to use in preparation for his 2009 season. The Lincolnshire based rider who currently holds the record for the fastest lap of the TT course from a standing start, regularly turns out for night rides around his local woods. "The Soul is a proper bike for the type of riding which our trails offer. Lincolnshire probably isn't the first place you'd think of for mountain biking, but we've got a good group of regulars and we can string a good variety of tracks together for a 1 1/2 to 2 hour ride a couple of times a week. The combination of riding at night with some twisty and undulating singletrack thrown in, makes ideal preparation for racing and keeps me sharp in the off season"



He added,"I'd borrowed a Soul from another lad (Ed) who rides with us, coz I'd been riding a 6" full susser, which I was pretty quick on, but the difference now I'm on the Soul is like night and day. It's just mega!""


Orange must be a bit annoyed, since it's the £3600 Alpine 160mm they gave him which he's slagging there Allegedly they offered him a P7 for free and he decided he'd sooner buy the Cotic

Chain Reaction have mailed me saying they have sent out my Caliper rebuild kit for my rear Avid Juicy 5 , Me and the Patriot will be back on the trails by the weekend

Originally Posted by xXBADGERXx

Chain Reaction have mailed me saying they have sent out my Caliper rebuild kit for my rear Avid Juicy 5 , Me and the Patriot will be back on the trails by the weekend

Nice one.

I had chain troubles last week, now sorted thanks to a bit of know-how from Girth at the weekend. Well, actually it didn't take much know-how, it's just I'm a total noob and couldn't figure out how to get a powerlink to snap together. Cheers anyway Girth for making me feel very foolish! lol

Oh and Badger, about your avatar mate - bar steward!! That'll be stuck in my head til morning now!

Aaah the powerlink , I found it was easier to snap them together by fitting them at 90 degrees to each other or just a bit over then rotate them inline and they cam and snap together ........... and my Avatar seems to be working nicely , your the 3rd person to hate me for it

[Paul the 6th]

oreet guys,

plowsie kindly pointed me in the direction of this thread. As I mentioned in my "recommend me a mtb" thread, I'm looking to get a bike so I can actually go out and get some miles under my belt instead of endlessly clocking up kilometre's on the exercise bikes in the gym.

I'm looking to do road riding but with a view to possibly taking up some light trails & see how I get on etc. Plowsie mentioned the "Carrera Vulcan Disc Spec or V-Spec" - had a look at customer reviews for the v-spec on the halfords website and it seems very popular.

Only thing is, if I'm doing a fair bit of road riding, would I be better with a hybrid as a full on MTB would make road riding less efficient/slightly more tedious?

I've not ridden in years (about 8-9 years prolly) so I guestimated my budget at around £200-£250. Pleasantly surprised to see that this kind of money can get you a good quality bike. So, any other recommendations?

Originally Posted by Jamiebridges123

Having worked in Halfrauds Bikehut I can suggest the Apollo FS26se, I think that's the one with the disk brake and bigger forks.

also had this recommendation but the reviews on haffords said the spec looks good on paper but the disc brakes are shizzle and the gears felt cheap & nasty.

Gonna head down to a local independent bike shop and ask for some advice as well, so I'll report back with what I'm told to make sure I'm not being shilled off with a load of old stock or summink.

All advice re: bikes AND technique/trail riding etc would be greatly appreciated

[fizzwheel]

IMHO if your going to be doing alot of road riding then get a road bike.

You'll never make progress on the road on a MTB like you will on road bike.

Look for a hybrid with road wheels if you dont like drops.

MTB + Road = No fun at all IMHO.

Originally Posted by Paul the 6th

Plowsie mentioned the "Carrera Vulcan Disc Spec or V-Spec" - had a look at customer reviews for the v-spec on the halfords website and it seems very popular.

I'm biased though

Disc spec is £50 more than the V-Spec. Like a lot of people say, on bike like the Carreras the V-Brakes are not gonna be pony that you will want Disc brakes, I just wanted to be flash Plus I have experienced crappy wet soaked pads trying to brake

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

IMHO if your going to be doing alot of road riding then get a road bike.

You'll never make progress on the road on a MTB like you will on road bike.

Look for a hybrid with road wheels if you dont like drops.

MTB + Road = No fun at all IMHO.

Exactly what I have been thinking Fizz. My route to work contains feck all trails or off road sections.

fizzwheel has got it right. If you want to do road riding, get a road bike. However if you are planning to start on the tarmac, and progress to the trail, then get yourself an xc bike, whack some semi-slicks on it, and you'll be set! Once you have enough confidence to give the trails a go, pop some xc tires on it.
Regarding the Appollo, if you have a budget of 200-250, this is definately not what you want, you can get a much better bike than that. (In my opinion).
Take a look at what people have said to plowsie, who was on a budget similar to yours. Page 28 of this thread...

HTH, Jamie.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by plowsie

Plus I have experienced crappy wet soaked pads trying to brake

You should have a go on my road bike. Back brake is good enough to lock the back wheel in the dry or wet. I've locked the front in the wet and if you pull the front brake really hard with no finesse in the dry you will go over the handlebars...

Alot of it IMHO is down to the pads you're running, but in really wet muddy conditions disks definately do work better.