Hi

New to the forum. I’m planning on doing the South Downs Way in a day with a friend in a few weeks (waiting for some dry days!). Only problem is that these days I’m mainly a road rider, the only MTB in my garage is a Carrera Fury which is mainly used for family outings with the kids. It’s the 2010 model, Suntour Epicon forks, SRAM X-5 groupset, Juicy disc brakes. Tires are the ones it came with, Continental Speed King 2.3s. Not had a lot of wear, I doubt the bike has done more than a few hundred miles since I bought it.

Is that going to be enough bike for the day, or should I be looking to (at a minimum) swap out the tires or (more drastically) see if I can borrow or rent a better bike from a friend? Haven’t done any serious MTBing in a long time(like the 90s!) so don’t really have much clue on equipment choices.

Should be fine fitness wise, I’ve got plenty of road miles in my legs, and I understand SDW isn’t overly technical and I’m a reasonable bike handler for a roadie. The friend I’m doing it with is much more into his MTBing than me and has recently spent a couple of grand on a 29er, so I’m definitely going to be giving away a bit on equipment anyway but luckily I’m 4 inches shorter and a couple of stone lighter than him so that should even things up!

Hi and welcome. Your bike will be capable, just not so fast as a lightweight 29er. During the dry months, a fast rolling but tough tyre is what you are after. Flints on SDW can rip through sidewalls of your tyre very easily. Therefore I wouldnt go too light on tyres, and try to go tubeless, although tubeless may not be possible on your rims. Just pump the tyres up nice and hard and fingers crossed you wont suffer too much from punctures.
As for general SDW advice, I would go light on backpack if you can. Dont pack too much water (1 bottle on frame will be enough), there are plenty of water stops on route. Less weight on your back will mean less backache. Plenty of energy bars, spare tubes and share a tool kit/pump. Take a first aid kit too.

Good luck 🙂

Thanks! Any idea if the Speed Kings I’ve got are any good? And if not, what would you recommend as a fast rolling but tough tire? Happy to spend a bit of money on new tires for an easier day if there’s something that’s faster and/or more puncture resistant out there.

Are taps pretty easy to find on the route for refilling water? I’m a fairly heavy sweater, on a hot day (chance would be a fine thing…) I tend to get through more than a bottle an hour, so had been thinking I’d need bottle plus Camelbak to be on the safe side.

Speed Kings are pretty much a road tyre arent they? If you like Continental, I’d go for the XKings which have a lot more off road grip, but still plenty fast. As for casing, get the best you can, so protection:
Continental XKing Protection

SDW water stops are plenty, even for sweaty b’stards like myself!
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1GrfjVpG8WMKGG_MbMffAKrajCGs&hl=en_US

1 bottle to QECP from Winch is fine.

Nowt wrong with Speed Kings, probably quite a good choice. Yours will likely be cheap heavy ones though. They’re not a road tyre at all, they’d be a better choice than X-Kings, and probably not quite as good as Race Kings given ghe choice.

If you really want to spend money then something like Small Block 8s, Fast Trak Controls or Bontrager XR1s are fast, not too fragile and not hideously expensive.

Taps are broadly easy to find, a few are tucked away a bit. Ideally mark their location on a GPS. You won’t just stumble upon all of them and a couple are easily missed. There are a good number of them though. Now there’s one at Exton (between QECP and Winchester) I’d personally do it on one bottle, but you know how much you drink and how long you’re planning to be out there.

Specialised Fast Tracks are a good choice for tread but the casings aren’t that tough and they only come in 2.0 for 26 iirc. Don’t be tempted by the S works version (flimsier but lighter) stick with the Controls

I’d also suggest you take a tyre boot (I’ve had some very wobbly rides back to the car from torn sidewalls on the south downs flint and an energy gel wrapper is a very mediocre substitute) 🙄

Edit am I first to suggest it’s n+1 time. Maybe a £5000 carbon 29r

If you’re pretty fit then Singlespeed 29er is the way to go. Inbred here 32:19 with tubeless Specialized Purg/Ground Control control casings. Perfect. Nowt on your back though, and fit a 2nd bottle cage.

Main thing I’d ask is does the bike fit? I rode with a guy who’d not done much mtbing, but came off the back of an ironman and a trip to the alps with the road bike. He showed up on a borrowed bike – overbuilt Kona hardtail which was too small for him. The weight and the harshness won’t have helped, but he couldn’t get the saddle high enough, and his upper body wasn’t in a great position for climbing. We had to bail at Devils Dyke. He’d have been in much better shape on a better fitting bike, even if it was exactly the same model.

In your shoes, I’d be quite happy using those tyres. I’ve never had a problem on “the dreaded flint”. Maybe I’ve been lucky and I’d be more conservative if I’d had problems in the past, but I haven’t, so I’d go with speed! 😀

I’d be wary of pumping them up mega hard as suggested above, though. Comfort over the distance is really important, as is grip on the climbs, and normal trail pressures will let the tyre deform around the baked hoofprints (if you’re lucky with the weather!), the cobbly, stoney sections, rather than moving the whole wheel, then you, which will be less comfortable and slow you down. Maybe go a wee bit higher, but don’t go nuts.

I’d take one bottle. When I’ve ridden it and it’s been hot, I’ve guzzled a full bottle at the tap and refilled, to make sure I’m actually drinking, and for a buffer in case of problems at the next tap. Very often got to the next tap with a full, or nearly full bottle!

You might want to check that the saddle suits you – in your OP you say that you barely ride the mtb and mainly road ride (i assume on a different bike) so I am guessing you have not bothered making sure it is an ideal fit. A full day on the SDW might make you regret that decision! You also might want to do a couple of longer rides on the MTB just to get used to the riding position

If you can, swap the seat clamp from bolt through to quick release – on some of the longer descents, especially those covered in chalk or loose rock, it will give you a bit more control if you drop your saddle for them

When the SDW is fully dry or in the rain, it is pretty predictable but it is when it is mildly moist that the fun begins – the chalk turns into an ice like riding surface.

This map may be a useful purchase.

The Harveys is a good map. Best one if you want to take a paper map.

Don’t know when it was last printed, though. If you get it, update it with current route (there are more changes than you might think) and current tap locations.

http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/south-downs-way

http://www.bikedowns.co.uk/

Don’t know which of these is most accurate/up to date. Anyone?

Well worth taking a GPS with a recent route gpx in there. Means you can keep rolling with confidence that you’re on the right track, alarm if you stray.

Bookmarking for that excellent tap link

If the OP has mainly been riding road, then probably 10 hrs+ of the SDW is going to take it’s toll on the rider more than the bike (with the probable exception of having durable tyres) – particularly the contact points so comfort is key – good shorts and gloves.

I rode first 7k from Winchester last night, was pretty dry and that section wasn’t slippy (although a lot of that section is on tarmac / hardcore and the realy chalky stuff is later). I don’t know those tyres but you need some kind of off road tyres. The ride has everything from tarmac, grass, dirt (bog if wet) and potentially slippy and sharp flint. Don’t carry too much stuff and make sure you are riding with the wind behind you. Riding it sll is beyond ,e but I’ve ridden and walked a few different sections. Enjoy !

From last night around Cheesefoot Head.

I found google maps app on phone was good to get me from the train station in Winchester to the start, this was not straightforward and not signposted. From then on signs are pretty good.

As for bikes you see all sorts from hybrids & cyclocross to full suspension, my perfect bike would be a short travel full susser 29er. As for tyres if dry the faster rolling the better, in the wet all bets are off on slippy chalk descents.

I tried doing it in a day with one bottle last year. Whilst there are easily enough taps to get you there, its also very easy for a full water bottle to jump out of your cage (you see a lot of them by the side of the trail). Having to ride the second half with no bottle was a ballache. If you’re worried about water, maybe carry a second bottle in another cage, but keep it empty and use it if you have to.

There are a few taps and turns on downhills, so if one of you has a garmin, get the route onto that and it’ll make life a lot easier.

Fury should be plenty of bike for the SDW. I rode it on my Tripster last summer. 40mm Knards. Any tyres would do you, really. Some parts you’d be fine on fat road tyres. If it’s wet, then the chalky parts can be VERY slick so you want something with good bite, or be very careful. On some of the dry bridleways, you’ll be wishing you had a downhill bike to smooth-out the hoof holes. If it’s dry when you do it, then stick on some more XC tyres if you feel like it.

just looking at those tyres, as I might try them myself some time.

Seems there are 2 completely different tyres from Conti with the same name!

Are yours these:

or these:

I’d be happy on the latter, but only if it’s been dry for a while!

My advice? Beware the Green Chalk! Sure it’s worse this year…Can be very slippery even a few days after rain. Grip can be very important, thankful for this yesterday.

Thanks for the map links! Have a Garmin unit with navigation so was going to load a gpx file into that. If I can figure out how to mark the taps as well then even better.

Think position should be OK. I’ve set the bike up with what is basically my road position on the hoods but with everything rotated back a bit around the bottom bracket. So relative positions between feet, hands and butt are all the same, but I’m sitting a bit further back and a bit more upright than I would on the road. Use ISM saddles on my road bikes, so have their MTB version fitted. I’ve done 20 mile rides on the MTB with no discomfort. Impact on the upper body definitely a concern, but I clock up 100-150 miles/week commuting on London roads so at least I’m not used to riding on glassy smooth surfaces!

Sounds like I can stick with the Speed Kings. Never had to resort to energy gel wrappers before to patch a sidewall tear, though have deployed a fiver a couple of times, they’re surprisingly tough. Would love to follow the N+1 advice, but have already incremented N once this year (finally managed to convince my wife that I needed a second road bike to allow a winter/summer setup, to go with the singlespeed commuter, the MTB and the TT bike…), so no more bikes in my near future. Unfortunately the SDW is also a bit of a one-off, would love to do more MTBing but have 2 young kids, the nearest decent trails (i.e. not a flat towpath) are a drive away, and most of my mates are roadies. Both kids love cycling so I hold out hopes of getting them offroad in a few years when they’re old enough, at which point I shall be back here inquiring about those carbon 29ers!

@nedrapier

My tires look pretty much like the first ones in your pic, though don’t have the chequered finish on the sidewall, guess that’s a recent update. They do seem like pretty radically different options for 2 tires with the same name!

They might have the same name on the sidewall, but the new (slicker ones) are actually Speed King II’s

The original ones you have look like a decent bet for your ride.

Thanks again for the advice everybody. Did the SDW on Friday, got a puncture 8 miles in and thought it was going to be one of those days but amazingly that was the only problem we hit all day! Weather stayed dry, body and bike held up well, and the Garmin got us through with barely a missed turn.

Do need to investigate my position and/or grips if I attempt something like this again, have ended up with a bit of numbness and pins and needles in the 4th and 5th finger in one hand which is a first for me. Been googling ulnar nerve glides this morning 🙁

Nice one! Well done!

and the Garmin got us through with barely a missed turn

Magic isn’t it? 🙂 Single most important thing is to keep going. Not having to stop to check the map or stop and retrace is absolute gold.

Sorry to hear about the ulnar nerve aggro. Have a look at rotating the bar forward or back in the stem, gloves with padding/relief spots, ESI Grips, Ergon grips, bar ends or different bars with more backsweep.