I’m approaching 40 years of age and over the past few months have noticed my recovery time between rides is taking longer and aches and pains are more prevelent. Rode a local trail centre at the wkend and spent a fair bit of time on the pump track and downhill course and 3 days post ride still feel like I’ve been hit by a bus 😳

Ride a steel short travel HT and just wondering if I should begin to consider a FS or is it simply a case of just MTFU and enjoy the pain 👿 😕

Opinions from anybody that has experienced this very welcome…

Took me a week to recover from the 3 peaks cyclo cross on my steel no travel bike.

I’m a fair bit older than you (46), and can confirm that riding a hardtail leads to more aches than it used to.

However, you seem to have put a fair bit of work in on the day above, perhaps significantly more than usual?

I have a suss bike now for most rides but still like the rigid once in a while.

Im 47 and cant afford a decent full sus bike so will have to put up with a hardtail and pain.

My knackered ankle (since been fused) used to be so sore after a ride, I could barely stand. Got a FS frame and tranfered over the bits. SO much faster downhill and on propedal not any harder uphill or on the flat + no pain after a ride!

I’m 49 and, after riding to work and back on Friday, on a borrowed road bike (26 miles each way, with an ascent of the North Downs at the end of the inward journey) had a very stiff left knee.
I then used my aluminium hardtail for a 20 mile MTB ride on Saturday evening, had an absolute blast and my knee felt much better – result!
8)

Thanks for the responses guys, much appreciated!

Hats off to Edric for the 3 Peaks CX!

Dangerousbeans, you are absolutely correct, pump tracks and DH courses aren’t the norm for me so I have to factor that in.

Chickenman, Please STOP trying to encourage me to spend money!! 😉

belugabob, Road bikes hurt too!…Iknow mine does!

…The quest goes on…..

you cant expect to get NO ACHES AND PAINS at your age….lol im 46 and getting on with it…. theres no stopping in getting older…. if your spending alot of time at the pump track thats hellish tiring too… 😉
take a flask of hot chocolate next time you visit the pump track 😉

Yep, you are right Elaine, I had 13 yr olds on BMX’s floating over my head pointing at the “old bloke not gettin’ no air” below them I like to think I was commanding respect rather than being ridiculed haha!
…Surely ovaltine rather that hot chocolate is more fitting for the cause!?

Stop being a blouse and get on with it. Life hurts so you can tell you are still alive. Crikey 48…

im 43 this year. i hobble when i walk but rarely ache when i ride 🙂

Crikey, good man! I was waiting for the “man-up” WAR-CRY!

Jedi, You are not alone, I have a friend in Canada who used to DH race for Norco factory team that couldnt walk 10 feet without tripping over his feet! Out on the trail, I couldnt see his tail for dust! 😐 ❓

You need to get yourself fit. The process makes the aches such a permanent feature you don’t notice 🙂

FS is waiting for forks to be serviced. Riding a cross bike while I wait feels like I’ve been attached to a pneumatic drill and shoved down a hillside. I’ve been telling myself that’s why I feel flattened. Not approaching 40.

Cod liver oil anyone?

im 43 this year. i hobble when i walk but rarely ache when i ride

Same here , except I’mm 55. How is is it I limp when I get out of bed, can’t kneel for 5 mins without agony (doggy fashion’s history) have aches & pains all over but when I’m biking I can go forever without a twinge?
The old adage is true, ‘you don’t stop playing cos you getting old, you get old cos you stop playing’ ( I think thats it 🙄 )

As Essel says. Old age is a state of mind. At 50 I hurt all the time – but have done so since my 20s. You don’t bounce as well but keep fit and there is no reason why biking should make you hurt more so long as you keep it shiny side up

Hardtails are a stupid idea for off road cycling,garanteed to result in
longterm physical damage.GET A FULL SUSSER!Best thing I ever did.

monkeycmonkeydo – Member

Hardtails are a stupid idea for off road cycling,garanteed to result in
longterm physical damage.

Been riding one thousands of miles a year for decades with no damage. what damage do you think you do?

Try building a lighter weight HT bike for long rides, less effort, fresher for longer etc.

Pump tracks, especially when you’re not very good at it, are an allover body workout, as is DH. Not surprised you’re aching after all that.

Was 40 this year and moved to a hardtail last year, enjoy riding more and don’t hurt any more than I did on the FS, getting out more defo helps though.

I’m 55 and been riding hardtails for the last 23 years, only got my first suspension fork about 10 years ago and now I’m back on full rigid again, admittedly a Ti frame and carbon fork so you hardly notice. Sure, a long hard ride, say 27 miles and 3500 ft over a Lakes mountain makes you feel tired and it takes a few days to recover from the effort but it makes the shorter days and easier rides much less wearing by comparison.

Would you rather take life easy, take up golf and become a lardy barsteward and a drain on the NHS?

Take up road riding; it will make you even fitter than you are now and increase your tolerance to being seated on the bike for long periods because on a road ride you might not stop for an hour or more.

43 here, & just sold my FS. Prefer my (steel) HT. As above, hurts no more than I ever did on the FS & I certainly enjoy the riding experience more on the HT. Over winter the bike gets a rigid carbon fork, & even on that I wouldnt say I ever hurt. I rarely ride trail centres though, & I dont even know what a pump track is. 🙂

thanks for making me feel young (36) 😀 😉 my last bike was an anthem x2 2010 model.it was fantastic.but i part exchanged it for my current bike (skinny duster mid).i had been thinking about going back to a steel ht for a while (no doubt reminiscing about riding my 1992 marin eldridge grade fully rigid speed machine 😉 am absolutely loving being back on a steel ht again 😀 it just suits me/where i ride e.t.c

42 at Christmas, knackered ankle from snowboarding and crashing, hobble down the stairs at home first thing in the morning like an old man but it all feels fine on the bike, seemingly worst when the weather is damp.

Ride FS but also love my mmmBop and DeKerf. Hurt ribs earlier in the year, fortunately work understanding, although did get some of the you’re too old for this routine. However, I’ll only stop when they carry me out in a box…

38 here and don’t feel much different to when I was 28

Some people ache and some don’t. I can do all dayers and multi dayers in the lakes or peak and don’t feel beaten up. Pilates FTW.

Cotic Soul with 130 fork and aged 58.

46 riding a hardtail and ache a lot less than when I was 21 and riding a rigid bike with friction shifters and cantilever brakes. I ride more regularly now than I’ve ever done before and I think that helps. I did a 28 mile ride last week at a reasonable pace, sub 3 hours, and my knees were a little sore afterwards but that was because I’d been working away and so had done nothing at for the previous 10 days.

50 next year HT/FS it makes no difference I would ride every day if I could.

Drink lots & lots of water (force it down you it really does work), stretch before and after & use cold water on your legs after exercise.

Try a For Goodness Shakes the strawberry ones are great

iDave diet is also very good

oops i just suddenly realized in my previous post i made myself a year older than i actualy am !!!! hahahhaha im 45 yep 45 not 46 as i stated (geez sign of getting old when ya forget ya age. ahhahah its all the fresh air im getting its blowing out ma brains

TJ-At 50 I hurt all the time.I rest my case.The apeman.

Basically,anybody who rides over rocks
on a hardtail after the age of40,has rocks in their
head.

As you said MTFU.

I’m disappointed I’m the first 🙄

Some people ache and some don’t. I can do all dayers and multi dayers in wales the lakes or peak and don’t feel beaten up. Pilates Hard as nails FTW.

Cotic Soul with 130 100-140 fork and aged 48 58 .

& use cold water on your legs after exercise.

+1
Me too,just enough water in the bath to cover my legs & sit in it for 5 minutes or so,it works wonders……46 on Saturday

Another here in mid-50s riding HT; I just go a bit lot slower and enjoy the ambience a bit more these days 8)

Interesting to see that a fair number of us older’uns riding Hardtails are choosing steel and ti over aluminium. Maybe compliant HT is the connoisseurs’ FS in later years 😉

monkeycmonkeydo – Member
Basically,anybody who rides over rocks
on a hardtail after the age of40,has rocks in their
head.

Is this a troll, or just stupid?

I think it becomes more important when you get older to do targetted exercise – just doing junk miles doesn’t give much benefit.

For example, last year and this I have noticed that my legs go lactic quickly, and loads of riding doesn’t seem to help much. But some interval running helped enormously.

Turned 40 last year and made the switch to FS. It’s great feeling fresh after a ride that on the hardtail would have left me battered.

put a suspension seatpost on and stop feeling battered…

Stretching exercises help a lot, a verymuch lot
And a full suss…