As the title says I rode at CYB last Friday and Saturday, it was really very good indeed!

I took my ageing and old fasioned(maybe) 26″ Whyte 19, which didn’t like doing the MBR route as a night ride on Friday and decided to become a little wobbly at the back end. So woke early on Saturday to head off to the visitor centre/bike shop to look at hiring something a little more gnarrr, I came out with a Santa Cruz 5010 for the day, what a difference it made yes it’s an expensive bit of kit and it probably should be better, but after 30mins of getting used to it it was a blast, giving me so much confidence to ride thigs faster than i normally would.

Question is do i really need a full susser for my normal riding around not very technical Wiltshire? As far as the 5010 goes yes I think I do.

😆

It’s 11 years since I last rode there.

I wonder if the trails or I have aged worse?

All the trails were on the other side of the road when I went last time thats how much its changed! trails were excellent helped by glorious weather and good company!!

Hardtail’s best for CYB, embrace the shoogle!

Did you get up to the skills area? They’ve let some nutters loose in there. “What this needs, is more jaggy boulders” “Where” “Absolutely everywhere”

It was my first time there in around 14 years this Saturday as well
Wasn’t too fussed by the MBR route to be honest, way too much fireroad, opinions may have been slightly tainted though by doing Penmachno on the Friday evening, that IMO is a far better trail

Flippin brilliant is CyB. Absolutely love the place, moreso than Glentress probably. Anyone know if theres much in the way off off-piste stuff there?

I’m going this weekend for the third time this year and can’t wait! 😀

Hardtail’s best for CYB, embrace the shoogle!

I’m with Northwind.

Depends what you want really. To ride the same gnar at the same speed on a HT will take more effort and skill than on a FS, similarly for the same effort and skill you can go faster on a FS than you would on a HT. For those reasons I like riding my HT. For the same reasons others like riding a FS.

I’ve not been there in 10 years….would love to go back.

There might be other reasons why the 5010 made you feel more confident: bars/stem, tyres, BB height, frame angles etc…

Or do you really feel the rear suspension made that much difference over your 19 ?

I’ve got my full-sus and HT both setup with very similar equipment and position (both 26″), and the main advantage of the full-sus is that I can plough into rocky sections quicker than with the HT. Sounds obvious I know, but the point is I’m not more confident on the full-sus, it just means I can go quicker and smoother.

I actually feel more confident on the HT sometimes as it’s easier to flick the front or rear wheel over things and bunny hop etc..

Yes the 5010 had wider bars, wider tyres, 140mm front and 125mm rear travel, which to me was a revelation(it was running Pikes) the CTD rear shock was easy to use and the dropper post was one of those things I’ve always scoffed at but it was a real help on the descents, the thing is I dont need most of this for general weekly riding, but it was so inspiring I just wonder if i’m just getting old and need more comfort or if these things are now so efficient it really is the way forward??

It was my first time there in around 14 years this Saturday as well
Wasn’t too fussed by the MBR route to be honest, way too much fireroad, opinions may have been slightly tainted though by doing Penmachno on the Friday evening, that IMO is a far better trail

At Penmachno we would have needed kayaks for loop 2 at the start of September!