I’ve got lots of good stuff going on but well, tonight I’m coming to terms with being an ex-mtber and mourning it.

I’ve not ridden off road in years and not missed it that much…other good stuff keeping me busy, but I hoped i’d get a ride again one day. tonight an imminent wheel collapse on the road bike (6 or 7 cracked spoke holes and one spoke pulled right out on friday) had me in the garage attempting some maintenance on the rigid SS to commute on it tomorrow. it didn’t got to plan. years of neglect have taken their toll and the breaks are corroded, seized, furry and leaking at levers and calipers. with the same on the full suss i looked to see if i cold swap…oh…the too are corroded and leaking.

it seems its time to face it, I’ll not be riding off road again y time soon. The bikes need massive spends, even if i had the time, or the inclination. I ought to strip and sell…but with it being 3×9 and 26″ it won’t fetch much. stuff in the spares/upgrade bin i never used…xtr, xt and lx….an unused rear shock…can’t even remeber what it is but i remember it is..no it was, a good one. hardly used Lyric forks..the list goes on. I’m in mourning for something i enjoyed even though life is still good without it. struggling to come to terms with the sensible move, strip, clean and sell the decent parts, bin the rest. 🙁

Buy a BSO? A couple of hundred quid will get you rolling on something half decent from Decathlon.

To paraphrase a friend of mine, third-class riding is better than first-class walking.

Your real bikes are disgusted at your betrayal and have committed suicide.

A bike is for life. Not just for Christmas!

Neil- as in Neil from MTB-Wales? Hi there mate, it’s been a while. Wheels? I might well be able to help you out.

oh I managed to get the road bike going for tomorrow’s commute….I had seen the cracked rim months ago and bought a pair of ksyrium wheels so finally fitted them (well, the rear at least). Just mourning the demise of a nicely specced El Guapo, a half decent Ti456 and a lot of fun they both gave me.

Hi ambrose….long time ago that….mtb-wales, awesome fun.

It was of its time- but has spawned a whole bunch of offshoots. Mynydd du MTB, Aberdare MTB… Facebook is your friend 🙂

Sad to hear you’ve lost the love. But not everything is for ever…

How far is the commute, and could you make it more interesting for a rigid mtb type or CX?

If so I’d look to make use of what you can and put together such a bike. Ride it once or twice a week for your commute and it will also be in shape for the weekend off road saunt if desired.

A nice light wheelset and lockable fork on the Ti456 should suffice 🙂

Sell all tue old guff on ebay, spend £500 on a nice used hardtail and just go riding!

if its just the brakes that are the problem, they can easily be replaced for very little money nowadays. CRC are selling the shimano deore brakes at £35 each. all you’d need to do is clean your current disc rotors and you’ll be up and running again.
as for 3×9…there are still plenty of people still using this setup and even an upgrade to 1×10 can be done cheaply
i wouldnt worry about your wheels being 26″ either…plenty of people still use 26″
if you like the bike itself then it could be worth spending on various upgrades

I doubt it needs a massive spend. You can pick up wheels and drive parts very cheaply if it 9 speed and 26″, good Shimano brakes are very cheap. If the frame and forks are OK, that’s you rolling. If there are few nice bits in the parts bin to sell you might even cover your costs. If you are getting out, though, I’d be interested in those Lyrics, email in profile 🙂

I’m think I’m coming to the conclusion I’ll keep the 456 but not sure if it’ll stay rigid single speed or lyric’ed and geared…or the bits for both. The El guapo….i’ll probably strip and sell the decent bits, frame, another set of lyrics (nickb, those ones are 1.5″ steerer, do you want that?) a set of wheels…come to think of it I’ve a spare set of wheels too so they might go…thomson seat post (you know, the old fashioned non-droppy sort…anyone still use those?), stem, carbon bars (old size…both diameter and length!), the spare rear shock, sort though the spares bin and thin it out, hopefully sell a few bits…brand new xtr mech, brake pads for the now dead brakes (old hope mono m4s…i’ve a feeling the pads may fit some other brakes like old 4 pot xt) I suspect I’ll do well to make a couple of hundred but it’ll pay for the new brakes for the 456, and clear some clutter from the garage.
Just got to find the time to strip, clean, catalogue and advertise it….with a 20 week old at home that isn’t easy!

I’m in mourning for something i enjoyed even though life is still good without it.

I’m struggling with 2 concepts:
a) MTBing is just “something I enjoyed”
b) how can life be good without MTBing

What are the wheels you will be selling?

here we go…the vultures are circling 😉

Not sure as it depends what i decide to keep/what form I keep the 456 in…rigid means standard qr hub wheel kept, bouncy lyrics kept means keep the maxle hub wheels.

However, most likely to go are goldtec hubbed, plain silver, mavic rimmed….i’ll have to check which…errm EX21? a decent quality wider rim anyway. spokes were stainless dt double butted, 36 of them. maxle front hub, 6 bolt brake disc.

You’re clearly still cycling (ref. road bike and commute) – so why no more MTB’ing? Just curious as to whether this is a mental or physical hurdle?

I realise that starting from scratch with a bike may be more expensive than getting old kit to work again, but – as said above – there are some creative ways around that.

I’ve never, ever come back from a MTB ride and thought “I regret that”.

Hello. i’m into MTB and I really like the El Guapo model.
Struggling on a tight budget i’m trying to get this bike.
Maybe you could help me build it.

Could we talk on mail?

gabrielz, my email is in my profile.

Still riding yes, 8 mile each way commute plus occasional road ride. Its just life changes that have kept me from the mtb. I used to ride every weekend, sometimes saturday and sunday, plus evening in the summer, and sometimes in the winter. Then I was in Bristol, easy to get to loads of great rides, and I was single. Now I live in london, longer commute, less time, swinley and the leith hill areas are 75 mins awkward drive away, nice but not south wales, I struggled to find a group of riding buddies (a big factor probably), 6 or so years ago I got into climbing instead and went to the wall 3 or 4 times a week sometimes more, plus weekends on real rock and holidays climbing. busy of late with DIY renovating the house (rewire, new kitchen, new bathroom, utility room, 2 bedrooms done, plus some maintenance, more to go), fiancee and little girl now 20 weeks old. So life is good, its just changed. Yesterday’s maintenance was meant to be replacing a headset bearing in the 456 (P-X mixer headsets….not great), and replacing a spoke that i knew was broken, so I could use it for my commute. I normally use it, in rigid single speed form over the winter to save wear on the road bike and because i dislike the lack of grip on that in the wet or frost. The mild winter and lack of time to do that maintenance has kept me on the road bike until the imminent wheel collapse meant some work had to be done. Discovering 2 sets of brakes have corroded and seized was a bit of a shock and made me think how little the bikes get used. I thought about selling the El Guapo 2 or 3 years ago but decided that being 26″, being 9 speed, being IS mount not post, being 1″ diameter bars not oversized,being a rigid seatpin (all be it Thomson) not a dropper….I thought I’d not get much and it was worth more to me so I kept it. Now I realise I need to spend money on it if I’m to ever ride it again and I’m not likely to ride it anyway, so I may as well move it on for what little its worth. Being forced to face up to mtbing not being part of my life currently was a bit of a shock.

oh and saxon rider, rims are ex721.