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  • Modern mountain bikes are pretty damn good
  • stilltortoise
    Free Member

    Mine isn’t even *that* new. It’s 2 x 10 and isn’t all that fashionably long and low, but it’s only when I let it roll and explore my limits that I realise how far off its limits it is.

    I flew (relatively speaking lol) down a local rocky descent yesterday that intimidates me a little, but the bike didn’t flinch at all. In fact the faster I went the more surprised I was at how much it could take. I was grinning like a lunatic at the bottom.

    That is all 🙂

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    excellent. 😀 I saw you did a route round Hollinsclough.
    any pics to share?

    Do you think the loop you did made the most of the descents available? I remember we’ve discussed it in the past that it’s hard to make a loop out of the drops there are. Did you drop in from Tenterhill on the flash side, from the track behind a farm, cross the stream and climb then loop back round to do the coastestown one?

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    Never mind modern, my ancient steel HT (circa 1992 frame) is still my ‘go to’ bike.
    & my 2011 Orange 5 is still better than me.

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    Northwind
    Full Member

    I like the comparisons you can make… Like, I got back into riding in 2009 with a £300 Carrera. But you could swap the front disc, ideally fit wider bars, and take that bike and ride it down fort william dh. That’s ridiculous.

    And a £1000 “entry level” full suss bike today would have been the best bike in the world if you transported it back to about 1990 (you wouldn’t even get to ride it, Specialized would do a black bag op, put you in an asylum and put the bike in a lab, like the terminator’s arm)

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    any pics to share?

    Sadly not; I was having too much fun 🙂

    It’s still a hard place to make a great loop since, unless you retrace your steps, you’re going to miss something. For instance we came down Tenterhill from the Booth Farm side, which is a fab descent, but meant walking up the even harder Gollingate descent. We did think about turning around and going south to north, but that means walking up to Booth Farm. Either way it’s a walk unless you’re the most incredibly fit rider with trials skills.

    The Coatestown one is easy enough to build into a loop and is probably my fave. After we did that we climbed back up Holinsclough Rake, turning left onto the rocky and steep climb before looping around to come down the longer Limer Rake and that worked OK. Limer Rake is tough though. It’s so loose and rocky at the top; I didn’t manage it without a couple of dabs and a fall into the vegetation at the side 😆

    Looking at it glass half full, there’s always a variation to go back and do on another day 😀

    molgrips
    Free Member

    the faster I went the more surprised I was at how much it could take

    This is generally true when you have enough suspension. If you go slowly you’re boinging in and out of holes and over rocks and it’s crap. Hit things fast and you’ll float over it all.

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    Hit things fast and you’ll float over it all.

    That’s how it felt. Not sure if that’s how it looked 😆

    roverpig
    Full Member

    I was pondering something similar recently.

    I came to mountain biking late in life, with a bit of fitness from years of road riding, but no skills and without the fearlessness of youth.

    A few years later you could say that objectively I’m a better mountain bike rider. I can ride stuff that I wouldn’t have attempted years ago. According to the great God Strava I’m riding much faster than I was a few years ago and I haven’t broken a bone for a couple of years now! But I’m not at all sure that I’m much more skilled than I ever was. Mostly, all I’ve done is learnt to trust that the bike will roll over stuff if I just don’t get in the way. So, I’m more relaxed and I go faster, which means I skim over stuff that I used to hit. But it’s not really skill.

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    I have a gut feel for when I’ve just held on for the ride (and survived) and when I’ve actually ridden something moderately well. The latter puts a bigger grin on my face 🙂

    The real test of skill is what happens when it all goes wrong.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Mostly, all I’ve done is learnt to trust that the bike will roll over stuff if I just don’t get in the way.

    Learning to use the bike is a key MTBing skill, and part of being a better rider. What do you think ‘better rider’ means?

    roverpig
    Full Member

    Learning to use the bike is a key MTBing skill, and part of being a better rider. What do you think ‘better rider’ means?

    More than just sitting on it and hoping that it gets to the bottom with me still on top 🙂

    OK, I know what you mean. I’m not sitting, I’m standing for a start and I dare say I am shifting my weight around in response to the terrain, which is indeed a skill of sorts. But it still feels as though mostly I’m just trying not to get in the way.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    You are improving!

    roverpig
    Full Member

    Yes, in much the same way that a glacier is moving 🙂

    Mugboo
    Full Member

    A couple of years ago, after a bit of cheeky pigeon French, I got to follow 5 local Frenchies from the top of Mt Semnoz to Lake Annecy. That day I learned what my bike was truly capable of… shame I struggle to find that zone everytime.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    roverpig – Member

    Yes, in much the same way that a glacier is moving

    Inexorably and unstoppably? And occasionally with a terrifying crash?

    roverpig
    Full Member

    :mrgreen: 😀

    maxtorque
    Full Member

    Modern suspension is pretty dam good! My 180mm bike can be pedaled to the top of a mountain (ok, not as fast as you could pedal a 100xc bike to the same summit, but it’s far from being a boat anchor uphill) then swoop down the other side at a pace that would put you well towards the sharp end of a National DH event of not that many years ago!

    The biggest issue? When i do mess up, it’s REALLY going to hurt…. 😉

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