I am a newbie to singlespeed riding, currently riding a Cotic Simple with an Exotic (rigid) carbon fork. I have been persuaded to enter the Single Speed World Champs – not to “compete” in the sense of expecting to be able to hold my own – purely to enjoy the atmosphere and the party with a group of mates.

My regular bike is a Cotic Soul so I have extensive hardtail experience and I like to think of myself as being a shade better than average when it comes to technical stuff. My weakness remains those rock step sequences – one drop off at a time is fine but a “staircase” of rocks is still beyond me. I have ridden and coped with most trails in Wales and Scotland including the likes of Coed -y -Brenin and the Kirroughtree black.

From what I’ve been able to find re online vids of the trails at Ballyhoura it doesn’t look very technical at all – has anyone been there? Am I likely to cope with a rigid fork and a flat bar setup or will I spend most of the time faceplanting? I have a Rockshox fork I can put onto the bike if needs be.

I have extensive hardtail experience and I like to think of myself as being a shade better than average when it comes to technical stuff.

Which average? If you mean real world average then you’ll be alright. If you mean the STW average you’ll struggle and will likely be needing a Five. [winkey]

Personally i’d stick the RS forks on though.

From what I’ve heard you should probably get away with it, was watching some videos of it today & doesn’t look too bad.

If you can manage K’tree I’d say you’ll be grand at B’houra

if your going to go for a laugh and not really worried about going fast then i would go for forks on the front if they arent to heavy. I love rigid but its not always the best idea in a place youve never ridden before.

It’s fine, not very technical or that bumpy even mostly.

I rode it rigid on my Inbred a couple of times when my forks where being fixed.

(not ridden there for over a year, coz I moved, but can’t imagine much has changed)

I’m riding it with 5″ front and rear, I’m going to be seriously over biked

Thanks for the replies guys!

if you like rigid,go rigid,if you like bounce,go bounce !

(personally I’m a ‘permanently rigid’ man,but each to their own)