Going to Afan this weekend to go riding with a girl friend who’s new to mountain biking. I want her to enjoy it so was going to lend her my nice lightweight Titus whilst I try and get round on a singlespeed. Is this a receipe for disaster? I’ve done the trails there a fair amount on geared bikes but never tried SS and not really sure how I would fare. Anyone spent much time SS on the trails there?

Or would we be better off just hiring her one of the average bikes they have available there?

I think your biggest issue is likely to be speed differences going up hills.

on a SS you need to attack and keep speed up – she’s more likely to want to sit and spin. You’ll end up sat at top waiting and she’ll get dispirited seeing you disappearing off all the time.

If it wer eme I’d go with gears and being ‘sociable’.

and if sh’es going on an ‘average bike’ maybe you shoudl too, again to even things up a bit.

or she gets your titus and you get hire bike?

based on this…

who’s new to mountain biking

i guess your not going to be flying round so as long as you gear for the ups you’ll be fine.

SS might be ok if you kept your momentum going but seems as your taking a newbie it’ll be pretty stop start i’m guessing which would prob add to the difficulty especially up whites.
The shop down by the cafe does decent hire/demo bikes doesn’t it? If so i’d prob bite the bullet and take one of those. Depends on your fitness though i suppose.

what he said – you will sprint off leaving her behind – thinking she is slow and probably enjoy it less.

I suggest hiring something so you can keep a similar pace and offer advice and a pat on the head when she does well 😉

gear down to something you can turn slowly without killing your knees. 32-22 perhaps?

you’ll only be freewheeling/waiting on the downs anyway

gear down to something you can turn slowly without killing your knees. 32-22 perhaps?

you’ll only be freewheeling/waiting on the downs anyway

I’ve ridden all the trails there on a 2:1

Even if your ladyfriend is fit (ahem) and a great rider she’ll have trouble sticking with a singlespeed on the ups. Depending on sizing, you may be better off hiring the right sized bike for her. If she fits your shiny Titus, then let her have it and hire an average bike for yourself. Basically, riding *anywhere* with anyone new to mountain biking when you’re on a singlspeed is a recipe for putting them off the sport.

Some fair points cheers – don’t want to be racing up because I’ve only got one speed so think it’s either gear down or hire. Just never a big fan of hire bikes. They used to have some quite nice Dawgs there but think they’ve downgraded a bit now. Anyone hired there recently? I know Skyline have Orange for test rides but they charge crazy money for them.

Eh up 2 LA ….so have I and at 2:1 as its the law . Did you leave the mincing to someone else that day 8)

it’s not the ss factor of the bike that will be an issue, it’s the HT bit that’s really not much fun there.

sure you can ride it on a HT and I’ve done so myself a few times. i just find that the nature of the trails robs you of too much momentum and it’s just so much more fun on a FS.

*awaits flaming*

I think you’re unlikely to be travelling fast up or down, frankly, if she’s new to riding.

You’d be better off on a bike that can go slowly in both directions – at slow speed on trail centre stuff, a ropey hire bike isn’t necessarily a bad thing to be on. As pointed out above, if you want her to come out riding again, then you should concentrate on getting her to enjoy the ride. That’ll involve mincing both up and down in most cases.

I should point out that Mrs Udder impressed both me and friends when she came out on a mountain bike for the first time a few years ago and proceeded to ride up and down stuff very quickly indeed. But I still had to pay attention to my own speed, route choice and the rest to make sure she had a good time. She wouldn’t be Mrs Udder if I’d taken out my singlespeed that day.

hmm, thanks Mr Udder. And which of the trails would you say a Mrs Udder would enjoy first time round. I was hoping to do either W2 or Skyline.

She is pretty fit – does triathlon and open water swimming and she’s not the kind of girl to moan when she’s tired. But she might if she falls off!

Oooh. good Q. I’d say try W2, as you can cut out halfway round and only do 1 W. Start small, work up to bigger stuff. Might want to ask on here about any smaller loops – I’ve only visited Afan a couple of times since it got built up in the early ’00s.
As with anyone new to mountain biking, pay attention to keeping ’em warm, happy and in good spirits.