Do most of my riding in the Surrey Hills. Considering new bike options. Head says go trail – YT Jeffsey. Heart says enduro – YT Capra. Does anyone ride a Capra in the Surrey Hills? Do you feel over equipped? I know ultimately it comes down to personal preference but interested to hear some opinions.

Plenty of people ride 160 Enduro bikes there, for some it’s overkill for others its necessary for the jumping etc. Ride what ya got and the Enduro bike you can take on holiday 8)

For me I generally ride my HT as I like to make the trails I am capable of more challenging / engaging to ride.

Depends if you want to use it as a mini dh bike? It’ll be fine for there. Climbs pretty good anyway.

Got loads of mates that ride there on capras.

Doesn’t stop them having fun. Though it seems a lot of bike for there.

Will make leith/holmbury and trails like evian and secret santa harder work and the flatter trials less fun. Ideal for maybe one or two trails on pitch and that’s it.

Ridden an endure bike lots over there as well as a trail bike, I do whatever on either (fly tipper for example) I come away having had way for fun on a trail bike. Majority of the trails are pretty flat, need something efficient and playful to make the most of them, get a bike for 95% of the riding, it’ll be more fun.

I’ve taken mine round there and also my 120mm Scott XC bike. Both are fun. I did ride faster uphill on the Scott and faster downhill on the YT, but not buy much. I also attempted some more ‘entertaining’ lines on the YT, but the level of fun was the same.

There is terrain there that will suit both types of bikes, your ride appropriately depending on what your on (both in terms of bike and trail)

In fact the last time I did ride there was on my YT, my mate who joined me was on his singlespeed fully ridged bike. We both had fun.

Gonna jump or not?
Jump get capra, no jump get jefsy.

I ride my capra there every weekend (well most weekends). My theory was to mix the riding between my stumpy and capra but since I bought the capra in Aug I haven’t touched the stumpy. Just have to much fun on capra. Little bit heavier on the climbs but it smashes the single track. Will only switch back to the stumpy for winter. I use all of the 160 travel.

Another down there every weekend if i can help it on my AL1 Capra and i find it amazing for that area.
Sure you can do it all on a hardtail (my mate does) but for me the Capra soaks the jumps, trashes through the roots/rough and leaves me smiling.
So no, I dont feel over equipped! 🙂

To add, if you do Thick and Creamy, Clunk, Northern Monkey style trails (i.e. gaps and big drops) then the Capra.
If you stick to BKB, Yogurts, Summer Lightning (i.e. some steeps, some small tables) then the Jeffsy.
My 2p worth although either bike would be great!

The Jeffsy is more than enough bike for anything in the surrey hills. The Jeffsy will offer you a better ride for the xc riding you inevitably end up doing in Surrey.

You certainly don’t need a 160/170 bike for any of the stuff there, having seen everything done on a hardtail there (Northern Monkey jumps, Millstone Hips (RIP) fly tipper jumps etc).

My mate rides a segment around there and it’s perfect.

Why is a bigger bike being associated with being better for jumping?

Stopped for a chat with a nice bloke in the Surrey Hills last week who was on a Jeffsy. He absolutely loved it and was hitting all the big gaps and jumps below Northern Monkey and making it look easy.

Why is a bigger bike being associated with being better for jumping?

Because it allows people to get away with more. Travel>skill

In reality, I would say even a Jeffsy is on the bigger end of bikes perfect for SH.

Now, if the bike is also going to be used in the alps, away days etc then you may have different requirements.

Modern suspension and modern geometry is making longer travel bikes so capable now that stuff in the 140-160 range pretty much can cater for most riding.

My YT basically goes up hill almost as fast as my XC bike, I reckon the main difference is down to tyres now.

Lots of people ride big bikes up there and there are many spots where plenty of travel and strength would be useful. You can probably ride most of it on a HT if you’re a good rider but you’d take a beating pointlessly so why not have the travel? I’m not going that big at all up there and I bottom out a 140mm bike every time, better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it IMHO. Most of the climbs are long and smooth so why not have a Capra?

Buy the bike that suits the majority of your riding, then your compromises are small.

buy the bike you enjoy and ride it, forget the rest of the BS its your life, your trail. Ride it.

I just looked up the YT site and see they have a sale on! £1700 for the standard Capra and £1500 for the Jeffsy!!!!!!!

How to get one past the Mrs????

Buy one for her, then just borrow it.