Planning a trip to Ft Bill end of next week but don't currently have the bike for the job. Hire is £70 / day at the Nevis range which I can't afford. Any other options in / around Edinburgh or on the way?
to be fair mate £70 is cheap.
just got back from a weekends riding DH at Nevis so lets add up what it cost me if I were to replace everything that was worn/damaged:
dinged EX721 rim. -
2 DH tube punctures. £15?
few chunks out pedals. - £50?
and that's without even taking into account wear on tyres and brake pads (would be even worse with beginners overbraking all the way down) and the cleaning and maintenance needed afterwards.
BTW that's pretty much the least damage I've ever done in a weekend there and I didn't even have any proper crashes.
s'pose you could try and borrow a DH bike off a mate, but "bend it, you mend it" could cost you way more than £70.
not Edinburgh but I'm pretty sure both bike shops in inners and the hub @ GT have hire/demo DH bikes too.
As above, I doubt you'll get cheaper than £70 for anything decent. And you'll be wanting a full face, and probably some armour too remember...
What's your current bike? Chuck on some DH high rollers and you're probably fine, unless it's a proper XC race bike.
I'm not refuting the £70 as good value, just I don't really have it to spend just now so looking for cheaper options. I realise I could cause way more damage in value terms to a borrowed bike, too...
Out of interest, is it £70 insured against any damage?
I have / had a heckler for the job but is just a frame due to being stripped by thieves. Otherwise its the Alpine but don't want to do Fort Bill on a hardtail - arguments about whether it can or can't be done aside.
Funnily enough I spoke to a guy @ Sundays SDA DH in the Gondola who was racing on an Alpine with Pikes (I bloody wouldn't tho). think he said he was doing it in around 6.40 respect!!
Heckler will be fine if you could chuck all the bits off your alpine on it and stick some DH tyres n tubes on.
But... 2 x DH tyres + 2 x DH tubes is about £70 (spose you could sell em on here after)
Alpine bits onto the heckler?
Aye had thought that.
I'll have you tyres after you've used then.
2.5 Supertacky High Rollers please.
Guy on the alpine would've been a mate of mine. He's a bit of an animal on a hardtail, did well at the endurance DH last year too (10 runs or something, despite a bad crash).
Either swap the bits or ride the alpine. I mean, you'll be slower on the alpine than a big bike, but will it be any less fun? Will still be a lot of fun I reckon...
AI - are you the (bearded) guy with the Lapiere that was with him in the gondola?
Nah, but I'm friends with both of them. No races for me this year due to being really busy with a phd... I'm a lanky guy on a socom.