Had my first ride on my Cannondale SL4 yesterday at Sherwood pines.
I bought it on ebay in October and hadn't ridden it since, other than a car park test ride when I bought it.
I only bought it because you can't fit a child seat/ trailer to my Met 5.5 (can’t and won’t in equal measure). The wife suggested I get a £100 Halfords special for this job but I couldn't bring myself to do that. I stumbled on the ‘dale on ebay. It was for sale from someone who worked 5 minutes away from where I do, an old colleague actually - small world huh!
So I parted with £300 for the 'dale which was immaculate (WAS - I took a chunk out of the top tube paint with a clumsy - lazy - dismount with a SPD cleat. Whoops, still a bikes not a bike till it has some damage.
I was surprised by a few of things yesterday
How dry Sherwood Pines was - and quick. They've done a bit of work since I was last there, increased the number of quality berms etc. and I really enjoyed the ride. People are quick to knock places like Sherwood Pines but, living in the midlands (East) doesn't give access to many mountainous venues so you have to take what you can get, and if you ride it quick enough then you can get something out of the 'pines. Imagine what it would be like if the trail hadn’t been laid.
I'd ridden a Saracen Kili titanium hardtail in Wales about a year ago and felt like a climbing god. I put that down to the Kili's lightweight Ti frame and XT equipment. Yesterday I totally changed that opinion. Hardtails accelerate and make the most of every pedal stroke. This is not a revelation, just something I'd forgotten.
Full suspension bikes are awesome but make you a little lazy too. On the 'dale I was reading the trail much further ahead, having to think about when I could remain seated to pedal and to carry as much momentum for as long as possible. Just like the old days (early 90’s when rear suspension was a million miles away and front suspension consisted of things like Flex-Stems, remember those?).
Maybe I don’t need XT throughout either. The equipment on the ‘dale is as you’d expect for a bike with an original retail price of £700 when it was new in 2012. Granted, it was dry yesterday and there were no swamps to contend with, that said every gear change happened swiftly and with no issues. The brakes, er, braked and the handling was just a little slower than my meta. I was expecting this as my meta is a smaller frame/ wheelbase than the ‘dale. Even the ‘cheap’ RST suspension forks did a reasonable job – they were topping out a little but I just need to make a few adjustments to fix these
Sow at the end of this waffle what am I saying?
I truly didn’t expect my ‘cheap’ bike to be as much fun as it was yesterday and I’m tempted to take it to the mountains on my next trip. The climbs of Coed y Brenin or Spooky woods would certainly be easier, the descents would also be rideable I’m sure. I’ll still take the Meta too but it’s good to remember what inexpensive hardtails are like – it’s where most of us started…
