NBD + A&E

Now that it’s stopped raining for more than five minutes up here, I finally wheeled out the new bike bought back in February and pointed it down the Pennine Bridleway for a shakedown ride.

Santa Cruz Blur, 100mm Sids up front, swapped for Shimano drivetrain.

As you’d expect, rides beautifully, climbs well, feels pretty reasonable on the descents too for a 100mm bike. Except for a couple of minor points.

SRAM Level brakes are woefully underpowered have virtually zero modulation and feel terrible, especially with a 160mm rotor up front. And the stock Maxxis Aspen is NOT a UK conditions front tyre. Not much use on the rear either.

Found this out by washing out on a slightly muddy rut above Horton in Ribblesdale and taking a chunk out of my arm in the process. Cue a nice early evening in Airedale Hospital getting it cleaned and closed.

Always good to injure yourself as the trails are finally drying out!

I just bought a set of Magura MT5’s from R2 bike for £100, they have MT7 pro’s as well for £200 a pair.

Nice bike. Hope you heal well. Wall needs pointing.

I’m always surprised how much damage a slow speed lie-down can do through multiple layers of clothing. Nice clean flap of skin though, steristripped up and should be back on the bike pretty soon.

I’m only used to Shimano brakes – what are Maguras like in comparison, pad choice, and in terms of bleeding etc?

Nice.
Looks like you might have over tensioned your barbed wire there looking at the post.

Heal up soon.

Nice bike, hope you heal quick so you’re back out on it soon.

@ads678 how did you manage to order for less than £135 or did you order other stuff as well?

I’ve only used the Magura MT sport brakes before, which have 4 piston front and 2 pistn rear, but loved them. Had them on a Cotic Solaris, but sold them when I sold that to pay for my Reactor. I have shimano 4 piston deore brakes at the moment which are pretty good really, but thought I’d give the Maguras a go. I think the MT5’s are meant to be good and the MT7’s really good.

In terms of bleeding, I never had a problem getting a decent bleed, but some people did have to faff a bit with the rear. Some people also don;t like the plasticy material the levels are made from, but if you’re not a gorilla they’re fine. I liked the last ones, hopefully the MT5’s are decent as well. Would have gone for the MT7’s but paying for holidays and car repairs….

Thanks for the link to the Maguras – out of interest, is the threshold £135 worth of goods or 135 Euros, and does the postage cost contribute to that? A brakeset, 180 rotor, adapter and postage comes to 136 quid!

I also ride a 100mm Blue and am always amazed at what terrain it can handle without complaint. Horses for courses and all that but I also love Level brakes and have never found them lacking in power.

Just bought a 5010 as the offers on them were too good to turn down. Haven’t ridden it in anger yet but hopefully take it to BPW next week if the weather stays this good.

Hope you heal quickly!

SRAM DB8s maybe be quite ugly, but they are excellent brakes. Have them on 2 bikes now.

@fathomer I ordered rotors as well @ 18.91 euro each. It came to 159.67 euros, which google tells me is £136.69. Hopefully I won’t get stung…

Postage is 7.50 euros.

Threshold is £135 but i’ve ordered a few times a bit over that and never been charged anything extra.

I’ll pull the pads, give them a sand and try to rebed them, but I was shocked at how much force I was having to apply to the front lever to get anything to happen. Proper deathgrip stuff compared to Shimano.

Healing vibes.

Bike looks nice, can’t really mock the grass as my lawn is longer than that ATM.

Lovely bike mate. The ruts wouldn’t have been on Long Lane would they ? Those buggers have had me twice in the past!

Heal soon.

No, the bit just north of Horton, always a bit damp, but still wasn’t expecting that. Serves me right for short-cutting the section of the PBW that goes over to Crummackdale.

Aspen looks pretty dodgy especially as a front. Not fit for purpose, sue them! 😉

Aspen looks pretty dodgy especially as a front. Not fit for purpose, sue them! 😉

I imagine they’d recommend a skills course. 🙂

I’d not invest any more time in the Levels – they’ll never be great. I’ve found the latest Magura brakes to be awful too.

I run Formula Curas on my bikes, including my race bike and enduro bike- they are exceptionally powerful, and they’ll save you half a pound over the Levels.

Nice non floppy top tube bag. What is it please?

Get some hope tech 4:e4 brakes. Lovely

@MadBillMcMad

It’s a Revelate Gas Tank.