Opinions sought on a "Best XC/Trail MTB" award shortlist...
Discussion
YJ, Don't be tempted to try and tease a 'little bit' of air out of the schrader valves on the fork & shock manually, before you get hold of a shock pump. It will all come out!
At least put a QR seatpost clamp on it if it hasn't got one. Seat tube is 34.9mm dia.
Tubeless and dropper on the wish list
At least put a QR seatpost clamp on it if it hasn't got one. Seat tube is 34.9mm dia.
Tubeless and dropper on the wish list
richardxjr said:
YJ, Don't be tempted to try and tease a 'little bit' of air out of the schrader valves on the fork & shock manually, before you get hold of a shock pump. It will all come out!
At least put a QR seatpost clamp on it if it hasn't got one. Seat tube is 34.9mm dia.
Tubeless and dropper on the wish list
Cheers Richard!At least put a QR seatpost clamp on it if it hasn't got one. Seat tube is 34.9mm dia.
Tubeless and dropper on the wish list
No intention of twiddling anything on the forks/shocks until I am properly equipped for the job. We covered that point on the handover.
QR clamp? Not sure about that. Was advised against it in the shop, because I did ask.
Tubeless? That'll have to wait until I can upgrade the tyres. Schwalbe Racing Ralphs on there right now, but the OEM wire-bead type, so probably heavy and harsh anyway, whether I run tubes or tubeless. Hopefully I'll soon have these tyres worn out
Dropper? Not anytime soon I'm afraid. Too expensive and never had one so don't miss not having one
Kermit power said:
yellowjack said:
Kermit power said:
There is only one question left... Are your two brothers going to be joining you on the next Swinley ride?
Whoosh?Sorry, I'm not getting the reference? Maybe just me being dim...
Herman Toothrot said:
Good choice I certainly think the right one. PM my your address and I'll send you a shock pump, I bought 2 sets of forks this last year and got a free shock pump with each and I have no need for more than one.
Steve
That is a VERY kind offer sir!Steve
I'll try to email you later, if the darned PM system is working.
I'm off out to ride this darned bike now (at long last!)
I'll try to get a few pictures up later. But only if you promise not to laugh.
(I put my crud-catcher mudguards on it...
)yellowjack said:
Cheers Richard!
No intention of twiddling anything on the forks/shocks until I am properly equipped for the job. We covered that point on the handover.
QR clamp? Not sure about that. Was advised against it in the shop, because I did ask.
Tubeless? That'll have to wait until I can upgrade the tyres. Schwalbe Racing Ralphs on there right now, but the OEM wire-bead type, so probably heavy and harsh anyway, whether I run tubes or tubeless. Hopefully I'll soon have these tyres worn out
Dropper? Not anytime soon I'm afraid. Too expensive and never had one so don't miss not having one
I have run Schwalbe Performance tyres tubeless, makes them loads better. They were folding but doubt that makes much difference. No intention of twiddling anything on the forks/shocks until I am properly equipped for the job. We covered that point on the handover.
QR clamp? Not sure about that. Was advised against it in the shop, because I did ask.
Tubeless? That'll have to wait until I can upgrade the tyres. Schwalbe Racing Ralphs on there right now, but the OEM wire-bead type, so probably heavy and harsh anyway, whether I run tubes or tubeless. Hopefully I'll soon have these tyres worn out
Dropper? Not anytime soon I'm afraid. Too expensive and never had one so don't miss not having one
yellowjack said:
Tubeless? That'll have to wait until I can upgrade the tyres. Schwalbe Racing Ralphs on there right now, but the OEM wire-bead type, so probably heavy and harsh anyway, whether I run tubes or tubeless. Hopefully I'll soon have these tyres worn out
Give me a shout when you want to get it set up tubeless, I've got a huge roll of tubeless tape and a couple of spare tubeless valves if you need them!If you're about next week Wednesday or Thursday I'll probably be heading over to Swinley one of those days if you fancy meeting up for a ride?
yellowjack said:
Kermit power said:
yellowjack said:
Ahhh! I'm with you now. Perhaps a few too many posts between the picture and the comment. It went straight over my head...
'Tis easily done! 
Come on! Out with it!
Anyway, how was the first ride? I can guarantee it was better than my evening ride! Third day commuting on the trot (for the first time this year), legs feeling like jelly, got a puncture, and managed to take the valve core out when taking the pump off not once but twice!
neenaw said:
Give me a shout when you want to get it set up tubeless, I've got a huge roll of tubeless tape and a couple of spare tubeless valves if you need them!
If you're about next week Wednesday or Thursday I'll probably be heading over to Swinley one of those days if you fancy meeting up for a ride?
If you're about next week Wednesday or Thursday I'll probably be heading over to Swinley one of those days if you fancy meeting up for a ride?
Herman Toothrot said:
Good choice I certainly think the right one. PM my your address and I'll send you a shock pump, I bought 2 sets of forks this last year and got a free shock pump with each and I have no need for more than one.
Steve
Crumbs, chaps!Steve
I'm very much humbled by the offers of kit and advice stemming from this purchase. Truly I am.
Thank you all for the offers of help and advice. I rode it this afternoon for the first time since I got it home... https://www.strava.com/activities/508564510#kudos ...not too long a ride, admittedly, but over a wide variety of terrain. Pine woods, open sandy heath, bridleways and fire roads, along with a couple of decent single track sections. It rides pretty nicely, and feels damned quick too. Not wall-to-wall PRs, but it's certainly not far off the pace anywhere, and there was more in the tanks on some of the sections too.
My first off as well
Following in the tyre tracks of a military lorry across a beach by the lake, and I ground to a halt and couldn't unclip. Me, and the bike with me, fell to the right into the soft sand. Fortunately there was a discarded water bottle lying around so I used that, filled with lake water to wash the sand out of the chain and rear mech.
Suffice to say I enjoyed myself, and the bike is properly muddy already. Hopefully I'll get to repeat this sort of ride tomorrow. I can't stray too far as the wife is 'on call' at work. Mother's Day will be a flat no to riding time, but then I plan to ramp things up a bit next week, and get properly familiar with it.
So far, so good!
Well. Second ride today...
...did somebody mention a "low bottom bracket"? Because today I found out what they meant! A couple of pedal strikes on rooty sections I'd normally have cleared easily. But no matter - I'm sure I'll get used to setting the pedals up for roots and rocks soon enough.
One massive improvement over my old bike? Being able to push around corners 'on the pedals' rather than pausing and pushing down on the outside pedal. Maybe it's the larger wheels, or perhaps the wider bars, but whatever it is it makes twisty stuff feel so much quicker. It also picks up speed faster too, when you push on the pedals they seem to spin up more easily than on previous bikes. This is probably a function of the change in gearing combined with larger wheels? Or psychological 'benefit' because I want to justify the purchase price?
Second "off" too. This time a failure of the tyre to 'bite' and climb out of a deep puddle in a wheel rut. The Schwalbe 'Racing Ralph' tyres are just not cutting it in the damp, sloppy conditions hereabouts. I'd have continued through the puddle, but for the log in the bottom of it which I didn't see until I was committed. But hey, it's a learning process, and it's early days. Overall the feeling is good. I can't be hitting PRs all over the place simply because I'm a) out of practice off road; and b) many of my PRs were set in ideal, dry conditions.
I was happy just to be able to get out on it this evening. Being Mother's Day I'd expected to be denied the opportunity. Front light wasn't helping either - I'd neglected to charge it, and no sooner had I switched it on than it went into "limp home mode". But now is the time to be making these mistakes, instead of doing so on race weekend...
...did somebody mention a "low bottom bracket"? Because today I found out what they meant! A couple of pedal strikes on rooty sections I'd normally have cleared easily. But no matter - I'm sure I'll get used to setting the pedals up for roots and rocks soon enough.
One massive improvement over my old bike? Being able to push around corners 'on the pedals' rather than pausing and pushing down on the outside pedal. Maybe it's the larger wheels, or perhaps the wider bars, but whatever it is it makes twisty stuff feel so much quicker. It also picks up speed faster too, when you push on the pedals they seem to spin up more easily than on previous bikes. This is probably a function of the change in gearing combined with larger wheels? Or psychological 'benefit' because I want to justify the purchase price?
Second "off" too. This time a failure of the tyre to 'bite' and climb out of a deep puddle in a wheel rut. The Schwalbe 'Racing Ralph' tyres are just not cutting it in the damp, sloppy conditions hereabouts. I'd have continued through the puddle, but for the log in the bottom of it which I didn't see until I was committed. But hey, it's a learning process, and it's early days. Overall the feeling is good. I can't be hitting PRs all over the place simply because I'm a) out of practice off road; and b) many of my PRs were set in ideal, dry conditions.
I was happy just to be able to get out on it this evening. Being Mother's Day I'd expected to be denied the opportunity. Front light wasn't helping either - I'd neglected to charge it, and no sooner had I switched it on than it went into "limp home mode". But now is the time to be making these mistakes, instead of doing so on race weekend...
You might be better off with a more aggressive tyre for current conditions. I got a new bike last summer and it came fitted with Rocket Rons which are similar to the Ralph's. They were Great in the summer when things were firm and dry but not much use when things got loose and muddy. I went for the Nobby nic which are a big improvement without going too far as there's always a bit of road/path riding involved.
Nedzilla said:
You might be better off with a more aggressive tyre for current conditions. I got a new bike last summer and it came fitted with Rocket Rons which are similar to the Ralph's. They were Great in the summer when things were firm and dry but not much use when things got loose and muddy. I went for the Nobby nic which are a big improvement without going too far as there's always a bit of road/path riding involved.
I swore by Maxxis Beavers on my 26" hardtail in the slop of winter. Budgetary constraints may well mean that I have to improve grip by dropping pressure in the fitted tyres'n'tubes, I'm afraid. Then the plan is to get some lighter rubber when funds allow. But by the time that happens though, the Ralphs will probably be ideal for the conditions... 
Cheers for the recommendations, though!
53 miles on it today, in 5hr 14min.
The bikes feels pretty good, although I feel I'm not pushing myself hard enough. Also, it was too long a ride, really. I think I should concentrate on distance, terrain and pace more akin to the race conditions, at least until after the race. I'm still tempted to put the saddle height up a notch, and drop some pressure out of the tyres.
Oh, and I nabbed an elusive KOM early in the ride too. Been trying for that one for an age now, after some random chap nicked it from my youngest lad. We'd both reached our limit on hard tails, but today I felt I had a little more available if I needed it. It's that rear suspension I reckon - keeping the back wheel in contact with the ground and driving forward the whole time, not bouncing all over the place like the old GT was. It does feel like it needs a bigger gear on the downhills though. But that is more than made up for by it's climbing ability. It just seems to always have the right gear available on the ups, and even if you get it wrong the gear is small enough to force over the top, avoiding the dreaded "stall" when ascending.
Still no real complaints. I'm even getting used to that low bottom bracket now, setting the pedals up to avoid root strikes and such.
The bikes feels pretty good, although I feel I'm not pushing myself hard enough. Also, it was too long a ride, really. I think I should concentrate on distance, terrain and pace more akin to the race conditions, at least until after the race. I'm still tempted to put the saddle height up a notch, and drop some pressure out of the tyres.
Oh, and I nabbed an elusive KOM early in the ride too. Been trying for that one for an age now, after some random chap nicked it from my youngest lad. We'd both reached our limit on hard tails, but today I felt I had a little more available if I needed it. It's that rear suspension I reckon - keeping the back wheel in contact with the ground and driving forward the whole time, not bouncing all over the place like the old GT was. It does feel like it needs a bigger gear on the downhills though. But that is more than made up for by it's climbing ability. It just seems to always have the right gear available on the ups, and even if you get it wrong the gear is small enough to force over the top, avoiding the dreaded "stall" when ascending.
Still no real complaints. I'm even getting used to that low bottom bracket now, setting the pedals up to avoid root strikes and such.
Righty-ho!
So I started the thread, and kept it updated all the way through, and I even promised "photos to follow". But I got so wrapped up in riding the new bike (now up to 148 miles on it so far) that I neglected to update the thread with those promised photos.
So to set that right, here they are (here it is?)...
Brand new! Mudguards and saddle pack fitted for it's first photo-call.
First ride, and it's a bit wet out there! Short blast around Yateley Common and Hawley Woods to check that it's all running properly.
A couple of rides later, it's sporting lights, and an Ass-Saver that I found out on the trails. And a LOT of mud...
...a pretty skanky looking chainset and chain.
...and I think there's a front derailleur in there somewhere.
So I washed it! (OK, so I did use a hose and a sponge, not a dip in a stream )
And here it is. Clean again, for a wee while at least, and back on the (thankfully dryer) trails.
I (deliberately) let a few more psi escape from the tyres when I washed it. It's running at about 25psi front and 28psi rear now, but it still feels like it could go softer. Sadly, I've chickened out of running it at lower pressure still, as I was so used to running 40psi+ in my hard tail. Baby steps, and all that. I also still need to put a few more psi into the rear shock, and let a few psi out of the fork (I think) so I'll get that sorted just as soon as I get hold of a shock pump.
Aside from one minor mistake when re-assembling the chain after it's first clean, everything has run very smoothly so far. The error was to run the chain the wrong side of a guide in the rear mech cage, resulting in a terrible noise until I got it routed the right way again. The Crud Catcher rear mudguard might well have to come off, as on bigger hits it "brrrrrrps!" on the tyre. But it does keep some of the mud off me, and I don't enjoy being completely slathered in filth. It's also been treated to some frame protection tape, but I neglected to put any on the crank arms,and it's too late now...
So I started the thread, and kept it updated all the way through, and I even promised "photos to follow". But I got so wrapped up in riding the new bike (now up to 148 miles on it so far) that I neglected to update the thread with those promised photos.
So to set that right, here they are (here it is?)...
Brand new! Mudguards and saddle pack fitted for it's first photo-call.
First ride, and it's a bit wet out there! Short blast around Yateley Common and Hawley Woods to check that it's all running properly.
A couple of rides later, it's sporting lights, and an Ass-Saver that I found out on the trails. And a LOT of mud...
...a pretty skanky looking chainset and chain.
...and I think there's a front derailleur in there somewhere.
So I washed it! (OK, so I did use a hose and a sponge, not a dip in a stream
)And here it is. Clean again, for a wee while at least, and back on the (thankfully dryer) trails.
I (deliberately) let a few more psi escape from the tyres when I washed it. It's running at about 25psi front and 28psi rear now, but it still feels like it could go softer. Sadly, I've chickened out of running it at lower pressure still, as I was so used to running 40psi+ in my hard tail. Baby steps, and all that. I also still need to put a few more psi into the rear shock, and let a few psi out of the fork (I think) so I'll get that sorted just as soon as I get hold of a shock pump.
Aside from one minor mistake when re-assembling the chain after it's first clean, everything has run very smoothly so far. The error was to run the chain the wrong side of a guide in the rear mech cage, resulting in a terrible noise until I got it routed the right way again. The Crud Catcher rear mudguard might well have to come off, as on bigger hits it "brrrrrrps!" on the tyre. But it does keep some of the mud off me, and I don't enjoy being completely slathered in filth. It's also been treated to some frame protection tape, but I neglected to put any on the crank arms,and it's too late now...
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