Mountain Biking

Out again up Grizedale last friday, another good ride. Purchased some biking goodies just waiting for them to turn up.. got some endura shorts, waterproof socks, spare innertube, pnw cascade dropper and the 2x lever from pnw to go with it :)
 
Was supposed to go out trail hunting on Sunday with a mate for the Orbea's maiden voyage however my insomnia had other plans and after waking at 330am I didn't really feel like going out cycling at 9am. However did get out for a little pootle in the afternoon when some energy turned up!

It's a nice ride, however the bars are almost flat and I want to change them out, bit of a minefield though innit given all the rise and sweep angles!
 
My launch day Reverb has finally died.
Think I might give one of the cheaper options ago, Brand-X seems to get good reviews, same thing as the PNW and a few others from what I read.
 
Just placed an order for a bike, will be my first time i've ridden a bike in 6-7 years so whats some accessories i should be looking to get for trail riding?

A good quality helmet for definite! Any other protection is a nice to have but that's obligatory
Any supplies to get you back running again in the event of a puncture (especially if you're riding to the trail)
 
My launch day Reverb has finally died.
Think I might give one of the cheaper options ago, Brand-X seems to get good reviews, same thing as the PNW and a few others from what I read.

A friend as the Brand X dropper on this Reign. It does the job, goes up and down. All you need really. Lever feels a bit cheap but can alway swap that out down the road.
 
A good quality helmet for definite! Any other protection is a nice to have but that's obligatory
Any supplies to get you back running again in the event of a puncture (especially if you're riding to the trail)
Back in my day half the fun of the experience was pushing the bike home on one wheel when you got a puncture :p
Anyway bike showed up today, just a budget Cannondale Trail 7, but a good base to start with, first upgrade will be the forks.
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Bike all built and had its first proper ride.





Build
Scout 290 Large
Rockshox Pike Ultimate 140 MY23
Sram XX1 Carbon Crankset
Sram Eagle GX Casette
Sram AXS GX mech
Works Components Oval 32t chain ring
Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes
Custom Hope Pro 4 and DT XM481 with Sapim CX-Ray spokes
Easton Havon Carbon bars (swapping these out for some higher 38mm bars)
NP Horizon 35mm stem
Brand X 170mm dropper
Nobby Nic 2.4 Ground Control
Ergon Saddle and grips
DMR Vault pedals

Few parts are from my old Santa Cruz Nomad but a lot are new. Really rips round the local stuff, i definitely need some padded shorts though no where near as comfortable as a full sus.
 
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My launch day Reverb has finally died.
Think I might give one of the cheaper options ago, Brand-X seems to get good reviews, same thing as the PNW and a few others from what I read.
My no brand dropper is miles ahead of any reverb I had. Would recommend a better lever mind, mines broke pretty swiftly.

Changed it to an up one.
 
My no brand dropper is miles ahead of any reverb I had. Would recommend a better lever mind, mines broke pretty swiftly.

Changed it to an up one.
Yeah I just this week replaced an old Reverb with it, it was an original one with zero maintenance so did well. Lot more choice than there was back then. It made zero sense to me to spend £80 a year to service it so ran it until it died. Brand X seems fine does the job, not as smooth.

Going to give clipless ago as well got some 5.10 Trailcross coming.
I have the basic Shimano SPD pedals but I'll need something with a platform the Nukeproof Horizon ones look decent.
 
Bike all built and had its first proper ride.





Build
Scout 290 Large
Rockshox Pike Ultimate 140 MY23
Sram XX1 Carbon Crankset
Sram Eagle GX Casette
Sram AXS GX mech
Works Components Oval 32t chain ring
Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes
Custom Hope Pro 4 and DT XM481 with Sapim CX-Ray spokes
Easton Havon Carbon bars (swapping these out for some higher 38mm bars)
NP Horizon 35mm stem
Brand X 170mm dropper
Nobby Nic 2.4 Ground Control
Ergon Saddle and grips
DMR Vault pedals

Few parts are from my old Santa Cruz Nomad but a lot are new. Really rips round the local stuff, i definitely need some padded shorts though no where near as comfortable as a full sus.

How are you finding the chain ring? I keep thinking about buying one simply for a bit o bling, but also wonder about the differences of an oval!
 
How are you finding the chain ring? I keep thinking about buying one simply for a bit o bling, but also wonder about the differences of an oval!
It's weird the oval ring actually feels more round when pedaling, I'm told they're especially good when going from a full sus to a hardtail as you get used to pedalling by almost stomping on the pedals and they help smooth that out.
Either way it feels fine I don't have a boost round one to try.
 
It's weird the oval ring actually feels more round when pedaling, I'm told they're especially good when going from a full sus to a hardtail as you get used to pedalling by almost stomping on the pedals and they help smooth that out.
Either way it feels fine I don't have a boost round one to try.

Fair! I expect it would be difficult to really notice the difference unless you're really racking the miles up! still, shiny....
Forgot to say, looks good built up! Did you build the wheels yourself?
 
Fair! I expect it would be difficult to really notice the difference unless you're really racking the miles up! still, shiny....
Forgot to say, looks good built up! Did you build the wheels yourself?
No, I don't go through many wheels so didn't seem a skill worth investing in.
 
7am ride this morning, was a frosty start!

I have an oval chain ring on my hardtail and like it, does feel like I can put more power down on the uphill.

Also got my total bleed solution kit through to bleed my brakes, super easy to do and has made a massive difference.
 
No, I don't go through many wheels so didn't seem a skill worth investing in.

Ah fair, when you said custom I assumed!

7am ride this morning, was a frosty start!

I have an oval chain ring on my hardtail and like it, does feel like I can put more power down on the uphill.

Also got my total bleed solution kit through to bleed my brakes, super easy to do and has made a massive difference.

Wonder if it would be pointless on a full sus!

I have one of those bleed kits on the way also, LBS let a bit of fluid out as the front brake was much higher than the rear but now it's a bit spongy so probably just introduced air instead!
 
Bike all built and had its first proper ride.





Build
Scout 290 Large
Rockshox Pike Ultimate 140 MY23
Sram XX1 Carbon Crankset
Sram Eagle GX Casette
Sram AXS GX mech
Works Components Oval 32t chain ring
Hope Tech 4 E4 brakes
Custom Hope Pro 4 and DT XM481 with Sapim CX-Ray spokes
Easton Havon Carbon bars (swapping these out for some higher 38mm bars)
NP Horizon 35mm stem
Brand X 170mm dropper
Nobby Nic 2.4 Ground Control
Ergon Saddle and grips
DMR Vault pedals

Few parts are from my old Santa Cruz Nomad but a lot are new. Really rips round the local stuff, i definitely need some padded shorts though no where near as comfortable as a full sus.

Just built one of these myself. (275 variant)

Rather annoyingly CRC enabled the extra10% code on it so I could have had the frame for £270 instead of £299 but Nevermind.

Mines running on 160mm pikes at minute but I'll likely drop them back down to 140 as its a bit overkill for my missus.

I got jealous of it in the end and now I want one myself lol
 
Just built one of these myself. (275 variant)

Rather annoyingly CRC enabled the extra10% code on it so I could have had the frame for £270 instead of £299 but Nevermind.

Mines running on 160mm pikes at minute but I'll likely drop them back down to 140 as its a bit overkill for my missus.

I got jealous of it in the end and now I want one myself lol
It's bringing back the fun of mountain biking for me. I'll probably get another full sus eventually but it will definitely be a short travel one. No more enduro type bikes for me.
Yes when I got to a bike park it's going to be hard work, but hard work is fun.
 
It's bringing back the fun of mountain biking for me. I'll probably get another full sus eventually but it will definitely be a short travel one. No more enduro type bikes for me.
Yes when I got to a bike park it's going to be hard work, but hard work is fun.

If my next bike wasn't likely to be an ebike then I'd be considering a more trail oriented bike myself. I ride a commencal meta sx which is plenty and I do sometimes feel its too much bike for certain places. I do love it though. Just wouldn't mind a nice light thing again.
 
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