Had my head turned by a pretty new bike...

mullett

Dirt Disciple
Been riding mountain bikes since about 1990, before that it was cyclocross and ctc rough stuff as a kid mostly on bmx and old road bikes with flat handlebars wedged on.
Ive always ridden retro bikes, just never realised it till i found this site aboout 6 months ago. Had 2 stumpjumpers in the early 90's, one was a rigid and snapped, the other had rc35's on. In about '97 i got hold of a 2nd hand rc200 with rc35's on and ive ridden that ever since.
Moved to scotland 7 1/2 years ago and my trails have got a lot more extreme, steep and rocky and recently ive noticed myself worrying about the forks on my pace breaking under load, nothing too bad, but id find myself glancing down and watching the legs flexing and would often bottle out of drops and rocky sections as the forks just didnt have the travel and i knew id go flying when they bottomed out.

Ive now bought my first new bike ever in 22 years of proper cycling (thankyou cyclescheme), picked it up friday night and took it out on my local ride yesterday morning at 6am as i had to babysit the kids later in the day and i was itching to try it.
What a difference to my riding, went flying over sections id normally bail on the pace and started nearly crashing on downhills because i was going too fast, not because of the bike letting me down. My head has been properly turned and part of me feels a sense of guilt about it.

Has this happened to anyone else? Dont get me wrong, im keeping the pace - will probably renovate it a bit and single speed it as ive got a set of rear facing dropouts for it (but not using a grinder so dont worry)- but id imagine it'll gather a fair bit of dust.
Do most of you have modern bikes as well as retro rides ? If so which do you ride more and which do you prefer?

I knew there would be a difference in the way the bikes handled the rough stuff, but to be honest i never thought it would be so huge, plus the cove still rides nicely uphill as the back ends so stiff.

Anyhow, heres a pic of the new girl in town at the end of my local ride, what do you think, have i let the side down?

covemaidens.jpg
 
Nice ride and no guilt here, I love all my bikes. What's that slogan say again?

It's all about the ride ......

Enjoy!!
 
yup, i bought an 08 epic a few eeks back and have done all sorts of drops that I would normally of kept clear of.

Unfortunately I also came off it at speed and am now waiting for my injuries & bruises to heal so I can get out on any bike :(
 
so its not just me then :)

Im spoilt for riding up here, itching to get the cove out again cos the weathers fantastic and theres not a breath of wind, but ive got the kids to look after so the only way outs gonna be with a trailer on which kinda slows things down...

On the plus side ive just started 2 weeks off work so theres loadsa time :D

Do you guys ride hard tail or full suss? I just stuck with what i was used to and i know the stiffee has a good reputation as a tough agile frame thats good on steep singletrack which is mostly what i ride. To be honest, once i started looking at new bikes i got overloaded with information, so ended up taking a mates advice and trying his out - think he was spot on, i love the thing!!! :D
 
New or Old

Hello Mullet

I am sure your not the only one.
I love all my older bikes, but my main ride is a 2006 Stumpy and I love it, I have my older 99 S works and 94stumpy that get out and about, and a 96 team S works to get fixed and built up. But the modern is my main do anything, throw in the van and go machine. My M4 is beautiful to ride on fast singletrack type xc stuff and climbs like a demon.
I am really tempted by the pictures of the 2009 stumpy carbon, but the price is getting out of my league :cry: , maybe one of those 24 months interest free jobs :cool: . The only guilt will come from paying that much money not from riding it, as I will not neglect the others :LOL:
But yeah, I think it doesnt really matter at the end of the day what you ride as long as you ride and enjoy yourself.
Jamie
edited: all hardtail - all the time, though I would like an 94 :roll: FSR
 
I ride modern and retro and all variations of suspension: rigid front and back, hardtails with 3"-5" travel, full supsension 3" F&R, 4.5" F&R and also 6" F&R.

As I said, they're all special to me in different ways. But if I can take just the one to do it all, then a 4-5" Full sus trailbikes is where it is for me.

Enjoy!!
 
Modern V Olde Skool

Was about to start a similar thread, so got to agree, but tried a few different full suss bikes and still find the various designs too sapping for all day trail use, but modern disc/fork equiped Hardtails are a total revelation. I recently bought a s/h but current model Trek 8500 (their top Alu hardtail) torsionally very stiff, but very forgiving on the trail (rdes more like a steel frame) with tubeless tyres, screams up steep climbs being very light, tackles the rough stuff and handles like a dream. MBUK have given their first ever 10 in a bike test to the new Lynskey built Ti On One inbred.
 
I really struggle with these modern bikes. I love the technology and the ride they give, but most have no style or identity. You read the reviews in the magazines and the most interesting thing about a frame is a fancy paint job. I really do dispise these bikes, so many of them simply look the same. Also, you see a half decent looking frame and get told it's built for some weird type of riding like freeride or enduro or all mountain. This is why i'm with the retro scene, one bike does it all, with individuality and style.
 
Back
Top