eMTB owners photo and ride thread.

[IR772]

No, I went at lunch time!

Met all the ancient tree walkers and the carriage club (amazing what you find out when you say hello and smile), lots of interest in my bike, none negative.

Normally I go out in the evenings but I had to try the new tyres off road, and the sun was shining.

 

[IR772]

Rough track behind the bike, had to stop for a pose.

 

[chris130256]

Radnor Forest yesterday. Never been before but definitely worth the trip. 600m high at the top with stunning views. Found an area called Harley Valley. Pic of it with myself and our dog, funnily enough is called Harley!

 

[IR772]

Now you know why the waterfall at the bottom of the valley is called
"Water break it's neck"

Good ride and pics, does Harley get excited when you get the bikes out.

 

[chris130256]

Now you know why the waterfall at the bottom of the valley is called
"Water break it's neck"

Good ride and pics, does Harley get excited when you get the bikes out.

He goes nuts! He won't/can't eat his breakfast he's so excited. We have to tailor our rides to suit him though. 17 miles and he's still eager to go on but at 18 miles he really is finished.

Next visit to the area and we will start at the 'water breaks its neck' waterfall.

 

[LeighPing]

He goes nuts! He won't/can't eat his breakfast he's so excited.

Mine doesn't get too excited. Unless he has no stick to bite on. Probably needs it to prevent him from burning up on re-entry.

 

[LeighPing]

Next visit to the area and we will start at the 'water breaks its neck' waterfall.

That'd be good to see. It does look a pretty glorious ride there.

 

[EddiePJ]

I have spent the last two evenings out testing the front light that d8veh has been recommended, and my opinion of it has been very much dampened.
It is a very good light, but fails when it comes to trying to tackle tight technical terrain at speed. It just isn't up to the job, and I suffered one tree strike last night and two tonight. It also wasn't up to the job of picking up route change fast enough, and despite my knowing the trail, I twice went wrong.
This would not have occured with the Fenix BT20, so it is back to using that once again.

The light is still perfect for any other off road conditions, and by tight and technical, I litterally mean a tree at every metre or so. Tracks with trees just to the side, or open tracks, bridleways or road, are never going to present an issue. At less than a tenner, that light still takes some beating and I am in truth being very picky. I'd still recommend buying one.

I have taken a couple of clips of the light in action, and will try to add these tomorrow.

I also discoverd another annoyance with it that I hadn't previously given thought to. You cannot go through the power settings without the light turning off and then back on. Something that doesn't happen with the Fenix, you can go high, medium, low, and back up to high without it turning off between low and high.

Still two good rides though, and two very different ride conditions. Yesterday night the conditions could not have been better, with everything bone dry. Tonight it was back to setting off in the rain, with a thunder storm ahead, and back to wet muddy slippery fun.

The Hutchinson Toro tyres also performed brilliantly, and taught me something tonight in the slippery conditions. I have been running them at about 20psi, but because I have been using the bike for a bit of mixed terrain commuting, I upped this to 30psi and was being too lazy tonight to reduce it back down again. I couldn't believe just how sharp and grippy that the tyres were at this higher pressure, being totally predictable even when sliding. It looks as though I might stick stick with this higher pressure for the time being.

The more and more that I ride the hardtail, the more and more that I also question requiring a full suspension bike. I just can't get enough of it and the way that it handles. I guess that at just a fraction over 18kg, the reduction of weight adds to the fun, as does the feeling of knowing exactly where the bike is below you at all times. It is just so agile and precise.

Finally, because the weather was so wet, I decided to try out my latest purchase, and I'm already wondering how I have done with out them for so long.

A pair of BBB ArcticDuty overshoes. Worth every penny.

Looks as though winter has arrived. edit.. I hadn't noticed all of the bracken wrapped around the centre of the front wheel! It was pretty overgrown in places tonight. Bracken is one of pet hates. I frequently find that I can can suddenly no longer pedal, as the pedal cranks have locked solid. Bracken is forever getting wrapped around the rear cassette and jockey wheels.

.

 

[chris130256]

Eddie, being old and decrepid, we both needed as much rear suspension as possible. My back wouldn't take the punishment a hard tail would give! It's great to have the adjustability too. A quick setup change is all that's needed to go from balls out downhill to a comfortable day out x country cruise.
I like the overshoes. A possible xmas present?

 

[EddiePJ]

Hi Chris, sorry the full suspension comment wasn't meant to be directed towards anyone else.. I was just rambling on about thoughts towards my own bike use. So sorry if I caused confusion.

I do know what you mean though, and my own arthritic joints often feel it the next day after riding the hardtail, but as the winter conditions progress and the ground gets softer, this becomes less of an issue.

 

[brightonebikes]

More often than not, I get bored of riding the same trails. The exception to the rule is my little local woods/copse.
It's only five minutes ride from my house, so easy to pop up to for an hours playtime without any prep.
I forget how much good and varied terrain exists in this little half square mile of wooded copse.
The roots and autumn leaves providing more than suitably technical terrain to make it exciting to blast up and down a few times.
There are a couple of roots and tree stumps that would take anyone by surprise if they didn't know they were there. The ground clearance on my Bafang BBS01 equipped Santa Cruz Heckler didn't cast a second look as we flew over them though.
This is why I love my eMTB and the countryside around me so much. It's a match made in heaven
Any recommendations for good sticky rubber for this time of year?...I'm due a change and open to suggestions from anyone?
Happy riding people

 

[brightonebikes]

...And here's the photos that didn't work on the above post.

 

[brightonebikes]

Oh, and this whopper of a root/stump. Not one to hit at pace, which is likely if you're not aware it's there. Arrgghh! :/

 

[EddiePJ]

Some of the best riding can be found on your own door step.

I guess that I am pretty spoilt in some respects, as I have several very good areas to ride in my neck of the woods.
Some are official, and some sadly not. Hornshurst offers some very good down hill hill stuff to ride, as does the Bull Track, both of which are either owned or managed by good friends. There are several Youtube clips for both.
The Bull Track isn't for my style of riding though, although it does offer a very good pump track which is great fun. Hornshurst is just a brilliant wood to ride whatever the choice of riding style.

Ashdown forest is a one minute away from me, but of course like every other local mtb rider, I would never dream of taking a bike onto there, nor either of the two army camps!!

Another out of bounds place is Broadwater forest. That one I really can't get my head around. The fire roads in there are mainly road stone, and the remainder free draining. It is okay for dog walkers to let there dogs off a lead in there, with the full potential of disturbing ground nesting birds, but mtb's are banned for this very reason. Somehow that doesn't stack up.

Virtual beers are on me though, as just this morning after many phone calls, I have been granted sole access rights to ride in a woodland which covers about 500 acres, and once again can be reached in less than a minute from home.
Being set either side of a valley, the potential is massive. It remains fairly dry all year round, has several streams, which is something that appeals, an old water mill offering the trials riding potential that I seek, and many pine plantaions as well as chestnut coppice. Best of all is that I can cut through there on my way to work.

I was kind of dreading making the call this morning, and I'm so glad that it went well.



As for tyre choice, why not stick with what you know.
The South Downs is actually a bit of a bastid to know what to suggest in respect of tyre choice. The terrain and soil conditions are just so varied, that I suspect that there isn't just one ideal tyre. I might be wrong, but it looks like you are on a 26" wheel set. If that is the case, I used to really love Pannaracer XC Firepro. They seemed to cope very well with most conditions, don't have significant rolling resistance, and are pretty good at coping with sketchy root sections. They are also very good value for money.

I really love the Hutchinsoon tyres that I run. The DZO's on the full suspension bike are on the heavy side and drag like hell, but the Toro Hardskin tyres on the hardtail roll well and seem to grip like something to a blanket. Wet roots don't even begin to phase them, and I never worry that they will let go at the wrong moment. The sad thing is that they aren't overly easy to find at a good price, and take some hunting down. Mine came from France.

 

[Paul smith]

Good stuff you blokes....im getting a bit more adventurous with me lapp now...can you recommend a good camera?..im pretty useless with modern technology...something simple.....sorry if this wrong thread..

 

[EddiePJ]

I pretty much always carry a camera around in my pocket. My phone is crap for them, so most of the time I carry one of these. http://www.tesco.com/direct/fuji-xp70-digital-camera-orange-164mp-5x-optical-zoom-27-lcd-screen-underwater-camera/328-8028.prd The novelty value of placing it underwater to take photos is good fun, but what has never been mentioned in reviews, is that the inside of the screen condensates up.

Looking a moment ago though, it would appear to be now discontinued.

I also now have what is known as bridge camera, but being big and bulky, this doesn't get used very much for bike shots.

 

[STEVEMANFA]

I'd get a sjcam 4000 just like a go pro at about £40.00

 

[soundwave]

doubt it be any good for photos tho? never tried it tbh.

 

[STEVEMANFA]

They are fab for the money, but you do get that fish eye view

 

[EddiePJ]

I'd get a sjcam 4000 just like a go pro at about £40.00

The SJ4000 actually takes suprisingly good still camera shots.

They have slight fish eye appearance, but that seems to add to them. Sadly possibly too small and fiddly as a main camera though.

edit.. you beat me to it.