Tech / ideas that are old but as good as current quo

One thing that is so so wrong even though its not really tech, but it is pivotal to mountainbiking or offroad cycling.

Trail centres..... wrong wrong wrong. what happened to getting out in to the countryside & widerness?

It's too difficult. Too variable.
Trailcentres are a known quantity and (usually) quality. And easy to get to.

I've had day rides which have been nothing more than a slog through shit for 6-8 hours. I'd have rather gone to a trail centre.

(luckily what we have as Trail centres round here are simply hundreds of goat tracks, foot paths and gravel lanes cris-crossing a massive area of forest)

munkey_bwy":1dd0q7cs said:

what happened to getting out in to the countryside & widerness?

Click to expand...

Age happened.. :facepalm:

mattr":1dd0q7cs said:

I've had day rides which have been nothing more than a slog through shit for 6-8 hours. I'd have rather gone to a trail centre.

Click to expand...

I rest my case..

Re:

I've never been to a trail centre.

Don't think we have any official Trial Centers but this is our most popular route!
Route Details: Forms part of the Trans Pennine Trial - Route 65
From/To: Hull to Hornsea
Distance: 15 miles (30-mile round trip). This is approximately 4 hours.
Type: Largely traffic free
Terrain/Surface: No hills. Tarmac roads and paths, some gravel tracks.
National Cycle Network: National Route 65

Dalby (the big one), Sutton Bank (moors again) and Longuns place (Kirton, south of Scunthorpe) or 'our' tail centres.
To be honest, the Wolds becomes unrideable for a lot of the past winters and 'off road' is good but involves a lot of road and footpaths. Styles etc.
I like it but a Trail Centre just lets you ride with no thought, so I can see why they are attractive. And Dalby and Sutton Bank you can ride in and out loads of points onto the moors if you wish.

I can see why they are popular.

I don't use them, but I can see the attraction of trail centres for some circumstances. When the weather's really foul and heading out to the moors would be risky, or for solo riders who would like to be found and given medical attention if something happens while they ride (epileptics, diabetics, people with cardiac problems and Carbon handlebar users).

I think the one exception I'd make would be to go to a retrobike meet up at the Haldon trail centre.

HIte Rite.

Out of curiosity I decided to compare the geometry of a 19.25" Dynatech Diablo frame and a top flight gravel bike, the Salsa Cutthroat (Large). It turns out retro geometry is still great for the most fashionable type of riding - gravel.

Cutthroat vs. Diablo
Toptube 580 vs. 583 (mm)
Head angle 71 vs. 71.5 (degree)
Seat tb. angle 73 vs. 72.5 (degree)

What's the big difference?

Geometry numbers from http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/d/5 ... +Bikes.pdf

And https://salsacycles.com/bikes/cutthroat ... at_force_1

Re:

I think the current gravel and adventure bikes are in some ways very similar to 90s rigid MTBs, but with bigger 650b or 700c wheels and some with drop bars.

I wonder whether they came about because modern MTBs are so off-road focused, such that people drive them to a trail centre, or to a location, to do a purely off-road ride. I imagine a 30lb bike with fat 2.8 inch wide knobbly tyres and 120mm or more suspension travel is something of a drag to ride on the road; I haven't tried one.

Like early rigid MTBs, a gravel bike isn't going to be as cabable off road, especially on the really technical stuff, as the latest all mountain or eduro, or whatever they're called, bike, but it's a lot more versatile if your ride includes a wide variety of surfaces and is longer than a five mile loop around some woods.

I don't have a car, so all my rides include some road. The latest, very off road focussed MTBs really don't interest me, so I've just bought a gravel bike.