Dave Lloyd 531
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Rod_Saetan
Old School Grand Master
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Lovely!
Re: Re:
Silly windy here today, too much for a weak legged OA roadie, so, what better time to finally test ride the MTB I built....erm two years ago. :facepalm:
Just about to get changed, more later.
I've done worse.MatBH5":21s9yqwb said:Modern 1x12 build I reckon
Silly windy here today, too much for a weak legged OA roadie, so, what better time to finally test ride the MTB I built....erm two years ago. :facepalm:
Just about to get changed, more later.
Re:
Sorry, ride report much delayed by No.1 son.
For those who can't be doing with a lot of reading, I will sum up the ride of the 531 in one word; nimble.
I set out from home in stupidly strong winds, but the road ride showed that the steering was fast but that the ride was very stable. It was odd to have the tyre noise, after several years of almost exclusive road riding I have got used to silence in that department.
When I got to the woods I had an obstacle to overcome.... a Policeman. Nothing to do with Covid-19. The wind predictions meant they had closed the road for fear of falling trees / debris onto the road. I took a turn right and almost immediately found a little cut through I knew of. A quick shouldering of the bike and we were back on the toll road. I had to double back a few yards and then we were on the bottom path through the woods, it must be three years since I have last ridden here, so, time to get cracking.
The 531 is really nippy, it accelerates fast, turns in fast, holds its line either on gravel or dirt and was immediately an inspiring ride. But, this being a shakedown ride I soon discovered two issues, made by me but in need of rectification ASAP. The first was horrendously noisy front brakes, the rears being silent in operation, the other issue was that I had forgotten to set one of the end stops on the rear mech, so shoving the thumbie forward as far as possible just dropped the chain straight onto the spokes / hub. This slowed me down a little because from then on had to be very aware when climbing the cassette. Back to the riding I rattled along the gravel path, avoiding a few dogs / walkers and soon got to the first little sharp climb... up we went with the front wheel skipping a little as it lost contact with the ground. The rest of the track came and went.... fast, and soon we were at the brutal last climb and the zig zag path up...... not an issue. I will accept that the ground is nice and dry and hard, but on the flip side traction on the gravel / dust / rock was not the best ever, still not an issue. This is the first time I have cleaned that short sharp steep climb in a fair while, so I was both pleased with myself and impressed with the bike.
Next we came to the long rocky climb. A dry spring and many people 'exercising' at present means that the rocky path is both wide and well trodden, so we just plugged up the whole thing. On the rocky sections a kick on the pedal and a slight lean back would make the front end light enough to pop over any obstacle with minimum fuss and in no time we were at the top. Next was what used to be a very overgrown sharp climb full of roots and rocks, now it is just a steep path full of rocks and roots, as you can imagine it was no real problem.
A short gravel ride further on is a long rooty rocky bridleway, this is normally taken at walking pace for many reasons... not today. The 531 reacts so easily and so quickly that if you can see a route around the rocks or a gap through the roots, you can ride it and you can ride it at speed. When you do need to hammer the brakes, despite the squeal from the front, the bike stops on a sixpence, changes direction and moves on, it is all fast but not unstable and I felt planted to the ground the whole time. Next section was a fast technical downhill single track, we nailed it, I don't think I have ever ridden this section as confidently, and soon we were back to another long slog of a rocky climb (a different one).
The rest of the ride was more of the same, rocky paths, rooty paths, rocky rooty paths, you get the idea. And then after a fast downhill road section and a short climb back into my road I was home.
What an excellent little bike. It feels a lot like my first Cats Wiskas, but where that had a similar fast light feel to it, it was also slightly unhinged and a step more towards the bonkers side of the street, the 531 at no point felt anything but composed, the frame and forks soaking up a fair bit of the rough surface before it usually popped up and over whatever it was I had just smacked into. Steering is constantly light, but always fast and responsive and at no point did I feel out of control, much like my DOGS BOLX I just needed to see a route down the track and I automatically rode it... easy.
What a fab little bike this is, why Dave ever felt the need to make anything different is a mystery, probably fashion, plus his personal need to push the envelope a bit, the Cats Wiskas certainly is a very different ride, much more edgy and just a little more dangerous feeling. The 531 ATB is a bike I could spend all day on and if I make it to another Mayhem 24 hr race, I am pretty sure this bike will be there with me.
Sorry, ride report much delayed by No.1 son.
For those who can't be doing with a lot of reading, I will sum up the ride of the 531 in one word; nimble.
I set out from home in stupidly strong winds, but the road ride showed that the steering was fast but that the ride was very stable. It was odd to have the tyre noise, after several years of almost exclusive road riding I have got used to silence in that department.
When I got to the woods I had an obstacle to overcome.... a Policeman. Nothing to do with Covid-19. The wind predictions meant they had closed the road for fear of falling trees / debris onto the road. I took a turn right and almost immediately found a little cut through I knew of. A quick shouldering of the bike and we were back on the toll road. I had to double back a few yards and then we were on the bottom path through the woods, it must be three years since I have last ridden here, so, time to get cracking.
The 531 is really nippy, it accelerates fast, turns in fast, holds its line either on gravel or dirt and was immediately an inspiring ride. But, this being a shakedown ride I soon discovered two issues, made by me but in need of rectification ASAP. The first was horrendously noisy front brakes, the rears being silent in operation, the other issue was that I had forgotten to set one of the end stops on the rear mech, so shoving the thumbie forward as far as possible just dropped the chain straight onto the spokes / hub. This slowed me down a little because from then on had to be very aware when climbing the cassette. Back to the riding I rattled along the gravel path, avoiding a few dogs / walkers and soon got to the first little sharp climb... up we went with the front wheel skipping a little as it lost contact with the ground. The rest of the track came and went.... fast, and soon we were at the brutal last climb and the zig zag path up...... not an issue. I will accept that the ground is nice and dry and hard, but on the flip side traction on the gravel / dust / rock was not the best ever, still not an issue. This is the first time I have cleaned that short sharp steep climb in a fair while, so I was both pleased with myself and impressed with the bike.
Next we came to the long rocky climb. A dry spring and many people 'exercising' at present means that the rocky path is both wide and well trodden, so we just plugged up the whole thing. On the rocky sections a kick on the pedal and a slight lean back would make the front end light enough to pop over any obstacle with minimum fuss and in no time we were at the top. Next was what used to be a very overgrown sharp climb full of roots and rocks, now it is just a steep path full of rocks and roots, as you can imagine it was no real problem.
A short gravel ride further on is a long rooty rocky bridleway, this is normally taken at walking pace for many reasons... not today. The 531 reacts so easily and so quickly that if you can see a route around the rocks or a gap through the roots, you can ride it and you can ride it at speed. When you do need to hammer the brakes, despite the squeal from the front, the bike stops on a sixpence, changes direction and moves on, it is all fast but not unstable and I felt planted to the ground the whole time. Next section was a fast technical downhill single track, we nailed it, I don't think I have ever ridden this section as confidently, and soon we were back to another long slog of a rocky climb (a different one).
The rest of the ride was more of the same, rocky paths, rooty paths, rocky rooty paths, you get the idea. And then after a fast downhill road section and a short climb back into my road I was home.
What an excellent little bike. It feels a lot like my first Cats Wiskas, but where that had a similar fast light feel to it, it was also slightly unhinged and a step more towards the bonkers side of the street, the 531 at no point felt anything but composed, the frame and forks soaking up a fair bit of the rough surface before it usually popped up and over whatever it was I had just smacked into. Steering is constantly light, but always fast and responsive and at no point did I feel out of control, much like my DOGS BOLX I just needed to see a route down the track and I automatically rode it... easy.
What a fab little bike this is, why Dave ever felt the need to make anything different is a mystery, probably fashion, plus his personal need to push the envelope a bit, the Cats Wiskas certainly is a very different ride, much more edgy and just a little more dangerous feeling. The 531 ATB is a bike I could spend all day on and if I make it to another Mayhem 24 hr race, I am pretty sure this bike will be there with me.
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