Neil G
Old School Grand Master
mikesnowdon":cpy1mk8c said:Andy R":cpy1mk8c said:Isn't this the sort of riding that most of us do? - just ragging a bike around some nice trails.
Who needs more than a nice, agile hardtail for that?
Exactly!!
Why people haul massive travel full sus bikes around is beyond me. Isnt "AM" just putting a granny ring on a DH bike? Looks that way to me.
On a recent ride I was one of only 3 riders on a hardtail in a group of 32. Most of the serious guys were on 130mm travel front and back pushing 30/32lb up the hills. All we were riding was forest singletrack with a few roots and the occasional little jump. Needles to say me on my 23lb hotrodded Lava Dome had no trouble hammering up the climbs and I was right on the back wheel of the 2 fastest riders during the downhills. I got me thinking how pointless these modern bikes are for the type of riding most of us do. I get the feeling people are just following the current fashion and paying tooo much attention to what the magazines tell you to ride.
In that video the guys on a circa 24/5lb steel hardtail with what looks like 100mm forks. Its an excellent example of why we dont need to push huge travel bikes around. Great vid too!!!![]()
That's just mountainbiking for you, it seems to be full of people with lots of money (you can spot them in their crap X5s at races with about 5 bikes on the roof) and not much sense.
These folk do keep the industy going though to some extent, even now I bet they are getting worried at the thought of their forks being last years models!