Reading that little lot made me laugh... opinions are great.
I built my explosif up SS in 2001 from stuff I had in the garage not expecting to find much use for it. My local forest has lots of very steep climbs and most of the time I use pretty much all the gearing on a normal bike, even the granny winch gears.
First ride out on the dodgy bodged SS and I knew this was something special that I was going to love. When you've been riding the same forest and trails for 15 years putting a different spin on them is fantastic. In a way riding the SS can be like being a beginner again in that your often cought in what feels like the wrong gear, but you have no choice but to get on with it. I find myself out of the saddle a lot which is not my prefered pedalling style, too many years on big squishy bikes I guess?
Riding a super light bike that doesn't rattle and won't break the bank when you stack is oh so joyous.
A reasonable level of fitness is required because you do have to be able to work a little harder on the climbs... which I find fun. Perhaps it's this part that puts some people off?
As I've said before - gheto build one or borrow off a friend and see if it's for you. Chances are you'll get hooked as it's just messing about in the woods on bikes... and we all know how much fun that is... here endeth the lesson?
I built my explosif up SS in 2001 from stuff I had in the garage not expecting to find much use for it. My local forest has lots of very steep climbs and most of the time I use pretty much all the gearing on a normal bike, even the granny winch gears.
First ride out on the dodgy bodged SS and I knew this was something special that I was going to love. When you've been riding the same forest and trails for 15 years putting a different spin on them is fantastic. In a way riding the SS can be like being a beginner again in that your often cought in what feels like the wrong gear, but you have no choice but to get on with it. I find myself out of the saddle a lot which is not my prefered pedalling style, too many years on big squishy bikes I guess?
Riding a super light bike that doesn't rattle and won't break the bank when you stack is oh so joyous.
A reasonable level of fitness is required because you do have to be able to work a little harder on the climbs... which I find fun. Perhaps it's this part that puts some people off?
As I've said before - gheto build one or borrow off a friend and see if it's for you. Chances are you'll get hooked as it's just messing about in the woods on bikes... and we all know how much fun that is... here endeth the lesson?