Anyone done/do Time Trial Cycling or Offroad Mountain-Biking?

[Nate]

Getting interested in the idea of buying a bike, but currently unsure as to which way I'm going with it. Offroad stuff sounds pretty good fun and theres a nearby circuit with a lot of technical parts to it. But also the Time Trialing sounds interesting as there is a club nearby which holds events and welcomes new members etc.

So just wondering if anyone does or has done either of these and knows a little more then I do(practically nothing) and could fill me in on a few things like; Type of Bike, Cost, Amount of time required, Equipment, Clothing. Web-sites with some good info would be really nice too.

Thanks in adv. Nate!

 

[Mojo]

My opinion is buy a a bike aimed at free type riding, preferably a hard tail.

The last bike i had was GT ruckus 1.0 which was touted as a dirt jump bike by GT. Unfortunatly it got nicked and the 07 model is more dirt jumping than the 06 model and has less gears and cheaper group set, so won't be buying one.

Downhill Bikes are great but only for downhill for everything else they suck, cross countries suck at anything fun, trials bikes suck at anything that requires propper pedaling.

My advise would be too look at the GT Ruckus 1.0 06 Model and find something similar (it cost £800 btw) then you can let me know cos i am still looking for something as good as that bike. This bike was a great all round fun bike which took me a god damn age to find with an off the shelf spec.

 

[Mojo]

Oh I Forgot, kit wise u just need a bike and helmet. Clothing depends on when and how u ride. Gortex is expensive but water proof and dries fast, jeans and thick cotton is fine till it rains then it weighs a ton and wont dry anytime soon so u may go hyperthermic etc.

I rode fair wheather mostly and didn't fall v often so I just wore a skaters type helmet, vans type shoes, 3/4 baggies and short sleeve shirt. Like walking, wear what's appropriate for the day/location.

Light wise if offroad at night get halogens, if on road in a built up area get flashing led's, with the exception of halogens most lights are only good for letting people see you and not for you seeing stuff, bear that in mind.

 

[Nate]

Thanks for all the info Mojo! I'll have a look for a bike like that one yeah.

 

[Congax]

Chavalry!

 

[Azonic]

Hmmm i wouldnt recommend a GT but it does depend on your budget. But do go for a 'freeride' mountain bike. That is exactly what you are after. Specialized and Giant make some nice models that are designed for all day riding, light with suspension and hydro discs. If budget stretches far get a kona, they have been around for a long time and are a good brand.
Look for a bike with 4-5" of front and rear suspension, Hydraulic disc brakes (do NOT get sucked in and get cheaper cable disc brakes) and a triple chain ring up front.
I ride a full on DH bike and its a killer for riding to places, but i do also have a Giant NRS with 4" rear suspension with an air shock and that is beautiful for all day riding.
Az

 

[leviathane]

custom built bikes ftw tbh

 

[Mojo]

Specialized and Giant make some nice models that are designed for all day riding, light with suspension and hydro discs. If budget stretches far get a kona, they have been around for a long time and are a good brand.

I would say look at the bike and not the brand, my GT was my 7th bike having owned 2 giant full sus's and a kona hard tail amongs others, the GT blew all other specs away for the price this time round and it was the last bike I looked at, Kona and Giant were the first and the worst in this catagory for 06 models.

I would say get ur budget sorted then go and check all brands for the best spec most comfortable bike for you in that range regardless of who made it.

Deffo get Hydro disk brakes though, and i think you will find max 4" forks on a hardtails unless someone has done some funky geometry magic or just put some on for the hell of it.

 

[Nate]

http://www.gtbicycles.com/mountain/catalog/detail.php?id=2965&country=UK&brand=moun

Is this one pretty good? Kinda like the price on it, it's a Hard tail free ride not sure if these are the brakes you recommended though mechanical? Couldn't make heads or tail of the Specialized site, seems you build your own bike? I wouldn't really know where to start with that and the Giant site didn't seem to have any Free Ride Hard Tails that I could see, was pretty difficult to find out though Hard Tail means no rear suspension right?

If the link doesn't work, it's GT 2007 Chuckler 2.0 £369.99

 

[Azonic]

That bike is more of a dirt jumping/street/hucking bike and so not really for all day riding and doing a bit of everything on. If you try doing a 30km route on that after 20 mins you will be wasted. But if you are wanting to get into the more hardcore side of things then yeah its exactly what you want i guess.

Also pay attention to the size of the bike, the more hardcore bikes tend to be smaller so they are more manoverable but means that they are not so friendly for cycling miles as they dont allow you to use full stretch of your legs unless you stick the seat post way high in the air.

 

[Mojo]

http://www.gtbicycles.com/mountain/catalog/detail.php?id=2965&country=UK&brand=moun

Is this one pretty good? Kinda like the price on it, it's a Hard tail free ride not sure if these are the brakes you recommended though mechanical? Couldn't make heads or tail of the Specialized site, seems you build your own bike? I wouldn't really know where to start with that and the Giant site didn't seem to have any Free Ride Hard Tails that I could see, was pretty difficult to find out though Hard Tail means no rear suspension right?

If the link doesn't work, it's GT 2007 Chuckler 2.0 £369.99

Now they pulled this with the bike I was talking about, it only has a single chain ring upfront so you only have 8 gears, ALL the 06 models had 2 upfront so gave you 16 which IMO is the minimum you want for an all rounder, now you can put extras on but it will cost you extra, like Azonic said its for dirt jump, which is fine because its an ace play bike, except for the 8 gears which basically means any distance pedaling will hurt you. If you could get the same bike with 16 gears then I would go for it.

Also something regarding frame size, for a play bike I like it so when the saddle is at it's lowest it is about to my knee when the pedals are parallel, now the tricky part is is to get a bike frame size with good geometry that will allow this but also when at it's highest you can just about manage a full inside leg measurement from saddle top to the pedal in it's lowest position. The reason for this again comes down to that unfun part of getting to your location, doing that with knees bent and not so many gears it's not far off doing it on a bmx. (btw this bike looks ok in that regard)

The reason I liked the 06 model GT's was the fact that they had all the trimmings of a good dirt jump bike with those little extras that meant you could still ride the god damn thing.

 

[Nate]

Ok I'm going to town, so will have a look in a few shops and see if I can test them to see what I think of the bike. Got a list of things which you've written down in the posts:

Brand: GT, Giant, Kona, Specialized
Type: Free Ride Hard Tail
Gears: No less then 16
Brakes: Hydraulic Disk(not cable)
Chain: Triple chain ring
Forks: No more then 4"

And will also mention that I want it for long distance riding.

Before I go Mongoose Tyax Elite Bike 2007 ?

Thanks a lot for all your help so far guys

 

[Nate]

Ok went to Halfords today and the price range I wanted didn't have the Hydraulic disk brakes, but I'm willing to go up to what it was if you guys say this bike is worth it

GT XC1 Aggressor £550

I can't find a site with more info on it though, seems Halfords is the only shop that sells this bike..it's not even on the GT website ;o The guy in the store said it had everything you said to look out for though.

There was also a Carrera Fury for £499 which also had the hydraulic stuff, but it doesn't seem to have as good parts as the GT(or so he said ;o)

Shame this Halfords site doesn't have much info though, kinda sucks

 

[Mojo]

I can't find specs on the GT, maybe its a Halfords exclusive? pretty cheap for a bike with hydrolics and looks ok, the geometry on both bikes is more cross country than play bike mind. maybe have a ride and see what u think. And if you can afford to start with a £500 bike do so, cheap bikes don't go off road very well, they fail very quickly under that sort of stress.

 

[Azonic]

Do not go Carrera whatever you do.

Have a look at the following website:
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/acatalog/Sale_Bikes.html
check out the MERLIN MALT 1 - LTD ED - its 525

Spec:
MERLIN MALT 1 - LTD ED
*2007 Merlin Malt 1 7005 aluminium frame
*Rockshox Judy 4 forks with u-turn travel adjust & poploc remoite lockout
*Deore groupset
*Shimano LX hydraulic disc brakes
*New shimano 505 factory wheelset
*FSA riser bars, stem and seatpost, WTB saddle
*Panaracer Fire XC tyres
*Excludes pedals

U-turn allows you to adjust the amount of suspension really easily and lockout allows you to lock the forks so that they have no suspension, so good for climbs and for cycling on the roads.
I have always been a fan of merlin bikes (i have had 2 for my xc hardtails) since they produce very nice frames, are good spec and are very good value for money. And they are not cheap highstreet brand bikes.
Look for some online reviews about merlin cycles, they have alot of positive feedback. And for 500 odd you get a very nice frame, lx hydro dics with shimano groupset and it comes in 17" which is ideal. And you wont see anyone else with one which is nice.
So before you go buy a GT or another bike from halfords look here, very recommended.

Az

 

[Nate]

Aye I think it is Mojo, I wasn't totally convinced when I found that there wasn't much info about the bike to be found.

And ok Azo I see Carrera is also a Halfords only make which has little to no info on it's bikes aswell Will look in to that Merlin bike, theres another shop (Cycle Revolution) on the other side of town which does some more serious biking will have a look at them maybe they have that Merlin make

 

[Nate]

Ok been to Cycle Revolution, they seem to know a lot more what there talking about then Halfords did and were very helpful same as you guys! Got to test a bike out which met the spec's listed and I've put a deposit down on:

Specialized Hardrock Pro £550

 

[Nate]

While I was there I mentioned GT Ruckus 1.0 so thats how he got me on to the Hardrock, he said that GT has recently gone bankrupt :/ also some of the parts they use on GT are specific to the brand and as such difficult to get hold of. Is that what you guys find aswell?

 

[Mojo]

The specialised hardrock looks good, nice geometry they have a good reputation as far as I can remember.

I am not sure about GT bikes, i heard they went bust about 2 years ago so I would imagine they are under new ownership now. I have a little experince with them regarding GT only equipment but nothing that caused headaches and it was only a rear brake setup on a really old bike (they fitted what was called u brake, which BMX riders will probably be more familiar with and that meant you could not add any brakes other than that as the U break which sucked at the time. (it wasn't GT specific but i was a bmx brake not an mtb) I didn't have my 1.0 long enough before it got nicked but iirc is was all standard.

But looking at the hardrock it looks good for value for money, I will take a closer look at their range when I buy my next bike