[Closed] An observation..........nothing more

just come back from the peakdistrict on my c456 - was not me with the wide bars though

agree the peaks are great - so much variety

We're all poor up North but hard as nails so hardtails are more than up to the job of riding tough Northern trails.

Down South you're all overpaid namby pambys so need 150mm of travel to ride tame trails 🙂

[generalisation]Southeners=soft as shite.Northeners=hard as nails[/generalisation]

People down South are much closer to The Alps. The terrain there requires a long travel bike so its sensible to invest in one, especially if you plan on going upto once per year like most of them do.

[quote=davidtaylforth ]People down South are much closer to The Alps. The terrain there requires a long travel bike
Surely a trip to the Alps is longer travel from the North?

Hardtails encourage more thought and finesse over what lines you take and just add to the fun, plus there are no pivots to wear out!!

Try owning a 150mm FS in the peaks for 18 months.

Once you have replaced every bearing and bushing, dinged the down tube on rocks, scratched the crap out of the swing arm and generally wrecked a really nice bike, you'll quickly go back to a steel hardtail!

I have about three weeks left with the peaks on my doorstep :o( Just sampled my new riding territory (Yorkshire Dales) today and came back disappointed. Could end up a roadie :o(

Hardtails encourage more thought and finesse over what lines you take and just add to the fun, plus there are no pivots to wear out!!

and they're less of a burden to lug up to the top..

mountain goat versus tractor is a good analogy IMO..

I'm from the SW though, which has a completely different terrain and culture to 'the south'

Considering the amount of fine grit up there I wouldnt fancy owning a full bouncer, in fact I've never felt more at home riding in the peaks and my ht was amazing, I felt like I fitted in and everything 😀

Do-it-all bikes basically. That combined with more money 😀

But really, it matters not. My Nomad rides as well in the flats and hills of Surrey & Berkshire as it does in mountains. And there's plenty you can find to justify bigger suspension.

Then again, I also like taking the C456 out round the same trails and surprise myself how much it copes with the same trails. To be honest I tend to do the hard tail round Swinley more than the full sus. I like both, and I like mixing it up. I'd like to take both to the mountains and hard tail and big up on the full sus.

It doesn't matter. When you see someone hitting bermy sweeping singletrack descents on a Brompton, fair play.

Surely a trip to the Alps is longer travel from the North?

Yes, you're right. But theres no need to go when you've got proper trails to ride on.

🙄

I live in the south & have a hard tail!

^^ Thats two of us anyone else 😆

shortcut - Member
I live in the south & have a hard tail!

POSTED 4 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST
stevepitch - Member
^^ Thats two of us anyone else

Then you must be of Northern descent...

I ride SS HT pretty much everywhere....

I'm a girl - one bike is not enough. 😀

cinnamon_girl - Member

I'm a [s]girl[/s] bike whore - one bike is not enough.

Too f'ing right. 😀

😆

I'm in the South and have a Hardtail - 100mm too!

Not only that, a year ago I went from 150mm to 120mm on the FS :-/

Who cares what bikes people choose to ride? Not me...

I'm a Northerner, but ride a Pitch.

And moving back to Reading next month.

Where does this leave me? Should I ride it more or less?

I agree with the comment about mainenance though, I ride my rigid SS up north more than anything else! Although the Pivots in my Pitch have so far resisted wearign out, but it is mainly kept for high days and hollidays rather than being dragged through the mud for the sake of it on an evening ride.

Who cares what bikes people choose to ride?

Like I said it was an observation and nothing more 😛

Hardtails encourage more thought and finesse over what lines you take

But either way you still end up riding slower than on a FS. Oh and...

plus there are no pivots to wear out!!

Bollox - what do you think your knees, elbows and back are?

anotherbike - Member
Who cares what bikes people choose to ride? Not me...

Or me but it's fun to talk about it and besides we are on a MTB forum so....

plus there are no pivots to wear out!!
Bollox - what do you think your knees, elbows and back are?

That's why i take my cod liver oil capsule... 😉

That's why i take my cod liver oil capsule...

Very wise

hardtails = fun 😀

I seem to destroy my bb bearing far quicker than my frame bearings up here in the Peak

Bollox - what do you think your knees, elbows and back are?

Sealed units with no grease points 🙂

I'm a midlander originally, but live in the South Pennines. Is that why I have both? 😀

patriotpro - Member

shortcut - Member
I live in the south & have a hard tail!

POSTED 4 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST
stevepitch - Member
^^ Thats two of us anyone else

Then you must be of Northern descent...

I'm in the south and have a HT..

Although yes, i'm a Scouser 🙂

Hard tail with a 115mm fork, from the south west, live in the south east and have one bike and no Audi. It is an easy decision of 'which bike to take' when you only have one.

South east, 100mm ss hardtail, own a fiesta (old one at that!) 😉

singlespeedstu - Member

[generalisation]Southeners=soft as shite.Northeners=hard as nails[/generalisation]
Posted 11 hours ago #

I'm from the midlands does that make me hard as shite or soft as nails??
I ride hardtail cos i can only afford one bike,like i say i come from the midlands 🙁

East Midlands here and currently the only mtb I have built up is a 180mm full sus 😆 tbh I am thinking of going back to a HT for the majority of riding and saving my FS for the rare opportunity of going on holiday. I do enjoy riding FS but it doesn't jump or climb nearly as well as a hardtail.

I'm a Northerner, but ride a Pitch.
And moving back to Reading next month.

You'll fit in great at Swinley! :p

Don't get me wrong tho, I do miss my pitch and I would love a transition bandit but my alpine handles everything I could ever do and is fun to boot

I think maintenance is a big part of it as said before. Although there are a number of well off riding-what's-trendy folk in the sport, some people just have a single bike (FS) and take it everywhere...like me!

When I rode at Swinley I wished I'd been on a HT due to the flippin' sand, it gets right in your crannies.

By the way it's the Peak, not the peaks 😉

Can't wait 'til the missus and I move to Sheffield, I may see what the 29" steel LTHT (equivalent) options are for a build and keep the 140 bike for the fairer months.

Peak eats bikes. HT's are better if you live there. Also we are harder up north.

I have both which was perfect for being in the lakes. The full sus went to the Alps which in the grand scheme if it isn't that much further for us lot.*

*(well it wasn't until I moved to Oz)

I live in London and ride in Swinley, and I'm on a 140mm hardtail. Although I did buy it while I was living by the Lake District...

Peaks are gritty, grit + moving parts = not good.

[quote=fizzicist]I have about three weeks left with the peaks on my doorstep :o( Just sampled my new riding territory (Yorkshire Dales) today and came back disappointed. Could end up a roadie :o(

where abouts?

Theories....

In the Peak the people on mountain bikes are in fact climbers, roadies or even hill walkers doing something different for the day. So they don't have a pricey bike

All the folks from Manchester area with a 150mm FS have gone to Llandegla for the day

Rich peole down South buy bikes to ride for a few weeks which they then sell on ebays when a few weeks later they take up swing ball or inline skating. As they know that the bike will be bought be a poor northerner to impress people in trail centre car parks they but a 150mm FS

The Peak is full of Southners on their hardtails which they bought for the local trails

The Southerners know that the local trails are dull so buy a 150mm so it can double up for for local Down Hill races

I'm serious abut the first one

Like indoor toilets and electricity, the people of the Northern wastelands are yet to discover rear suspension?

We considered full suss, but like other southern aberrations like flat beer, over population, bad manners and the saveloy, rejected it on the grounds of class & taste.

To be serious for a minute though, I reckon I've seen more Orange Fives in Calderdale than any other type of bike.

I know they're made just up the road, but the sheer number you see about is just crazy.

The reason there are so many Fives in Calderdale is because when people started keeping documents on their computers up here in Yorkshire, way back in early 2010, some enterprising soul branched into recycling the now redundant filing cabinets. West Vale was.simply the largest repository.