[Closed] Bpw hard tail. Reassure me.

Yeah. Hardtail is mint there.

Sixtapod is epic on a hardtail

Thanks. My biggest worry is arm pump fatigue and that thingy where your fingers get sore and lock up. That and falling off on roots manoeuvre and being rattled to hell. I'm a worrier, what can I say. But then I bought the hardtail to ride stuff that a long travel hardtail is to ride...

I've been 3 times on my 150mm hardtail, as opposed to twice on my full sus.
Honestly I preferred it on the hardtail, and rode all of the same trails ( mostly reds and blacks).

Only been once and did it on my carbon Yeti ArcC with 100mm travel. No issues for me on it on the blues and reds. No idea which reds I did though. Arm pump is not an issue I have ever had riding xc hardtails either at U.K. trail centres or around Chamonix or with BasqueMTB

Did it last year in my Trek Roscoe, everything but black routes👍🏻

First couple of times I went there was on my ragley, worked great tbh. Did slightly break a rear wheel but that was my fault.

BPW is way more fun on a full susser, but you can also have fun on hardtails, just fatigue a bit more and not hit the big stuff as much unless you have the skills to compensate the landings without some give in the rear of the bike.

Had a great day out there on a 140mm hardtail. In fact the only one that bailed that day was riding a full sus...

I've had fun on 140mm and 120mm forked HTs.

But I do know I'll be less beaten up after a day on a bouncy bike these days...

Nothing that isn’t rideable on a hardtail on the blues / reds / red+ I’ve done (I haven’t done any blacks) - just you will fatigue quicker. The full suss will let you ride faster for longer probably - but if it’s knackered then take the hardtail and just expect to dial it back a little bit.

A (sort of) associated question then...

Is a full face required/advisable for BPW if riding on a HT?

Make your own choice on that.

My two lads did - they hit big jumps and more.

Mrs_oab and I were open face helmet and knee pads.

And I enjoyed it all apart from Ring Dinger on my hardtail.

Only Rim Dinger stands out as one I’d probably avoid on the hardtail.  Not because you can’t do it just I think it would be more uncomfortable than fun.

Ring Dinger on my hardtail

You need to stand up more on a hardtail or your ring will indeed be dinged 😀

dogthomson
Free Member
A (sort of) associated question then…

Is a full face required/advisable for BPW if riding on a HT?

It's probably one of the best times to use one if you have it, if you're on the uplift of course, as it's basically a free ride up to the top so no overheating, and taken off on trips back up, same with elbow pads and other protection, easier to use at BPW or any uplift, and gives you a bit more confidence to hit stuff.

As for the reds on a HT, everything is rideable, even a few of the blacks, it's just going to be slower and if you're into hitting big jumps you've got less room for error on a HT with trails like A470 and Insufficient Funds, i wouldn't rate rim dinger as any harder than others, it's only harsh if you're tearing through it, if you bimble it's fine on a HT, but again, why would you hit that trail to bimble, stick to the good HT trails and you'll have a great day.

My nine year old did it on a 20” hardtail.
I’ve raced it on a 100mm xc hardtail.
I’ve ridden it on a rigid single speed.
How cool am I?

(Mostly reds and blues though. For the blacks I do prefer some bounce.)

can you put the rear wheel out your FS in your hard tail, so then your not ruining another bike? 😉

chrispo
Free Member
My nine year old did it on a 20” hardtail.
I’ve raced it on a 100mm xc hardtail.
I’ve ridden it on a rigid single speed.
How cool am I?

(Mostly reds and blues though. For the blacks I do prefer some bounce.)

Was it singlespeed and did you ride up to earn those downhill runs ;o)

Do most people use uplift there? Looks like we might be going to the area in August and I'm tempted to go.

I’d wear a full face - it’s the kind of place you’re going faster than almost anywhere else - even on the blues.

Uplift vs pedal up- both are ok really. In Covid times my preference has been pedal / push up. If you do that it’s best to session say the top half in the morning and the bottom half in the avo - or something like that. Otherwise the climb is a beast after 2 or 3 full climbs. On the top half we alternated cycling up the right hand fire road (as you look up the hill) and pushing up the middle push up last time we did it.

Clearly you’re going to have more time flat out having fun if you get the uplift.

Just to add - if you’re worried about Covid / Uplift minibus - black mountain cycle centre have open trailer uplift behind a tractor. That’s also a fun day with a more chilled out vibe. It’s not all huge doubles and drops - all the videos you find are of full moto / Bomper which are proper black trails. All the rest have rollable features and only get more difficult when you add speed into the equation. Don’t go barrelling down the blue there like you would do down Terry’s Belly. The tables have some good takeoff lips on them 💪

but again, why would you hit that trail to bimble,

This.

I go to BPW to pin the shit out it and top up the high speed handling side of things. I'm certain I could ride all the blues and reds on the HT most of the non-jumpy blacks too. (Jumping is not my forte!)

But.

Balls out riding like that has me done at about 10 full length runs when Im using the FS, so I reckon on the HT I'd be done at 6 at best. I'd be either be stuck being too tired to manage the whole day, or easing back, and If I'm easing back, I may as well ride elsewhere closer to home.

Is a full face required/advisable for BPW if riding on a HT?

I think I have done every combination, back when I was a beginner I did xc helmet, no pads, hardtail, I've done open face and kneepads on the uplift (gentle day riding with the missus and friends)

I did a pedal up there yesterday.
(enduro) Full face and big knee pads, wore the full face for every climb up, with no issue. Goggles on for descent, off for climb, that makes the biggest difference to me.

I tried my second climb with the suspension in "pedal" and promptly forgot to unlock it for the descent. Muppet. Did the rest of the day with it in open.

Re rim dinger, probably enjoyed that most on the hardtail tbh, on full suss it's kind of just a bit of jaggy trail that you charge through without much thought, on the hardtail you have to work to go fast, found it much more interesting and challenging. Definitely a rider thing. I don't "bimble" but if you're a person that connects hardtails with bimbling then your experience won't be the same as mine.

Full face- tbh it's just up to you. The riding apart from the bigger jump lines is easier and less consequential than my local riding and I always wear open face for that. But otoh it's uplifted which makes full face less of a drag. So you can just do whatever feels right for you. You can always swap, you'll be at the bottom of the hill at some point after all. Our visits are always kind of chaos, we get to the top then go "let's ride that" or we get halfway down and go "ooh haven't done that yet" so I never manage to go "I'll do some blues and wear the open face", but probably a more ordered mind could do that 😉

There's still be a fair amount of pedalling, especially if you want to go and do popti ping, 50 shades and the like which end at the bottom of the hill so you have to drag yourself back up to the uplift. And likewise melted welly and the stuff around it are just pedally trails- in fact even just generally getting around the park is more effort than people probably realise before they arrive, the uplift is a pedal from the car park, some of hte trailheads are a distance from the dropoff...

Honestly not sure what I wore last couple of times. Open face probably. I mostly only wear full face in case ChrisL tries to close my head in a car door again.

only ridden there on my Dialled PAC 26er. First time (blues, reds, one(?) tech black) was pretty horrendous. Ill-advised brake swap from another bike meant the hose was too short for me to get the 150mm setting out of my 120/150mm forks but, worse than that, my arms took a battering, and I didn't think to check my fork settings. Found out when I got home that the rebound damping was all the way damped, so I was probably riding with a 50mm hardtail and a 73degree head angle towards the bottom of choppy sections.

2nd time was much better with forks sorted. Had a ball on everything. Hairy bits I'd remembered on trails were got through with me still thinking they must still be down the trail. I walked a couple of features on 50 shades. Had a good try at holding my speed enough through the first section of Watts Occurring to get through the jumps but not a chance.

Off there again with another hardtail on Thursday Signal Ti. I want to hit some things I missed before. Really interested to see how I go. Still think clearing the jumps after the roots on watts occurring will be a struggle!

Should hopefully get an update this evening from the OP, i do love BPW, but with the cost of the place these days i never go near it without the enduro full sus to get the most out of the day, if i want to use the hardtail for stuff i head to FoD, Nibley, Windhill, etc, but i have that choice at the moment, if i only had a hardtail available i'd be using it for everything, well maybe not tabletops, and drop offs over 3 foot, maybe the steep chutes as well ;o)

Well it was fine.

Hardtail was actually better on some trials than the bouncer.

Didn't go for the blacks. Never do. Ain't got the skills to enjoy them.

Rode everything with only AC/DC, wots occuring and roots manoeuvre making me wish I had the full sus.

Good times.

👌 whoopwhoop.