So last week I went over to Dyfi bike park to demo an Atherton S170. As I don't really have anything suitable for a bike park, I took my late 90s DMR Trailstar along to the bike park to ride in the morning while I waited for the demo. Never ridden at a 'modern' bike park. Never ridden anything as big as Dyfi. Last time I properly jumped a bike loads was about 15 years ago. Actually the list of firsts was pretty big, as I've never had a full susser, never ridden a 27.5" or 29" bike (the S170 is a mullet setup). Or a dropper post, don't have one of them.
Anyway, honestly, I had an absolute blast on the DMR. I got down Lovely Dyfi and Super Swooper absolutely fine on a 25+ year old bike, that I bought in a bit of a mid-life crisis for £350 last year, cause I'd had one in my teens. I will admit, that I rolled everything on the DMR. The first time down Lovely Dyfi also involved more bumsliding than it ought to have (only the once and I sent the drop the second time round). But second time round I got everything bar a couple of the massive jumps at the end oh and couldn't do the first little slope. I think the fear of being rear ended by a much faster rider spurred me on to get down. Tho I did hit 36kph somewhere on the trail. Went really well till the 3rd run, when I got a flat at the end of Super Swooper on the fast bit at the end.
Was I any faster on the swish (get better swear filters stw pls!) modern bike? Hilariously not. I was definitely getting tired towards the end, so the Atherton coping with poor line choices helped. Taking lines that I probably couldn't have managed on the DMR and just eating them up. It did feel a bit massive. The Atherton is a lovely looking bike and (for what it is) well priced imho.
Feel a bit like a mountain biking dinosaur at the moment, but in a good way.
LOL nutter.. Did you buy the S170 ? I was tempted to ride one but buying one sooooo isn't possible.
Can imagine it was a little bouncy. Have to say though, dh bikes are a bit crap on those 2 trails. I was wishing for my trail bike on both. The other stuff not so much
2008 Whistler Bike Park my Cove Hummer was fairly up to date then , still looked a bit anaemic up against all the DH rigs being wheeled off the gondola 😁
It's all good as long as you choose the appropriate ways back down 👎 As the Cove ad at the time stated Don't take a toothpick to a gun fight.
I took my cove stiffee down fort William dh track in 2002. The norco a line with a super monster I borrowed for run was a much better bike for the track
LOL nutter.. Did you buy the S170 ? I was tempted to ride one but buying one sooooo isn't possible.
I probably will. I've had a look around at similar bikes and for what you get, the S170 is very well priced I reckon. Just got to wait a few months to sort out a suitable deposit. The other bike I like the look of would be a Starling and they're quite a bit more expensive.
Can imagine it was a little bouncy. Have to say though, dh bikes are a bit crap on those 2 trails. I was wishing for my trail bike on both. The other stuff not so much
I could see that. Definitely the nicest and smoothest trails there. I didn't find it too bouncy, but again, I'm really used to hardtails.
2008 Whistler Bike Park my Cove Hummer was fairly up to date then , still looked a bit anaemic up against all the DH rigs being wheeled off the gondola 😁
It's all good as long as you choose the appropriate ways back down 👎 As the Cove ad at the time stated Don't take a toothpick to a gun fight.
Yeah, absolutely. I reckon if you were good on a bike then you could take a hardtail on a lot more stuff there. I'm not so I stuck to Lovely Dyfi apart from one run of Super Swooper.
Was a guy riding the blacks at antur on a hardtail last time I was there. They are not really techy but at speed that must have given his legs a workout
Many years ago I did CyB on a steel hardtail with Mountain Kings, in the pissing rain.
Wife came with me and rode a Hardrock Sport with cable discs 🤣
This is the kind of YouTube clickbait title I would 100% click.
There are so many great bikes in between a 1990s DMR and an Atherton or Starling BTW, have you ridden any mates' bikes to get a feel for what's what?
This is the kind of YouTube clickbait title I would 100% click.
There are so many great bikes in between a 1990s DMR and an Atherton or Starling BTW, have you ridden any mates' bikes to get a feel for what's what?
I'll be honest, I did kinda wish I could have recorded it and turned into a video. I reckon it would have made a good ish video. Oh well.
Kind of you to assume I have mates. I do have a more normal (albeit old) XC bike. Which is also steel and very heavy tbh. For years I've just pootled around the same reds and odd black. Then took a few years out due to life and small child. I've gotten back into things the past couple of years. Been promising myself a Starling for a quite a few years, but then I saw the Atherton bikes and decided to book myself into a demo. Maybe I should try and see if I can book a few more demos.
I probably really would get the most out of a trail bike or a short travel XC machine, as I mostly ride local natural trails with the odd blue/red in FoD or Afan. Happy to do 300-400m of climbing and 20k in a couple of hours. Honestly, it's taken me a while just to get my head round all the different categories of bike. But I'm definitely in that mid-life crisis bit where the idea of having a totally bonkers bike for a few years really appeals. I'm not old, but I'm definitely not young any more, so why not?
Many years ago I did CyB on a steel hardtail with Mountain Kings, in the pissing rain.
We rode CyB years back with this lady on a funny looking bike that had been made by her friend.
Don't know who she was but she had a funny tattoo of five multi coloured rings that I think is supposed to signify something. 😉
I was riding this thing which she though was cheating.
Starling, whilst a nicely welded thing has vastly inferior suspension to the DW link on the alloy Atherton Bikes. From what I can see the main downside to the S170 is the weight, but it’s probably no different to similarly intentioned bikes like the Raw Madonna. I’ve had an alloy and carbon version of my current full suss bike and the alloy one actually went downhill slightly better / faster as the extra weight seemed to help steamroller the really big / cut up rocky sections.
funny looking bike
Even by 90s standards those bars are narrow, the brake levers nearly overlap!
Even by 90s standards those bars are narrow, the brake levers nearly overlap!
And the tyres would look thin on a gravel bike these days.
My money says she was a bike messenger for her day job.
I think it was was her Three Peaks CX race bike.
I think she did quite well at that too. 🤣
Specially for a few years from 2002 onwards.
I probably really would get the most out of a trail bike or a short travel XC machine, as I mostly ride local natural trails with the odd blue/red in FoD or Afan. Happy to do 300-400m of climbing and 20k in a couple of hours. Honestly, it's taken me a while just to get my head round all the different categories of bike. But I'm definitely in that mid-life crisis bit where the idea of having a totally bonkers bike for a few years really appeals. I'm not old, but I'm definitely not young any more, so why not?
honestly sounds like you would enjoy the trail bike more - you can get one of those built as bonkers as you want/budget allows
If you can ride dyfi on a hardtail you clearly have a decent amount of skill, but if you weren't meaningfully better on a modern long travel high speed plow then is a heavy long travel machine really going to increase your enjoyment? or just dull things down?
I'm firmly in the trail bike camp (santa cruz 5010), so my personal bias is pretty obvious.
Starling, whilst a nicely welded thing has vastly inferior suspension to the DW link on the alloy Atherton Bikes. From what I can see the main downside to the S170 is the weight, but it’s probably no different to similarly intentioned bikes like the Raw Madonna. I’ve had an alloy and carbon version of my current full suss bike and the alloy one actually went downhill slightly better / faster as the extra weight seemed to help steamroller the really big / cut up rocky sections.
I thought it climbed really well. Bearing in mind I've literally never ridden a full susser. I'd assumed there'd be loads of sponginess and pedal bob. While there isn't much climbing at Dyfi, there are a few short sections and I did as much climbing as possible. Not sure I'd want to do anything technical on it, but on fireroads it climbed fine. Probably helps that my current 'XC' bike is probably about 14kgs, so the extra 3 kgs didn't bother me much.
OP - I saw you and remarked how brave you were.
Was a guy riding the blacks at antur on a hardtail last time I was there. They are not really techy but at speed that must have given his legs a workout
That *may* have been me. I took my Marley hardtail the last time I went to Antur.
Loads of fun, but I did get battered...
If you think you'd be better off on a trail bike, get the trail bike.
I'm guilty of overbiking myself in the past. I tend to build bikes to suit the kind of trails I dream of riding, not the trails that I actually have access to.
Now I've got a Druid V2 and it's exotic enough to tick a few first time boxes for me. Carbon, high pivot, full 29er etc.
I've built it reasonably light with actual trail tyres and it feels absolutely rapid everywhere. I've got a more regular 4 bar bike to compare it to so every time I jump on it feels like magic.
It's short travel for me at 130mm and I can still batter it in rough stuff. It's the best rear suspension I've ever ridden.
Just to offer you some more unsolicited advice OP - the bottom has fallen out of the secondhand bike market lately, so why not grab a lightly used bargain?
You could pick up a very nice bike for about half the price of the alu Atherton frame alone.
As others are saying, something with 130-150mm rear travel might suit you very well.
OP - I saw you and remarked how brave you were.
Was a guy riding the blacks at antur on a hardtail last time I was there. They are not really techy but at speed that must have given his legs a workout
That *may* have been me. I took my Marley hardtail the last time I went to Antur.
Loads of fun, but I did get battered...
Brave? That's very kind of you. I would have used another word personally. Seriously tho, I had an absolute blast. Everyone was utterly lovely. The trails were insane. I'd never thought I could have ridden stuff like that really. But I managed it somehow. Definitely want to go back, it's not a massive drive from where I live at all. Also BPW and Dirt Farm are very near me, so I'm going to have to give them a bash.
Excellent stuff! A mate of mine did a trip to N Wales including a day at Dyfi on his hardtail because his other bike had broken. My first trip to Antur and BPW was on my hardtail - fingers did hurt for a few months afterwards, I must have been holding on too tight!
I like the look of the S150 and S170 but I don’t think I need 170mm of travel - my 160mm bike goes so fast I get scared and start wondering if I should use my hardtail next time I go on an uplift day…
Kramer - yep that sounds about right. I can't remember if I was on the DH or my scout, but either way I was glad of the suspension.
Excellent stuff. It's not about the bike. Well, it is a bit, but it's most just about any bike 😀
I volunteered as bike patrol at Nevis Range for quite a few years. Looping the tracks (at the time the WC DH track and what's now Top Chief) initially on a trail FSer, then an old Glory DH to stop me wrecking the trail bike. And at the same time there was a member of Nevis Range staff, Grant, riding the track all day on an Orange hardtail...
I used to ride uplifted DH (Hopton/Bringewood/FoD) on my old Trailstar all the time, did a few BPW days and Aston Hill on my Blender too. Great fun bikes, I really loved the Trailstar. Almost did a Whistler season on the Trailstar too but got a used SC Bullit just before I went. Even back then the Bullit was pretty outdated but had the best time on it and rode every trail and progressed my riding a shit load over those few months!
Not sure how much I'd enjoy those older bikes now, but been thinking about looking for a Blender again since it's pretty much a dirt jumper but a bit slacker and longer, could be fun for our local jump trails.
Good job @inky_squid! Somewhere else on the internet, in some other forum frequented by DH yoofs they're talking about some wild man on an antique bike ripping the Dyfi trails....
I used to ride uplifted DH (Hopton/Bringewood/FoD) on my old Trailstar all the time, did a few BPW days and Aston Hill on my Blender too. Great fun bikes, I really loved the Trailstar. Almost did a Whistler season on the Trailstar too but got a used SC Bullit just before I went. Even back then the Bullit was pretty outdated but had the best time on it and rode every trail and progressed my riding a shit load over those few months!
Not sure how much I'd enjoy those older bikes now, but been thinking about looking for a Blender again since it's pretty much a dirt jumper but a bit slacker and longer, could be fun for our local jump trails.
I used to ride a Charge Blender as my only bike for a while back when they were current. I used to do uplift days at Hamsterley and Inners etc. I rode it like a DH bike for over a year. I absolutely loved it at the time and used to fondly remember it.
Now someone in my street has one which he bought as a cheap play bike. It's bloody awful. I can't believe it's the same bike! I can't imagine how I used to ride it. It's nice to have a reality check though, it's stopped me from buying my own. A modern DJ bike is much better for jumps and pump tracks. I'd rather ride my PBJ down a mountain than the Blender.
many years ago, i organised a few uplift days on this here forum, quite a few attended. the names escape me now, but Rob Hilton was one i remember.
we rode Ae, Innerleithen and also Revolution bike park...... which was newly opened. we had some good days.
my bike of choice was a On One 456 with a 140mm pike fork. not ideal, but so much fun.
Just to offer you some more unsolicited advice OP - the bottom has fallen out of the secondhand bike market lately, so why not grab a lightly used bargain?
You could pick up a very nice bike for about half the price of the alu Atherton frame alone.
As others are saying, something with 130-150mm rear travel might suit you very well.
Advice is very welcome. That would definitely be the sensible option. But I'm not currently minded to do the sensible thing.
Excellent stuff. It's not about the bike. Well, it is a bit, but it's most just about any bike 😀
I volunteered as bike patrol at Nevis Range for quite a few years. Looping the tracks (at the time the WC DH track and what's now Top Chief) initially on a trail FSer, then an old Glory DH to stop me wrecking the trail bike. And at the same time there was a member of Nevis Range staff, Grant, riding the track all day on an Orange hardtail...
To be fair to the S170, if I hadn't crashed it on the first run, lost my keys in the crash, then done the second run slowly looking for the keys. Which I thankfully found. Then I might have actually had a decent amount of practice by the time the 3rd run came round. So I might have been a bit better. I felt like I wasn't reaching the S170s potential for sure. While I'm not sure I could go massively faster on the DMR and I'm not sure I'd want to do a full on DH track on it.
It's bloody awful. I can't believe it's the same bike! I can't imagine how I used to ride it. It's nice to have a reality check though, it's stopped me from buying my own. A modern DJ bike is much better for jumps and pump tracks.
That was my concern too haha. Surprised a modern DJ bike feels much different though, the geometry doesn't seem too different from a lot of them, just a bit less low slung and maybe a higher BB?
Despite all the hype around '90's steel Kona's, mine was rubbish in the '90's and it's still rubbish 🤣
Got me down Jacob's Ladder and the like ok though and still have a soft spot for it
