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I'm looking at going to BPW shortly on my Cotic Solaris,i have only ridden Cannock which i get round ok so will i be ok at BPW?,most importantly will i enjoy it?
Depends entirely on what tyres you have.
Genuine layman question here... Why would it?
Depends entirely on you.
i have only ridden Cannock which i get round ok so will i be ok at BPW?
It's quite a step up from Cannock though.
death for sure - I can't believe nobody has mentioned this yet!?!
Hard tail will be fine on blues and reds. Just take it easy on your first runs
I did black powder at stiniog on a hardtail. It hurt but was doable.
Yes, depends on you. The blues are no problem on anything; the reds I did on a 29er hard tail a couple of weeks ago and they are do-able and enjoyable if you are capable/comfortable on rocky but not too steep descents and know to keep your weight back on the bike for one or two places. Tyres: I've got lightweight 2.0 Maxxis Beavers on mine - they need about 30 psi to avoid pinch flats on rocky routes - that may be why I found the reds a bit harder on the hands and forearms than I expected - bigger tyres would be more suitable.
Rider dependant, I rode the blues and reds on my 26HT and didnt fancy trying the black runs as death may have happened and I was driving back to Loughborough straight after. There were riders with the club (a expert downhiller and an expert [one down from elite?] XC racer) who did all the runs on their 650b HT's with the saddles at climbing height because dropping them would be cheating and they absolutely dominated a lot of dual crown bikes, but they are both insanely skilled on bikes.
Probably no death.
29er?
Not only will you die, but the trails themselves will feel dead. Not to mention the slaughter of all those kittens.
Kitten damage aside,i will only do the blue and red routes,on Specialized Purgatory 2.3 front and back, but is it fun?
Thanks Max!
(I'm the Expert XC racer mentioned above). The blues and reds will be fine, but I'd take it steady as its far too easy to gain a lot of speed and end up going a bit too fast! Move onto the blacks after doing the bnlues and reds at your peril...
Also, its a lot of fun!
It's quite a step up from Cannock though
Its not really tho is it. The, admittedly much shorter, black sections at Cannock are as hard as anything apart from the jumps at BPW.
BPW really isn't very hard to just ride down. Yes you have to be good to go properly fast but you do everywhere.
When I went a month ago one of the lads I was with was on a genesis core. He loved it. My assessment of BPW is that it's not massively hard but it is lots of fun. I had one of my best days riding ever there.
Would have to agree with I Ache
My 7 year old has rode the blues & 1/2 the reds on a 24" hardtail if that helps.
Maximus...
Loughborough based? Why are you not joining our Wednesday night rides 😉
Thanks for all this info,i'm going!.Scandal 42,i'm near Ashby and will try to join you on Weds.soon
The blues and reds are so much fun on a hardtail, the smooth reds anyway. The blacks and rockier reds aren't as fun on a hardtail but you'll be fine either way. There was a Solaris on the back of someones car there the other day anyway.
Try the blacks slowly at first, find out where the genuinely death causing moments are, you'll be surprised how much you can ride. I think it would probably be worth getting some big tyres if you haven't already, particularly for the back for a bit of cushioning on the rough bits. I had a chunky monkey and a smorgasbord on the 456 when I went and would have been glad of more!
I'll hold you to it Icarus, enjoy bpw.
Icarus is your solaris blue and do you ride hicks lodge occasionally? If so I think I bumped into you at some point. I was on a blue bfe with a tag along.
Didn't do Dai Hard when we went, as it was shut, but Enter The Dragon is all rollable apart from one 2ft drop and I wouldn't class it as a hard black to be honest. None of it is steep either - you'll be fine. I went fully geared up with body armour, FF helmet, Dual Ply High Roller II's etc - next time in June, it'll be no armour and Purgatory's
Nothings too difficult there if you take it easy and its all rideable at a steady pace on any bike. When i went there was one guy on an old raleigh and he seemed to be enjoying it 🙂
Icarus is your solaris blue and do you ride hicks lodge occasionally? If so I think I bumped into you at some point. I was on a blue bfe with a tag along.
I ride at Hicks the BMX track 😀 Try and ride every thursday night when its open late even though ive not been for a bit.