MTBRiding.co.uk - Down to earth Mountain Biking » Site Rozzer

What’s your favourite cycling brand?

Site Rozzer — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:03:38 +0000

Specialized, Trek, Norco?

Lets Talk!

Use the comment box below.

You get what you pay for!

Site Rozzer — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:56:47 +0000

As with many things in life, you get what you pay for. This is no exeption with Mountain Biking, its so easy for a beginner cyclist to pop into there local superstore and pick up a bike for £60! You make think this is a bargin’ at the time but in time you will regret it.

They fall apart, well sorry to be so dramatic but if your thinking of getting into mountain biking and your first bikes an Ap*llo theirs a very good chance your going to pack it in! Them kind of bikes are good for ‘i use my bike once a year’ cyclists or childen etc.

If your a very keen beginner, my advice is to stick to your first bike being a hardtail (front suspension), i know its awfully tempting to buy a full suspension. A hardtail is a great bike to start off with, i recommend spending around £300 as a minimum but i wouldnt go much over. With that amount of money you’ll have a well designed light aluminium entry level bike.

Here’s two bikes which spring to my mind. (google them).

Trek 4300

Specialized Hardrock Comp

Hope i made you change your mind!

Aaron.

Choosing the right Suspension Fork for your Hardtail

Site Rozzer — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:48:55 +0000

About a year ago I purchased an entry level hardtail mountain bike. At the time I did not want to spend a lot of money and I did not want poor quality. So I purchase a bike that had a good frame and basic components.

After riding for a year I have decided that I want to improve the comfort and control of my bike on the trail. Therefore I made the decision to upgrade my front suspension fork on my hardtail mountain bike.

My initial research concluded that there are a lot of different brands, types and sizes forks on the market so I conceded knew I needed help. After all, suspension forks are expensive and I didn’t want to waste my money.

After talking to different rides, employees at a few bike shops, reading article and posting questions online I put together a couple of bullet points to consider when buying a front suspension fork.

Determine if your bike has the geometry to support a suspension fork. If it does have the correct geometry try to determine the maximum height fork it can accommodate. I almost bought a fork with 160mm of travel but the seller convinced me not to buy it because he believed my bike did not have the correct geometry. After checking with the factory I determined that he was correct.
Consider your riding style. Are you a cross country, down hill or a dirt jump rider. Make sure you buy a fork that suites your style of ride. This will help prevent you from buying more fork then you need.
Determine your budget and stick to it. Suspension forks can vary in price and can be very expensive. However if you ride often spending a little more on a fork might be warranted.
Determine the size of the bikes head tube. The size of the tube could limit your selections. Is your head tube 1 inch or 1 1/8 inches, etc?
Consider buying a suspension fork that is adjustable. Some forks are adjustable at the head and some have a pop lock adjuster that mounts on the handlebars. The adjustable function will accommodate different riding terrains.
Determine if you need to buy new parts to install your new fork. Do you need a new headset, stem or brakes?
Consider the installation charges of a new fork. If you plan on installing the fork yourself you will need to press on a bearing and potentially cut the fork tub. This could result in additional tools and time so you want to weigh your options.
Find out what your friends are riding and ask them their opinion on brand and options. Ask them if you can ride their bike to test out their fork.
Do you want to buy new or used? Some riders buy great bikes, immediately upgrade them and never use the original parts. You can find new or near new parts on Bike Servant which lists mountain bike classifieds containing bikes for sale, bike parts and race events.

Keep in mind list above will help you get started in your decision making process and there are more items to consider as you explore your options.

The tips listed above will hopefully help you narrow down your choices before you purchase a new fork.

Good luck and see you on the trail.

Finding the right full suspension bike for you.

Site Rozzer — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:28:54 +0000

Every year bicycle manufacturers make better, lighter and cheaper mountain bikes which make them more attractive to consumers. Do you want to buy a full suspension mountain bike? If you do below is a list of items that you might want to considered before buying a new mountain bike.

One of the most important questions to ask yourself is what type of terrain will you be riding on? If you are going to be riding cross country maybe a full suspension mountain bike is not warranted and a hardtail will better suit your needs. However if you are going to be riding downhill or on rough terrain a full suspension bike might be right up your alley.

Determine your budget and stick to it. Consider buying the best bike you can afford within your budget. Many riders suggest that if you have less then $700 to spend on a bike you might want to consider a hardtail because full suspension bikes are more costly. However you could consider buying a used full suspension bike at a good price on a mountain bike classifieds site.

If you determine that a full suspension mountain bike is what you need and want then consider the different frame designs. Single-pivot, sweet-spot and horst-link are a few popular designs and each has their advantages and disadvantages. The best way to truly understand the difference is to go to a few bike stores and test ride the different designs. The bike store guy will be more then happy to explain and point out the pros and cons of each design.

Remember that full suspension bikes are heavier then hardtail bikes. Full suspension frames are a little heavier and they carry more parts then hardtails so be prepared to pedal around a little more weight on the trail.

Read some of the online forums to determine what other riders like and don’t like about their bikes. You can learn a lot from other rider’s opinions.

Do not forget to factor in your maintenance costs into the equation. Full suspension bikes require a little more maintenance and for the do it yourself type you will need a few extra tools.

Finally, test ride as many bikes as you can before buying. Also do not forget to test ride a full suspension mountain bike with the front and or rear shock locked out.

See you on the trail

We need you!

Site Rozzer — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:15:50 +0000

Want to make the headlines, write about your Mountain Biking storys, review and trails by signing up for a contributor account.

Thanks,

Aaron

MRP XCG – Chainring Protector

Site Rozzer — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:50:24 +0000

Its been long awaited for MRP to produce a chainring gaurd for rider that what to hold onto there third chainring. But now its here, i got mine a month back its already saved my poor chainrings from definate death. to fit it on my bike i needed to make a few minor adjustments to the device, nothing drastic. I found the best tool to use for this is a round file, the mount is made out of aluminium so its very easy to grind down.

Its well worth the effort, but bearing in mind its only cost effective if you have a top end crankset where chainring are going to burn a hole in your wallet.

MRP XCG Chain Guide

Old Gen. Shimano XT Disk Brakes

Site Rozzer — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:40:32 +0000

At first glance at the Xt’s they are a very rugged and no frills design, our brakes were installed onto a modified Trek hardtail with 160mm rotors with XC riding in mind. Having been running cable disks every since the purchase of the bike these hydraulics prioved a fresh change of stopping power. Sadly things began the change after around three weeks of using the brakes the power began to drastically reduce and becaime’ laggy’ and noisy. This all down to oil getting on the disk pads, but overall the XT’s are a good brake but i would recommend using bigger rotors to give you the best preformance from the brakes.

MTBRiding Rating 8/10

‘Great all round brake, just needs bigger rotors.’

Aaron.

Site Chief

Whats new?

Site Rozzer — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:16:52 +0000

The new site has many news features, here a few to get you started!

We now have a comment section, you can write your views on an artical and share your opinion.
RSS Feed, this is a great feature if you want to keep in touch with us, you can read the news without even visiting the site, how good is that? JUst click on the RSS link to the right.
Gallery, soon we shoud have a gallery, which you, yes you can update with your latest riding photos, shots of your ride and even pictures of your gear.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Spread the News!

Cheers

Aaron

Site Chief

Were’ Back!

Site Rozzer — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:03:42 +0000

Welcome back to the brand new MTBRiding.co.uk! We hope you all like the new look of the website, took us long enough!

Well anyway lots of work to be done still the forum is under the old website style still but will be sorted out shortly but in the meantime, keep on riding!

Cheerss

Aaron

Site Chief!