Dammit’s adventures in mountain biking

I’ve been heading to Brockwell Park BMX track on the 529 but at 6’7” long and with 150mm of fork it’s not shall we say optimised for this activity. Still fun mind

I thought you had a BMX?

I do, although it’s in a friends garage and I’d need to get it out again. I have ridden it to the pump track before and a) it’s hard work and b) it’s got basically no brakes (it has a rear brake, but it’s laughable). I’m making the assumption that something with 26” wheels would be slightly less of a pain in the arse to ride on the road en-route, which may have no foundation in reality of course.

Would something like a YT Dirt Lover be a fun thing to add to the stable?

It never ends

Well, it has to at some point- for all of us. I think the point is to have as much fun as possible before it does, however.

mid-30's 20" bmxer here, and i can say with certainty that riding a 24" or 26" cruiser to, at, and home from a pump track would be much more fun.

Thanks for the input - very useful. What would it be like to ride a BMX at the dirt jump track in this video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HWf5qagb_I

Fleet is just up the M3 from my parents, where I'll be staying (Covid allowing) over Christmas.

What would it be like to ride a BMX at the dirt jump track in this video?

Pros are definitely clearing bigger jumps than that in BMX racing so totally fine. I'd consider getting another 20" but the nearest pump track to me is 50m away, would I want to so a fairly long ride to the track - no.

There are a few bigger wheeled options - Sunday Model C, Fairdale Taj. Also plenty of racing options. Or just a jump bike if you want suspension. It's about time someone threw a 3 on a Badger ride

It will be fun and it's definitely doable, but the bike will feel very twitchy both on the ground and in the air compared to a mountain bike. Riding jumps on a BMX is just generally quite a lot less forgiving than doing so on a mountain bike I've found. Also if the trails become rutted over time then a 20" BMX will be less fun.

Thanks for the input chaps. Is the YT a good choice?

I’d definitely agree with user83744 up there - 20” would definitely feel more twitchy and tight if you’re used to MTB. But, riding 24” and 26” is a completely different feeling, more relaxed, but still feels like a bmx bike.

The trails in that video look like a lot of fun. I would definitely ride there. Maybe take your MTB and see how it goes?

I’m going to try to get there on Friday, with my hardtail. For reference that’s got 29” wheels, if that’s relevant to the discussion.

From the video (and others on YouTube) I think it will be fine for the dirt jumps, but not so great for the pump track.

With that said I’ve enjoyed riding said bike at Brockwell Park, but I do think a smaller bike might be more fun still.

as said above, sunday/fairdale make high-quality, affordable bmx cruisers. i would definitely recommend checking one out in person if you can. good people running the company too.

https://shop.sundaybikes.com/collections/2021-sunday-bikes-model-c
https://shop.sundaybikes.com/collections/2021-sunday-bikes-high-c

Well they have been busy up there since the last time I passed it on the train way back in March! Only the tarmac pump track existed then..

Looks good - and note they have a van, which reading up is a condition of entry....

Appropriate headwear

The bike showed as in stock, I ordered on the 9th but outside of business hours. YT state that delivery for in-stock items should be 2-4 business days, which would be the 13th, or today as it’s also known.

Looking on their website my order hasn’t been processed yet, let alone dispatched.

Reading Facebook posts (maybe something I should have done before placing an order) abs YT are taking months to deliver bikes they said were in stock and it’s impossible to get them on the phone or a response via email (something I have experienced as well).

I’m tempted to ask MasterCard to pull the cash back and take a different option as I’m not going to wait until Spring next year for a bike - the appeal of YT was that the bike has a good spec to price ratio and was in stock with fast delivery. Or, that was the promise.

I’m on hold to YT at the moment and have been for 15 minutes- based on what I read last night I’m not expecting them to pick up.

This hasn’t been a great experience so far.

Half an hour on hold and I have given up.

YT have a shop in the Surrey Hills - probably closed but might be worth phoning them.

Tried that first thing and periodically since- they have taken the phone off the hook.

That looks fun.

But that's the problem with people who know what they're doing showing you stuff - they make it look too easy.

Emailed my request to cancel to YT and I’ll raise a dispute via MasterCard if I get no response. Boo.

No response from YT.

Who can work out what’s happened here?

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Unforgivably poor valve/tyre logo alignment?

They’re setup so the first time I pull on the brakes hard both tyres shift into perfect alignment. Most people don’t do this so their logos don’t line up after they’ve ridden the wheels for the first time.

Is that a new tyre wiz? Fairly quick warranty turn around?

What you really want to do is save your self the hassle of changing winter/summer tyres and just get another set of reserves and simply change wheels as and when required...