Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

Mmm shiny new things

Would I hate riding something like this compared to an XC bike?

Dumb generalisation. 30%+ or my ride is to and from the trails on roads. But no way I want to ride the trails I’m on with a 100 mm xc bike.

Partly because I suck, but also that would suck.

I am kidding; i have fucking zero idea about mountain biking; no trails close either. All i ride is local parks and bridleways.

Please dont take me seriously.

I’m very happy with the colour, really not a fan of dull/matt bikes.

The stem is a Renthal, not sure it’ll stay yet as at 65mm it might be a touch too long.

Nope, you’d love it!

But I don’t think you need something quite so slack and with such travel.

Really think your best options are a Stanton Sherpa or a Cotic Soul Max.
Both a step up from out and out XC so more fun on the downs but not too sluggish on the ups, steel, 120-130mm fork, pedal well and as far as I’m aware can take a rigid fork for your looong events.

Oops this should have been for @hippy

Yeah, Stanton has been sat in its Shopping Cart for a while now. Thought I'd give this XC thing a go before committing to anything. To be fair, the XC bike is probably more bike for my skill but I think I'm set on steel anyway so I probably should just pull the trigger on the Stanton. But which colour... they don't do black :S

I don’t think there’s a mtb for skill level, there are many a lowly skilled rider on 170-180mm gravel bike, plenty of which in the 40+ age category, just go for a spin in the Surrey hills to see for yourself.

It doesn’t really matter what colour you choose, as you live in the UK so most of the time it’ll just be covered in mud

In fact, think the Sherpa extra travel/touch slacker than XC bike will give you a bit of extra confidence

Think Cotic recommend a 35-45mm stem with the current geometry.

Good colour choice!

Sherpa with a midweight 120 fork, dropper and wider bars would be a good shout. Might feel the weight a bit compared to something in composite with a racing fork but it would a lot of fun.

Yep, that was why I was looking at more trail bikes than XC bikes. Bigger tyres to help make up for mistakes and/or grip where my gravel tyres would've let go.

If I do end up doing dirt ultras I might get myself a rigid fork. But I'd probably want to be competitive before bothering with that and I'm pretty sure I won't be competitive. It's like, I didn't buy the Shiv until I came second in a Nat Champs, then it was like... moneygun!

Speaking of forks, if I get the frame, which fork do I go for? I should take this to the other thread.

Oh, droppers. I have one now but it feels fucking weird when the seat isn't where it's supposed to be so I've tended not to use them. I like to use the saddle/inside thigh to 'know where I'm at' so to speak. Obviously it's something to get used to but I only remember it's there when I'm already on stuff that could use a dropper and then I don't want to sit down!

Speaking of forks, if I get the frame, which fork do I go for? I should take this to the other thread.

Something with > 32mm stanchions. Fox 34 would be the obvious starting point but plenty of options from the usual suspects.

Wider stanchions to avoid flex or something?

Yeah, you need to adapt to it. I had the same, don't think I realised how much I was using the saddle for sitting down, even for very brief moments on downhills. Just have to learn to ride slightly differently using your legs a bit more to shift your weight around rather than through your arse.

I'd say even a 100mm modern 29er XC bike would be a lot more capable than your rigid 26" inbred.

Also you don’t have to run the seat at full drop, drop it down a touch to grip the saddle with your legs and fully drop it when it gets damn steep and tech.

*sorry if I’m just stating the obvious

Pretty much.

New 35mm SIDs if you're set on 120mm max travel. Stiffer and lighter than Fox 34s, Torque Cap compatible too.

Droppers are the best thing about modern MTBing!

I'm wondering if slacker head tube, heavier inbetweener bike like Stanton and fatter rubber would make me better or just make me slower? Going slower might stop me breaking myself but it messes up some bits where you need speed to get through sections clean.

You can put fast rolling tyres on something fairly slack - I have Maxxis Minion "Semi-Slick" on my hardtail. The head angle won't dictate how fast you go, that's all about line choice, technique and (on the flat or uphill) power and fitness.

Line choice is the biggest thing that you can do to adjust your speed across all terrains, obv's massive power is going to make the biggest difference to flat land and (non-technical) climbing.

The head angle won't dictate how fast you go

This. XC bikes now are slacker than with shorter stems than trail bikes of 10 years ago!

I should take this to the other thread

I'll probably do something like this on Saturday: https://www.strava.com/routes/2801214429111317614

If you fancied riding the same route Hippo we could have a socially distanced conversation should we bump into one another on the trail.

using your legs

For the love of god, aren't I doing enough?!

I can definitely ride stuff on the hardtail that I wouldn't have tried on the rigid gravel bike so that's probably true of the Inbred too.

Yeah, that's what I ended up doing - just enough to get it out of the way while I hovered for some bumpy stuff.

It's still a weird feeling and I don't mind people stating the obvious. None of this tech existed when I last rode MTBs.