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

Party at the back.

Chucked some sealant in and that tyre is now staying up.

I need some tyre advice for my MTB.

It’s a singlespeed Chameleon, 120mm forked hardtail. Trails are slippery, chalky Chiltern mud.
It’s currently got a set of Specialized Fast Tracks on it but they’re going to be no use in mud.
I was thinking about some Ground Controls as they seem a pretty good all round tyre.
Size-wise I’ll be looking for around 2.2’s to give done mud clearance.
Any suggestions?

I'll DM you. I've got some spare tyres in the garage that need Kondoed.

I need some advice from folks more knowledgeable than me... I've been getting mighty XC curious of late, mostly because I've begun to realise I'm often very under-biked on my CX bike. Fun, but I imagine that it'd be more fun on something a little more suitable.

The thing is, I don't want to drop a load of money on it. So I've been thinking about building something up cheaply as a winter project. I've found a new alloy Cannondale fsi 29er frame going cheap on eBay that both satisfies my budget and my love of noughties/tens Dales. It also looks a bit like the lovely green/white CAAD10 livery that I'm a huge fan of (attached).

My thinking is find a lefty fork, a groupset and wheels from somewhere and build that up. But what does anyone who knows anything about XC bikes think? More hassle than it's worth? I don't love that it's BB30 but is there any other proprietary nonsense I should be aware of?

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If I was you I'd look for something with a more modern geometry and routing for a dropper.

My thinking is find a lefty fork…

Best of luck. I looked a while ago but forks in decent nick were few and far between and supposedly servicing is troublesome.

Ta, I knew coming here first was a good bet. Longer and slacker is the aim of the game, right? (I don't know a great deal about XC geometry).

Should add, I had a crash on a road ride at the weekend and am recovering from a light concussion so this is all helpful in stopping me from making a terrible impulse decision hahaa.

I kinda feared as much, this being Cannondale. Cheers for the heads-up!

lefty fork

is there any other proprietary nonsense I should be aware of?

where is @Howard

Teeny tiny cranks. 155mm feels quite a bit different from the 170mm I had before, the stance change is noticeable, but fuck knows if it'll make much difference in reality.

If anyone is interested in my old non-Evo ones (new axle required, unless you have an 83mm BB) including installation tools, then drop me a PM.

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Ouchy. Get well soon. My concussion in 2020 was a proper bitch. Look out for signs of depression, mood swings etc as well and realise that concussion can have a part to play in those.

Re bike, it sort of depends on the trails you're looking to ride. Here it's steep and switchbacks.

The main thing that changed stuff for me was the dropper. and also more tyre clearance. Both make a bike vastly more capable I feel. 2.4 is normal xc these days.

Also good about modern geo is the seat tube angle. You get more traction on seated steep climbs with it.

By the time you do anything with the 'dale you probably spent as much as a new entry level hard tail like the Marin Team Marin or similar.

Weather's turned to shit again so it's time to look at those summer alpine vids and dream of next year.

Here's @tmevans chasing me down a run somewhere in the porte du soleil

https://youtube.com/shorts/NlV9cBRVCIo?si=Ur33R79e5tPTjYni

Dunno if anyone else has seen it/is able to make it.

Bike Park Wales is having a collaborative day with Trash Free Trails on Monday.
If you take park and fill a bin bag full of litter you get a free pedal pass and a free pedal pass for another date.

Gravel thread >>>>

Yeah, but I kinda like winter rides. Especially when it’s proper cold and the ground is near frozen and it’s been dry for a while.
Find the trails around me can be running their fastest.

I kinda like winter rides

Me too, because then I can wear long trousers and not have my shins constantly torn to shreds by trees, thorns, bushes, pedals, axle bolts and whatever other fucking arseholes have lodged themselves into my previously beautiful leg flesh.

This was me two years ago. I built a bike around a Salsa El Mariachi from 2014.
No dropper, not modern geometry, old fox fork, but I just love it. It’s perfect.

There is a xc trail near me that I often ride and I just go around those jumps that I assume are made for electric fullys. It’s also a great gravel bike.

Budget wise I think you can get a better deal by buying a complete bike. Hardtails with classic geo and no dropper routing can go for cheap because the market has moved on, so you can find great deals on a used Canyon, Trek, Scott etc.

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These were the first of the more progressive XC bikes, so they are a bit short and steep compared to what’s around now and designed for a 100mm travel fork.

Might also have an offset rear wheel.

Still enjoy riding mine though. If you are good they are fun.

Wouldn’t bother hunting down a lefty tbh. They are good but to expensive and risky to acquire.

No bracken.. No ticks.

Cheers! I think I've been very fortunate, to be honest. Aside from still feeling slightly hazy and some bruising on my hip, I'm all good. I managed to snap a helmet in two though which was nothing if not sobering.

Well, I live in East London so my off-road riding is mostly Epping or the Surrey Hills, nothing super technical. But I'd like the ability (from my bike at least) to go further afield and ride some more technical stuff. I'll also inevitably end up riding Beastway if I have a mountain bike.

Cheers for the advice :) The point about it potentially becoming a money pit is a good one, there's a real danger it ends up a corner decoration in my house just like my old broken-but-repairable SuperSix Evo. I'll have a scout around and see what I can find complete-wise.

This is great! Exactly the sort of budget-but-probably-not-that-budget build I was picturing.

As a larger fella (6'4" and 75kgish) is 100mm travel something I should be steering clear of? An offset rear wheel sounds like some hassle I don't need hahaa.

Yeah, I mean I grew up riding BMX and MTB and regularly throw a CX bike down things it's not designed for, but I hesitate to use the word 'good' hahaa. Maybe something more forgiving would be a better idea.

Message received on bothering with a lefty fork.

75kg isn't large.
100 mm is fine and perfect for general XC crusing. But will get out of depth on more modern XC but that's rocks and drops.