Dammit’s adventures in mountain biking

I've been thinking about picking up a second hand 5010 C for a while.

I'll need an MTB for general trail riding in NZ in the not too distant future hopefuly

Oh man I highly recommend the 5010. I love it. I've owned countless mountain bikes over the years and I can honestly say the 5010v2 is my favourite bike out them all.
I generally take bike reviews with a pinch of salt. It's very subjective.
But the 5010 really does feel very playful as a trail bike. Its very easy to get the front wheel up, jumps like a 4x bike but still pedals very well up hill. It's hugely pleasing.
Theres a skate park a few minutes away from my house. I'm 33 so I wait until I reckon its quiet enough but a blast around the skate park on the 5010 is great fun. I'd go more often by I'm a bit scared of some of the kids who hang about there.

I'm hugely jealous of the riding you'll have in NZ.

Edit - in the interest of balance, the seat tube angle could be said to be a little slack compared to current trendy geometries. But it's hardly terrible.

If you're a rider like me who has a childish attitude to riding. ie you see a small rock in the distance that you reckon could get you some air time if you pop off it. If you do that sort of thing at every single opportunity then the 5010 is the bike for you.

Back at Swinley, already gone into the undergrowth twice- having never done so before. I’m going into corners faster than I have before and then turning in expecting the bike to behave a certain way- I clearly need to recalibrate what I’m doing for the Scalpel.

PR’d three sections when I managed to keep to the trail, however.

Impressions - I'm taking more speed into the corners, my weight distribution on the bike is better and I'm much more confident when offered the opportunity to take to the air. I'm also pumping the bike over/through the terrain a lot with the saddle down, rather than trying to keep the saddle up and pedal through it. With that said, I'm also charging into the undergrowth, so maybe a little less speed in some circumstances would be better.

I'm much more capable over the jumps on the Scalpel - I'm still rubbish, but rubbish with significantly more style than on the Megatower. I'm going to put flats on the Hightower from the start so that I have to learn how to do things properly, but will keep the SPD's on the Scalpel.

That sounds ideal.

What year did the V2 come out? I'm definitely in the second hand market

Flats are certainly the way forward for learning to jump and control the bike more.
Learn to wheelie too. It helps to be used to the feeling of the front wheel lifting up and finding the balance point(it will take ages to master but it will come).
It will then be transferable to jumping, having your body in the right position over the bike etc. Practice non stop.

We all started somewhere. I remember when I first got proper into mountain biking, I had real trouble with how steep some of the downhill trails could be. The jumps seemed impossibly huge. But it all comes in the end.
Riding with people with a higher skill level than yourself certainly helps.
I would ride downhill with a friend of mine who could get down the trails literally in half the time I could. Riding behind him helped me see what sort of speeds I could be getting through sections. Watching which lines to take etc.

The V2 was in production from 2016-2018.
Now is a good time to be buying the v2 since the v3 is out now.
Def potential to get one from someone keen to upgrade to v3.

https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-GB/bike/5010/2

Thats what you're after.

XL Hightower hired for the weekend (which is a long one here, I have just discovered).

I’m going to head for Trestle this weekend, has anyone got any other suggestions?

Aston Hill DH track

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Won't go North of the Mediterranean eh

Fantastic tabletops there

cheap(er): https://www.bike24.com/brands/santa-cruz?saleOnly=1

Hmmmm

They’re the old model.

This is the new one - note shock position:

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I wouldn't rule out the older models. Those are good prices for the frame sets.
The tallboy 3 frameset is what I'd like to replace my xc hardtail with. But I don't have 2 grand. But if I did...

They suffer from overly slack seat angles at high saddle heights though

aye is that true for ALL of them tho? Have you owned any of them out of curiosity?
I own a 5010 which to be fair the seat angle is slack but for what I use it for its never a huge issue. I own a nomad which I rarely climb much on. I've rode the older hightower extensively and it still climbs perfectly well.
I think geometry trends just help get folk forking out money on new frames when they really dont need them.

Spotted someone in Epping on a 5010 with a Fox 36. Looked hench.

Had a heavy fall on the Hightower today, no more riding for me for a little while.

X-rays or it didn't happen etc

Hope you're ok

I don’t think I have broken something- if I have it’d be a cracked rib. I checked and both arms had full range of motion directly after the crash. I can still raise my right arm above shoulder height, if I absolutely have to.

I landed very heavily on the right hand side of my back, I think the muscles of my rib cage are cross with me.