SkipRatt mountain bike blog

Buying a mountain bike is a real pain in the ass and it can take some time to find one that you're happy and comfortable with. Let me help you avoid the pitfalls of buying a mountain bike before you spend all that hard earned cash and make the whole process that much sweeter.

Your maximum price?

The money you can spend on a new mountain bike is virtually limitless if you take too much notice of all pro level hype. To keep you from spending too much money, you have to decide on the maximum you are willing to spend on your new mountain bike. When you figure out what your willing to spend, stick to it!

What's your bike for?

What sort of riding do you want to do?. Mountain bikes can pretty much do anything these days, but you need a mountain bike for different riding styles and terrain. Figure out what sort of riding your going to do. Is it trail riding, XC/cross-country, racing, all mountain, or general on road commutes ? Make sure the bike you get fits in with what you want it for.

Do I need a suspension?

Do I need a suspension? At the very least I would recommend a front suspension mountain bike,, hard-tail. When pedalling, hard-tail mountain bikes can be more efficient than what a full suspension design is, but full suspension bikes can offer more comfort and more fun.

Places of purchase

There are basically three ways you can purchase your bike. On-line, pick out of a catalogue in a bike shop, or go to a large shop which has bikes in stock that you can actually look at.
I have bought bikes in all of these ways and although I am happy with my bikes I would recommend, (especially to new first time buyers) to choose the latter.
Going to a large store gives you the chance to get up close and personal with the bike before you buy it. You can check out all the parts, see how it feels when you sit on it and sometimes even take one out for a test ride so you know whether it is going to be comfortable for you on the move. Needles to say, buying on-line or picking out of a catalogue gives you none of these benefits. Although this way is fine if you know exactly what you are after.
Oh and there is a fourth option for the more experienced, buy parts you are familiar with and which you know you like, buy a frame and then just build your own!!

Research never goes amiss!!

Product reviews are a great way to find out about mountain bikes, how they perform and which ones are reliable. If you decide to buy on-line or through a catalogue you will be able to look your bike up before you buy it and make sure there isn’t some component on it that you weren't quite expecting and know you won't be happy with.

In all aspects of buying your bike...the more knowledge you have of your choice the better!

Finally I decided that mountain bikers should ride follow the dog. If Thetford Forest was anything to go by Joel would handle it well at Cannock! We spent 4 nights in a really nice b&b and ate in the Wolseley Arms (just 5-10 mins down the road, just off the Wolseley bridge). Wolseley is 3.1 mile from the Birches Valley Forest center in Cannock Forest!

We arrived at Wolseley about 12 o'clock and followed 'the dog' by 2 o'clock, (not by My choice mind as I like to chill out after travelling!) as Joel couldn't wait to ride the follow the dog trails. So who was I to stop him! I mean, I've seen it all before!

The first time around the trail Joel rode it really hard and fast, I was very surprised because he did not do any training before hand. The following day we rode the follow the dog (again!!) and Joel snapped his chain which I was not prepared for!
Luckily another rider coming up behind us gave us a hand by fitting a sram power link,, thanks chap!

As we got to the board walk section of the trail, Joels approach and balance was all wrong and he fell off, somehow snapping his seat clamp bolt! So I took the seat stem out and we made a beeline to the bike shop. Joel wanted to buy something from the bike shop anyway so he ended up buying a whole new seat stem because you cannot buy just a seat clamp and bolt,,(what a surprise!!) probably not what he wanted to stop and check the shop out for but guess that will teach him to take a little more care!!!

I wanted to explore some of the 'Cannock Chase' forest and maybe find the so called 'monkey trail', but alas we did not find it because no one knows where it is (or they just didn't want to tell us!) So we decided to go to the downhill section at Stile cop. Stile cop road, a bugger of a hill that Joel left me for dead on!! When we got to the start of the down hill section we decided on the red route down. After dropping our saddles and making sure our suspensions were not locked off we began our descent. Never again on a XC mountain bike, I'm surprised I didn't end up with whiplash. This trail had HUGE drop offs, jumps and very impressive berms. We both made it to the bottom safely although, my bloody lower back was in agony for the remainder of our time in Cannock chase!

How to ride trails fast is a question that crops up quite frequenly, so I'm going to try and give you my take on it and hopefuly make you a better, faster rider on the trails.


Pick your line

You should scan the trail a few seconds ahead of you, constantly surveying the terrain to make quick decisions. The faster you go, the further ahead you should look. At high speeds you need to be ready for sudden obstacles such as tree stumps, rocks, or the terrain may change and become rutty.

Assume the position

When you're descending, you want your feet to be level on either side of the bike. Shift your bum behind your seat and over your rear wheel. You want as much of your weight on your rear wheel as possible if the descent is steep. And you need to be as light and balanced as possible on the bike. Staying in the middle ring and going with the flow of the trail, plus weight shifts allows you to use every berm, descent and obstacle to generate more speed on the bike.

Get in gear

When you're climbing you need to get in the right gear before the foot of the climb. When the next climb arrives you should quickly shift into the middle or small ring. In most cases the small ring is the best choice because, if the terrain is loose stone and sand the bigger gears will cause your rear wheel to lose traction and you'll be pushing your bike up the hill.

Know your limits, and don't attempt something your not confident in doing.

Hi All..This post will contain, Mountain Bikes, Helmet Cams, Chain reaction website, Birthdays, Gifts and pro's and con's of online shopping!!

( SkipRatt keeps moaning at me because I don't have the right keywords in my opening sentences which is why I have done the above in a list format, now I can just write it how I want too!!)


So this was actually supposed to be a happy post bragging about the great gift I bought SkipRatt for his birthday but that is just not to be.
After much consideration (and listening to him rave continually on about them) I decided to go for a helmet cam so that he can film the trails he rides. Now you all know by now I'm not a biker so I had to go looking and reading other peoples reviews as to what would be the best to buy.


After much research and some help from my Nephew I decided on the GoPro Digital Helmet Hero. It had some great reviews, could do still photos, succession photos and live video so seemed perfect for what he wanted. It is the smallest camera available, (or at least that's what the reviews said) and comes in a waterproof housing which is a major bonus if you live in the U.K.



Then I had to find the camera and as luck would have it I found exactly what I wanted on chainreactioncycles and so placed my order. 4 days after placing my order I received an e-mail from chainreactioncycles saying there was an error and they did not have any of my item in stock and would refund my money...this took me back to square one with time running out.


I had another look on there site and after much reading and re-reading decided to go for the GoPro Digital Hero 3 Camera in conjunction with the GoPro Grab Bag as these two items together gave me the camera and mounts...sorted...or so I thought until the morning of his birthday when the sealed plastic packing was finally opened!!





It turns out that the helmet cam has a totally different housing than the camera with the wrist strap making the mounts that I additionally purchased with this item a total waste of money. We have also found out that the strap that comes with the camera can NOT be mounted securely onto handle bars making my gift of no use what-so-ever to a mountain biker..or my Hubby!!


So there you have it...a perfect gift it was not. I have e-mailed chainreactioncycles letting them know all about this and I am waiting for a reply from them but I thought it was important that if there maybe was someone out there like me looking for a helmet cam that they should not end up making the same mistake.( on the other hand maybe I'm being totally dense and the mounts do fit..if there is anyone out there with a GoPro camera please help!!)..please feel free to go to chainreaction cycles and see if you think I have read the information wrong because if that is the case then I am prepared to eat my words however I have been and re-read all info. and cannot find anywhere that it says the housings are different or that the mounts are not suitable for all the housings.

I will let you know what chainreactioncycles say in there reply if I get one.

Comments always welcome.

Thanks.

Hey just wanted to let all the readers know that it's Skipratts birthday...he will probably kill me and then delete this post but...never mind..:-)

Allergies and mountain biking, am I the only one suffering at this time of year? Or are you the kind of person that suffers from allergies all year round? Allergies have been a pain in the ass for the last 5 years or more for me and makes me feel unfit. Here is a list of issues caused by allergies when riding mountain bikes:

1) Sneezing
2) Watering and itchy eye's
3) Coughing up snot
4) Lack of breath
5) Nasal congestion
6) Headache's

What can be done to over come the above problems? Well most doctors prescribe "Antihistamines" in tablet or nasal spray form, or you can just buy these from most shops and chemists. I'm not sure how effective this is, but I do know that it does not work for me!
Antihistamine tablets alone do nothing at all for me, and I have tried almost all of them on the market, (quite a few of these were prescribed one's too)! Nasal spray works well for short periods, at minimizing sneezing fits. But I find that it adds to the crap already up my nose, and I never get any mountain biking done!

Last year I started using some antihistamines called "Telfast" 180mg with 168mg of Fexofenadine an active ingredient (as fexofenadine hydrochloride 180mg). Yes I'm reading it from the box!!!
As it felt like it was minimizing the symptoms for me however slight, I started taking 2 instead of the prescribed 1! This worked for a little while at controlling my allergy, but my system must have got use to them as they became ineffective.

This year has been quite promising with what I now take and it's effects at reducing or even curing my allergies and making mountain biking more pleasurable. I still take "Telfast" but also 400mg of ibuprofen twice a day. I take 1 "Telfast" and 400mg ibuprofen in the morning and the same in the evening. Depending on the severity I may take 400mg of ibuprofen 4 hours after the first and continue the cycle throughout the day.

I am however beginning to think that 400mg of ibuprofen alone will do the job just fine at making me feel normal,, as normal as can be anyway!

Obviously this is what is working for me at present and I'm not asking everyone to rush out and start taking Ibuprofen on a regular basis as this is not ideal but the only way that I have found I can manage my allergies and continue mountain biking.

I would love to hear some input from people, find out what you take, and possibly find something natural which will work as this would make me a lot happier. On the natural note I have just recently started drinking honey in warm water as this is supposed to help allergies so I will let you know how I get on with that!!