My spin today...

paul mountainbike

Well give us a clue ,else we could miss out on a good one.
As long as respect walkers i never get any bother only them thinking i'm a nutter..

ianobrien

Went for a small spin today near Mallow. It was a 8km loop, with a 4km climb and a 4km descent. I did it multiple times and was messing with the tyre pressures and front shock settings on the descent. I never take any notice of my times on Strava (I use it to keep track of the mileage on the bikes) and one of the descents was 9th quickest, and I wasn't even trying to set a time.

It must mean I've hit a sweet spot with pressures and shock settings or I forgot to engage the "self-preservation" mode in the brain......

covey123

Was that Mount Hillary or maybe somewhere else?

ianobrien

covey123 wrote: »

Was that Mount Hillary or maybe somewhere else?

Somewhere else, and given the mod warning on the first page, I'm not saying where exactly..................

Wanderer78

Trails were in decent shape yesterday at the gap, busy to

delynet

I'm a roadie but bought a MTB a few weeks ago as I want to get away from mile after mile of road cycling. Had its first proper outing yesterday at the Tobercurry 200k MTB Audax.

Great day out. Fair play to Seamus O’Dowd for putting it together. Lots of terrain, some was a bit wet from all the rain but it made it more challenging. A few of my bits are a bit sore this morning but looking forward to doing something like it again.

Peter T

Fair play, that's a long time in the saddle

iwillhtfu

delynet wrote: »

I'm a roadie but bought a MTB a few weeks ago as I want to get away from mile after mile of road cycling. Had its first proper outing yesterday at the Tobercurry 200k MTB Audax.

Great day out. Fair play to Seamus O’Dowd for putting it together. Lots of terrain, some was a bit wet from all the rain but it made it more challenging. A few of my bits are a bit sore this morning but looking forward to doing something like it again.

Well done and welcome to the dark side

Da cooley Thriller on this weekend would be a good follow up.

There's also the nire valley drop later in the year don't let the drop fool you it's more of a pedal fest than anything. :eek:

steamsey

Couldn't make the Cahir Enduro so was up at Ticknock yesterday, stuck to official trails. It was a wet mess - the top two trails (Afterburner and Blazing Saddles) were in a jock - basically rivers all the way down. Forgot that drainage on these trails is non existent. The bottom loop (Metro, AKA Skyline) was the only one really rideable - have given out about it before but it was very dry, and was very happy to be on it yesterday. Has bedded in nicely and is fast.

Was very quiet up there. Few walkers alright but only saw 3 other MTB'ers.

Felt pretty underwhelmed after my spin and can't help feeling that Ticknock's glory days are behind her. Anyone else feel the same? Even in the dry, it's not great up there anymore. Anyone know of any new trails around Ticknock? Haven't seen much except one over facing the GAP where they felled last year - has a few little jumps and brings you down to bottom of road near where bomb-hole used to be. Seems that no one is bothering with building / maintaining up there anymore - me included.

Tenzor07

steamsey wrote: »

Ticknock yesterday, stuck to official trails. It was a wet mess - the top two trails (Afterburner and Blazing Saddles)

Terrible names, they will always be Metro 1 or 2, or Euroservs...

Though with the amount of rain a better name for the top Metro would be "Soggy Bottoms" :D:D

nak

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Well done and welcome to the dark side

Da cooley Thriller on this weekend would be a good follow up.

There's also the nire valley drop later in the year don't let the drop fool you it's more of a pedal fest than anything. :eek:

Cooley Thriller was last Saturday, great event. Weather wasn't great but good turnout regardless.

There are a few trails in Ticknock on the Tom's side of the hill built in the last 6 months.

steamsey

nak wrote: »

There are a few trails in Ticknock on the Tom's side of the hill built in the last 6 months.

Cool - never really explore around there. Best place to find the trail heads?

nak

steamsey wrote: »

Cool - never really explore around there. Best place to find the trail heads?

They've been subtle about it so not going to post the locations on here. Best to keep off the handbuilt trails when it gets wet as they're easily wrecked. The enduro stages got destroyed last winter.

bogmanfan

nak wrote: »

Best to keep off the handbuilt trails when it gets wet as they're easily wrecked.

I would strongly second this. Riding some of those trails when they're this wet and swampy will only wreck them. Best to stick to the official trails in my opinion.

Tenzor07

The unofficial trails are wet and muddy for 10 months of the year really, never stops anyone from using them, just makes it more of a challenge..

As for staying off them... well sounds sensible, but will never happen, those trails will be destroyed by a Coillte JCB quicker than a MTB...

iwillhtfu

Technically not today but was up in the Gap last night and the trails are riding sweet at the minute, they've done a lot of work on the berms in the last week.

steamsey

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Technically not today but was up in the Gap last night and the trails are riding sweet at the minute, they've done a lot of work on the berms in the last week.

Was up there too. Riding very well. Love the French Connection. Think 2 weeks left of the Thursday evening spins then it's lights required. Was pretty dark by 8 30 in the forest bits. They've a great set up. They should do the UCI Downhill on a big screen.

iwillhtfu

steamsey wrote: »

Was up there too. Riding very well. Love the French Connection. Think 2 weeks left of the Thursday evening spins then it's lights required. Was pretty dark by 8 30 in the forest bits. They've a great set up. They should do the UCI Downhill on a big screen.

Yeah I packed it in around 8.30 grabbed a burger and beer I'd say it was dark in the forest around 8. A cracking evening for it. Yeah the downhill would be class on a big screen even if they delayed the coverage to fall into the lunch break it would go down well.

I wonder would they move it back to 5-8 I'd probably make it over for 5.15. I wouldn't be to confident on the night rides.

Big Nasty

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Yeah I packed it in around 8.30 grabbed a burger and beer I'd say it was dark in the forest around 8. A cracking evening for it. Yeah the downhill would be class on a big screen even if they delayed the coverage to fall into the lunch break it would go down well.

I wonder would they move it back to 5-8 I'd probably make it over for 5.15. I wouldn't be to confident on the night rides.

Anyone working regular hours find it hard to get there and be ready to roll by six, never mind five.

Night riding is absolutely fine once you've got decent lights. I've scored some of my PB's riding at night. Set for the bars and set for the lid.

iwillhtfu

Big Nasty wrote: »

Anyone working regular hours find it hard to get there and be ready to roll by six, never mind five.

Night riding is absolutely fine once you've got decent lights. I've scored some of my PB's riding at night. Set for the bars and set for the lid.

I guess I'm lucky so

I get the lights for the bars and lid but you want good lights which aren't cheap and I spend far to much on biking gear already.

prunudo

iwillhtfu wrote: »

I guess I'm lucky so

I get the lights for the bars and lid but you want good lights which aren't cheap and I spend far to much on biking gear already.

I went out for a few night spins last spring, didn't spend a fortune as wasn't sure how I'd fair out. Anyway lights worked a treat, even for cheap ones from Amazon. There was a thread up before with links to them.

Ps. This was the ones i got
BYBO® 6600Lm 3x Cree XML U2 LED Bike Bicycle Cycling Light Headlamp Headlight Front Head Torch 8.4V 6400mAh 18650 Battery Pack Rechargeable USB Charg https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073XJ6STD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_un2PBHJinwD13

iwillhtfu

prunudo wrote: »

I went out for a few night spins last spring, didn't spend a fortune as wasn't sure how I'd fair out. Anyway lights worked a treat, even for cheap ones from Amazon. There was a thread up before with links to them.

Ps. This was the ones i got
BYBO® 6600Lm 3x Cree XML U2 LED Bike Bicycle Cycling Light Headlamp Headlight Front Head Torch 8.4V 6400mAh 18650 Battery Pack Rechargeable USB Charg https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073XJ6STD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_un2PBHJinwD13

Ah I've used those Chinese cree ones a few times they're grand for the first while but eventually the batteries hold feck all charge and when you've used the good lights there's no comparison.

I'll probably just do the Thurs 6-8 perhaps a couple of the blue runs with the small lights I have.

ianobrien

I didn't bother with any exploring today, just a quick (for me) spin around the Brown in the Ballyhoura's. Doing it in a hardtail was a snot tough. Speed worked on the rough sections though.....

Peter T

Went down to ballyhoura yesterday for some research. Its getting into my head now to upgrade to full suss. So off I went and hired a remedy 7. Took a bit of getting used to being sram shifters and feeling like your going nowhere on the climbs compared to the hardtail. A few runs of the skills loops and setting the rebound to generally where I like it, off i went. Was obviously impressed with its ability to soak up bumps and flew along the downhill sections. Really enjoyed tech 1 on it and felt this is where the bike really came alive. After settling into the bike the climbs for the rest of the day seemed alright and the final push home again was great crack. So overall I enjoyed the full suspension but think my expectations were too high, maybe after buying one and dialing it in to give the feedback I want would change my opinion. Looking at my times from the day my hardtail isn't far behind really which leaves me with the though of maybe upgrading a few bits on the hardtail and cheapest upgrade of all focusing on improving my fitness. I think next i'll head to the gap for a day or maybe weekend and try out what they have

Wanderer78

Peter T wrote: »

Went down to ballyhoura yesterday for some research. Its getting into my head now to upgrade to full suss. So off I went and hired a remedy 7. Took a bit of getting used to being sram shifters and feeling like your going nowhere on the climbs compared to the hardtail. A few runs of the skills loops and setting the rebound to generally where I like it, off i went. Was obviously impressed with its ability to soak up bumps and flew along the downhill sections. Really enjoyed tech 1 on it and felt this is where the bike really came alive. After settling into the bike the climbs for the rest of the day seemed alright and the final push home again was great crack. So overall I enjoyed the full suspension but think my expectations were too high, maybe after buying one and dialing it in to give the feedback I want would change my opinion. Looking at my times from the day my hardtail isn't far behind really which leaves me with the though of maybe upgrading a few bits on the hardtail and cheapest upgrade of all focusing on improving my fitness. I think next i'll head to the gap for a day or maybe weekend and try out what they have

You won't look back to be honest, if you go for a fill suss, completely different league to hard tail, but nothing wrong with hardtails. It's a good idea though to check out some full suss and different trails before deciding, the gap is a good laugh, but you d be severely limited without the full suss there

prunudo

Get it bought! You won't regret it but I'd keep the hardtail for the longer cross country stuff if thats what you enjoy too. The full sus will bring on your trail riding leaps and bounds, certainly did for me. Went from going from occasional spins on the hardtail to wanting to get out every weekend and more on the full sus.

Peter T

That's the plan, try out a few more brands and see what I like. @prunudo I'm like that on the hardtail so god help me when I go full . I'll be holding onto the hardtail for like you said the xc days or just long gravel spins round wind farms, bogs etc. Handy for someone else to use if they want to go for a spin with me

saccades

From a hardtail to a remedy 7 - some difference, would take a while to get the full benefit.

I'd say there are few places that need that kinda travel in Ireland though.

Maybe have a look at some of the new short travel 29er bikes that are coming out.

xxyyzz

A hardtail is probably the ideal bike for 99% of the trail center stuff in Ballyhoura to be honest. The remedy would be far less efficient for all that pedally stuff. Try out the remedy on some of the natural trails and you will really see the difference. The lads in trail riders will give you directions to the cardoor trail which is great fun.

ianobrien

I was up in the Ballyhoura's for the first time this year on a hardtail. Took my ease on the Brown but got a shock as to how much logging took place and it's really open and bleak now (this view may be coloured by me getting caught in a shower just as it opened before the log and it stopped when I entered the trees at the top!)