My spin today...

Went to the Ballyhouras today first time in a cycling capacity. I used to frequent years ago on motorcycles. Found the downhill sections as much fun if not not more than a motocrosser until probably 2k from the end of the trail I hit a rut and my left hand left the bars and i ended up in a tree🙈

Great morning other than that 😁

bogmanfan wrote: »

I was there around the same time yesterday, and was hard to find a parking spot. Absoutely packed with walkers and bikers.

I actually thought the trails were good considering the rain we got. Also saw the massive puddle at the start of metro, but I was in Ballinastoe on Saturday and that was just a series of lakes. Ticknock fared much better in my opinion.

I always had in my head that B-Stoe drained pretty well - obviously not anymore. I'd imagine that Djouce was a mud fest.

I've never seen Ticknock so busy as it has been this year - I wonder how it's gotten so popular so quickly. The amount of mountain bikers was nuts - and a lot of newbies too which is great to see. One lad in cotton tracksuit bottoms - I'd say he'll only make that mistake once. And a fair few kids with dads. I'd say the biking.ie hut is doing well.

I believe Ballinastoe was pretty quiet yesterday, plenty of parking to be had mid morning.
Might use this change in weather to explore Ticknock, have wanted to go up before but have never been.

ianobrien wrote: »

Would the Tech loops be doable on a hardtail? I've a Trek Procaliber (more of a XC bike) or would it be better to hire a FS bike for it?

2 of the lads I ride with swear by their hard-tails in Ballyhoura. I ride one too.


Tech loops are obviously easier with a FS with the amount of jumps and rock gardens, but if you're not trying to set records then a hardtail is well able for the terrain too.

Was up in The GAP today. Had a demo weekend running. Took a Lapierre E-bike for an hour. Savage for the climbs, bit cumbersome on the descents but 2.8 wide wheels made up for a lot.

I was out there also at the demo day. Was well worth it. Cannondale Jekyll was decent, santa Cruz hightower my friend raved about but it was set up too stiff for me. The Santa Cruz Bronson was amazing though, and now I want to buy one.

Speaking of The GAP they've started doing night spins on Thursdays.

Uplift only (No pedal ups) 6pm to 8.30pm - €20

Went for a spin around Portumna today. Very slippy with loads of leaves. If you didn't have an idea where the trail went you'd be hard pushed to follow it.

Sadly took a spill on one of the soggy boardwalks which brought a premature end to my day. Bruised hip, knee & elbow - but I'm most annoyed by the scratch I put on my front shock! Shame, as the weather today was perfect.

Top Dog wrote: »

Went for a spin around Portumna today. Very slippy with loads of leaves. If you didn't have an idea where the trail went you'd be hard pushed to follow it.

Sadly took a spill on one of the soggy boardwalks which brought a premature end to my day. Bruised hip, knee & elbow - but I'm most annoyed by the scratch I put on my front shock! Shame, as the weather today was perfect.

Boardwalks are a disaster this time of year, I took a spectacular highside on the ones in Derroura last winter right in front of a bunch of tourists.

Went back to Leeds urban bike park yesterday for round 2 to explore the bits of the park I missed last time. I found the 'jump line' part of the red 'XC' loop. What I thought was the jump line part wasn't - that was just fast single track with rollers, table tops and hip jumps a-plenty - , and what was the actual jump line was a wee bit brown-trail-inducing and - to quote the missus - "had a whole load of 'nope' in it". So many line choices .....

The three black lines at the back of the park are fun. Two of them are just really steep but otherwise you can just roll them - unless you want to get fancy - with the third being a proper rock drop (about 6ft+) going into a double jump & berm.

Just to be clear; there is an actual dedicated jump line separate to the above (which is all technically part of the red loop) if one looks at the trails map. When you come into the park you cannot miss it; it's like a smaller version of Crabapple hits at Whistler; just a line of table top jumps.

Is Ticknock pretty bad at the moment? Planning a spin before the weekend and was wondering which of the 3 locations are in best shape.

Spent the day in Bikepark Ireland yesterday, trails were really grippy but had a thin layer of mud on them, ended up covered! Serious craic though.

rizzodun wrote: »

Spent the day in Bikepark Ireland yesterday, trails were really grippy but had a thin layer of mud on them, ended up covered! Serious craic though.

I saw one of the group out with Emerald MTB had an exeprience with his bars. I didn't hear if it happened because of a crash or was the cause but I assume the former as he walked away unhurt.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Br_AcOsFiYr/

cjt156 wrote: »

Spent Friday afternoon hardtailing in The Gap being outclassed by people 1/4 my age! Mucked up to me eyeballs; great fun.
Busiest I've seen it all winter. Great resource so close to the city.

The GAP was running great this morning. Plenty of grip seeing as it has been so dry all week. Mild too - there was midges out! :eek:

Stuck to Ticknock over the Christmas due to time constraints. First couple of days it was quiet enough but after Christmas day it was really busy, large range of age groups, I was happy to be catching the kids on the climbs. It came crashing down later in the day when a lad powered up beside me on a climb and eased up for a chat. Turns out he was on an electrically assisted MTB, I was envious. It was the first of 2 or 3 I saw that day.

When the time comes I don't use the climbs as a workout I'd be tempted to go down that road.

Exactly what the guy said, he stays out for hours, sometimes covering both GAP and Ticknock.

Big Nasty wrote: »

Tried one out in The GAP the last demo day. A bit more heavy and cumbersome but with 2.8 tyres you could roll over anything. You'ld be inclined to tackle anything and stay out all day I reckon. Love it!

I've tried a few over the last two years visiting the UK cycle show. From an MTB perspective (and from memory), I gave some Cube offerings a run on a purpose built indoor MTB track and they are fun to ride. It does have to be said however that after 15 mins of throwing them about on a track packed with features, they're not the lightest and even though I was riding high-end offerings which would have an eye towards being lighter & more responsive rides, you'll find yourself getting sapped of energy faster as a result. Then again, a 15 min manic test track is also not indicative of most trails one might be likely to ride so perhaps the weight comment is a bit heavily skewed. "Your mileage may vary" as the expression goes.

rizzodun wrote: »

They really are aimed at the all day cross country sort of rider. Smashing enduro trails on one would get tiresome pretty quickly I'd assume.

Wot, ebikes are? I'd be too concerned with Range-Anxiety...!

I'd say the main reason for having one and where the sales will be biggest, would be in the highlands of Europe, where there's no uplifts, and the main segment of rider would be the Enduro rider, who's not interested in pedaling up and just wants to get the most numbers of DH runs in...

jvan wrote: »

One of the reasons I enjoy the mountain biking is the mix of exercise on the climbs vs the thrill of the single track section. If I can't get Ticknock and The Gap together then I need to practice more and improve my fitness. Thats my goal.
I understand using an e bike if you're injured but i don't really see the appeal of using them every weekend if not.

I'd like to be still riding well in to my fifties and more.....with the help of an e-bike

Big Nasty wrote: »

I'd like to be still riding well in to my fifties and more.....with the help of an e-bike

One of my regular biking buddies is 63yrs old and is far from needing an ebike...:pac:

Sorry Mods, maybe you can separate these posts into a separate eBike thread?

A lot of the lower end eBikes are just FUgly, and by lower end I mean about €5,000!


They are heavy, so if there's terrain you need to lift or push the bike up then you better have your chiropractor on speedial!

For "our trail network..." Ticknock, GAP, Ballinastoe? In two hours you'd get around easily 3 or 4 times with leg power only... Ireland is a relatively flat country... I don't think i'd want to go down any of these trails 6 times in 2 hours without getting bored..Zzzz...
On a lot of the more unofficial trails, ebikes are of no benefit, they require Gorilla handling on tight downhill sections due to the weight and weight distribution, not so easy to just flick around that tight corner..

As for the "impossibly steep climbs".. well Mountain biking isn't supposed to be easy, and even with an eBike you still have to possess a good level of fitness and skill, an inexperienced punter shouldn't head out into open mountain thinking he's a superman on a bike.... Not to mention access issues, walkers and National park rangers will soon take exception to powered cyclists pedalling through the nice open mountain boglands eroding the soft ground with nice big tyre marks and ruts everywhere...

Having said all that I do know people who aren't really into the hardship side of MTB'ing are getting great mileage out of there eBike, although they would be quite experienced outdoorsmen...

But for the price of almost €4,000 for a basic spec bike, i'll say no thanks! For now: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/vitus-e-sommet-electric-mtb-deore-1x10-2019/rp-prod170964?mx=a

xxyyzz wrote: »

As shocking as you may find this, there is life outside the pale


Anyway, regardless of your opinion on them, they are on the way and will become lighter and better. The hatred of them reminds me of roadies complaining about disc brakes having never used them.

Most of the country is still fairly flat and rideable without being powered...

What hatred of them? I don't think they are worth the money, maybe in 10 years time, the motor and battery will be so compact and the frame so light they may have some value..

C3PO wrote: »

Go on out of that!!

Check my Strava! ....:pac:....

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Stupid strava, many a wrecked trail from it

Between Strava and Motors on bicycles, MTB'ing is fooked! :eek: