Ride 1: Titus FTM carbon

Titus FTM carbon

I was keen to try the FTM carbon, it’s a similar beast to the Marin Attack Trails that I love so much, so the comparison would be interesting. Obviously it’s a bit unfair to compare the two as they are at somewhat different ends of the price spectrum, but they are certainly very similar in terms of travel and aimed at being good all rounders.

You notice the smooth carbon lushness first, then the low weight. This bike was pretty sensibly specced with XT stuff and yet on the climb it felt like I had a giant hand at my back pushing me up the hill! This bike flies uphill easily and smooths out the trail beautifully. The front / rear balance of the suspension was good and it tackled the sheep trail with ease.

Dropping back down through the golf course down the steep chalky descent it was no drama at all, I kept the brakes off and got to the bottom with a big grin on my face.

So as I said at the top, only a really quick spin, but first impressions were good. This is a light, capable all rounder that climbs well and descends well too. However the frame on it’s own does cost almost as much as an entire Marin Attack Trail 6.8, so obviously you’ve really got to want one. But then if you’re considering a frame like this price usually isn’t your first concern.

Ride 2: Whyte 19 steel

Whyte 19 steel

At nearly £500 cheaper than the Whyte 19 the 19 steel could be seen as the poor relation, but I think that is more than a little unfair. Componentry aside they offer two different ride feels for sure. I rode the 19 trail a while back and absolutely loved it, it’s an absolute trail weapon, it’s light weight and fantastic handling make it a great bike for round these parts. The aluminium frame is not harsh at all, but some of you out there may be looking for that famous steel ‘zing’ and a more comfortable ride. This bike delivers big time, I absolutely loved it. It just felt comfortable and well connected the whole time. The fact I was shouting at the guy on the El Guapo to get off the brakes on the downhill should tell you something

So don’t think of  it as the poor relation to the 19 trail, it has a character all of it’s own and is great fun to ride, why not give it a whirl?

Ride 3: Titus El Guapo

Titus El Guapo

This was the bike everyone wanted to ride, it was specced to the absolute max with the lushest kit you could possibly imagine on it! Obviously the first thing you notice is the weight, yes not nearly as weighty as a Marin, but then it costs a lot more too. It uses the same horst link configuration as Specialized and is pretty active, you can see this as a positive or a negative really, but if you put the pro pedal on for climbing it’s not really a handicap. The plus point is of course that when you get to the top of the hill and turn round to come back what you have is a super plush machine that tracks the ground perfectly and gets you where you want to go, quickly.

This was the only bike that I did the downhill by the golf course without braking, it feels as solid as a rock, firmly attached to the terrain.

There will be a more thorough review to follow, because I liked it so much I bought one

Ride 4: Genesis Alpitude

Genesis Alpitude

I took the Genesis Alpitude as an ‘old faithful’ at the end, I’ve put in a few miles on this bike already and it’s good fun. You can read what I though here.

So there you go, the demo day was good fun, unfortunately the weather was less than fantastic and the numbers suffered a little bit. But we all got some rides in on the bikes we wanted to try and I ‘accidentally’ bought one

Hummerlicious (or Guapalicious!)

Last month's ride

Earle demonstrating what the climb out of Storrington can do to a man

So get yourselves down to Quest Adventure in Broadwater on saturday at around 09:45 to roll out at 10:00 (or when my capuccino cup is empty, whichever happens first!). Thread here.

As ever all are welcome and helmets must be worn.

Cheers,

Hummerlicious

The current list can be found here.

You could try the Lush Whyte 19 trail:

Or how about a Marin Attack Trail….

Hopefully with a little less snow!

Don’t forget you can play on the north shore too….

North shore fun

As ever I like to make it worthwhile and get people to work for their downhills, so there were to be a few nice climbs included as well, just to get the old pulse racing a bit

Despite the rain the night before the ground was still in pretty good shape and it meant we made good progress up the side of the golf course, before dropping over into findon valley and riding the singletrack that skirts around the bottom of cissbury ring. We crossed the A24 (after waiting an age!) and headed up the long climb up the side of the horse field onto the top.

Crossing over the long furlong we joined up with the South Downs Way and headed West towards Storrington. We stopped for a bit of a pre-downhill briefing, just so everyone knew exactly what lay ahead. It also gave Mike a chance to turn on his new helmet cam before we made the chase down into the village….

Climbing up out of Storrington back onto the SDW legs were getting tired as can be witnessed by this graceful demonstration of dismounting…

Back into Worthing and a slightly unfortunate incident saw Earle lying on the ground again, this time in pain! Fortunately though everything was still attached and working and we headed into the town for some delicious Parklife goodness. Unfortunately I was shaking so much by then that the obligatory cake photo ended up rather blurred!

Hummerlicious

Last month's ride

February rabble

So get yourselves down to Quest Adventure in Broadwater on saturday at around 09:45 to roll out at 10:00 (or when my capuccino cup is empty, whichever happens first!). Thread here.

As ever all are welcome and helmets must be worn.

Cheers,

Hummerlicious

The Alpitude differentiates itself from the Altitude by it’s slacker angles, beefier tubing and longer travel fork. When you first lay eyes on this bike the low slung frame and long fork make it look mean as hell and you know it means business.

The top tube is dropped with a neat gusset linking it to the seat tube, not unlike the Pace hardtail frames. The main triangle tubes are made from Reynolds excellent 853 steel and are oversized (although still skinny when compared to an aluminium frame), the compact rear triangle is made from much more slender tubing and the overall result is a very pleasing looking frame. It also has the nice (almost essential) UK friendly addition of crud catcher bosses on the underside of the downtube, which proved very handy on my two test rides! It also has chain guide mounts should you want to fit a chain retention device or perhaps a Hammerschmidt crank.

Genesis Alpitude

It’s kitted out with pretty much an entire SLX groupset, the only differences being the rear mech (upgraded to XT) and the shifters (downgraded to Deore). As is usual with a full Shimano build it all works together faultlessley, with the light action of the shifting a real pleasure to use. The highlight though is the buttery smooth Rock Shox Revelation fork, but more on that later.

After a bit of fiddling with the set up I finally arrived at what seemed to be a good compromise on the tyre pressure, it was very muddy and 25psi seemed to stike a good comfort / grip balance.

One of the unique features of this bike is despite the slack head angle the seat angle is quite steep, this makes it an exceptionally well mannered climber, there’s little in the way of front wheel wander when climbing, except on all but hte steepest climbs, and even this can be dialled out by dropping the fork down to a shorter travel temporarily.

Genesis Alpitude

So how does it ride? Well in a word fun. It wants you to ride quick, it needs you to ride quick. When you really start to push it the bike comes to life, the ‘twang’ of the steel frame is really enjoyable as you speed your way through the singletrack. The compact back end makes manualling over roots and obstacles a piece of cake.

Turn the terrain steep and gnarly and it excells. It’s easy to get your weight off the back and the fork does a great job of keeping everything tracking smoothly in the direction you want to go. Popping of jumps and drops with ease is the name of the game, again the fork saves you if you get it a bit wrong.

You can push it as hard as you like on the downhills and it just laughs back at you, it’s a bike for scaring your mates who have paid significantly more on a full suspention bike as you buzz their rear tyres and then overtake with a grin on your face!

Genesis Alpitude

The only real downside would say is maybe it would climb a bit better if it was a bit lighter. But that said it would probably be at the expense of it’s bombproof descending ability, so perhaps it’s just that I need to get a bit fitter.

For the price this is an amzing bike for riding round these parts, South or North downs singletrack will be hammered with ease and in all likelyhood the only limitation will be your ability to hang on when it encourages you to really go for it.

Hummerlicious

As per usual there was a nice wee climb in the route as well as some sweet singletrack

Big group

A nice route profile!

Climbalicious - few made it, but everyone gave it a good go

A few more pictures here…..

Last month's shortened ride

Pete relaxing

Phil

After last month’s snow related hysteria and general chillines I think this month will be muddy and normal service resumed, well unless we get more snow that is!

So get yourselves down to Quest Adventure in Broadwater on saturday at around 09:45 to roll out at 10:00 (or when my capuccino cup is empty, whichever happens first!). Thread here. Facebook page here.

As ever all are welcome and helmets must be worn.

Cheers,

Hummerlicious

Excuse my fence!

This weekend I’ve had the new Marin Attack Trail 6.8 for company. I’ve been looking forward to riding this bike since I saw the new catalogue. I was a big fan of last year’s Attack Trail and I wondered how the new one would compare. There have been a few changes and some weight shed too, so it all looked promising. The travel has been pushed up to 150mm and last year’s Pikes have been replaced with Revelations, the rear shock is a Monarch. Gone is the large plate gusset on the front end, replaced by a much more pleasing looking tube.  The headtube is tapered and the downtube has been beefed up a bit too. The shock links have also been machined out and lightened up too.

New links

Tapered headtube

It would also seem that finally Truvativ have managed to make an attractive set of cranks with the Stylos, very nice. Not bad in the weight stakes either, hopefully the black will stay on the sides and wear well. Amazingly I am well known for my rather cack footed pedalling style but despite all the mud I never scratched it up with my heels.

Stylo cranks

Speaking of which on last years bike I caught my heels once or twice on the swing arm and on the links too, but it didn’t happen at all on this bike, maybe it has been slimmed down a bit?

So how does it ride?

Well I think my companions on the Swinley ride will tell you I was loving this bike from the off. I’m not quite sure how my ’style’ of riding is best described, but this bike fits me like a glove. I never once even thought about how it was preforming, I just rode it with a grin on my face.

Tweakage

The Attack Trail is well at home on the singletrack, but you do have to keep an eye on your pedals as sometimes you can clout them on trail obstacles. But it’s the downhill sections where it really announces it’s intentions, somewhere along the lines of “Is that the best you can do?”. It’s really stable, flickable, and unusually it manuals at the drop of a hat. Those last minute hucks off trail obstacles are easily accomplished and the 150mm of travel are a real get out of jail free during those awkward moments!

Berm fun

The downside? Well I guess if there is one it would be this bike is never going to win any uphill races. However that said it does seem to be lighter than the previous model and you don’t really notice the weight that much. Coming from a bike that is a few pounds lighter than this I can’t say I really felt handicapped. There is an unexpected bonus though, on a steep climb when the bike is in the granny ring the quad link system seems to seek out every last bit of grip there is, providing you can get forward on the saddle and get low you’ll still be riding when your fellow riders are off and walking. It shouldn’t be possible on a bike like this, but it is

Verdict:

So what do I think? I love it. Is this much travel really necessary on a bike round here? Well I ride a hardtail, so clearly no! But if you want a really comfy bike that climbs well, descends like a mini downhill bike, is quick and nimble through the singletrack this is the daddy. You can ride the Attack Trail all day and not feel beaten up. It really is a hoot to ride. It encourages you to ride like a loony and rewards you by getting you to the end in one piece with a big grin on your face, you can’t ask for more than that!

Hummerlicious

Although it was cold there was a good turn out down at Quest and the women’s ride was on the same day. As there was only the two of them this time they decided they’d tag along with us too.

Keen group

After a bit of indecision I decided to take the route up past Hill Barn golf course and the long bridleway up to Cissbury ring. Conditions were pretty good, the path had obviously been used a bit and there was a nice crusty line down the middle which allowed us to make good progress…..

Chilly!

….Until we got to the big climb in the middle! Amazingly the grip was actually pretty good up here. But about a third of the way up there had been an obvious thaw then a refreeze and there were a couple of tyre tracks that were un avoidable. These had pretty much everyone off and walking. A little further though and we were able to remount for the slog to the top.

Push time

A little bit of playing around occured further up. There were a couple of good drifts and a bundle developed! Then I stopped to take some pictures, only to have my bike buried when my back was turned! We continued through the top gate with the intention of doing the diagonal downhill to the right, but the snow was more than hub deep and it proved impossible to get any momentum at all so we gave up on that idea.

More pushing!

I decided that the lower singletracks were probably the best bet and we crossed Cissbury and dropped down the side into Findon valley. Once out the wind we realised that we were actually having a lot of fun and decided to continue for a bit longer. We crossed the A24 and climbed up Church Lane, which proved to be grippier than when there is no snow! We had to push through a couple of deep drifts at the top and then we headed back towards Salvington eager for cake!

Someone mentions cake to Uncle Phil

A quick cheeky descent and we were back into the valley and riding along the gallops trying to dodge the sledgers. It was great to get into Parklife and have a hot Mars Bar milkshake and a toasted cheese sarnie to warm up!

The rest of the photos are here.

Some pics on Martin’s photostream here.

Hummerlicious