Sussex-MTB

I’d been looking forward to riding the 2010 Genesis Alpitude, I rode last year’s and loved it so I was keen to see if this year’s model was as fun to ride.

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

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

Naughties in bikes

Everyone else seems to be in their stride posting best of lists and the like so I thought I’d look back at the last ten years, what I’ve been riding and how things have changed…..

Most notably I suppose at the start of the last decade I was still fairly heavily obsessed with XC racing (although that may make a bit of a comeback for me this year). I was sponsored by Southwater Cycles and my Kona spent two years in my loft as I had a sucsession of nice Cannondale race bikes to ride. So I started the decade with a Cannondale F4000SL, this was a super tricked out bike, very light and very fast too.

Cannondale F4000SL

Then the Southwater Cycles thing eventually came to an end, brought mainly by the fact they wanted me to wear a beige race shirt The trusty Kona Hei Hei came back out of retirement. This bike lasted right the way through to 1998, I had it 14 years and it had countless groupset changes, forks, wheels and everything else that goes with it. If you look at the 2000 photo and then the 2008 one you can see it went from a race set up to what would be considered a fairly trail friendly set up today. It was an amazing machine and it was sad to see it go, but it was only corrected for a 63.5mm travel fork and it had no disk mounts! It worked out to have cost me well less than a tenth of a penny per mile for the use I got from it

Hei hei 2000 - XTR v brakes, pace forks 75mm travel

Hei hei 2008 - 120mm fork, disk brakes, tubeless tyres

July 2008 everything changed, I bought a Cove Stiffee, essentially as a plaything I thought I’d ride occasionally. How wrong was I? The Kona went into the shed and only came out another handful of times for races before it was sold. This was the future, my only regret was that I didn’t get a bike like this earlier. 130mm forks 200mm disks, tubeless 2.35″ tyres run way down low. This was here to stay, or was it?

Cove Stiffee - big forks, big brakes, big tyres - BIG FUN!

Despite my love affair with the Stiffee I still fancied the ride qualities of titanium and after some careful ‘negotiation’ at home decided it was time to get rid of the Kona and the Cove Stiffee and move on to the best of both worlds, the Cove Hummer…..

Cove Hummer - trail perfection? Well I think so

So this brings us up to date. I love this bike and I’m sure I’ll have it for a long time. Like the trusty Kona Hei Hei of old I don’t doubt others will come and go in the mean time, there will be changes of forks and other kit, but I reckon this will be around for a while….

Of course as well as these there has been a constant parade of road bikes, cyclocross bikes, BMX’s, singlespeeds and jump bikes going through the revolving doors of the shed! They have all had many swaps of components, but really none of them have really hung around for long. You can have a look at all the photos in the gallery here.

What are your favourites and not so favourites from the last ten years? Lets hear about it in the comments…..

Hummerlicious

I’d ridden various versions of the Mount Vision in the past, right back to the very original one, in more recent times as I’ve become a convert to the slack angled, long forked hardtail way of life and as such have found the Mount Vision a bit steep and nervous for the way I ride these days. My XC racing is largely behind me and I prefer to just ride what’s in front of me and enjoy it all a bit more.

The 2010 Mount Vision is a bit slacker in the head angle, a bit steeper in the seat angle and is meant to offer a better all round trail appeal for everyone. A bike that will still munch the miles if you want it too but will handle the singletrack and the techy bits in a bit more of a sure footed, friendly fashion.

2010 Marin Mount Vision

I’ve got to start with the looks, Marin can often be a bit of a ‘Marmite’ design, usually polarising opinion in the group, but they’ve really gone to town on the new model and made some nice design tweaks over previous incarnations. Gone is the nasty little step in the top tube that the headset sat in. The swingarm has been mad more swoopy to take it well out the way of your heels, which works really nicely now. Most noticably though a lot of the welds on the front triangle have been ground smooth leaving lots of people asking if the frame is carbon, it’s a sweet loking frame.

I have had the benefit of riding this bike a few times now, so I’ve had a chance to get to know it quite well. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Marin’s suspension system and indeed both Deadly and Tatts both have quad link 140 frames which they seem to get on with. But as mentioned above I’ve always found the Mount Vision a bit nervous for my taste so I was keen to see what difference the geometry changes had made.

Mount Vision

I’ll be honest my first ride out I was a bit underwhelmed. It had 2.1″ High Rollers on and it felt nervous and twitchy and I just felt too stretched out and skitty on it. Playing with the rear shock settings out on the trailed helped, but I didn’t really feel happy on it. On my return I mentioned it to JP and he made a few changes. He loves it and he was keen for me to try again and see if my opinion had changed.

The stem had been swapped for a shorter one and the tyres were swapped out for some wider Maxxis Ardents, a bit like a lighter High Roller in a way. The difference was immediately noticeable, I no longer felt so stretched out and as a result felt a lot more at home. I did a lot of familiar trails on that second ride and my speed through the singletrack was commented on, so it was obviously working better for me. In fact the singletrack round the top of Steyning I flew round and did feel a bit like I was cheating

Mount Vision

So it just goes to show that if you have your mind set on a certain bike but it doesn’t feel right you can get the cockpit feel sorted out to your taste with a bit of minor tweaking. On the trail the bike is fast and fluid. It’s only about half a pound heavier than my Hummer so I didn’t notice the extra weight of having rear suspension. The quad link suspension works well helping you search out grip on the climbs, and is as usual super smooth on the downs.

The revised geometry works well, it doesn’t feel steep and nervous although it is a bit steeper than what I’m used to with my Hummer. It whips through the singletrack nicely as well. So who is this bike for? Well I reckon if you’re looking for an all rounder, reasonably light weight, that is suitable for blasting around on the south or indeed the north downs it’s well worthing booking a test ride. The faster you make it go the more fun it is

The funny thing is although we didn’t get on to well on our first outing together I can’t help but ask if it’s free whenever I’m nipping out now which obviously means something!

Shimano MT60 shoes

Features:

• Complete seam-sealed construction for optimal weather protection.
• Shimano developed lightweight trail sole with recessed cleat design enables easy walking with excellent traction if off the bike.
• Gusseted tongue helps to prevent water, dust, gravel, and other foreign objects from getting inside the shoe.
• Lace up closure system with lace holder ensures a secure and snug fit.
• Reflective detailing on the heel help keep you more visible in low light conditions.

One of the pitfalls of commuting by bike if you use SPD pedals is if you have a week of showers during your commute you tend to end up wearing damp shoes all the time. Although I now have three sets of SPD shoes I like to keep my MTB ones in reasonably good shape as I like a bit of comfort for my feet!

I have a pair of the excelent MW02 (I think that was the code) winter boots and I tend to use those off road during the cold and muddy winter months, unfortunately they are nearing the end of their life now, which I’m gutted about as they are the comfiest shoes I have ever owned

Anyway I got a pair of these MT60’s as they are goretex lined and so will be good for keeping my feet dry on my commute. They are a departure for me as I usually buy the more traditional racey SPD shoes and these look a bit more like a trainer crossed with a hiking boot.

I don’t find them quite as comfortable as a race shoe, but they certainly keep the elements out well and this is the part of my only real niggle with them. The sides of the tongue are gusseted, this helps keep them well sealed, however it means it is essential that you get everything comfy before you do the laces up or it can end up poking you in the top of the foot if you haven’t seated it properly. As long as you don’t pull the laces super tight they are OK, but I guess that could be said for most shoes!

However once you’ve got the hang of that they’re pretty good and don’t look quite as odd to non-cyclists as ‘proper’ SPD shoes. On top of that if you were riding somewhere that might involve a bit of hiking too they are quite a good sturdy boot with a very grippy sole, handy for getting up Snowdon perhaps Marko?

So a good weather proof all rounder and probably a bit more versatile than a race shoe if you want to walk around off the bike too.

Endura Baa Baa base layer

Features:

• Naturally insulating and low odour properties of fine gauge Merino wool
• High warmth/weight ratio even when wet
• All seams flatlocked for comfort
• Athletic fit
• Machine washable

I’ve not really been a fan of wool stuff in the past, it always seemed to be itchy and just required too much care and attention when getting it clean. The Baa Baa has had good reviews elsewhere so I figured I’d give one a go and see if wool had improved.

Those who know me will tell you I’m always the first to complain about being cold, even if we stop for a nanosecond and as I always seem to overdress I usually end up too hot, too sweaty then get cold quick as a result. This top was a bit of a revelation to me. It’s warm, certainly warmer than your usual lycra tops, and it does a fantastic job of wicking sweat away from the body. Even when I had got pretty sweaty and the top was a bit damp it still managed to keep me warm whilst standing around.

I’ve used it as a base layer under a long sleeved jersey and also under my gore jacket and although it can be a little hot for that I found that it did still keep me warm even when a bit damp.

Comfort wise it’s been fine, none of the itchiness I used to associate with wool. The only downside I can say with it is you have to watch for getting hooked on the shrubbery. My shoulder got caught by a bramble and pulled a small hole in it and, being lazy, I didn’t do anything about it. Now it has opened up into a hole the size of the ‘O’ on your keyboard. So I guess I need to sort that before it gets any bigger.

All in all though it’s a great top that I would thouroughly recommend to anyone who likes to stay warm!

Some of you may be surprised to hear it, but I have had the Hummer six months now. I’d kind of held off writing anything about it initially for two reasons, one – I wanted to get to know it properly, two – I wanted to make sure I’d got it how I wanted it. This has proved to take a little longer than I had originally anticipated!

So why the hummer? Well previously I had a Kona Hei Hei and a Cove Stiffee. I’d had the Kona since 1994 and it cost me a shedload back then! We’d done thousands of happy miles together, but when I bought the Cove Stiffee I realised there was more to life than ’90’s race geometry and 80mm travel forks.

Cove Stiffee

Kona Hei Hei

The Cove Stiffee was bought as a plaything really, but it changed the way I rode forever and there was no going back, I wanted the playfullness of the Stiffee and the comfort of the Hei hei. Enter the Hummer……..

Cove Hummer

My Kona had been built up really light, whereas the Stiffee had been built up quite burly. I wanted to go in between the two, dependable kit that wouldn’t hold me back, but reasonably light with it.

The bike in it’s current state weighs 27.5lb, some may say that is a tad heavy for a Ti hardtail, but at the end of the day I know I can ride it how I like and it’ll come back for more.

So what’s it like?

Well somewhat like my Kona when I first got it, it took some getting used to. Lighter and comfier than the Stiffee, but also slightly steeper angles which make it a bit more agile with it. So it took a bit of adjustment, but it was noticably quicker uphill and through singletrack, but slightly more nervous downhill. With the addition of the Pike up front with it’s bolt through axle you can happily plough through roots and obstacles without too much trouble.

The Verdict:

It was exactly what I was looking for and I’m very pleased with it, however it’s a lot of money to pay for a frame. The 2009 price hikes have put it up to £1595!! Is it worth that much? Well if you want a bulletproof singletrack muncher that should last you for ages then yes, but you could also get yourself a sweet full suspension frame for that sort of money.

Jimbo

I found myself questioning my own sanity when I recently rode a Marin Rocky Ridge hardtail, this bike was a lot of fun and yet the complete bike was less than my Hummer frame.

But I’ve always loved the ride qualities of Ti frames, so for me it was worth it, I’ve got the bike I want and it rides the way I want it to, hopefully it will last the 14 years that the trusty Hei Hei did…..

Jimbo