Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

Well after a trip to the LBS and a bit of a chat we established a 19"frame is the size to go for

He had 2 potentials in there

1. http://claudbutler.co.uk/cycle-range/range/claud-butler-atb/cb5110-2015
2. http://www.kross.pl/en/2015/mtb-xc-275/level-r3

The Kross seemed the better bike and seems specced fairly well (as far as I can tell)
unfortunate that he only had a 17" in black and can only get a 19"in white.

The Kross is £50 more expensive at £550 (though Kross themselves sell the 2016 model with a different frame shape for only £500? http://www.krosscycles.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=75 ) How much is usually charged by a bike shop for setup etc.

What do you think?

Being a picky muppet I'm not all that keen on white bikes so also considering the R6 from Kross website for no better reason than I like the look of it http://www.krosscycles.co.uk/Kross-Mountain/MTB-XC-27?product_id=73

somebody talk me off the edge of financial stupidity please

 

The change to the frame of the Level R3 is a little odd, it almost looks like they've designed the new one to be more aggressive vs the more XC look of the older model. Personally although the LBS are a little more expensive you'll have the benefit of dealing with them when things go wrong which could be worth the extra cost. You could always try haggling a little discount, it is 'last years' model' after all.

It doesn't look like the price difference is worth it regarding the R6 there isn't really any upgrades that stand out as being worth the extra cost (to me anyway)!

 

Thanks, I'll call the lbs and if no problems, order the Level R3. Took a trip to Thetford forest yesterday and thanks to hire joint I had a shot on a 19" and 21" frame MTB so pretty comfortable that a 19" frame is right for me.

Appreciate the advice. Rep incoming.

 

Did you ride the bomb holes?

 

Just the beginner trail with the other half and my lad. Next time out we'll rent a bigger bike for him to try out. What are the bomb holes?

 

The bomb holes are just that, literal bomb holes from World War 2.

They're a kilometre or so into the Lime Burner trail (Red), they go straight down, then straight back up again and they're lots of fun.

The section near the end of the trail known as Beast is lots of fun too.

 

Sounds like a blast

How do you know the place?

 

I used to live in Boston, Thetford was the nearest man made trail worth riding.

Now I live oop north and everything is worth riding.

 

Will my nipper be able to ride around them is I do that trail with him? Sounds a bit much for him at the moment

 

The Red trails are fine for a young kid, all the interesting/scary stuff can be ridden around.

The only possible issue is the distances involved, the red trails are 16km and 18km and the Lime Burner doesn't really have any escape roads. I'd skip the Beast section if he's very young too, people come flying through there and you don't really want to be in the way.

 

Looking on the map, I'll work him round the poacher trail first and see how he goes. He managed the 8km shepherd trail with only 1 stop and a couple pauses. The 16km poacher trail should see how he copes longer if I rent him a bigger bike next trip out.

 

Can i ask what peoples thoughts on Boardman MTB's are? New Cycle2work scheme has started, but it's only through Halfords.

Many Thanks,
Sam

 

I got a Boardman CX Team from Halfords a couple of years ago, the C2W scheme my employer chose was only Halfords also. Tbh I can't really fault the actual bike, the build was a little ropey due to the fact that the guys at my local Halfords aren't the greatest bike mechanics.

What sort of price are you going for? It's also worth noting that although you have to go through Halfords you can get bikes that they don't stock instore

 

There are LBS's that can accept Halfrauds vouchers, don't be conned into having to go there.

 

New rubber fitted, should make the rough stuff I've been riding lately a little more comfortable and give me a bit more grip in the sloppy areas.

 

I had Halfords vouchers and bought from LBS, the manager said that the scheme charges them a fee to redeem the vouchers so they often don't make any money at all from them.

Most people will bring the bike back to the LBS for servicing so the vouchers are closer to a customer referral than a sale, he said that the pedals I'd bought to go with the bike made the shop more money than the bike did!

 

Yeah the manager is correct, most cycle schemes charge 10% of the total value which is managable, for a bike shop to accept Halfords vouchers they must hand over 20%.

It's not really worth it when you're usually making 30% on a bike, it's the hope of return shoppers.

 

I used our Halfords Cylcle2work scheme voucher with Tredz and picked up this little beauty!



Takes a while to get used to the 27.5s though.

 

So I and a friend hit up Dalby Forest yesterday, absolutely loved it. Did the blue trail, and the first half of the red, 22 miles in total including getting back to the visitor centre. I need to work on literally every aspect of my riding, but had a lot of fun and didn't get hurt. We need to sort his bike out (could only get it into 5 gears, and the brakes were questionable at best) before we go again though. I'm hoping it doesn't make me want a full suspension, it'll make my wallet sad!

I've been looking up videos on climbing today - almost every steep hill I was losing traction and occasionally coming off, realised I need more momentum and a higher cadence.

 

The Dalby red trails are great, but some of the little black sections that split off are terrifying, as is the the downhill at the end of Dixon's Hollow/Adderstone.

I was there at the start of the month and had to bail out of the red trail after 4-ish hours.

If you're near enough, the Stainburn trails are great for skill building, the red trail is short enough that you can blast out a run every fifteen minutes or so, but it's just stuff, stuff, stuff all the way down it.