Following last week’s pathetic confession that my uncomfortable hardtail grapple with the Stoodley park rock garden has convinced me to search out a full susser, I feel compelled to bore you with the details of my first ‘test’ ride.
Foregoing PRD’s offer of an Industrial marathon ride with No Pies and co I decided to ride an Enduro Expert I’d borrowed from NWMB on a shorter ride in the Peaks instead.
Naively, perhaps, we headed up a tricky climb to the base of Kinder Scout from Hayfield. I’m rode a large size version but struggled from the off and ended up pushing most of the way. At the time it felt like I’d have ascended better in a rowing boat. Bike shop mechanic and thinking man’s man John tried it out and proved that it could climb.
Red-faced I pushed on, and felt more relieved to find myself at the head of a rutted, rocky descent than ever before.
The next few minutes were some of the most exhilarating of my mountain biking life. Beginning gingerly I soon warmed to the bike’s astonishing abilities. Pining the trail , to my mind, I spied a loose rock and opted to just hit it full-on. It felt like I was crushing a huge rye bread by riding over it on a Harley Davidson.
Of course it was John who had really sliced it open on his Santa Cruz and we both grinned like demented fools when I finally reached the bottom.
Yet, for all its bulldozing strength on the downhill I wasn’t convinced the Enduro was the bike for me.
It was probably too much of a step-up for a rider with my modest abilities. The large seemed too big and the medium too small. Also perplexing was the machine’s reluctance to leave terra firma. When clipped into my hardtail it feels great to bunny hop obstacles and to crouch into the bike to launch it off terrain. But the Enduro just wants to crush everything in its path; it doesn’t need to ignore gravity.
It looked so good standing in the kitchen after I’d savoured a couple of Islay malts with Charlie George and offspring Calum ( he’s 10 and had Ribena by the way) on Friday night.
But for all its hydro-formed beauty and Fox Talas 36 R forks I have to admit I’d be foolish to take the beast into my home.
After storing the Enduro in the cellar alongside my Rockhopper I notcied that the huge brute had already taken to intimidating its younger cousin and worse, nicking his bird – Gina’s barely used women’s Hardrock Sport.
Although the Hardrock is the sort of lost kitten that lies in silk sheets eating chocolates in bed, I think she’d still prefer an honest ride with an XC bike than a roll with a surgically enhanced all-mountain beefcake.
So the other suitors still have a chance. The most likely candidate is an Intense Spider or 5.5 but IFB’s custom-build king PRD is offering several alternative prosposals. In the end the Hardrock has to decide who going to be snuggling up to its back shifter in the quiet of the basement.
Who it will be I don’t know. Any suggestions?
I took my previously shiny Enduro to LLandegla on Sunday with the unforgiving Simon. Despite the mud (collected about 3lbs in the linkages and chain device – Warren, you were right, bloody Californians) it does go down and along and even up more easily and smoother than the old Bullitt. Feels more stable and planted. Not as easly to bunny hop, but thats the difference between air (or lack of) and coils. On the jumps it was lovely. Very stable.
Low bottom bracket is good on the twisty bits but did keep twating the pedals.
All in all I’d say its a damn fine bike.
Well built PRD!
May be it would have been better round there. I’ve been before and I bet it would have ripped into those berms. But you can’t ride man-made every week and I found it was just too heavy on the climbs.
I think it’s a size issue. At 181cms I’m not quite a large not quite a medium. And yes, it took me about an hour to clean the fucker
We need to pay a visit to blazing saddles and take out some of their demo’s plus the 5 and maybe the superlight.
Friday Affy – we’re all going out….
Get your gladrags on…
Do you not have any work to do PRD?
And do yo mean a Demo 8? Surely that will be even harder to get up hill. Even I wouldn’t buy one of those (unless some-one instals a winch on Stoodley Pike).
This is work jon, VERY HARD WORK. Unlike making pasties.
No, I dont think he means a Demo 8, a ‘demo bike’ would be more like it.
I’m feeling Nicolai….
and those Vans 36 look MIGHTY fine…
It’s all been sorted. Although I’m too embarrassed to say what I got cos its abilities far exceed mine… Oh alright it’s an Intense 5.5. I’m already saving for the replacement bearings
Good Lord!!! I thought I was impulsive!
Nice one next stop Glentress.
Glentress? when?
Andy – when are you going to baptise it at the Rock Garden?
Did you get a bright orange one or not?
It’s silver ex-demo but looks mint. Stripped and rebuilt with new chain ring, bearings and bushes in shock. Took another one out to Reddish Vale to test today and was immediately sold. Weighs same as the Rockhopper and climbs better. Manitou Minute forks, Hope brakes and hubs, Mavic wheels.
Next stop the Rock Garden…
Will Andy C eat his words now he has a ‘proper’ and I mean ‘propah’ bike?
the 456 is the best bike for the Rock Garden.
No its not, a CRF450 is.
you’d not get that out of the hub deep mud pit