Wet Damp Afan Argoed
Wet Damp Afan Argoed
Right, how to start .... ?
"..... Curtains of rain hid the valley sides from sight, the ravens were sullen, hardly bothering to croak at us. Desolation felt really, really desolate ..... "
No, wrong tone for a good ride, I'll keep that for another article. How about ....
"The bike was grey."
Short, snappy and accurate but somehow not satisfying enough, like only eating one after dinner chocolate mint, you know you want the box for yourself.
Alright then, a bit of background info, some filler. Spam, if you will, until inspiration bites me.
I tried to blag a free bike from Warren of www.mybicicle.co.uk, he was having none of it but did concede to me having a try on a demo bike. I thought he was a right partridge for not giving me a free bike, but didn't say so to his face. We arranged a day, but no-one arranged the weather, or if they did they were miserable sadists.
Warren turned up late at Afan Argoed, he said he couldn't find Wales. I believe him.
In the car with Warren was his mate Akin. He said he didn't want to find Wales.
Dave turned up ...... I'll get used to it one day.
Anyway, bikes were sorted, pedals changed, tyres kicked, the ride began ..... and still it rained.
The bike was standard issue, apart from putting my eggbeater pedals on. The frame had a deep glossy finish that would be very satisfying for any new owner, how long it would last for, I don't know, but there were no obvious scratches or rubs on this demo bike.
Initially, the 19" frame felt much too big, I'm used to a Marin 17.5" but after a while this size difference receded into the back of my mind. The front end felt high though, and it stayed feeling high all through the ride. This would be easily remedied as there was a decent spacer stack under the stem allowing around 1.5" or 2" of adjustment.
Strange as it may seem, but for a bike that felt too big, I found the bottom bracket lower than I'm used to. Several times I caught the pedals on a root or rock and was surprised by it. I'd think, 'that shouldn't happen there, that really surprised me!', and sometimes I'd utter a little exclamation, something on the lines of: 'Aaarrrgh!'.
Given time I would probably get accustomed to this and adjust my pedal stroke to suit the terrain, someone new to mountain biking may not have the same problems (I would hope not, I strive to be unique!).
After a few moments riding, a clunk from the Manitou Minute forks made it's way into my consciousness, it was loud and it was happening on every bump. Warren informed me that Steve Worland, the editor of some small time bike magazine had it last. Hmmmmm ....
Fiddling with the travel adjuster didn't make the clunk go away, so I got used to it. The fork may not have been winding down properly either, or maybe I was twiddling it the wrong way. Hopefully the noise will have been just been a one-off problem, I'm not familiar with the fork but it would certainly be a warranty issue on a new bike.
Dave noticed I was near the bottom of the rear shock travel whilst climbing on fireroad, so we stopped to check it out. The Manitou Swinger shock didn't have enough air in it but when I tried my Wrenchforce shock pump, it didn't fit the valve. Dave's Specialized pump did, a few strokes and I was sorted. More air made pedalling less bobby but lost out on small bump response. This should just be a matter of fine tuning for rider preference though.
I didn't like the grips, no idea what make they were, but they were too thick for me, especially in the middle. This made reaching for the brakes a bit more difficult but lever reach is easy to adjust. It was my fault they felt hard to use, I didn't fancy spending the time in the pouring rain fettling with the bike to get it 'just so'. The Shimano brakes squealed a bit, but it was a tad wet ( read: 'it was bucketing down and the puddles were extremely deep'), so a bit of screeching is to be expected.
Speaking of brakes, they were in continental set up, i.e. front on left and back on right! I really believed I was going to kill myself on this ride but it wasn't too much of an issue after all, which was nice!
The 2Danger saddle was good for the duration of the ride, comfortable enough to sit on (as is my wont) and it didn't cause any blisters like SDG saddles do (for my bum anyway), but it did start to make the back of my thighs ache on long fireroad climbs.
Shimano XT rear mech and shifters were rapid rise, again something I was not used to. They caused spontaneous ejaculation of expletives when I wanted to climb quickly but suddenly found myself riding through treacle. I must add there are no treacle pits on the Penhydd trail, so there is no point in looking, it was just me cocking up the gear changes. The treacle is just a metaphor for how it feels when changing to a higher gear than you expect to be in.
I'd never used the Continental Vertical tyres before and wasn't looking forward to them in the wet slippy conditions the trail would present us with, but they surprised me with their capabilities. A few times on the trail the front slipped out occasionally, however, they performed much better then I expected.
aj posing with 2Danger Enduro 3 MTB
All in all, I was impressed, the bike climbed well with only a bit of obvious bob on the fireroads. Proper technique would help but I think I lost mine down the back of the sofa. The front could be lifted easily over trail obstacles despite it feeling too long, and the rear soaked up the hard bumps well. Again, a bit of tinkering (and I do like to tinker) would probably sort out the lack of rear shock response on small bumps.
Personally, I'd change the grips, I'd cut the bar down a bit narrower and I'd use different tyres. With a smaller bike I may not need to drop the stem height. The bike felt a bit heavier than my 30lb Marin, though not by much. It was slower steering but that would suit someone relatively new to riding and can be easily and cheaply tweaked.
So despite being too big, having a clonky fork and crap grips, I think this is a great bike for the price. There is no need for expensive upgrades until you need or want them, and the frame is capable of doing what it was intended for, riding up and down mountains, though riding it in sunshine would be much nicer.
I thank you.
andrewjoseph
9-3-06
Pictures: Copyright Warren Tranter 2006
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