Colleague of mine looking at mountain bikes - wants a bike mainly to access otherwise inaccessible Munros.
Has been to EBC in Cannonmills and looking at a 29er from Whyte.
What do people recommend?
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Bike advice...
(13 posts)- Started 8 years ago by SRD
- Latest reply from cb
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Posted 8 years ago #
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Never ridden a 29er, but would the slightly larger wheels be a hindrance given his specific Munro based requirements??
That may be a nonsense supposition of course..........
Posted 8 years ago # -
" Never ridden a 29er, but would the slightly larger wheels be a hindrance given his specific Munro based requirements??"
Depends how it is intended to be used. If, to ride along long, rough, but otherwise well constructed tracks, I'd have thought a 29er would be great, although I too haven't ridden one, but plan to get something like it for the same reason. If, to actually take it onto the hills themselves, please try not to!
Posted 8 years ago # -
I have used a mountain bike to get through Rothiemurchus before walking to the Chalamain Gap. The resulting mechanical problems led my LBS person to suggest I spend more than £200 if I wanted a bike that would survive in an actual mountain setting.
For Munro bagging it would be the ideal way to shorten Glen Tilt, the long walk in to Ben Alder etc. But you could use a road bike to access hill walks as an alternative to driving rather than walking.Posted 8 years ago # -
What little mountain biking I've done to reduce Munro walk-ins has been on various 26" wheeled machines (including my £200 bottom-of-the-range job from Alpine Bikes). Assuming Land Rover tracks and from what Boyfriend of Fimm has said, yes a 29er is probably the right option.
There's a gentleman in the mountaineering club who must be approaching 70 who has tales of using bikes to access hills when a bike was a bike was a bike - I get the impression there were one or two hairy moments!
Posted 8 years ago # -
"one or two hairy moments"
Far back enough to involve steel rims?
Posted 8 years ago # -
Just a reminder that 29er is 700c - like a racer/tourer with fatter tyres (frame with suitable clearance).
Regarded by some as 'marketing', though larger wheels have some advantages.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Far back enough to involve steel rims?
@wingpig probably!Posted 8 years ago # -
I'd suggest that the wheel size and so on is not the most important thing. What matters is does he find it comfortable, easy to ride and can he maintain the odd bits that he needs to (like fixing a puncture or adjusting brakes). Salesman will try to sell the best bike he can but your average user is not going to be squeezing every last drop out of the bike. 29er wheels can be good if you are rolling on rough terrain, smaller wheels better if you want a smaller turning circle.
Posted 8 years ago # -
I was trying to sell him on a gravel bike - would suit his hipster style better, I think.
Posted 8 years ago # -
CDF, cover most bases. Kaffenback might be good too, I think it can take pretty wide tyres.
Posted 8 years ago # -
I bought a Whyte Caledonian, which they market as an "all terrain" bike, might be worth a look at this or similar.
I'd never liked the idea of a hybrid but this seems to get the balance right - though that could just be me getting older. I did put some wider (45mm) knobblies on though.
Posted 8 years ago # -
I've combined cycling into lots of hill walking days. Mainly on a very dilapidated 20 year old mountain bike.
That's fine for most Land Rover tracks and plenty of other paths.Once the cycling is getting to hard you're probably better off leaving it and walking. However, in saying that, it's often worthwhile doing a bit of pushing on the way in as it's usually downhill and therefore a freewheel on the way out again.
After a day on the hills, whizzing back down to, say, the Linn of Dee at 20 mph past exhausted hill walkers is a good feeling!
It's good to get beyond the mind-set of just treating the bike as a way to eat up the miles on the long approaches and seeing the opportunities to open up new routes. Maybe approach a group of hills from 'the back' or up a more interesting ridge etc.
Suddenly you can combine hills in ways that you would never have thought of before.
Another consideration is having to leave the bike unattended, albeit in a remote location. I usually try and leave it out of site of the path (can be remarkable tricky sometimes) with a lock through the wheel, but you often see a bike lent against a pathside boulder.
How is the bike going to be transported? In the boot of a car has many advantages if there is space so perhaps that could have a bit of a bearing on chosen wheel size.
I've heard of people swearing by the convenience of a folding Montague MB for that reason.
Posted 8 years ago #
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