Pointers and Suppliers - New to MTB, ex Roadie
Discussion
Hi,
I used to do quite a lot of road cycling around 10 years ago and was at a decent level of fitness, did a few sportives and local events and stuff, however a career change, house purchase and renovation and a child has well and truly mixed things up and I haven't done and proper cycling for years now. I've got a turbo trainer that I've used sporadically at home but it's no substitute for the real thing. I'm in a much more urban location now compared to when I used to road cycle, and traffic is very different so I've got no interest in going back to that, and I've got a 5 year old who's about ready to start cycling properly also so I think where I'm at is a MTB type sitch for hybrid riding and trail stuff.
Years back I used to buy gear off Chain Reaction Cycles, I see they're still going, is there any other suppliers that are worth a look these days? If I can use Blue Light Card with them that's a bonus too.
If there's any really good resources for MTB building etc as well, YouTube and the like that would be really welcome, I've bought myself a Boardman MTB I'm picking up tomorrow, I'm going to build it myself, first bike build but I'm handy with spanners generally so I'm not going into it completely blind. Gone with a reasonably cheap Boardman MTB simply because I got on well with my Boardman Roadie and for the money it looks like a decent place to start and get back into things.
I used to do quite a lot of road cycling around 10 years ago and was at a decent level of fitness, did a few sportives and local events and stuff, however a career change, house purchase and renovation and a child has well and truly mixed things up and I haven't done and proper cycling for years now. I've got a turbo trainer that I've used sporadically at home but it's no substitute for the real thing. I'm in a much more urban location now compared to when I used to road cycle, and traffic is very different so I've got no interest in going back to that, and I've got a 5 year old who's about ready to start cycling properly also so I think where I'm at is a MTB type sitch for hybrid riding and trail stuff.
Years back I used to buy gear off Chain Reaction Cycles, I see they're still going, is there any other suppliers that are worth a look these days? If I can use Blue Light Card with them that's a bonus too.
If there's any really good resources for MTB building etc as well, YouTube and the like that would be really welcome, I've bought myself a Boardman MTB I'm picking up tomorrow, I'm going to build it myself, first bike build but I'm handy with spanners generally so I'm not going into it completely blind. Gone with a reasonably cheap Boardman MTB simply because I got on well with my Boardman Roadie and for the money it looks like a decent place to start and get back into things.
Chain Reaction had a fairly high profile collapse a few months back and I believe the brand was bought over by Frasers Group / Mike Ashley of Sports Direct fame. The name lives on but a few brands have been dropped and prices seem varied. I've learned that as with a lot of stuff online, there's a huge variety of options and prices can vary hugely between suppliers... and lately, some of the local bike shops seems to be realigning their prices to better compete with online retails so I try and support the local guys first.
As for building, YouTube... seems obvious but I don't think there's a topic out there that somebody hasn't covered already but again I suppose it depends what you're looking to do? Boardman bikes, I've not had any issues... I've had an old FS MTB by them for a few years and it's a perfectly acceptable bike for the price point and what I was doing, but as with all aspects of MTB, there's so many different avenues to take that it's rarely a one size fits all so again it really comes down your specific needs.
I took some time away when my kids were first born too, then life gets in the way and you suddenly realise that not only is time more precious but you now have "responsibilities" thus being returned home from a ride with various broken bits is generally frowned upon by the other half. It wasn't so much my fitness that suffered but more so my mentality... I because vary cautious, which maybe no bad thing as I'm not made of rubber and magic anymore however it really had a detrimental effect on my riding, I just wasn't enjoying it and it was a bit of a vicious circle down, fitness dropped, ability dropped, mindset dropped and each and all effected each other.
Hate to be that guy but eBike... absolute game changer for me, has made such a positive impact and as a result that vicious circle downwards has been flipped on its head and now each aspect, positively impacts the other. Other huge benefit which I hadn't anticipated initially was the difference it's made to my little boys riding, we're no longer walking up fire roads for miles, pushing bikes just to get one ok run down as we're both exhausted and fed up. Hook him up with a kinetic tow strap and it suddenly becomes much more fun and more fun is not cheating in my eyes!
As for building, YouTube... seems obvious but I don't think there's a topic out there that somebody hasn't covered already but again I suppose it depends what you're looking to do? Boardman bikes, I've not had any issues... I've had an old FS MTB by them for a few years and it's a perfectly acceptable bike for the price point and what I was doing, but as with all aspects of MTB, there's so many different avenues to take that it's rarely a one size fits all so again it really comes down your specific needs.
I took some time away when my kids were first born too, then life gets in the way and you suddenly realise that not only is time more precious but you now have "responsibilities" thus being returned home from a ride with various broken bits is generally frowned upon by the other half. It wasn't so much my fitness that suffered but more so my mentality... I because vary cautious, which maybe no bad thing as I'm not made of rubber and magic anymore however it really had a detrimental effect on my riding, I just wasn't enjoying it and it was a bit of a vicious circle down, fitness dropped, ability dropped, mindset dropped and each and all effected each other.
Hate to be that guy but eBike... absolute game changer for me, has made such a positive impact and as a result that vicious circle downwards has been flipped on its head and now each aspect, positively impacts the other. Other huge benefit which I hadn't anticipated initially was the difference it's made to my little boys riding, we're no longer walking up fire roads for miles, pushing bikes just to get one ok run down as we're both exhausted and fed up. Hook him up with a kinetic tow strap and it suddenly becomes much more fun and more fun is not cheating in my eyes!
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff