First Ride – Easter Sunday 1st April 2018.
Decided to run the bike and myself in gently. Roadwork over to the Longdendale trail in Hadfield. Then up the trail to it’s end at the Woodhead Pass, cross the road and climb into the tops for a fast descent over mixed, wet (streams) terrain. Some singletrack crossing the resevoirs and then back down the trail and roadwork home. All with a tasty -3 wind-chill that showed itself as a headwind more often than I liked!
This gave chance to get a feel for the bike on road (with forks locked out) and off road over rough, rocky technical terrain. Points from the first ride:
The remote (bar) lock out works well. Rigid enough (not 100% so handy when you forget they are locked) so fine for road/ hard trail work. Gears shift well and hydro brakes have plenty of stopping power. I’ve always preferred Shimano over brands like Sram and Hope as Shimano just work with no fuss. Weight wise the bike felt fine and climbed well as expected. I missed the Mondrakers dropper post on the descents, so I might end up fitting a dropper. I was a bit Rusty (and slow!) on the descents but the bike turned quickly. It changed direction with no fuss and felt stable which bodes really well. The Schwalbe tyres were good enough grip wise (it was gloopy in places) so they will be spot on as it dries out. I’ve a Maxxis High Roller II I can fit if needs be, but I think the Schwalbe will be fine.
Before the next ride out I’ll have a look at suspension as I was only using about 30% travel which isn’t enough. I’ll have a fettle.
According to Garmin the ride was just under 19 miles, max speed 29mph, with 2,500 feet of climbing. A nice steady intro for the bike … and the rider who needs at least another month or two of training under his belt!!
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Claud Butler Cape Wrath 2018.
After a lengthy sabbatical the blog is back for 2018. First product to review is a new 2018 Claud Butler Cape Wrath supplied by Tandem Group Cycles.
The bike was delivered to our favourite local bike dealer High Peak Cycles of Glossop who have done a sterling job of building the bike and setting it up ready to ride.
Spec wise we have Rockshock front forks with remote lockout, 27 speed Shimano Alivio, rapidfire plus and shimano hydraulic discs. The frame size is 19″ with 650b (27.5″) wheels booted with Schwalbe Smart Sam tyres. There are some nice touches with matching anodised lock on grips and skewers. This all comes in at a competative £699.99 RRP price point.
The plan is to get the bike out into the Peaks and see how it rides around the local technical and demanding routes. Watch this space!
The Angry Biker 