Cycling

[JimStynes]

Cheers. I'm not looking to do anything serious with jumps and that sort of stuff. Just the trails and plenty of climbs! Budget probably between £500-700. The wife will kill me.

[grounded]

Cheers. I'm not looking to do anything serious with jumps and that sort of stuff. Just the trails and plenty of climbs! Budget probably between £500-700. The wife will kill me.
[/quote 

You are probably looking at a hard tail then, though Halford's do à full suspension boardman for 1000 but if you look out for promotions etc you could pick up a lot cheaper. A friend managed to get one for 650 new. A lot of the lads run hard tails around Rostrevor with no bother provided you stay away from drops. If it's climbing your after Rostrevor is great. Lots of very steep fire roads along with the trails and open mountain as well. Pick up a cheap cree light on amazon and there's your winter training. It beats the turbo in my opinion

[illdecide]

Cheers. I'm not looking to do anything serious with jumps and that sort of stuff. Just the trails and plenty of climbs! Budget probably between £500-700. The wife will kill me.

I hope you're not looking to do anything too serious on this run this morning

[JimStynes]

Good spin around the lough today with illdecide. No bother to him at all! Only thing is he turned up to mine to do 80 mile with one water bottle. I had to give him all my food and gels to get him home. And he didn't even pay for the coffees. Typical Lurgan man.

[haranguerer]

Anyone done the Etape Mournes? I've been out for a while and just back on the bike recently, but tempted, tho fear it may be a bridge too far, or too soon at least. Is it very tough?

[illdecide]

Good spin around the lough today with illdecide. No bother to him at all! Only thing is he turned up to mine to do 80 mile with one water bottle. I had to give him all my food and gels to get him home. And he didn't even pay for the coffees. Typical Lurgan man.

We're made of sterner stuff in Lurgan.  1 bottle of water is plenty for any man. That's why I'm ripped and your carrying a few pounds...okay in fairness I do owe u a treat and I'll see you right when I get my new glasses 👓.  Def my treat next time...promise.

[JimStynes]

Good spin around the lough today with illdecide. No bother to him at all! Only thing is he turned up to mine to do 80 mile with one water bottle. I had to give him all my food and gels to get him home. And he didn't even pay for the coffees. Typical Lurgan man.

We're made of sterner stuff in Lurgan.  1 bottle of water is plenty for any man. That's why I'm ripped and your carrying a few pounds...okay in fairness I do owe u a treat and I'll see you right when I get my new glasses 👓.  Def my treat next time...promise.

I'll be up to cafollas for a free ice cream off that lovely girl who works behind the counter!

[grounded]

Anyone done the Etape Mournes? I've been out for a while and just back on the bike recently, but tempted, tho fear it may be a bridge too far, or too soon at least. Is it very tough?

They've shortened to route to 101km this year(starting and finishing in hilltown). Looks a tough enough run. The main climbs around spelga are fairly long and apart from the' spelga s ' approach not extremely steep. The road surfaces (apart from the newtown road from Rostrevor to Hilltown) are all fairly good as well. The only problem will be the weather because if its wet at all, your guaranteed to get soaked at the top of Spelga. If you a reasonable level of fitness should be fine.   

[haranguerer]

Cheers grounded. I was going to give it a lash, but I've just remembered I've a wedding on Friday so that puts paid to that...

[JimStynes]

Cheers. I'm not looking to do anything serious with jumps and that sort of stuff. Just the trails and plenty of climbs! Budget probably between £500-700. The wife will kill me.
[/quote 

You are probably looking at a hard tail then, though Halford's do à full suspension boardman for 1000 but if you look out for promotions etc you could pick up a lot cheaper. A friend managed to get one for 650 new. A lot of the lads run hard tails around Rostrevor with no bother provided you stay away from drops. If it's climbing your after Rostrevor is great. Lots of very steep fire roads along with the trails and open mountain as well. Pick up a cheap cree light on amazon and there's your winter training. It beats the turbo in my opinion

With a bit of reading I have found that I am looking at a hard tail, 29inch wheels, Shimano SLX or XT groupset.... Anything else I should be looking for?
I will be heading out on weekends but I will still be looking to use a turbo during the week as well! Boring but hard to beat the benefits of the turbo.
http://www.mcconveycycles.com/store/product/18881/Specialized-Crave-Expert-2014-Large/
This seems to have a mix of groupsets on it?

[grounded]

Cheers. I'm not looking to do anything serious with jumps and that sort of stuff. Just the trails and plenty of climbs! Budget probably between £500-700. The wife will kill me.
[/quote 

You are probably looking at a hard tail then, though Halford's do à full suspension boardman for 1000 but if you look out for promotions etc you could pick up a lot cheaper. A friend managed to get one for 650 new. A lot of the lads run hard tails around Rostrevor with no bother provided you stay away from drops. If it's climbing your after Rostrevor is great. Lots of very steep fire roads along with the trails and open mountain as well. Pick up a cheap cree light on amazon and there's your winter training. It beats the turbo in my opinion

With a bit of reading I have found that I am looking at a hard tail, 29inch wheels, Shimano SLX or XT groupset.... Anything else I should be looking for?
I will be heading out on weekends but I will still be looking to use a turbo during the week as well! Boring but hard to beat the benefits of the turbo.
http://www.mcconveycycles.com/store/product/18881/Specialized-Crave-Expert-2014-Large/
This seems to have a mix of groupsets on it?

That's actually a cracking bike Jim at an excellent price. It has a mix of components but they are all of good quality and will work seamlessly. The front fork has a remote lockout which as also a nice feature as you can stiffen/soften the suspension on the fly.
      The bike won't come with pedals so I assume you will need a spd cleats/pedals? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shimano-Speed-Sided-Mechanism-Pedals/dp/B000KC3Y0G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440020308&sr=8-1&keywords=spd+pedals
      Set of mudguards, bottle cage, saddle bag, pump etc. 

Have you been on any of the trails yet?

[JimStynes]

No trails. Total novice with MTBs. Going to keep looking around and see what there is about. Some good deals should be coming in now with 2015 bikes as the new 2016 stuff is starting to appear on websites and in shops. I don't want to spend a complete fortune as I would rather spend money on upgrading my road bike. I'll maybe get a lend of a mountain bike and take a spin around the trails and see if I like it first. I like the idea of the climbing involved and the bike handling skills needed that would then help me for the road.

[grounded]

No trails. Total novice with MTBs. Going to keep looking around and see what there is about. Some good deals should be coming in now with 2015 bikes as the new 2016 stuff is starting to appear on websites and in shops. I don't want to spend a complete fortune as I would rather spend money on upgrading my road bike. I'll maybe get a lend of a mountain bike and take a spin around the trails and see if I like it first. I like the idea of the climbing involved and the bike handling skills needed that would then help me for the road.

Borrowing a bike and taking it for a spin around the trails would be a smart idea. You can even rent one in Rostrevor not sure about Castlewellan for £20 for day I think. Its only When you hit the trails themselves,  that you will realise the abuse the bikes have to take. I started back again on the mtb about 3 years ago and only got into road again more recently so I came at it the opposite way from you. Even being clipped in while on the trails can be daunting at first until you get the skills up. Buying a bike is the same principle for both. Buy the best you can afford so u don't have to upgrade. I'm on my 3rd bike now. 26 front suspension, 29 front suspension and finally 29 full suspension and that's hopefully it. When u are looking look for a shimano deore or upwards and rockshox Reba suspension. If you get bitten by the bug then hopefully unlike me you don't have to buy again.

If you like climbing then u are set. There are a number of differences. For instance your cadence will be totally different  from the road as you are constantly slowing/speeding up on trails. It will Def help with handling as well on the road. What I have found though is that you tend to lose a bit of flat out speed on the road but you can climb for Ireland if that makes sense!

[grounded]

Coincidentally lidl are doing cycle gear on Monday I think.

[maddog]

Thoughts for the Vuelta lads ?

Hard to know the form of any of them coming out of the Tour. I would have expected Quintana to win this but the 39km time trial towards the end puts me off him a bit. Could lose 2mins to Froome in that. Lots of new summit finishes. I'd expect Aru to go well on the basis of freshness, Van Garderen will be suited by the long TT but not so certain of him on those real steep Vuelta climbs. Sure to be excellent racing. If i was having a bet, Froome to win, van Garderen EW at a big price.