Mountain bike racing

lennymc

Where does one start with mountain bike racing?

I know there are different types - downhill, enduro, xc, but i'm not really sure what the differences are. What kind of bikes do you need (I would assume a downhill bike for downhill )
Anything else you need?

Enduro

An appropriate helmet

A complete lack of self preservation instinct will help enormously

lennymc

I think I have the second. what is an appropriate helmet?

Lemming

Enduro wrote: »

An appropriate helmet

A complete lack of self preservation instinct will help enormously

The lack of self preservation is directly proportional to the amount of downhill involved. Also a sh*t-eating grin when launching oneself down sharp pointy rocky thingies at speed is a bonus. The faster the speed and wider the grin the better. Laughing hysterically like a deranged madman is optional.

On a more serious note, what appeals to you most?

lennymc

I like the technical stuff and I like downhill trails. I did briefly consider it last year, and I think i would like something like enduro. That's the one with timed stages isnt it?

I have a full suspension bike - nothing fancy, but it works ish, so i guess I could try a race on something like that. It, like me, doesnt like going up hills.

So, apart from the bike, what other kind of stuff does one need to take part in an enduro race?

Enduro

For a DH race a Full face helmet and plenty of armour would be recommended. For XC just a standard helmet is fine for almost everybody. For Enduro I personally would be more inclined to the DH end of equipment, as it effectively a series of timed sub-DH sections with plenty of time to cycle between them if you're in any way fit at all.

Give them all a go and see what you like! If you're coming from a road background then XC is likely to be the easiest to start with, and also where general fitness will be most advantagous. But if you really really prefer DH trails and want a bigger emphasis on technical challenge rather than fitness then the other 2 would be more appropriate (Not saying that fitness isn't required for the others... top end DH and Enduro racers are fit as feck).

TheBlaaMan

I was considering this one upon a time. Then, the next time I was on the trails in Ballyhoura, a "fast" guy came thru and overtook me going.....well, fast.

I no longer have the yearning to go downhill racing

Yanu

I have never raced yet but I will start pretty soon, mostly as a way to meet people though. I think that having to go too fast will probably take the fun out of mountain bike for me… I'm very competitive and nowhere near as fast as the others I have met on the trails already.

Anyway.. I think the first step is to choose a mtb club and join through cycling ireland. From their website you'll be able to choose different options for your membership depending on what type of racing you are thinking of doing. Once that's done, they will send you a little booklet with all the races for the upcoming year. You can't race without being a member

Hope this help

I'm 40 and not at all fearless…. I don't think the downhill will suit me. I will do a few xc races and will see about the enduros.

iwillhtfu

Not much use to you now but you just missed some nice beginner friendly races.

http://www.bikingblitz.ie/

I'd recommend xc it's a good mix of everything except steep downhills. You'll find the most roadies in xc. Downhill stuff is a case of point downwards,remove brain, go hell for leather and when you fall do it in style. Those lads are fearless possibly clinically insane in some cases.

Just a little Samba

Anyone thinking of giving enduro a bad as h should head to Bike park Ireland for a day or two. Their enduro loop is fun and gives you q decent idea of what a stage feels like. Plenty of nice DH runs for giggles too.

lennymc

where is bike park Just a little Samba?

mtb nut

Fairymount farm. Google it and loads comes up. It's in offaly, about hour and half from Dublin. Dh racing is fun but quite testing if going fast. Just competing is fun, being competitive is a different level of speed which can end in disaster if you don't have the right gear or level of skil. But to just race is fun, as most courses will have easy routes around jumps and hazards. Practice is always a good start and find what pace your comfortable with and go from there.

DKO

Lenny, XC is like CX, full on for an hours racing. But climbs can be short like CX or longer depending on course. Technically they can vary from easy fast like lady dixon park (very similar to CX race course) to more techy, but nothing crazy - no drops more than a foot or two - roots and mud/slop can make conditions tougher. Its good for family guys are there are under age races also. Licence required, but full road licence does the trick. Entry costs about same as road race. Mood is more 'focused', like CX race. Weekly midweek club races run by clubs from April to August. Cuchulainn might be closest to you - I think they have a league in Bellurgan, but also Epic and IMBRC... great crack... again 1 hour race... Tuesday and Thursday and free. 5 NPS races starting in one month. Marathon XC races also later in Summer... Cooley Thriller is a mighty day out.

I have never raced Enduro, but its a full day thing I think. Going to take hours to complete, costs Euro60 per race, bikes have gone out to long travel 160mm all sorts of gear.... though you can ride it on a short travel bike (100mm XC bike) with standard road kit and should be OK. But it is a rip it up downhill thing so if you go mental and fly down the routes and lose it???? Big turnouts, loads of competition, great social aspect. A series of 5 or so races also (?) ... a bigger scene than XC, as more 'accessible' in terms of fitness and level - the elite guys are deadly and can do it all, but then there is more scope for the less fit guys.

But I think downhill might be for you ;-) .... I on the other hand am too old and brittle for it....

In terms of bike downhill is the only one that really needs a specific bike cause its nuts. You can Enduro on an XC bike (just wont be as agressive unless you are an aforementioend deadly Enduro head) and you can XC race on an Enduro bike (if you dont mind being slow on the climbs and)... you can get an in between trail bike which does it all.... and if you have the legs or ability it wont matter.

I like XC as I like the 1 hour duration and I am not the bravest or very good on steeper techy ground, I can get down it, but I like to make sure I do so in one piece. I can ride the Enduro tracks anytime in my own time. But I understand that the Enduro buzz is deadly and far play to the organisers for doing a brilliant job in developing the scene here. If I was younger and had more time I think I'd ive it a go... but a little road, XC and CX does it for me.

Best of luck with the venture into MTB.

One thing is that you are not likely to get taken out in a bunch crash in any of the above, or hit by a car, but you won't be sitting in the wheels either ;-) Not that you'd be doing that anyway.... maybe...

Ger.O.Mahony

Get yourself a set of knee pads..

Just a little Samba

lennymc wrote: »

where is bike park Just a little Samba?

This place: http://www.bikeparkireland.ie/

They even do rentals so you could try an all-mountain (endruo) bike, a DH bike and a Hardtail and see whcih style you like best.

lennymc

thanks for all that info guys!

Quick question - Would a cx bike with fat tyres (45mm) and flat bars be suitable for racing xc - I had a look at my mtb and it needs a good bit of work to get up to any standard. The alternative would be buy a new bike.....

edit - something like this

Peterx

Not really. I think you would get around the course but it would be very uncomfortable, very rough and you would be very liable to fall off.
I think someone put it very well the last time this came up with possibly an analogy involving sandpaper and underpants?


If you want to do a test you could cycle the Coillte trails in Ticknock on your CX bike and then (If you are a medium) you can borrow either a Cannondale Rush fullsus XC or a Giant XTC hardtail from me and try the trails again.
DKO might oblige if you are a large?

edit - like DKO said on page 1 - for a fit roadie XC is possibly the most rewarding intro into MTB, the skills required to complete the course in a reasonable time are less and your fitness is directly useful on the climbs.

lennymc

thanks for that peterx. I might take you up on your offer.

Peterx

No worries. A lap of Ticknock is good craic.

lennymc

I'll build up the cross check and get tyres and will give you a shout to see when suits you so.

Peterx

Grand, if you wanna just try the two bikes and not bother with the CX bike that's cool too.

Scrappy600

I've raced both downhill and enduro, both are brilliant but for very different reasons, downhill is full on mayhem, uplifts, jumps, crowds of people heckling you watching on the corners while your heart is ready to explode from the adrenaline and your legs are ready to seize from standing up out of the saddle flat out down a whole mountain. You need to be a certain person to do it, it's not for the faint hearted. You can get away with a bit of ability glossing over a lack of fitness to a degree.

Enduro is a different animal altogether. You're effectively climbing up and coming back down a mountain 5-6 times within a day, if you don't have the fitness and the legs to get you to the top then you won't be able to get the body to work coming back down. Stage 5 of douce enduro in 13 was a killer I couldn't move the fingers in my left hand to use the rear brake I had so much arm pump from feathering them down that steep stage, got to the point where I had to brake with the front as it was all I could use, and braking with the front hard on steep stuff is no fun when you're fresh never mind when you're knackered!

I'd be wary of when someone says they want to go racing and don't know where to start and have a full suspension bike, technically you can buy a full sus in halfords that doesn't mean you can race it though. Disc brakes are a must (hydraulic), decent tyres that will grip on roots and I wouldn't do enduro with less than 150mm travel tbh

You can however use a good enduro bike for downhill racing in Ireland as our tracks here aren't that steep to require a dedicated dh bike, in fact at the dh champs in b.p.i most of the elite riders used enduro bikes.

World dh champs in Pietermaritzburg last year many of them were riding enduro bikes also.

Tomred13

Hi Lennymc


Great advice here already. The first nps series race is in djouce woods in two weeks time. its a fab course thats more technical than climbing, you would be well able for s4 . As for a bike why not rent a hardtail off niall from biking.ie in ballinastoe trail centre thats only 1 mile down the road from the djouce course.

Dermot

sconhome

Might be worth a trip this weekend

Roguee

Why not head up to gravity enduro rd1 in ticknock this weekend for a watch? get an idea of enduro and see if its for you!

xxyyzz

Don't get the impression that XC is not technical because depending on the course, it can be very technical. It's not downhill difficult but when you factor in that you are riding an unforgiving 100mm hardtail with the saddle stuck up your arse and your eyeballs are hanging out of your head from the climbs and the pace then everything becomes a lot more difficult. Usually the start is a mass sprint to get into the singletrack first. It can be brutal.

Viper_JB

The biking blitz is over, ran all the stages this year, great craic and great way to see the country highly considering this though, starting the 19th of this month, there's a beginners category so would be a good place to start, all XC racing but XC is really fun I find anyways.

On the enduro stuff, it's pretty technical and fast I would want to have some XC experience or off road race experience before entering and preferably a FS enduro bike with like 160 mill travel or there abouts.