carlbiker
🛡️🚵🛡️
Even in a video game it’s rare a noob buys level 50 gear instead of levelling up and being allowed better gear as he progresses but it’s just dawned on me I won’t be far off owning decent level gear, a 4.5k Orbea Wild and multiple other expensive things yet I’ve not ridden a bike in almost 25 years! Wtaf Is this noob doing??
I tend to throw my boundless enthusiasm at things often, that turn into a fad but this ’hobby’ has really ticked a lot of boxes for me, it’s just great fun and opens life up to many adventures ahead....in this Covid ’life draining‘ reality it’ amazes me that every time I venture to Leeds urban bike park people are so friendly that you just find yourself building relations effortlessly, I love that!
For many months I had been looking for an electric bike but everywhere was always sold out! Eventually I saw on the forum a shop in Halifax called cycle gear which on the website they too were sold out! Not to be deterred I swiftly called them up and explained that I was looking for a bike that was useful for both riding on the roads and maybe the odd bit of off road. I was told there was some cube bikes, some were step through and some had the bar going through the middle but the great thing was they were the 2020 model which were selling from £1650! I was then presented with the Kathmandu 625 bike which I was told was much better bike and I end up buying this one plus to get through the firewall I decided to also buy my better half her own hybrid bike for £650!
Fast forward a couple of weeks and I’ve taken the back of the bike out for a couple of 20 km bike rides then I realised nearly getting hit by white man vans Isn’t the future so I decided to go down to the local woods which happened to be Middleton Park. At Middleton Park it turns out that there is also the substantial Leeds Urban bike park! Now I must admit that I did know there was some sort of park up there but presumed it was a little cute BMX track for kids, I was very wrong!
Instead it turns out that there is a ton of different blue and red practice lines to build the skills on before tackling the actual red or black trails! There’s even a pump track and a kind of BMX circuit then some jump lines too.....
Instead of having any practice I tried my hand at the red trail right away, equipped with pannier bags still sitting on the rear and off I went....things were kind of going okay, up until the last section that gives you 4 options, all being sharp descents! In the line of impending doomage were a hubby/wife (that’s not a human hybrid btw, I know it is Leeds but....) her friend and 2 little kids and all were hesitant....this was until I mustered ”pah I’ve never done this before either but shall I go first It doesn’t look so bad” Now turns out the lady has a pair of balls on her (again this isn’t technically true) and it just spurred her on, then her mate and the kids took one look at each other and off they went then it was my turn! Suddenly I realised I haven’t a feckin clue what I’m doing, why can’t I balance on the bike whilst I’m at 45 degrees whilst still on the decent for example kind of thing...then oh dear the bike starts to skid down even with my hands forcing the brakes on! Then, 2 options, jump off the bike and run away somewhere as everyone is watching or release the brake and accept whats coming! So I picked RELEASE then boom, felt like I hit the sound barrier and then I started to wonder when I’m about to face plant; somehow I didn’t! My weight was over my front wheel, I used my front brake, it’s a miracle I didn’t fly! My hearts reached crazy bpm....I’m alive!
Next day I wake up, my first though of the day, I want to do this again!! Can’t make it up. Thankfully I’ve matured slightly so Im practicing before doing it again, I feel already in a week my skills have grown (to at least level 2 as I now know one can move ones bottom and organise the Center line of GRAVITY! ?).
I‘ve setup a Facebook and WhatsApp group for the Leeds urban bike park and if anybody here happens to be local to the area then send me a PM and I’ll get you added, don’t worry there are already people inside there that actually know what they’re doing!
Now back onto the gear!
So I called the bike shop back and explain what just happened and that I felt the bike wasn’t really right for proper mountain biking and perhaps this just isn’t the right bike going forward! Kindly, they also agreed and allowed me to take the bike back and then exchange for another. After much deliberation I opted for the lessor specced Orbea Wild H30 instead of the amazingly valued cube stereo 160. Both were valued at £4.5K but I paid £3.7k in the end. Interestingly my other half said that she felt £650 was a lot of money for her bike and that I could return it and then maybe look to get her something else for £200 second hand down the line.....I shit you not!
In terms of making the final choice I decided to start asking bike mechanics and some of the shops for advice and the mechanics tended to say the cubes are just accidents waiting to happen (I still pine for the Zeb fork though!) and the geometries is better on the Wild plus I also worked out the cube parts to replace would cost 25% more so I opted for the cheaper option going forward since I’ll be causing noob damage early on And probably go crazy and buy a Levo later on!
Spend to date:
Sleep lost researching - 100hrs
Orbea Wild H30 - £3789
Kiox display upgrade - £220
Tubeless tyre gunk fill - £20
Racer Pro Motion top 2 - £179
Multi tool kit - £15
Giro Tyrant helmet - £102
Troy Lee 7605 shorts - £79
zefal 95293 mirror! - £10
Xiaomi Mi band 5 - £34
Supertrip glasses - £15
Aftershokz Aeropex headphones £150
Iphone holder - £15
Girly padded seat - returned!
Kryptonite/Halfords/locks £100
Pump - £12
Saddle bag tool kit - £12
Bike wrap (already been roasted for this) £150
Apple Watch 5 Nike version - £509
Cleankit - £25
Karcher k2 jet wash - £89
Total so far: £5525.........OMG so here is my point, it’s a heroic effort that I really can’t justify so I’ll either look great and make a total tit of myself soon or just be off to a head start!
Knee pads TBC
Shin guards TBC
Razar evolution helmet TBC
Demon body armour TBC
So I’ve had the bike in my possession for under 2 weeks now, half of that was waiting for the wrap to be done, glad I did that. Feels like an obscene amount of money to spend on trying to hurt ones self before even knowing if this is something I’m going to love....but so far I really do and have visions of helping a local group getting out there on challenging trails and seeing some amazing sites! One thing I do know is when your out there on the bike then the fun starts and it’s some much needed escapism!
I’ll continue to update my noob tale as I try to level up or get broken, whichever comes first!
I tend to throw my boundless enthusiasm at things often, that turn into a fad but this ’hobby’ has really ticked a lot of boxes for me, it’s just great fun and opens life up to many adventures ahead....in this Covid ’life draining‘ reality it’ amazes me that every time I venture to Leeds urban bike park people are so friendly that you just find yourself building relations effortlessly, I love that!
For many months I had been looking for an electric bike but everywhere was always sold out! Eventually I saw on the forum a shop in Halifax called cycle gear which on the website they too were sold out! Not to be deterred I swiftly called them up and explained that I was looking for a bike that was useful for both riding on the roads and maybe the odd bit of off road. I was told there was some cube bikes, some were step through and some had the bar going through the middle but the great thing was they were the 2020 model which were selling from £1650! I was then presented with the Kathmandu 625 bike which I was told was much better bike and I end up buying this one plus to get through the firewall I decided to also buy my better half her own hybrid bike for £650!
Fast forward a couple of weeks and I’ve taken the back of the bike out for a couple of 20 km bike rides then I realised nearly getting hit by white man vans Isn’t the future so I decided to go down to the local woods which happened to be Middleton Park. At Middleton Park it turns out that there is also the substantial Leeds Urban bike park! Now I must admit that I did know there was some sort of park up there but presumed it was a little cute BMX track for kids, I was very wrong!
Instead it turns out that there is a ton of different blue and red practice lines to build the skills on before tackling the actual red or black trails! There’s even a pump track and a kind of BMX circuit then some jump lines too.....
Instead of having any practice I tried my hand at the red trail right away, equipped with pannier bags still sitting on the rear and off I went....things were kind of going okay, up until the last section that gives you 4 options, all being sharp descents! In the line of impending doomage were a hubby/wife (that’s not a human hybrid btw, I know it is Leeds but....) her friend and 2 little kids and all were hesitant....this was until I mustered ”pah I’ve never done this before either but shall I go first It doesn’t look so bad” Now turns out the lady has a pair of balls on her (again this isn’t technically true) and it just spurred her on, then her mate and the kids took one look at each other and off they went then it was my turn! Suddenly I realised I haven’t a feckin clue what I’m doing, why can’t I balance on the bike whilst I’m at 45 degrees whilst still on the decent for example kind of thing...then oh dear the bike starts to skid down even with my hands forcing the brakes on! Then, 2 options, jump off the bike and run away somewhere as everyone is watching or release the brake and accept whats coming! So I picked RELEASE then boom, felt like I hit the sound barrier and then I started to wonder when I’m about to face plant; somehow I didn’t! My weight was over my front wheel, I used my front brake, it’s a miracle I didn’t fly! My hearts reached crazy bpm....I’m alive!
Next day I wake up, my first though of the day, I want to do this again!! Can’t make it up. Thankfully I’ve matured slightly so Im practicing before doing it again, I feel already in a week my skills have grown (to at least level 2 as I now know one can move ones bottom and organise the Center line of GRAVITY! ?).
I‘ve setup a Facebook and WhatsApp group for the Leeds urban bike park and if anybody here happens to be local to the area then send me a PM and I’ll get you added, don’t worry there are already people inside there that actually know what they’re doing!
Now back onto the gear!
So I called the bike shop back and explain what just happened and that I felt the bike wasn’t really right for proper mountain biking and perhaps this just isn’t the right bike going forward! Kindly, they also agreed and allowed me to take the bike back and then exchange for another. After much deliberation I opted for the lessor specced Orbea Wild H30 instead of the amazingly valued cube stereo 160. Both were valued at £4.5K but I paid £3.7k in the end. Interestingly my other half said that she felt £650 was a lot of money for her bike and that I could return it and then maybe look to get her something else for £200 second hand down the line.....I shit you not!
In terms of making the final choice I decided to start asking bike mechanics and some of the shops for advice and the mechanics tended to say the cubes are just accidents waiting to happen (I still pine for the Zeb fork though!) and the geometries is better on the Wild plus I also worked out the cube parts to replace would cost 25% more so I opted for the cheaper option going forward since I’ll be causing noob damage early on And probably go crazy and buy a Levo later on!
Spend to date:
Sleep lost researching - 100hrs
Orbea Wild H30 - £3789
Kiox display upgrade - £220
Tubeless tyre gunk fill - £20
Racer Pro Motion top 2 - £179
Multi tool kit - £15
Giro Tyrant helmet - £102
Troy Lee 7605 shorts - £79
zefal 95293 mirror! - £10
Xiaomi Mi band 5 - £34
Supertrip glasses - £15
Aftershokz Aeropex headphones £150
Iphone holder - £15
Girly padded seat - returned!
Kryptonite/Halfords/locks £100
Pump - £12
Saddle bag tool kit - £12
Bike wrap (already been roasted for this) £150
Apple Watch 5 Nike version - £509
Cleankit - £25
Karcher k2 jet wash - £89
Total so far: £5525.........OMG so here is my point, it’s a heroic effort that I really can’t justify so I’ll either look great and make a total tit of myself soon or just be off to a head start!
Knee pads TBC
Shin guards TBC
Razar evolution helmet TBC
Demon body armour TBC
So I’ve had the bike in my possession for under 2 weeks now, half of that was waiting for the wrap to be done, glad I did that. Feels like an obscene amount of money to spend on trying to hurt ones self before even knowing if this is something I’m going to love....but so far I really do and have visions of helping a local group getting out there on challenging trails and seeing some amazing sites! One thing I do know is when your out there on the bike then the fun starts and it’s some much needed escapism!
I’ll continue to update my noob tale as I try to level up or get broken, whichever comes first!
