Date : 3rd July 2010
Riders : Bish, Grievous Andy
Area : Leith, Holmbury and Abinger
With the Higher Authority permission gained, I am embarking on my self build project! I have been granted a monthly budget, with governance arrangements if I need to go over that!! So with the nod given, I arranged to demo a Dialled Bikes Prince Albert Hardtail, with 140mm travel!
Bish and I met up at 0845 at cliftonville and headed down to Head for the Hills. Whilst I was picking up the Prince Albert, Bish decided to take out the Alpine and give that a go!! We headed off on our “new” bikes, out to Milton Heath, to take the road behind Westcott and up to Leith via Squires farm. Both us us were immediately struck by how squeaky our front brakes were.... which unfortunately stayed with us for the whole of the ride.
The first thing I noticed was how bouncy the rear end was – it's been a while since I've been on a hardtail! But also how light the bike was – easy to control and fun to through around! We headed straight up to the bomb holes, past deliverance and on to the tower. The climb to the tower was fast – due to the lightness of the bike, and I found it remarkably easy! We didn't stop and instead headed off to the play area on the other side of Leith. We sessioned this area a number of times, trying out the drop and the nice kicker with both bikes. I found the jumps much easier with the hardtail and the bike just seemed to glide....
After a little while, we headed off towards the quarry, disappointed that the the large rock pile had disappeared!! We rode through the quarry and bombed down through High Ashes farm. Half way along the bridle way, my chain snapped, so we needed to take a forced break to fix it. Chain repaired, we headed off to Holmbury, guiding some South African contingent back towards Leith, as we went.
We headed to the summit to look at the fantastic sunny, if a little hazy view, and then blasted down yoghurt pots, racing past a group tentatively waiting at the entrance. Yoghurt pots caned, we headed on down towards the Volunteer pub and then up over the back fields towards Abinger Roughs. A smooth squeaky brakes ride back towards Dorking.
Stopping in a field to hoist our bikes over a gate we decided to photo them for prosperity! It was only then that I realised the forks were Fox Talas and set to 100mm travel, instead of 140mm – D'Oh. Adjusting them to 140mm immediately changed the ride position (for the better!!), and I only had a mile back to the shop! Bugger!!!
The Prince Albert
The AlpineSo aside of the error with the fork travel setting, the ride overall was very successful, and roll on the Prince Albert purchase......
