Recommendations for mtb/emtb bells.

[Kev45]

On hilly two-way trails/courses, blue and above, I use a Timber bell, this means I don't have to lift my thumb off the grips when I am trundling down a winding hill speedily. Some riders find them annoying, but you do get used to it, and you can turn them off. In the USA/Canada etc they call other varieties bear bells to warn/scare wildlife you are behind them, a surprised black bear with cubs would almost certainly attack, and that would ruin your ride for sure.

 

[Kev45]

For a 'normal' ride, I use a modern Knog, quality brand but middle of the range pricewise and sturdy and reliable. The Knog also has cable management, so sits nicely on the handlebars without being intrusive. The cheaper Chinese versions/copies are also reliable, but the pitch is not as pleasing on the ear. Pitch is important if you don't want to annoy people you are about to pass, and a shrill pitch most certainly will annoy some.

 

[Kev45]

Q. Which emtb bell do you recommend if an angry bear is chasing me?

A. If you find yourself in a situation where an angry bear is chasing you, the best advice is to prioritize safety rather than relying on a cycle bell or any similar device. Here are some tips on what to do if you encounter an angry bear:

1. Stay calm: Try not to panic. Riding away like Lance Armstrong can trigger the bear's chase instinct.
2. Back Away slowly, using your emtb as a barrier: Do not turn your back on the bear. Instead, back away slowly while stoutly facing the bear.
3. Make yourself look bigger: Raise your emtb, totally ignoring the 25 kilo weight, and open your jacket if possible. Keep your backpack on to appear even larger.
4. Speak firmly: Use a calm, assertive voice to let the bear know you are human and not prey, hysterically screaming fvck off bear will anger the bear even more.
5. Do not climb a tree: Bears are excellent climbers and a lot faster at climbing than you.
6. Fight back if attacked: If a bear attacks you, fight back using any available objects, this is where your Knog bell might come in handy if the instant release button is reliable.

If you are in bear territory, it's always a good idea to carry bear spray, or a big gun, which are both more effective than a noise-making device like a cycle bell. Bear bells can be useful for alerting bears to your presence to prevent an encounter, but in a chasing scenario, bear spray or your big gun would be the better option for self-defence.

Always prioritize preventative measures by making noise while riding your emtb and always be aware of your surroundings. This is bear country, and not your 10-mile commute on the A40 going to work.

Stay safe out there!

 

[Kev45]

More advanced, technical riders choose to go tubeless, I don't I use Tannus Armour inserts and Slime sealant in the inner tubes. For the terrain I ride on, the combination works just fine, and I have not had a puncture for years.

Even the dreaded seasonal 'thorns' can not penetrate the Tannus.

A brucie bonus, the UK supplier's wife had a baby, and he got behind with orders. To compensate, he sent me a pair free of charge, that was a free £90 right there!

 

[Kev45]

I got my first emtb in the latter half of the pandemic to escape 'the person/s indoors'. Particularly our dogs who jump up excitedly if I even twitch because they think I am going to take them for a walk.

I had not ridden a mtb for years, and it was a bodge job made by someone on eBay with a Bafang motor and a throttle (which is illegal now), but brilliant fun though.

One day, before I discovered Google Maps and smartphones, I got lost a few miles from home with just a few bars left on the battery and asked a passer-by where my area is, he said that way, staring at my fat arse, warning, but it is a huge hill though, I just smiled knowingly knowing I was on the emtb.

Hills are NOTHING, whatever the gradient, on an emtb. Anyone can ride one, no matter what their fitness level is, and my fitness was totally crap at the time.

Btw, I don't know why DOA keeps typing to me like a lovesick teenager, I put his sad arse on iggy two days ago.

 

[Altair]

To say you to don't see eye to eye...!

You both seem to be getting along nicely.

 

[Kev45]

The future of emtb's is quite interesting, innovative carbon belts and integrated gear boxes could possibly be the future if the big players move in that direction. Not only are they far easier to maintain, a rub down with a brush and a bucket of water after a ride, one single oil change a year, they also last longer than a traditional chain, cassette and derailleurs etc.

Unfortunately, though, currently the big boy manufacturers such as the likes of Shimano are invested in "consumerism", throw away replaceable parts, and so innovative new tech often takes a back seat or disappears completely. This means it will never be manufactured in enough numbers to bring the price down to more affordable (realistic) levels for the average consumer.

This means that market is rather niche, solvent middle-aged men (or older) with enough disposable income to splash out £10k + on a high-end emtb.

Status symbols.

In my experience, surprisingly, there is also often resistance to new tech by some of the actual riders themselves, and even within the actual e/mtb scene. Acoustic riders (clad in their high-tech lightweight gear) believe emtbs are "cheating". Despite emtbs becoming more mainstream as they become more affordable, there is still a stubborn resistance to them in some circles. Emtb riders themselves bicker about what mode they use most often, claiming they want an experience as close as possible to an acoustic bike, arguing they would NEVER use turbo mode (my favourite) and with smaller lightweight engines and lighter bikes produced by manufacturers as a direct result of that demand.

Well, how about you fvck off and ride an acoustic bike, then?

Me, I say, anything that gets people off their sofa's out and about raising the heart rate, and exercising, is a good thing!

Middle-aged men long past their prime and they can still find something to bicker about, right?

 

[Kev45]

Do you wax your chain?

Personally, I don't bother, but there is often a bespoke ritual to cleaning and maintaining an emtb chain for some riders and surprisingly there are many different methods to achieve that goal. Some riders also have several or more chains, and they will rotate the chains, believing they will get more miles out of them than if they just stuck to a single chain.

Emtb chains are made stronger than normal acoustic chains because obviously they are put under more strain, engine torque etc and weight of the actual bike, and they are also more expensive and so this means a good maintenance routine is vital. I use a nano based product called Muc Off (kinder on the environment), a kitchen towel to remove most of the excess water, and then a basic chain oil. Nothing fancy and although there are multiple different products to choose from.

I also rarely wash the entire bike other than just the important parts such as the brake pads, chain and derailleur, I find a semi-stiff brush removes most of the crap sufficiently.

Again, there is often debate within the emtb community on how to best wash a bike, seriously there is (lol). One of the major problems is obviously engine failure, miles from home or your car, and without the engine riding an emtb is like wading through treacle and so a five-mile trek home would be a pain in the arse.

The main cause of engine failure is water ingress via the seals, which wear out over time, and which is why I believe less water is more, why would I waste more water cleaning a bike on a rainy day, right?

 

[Kev45]

Hey guys, now that we have covered emtb bells, getting chased by a bear and do you wax, today I thought we would briefly cover tyres.

Now, you would think a tyre is just a tyre, right?

No Sir, there are so many different varieties/combinations/uses it is a topic all by itself. What tyre is more suitable for a hot, moderate or cold climate. Wet or dry weather, clay or mud, rooty or boulders. Which manufacturer made it. Knobbly or smooth, more rolling resistance or less, wider or narrower, the best way to put on a tyre or take it off. 27 inch v 29 inch, and the list is aimless.

Fun fact of the day, you would think you just pump up and then plonk on your emtb tyres (wheels) and that's the end of it, no no. Emtb tyres are usually specifically manufactured to be 'front' or 'rear'. Made of different compounds and use different tyre pressures depending on the terrain. Can you use a front tyre on the rear and vice versa?

How to prepare your tyres for tubeless. How to fix/plug a tyre puncture and a million other IMPORTANT questions.

Me, I have used many different types or combinations, currently I am using Maxxis Minion DHF (exo) front and rear. This is a front wheel tyre but for the riding I do, muddy wet conditions, it suits me just fine using it on the back as well. In the past, I have used specific emtb tyres (Michelin Wild) but I couldn't find any during the global supply chain issues.

It's a tough choice, but next time I might cover brakes, gears, the size of your cog, or lights, or maybe something totally different.

 

[Kev45]

Bedding in!

Now you would think you can just hop on your newly prepared emtb, and you are good to go, right?

Unfortunately, no, and bedding in your new brakes (similar to a car) correctly is one of the most important tasks.

Do NOT pelt down that steep slope in your local woods without first bedding in the brakes.

We bed in brakes to maximize performance and safety! Basically, what we are doing, is coating the brake rotor (disc) evenly with material from the pads. This (heat transfer) irons out any imperfections on the surface of the rotor caused in the manufacturing process and gives the brakes more 'bite' and therefore more stopping power.

A safer brake makes for a happier rider.

The best way to achieve this goal is straight forward. Simply ride to a moderate speed on a flat, smooth surface, 100–150 metres and then slow the bike with each individual brake to a walking speed, only using one brake at a time. Repeat for each brake 20–30 times, although some manufactures recommend up to 50 times.

Do not come to a complete stop, just firmly slow down each run.

Now there are many different pads and rotor sizes etc to choose from, but that is a whole new conversation.

Happy riding on your newly bedded in brakes!

 

[Kev45]

I hope everyone is keeping as warm as they can!

Cycle helmets!

Always maintain your helmet, wash with warm water and towel dry.

If it has a removable liner, chuck it in the washing machine, a smelly helmet doesn't make for a comfortable ride.

Always make sure your new helmet is CE safety marked, do not buy a second hand helmet, although there might not be any visible signs of a crash helmets are only designed (most) to absorb the impact for a single crash.

Happy helmeting!

 

[Kev45]

An icy cold good morning to you.

Now I take out two large athletic dogs for an evening ride in the winter at least twice a week, occasionally more and sometimes less. I live in a semi-rural area, and good quality cycle lights are a must-have! It is also basic good manners to carry a torch in general and or have dog lights clipped to collars etc during a walk, simply because your dog might be friendly but theirs might not. It also, of course, makes your pet more visible to car drivers etc and easier to doggy bag their evil smelling muck.

A visible dog saves any random drama you might encounter in the dark, right?

Anyway, the part on and mainly off-road course I (we) ride is predetermined and just over a mile and a half longish, and I (we) will always do two complete circuits and occasionally more depending on the weather conditions. I always use two lights, a more powerful one on the handlebars with a wide spread for the beam which lights up a large area and a less powerful one on my helmet with a narrower, more focussed beam which has more range but doesn't light up as large an area. I find this combination hits the nighttime riding visibility sweet spot. A helmet light is always a good option for nighttime riding off-road (and on) because the beam follows where you are actually looking rather than just the direction the bike is travelling in.

This helps enormously when you are traversing rough terrain in the dark with lots of muddy ruts and holes and a winding trail with sharp corners, and we don't want to be riding into potentially hazardous muddy ruts and holes in the dark, when the safety of the dog/s (and ours) is paramount, do we.

I won't recommend any specific brands because there are so many different ones in the market, simply buy one that suits your style of riding and spend as much as you can afford. I find even the modern cheaper brands are reliable and in my experience the electronics or the batteries (if they are built in) will fail long before the actual bulb does, and modern Cree bulbs will last for years without failure.

Amazon (or eBay) is a good place to check out customer feedback for a particular product (recommendations) even if you don't use the site to buy.

Happy nighttime riding, and stay safe out there

 

[Kev45]

Riding companion.

Choose who you go for a ride with, with care. If your neighbour irritates you chatting over the garden fence, then he/she/they will most definitely irritate you when you are tired, wet, and hungry, during and after a 40-mile bike ride on a cold day in the mud and the driving rain.

You know the sort I mean, if your cycle shoes cost x amount then theirs were obviously more expensive. If your lights are 1400 lumens, then theirs are, 1600. If your water bottle holds 1 litre, theirs holds 1.2. The ones who have no real experience at all and bullshitters who don't even understand the basics, they believe that a pedal strike is a sexually transmitted disease. They moan like Jeremy Clarkson on a farmer's protest when they get a single spec of mud on their bloated, blotchy, permanently red faces.

The ones who brag in the pub afterwards that they were always in front, as if they were leading the Light Brigade charging against a Russian artillery battery at Balaklava in 1854. Neglecting to mention that the riders behind them deliberately slowed down so that they didn't have to listen to their endless boasting and their incessant high pitched whining.

Happy companioning out there!

 

[Kev45]

Here is the bike I ride when I am riding in bear country in Pendle Hill, guys.

 

[Kev45]

Wow, all the b1tchy snipey comments removed, every last one. I guess the thread looks rather eccentric now, right?.

In the meantime, here is a trail cam picture of Mr Bear, riding my stolen emtb without a care in the world.

The bastard.

 

[Kev45]

Oh, they haven't, I just forgot that I put it on iggy last night.

More emtb adventures coming soon, guys.

Ha Ha Ha.

 

[Kev45]

Here is a photo of my pooch I took this morning after her run with her bike attachment guys, just for safely when we are riding on public roads, of course. I let her off, off-road, to enjoy stretching her legs because she runs faster than the bike.

Anyone who cycles regularly who has a dog should get one, they just clip on and off and so you don't need to remove the bracket, and they are so handy.

Dogs take to them easily, with some patient training, and I just use simple commends, 'left', or 'right' and 'here' when I am slowing down.