Since I got back to cycling, I've been pondering the technological developments in bicycles that have come along during my 20-year absence.
I'm happy to admit I'm a road bike traditionalist, and I think there are few things more elegant than the classic steel frame geometry of old. My dream would be a vintage Harry Quinn or Pete Matthews (I grew up in Liverpool very near Pete's shop, and he was great with kids at the time. He'd often sell us bits and pieces very cheap, and do tweaks and fixes for us either for free or for prices that our pocket money would easily cover. Those little acts of generosity did a lot to build my cycling enthusiasm, and I owe a lot to Pete for those days), Bob Jackson (I used to live a few streets away from his old shop in Leeds during my student years), Mercian or F W Evans.
Saying that, I also think modern developments are great. Last time I was in my local Evans there was a carbon bike on offer for around £2k - way out of my price range, but my jaw dropped when I picked it up and felt how light it was!
But on to MTBs. I first tried one back in the early 90s. It was a Marin that belonged to a friend, and having looked around with Google I think it was a Bear Valley model. I can't remember the price, but it was expensive, and I was lucky that he let me take it out a few times.
The bike was essentially a beefed up and tweaked road bike, with a steel frame, top tube not far from the traditional horizontal, but with wider forks and stays, and wheels with big knobbly tyres. It had 18 gears (I think) and cantilever brakes. It had no suspension and nothing like modern MTB frame geometry, but it was a lot of fun and was advanced for its time.
I did feel a bit top heavy going down slopes and was wary of braking on steeper bits, so downhills were essentially pauses at rest spots in between white-knuckle sections where braking seemed too dangerous. The ironman grip needed to keep the front end steady was something I lacked, so my few rides on that bike were very intermittent with lots of pauses.
I did buy a cheap 2nd hand MTB a couple of years later, but it wasn't much good - fine for some off-road tracks that helped shorten some of my regular commutes, but no good for proper off road riding. I ended up giving it away to someone who couldn't afford a new bike - can't even remember the make now.
Cue forward to last weekend, when I picked up a GT Avalanche 1.0 for £110, via eBay from a seller about 5 miles from me (so easy to walk there and ride it back). It's pretty much the same spec as the one in this review, so it appears to be a 2006 model. It's had only very little use and is in great condition, and I'm amazed at how much better it is than the old Marin I remember (especially now that I'm using a significantly older body with it).
I've only done a couple of very short rides on it (over very tame terrain) but already I can appreciate the big advances in bike development.
The indexed gears are superb - the shifters only need a tap and they change, cleanly and quietly. I can't remember much about the Marin gears, but I do remember having to think carefully about shifts, and that took my attention away from the terrain.
The front suspension is a revelation, and leaves me with a touch that's really not too far from a road bike - perhaps I exaggerate a little, but I really don't have to grip anywhere near as tightly to keep in control. And those moments after hard braking when the front end calmly lifts back up again are almost magical.
Hydraulic disc brakes - whoah! The seller warned me to be careful on the way home if I hadn't used them before, which I hadn't. And on dry dusty tarmac I locked up and skidded the front wheel a couple of times (knobblies don't have much grip on that kind of surface).
I've been wary of the claims made for disc brakes, as I've rarely had any trouble locking up even caliper brakes when braking hard. But caliper and cantilever brakes take a reasonable force to apply fully, and with my limited experience I see the real advantage of disc brakes as being the lightness of touch - I can apply a full hard stop with very little pressure on the levers, which again frees up my mind for taking in the bigger picture.
The frame geometry seems a lot more stable going downhill, and I love the simplicity of a quick release seat tube that lets me drop it quickly and lower my centre of gravity for even a short downhill stretch. Lower c-o-g, front shocks, sensitive brakes, make descents so much better.
I'm wondering now what further advances the decade since my GT bike has brought?
And, hmm, perhaps a modern road bike might be worth a try after all...
I'm happy to admit I'm a road bike traditionalist, and I think there are few things more elegant than the classic steel frame geometry of old. My dream would be a vintage Harry Quinn or Pete Matthews (I grew up in Liverpool very near Pete's shop, and he was great with kids at the time. He'd often sell us bits and pieces very cheap, and do tweaks and fixes for us either for free or for prices that our pocket money would easily cover. Those little acts of generosity did a lot to build my cycling enthusiasm, and I owe a lot to Pete for those days), Bob Jackson (I used to live a few streets away from his old shop in Leeds during my student years), Mercian or F W Evans.
Saying that, I also think modern developments are great. Last time I was in my local Evans there was a carbon bike on offer for around £2k - way out of my price range, but my jaw dropped when I picked it up and felt how light it was!
But on to MTBs. I first tried one back in the early 90s. It was a Marin that belonged to a friend, and having looked around with Google I think it was a Bear Valley model. I can't remember the price, but it was expensive, and I was lucky that he let me take it out a few times.
The bike was essentially a beefed up and tweaked road bike, with a steel frame, top tube not far from the traditional horizontal, but with wider forks and stays, and wheels with big knobbly tyres. It had 18 gears (I think) and cantilever brakes. It had no suspension and nothing like modern MTB frame geometry, but it was a lot of fun and was advanced for its time.
I did feel a bit top heavy going down slopes and was wary of braking on steeper bits, so downhills were essentially pauses at rest spots in between white-knuckle sections where braking seemed too dangerous. The ironman grip needed to keep the front end steady was something I lacked, so my few rides on that bike were very intermittent with lots of pauses.
I did buy a cheap 2nd hand MTB a couple of years later, but it wasn't much good - fine for some off-road tracks that helped shorten some of my regular commutes, but no good for proper off road riding. I ended up giving it away to someone who couldn't afford a new bike - can't even remember the make now.
Cue forward to last weekend, when I picked up a GT Avalanche 1.0 for £110, via eBay from a seller about 5 miles from me (so easy to walk there and ride it back). It's pretty much the same spec as the one in this review, so it appears to be a 2006 model. It's had only very little use and is in great condition, and I'm amazed at how much better it is than the old Marin I remember (especially now that I'm using a significantly older body with it).
I've only done a couple of very short rides on it (over very tame terrain) but already I can appreciate the big advances in bike development.
The indexed gears are superb - the shifters only need a tap and they change, cleanly and quietly. I can't remember much about the Marin gears, but I do remember having to think carefully about shifts, and that took my attention away from the terrain.
The front suspension is a revelation, and leaves me with a touch that's really not too far from a road bike - perhaps I exaggerate a little, but I really don't have to grip anywhere near as tightly to keep in control. And those moments after hard braking when the front end calmly lifts back up again are almost magical.
Hydraulic disc brakes - whoah! The seller warned me to be careful on the way home if I hadn't used them before, which I hadn't. And on dry dusty tarmac I locked up and skidded the front wheel a couple of times (knobblies don't have much grip on that kind of surface).
I've been wary of the claims made for disc brakes, as I've rarely had any trouble locking up even caliper brakes when braking hard. But caliper and cantilever brakes take a reasonable force to apply fully, and with my limited experience I see the real advantage of disc brakes as being the lightness of touch - I can apply a full hard stop with very little pressure on the levers, which again frees up my mind for taking in the bigger picture.
The frame geometry seems a lot more stable going downhill, and I love the simplicity of a quick release seat tube that lets me drop it quickly and lower my centre of gravity for even a short downhill stretch. Lower c-o-g, front shocks, sensitive brakes, make descents so much better.
I'm wondering now what further advances the decade since my GT bike has brought?
And, hmm, perhaps a modern road bike might be worth a try after all...
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