My son is dying to go with his MTB but I only have a gravel bike and don't want to pay $160 plus lift tickets to rent, will I survive? I'm 55 and not a shredder anymore so hoping to take it slightly easy… Any advice is greatly appreciated! 🙏
by CalmDirection8
4 Comments
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My personal take:
– Bike park mountain biking on a gravel bike is not going to work. Even just some local blue trails… the vibration is awful, you have to go super slow, you have to skip most jumps and drops if you aren’t a super experienced rider, and you are going to suck on steep stuff and steep tight switchbacks. It’ll wreck your body and there’s a good chance your wheels will come out of it worse for wear.
– If you really want to MTB with your son, a MTB is in your future. I’m 47 and I’d suggest getting a modest spec modern bike (ie, Deore level drivetrain and basic Fox or RS suspension). There are great deals lately and the used market is a buyer’s market. If it’s going to be a lot of trail riding, a hard tail could be fine. If it’s a lot of park riding, a fully is in your future.
– Again cannot stress enough how much a gravel bike is not sufficient for a bike park. People on MTB forums regularly ask “Is my 150mm travel trail bike sufficient for bikepark X or should I rent a DH bike?” I ride my 150mm travel bike at bike parks but skip the chunkiest / steepest lines and am not hitting huge jumps/drops/gaps. I ride my 140mm travel hard tail on local blue trails just fine but at my age wouldn’t take it to a bike park, I get too beat up and it cuts my day short.
Nope. No one has ever.
I’ve done it, and if you’ve got good bike handling skills and avoid massive drops or jumps you’ll be fine. Although, there’s a much higher chance of going over the handlebars and the wrists get pummelled