Skinwalls!!!

Following on from the video by GCN (which I referenced in a Blog post on 20.02.20), which compared gravel bikes with retro mountain bikes and suggested that modern mountain bikes make most peoples ‘normal’ trails a tad dull, I thought I’d play around with my set-up. Their suggestion of narrower tyres for a faster ride with less margin for error struck a chord and so my tyres have slimmed down to just 2.25’’ front and rear whilst I have also increased my rims from 27.5 to 29 to maintain a similar wheel diameter. The change also gave me the opportunity to re-live a little of my youth with some skinwall tyres which, even if everything else turns out to be rubbish, have almost certainly made the whole thing worth it! I know that they’re not as robust and will probably fall apart at the first sign of a decent sized flint, but I just think they look great.
 
Anyway, where my thinking deviates from that of the GCN video is in the appropriate bike geometry for a mountain bike whose primary focus is on having fun. Whereas they are advocating far steeper, almost road bike geometry that tips the rider forwards and down on to their hands for super-efficient pedalling, I still maintain that a rider is far better-off supporting the vast majority of their weight through their feet. I would argue that this is even more fundamental on a fully rigid bike than on your typical 140mm full suspension trail bikes as there really is nowhere to hide. Yes, you give away a little in terms of outright efficiency, but I would suggest that this is more than made up for in the control it offers. And without starting from a position of control I think that it's very hard to find flow and play with the bikes limits. So what I’ve ended up with is a mountain bike with a modern enduro head angle (66 degrees) and wheel size (29er), old school klunker riding position (70 degree seat angle and high bars), and gravel bike (-ish) tyres (just 2.25’’ wide) and zero suspension. You never know, it might just work!