Dan’s new hardtail, and some accompanying words of wisdom…
“My new ride for 2023 is an On One steel hardtail. I wanted to get back on a hard tail because essentially… I didn’t want to give up on riding the routes I love on the bikes I love to ride on.
“The bike is running SRAM… something… I’m not even sure… it was Steel, an agressive hardtail, with an excellent spec at an excellent price! It ticked all my boxes!
“I’ve ridden it twice so far, it does everything I need it to do. I was actually quite surprised really… I thought it would destroy me after riding a full suspension bike for quite a while, and that I’d have to force myself to get used to it. BUT… weirdly I felt faster! I was actually getting better times than when riding my full suspension bike. Perhaps my riding translates better to a hardtail, as it’s what I grew up on!
“It’s already a fairly well spec’ed bike, but I did upgrade the forks to a set of Rockshox Lyrics, and swapped in my carbon bars and stem too. Maybe I’ll eventually go for a heavy duty rear wheel with faster pickup, but only once I’m used to the bike!
“My words of wisdom: whatever your age or experience, don’t write you’re abilities off.
I think people try and make bikes too easy for themselves sometimes… technology is nice, but it’s nice to strip it back and appreciate the simpler things.
I’d go no suspension, fixed and brake-less if it meant it taught me something about bike riding. It doesn’t matter if you have to slow down massively, it just gives you a different perspective on bikes and the terrain you’re riding on. Often, that teaches you more.
“It’s important to remind yourself ‘I can do that… I can actually learn it if I give myself the time to do so.’
“I think that’s why I like the hard tail… I feel more proud of myself if I can keep up with riders that aren’t on that… I’m like yeah, I’m still able to ride!”
