Cheap bike challenge? Matley Wood Hampshire

Hi all,

So recently I bought myself a bike to trash. A Rockrider 340 from Decathlon. Tiny 26" wheels, Tourney gear set, the usual really. It does have an aluminium frame though so...yay?

Anyhew. I thought I'd take it out for a spin with some mates to see how it'd do compared to some "real" offroad bikes. To put it simply it was outclassed. Everywhere.

On gravel, even though I changed out the stock tyres for mud tyres there was no grip. The  800mm suspension refused to push the front wheel back into the ground. It shock absorbance was also terrible, but I'm glad I wore my gloves. It meant that even at low speed, while my friends were cornering at a lowly 12mph they could make the corner. I had to slow down and had very little confidence.

Eventually we made it to the most fun part of the ride, Matley Wood in the New Forest in Hampshire. I've not been down there before, but there are many natural dips making it a good pump track and I actually managed to get some air on my bike a couple of times. It would have been so much easier with larger tyres and less weight!

Anyway. this is my handlebar view of what happened. If you don't catch the audio it's basically my friends warning me it's about to get exciting for a bike that cost £150 with stupid wheels!

Here's the vid:



I did do a speed test on tarmac in case people are interested. Bouncing up and down in the seat in the hardest gear at 27mph. Not too shabby. I wouldn't go that fast offroad though. Jebus.

Here's the strava:

thanks for reading,