- So we're out here at in southern Spain just outside
Alicante, which you can see just behind me here.
We've a bit of a different feature on our hands today.
- Ah ha, yes we have, and I think you've got
the wrong weapon of choice, Doddy.
- Alright, yeah, I'm on a hardtail,
it might not be the best terrain for it,
but what I'm want to do today is just show you,
show all of you guys, that a fairly budget hardtail
with modern geometry can definitely still cut it.
- Well I've got 160 mil of travel.
- I've got 29 inch wheels, it's fine.
- Okay!
- We'll go into this in a minute.
- Let's go!
- Okay, so this is my Nukeproof Scout 290 Pro.
This is more or less an entry level bike,
so this is quite a good challenge today,
'cause the bike is about half the price of Blake's,
like, super high-end bike.
It's got 29 inch wheels, pretty slack,
aggressive geometry on it, and a simple 130 mil fork.
I just want to prove a point,
you don't really need all the bells
and whistles to ride aggressive terrain.
- Say hello to my Canyon Strive CF,
top of the range with 160 mil of travel,
there's 27.5, and it gives me loads
of grip out there on descending and ascending.
Alright, Doddy, you know what they say,
what comes up must go down, and it's pretty rough!
- Yeah, I know it is steep, loose, and rough,
and I know that a hardtail is a lot more work on this,
but, it has got a nice, long front end, yeah?
- Yeah
- Pretty slack head angle, got some chunky tires on there.
- It's 29 so it's going to roll.
- Confident it's going to be fine,
but, obviously, you're going to be able to steamroller a bit on that
and I don't want to fold my wheel, slash a tire,
so I will be a bit more--
- So you're going to need a lot more finesse, that's all
- Yeah, but that's fine, 'cause I learned to ride
on a hardtail, and I think everyone should.
- I did, I did as well.
- Good man. I'm calling the safety on this--
- You've got a full-sus,
so you're going to guinea pig this one?
- I'll guinea pig it.
- Let's have a look it
- Let's drop in, I think it's rider's right down.
- Yep, okay, makes sense.
Okay, I'm not going to lie, this is pretty steep
and rough, even looking at how Blake's bike was reacting,
so I've got to be careful 'cause I don't want to fold
that back wheel or slash my tire,
it's got a long way down back to Alicante,
so, here we go, see how she is.
- Oh man, wow, that, was--
- Dude.
- That looked so rough on that thing.
Surprised you didn't get a puncture.
- You know, do you know what, it kind of skips, it's okay.
It doesn't like, I think on a big bike you
can be guilty of pushing into stuff.
- Yeah, you can just--
- No, no, it's okay, I'm glad I'm clipped in though.
- Oh yeah, I would've--
- I think I would've been back wheel heavy
if I was all flat, and I did feel my feet moving a lot.
- I think I'd move to being clipped
in if I was a hardtail rider!
- I'm quite impressed, actually,
you know, you can definitely feel it a lot more.
It was pretty rough as far as descents go.
- Wow, next one. What's up next challenge?
- Alright.
- Should we do some, uh, some climbing?
- Uh, yeah!
(laughing)
Obviously.
- Ah, my bike's all set up for climbing, spinning away,
I have to just, pretty comfy on this.
- Yeah, but you're making sloppy line choices, mate.
- At least I'm conserving my energy for the next bit.
- Dude, I've just got to play things smart!
- What are you doing?
(laughing)
Good luck with this bit, Doddy, ha!
He's definitely walking, for sure.
- I can't just ride that, but I'm not walking.
- Oh wow, hey, Doddy, the view's sick from up here, man!
Wow, you alright?
- I got up here, dude.
- I don't envy you on that bike, not one bit.
You can't say you like climbing that thing.
- I'm not going to lie, that was really hard.
(laughs loudly)
You know what though, it was kind of fun!
You've got to think about it, it's not like
- Yeah, I guess so,
- I love full suspension bikes, but I do think
sometimes they make you a bit lazy.
So you just pedal.
- That is true, actually,
cause you can just go (speaks gibberish).
- I was having to look way further ahead
to see what the trail's doing--
- Yeah
- Like, actually before I got there.
- Right shall we carry on along this ridge line.
- Oh no, man, I'm going to have a break for a minute.
Leave it out.
- Oh, alright.
Wow, hey, Dodd, look at this cliff, Dude!
- Oh!
(laughing)
- Woo! Wow. So good.
- Nope, I am not taking my eyes off the trail, dude.
(laughing loudly)
- Whoop! Don't clip a pedal.
- That is so sketch.
(laughing)
- Oh ho ho, goodness me!
- Oh my god.
- That was such a sick descent!
- My eyes were literally rattling in my head down there.
- They look like they're still doing this.
(laughing)
- Do you know what, I've got to say,
I've got to give it credit, it's a pretty basic hardtail,
it's about half the price of your bike.
- Yeah, yeah.
- So I put some burlier tires on it, but it's so good.
- Yeah, well, it's good value for money,
and you still get out on your bike, eh.
- At the end of the day, it's a mountain bike,
and mountain bikes are really, really good.
- No matter what. Right, if you want to see another
versus video, click down here,
downhill bike versus trail bike.
- Or, for another great one,
check out fat bike versus enduro bike.
- That's a good one.
Don't forget to click this rad little globe,
you'll subscribe and see another video just like this one!
- Sure!
If you like it, give us a thumbs up!