(hip-hop music)
- Well I get this question asked a lot
in the comments down below, about slopestyle bikes.
Can they be used as an enduro bike,
or a downhill bike if they have one.
Also, another question is: I want to buy a slopestyle bike.
Can I use it for cross-country, enduro, and downhill?
Well, to be honest I've never tried doing that
because it's purely just for slopestyle.
It's a full suspension bike so you would think that there's
going to have that suspension element,
so it's going to be a little bit more comfortable out there
on the trails, but it's a stiff bike.
It's meant for big jumps.
But I'm out here at BikePark Wales,
and it's got abundance of trails ranging from cross-country,
to big jumps, to gnarly sections, muddy sections,
rocky, techy sections, so I'm going to put this bike to test.
I'm going to try to answer a few of your questions
and see if you can actually do all of that riding
on this bike out there.
Right before we get into all the challenges,
a little bike check for you.
So, 26 inch wheels, slick tires, high-rolling tires,
not very grippy for mountain bike trails.
It's a short wheel base, a short travel bike,
and it hasn't got a drop [mumbles], so there's going to be a
few challenges out there that are going to be quite difficult.
Especially when I come to some steep terrain, cause there's
a very steep head angle on this bike, as well.
So, let's get out there and do these challenges,
and see what this bike can do and can't do.
(groans)
This is the first challenge.
Pedaling, climbing. Can this bike climb?
(groans)
We're going to have to find out.
This has got one gear, and it's a big old pedal
up this hill to the top of the trail.
Right, okay, the verdict on the climbing situation.
First challenge. Not good. Not good at all.
It's a one speed bike, so it's quite hard,
specifically for going quite fast on certain trails,
you'll get your speed out there, and you can't man gears
on this bike either so that's a big downfall.
It's not built for climbing at all.
Head angles, so bad, you got no drop post,
it's not built for it.
Let's carry on to the next challenge.
So, if you're at a place where there is an uplift,
definitely use her because it's going to probably get you
to the top of the hill quicker, and you're going to keep
all that energy for the shredding down.
So let's go and test this bike out on the trail,
and see what it's like in rough stuff,
some downhill stuff, cuz I've only got one break.
It's wet, and I've got some slick tires, so let's do it.
(club music)
Okay that was a bit of an easy one because I do know that
this bike is capable of hitting like,
huge jumps such like these ones.
It does lose a bit of speed, especially on the little
[mumbles] there I had to pedal through the last one,
but it felt good.
Head angle's a little bit steep, I'm running one break,
so when you want to slow down for stuff,
cause this does carry a bit of speed after a jump,
it's a little bit sketchy cause I haven't got two breaks
to slow me down that quick, but let's move on to something
a bit more mountain bike, a bit more trail-y.
Get this bike a little bit out of its comfort zone.
Put it to the test.
(club music)
Right, so I'm riding this section of trail right here,
and I'm trying to ride it fast but it's so sketchy
trying to ride it fast
because it's so twitchy, but it's fun.
It adds a little bit more of a different element
out there on the trail, cause I'm not used to riding
a slopestyle bike in the woods, but it kind of works-ish.
It's fun, for a day I think, but riding it every day,
it's going to be super hard.
(club music)
Oh my god.
I've just crossed, I've just done like a walkthrough
of this bit of trail right here. It's steep.
This is technical, this is the technical challenge
for that little slopestyle bike.
It just drops down and it's like a step, step, and step,
and a big [mumbles] at the bottom.
Here we go, let's try it.
Oh my...
(laughs)
Oh, I am not doing that bit.
That's super tech.
This route, so I've just done that bit, and that was gnarly,
but this is a trail called Rock and Roll,
it's a black route, so it's quite scary and gnarly,
and this section now, there's loads of rocks like this,
so it's, with my slick tires, I'm just going to be slipping
and sliding, and I got one break, and I'm not going to,
I got to make sure I stay on trail cause if you go off
there's boulder field and trees, so let's have a go and see
if we can actually ride it on a slopestyle bike.
I'm pretty nervous to be honest, because I've only got
one break and I've just seen Neal go down it
and he looked fine but, slippery and scary.
(exhales)
Right. If I dab, I dab.
I'm not going fast.
It's not a race.
Wish me luck.
Oh my hell.
(screaming laughing)
No, no, no that's not slopestyle.
That's horrible downhill, like, eight inches of travel,
not 110 milum of small travel.
This next challenge is technical, rough sections
where you're going to need suspension.
Well I've got suspension, but it's not,
it doesn't really work that well cause it's more for jumps,
not for like, plushness.
So, I'm going to try and this one, this trail is called
Deep Navigation, so I'm going to try and navigate through this,
quite gnarly rock garden.
Try to get through it, then come out with a verdict for you.
(club music)
(laughs)
Right, so the verdict comes to, this is not very good.
That's super out of its comfort zone, out of its territory,
rock gardens, it's got suspension but it's not built
specifically for this sort of thing.
It's built for jumps, and it's stiff, even though
I've let out some pressure and made it softer,
and made my tires softer as well to give me that extra grip,
but it's so hard.
My whole riding position totally changes.
I move super over the back end of the bike
just to keep that bike in control while bouncing through,
while ping-ponging through that section.
So, yeah. It's not built for that.
That's for sure.
Right, so there you go.
Can a slopestyle bike ride mountain bike trails
such like this one at BikePark Wales?
The answer is it can slightly, but there's a few bits
where I walked up to it and I was like,
I am not going to ride that cause that's just too gnarly
for this bike, and it's not going to be comfortable,
and I'll probably come out of it worse off,
so I wouldn't recommend it.
But it can do it, but I would rather buy a bike
specifically for the trails, and I would rather buy
this bike for the slopestyle, and all the dirt jumps,
and all the tricks as well.
But, if you want to see another video and you want to know
what this bike is all about, click just down here,
right down the bottom.
What is a slopestyle bike, and then up here,
for what is dirt jumping.
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