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looking to find a route from Syd cbd to French's forest


Regulators's picture

By Regulators - Posted on 05 October 2014

Never done downhill biking before just finished building my rig and now I'm looking to tear it up.

I live in the city in centennial park area and I would love to know how to get there without a car because my bike does not fit lol

Also do I need to buy gear like armour and such? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Rob's picture

It's not the Northern Beaches, but you could try taking a train to Glenbrook and hitting up Knapsack Reserve. You can ask about that area in the Blue Mountains forum.

Alternatively take the ferry to Manly and ride up to the Dam. Although your bike is a little big for those trails.

Regulators's picture

Awesome. Never been on the ferry. It costs 14 bucks to get there to manly? So iv heard. Also would I need gear? Helmet et. . Thanks Rob.

Regulators's picture

Also is there a fee or anything involved for the ride tomorrow holiday Monday social ride? I'm looking to join.

Matt P's picture

If you haven't already found it, Rotorburn is a forum with a much greater DH population than NOBMOB. You'll find far more people to ride with who can either give you a lift or point you in the direction of suitable tracks.

Regulators's picture

Cool joined up there as well. Cheap parts people sell also. But I still like to do some free ride and long runs. I'm still keen on blue Mountains iv heard it's a fun place to tear it up. Thanks matt

Simon's picture

Oxy Riders on FB and see if any of the crew can give you a lift over there.

We have 400 members in the group.

Regulators's picture

OK I need experience I'm new at downhill and I can't seem to balance myself to the hardcore drops.. Lol is there any newbie beginner places that van be recommended?

Simon's picture

Get good at landing both wheels at the same time and then slightly front first. You don't want to be relying on speed to do this. Ideally you can land back wheel half a bike length from drop or less as an idea of speed when learning to focus on technique.

Heaps of instructional videos online.

Bigger drops are the same just more consequence if you get it wrong.

Then progress to bigger stuff. Not sure how newbie you are?

If you aren't familiar with a big bike you will need a moment longer to precompress the suspension a little than an XC bike. The preload will stop the front wheel falling before the back wheel leaves the ground.

Assume you have set the sag and rebound correctly? When standing on the pedals you should have 20% sag on front and 30% on rear. Make sure rebound in back is slower than the front.

A mate learnt to drop in Centenial Park. Many of us up the beaches used Drop Zone at Red Hill after getting gutters nailed.

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