Preparing Yourself For Adventure

Give yourself a tune up

It’s interesting to see the priorities of many riders when it comes to adventure riding.

I’m not sure if it’s because there are so many new riders joining the adventure-riding ranks, or if it’s because many come from a road-riding background, but I see a lot of energy being burnt when it comes to the topic of ‘what’s the best (off-road) tyre?’.

My favourite comment to this is, “Black and round.”

Sure, I have a few thoughts on the topic, but it never comes down to a single brand or model of tyre. There are lots of great options out there, and some bad ones, all depending on what you ride, where and how you ride it.

Still with all the heated an in-depth discussion I see on tyres, I feel as though there are more important topics that hardly seem to get a mention.

Prioritise

Over the years it’s been great to see so many riders attend different types of off-road rider training. When a rider has a riding breakthrough it’s an incredible feeling. Just a few days ago I heard a bearded man squeal with joy when he nailed his first controlled, rear brake skid turn.

Give a skilled rider a bike with a half-worn back tyre with high pressure (relative to the type of bike) and watch them glide up a hill without too much fuss. Generally, on the same hill, a less-skilled rider with sharp new knobbies and low pressure won’t have the same result.

At the end of the day, technique really trumps all.

Bling for you