Author Topic: Off road with a Raven Sport Tour!  (Read 2920 times)

stutho

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Off road with a Raven Sport Tour!
« on: May 30, 2006, 03:46:44 pm »
OK so the bike is not designed for it! And it probably invalidates my warranty – BUT I decided to see what would happen if I took my Raven Sport out for a spin on the hills.

To give the bike a fighting chance I changed my front wheel (717ceramic, DT Revolution 32, Hope hub) for a slightly stronger one (717normal, DT Competition 36, XT hub).  I also removed the mudguards and upped the tyre to 1.95 (these fit on the OLD version of the Sport).   I switched my Brooks saddle and Thomson seat post for a plastic saddle with a sprung seat post.  Finally I switched brake blocks to Koolstop Salmon.

The Route was from Swansea to Cardiff following the High Level (mountain bike only) Route 47 from Neath to Pontypridd and then Route 8 to Cardiff.  Total route length is about 50 miles with a total ascent of over 1800m.  About 1/2 of this is only suitable for mountain bikes.  My buddy was on a true xc machine.  

For the first dozen miles the route is flat and is on a decent surface (towpath or better).  I had the edge of drop handlebars here.  Next comes a steep on road climb again I was well in front.   Next an off road climb.  To my surprise I continued to pull ahead, I had expected the rough surface to level us.  

However once on top it was a different story.  Now we were travelling quicker those suspension forks on Marks bike gave him an advantage.  However the Raven Sport still had acceptable performance and I managed to keep up.  

My Nemesis approached.  How would the Raven Sport cope with off road downhill?
 
Very  Very Painful.
 
The handlebars were vibrating like a jackhammer.   I had to take it slow while Mark just powered on down!  Not only did his suspension forks allow him a much faster speed but when he did have to slow down he could out brake me with his disk brakes.

Finally we got down  to better tracks and then roads.  The road into Pontypridd is FAST.  I recorded 96kph my fastest ever speed on the Raven and that was with knobbly tyres.  It was a little too fast for Marks bike.  His Hayes hydraulics blued his front disk and the smell of the pads was strong!  My rim brakes were fine but unlike mark I was alternating back and front.  

The last ~12 miles was on the Taff trail (Route 8) a gently descending route into Cardiff on well-made paths. Unfortunately Mark started to have problems with his gearing and he experienced chain suck twice.  (I smiled inwardly to myself knowing this was a problem I couldn’t have.)

Overall the bike stood up well to the experience, - better than Mark’s!  However I can’t recommend it, the downhill is too painful.  Two of my fingers are still numb 20 hours later!  If I was riding an off road route where there wasn’t a downhill section then maybe.  

I bet the Raven Catalyst would have being superb all the good bits about the Raven Sport Tour plus suspension forks and stronger tubes.

As they say there are horses for courses.  The Raven Sport Tour is very adaptable bike – I love mine.  But if off road is your bag then try something else.
« Last Edit: May 31, 2006, 06:51:49 pm by stutho »

PH

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Re: Off road with a Raven Sport Tour!
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2006, 05:20:41 pm »
Sounds like fun, apart from the pain[B)]
It also sound like it’s the fork that’s unsuitable rather than the bike.  Would the geometry take a sus fork?  I know a Raven Tour will.
I’ve taken my Tour off road a few times, nothing too technical and I got off and walked the hardest bits.  It coped surprisingly well, even without knobblies.  I did find the BB height caught me out a couple of times, reminding me it wasn’t an MTB.

stutho

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Re: Off road with a Raven Sport Tour!
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2006, 09:22:28 am »
It was fun - but next time I want shockers

I don't think you can fit a decent suspension fork to the Raven Sport (MK 1) - You could probably fit one of the cheap and nasty kind.  (I MAY WELL BE WRONG ON THIS - can't find info either way.)  

I have used my bike on towpath and well made forest path quite a bit and it has always being fine - even with skinny 1.3" on.  However parts to this last route needed every bit of grip the 1.95" had.  

I think Thorn have summed up the bike well when they say the bike has a "Light off-road capability" I take that to mean that it is suitable for well used and well made paths and tracks. i.e. towpaths and the better forrest tracks.  

I too was worried about bottom bracket height but I didn’t have any problem with it.

stutho
« Last Edit: May 31, 2006, 01:08:02 pm by stutho »

ahconway

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Re: Off road with a Raven Sport Tour!
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2006, 12:35:21 pm »
I agree with PH on this one. I've taken my Raven Tour offroad here and there (though nothing like Stutho's adventure!) and it's generally worked out fine. I did manage to become incapacitated last autumn when so much mud built up inside both mudguards that I had to remove the wheels and scoop it out by hand....
 

stutho

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Re: Off road with a Raven Sport Tour!
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2006, 01:51:23 pm »
Hi ahconway,  
Don't get me wrong – I LOVE MY RAVEN SPORT.  For light off road riding it is great but for the rough stuff it is never going to be a bike of choice.  Both you and PH, I believe, ride a Raven Tour which should be better off road than the sport.  

For 98% of the riding I do, including some light off roading my Sport is perfect.  I couldn't hope for a better bicycle.  It is fast and nimble on my daily commute, it strong enough to carry more than enough load, it will handle light off road and above all it is exceptionally comfortable.  Having said all of that would I take it back up on the same route - NO!

I would love to take a Raven Catalyst up there it would be a perfect trail for it.  But would I swap my Sport for a Catalyst - NOT A CHANCE!   My Sport suites my riding requirement perfectly.  I have accumulated ~1800 miles on the Sport only ~30 of which have being on rough off road.  

stutho

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Re: Off road with a Raven Sport Tour!
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2006, 02:51:48 pm »
After more digging for info on suspension forks I found this

Suspension fork.
The geometry of the Ravens is such that, on the long top tube sizes, the addition of an 80mm travel suspension fork would still allow sweet handling (assuming a top quality fork was used). The resultant bike would cover much of the terrain that a true mountain bike would be capable of traversing, but (especially in the case of the Tour) be able to carry (much more) luggage.


So maybe that would be the answer except I have got a short top tube and drops...

stutho

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Re: Off road with a Raven Sport Tour!
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2006, 11:00:50 pm »
Some photos of the bike after I got back.