The Scariest Trail I’ve Ridden On a Hardtail

Hardtails are the do-it-all mountain bike, right? The entry to mountain biking for many people. Single track machines, the ultimate pump track bike, dirt jump wonders, and epic ride enablers. What about the hardest, most technical, most dangerous downhill runs? Surely, you need some full suspension for that. Well, I don't know. Let's find out. How hard can it be to ride a triple black diamond on a hardtail? Today, I'm riding a bang up-to-date hardtail. This is the Orbea Lifey. Yes, it's an aluminum hardtail, so you could argue that nothing much has changed in, let's say, 20 years. Actually, of course, mountain biking has moved on a lot, and a load of those learnings have also been used to make modern hardtails really capable as well. Most of the changes have come in geometry. The literal shape of mountain bikes has changed even a lot in the last few years. A lot of the learning of how that affects how the bike rides, and therefore what you can do on it, has come to hardtails as well. Some of those more recent hardtail changes can be categorized as bigger and slacker. The Lifey has a head angle of 64.5 degrees, pretty slack, a 140-mil fork, and clearance for up to 2.6 inch wide 29er tires. The Orbea Lifey does fit into that hardcore hardtail category. It's got a long reach and it's slack, so it's designed to feel planted at speed, but obviously, you've got that direct feel of the lack of rear suspension, which is going to reward the smooth rider. I'm going to have to try and be smooth today, but that is not going to be easy. It's low slung and it's slack, and the frame is also designed to absorb that trail buzz. Orbea say this is the master of fun. How much fun is it going to be today? Is it going to be really scary? I don't know. Today, I'm riding a slab track at Dovey Bike Park in North Wales. It's triple black diamond. It's got some fierce rocks. It's got some really gnarly drop-offs, super steep slippery sections, a massive slippy rock slab. I've ridden it four on four suspension bikes and it is dicey. It's going to be a challenge on a hardtail, but yes, wish me luck. I'm slightly worried about this bit. It's the run out for this. Midway down, just come off the brakes because it's too slippy. You're just scared you'll lock up front wheel, both wheels. Then as you come off the slab, there's a really big hole, which I'm worried about on a hardtail that I'm going to slam in hard and slip the pedals. Then afterwards, it's dangerous. There's a really steep section. You see there's a big catch net in. There's a big drop-off down there. It's pretty scary. I am dubious actually. I'm going to go around it. I think that's too risky. I'm going to make an excuse. It's wet still. It's been really wet last couple of days. I reckon it's summertime when it's been baked dry. It's probably all right, but I feel it's too risky to jump, to drop into that on a hardtail and pick up speed. Like I say, it's down there I'm worried about. I feel like it's too much for me today. That is slippier than when I last rode it for sure. It was drier and there were still bits. That middle patch where you have to come will ease off quite a lot, hence why you bottom out so hard down there. Now it's slippier. You're only going to hit the bottom faster. I don't think I've ever seen Neil scared. I'm quite happy he's not going down there to be fair because that is slick and sketchy. I can't get across how steep it is on camera. Fair play. I can't even walk down there. Look at this slitty stuff. That is horrendous. Catch netting, trying not to die, just walking. Oh, God. This is fucking lethal as well. Too bad. It's not that great. Oh, this is a terrible, terrible idea. That rock slab looks unrideable. Okay, hands up guys. I think I've bitten off more than I could chew here with Slab Track in January. It's just gnarly. I'm going to abort this mission, maybe come back in summer to try complete the Slab Track. I've done most of it, but I have avoided two of the gnarliest bits. I'm going to head over to the Oakley line and hit some jumps, which I'm pretty confident I can ride on a hardtail. Oh, it's pretty nasty down here. Fucking hell. We've established I'm scared of steep rocks on a hardtail. Let's try some jumps. Better if you land over there. There you go. I think I found my limits today. Maybe not the bikes, but I'm slightly disappointed I came here to ride Slab Track, all of it, and I've done most of it, but missed the two hardest part. Oakley Trail was really good, actually. Same with hardtails. If you land a jump at the right spot, it's as good as anything, and it's really fast. That was good, but maybe I need to come back in summer and actually complete Slab Track on a hardtail. We're disappointed if we don't. Thumbs up if you love hardtails.